Yep, we never seem to crowd refs, to try and change desicions…I think at times we should, but then we are lowering ourselves to the level of other shithousery clubs.
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Do they ever change decisions though, seems a bit fruitless to me and is a terrible example to junior players when the league promotes a respect campaign.
Chelsea are particularly bad for it and whilst it doesnt change decisions it defo influences and given how Anthony Taylor managed the game it had an influence on him because he let them get away with murder.
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I have to laugh sometimes…they’re actually pleading/begging for the ref to change his mind…near enough on their knees…yesterday, arsepilaquery grabbed the ref, then realised he was in trouble…they’re so creepy…
They don’t change the decision but it can, and does, make a noticeable difference in how much they can get away with later as was pointedly proved in the second half yesterday.
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A few thoughts from the game yesterday.
First I can report that there is a spade in the ground at the Anny Road end. No digging going on yet but there is a spade there for when we get round to starting. I had a lot of time to kill. Thanks to all the scare stories about massive queues and NFC ticket problems I got to the ground a full 2 hours before kick off. Usually I’m there about 20 minutes before but I thought I’d treat myself to some street food and just chill out. But there was no food available. WTF is that all about? Just a lone rogue ice cream van that was doing a roaring trade in the sun before someone from the club chased it off.
I was there so early I saw the coach arriving. Something I could never remember seeing before. Then it was time for me to undergo the rites of passage of NFC pass entry to Anfield. Predictably it didn’t work. In fact it didn’t seem to work for the majority of people I saw trying to get in. The bar code option did work. The club had sneakily kept very quiet about this option in the pre-season publicity about NFC which means that the NFC-enabled phone I bought for the sole purpose of gaining entry to the ground has quickly become an expensive white elephant.
After months of being told to stay away from people it felt weird being in the same place as 50,000 of my fellow human beings. It was like all my senses were under attack. Every stand was block red and every noise seemed so loud.
I wasn’t massively confident about this game. I don’t like playing big games so early in the season. Under Klopp we take time to get into our stride and it’s usually November when we hit top form. Chelsea are a proper team these days with a manager who knows what he’s doing so I thought we might struggle. We started OK but then fell behind. I can’t work out whether Havetz’s goal was brilliant or a fluke, but I wasn’t too worried as I could see us scoring.
The first half ended in uproar. Reece James handball was so obvious even Anthony Taylor saw it. Well, at least he saw it 2 minutes after everyone else and when someone had pointed it out to him on a TV screen.
I never thought Mo would miss. There was a time when I didn’t trust him from the spot but he’s worked on his technique and it was only ever going in. Mo scored. I lost my shit. Like completely lost my shit. When I came back down to Planet Earth I was confused about why most of the players and the ref were still stood in the penalty area. For a second I thought Taylor might be thinking of some way he could disallow it but it turned out I had missed some handbags between Hendo and Mendy.
At half time Chelsea were down to 10 men. George was on the decks playing Kashmir again and it was situation normal. Another Anfield victory beckoned, or maybe not?
We started the second half strongly. They were pinned in the their own half and unusually for us we were having potshots that Mendy was saving but not very convincingly. Then a strange thing happened. We stopped shooting and reverted to playing pass the parcel around their box, no one taking responsibility for having a shot, a run, a dribble or anything really that might bring about a goal. You could feel the energy and belief draining away and everything fell a bit flat.
Our last chance fell to Mo as for once we opened them up on the break. Unfortunately for Mo and for us the chance fell to him on his right foot which we all know is just for him to stand on and his shot rolled weakly into Mendy’s arms. It was like watching a toddler kick a bowling ball.
At the end it just felt frustrating. A missed opportunity. If it demonstrated one thing it’s that we don’t have an attacking option that offers a different kind of threat to the ones already on the pitch, but I’m not too upset about it yet. It’s early days and we will get better, assuming everyone stays fit. I usually measure how much I’ve enjoyed a game by how much voice I have left at the end of it and today I am still hoarse so I guess I must have had a pretty good time.
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Just read after the penalty Taylor didn’t give us another free kick for a foul despite Chelsea making 30 tackles.
I know this is just rhetorical but I think the goal of his that astounded me the most was on his right foot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTyAitl5Za8
I think that’s mainly because the forward options we have are almost basically complete forwards, just that they have good and bad days. This wasn’t a good day, and they had good opponents. If it was Everton or Arsenal we were up against we would definitely have had a field day.
Didn’t see the game and can’t thus comment on the game or player performances. In terms of results, the 1-1 is far from being catastrophic. A defeat would have been damaging, but a draw against an inferior Chelsea side is just a bit meh, and we move on. The real, serious run of games will start in two weeks anyway.
One thing I find strange though, and maybe someone can educate me: why was Elliot in the starting side? Surely, Keita should be ahead of him against a top side when he’s fit and in form as he has been so far? I’m all for giving youth players time on the pitch and confidence, but I find this decision very odd, almost lunatic.
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Could also ask why Klopp started Hendo AND Robbo who were clearly not at 100% or did not start in form Diogo.
‘poor decisions’ which led to not being able to bring on the players needed.
Harvey justified his start with a great performance for at least 65 minutes.
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I don’t get all this Keita been in form talk. What was so special he did in first 2 games I’m struggling to remember owt.
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He fights for scraps and wins. Great all round player and I understand Klopps confidence in him after seeing him play 1 time even if it was against a title challenger.
I think all those were good decissions for the starting lineup against chelsea. The errors were keeping Robbo on too long and subing off Hendo. Even if it didn’t pass perfectly Jota coming on to finish a match is much better than Firmino coming on, Firmino showed whilst he was on why he got the nod.
Klopp is with the players training every day so he knows more than all the rest of us put together as to who should start, my one little thing maybe Tsimikas could have come on 10-15 minutes earlier.
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yeah, im pretty sure i saw Mendy - on a yellow- touch the ref…not in a vicous way, but i was always under the impression that the ref is sacrosanct…you cant touch him even in honest goodwill.
when they are invading his space, if he feels a touch, out come the cards…that way the next ref can stand his ground.
its getting worse and worse this crowding the ref and influencing his decisions further into the game.
i understand the gamesmanship, banter and complaining is all part of the bigger picture, but the circling of the ref is becoming as bad, if not worse, than diving in the game.
at least with the diving it makes the forces the defensive movement to be direct and an honest attempt on the ball and holds back the thug element in the game.
bullying the ref (its what it is) serves absolutely NO purpose in modern football.
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That’s because he’s a cheat.
67% possession 2nd half, had them pressed back in their own half for 90% of it but apparently they didn’t commit one challenge worthy of a free-kick. Fucking bizarre.
The penalty incident reminded me of the Wolves game at Anfield in 19-20, Taylor disallowed Mane’s goal for handball against Lallana when replays clearly showed it came off his chest/shoulder. Once VAR got involved he had no option other than to give it.
His handling of the whole penalty incident yesterday was strange. When you look at the replays it’s possible there are 2 or 3 players blocking his view and he genuinely didn’t see it. So I found it strange he just took a cursory look at the monitor. Surely if he hadn’t seen it he’d want to have a good look at it before sending a man off and giving a penalty? So maybe he had seen it and knew he had nowhere to hide. I wouldn’t put anything past that prick.
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Agree completely.
It is time a penalty was introduced for this sort of behaviour.
In Rugby Union, if you behaved like this the ref would advance the ball ten metres and /or send off the offenders if they persisted.
A booking is not enough of a deterrent.
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100% agree its a terrible look for the game and needs to be stamped out.
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Barcelona has been doing this for years. Crowding the ref with 6/7 men with every decision that does not go their way.
Btw, I thought that van Dijk let Azpilicueta bully him with every corner, he did not give a fuck what Taylor said to him, preventing him to get to the ball.
Van Dijk should not let that happen to him.
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The irony of the refs getting praises for letting the game flow when that little shyte was making the most of every touch to fall in the box.
Towards the end when the ref came to intervene him and VVD, I knew there was only one outcome of that corner - free-kick to Chelsea because Azpilicueta will feign to go down on slightest of touches.
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On the subject of Azpilicueta cheating, keep an eye on him this incident. He goes down theatrically, holding his face as if poleaxed. Can anyone see any contact?
Head injuries are serious and have to be taken seriously. Feigning a head injury, simply to gain an advantage, must be penalised with retrospective bans.
PS. And why was no action taken against Kovačić wrestling Jota to the ground, or is this just letting the game flow?
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This was the exact incident I was referring to. Thanks.
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