It wasn’t pretty but in the end did not matter. Liverpool made it through to their 12th League Cup final with a penalty shootout victory over Stoke City at Anfield.
A fantastic home atmosphere sadly did not reflect the performance on show from the Reds, who lost 1-0 on the night to hand Mark Hughes’ side with their first Anfield win since 1959.
However, ultimately Stoke’s efforts were in vain, as Liverpool finally discovered some ruthlessness and efficiency in the penalty shootout, as all in Red found the back the net, with the exception of Emre Can (ironically the only German who took a penalty).
Joe Allen continued his recent heroics for Liverpool by scoring the winning penalty, which led to wild scenes on the pitch and in the stands.
Reds need to up performance levels
Either Manchester City or Everton await in the final, and it’s no secret which team most Liverpool fans would love to face.
An all-Merseyside final hasn’t occurred since 1989, when Liverpool triumphed over their neighbours in an FA Cup final, while Everton have gone over two decades without a major trophy since defeating Manchester United to win the 1995 FA Cup.
Regardless, whoever comes through the other semi-final will present a seriously tough challenge to Jürgen Klopp’s men, especially if they perform as they did on Tuesday night.
Liverpool worked hard but again created very few chances of real quality, while they continue to inspire fear and dread whenever a set-piece is taken by the opposition.
Klopp knows Liverpool’s biggest hurdle concerns defending corners, free-kicks and even any high balls or crosses into the box, whether from a first, second or third instance.
They cannot, must not, switch off at any point when defending these situations, yet they do and consequently continue to be punished by them.
Despite Stoke’s evolution in recent years under Hughes, they still had the players in Jon Walters and Peter Crouch to implement the Pulis philosophy for a night and cause Liverpool real problems.
In open play, Liverpool are not too shaky defensively, with Mamadou Sakho in particular impressing on Tuesday night, but if they want to have any chance of winning a ninth League Cup, and a first major trophy since 2012, then they have to become confident with defending crosses.
A similar issue can be applied at the other end for the Reds as well. Since Steven Gerrard’s departure Liverpool have been just as poor with their own set-pieces, let alone defending them. James Milner is probably Liverpool’s best set-piece taker, but is certainly not a specialist and was not on form with his set-pieces against Stoke.
Liverpool’s young group are evolving by themselves, trying to install their own winning mentality and inspiring Jordan Henderson to lead by example as the Liverpool captain and improve his own performances.
Henderson was taken off in the second half – whether this was driven by injury or performance is unclear, but the skipper needs as many games as possible so that he can get back to his pre-injury best and then improve beyond that.
He’ll need to if be wants to remain captain and play in the Liverpool midfield, as you would imagine Klopp will strengthen in that area (as he probably will in many) given how vital the centre of the pitch is to his ‘gegenpressing’ style of play.
Moreover, as names such as Granit Xhaka and Ilkay Gundogan are linked with summer moves to Liverpool, the pressure is on the entire midfield – Henderson, Milner, Allen, Emre Can and Lucas Leiva – to perform, after all individually have impressed only sporadically thus far in 2015/16.
Scoring more goals from midfield is a must.
Signings needed to ease packed fixture schedule worries?
February is edging ever closer, but Liverpool still have another fixture to play on Saturday, against West Ham United in the FA Cup.
Having already lost comfortably to Slaven Bilic’s side home and away, the Reds will be desperate to avoid a third straight defeat, even if the competition itself is currently of lesser importance, with the League Cup run and the crucial Europa League.
With a trip to Leicester City next for Klopp and Liverpool in the Premier League, matters do not get any easier on that front either.
Perhaps some January reinforcements would do the trick – Shakhtar Donetsk’s Alex Teixeira and Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen are rumours and negotiations that Liverpool fans would love to see become reality, but deals have broken down before at this late stage.
Nevertheless, Liverpool would be sending out a fantastic statement of intent by signing Teixeira and ter Stegen, and would immediately strengthen the Reds at both ends ahead of a busy final phase of the season, with Klopp’s side still fighting on all four fronts.
Had Liverpool not succeeded in the penalty shootout, then they would not only be down to three competitions, but would have lost one which was in their grasp.
However it is still in their grasp, but they will have to work hard for it, as they need to in all areas for the rest of the season, particularly over set-pieces.
Yet despite the critiques, the Reds are in another cup final, they had the nerve and composure to win the shootout, while they also scraped past Norwich City last weekend in unbelievable circumstances.
This may not be sustainable, but Liverpool are showing good character to drag themselves over the line, and in Klopp’s first season they will be fighting for a trophy at Wembley – something Brendan Rodgers was unable to do in his three years with the club.
Plenty of negatives to address then, but also positives to build on, including a trip to Wembley to try and achieve what Liverpool Football Club’s very existence is defined by – winning trophies.