As we’ve indicated in previous posts, tuning in to this edition of the World Cup would always be a tough decision given the political situation in America broadly and the experience as an immigrant+someone who cares deeply for the immigrant community in Los Angeles, one of the tournament’s host cities. I love this game deeply and it isn’t so easy for me – and many others – to separate the politics from the spectacle especially given the crux of this event is to welcome people from all over the world.
That they are entering a version of the United States in one of its extreme peaks of xenophobic sentiment and activity is impossible to ignore.
But I love the football and the flesh is weak, to paraphrase St. Peter.
With the football on offer today including a quite a few Liverpool players, I found it hard to resist and eventually succumbed thanks in large part to the Netherlands vs Sweden tilt, featuring Dutch Reds Virgil Van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch, and Cody Gakpo facing off against Sweden and LFC’s Number 9, Alexander Isak. “It’s almost like watching a Liverpool scrimmage if you squint,” I whispered to my integrity as I stuffed it into a suitcase.
And so, I basically spent my first World Cup match this tournament sending out Bluesky posts like it was a typical match day. In case it wasn’t obvious: I really, really miss Liverpool football.
This match was, surprisingly to me, quite open despite the lopsided 5-1 final score. Which, I suppose, comes down to two things: 1) having gone down early to a brace from Dutch striker Brian Brobbey, the Swedes kept pushing; and 2) the Dutchmen being more than content to pore it on.
I suppose some Serious Footballing Takes need to be had now so I will start with the fact that Alexander Isak looked marvelous if a bit frustrated on the day. He did not come away with anything to show for it, but that’s less a slight on him and more a reflection of the profligacy and perhaps sub-standard Swedish team surrounding him. The forward was deployed as almost a quasi-10 and looked to be the focal point of playmaking in the final third. I also saw him track quite far back on more than one occasion which made me begin to dream of a healthy and fully-integrated Isak at Anfield.
But the player who deserves the most plaudits is Cody Gakpo who scored two goals and added in an assist for the opener. Perhaps most tellingly, that assist was part of a performance where the winger managed to show very little of the penchant to cut in and shoot through traffic which made him a bit of a meme this past season. Instead, we saw a composed and ardent attacker who made the smart pass and looked to integrate his play into the team instead of being a predictable, one-note player.
It was, to my mind, another mark against Arne Slot’s tactical set-up that he couldn’t manage to figure out how to get more out of Gakpo especially given the club sold Luis Diaz ahead of the season. It isn’t entirely down to the player, of course, but when a pattern of play emerges that feels different to how we’d been accustomed to watching a given player operate, you have to believe that there are strategic/tactical reasons for that. Unless Slot comes out and publicly explains his choices, I’ll never know, but it was apparent to most that Gakpo felt it an imperative to consistently ignore his runners during build-up and look to shoot as often as possible during Liverpool’s season. That same player was wholly absent today and he looked every bit the rising star the club purchased – coincidentally, similarly coming off of a strong World Cup showing.
Relatedly, though much less seriously, it was a good reminder of how watching players excel for their World Cup teams isn’t the best measuring stick for future success in the Premier League. In particular, Sweden’s showing looked the kind of frustrated, nearly-there performance that Liverpool often played in the previous season. And key to this performance was one Yasin Ayari.
Familiar to Premier League fans as a part of Brighton & Hove Albion, Ayari looked an absolute menace throughout the match. In fact, the midfielder had a right to being named the brightest attacking player in the first half, having gone close a few times.
Of course, close isn’t the same as actually notching a goal. And looking at the placement of those shots – largely from distance and with decent numbers in defense – I can imagine being quite annoyed as a Liverpool fan if this is what the player was offering. A little sobering in light of the rather rosy outlook I’d had on this player’s performance.
Which, I guess, is ultimately what today was about: a day for entertainment and divining things through the tea leaves of international football. Our Reds are going to be ok headed into the new season or maybe they won’t – international play of course rarely resembles the same conditions and contexts of club football.
But if you were on the lookout for something positive – a reason to look forward to August – it could be found, if you squint and tilted your head just a bit.
