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Eagles Take Down Reds at Wembley Shoot Out
0 Playsin 4 hours
Crystal Palace beat Liverpool on penalties in this seasons Community Shield curtain raiser at Wembley. Join Jesse Sarwar as we go through all the main talking points as the Reds get ready to defend their PL crown starting on Friday.
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Transcript
Match Recap: Liverpool vs Crystal Palace
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Global Sports Podcast Network
Thank
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Global Sports Podcast Network
Hello and welcome to the Daily Liverpool podcast brought to you by the Global Sports Podcast Network. I'm your host, Jesse Sawa. Liverpool 2, Crystal Palace 2, the Community Shield, Curtain Razor 2, the new English season has ended all square after 90 minutes with Palace winning the penalty shootout 3-2.
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with Mohamed Salah, Alexis McAllister and Harvey Elliott all failing to convert their spot
Community Shield's Role: Fitness or Competition?
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kicks. So it's Crystal Palace that walk away with this season's first bit of silver silverware.
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Is it a glorified friendly? I suppose it is if you lose. If you lose this game historically, it's always something that it doesn't matter. It's really just a friendly.
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We're using the game to kind of build the team's fitness ahead of the new season. And if you win it, then it's an important game. It's a building block for for the season.
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So, you know, just take it as as you like, really.
Crystal Palace's Strategy under Glasner
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I've got to say that I think that Palace did deserve their win.
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I thought that they were well organised. You could see that Palace manager Oliver Glasner had really given his players a game plan to follow. And and that's exactly what they did.
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You could see that they they were firing long cross-field passes that went went beyond our full-backs, particularly Kerkhez in that left-back position.
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And that's not to criticise Kerkers. I thought you had a really good game.
Impact of New Signings: Kerkis and Frimpong
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But it's just you could see tactically that Palace, whenever they were in that midfield area and looking to break through that ah ah Liverpool back line, it was that cross-field pass because the full-backs are so high that they really targeted to get behind and get those crosses in.
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And also think that they really used their physicality in this game to really impose themselves on a Liverpool team that, to be fair, I think started really quite well. I thought the first half we were very good and showed, i think, plenty of promise, plenty of endeavour.
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and in particular the new signings I thought really did impress I mentioned in terms of Kerkis I thought both fullbacks gave ah glimpse an idea of the kind of threat that they will pose this season Kerkis I thought you know he's he's just He did his best kind of andy robertson early Andy Robertson impression.
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I thought he was, again, really good, very industrious, whipping balls into into the palace area. And you just think this guy is going to get better and better.
Florian Vertz: Premier League Adaptation
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And I thought Frimpong on the other fullback position, he spent a lot of his time in that kind of wide area, almost like a right winger, which I think is really interesting how that's going to develop this season as well.
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Florian Vertz I think just oozes class and i think he's just going to get better and better as the season goes on and as he really gets embedded into this Liverpool team and i know it's just one game but you can always tell when a player is that technically gifted.
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And I just think that a lot of Liverpool's success is is going to hinge on how well Virts does adapt to the Premier League because he's got everything.
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And i I do think that he's going to be one of these players that's just going to take the Premier League in his stride. I don't think there's going to be this kind of, you know, settling in period where he needs a season or two to get used to the Premier League.
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I just think he's just got too much quality. So I'm really looking forward to seeing ah to seeing how he develops develops as well.
Eketike's Early Promise
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Hugo Eketike immediately showing everyone why Liverpool paid that
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70 million pound fee, something like that. It was, I think it was 70 million pounds. and And really on the flip side of that, why we parted company with Darwin Nunes.
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You know, everyone at Liverpool, the fan base, they all loved Darwin Nunes and really wanted him to succeed. and i don't I wouldn't go so far as to say that he was a flop.
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he just didn't live up to what we thought he was going to achieve. And he didn't live up to the kind of expectations that...
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are there when you are Liverpool's number nine. You need to contribute more. And obviously it's early days, but the goal that Ekiteke scored in the first five minutes, I mean, that's going to do him absolutely no harm whatsoever.
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You know, he was good with the ball, strong... athletic, I thought he showed some really nice touches and his link up play in deep areas I thought was really really impressive as well and you just think that playing alongside the likes of Salah, Witt, McAllister there's just so much quality there that he just needs to produce the kind of finish he produced today
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and you know we'll have one hell of a striker on our hands. And it really was an impressive goal he scored, as I said, in that first five minutes. Really good close control.
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And i think it was the composure that he showed. Edge of the area. He's got two or three defenders around him, but he finds that bottom corner. And I think that really bodes well for Eketike at Liverpool.
Van Dijk's Penalty and Form
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yeah maybe we should bank that 150 million pound that Newcastle are asking for um Alexander Isak but we shall see so a flying start for Liverpool but we're we're pegged back when Virgil van Dijk gives away a penalty some 15 minutes later I mean, I thought it looked a bit harsh.
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I think it was the faintest of touches. But Ismail Sar goes down, you know, sniper in the stands style.
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And it was never going to be overturned, especially with Paul Tierney operating VAR. But Maybe Van Dijk was a bit clumsy in the challenge. He doesn't it doesn't normally kind of dangle that leg out in the penalty area.
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And it wasn't the skipper's best performance, let's let's face it, let's be honest. He's coming off a bout of illness. He missed a couple of games. So, you know, give him the benefit of the doubt. I mean, I've already seen some...
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comments on on social media, questioning whether we should have given the new contract to Van Dijk and Salah. I mean, dear me, it's just, you know, the season proper hasn't started.
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And I just think let's give these guys a bit of time. The season starts properly on Friday and nine times out of 10, these guys do turn out.
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But, you know, he was at fault for that first goal and he was probably at fault for the second goal as well. You
Liverpool's Defensive Synergy
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could see him taking that huge step forward to to play offside, whereas Jeremy Frimpong in that right back position was, you know, he he was massively onside.
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So, you know, that that was, I guess that was it indicative of the fact that we've got two new fullbacks and it's going to take a bit of time for that back four to gel and You know, using the offside trap is something that I think really takes a lot of work for a back four to get really in sync with one another. You know, don't forget Van Dijk, you know, sorry. Yeah, Alison, Trent, Robertson. You know, they they played in that back four, that back five for the...
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for so many years, six, seven years, and you almost get this kind of telepathic understanding, particularly as ah ah as a back four unit. And so that has effectively been kind of broken up. You've got we've got two brand new fullbacks. And so...
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I think there is going to be a kind of bedding in time for these defenders to get to know one another and to understand one another. So I think that these kind of things are going to happen. I'd rather they happen in ah ah community shield game as opposed to a Premier League or a Champions League game.
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So we'll see how that develops as well. But I thought Frimpong was another one of the new signings that impressed. got the second goal, a bit of luck.
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Fate maybe playing a hand in that
Salah and Frimpong: Building Chemistry
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ball, just flying over the palace keeper's head, unchallenged on minute number 20, would you believe? Yeah.
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But so i thought his overall game, I think he really gave us a real indicator as to how this team is going to shape up this season and how his role will differ to that of his predecessor, Trent Alexander-Arnold.
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I mean, Frimpong spent, as I said, most of his time really hugging that touchline. Yeah. in that right wing position, often making overlapping runs past Mohamed Salah.
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So, you know, don't think we're going to see that that right back moving inwards that we that we saw with Trent.
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know, this is a guy, I think, who's going to be hugging the touchline, who's going to be trying to beat the fullback, the opposition fullback. and And that's something that Mohamed Salah, and you know speaking of Salah, you know he was very quiet.
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He's had a poor game, quite simply. And I think that part of that is him needing to get to know someone that he's going to be working with in that right flank bearing in mind that for the last five six seasons that's been Trent Alexander Arnold so and obviously again there's been that relationship that's been built over a number of seasons and
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you know hundreds of games and so i think that is something that is gonna have to be worked on this relationship between salar and frimpong and you know he kept he capped off really this performance with an awful penalty terrible penalty yeah which according to some nash NASA officials has just re-entered
Salah's Penalty Debate: Consistency Issues?
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Earth's atmosphere. it was such a bad penalty.
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Second in a row, row he missed one in the last pre-season game. So is it something to be concerned about? I don't think his performance is something that concerns me. me. ah do think that, again, i think Salah, like Van Dijk, is one of those players that when the season proper starts, I think he's going to have his, you know, his kind of game hat on and he's going to perform at the level that we're we that we've, you know, become accustomed to.
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The penalties, I think anyone who's listened to this podcast last season will know that I'm not just kind of jumping on the Salah penalty bandwagon here.
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I've never been convinced about Mohamed Salah and penalties. I know that sounds ridiculous. because he he does score a lot of penalties.
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But what I mean by not being convinced, I don't think that he's a a natural penalty taker. I think that he's someone who, because of his scoring record, has kind of taken it upon himself to say, right, I'm the main man.
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I'm the one that gets the goals and I'm taking responsibility for... for penalties which is admirable. that And that's what you want from your your big players. That's what you want from your goal scorers.
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But he isn't, for me, a a natural penalty taker. And what I mean by that is we've had some very good penalty takers in our history, even in our recent history.
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James Milner. comes to mind. James Milner is one of the best penalty takers that that has played in the Premier League. And I don't think he ever missed a penalty for Liverpool.
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You know, ah you'd never say that technically he was the best ever player at Liverpool. But in terms of penalties... He would hit the side netting on either side of the goal every single time.
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Every single time. It was bottom corner, side netting. And even if the goalkeeper guessed the right way, he's not getting anywhere near it.
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It was so accurate. And Steven Gerrard was the same. I can't remember a time where Steven Gerrard spanked a penalty down the middle.
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It would be bottom corner, either side, side netting. I don't think Mohamed Salah has the...
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Again, it sounds ridiculous, but I don't think that he has the kind of composure in a penalty situation to do that on a regular, consistent basis.
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And he almost kind of, I guess, he alluded to this or he he he confessed to this when when we won the Champions League against Spurs.
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He admitted to that cardinal sin of choosing a side for when he was stepping up to take that penalty choosing a side and then during the run-up he changes his mind and just spanks it down the middle And he's done that quite a few times and sometimes he's missed.
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So I think it's something that it's worth looking at. I don't think that he's going to be taken off penalties because I don't think Arnie Slott would do that. I don't think that's good management because I think the downside of stripping someone like Mohamed Salah of penalty duties, i think...
Confidence in Salah's Upcoming Season
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The downside just outweighs any upside that you would get by giving it to someone else like, let's say, Alexis McAllister, who's probably our best penalty taker, but he missed as well today. So there goes that argument.
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Global Sports Podcast Network
But I do think that if in, let's say he misses the next two penalties for Liverpool, what then?
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then I think Arnie Slott has a decision to make, possibly. But in any case, I think that he had ah ah poor game, but it doesn't worry me.
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It really doesn't. I think that come Friday when the Premier League season starts, I think he's going to be looking to start the season as he always does with a goal.
Liverpool's Attack Needs Reinforcements?
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So i think... the forward line in in general, I think, is it something worth looking at because even though Liverpool have been, we've been in the news, we've made all the headlines in terms of signing Vietz for a you know record fee, bringing in Eketike,
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but we've let players go. We've let Nunes go. We've let Diaz go. Obviously, Diego Jota is no longer with us.
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And it looks like Chiesa is going to be gone as well. So that's four attackers that that are out of the the lineup. And that leaves Mohamed Salah, Hugo Eketike and Cody Gakpo.
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And so you look at that and you think, wow, we need reinforcements. Even even if we were to get... Alexander Isak. I still think that we need at least one more at least one more attacker so that we can rotate that forward line.
Central Defense Depth Concerns for Liverpool?
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And another area that we quite clearly need reinforcements is in defence. The fullbacks are well stopped. looks like Kostas Simikas will probably leave before the transfer window closes.
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are rumours that Nottingham Forest, Leeds United are in for him.
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So we're okay in terms of fullbacks, but we had no recognised centre-back on the bench for this game at Wembley. Liverpool Football Club, no recognised centre-backs on the bench for this game.
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Gerald Kwanzaa has been shipped out and Joe Gomez has is injured and Joe Gomez is injured a lot. And so we can't really... Rely on Joe Gomez. Love him as I do. I think he's a great utility player who can fill in in any of those defensive positions.
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Global Sports Podcast Network
But he's not someone who you can rely on in terms of being a reliable third or even fourth choice centre-back. And so you have to think that the club are going to move to bring someone in, whether that's Mark Gay, the Crystal Palace captain who played today, or there's been lots of reports that Liverpool are looking at gio Giovanni Leone at Parma, the 18-year-old centre-back who...
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look really, really promising. And I personally, I'd say irrespective of whether we get Gayi or not, I think that we should move for Leone. I think that he's a real talent.
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But... But that there's there's work to be done for Liverpool before this window closes.
Transfer Window: Key to Title Defense
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And certainly in those in that centre-back position,
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i I just think it's inconceivable that we can go into this season with just Virgil van Dijk Ibrahim Kanate and Joe Gomez as our centre-backs.
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We did that once in 2020 and it it turned out to be a disaster. And again, as good a transfer window as this has apparently been,
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we've still got a lot of work to do and in in both the defensive area and the forward line before we can confidently say that we are favorites to defend this premier league title think as it stands, we've we've done okay. I know this sounds strange. I think we've done okay, but we do need more players in those two key areas in centre-back and in our forward line to really give us a chance at not only defending our Premier League title, but really making waves in the Champions League, because that's somewhere that we really fell short last season.
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So we'll see how the next couple of weeks develops and whether Liverpool do bring in new
Season Opener Preview and Show Follow Request
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personnel. But so that is all for today. You've been listening to the Daily Liverpool podcast brought to you by the Global Sports Podcast Network. We'll be back tomorrow as we gear up.
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to the start of the new season, which starts on Friday at home to Bournemouth. Please support the show by following us wherever you get your podcasts. Until next time, thank you for listening.