My 3 Thoughts on Liverpool-Manchester City
Steffen's Howler in City's 3-2 FA Cup Semifinal Loss Spawns a USMNT Discussion, Too
Liverpool beat Manchester City 3-2 in their FA Cup semifinal on Saturday. Here are my three thoughts on the game:
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• American Zack Steffen’s howler was bad for City—and more evidence of a big USMNT problem for the World Cup. You can’t sugarcoat it: In the biggest game of his club career, Steffen made the most impactful error of his career, dithering too long over the ball and allowing Liverpool’s Sadio Mané to slide in and score for an early 2-0 lead. You never know what may happen, but given the magnitude of the game, I can’t help but think back to what happened after Lorius Karius’s poor performance for Liverpool in the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League final; it was Karius’s last game with the club. Steffen wasn’t great on Ibrahima Konaté’s too-easy corner kick header to start the scoring, either, but I’m not going to say Mané’s second goal was Steffen’s fault. That was just a tremendous finish by Mané.
The problem for the USMNT is clear, though: One or both of Steffen or Matt Turner (set to join Arsenal this summer as Aaron Ramsdale’s backup) has to push for a loan move ahead of next season if the U.S. wants to have an in-form goalkeeper at the World Cup in November. It’s not enough to be a backup and play in an occasional cup game, as Steffen made clear again on Saturday. It’s remarkable how unstable the USMNT is when it comes to two important positions in the spine of the team: Goalkeeper and centerforward. I have less of a clue today about who should start at the World Cup in those spots than at any time in the past year. If Steffen and Turner aren’t starters somewhere in the fall, should Gregg Berhalter look elsewhere? Possibilities could include Ethan Horvath (though he hasn’t been starting lately either for Nottingham Forest), Sean Johnson, Gaga Slonina or maybe even Stefan Frei (who has been fantastic for Seattle lately). Meanwhile, the U.S. centerforward position may come down to who’s scoring goals right before the World Cup, kind of like in 2010. It’s gotten to the point that Haji Wright, 24, who has been scoring regularly at Turkey’s Antalyaspor, should be entering the conversation.
• This was a weird Liverpool-City game. It wasn’t without suspense, either, as Bernardo Silva’s late goal pulled City to within 3-2 and sparked a desperate push in stoppage time for an equalizer that didn’t come. But as exhilarating as last weekend’s 2-2 Premier League tie between these two teams may have been, the feeling just wasn’t the same throughout this game. While Liverpool performed well to take a 3-0 halftime lead, City was missing any creative edge in the opening 45 minutes and performed poorly on the defensive end. Things got better in the second half for City, but the damage had already been done. One clear take-away from this game is that Liverpool’s depth is greater than City’s. Pep Guardiola will ask himself in the future how much he trusts some of the players he used on Saturday, and unfortunately for Steffen those internal Guardiola questions will probably be loudest about his goalkeeper. Will Pep go with his backup GK in big Cup games down the road? By the evidence in this game, he shouldn’t.
• Let’s give Liverpool some props. The last time LFC won the men’s FA Cup was a long time ago: 2006. This is a club that values its trophies, and the opportunity for another one in the FA Cup final will now come on May 14 against either Chelsea or Crystal Palace. What did I like from Liverpool today? Mané was at his imperious best, causing mayhem and providing quality on his two goals. Virgil van Dijk was solid again, not least in the final frantic minutes when City was pushing for the equalizer. Thiago Alcântara had another sterling performance in the midfield, and Alisson made a big save on Gabriel Jesus in the second half. On the down side, Mohamed Salah still hasn’t scored a goal since March 12. That will need to change if Liverpool wants to raise trophies down the stretch in the FA Cup, the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League.
What are your thoughts on the game? You can join the discussion in the comments below.
Lots of (seemingly unfounded) rumors about Horvath to Atlanta United. I hope it's true for both of their sakes. If he's getting regular playing time I'd be happy with Horvath as the #1 heading into the world cup
Does Tim Howard still have his gloves & boots? Forget what Pep said after the game. It’ll be a long time before he trusts Steffen again - if ever. Forget a loan. He might want to look for an outright move.
Several of the USMNT guys just aren’t getting a lot of playing time. Pepi, Dest, Christian, Tyler,… most of the time they’re coming off the bench, if at all. Yes, it’s a long time until November, but…