I’ve been critical of Alisson, and I think it’s true to say that the Alisson in his first season saves at least one of those Leeds shots. The near post one you’d expect him to do better with.
But that’s because he is an exceptional keeper who we’ve seen pull out incredible performances.
Think there’s a little tendency to overstate Leeds performance.
In many ways their goals, their ability to hang in there and overall novelty, dominates the post game narrative and kinda overshadows how dominant LFC was in terms of the decisive moments of the game.
Still think we could’ve done more to control the game in MF…
It’s kind of ironic that our fans have been mocking our rivals for having weak defences. Surely we will improve soon, and VVD will be back to his imperious best, but that needs to be against Chelsea, because they have serious attackers.
If that wasn’t a visionary post, then I don’t know what is.
I missed the game and really regret it, but glad that our lads have found a way to deal with this dangerous Leeds side. Glad also that Mo, who looked average at best during the pre-season games, found his scoring mojo when it mattered. Brilliant!
Everyone is saying how good Leeds looked, and I don’t disagree, but I can’t help thinking that we made them look a tad better than they should have with our defending.
I feel optimistic because our defense is always our strong point and we just have to sort that out going forward. Leeds played a high tempo game and put pressure on our guys, and that’s always going to be an issue for the first game of the season.
It’s probably a good thing that we’re playing Chelsea early in the season, before their new guys get in the groove (if they ever do…), 3 points is 3 points, and we still have our 3-pronged attack firing on all cylinders. It’s going to be a good season. YNWA!
The issue is that much like us, Bielsa’s approach requires them to move the ball really quickly. When it works, it has the potential for making a high pressing side like us look like tits. Their second goal is a great example of that. Twice we had players completely taken out of the play with a really clever aggressive touch from a Leeds player. Christ, the first one was from a full back (I think) with the outside of his though.
Trent just comes back from a longer injury lay-off and basically no pre-season training. Rustiness all over him. The other lads obviously weren’t at 100%, but that’s all to do with that ruthless pre-season training Klopp imposes on the players imo. I’m sure that as soon as the players start to recoup a bit of their mental and physical sharpness, we’ll start to see much better and more coordinated defence again.
Game had me on edge at first as our defense seemed a bit rusty, but I was very pleased to see Virgil score and Mo get a Hat Trick. That was needed as he appeared to be getting frustrated towards the end of last season. I was surprised Mane didn’t score at all. I sometimes wonder about his personality, not his playing abilities which are great, but, he doesn’t seem to mesh well with the core of the team with his outward displays. Maybe it’s just me? Anyway, good start to the season, but,it looks like it’s going to be a tough go until all cylinders are firing in harmony again. GO REDS!
Found the below interesting. Kind of compliments what you are saying that these teams open up themselves as well giving us a lot of score to score few ourselves. All four of the below teams sort of play with that quick tempo.
Makes you wonder if that’s a good strategy against us? Seems a high risk high reward strategy to me.
Exactly the right match at the right time in my oppinion. Leed’s effort and workrate cut out any hints of complacency right there and then.
Unusual error by Virgil looked odd but who cares - Mo was on fire, the game a cracker to watch and the result was the right one.
Tyler is a dick btw. Even practiced to pronounce Koch’s name correctly - I was sooo looking forward to them squirming around mentioning him:
“Cock blocked” , “Cock rises to head out” , “Cock slides in to tackle…”
Party poopers!
I think the hissy fits are very much coming from others. He was a 6 out of 10, bang average. But I have faith that a poor performance or two doesn’t mean that everything is fucked, that FSG are shit, Klopp is shit, that Virgil is now bang average.
But I accept people want to make it all doom and gloom all the time. To what end, I’m not really sure.