Liverpool Fan Reaction: ‘Burnley’s approach was an insult to football’ | OneFootball

Liverpool Leave It Late Again, Burnley Beaten but Questions Remain

In a game that summed up Liverpool’s early season form, heavy on possession and light on cutting edge, Arne Slot’s side left Turf Moor with all three points after a 1–0 win over Burnley. On the latest Post-Match RAW from Anfield Index, host Trev Downey, along with Dave Hendrick and Karl Matchett, broke down a Premier League clash that was “the most one-sided thing” yet somehow still uncomfortable viewing.

Dominant Stats, But Not a Dominant Performance

Liverpool had 81 percent possession, 27 shots, and 13 corners. Burnley managed three shots, zero on target, and, as Dave Hendrick pointed out, a remarkable 0.00 xG over 96 minutes. “I don’t want to hear that Burnley were unlucky,” he said. “They never tried to win the game, they showed zero ambition. What they’ve done today is actually an insult to football.”

Despite the dominance, the performance did not impress. “We weren’t good,” Dave admitted. “But we haven’t been good in the previous three games either. Certainly not to the level we know this team is capable of.”

Still, Liverpool are four from four, sitting clear at the top of the Premier League. “We’ve beaten the team in second, we’ve beaten the team in fourth,” Dave continued. “We’ve been to St. James’s Park, and we’ve faced one of the worst displays of anti-football I can ever remember.”

Grit and Grind, Not Glamour

Liverpool found their winner late, again. That pattern, according to the panel, says something important. “It is a sign of a team with an incredibly strong mentality that we’ve managed four late winners already this season,” said Dave. “It echoes the Alex Ferguson Manchester United teams, they always knew a chance would come.”

Trev Downey agreed, referencing a conversation with his Manchester United-supporting father. “We have become what you once were,” he told him. “It is more about a force of will, like the force of will that won that final league for Alex Ferguson.”

That belief, according to Karl Matchett, now exists on both sides of the pitch. “Our players still expect later on that they will get a chance and the opposition probably expect that too. It definitely weighs on them.”

Photo: IMAGO

Problems in the Pattern, and Cody Concerns

While the results are flowing, questions remain about the system and several individuals. Trev posed what many Liverpool fans are thinking: “At some point we are going to have to acknowledge that the shape currently is not really working.”

Dave took aim at Cody Gakpo’s predictability. “He’s just so predictable,” he said. “He wants to cut inside and either shoot or float a cross to the back post. And every single one of his shots today got blocked. It just stymies our attack.”

Gakpo, he added, routinely ignores overlapping runs, isolates teammates, and offers little variety. “I’ve never been a proponent of Cody as our starting left winger,” he added. “The very best version of Cody is still substandard to the average version of Mo.”

Karl also questioned the lack of movement across the front line. “There was no movement in behind and very little trying to drag defenders around. That was the real big issue today.”

Slot’s Job to Fix It, and Fast

Injury to Alexis Mac Allister and the continued absence of Curtis Jones have limited Liverpool’s midfield options. The challenge now is whether Florian Wirtz can be effective in a central role and whether others like Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai can step up.

Trev summarised the midfield situation grimly. “We’re operating with our best central midfielder on half power. He is not himself.”

Karl echoed the concern about the attack’s fluidity. “We haven’t really got a connection going in the forward line. No repeated patterns of play in the final third.”

The numbers backed that up. Liverpool’s xG was over 2, but as Karl put it, “It’s the xG fallacy, a number of crap chances all add up.”

Photo: IMAGO

Burnley, a Warning and a Worry

As for Burnley, there was no sympathy from the panel. “That ambition-free football is kind of hard on the system,” said Trev. “They literally played to do nothing else other than try and stop the other team scoring.”

Karl was blunt. “If you play this way for the entire game, you get exactly what you deserve. You end up losing because you literally played to not win.”

Dave agreed and had no time for the complaints. “We’ll have the cry-arsing of course, but you can tell by Hannibal’s reaction he knows he’s done a stupid and given away a penalty. It’s as blatant as you’ll ever see.”

Still Top, Still Unbeaten

So, four games in, four wins. A perfect start in the Premier League. But not a perfect team.

As Dave summed up, “Four wins from four is the only thing that matters, and it will continue to get better. These players are too good to continue to play as poorly as they have.”

Trev’s closing line nailed it. “All about gathering cups in May, as us old-timers used to say.”