OK, had to do other stuff but had time to marinade on the match. My main takeaways:
- We defended a lot better over the match than I thought we would. We got punished severely for the few times we were in trouble by a very clinical Liverpool side, who were dangerous as I expected. I was worried a little about the defence but I had some confidence that the likes of Monlouis and Norton-Cuffy in particular would stand up to the threat and largely they did - Monlouis did have lapses that led to the first 2 goals but I am more willing to forgive that at this level as he had a good performance otherwise. It helped that Jack Henry-Francis was haring around tackling everything that moved, as was Marcelo Flores strangely enough. It was a hard fight and ultimately we didn't win but I liked that element of our game today. On another day, we definitely could have conceded less.
- Ejeheri looks a very decent young keeper, in the mold of Okonkwo. Good distribution with both feet and good shot-stopping. Liked how secure he was on crosses aswell. One to watch for me.
- Hutchinson was sorely missed today. He is our most in-form player in front of goal and his cleverness, acceleration and ambidextrous game really was a missing dimension. Butler-Oyedeji was very game but ultimately looked a little short in comparison. Our attack really suffered as we weren't able to get Edwards in the game much either. Taylor-Hart was left to carry the attack a lot of the time, with Azeez attempting to get forward often and linking up with him.
- You can see where the potential standout quality is on the pitch from us. Taylor-Hart and Azeez looked a level above when they got going, although Azeez had a pretty mixed game IMO and could have done more. Norton-Cuffy looks like a star already. Henry-Francis has been the surprise package of the season for me, really carved out a spot for himself in the absence of Patino and Bandeira. I do think that the latter mentioned would have been pluses for us though. I thought Amani Richards looked exciting in his cameo, would like to see more of him. Ejeheri and Monlouis were also pretty good.
- Honestly, we gave a decent account of ourselves everywhere except the final 3rd. That was the only problem from today but I was pretty encouraged by some of the performances. I'm pretty confident we can have a good run next season.
- We defended a lot better over the match than I thought we would. We got punished severely for the few times we were in trouble by a very clinical Liverpool side, who were dangerous as I expected. I was worried a little about the defence but I had some confidence that the likes of Monlouis and Norton-Cuffy in particular would stand up to the threat and largely they did - Monlouis did have lapses that led to the first 2 goals but I am more willing to forgive that at this level as he had a good performance otherwise. It helped that Jack Henry-Francis was haring around tackling everything that moved, as was Marcelo Flores strangely enough. It was a hard fight and ultimately we didn't win but I liked that element of our game today. On another day, we definitely could have conceded less.
- Ejeheri looks a very decent young keeper, in the mold of Okonkwo. Good distribution with both feet and good shot-stopping. Liked how secure he was on crosses aswell. One to watch for me.
- Hutchinson was sorely missed today. He is our most in-form player in front of goal and his cleverness, acceleration and ambidextrous game really was a missing dimension. Butler-Oyedeji was very game but ultimately looked a little short in comparison. Our attack really suffered as we weren't able to get Edwards in the game much either. Taylor-Hart was left to carry the attack a lot of the time, with Azeez attempting to get forward often and linking up with him.
- You can see where the potential standout quality is on the pitch from us. Taylor-Hart and Azeez looked a level above when they got going, although Azeez had a pretty mixed game IMO and could have done more. Norton-Cuffy looks like a star already. Henry-Francis has been the surprise package of the season for me, really carved out a spot for himself in the absence of Patino and Bandeira. I do think that the latter mentioned would have been pluses for us though. I thought Amani Richards looked exciting in his cameo, would like to see more of him. Ejeheri and Monlouis were also pretty good.
- Honestly, we gave a decent account of ourselves everywhere except the final 3rd. That was the only problem from today but I was pretty encouraged by some of the performances. I'm pretty confident we can have a good run next season.