So, the morning after with a clear head here are a few thoughts for those that can be bothered to read them...
The lineup
I've seen a lot suggesting that Moura should have started because of the semi final hattrick, but I don't buy that. Llorente scored the winner against City and changed the game against Ajax when he came on, but there was no no clamour for him to start. The decision should have just been what was the best team to beat Liverpool. With hindsight probably the wrong decision to start Kane, but as Poch said whatever decision he'd made if we'd won it would have been the right one, and if we lost the wrong one. None of our front 4 really played to their peak last night - would Moura starting have changed that? Who knows. I think a lot of other managers would have done the same - Klopp had a similar decision to make with Firmino and made the same call to start him.
The penalty
I still don't think it was a penalty, but I can see why it was given. Very naïve from Sissoko to have his arm out like that in the box, and I think Mané played for it, especially with some of the handball decisions that have been made this season. If it had hit his hand first, no argument, but as it bounced off his chest I do think the law says it shouldn't have been awarded (I did post the relevant section last night, but not angry enough to Google it again today). One thing I would say is that the ref seemed to make the decision very quickly. I think he saw the arm up and the ball hit it, and wasn't prepared to consider any other explanation. He did speak to VAR through the earpiece and they obviously didn't see enough to suggest he have another look on the screen, which did surprise me.
The game
Neither team played brilliantly, which is what makes it so frustrating. They weren't at their best and that gave us a chance, but we couldn't lift our game enough either. Maybe the same factors affected both teams - the heat, the long break etc. but ultimately we weren't good enough. Liverpool were clinical with the chances they had and we never honestly looked like scoring. Needed more from our attack when we got into the final third, but let's not forget that they have the tightest defence in the league and only lost once all season.
If we'd been playing a Real Madrid team that had finished second domestically with 97 points and had that sort of record would we have expected to get back into it after going a goal down?
The season
Overall it has to be considered a good season. Obviously I want to see us win trophies, but ultimately I wouldn't have swapped our CL run for the Carabao cup in February. The league campaign was tough, and but for the teams around us dropping points too we could have dropped out of the top 4 - which would have had serious consequences (as Paul Robinson said in interview that was what caused Leeds to spiral out of control, not losing CL semi final itself) - but we didn't. Until February we were being talked of in the title race, but it really tanked from there - a combination of factors including injuries, fatigue (7 or 8 (can't remember if Winks was in the squad?) of the starting XI last night were involved in the last weekend of World Cup fixtures last summer, plus Son played at the Asian games), and fixture congestion, compounded by a lack of depth in the squad. The team that started last night is probably our best XI and yet we only started with that lineup in one other game all season (Home v City in the CL). We won a lot of games, but lost too many and that is clearly what we will need to improve on next season - the top teams find a way to win when not playing well. We should be helped a little by the fact that we are now in a magnificent new stadium (which was rocking last night) and away from Wembley.
The future
Getting to a CL final is a huge achievement - you have to beat at least 3 or 4 of the top teams in Europe - but we have to look on last night as the first of many, rather than a one off. We have shown over the past couple of seasons that we can mix it with the best in Europe, but it is putting together all of those wins in a single campaign. Now we need to do it again.
This summer will be a big one. The most important person to keep hold of is Poch, and if that takes backing him in the transfer window then we have to do it. We will need replacements for anyone who leaves from our first XI (likely Toby/Eriksen), plus what we've needed for the last 2-3 seasons - depth in central midfield and genuine cover for Eriksen and Kane. Eriksen gets a lot of stick for not turning up/putting the effort in, but he never really gets a break and is always one of the ones who runs the most. The problem is that we don't have any other midfielder who can do what he does creatively, and so we can't risk giving him a rest. We need cover for Kane too, especially as he seems to be increasingly injury prone. As much as I appreciate what Llorente gave us in the CL run he is not the answer (and likely leaving this summer anyway) and neither is Janssen. There is an argument to be made around full backs too, although Rose has had a better second half of the season.
A summer with no international football should do our squad good and with a few good signings we will be ready to go again next season. The next step is to add silverware and we are moving in that direction. Positive thoughts!
Mark
