Liverpool centre-back Joel Matip has described how unusual it was to have to combat West Brom’s bombardment of lofted balls during the last few minutes of Saturday’s 2-1 win.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, he said: “It went really well until the last 10 minutes. Then we had to protect our goal.”
“In Germany there are not too many teams like that, but last year there were a couple of sides who played exactly like this – hitting balls really high. Darmstadt played in a similar way.”
“It’s a different type of game then when you play against these teams, but you have to respect the way West Brom play.”
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Saturday’s victory posed as an important lesson to Matip in particular that every Premier League team is a threat up until the very final whistle.
It will have been a key learning curve for the Cameroon international as he looks to continue adapting to the variety of attacking styles in England’s top division and also the fight and determination that he will not have experienced as much during his time in the Bundesliga.
West Brom’s long balls into the box in the latter stages of the game tested both Liverpool’s resolve and desire to see out the game.
The ability to win against so called lesser opposition in the way Liverpool did at the weekend is so important if we are to mount any kind of serious title challenge moving forward.
On to the next one, Reds.