The old adage, about a team with nothing to lose being the most dangerous of all, certainly held true today in West Bromwich Albion’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool. It was a “useless comeback” according to Reds boss Jurgen Klopp, as West Brom drew level in the 88′, snatching a point that will do nothing to avoid regulation, a fate that is nearly inevitable, and could come as early as Sunday.
It also meant that Liverpool dropped two points, which they really could have used in their battle with arch-rivals Manchester United for second place. The Reds will now have to further wait to clinch their Champions League qualification.
“Useless comeback,” said Jurgen Klopp. “I don’t think that point will help West Brom massively, it is a complete waste of points: they don’t need it, we would have needed it.”
“They are happy now, we are not happy. We stay in the league, they don’t stay in the league — it is a strange situation.”
Klopp was also furious about the conditions of the pitch at The Hawthorns, which he believed to be extremely dry, and very dangerous.
The German added: “You have to create the best circumstances to help the boys deliver and then we let the home team decide whether they water the pitch or not. It is not only for football it is also dangerous for injuries if the pitch is really dry. I wouldn’t have said nothing about that probably if we had won but it is all you see during the game.”
Baggies caretaker manager Darren Moore has now taken four points from two meetings with top three sides, and five points from his three games in charge.
Moore claims the dry pitch was just circumstantial, and not an intentional tactical manuever.
“It wasn’t a ploy,” he said. “It was a really hot day today. I was so engrossed in the game in terms of preparation my focus was not about the pitch.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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