28th July 2019 Liverpool v Napoli 0-3

I have to admit I was not sure about going to this game. The match had originally been arranged to be played at Liverpools Anfield ground, as the first home game since they won the Champions League. However due to pitch remedial work the game could not be staged there and initially the thought was to stage the game at Spurs White Hart Lane stadium in London. With Liverpool having beaten Spurs to win the Champions League it was felt that staging the game there may have be an invitation for trouble. The Scottish Rugby Union then agreed to stage the match at their Murrayfield Rugby Stadium which has a capacity of 67,500. The Scottish Football Association raised no objections despite Scottish Betfred Cup ties being staged on the same day. Prices were set ranging from £36 to £67 for adult tickets with children tickets starting at £11. My misgivings were both staging a friendly with non-Scottish sides when games were being staged in Scotland on the same day and also handing over cash to clubs competing in two of the worlds richest leagues along with the SRU who have no football responsibilities. One of my grandchildren, Harper, wanted to go so I handed over £91, including Tickmaster fees, for the two of us and Harpers dad, Craig, to go along. Kick-off was at 5.00pm and I arranged to meet Craig and Harper in the ground having given them their tickets earlier in the week. I left the house at 3.50 and walked to Murrayfield. Even at that early hour there was a significant number of fans heading for the ground and I eventually got into the ground and found my seat at 4.30. Even the match programme was a bit of a rip-off at £5. The highlight of the pre-match entertainment was a piper on the top of the East stand roof playing "Amazing Grace" as a tribute to the late Bill Shankly who first brought Liverpool to national prominence in the 1960s. Craig and Harper arrived just as the team were kicking off. We had not a bad view as can be seen from photo below.

Liverpool started with seven players from their Champions League winning side. The big disappointment was that those missing were goalkeeper Allison Becker and strikers Roberto Firmino, Said Mane and Mo Salah. The first two had been playing in the Copa America for Brazil while the latter two had represented Senegal and Egypt in the African Nations Cup. While these competitions are now over the players have only had a short break and Liverpool felt that they should rest prior to the commencement of the Premier League season although it would have been good to see them play, even as substitutes.The Liverpool substitutes bench was interesting with both Harvey Elliott and Sepp Van Den Berg featuring. Sixteen year old Elliott joined Liverpool yesterday from Fulham for a reported £1.5M having been the youngest player to make his debut is the Premier league last season while seventeen year old Van Den Berg joined Liverpool for a confirmed fee of £1.3m, which could potentially rise up to £4.4m from Dutch side FC Zwolle. I have to confess I knew little about Napoli. I know they won the Italian League in the 1980's with Diego Maradona as their start player and also that they lost 5-0 to Hibs in the Fair Cities up (now Europa League) in the 1960's after winning the first leg 4-1. After seeing them play I will follow their results with interest.

The first chance in the game came to Liverpool after four minutes when a cross from Scotland full-back and  captain  Andy Robertson from the left found Divock Origi just outside the six yard box. He seemed to take too long to control the ball and, under pressure from a defender, was only able to shoot wide of the post. There-after Napoli took over and impressed with some good passing and movement. Their first goal came after seventeen minutes when a good pass found Lorenzo Insigne free on the left. He cut inside and, with Joel Matip backing off and not making a challenge, curled a shot past Simon Mignolet from about twenty yards out. Just before the half hour mark Napoli scored a second and again Insigne was involved. Liverpool lost possession in midfield and the ball was quickly moved on to Insigne on the left. He headed towards the byeline and crossed low into the goal area from about six yards out. His low ball found Arkadiusz Milik sliding in to send the ball past Mignolet. Liverpool improved as half-time approached and Georgino Wijnaldum had the ball in the net just before the break but was clearly offside. Just before the halftime whistle Joel Matip headed a cross from James Milner wide of the goal. 

Seven minutes into the second half Napoli went three ahead and again Insigne was involved. Again on the left he cut inside Trent Alexander-Arnold and fired in a shot which was parried away by Mignolet. The ball then bounced of a Napoli forward to Amin Younes standing unmarked just outside the six yard box and he had no difficulty in scoring. There was no further scoring, amid a flood of substitutions on both sides, with Insigne looking a class above the rest of the players on the field. One cross field pass from the right to a substitute on the left wing was a gem of a ball. The substitutes brought Liverpool back into the game towards the end with both Elliott and Van Den Beg coming on. While Elliott shot wide after controlling a pass well, the closest Liverpool came was when a cross by Rhian Brewster was almost deflected into his own net by a Napoli defender. Keeper Alex Meret got down well to push the ball away. In injury time Meret again showed his class with a smart save from a twenty yard shot from Welsh international Harry Wilson. The final whistle blew with Napoli well-deserved 3-0 winners. I have to admit I was disappointed in the Liverpool side who had already played three matches in the USA against the one friendly played previously by Napoli. Liverpool seemed to lack creativity and inspiration in midfield. I think that this does not matter when Firmino, Mane and Salah are playing as they are all capable of creating goals from minimal service. I do think that Liverpool lack a player like Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City), Christian Eriksen (Spurs) or even Paul Progba (Manchester United) who can both create and score from midfield. The crowd was announced at 65,442 which taking an average ticket price of £36 means the game raised over £2.3m and probably a lot more given ticket prices went up to £67 and hospitality costs would be paid separately. 

After the game we walked round to the Roseburn side of the ground and cut through the housing development to Russell Road. After that it was a short walk via Ardmillan Terrace and Fountainbridge home. Craig had parked at our home and he and Harper headed off to their house while I got in around 19.20 after seeing, for a friendly, a not bad game.

Teams

Liverpool: Mignolet, Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Matip, Robertson, Milner, Wijnaldum, Henderson, Fabinho, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Origi.

Subs: Lovren, Gomez, Lallana, Brewster, Lewis, Hoever, Duncan, Wilson, Elliott, Van Den Berg.

Napoli: Meret, Lorenzo, Masimovic, Manolas, Silva Duarte, Callejon, Zielinski, Insigne, Mertens, Milik, Verdi.

Subs: Gaetano, Younes, Hysaj, Tutino, Chiriches, Karnezis, Luperto, Ghoulam.