I am not making an excuse. Just highlighting an important aspect.
Take Lovren as an example. He is a decent defender. What stops him from being a top-class player is his own mental insecurity. I remember seeing an interview, where he described his emotional swings while playing (from world-class to idiot).
Because of that he was always a level below top tier.
The league is full of players like Lovren. Players were an emotional maturity that would make all the difference. This is more weighted towards the weaker PL teams, than the stronger ones.
Its not an excuse for not performing, but highlighting for me it will be more difficult this year for us.
All crowds are not equal. Under Klopp at this time, ours helps to raise our players’ games while it can also overwhelm opponents. That’s just a fact.
At other grounds you can get home crowds that are either largely silent (like Arsenal) or who turn against their own players at the drop of a hat and boo them.
So no crowds DOES take away an advantage of ours. Of course, as a visiting team we will also benefit at the grounds that can also be cauldron-like for opposition teams, we shall see.
At this level winning or not often comes down to the slimmest of margins, and even the smallest % difference can affect the outcome.
But is there another club in the league where the bond between players and support is so strong? I’ve never seen another team be hauled over the line by their supporters like our has been in the past.
It’s not excuse making to have an honest discussion about the impact of crowd absence, and I’m personally a bit sick of our less calm fans crying excuses when there is an interesting conversation to be had.
I wanted to quote you but I dont know how to do that with ease om the phone. Anyway, just wanted to say that while the crowd gives us an advantage, the by far biggest one is to play on the pitch you know intimately. So I am not sure I like that much the claims that we did not have proper home advantage. I think it goes without saying that our players have an advantage on the Anfield pitch compared to Leeds, who last played there decades ago:)
Our entire approach to the game is to apply suffocating pressure to the opponent. It is absurd to suggest that a loud crowd does not amplify that. Due to the way we play, there is an additive, maybe synergistic effect that clubs who play a different way (city) or have a less furverent game day support (city) do not have and so will not suffer from not being present.
The only difference could be the refs who used to act like they are not afraid giving big decisions against us, and not getting intimated by the crowd.
But that won’t matter if the refs itself are useless. So no positives, lol.
On LFCTV’s Match Reaction show after the game,Jason Mcateer made a good point about the crowd making a big difference to how players play.He said that when Anfield is packed and the crowd are in full voice,players are switched on a lot more,you’re more focused about whats happening on the pitch and also the crowd will let you know aswell.
When playing in an empty stadium,he likened it to playing a reserve game or training match,where you’re not fully focused,you try silly things that you normally would’nt do during a game because the pressure is off and you have nobody to really slaughter you if it doesn’t come off,plus it doesn’t really mean anything in those games.
It’s why he thought VVD tried that silly side kick to let in Bamford to score,if the Kop was full,they’d have warned him and he’d have kicked it into row Z,he also thought the 4 defenders going away to play for 3 different countries and playing 3 different defensive tactics,was also one of the reasons our back 4 were slightly off their game aswell,as when he was with Ireland,he was told to just kick it up the pitch and get rid of it but when he came back to LFC he had to remember not to give the ball away or he’d get a kicking for it.Makes some sense in a way i guess.
Good point above about all crowds no being equal. Our crowd gives a decent advantage to us with the passionate support, for sure. Some teams like Man City are used to playing in front of a manufactured atmosphere, pump up the volume on the speakers, so for them it will be an advantage to play in empty stadiums as their whole style is quite sanitized.
They can just go to work, do their job, and the emotions at the game… part of what makes football so compelling, are not in play the same this year, but it won’t affect an emotionless, soulless outfit like Abu Dhabi’s Man City. If anything it will help lift them.
the discussion is being had right now is it not? It’s only that I do not agree that crowd impact should be a reason as to why the team is unable to hit high levels or maintain focus. It’s a new season, we are the premier league champions. On those facts alone we should be able to drive ourselves and execute accordingly.
I recognise the role crowds play when it comes to pushing teams on. This I agree on, heck why would you be a fan if you cannot appreciate crowd impact. But given the COVID situation and all that, these are the parameters that need to be played in. Fans will be back in some capacity next few months unless something goes wrong (knock on wood). In the meantime we have a flurry of incoming fixtures. Chelsea, Carabao cup fixture TBD and Arsenal. Of those 3 Arsenal is the one most of us have circled. Why? Because its at home and its against a team who have somewhat gotten the best of us in the last 2 encounters. If that’s not enough motivation, we need the players to defend the home front even when the fans are not there. Keep the Anfield record strong as time goes on and people seek ways to overcome the COVID situation. For Chelsea what more motivation do you need? Lampard opening his mouth and yapping, taking shots at Jurgen. This should already be sufficient motivations for our players who KLopp has called Mentality giants.
Even if we lose, which is perfectly fine, I just don’t agree that lack of crowd should be the reason we give. It’s ok if others want to use it I guess ok, but i don’t think that is the reason we leaked goals all throughout pre season and then now.
Just because we have to acknowledge that this is the situation we have to deal with does not mean we have to pretend that all teams are affected equally by the situation.
I can respect that point sure. I don’t have to 100% agree but I can respect it.
I don’t see the pretending aspect here, I agree that the crowds play a factor, but if we don’t have the crowd then what are we supposed to do? Not play the game? If its affecting teams why even bother playing? And if you want to play , how does one overcome that? Our staff and team are there to provide solutions to the problem. We need to find ways to overcome the lack of crowds during this period, not just simply be resigned to it.
Given that its just been one game so far, I do concede at this point that it is better to have a wait and see approach when it comes to this point.
The team has had games to adjust to this and have pulled out some decent performances. The game against Chelsea was one last season and the Crystal Palace game last season , which has shown this team is perfectly capable of turning on the engine when need be. I feel its about refining and hitting those strides in performance on the pitch. That’s just how I feel about it. Anfield is special in itself, its a representation of the fans, and that should be enough pride and motivation for the players moving forward I hope, at least till fans can return to the stadium once again.
