The FA Cup recovered a modicum of its splendor at Anfield this afternoon, but only in a general sense., for the game itself was turgid. League Two's Plymouth Argyle travelled to Anfield to take on the might of Liverpool and came away with a replay, as a result of an exceptionally defensive performance and an oddly soporific attacking display by Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp named the youngest starting line-up in Liverpool's history, with an average age of 21. Of those who started, only Emre Can, Divock Origi, Lucas Leiva and perhaps Alberto Moreno could be considered first-team regulars.
Despite the fact that Liverpool played the kids, Plymouth did not deviate from their game plan, and were content to put eleven men behind the ball, sitting deep to frustrate Liverpool. It worked: the game finished goalless, with Liverpool calling for the cavalry in a bid to win the game without the need for a replay: Daniel Sturridge, Adam Lallana and Roberto Firmino all came on, but failed to force a breakthrough.
This gave rise to some remarkable stats: after 38 minutes of the first-half, Liverpool enjoyed 84% of the possession, as Plymouth had successfully completed just 21 passes. Liverpool ended the game with 17 corners, almost all of them taken by Alberto Moreno and hitting the first defender.
While this may be considered a pragmatic game plan on Plymouth's part, it greatly frustrated Steve McManaman on BT Sport's commentary, who called Plymouth's lack of ambition as "sad".
This rankled among Plymouth fans, and the club's official twitter account criticised BT for, er, criticising them.
Halfers at Anfield, 0-0; not pretty but, man alive, it's effective #pafc #LIVARG
— Plymouth Argyle FC (@argyle) January 8, 2017
Here we go again - are @btsportfootball still showing us or have they switched to monster truck racing? #pafc #LIVARG
— Plymouth Argyle FC (@argyle) January 8, 2017
The club also retweeted fans who chimed in with their criticisms:
'The score line is the only positive Plymouth can take at the moment' - Michael Owen. The score line is all that matters @Only1Argyle
— Kevin Marriott ❤️🤍❤️🤍 (@KJMsport57) January 8, 2017
Finding @btsportfootball criticism of @Only1Argyle performance ridiculous given that at this point their job is being executed perfectly?
— Will Jeavons (@wjeavons) January 8, 2017
Absolutely unbelievable that @btsportfootball are BLAMING @Only1Argyle for the dire uneventful game THEY chose!
— Trevor Sharkey 🟨🟥 (@trevstanley) January 8, 2017
Keep it up @Only1Argyle it only takes one break like we nearly got at the end of a superb 1st half 45 minutes for a hero to emerge! 💚⚽ #pafc
— Spot_on (@spotten17) January 8, 2017
In the end, however, Plymouth got what they came for:
— Plymouth Argyle FC (@argyle) January 8, 2017
