Yeah, I think we still have a lot left to learn about this team, but I’m not going treat a 10 min mini collapse in those circumstance of evidence of a lack of backbone. The team many are harkening back to as one that wouldn’t have let this happen to them had their pants pulled down in a 5-0 loss against City after losing Mane to a red. It had at least another couple of big spanking from City even when playing 1-1. Shit just sometimes happens.
I think it is interesting that this is the second time this season now we have been trying to send on a sub to address some change in the game dynamic and conceded while the guy was standing on the sideline. I suspect there is still some issue with the learning curve there where we’re not quite comfortable enough with Iraola’s approach to know how to react to a specific game situation without instruction or changes from the side line. That looks like inexperience more than bottle.
Interesting stat we had on our coverage was that in the first half liverpool conceded more free kicks than in any game at Anfield since 2018. Anderson was given more free kicks than any opposition player at Anfield ever (on record at least). It just was not that sort of game at all.
I think what you see from Kavanaugh is a ref going into the game with a narrative of liverpool being fired up and wanting to stick it to city. He wanted to stop it boiling it over so was on the look out of opportunities to rein us in early and often in an attempt to “keep control of the game.” You see this play out as well as him being harder on us wanting to restart the game quickly than on city going out of their way to prevent the game being restarted (at least 3 yellow cards were missed in the first half on that) because in his view, not allowing us to get up a head of pressure will help him keep a lid on the game.
He basically refereed “the occasion” he had in his head not the actual game. And he utterly fucked it up, not just treating the two sides in a completely different way but managing the game in a way that played right into one side wanted. And he will be praised for it by his peers and bosses. And this is why refereeing has become so bad because they have such an insular view of what make a good refereeing performance that is a million miles from the old “the ref has done well if you dont notice him” perspective.
In the past, I’d have agreed with you. Now, after having him watched fucking us over for the umptieth time, I’m just at the point at which I think he’s corrupt, without further in-depth considerations.
It is possible. I also don’t rule out there being a streak of personal animosity in play given how many of the top guys have had run ins with Klopp. But the more you dig into how the refs work at the top level the more you see how poorly aligned it is to producing good refereeing performances. It is just a bunch of small, petty men working in a bubble in which they are allowed to think they are more important than they are. So a lot of these performances you can perfectly adequately explain away as just bad performance by small, petty men.
Yeah, I wouldn’t rule out petty animosity. Either that, or being corrupt. I tend towards the latter at this point.
The point is that as we know that cheating is part and parcel of this league since a long time, something like that will be interpreted (maybe rightly, maybe not, who knows?) as further cheating.
That’s what Cheaty have done to us and our football. And those cunts in black do everything they can to support the idea that they are involved too in the cheating.
The 5-0 loss didn’t happen to Klopp’s all-conquering Liverpool but to the team that was on its way there. And that Cheaty side would demolish the current one. The two other heavy losses since then that I can think of are the 4-0 in the first game after securing the title in 2020 and the 1-4 the following year in an empty Anfield in what was Alisson’s worst performance to date, as he was responsible for 3 goals.
So yes, shit happens to everyone, it just seems to happen a bit too often to this Liverpool team.
On the post game video from TAW they blamed Araujo for the first goal because he got a yellow for waving a ghost card at the refs face but to be fair to him they forgot to mention that in La Ligua they are not punished for the doing that but at least he now knows not to do that in future howevever as Mr Goldbridge and many posters on here intimated, several Shitty players did the very same with impunity during the game.
Their most promising outlet for the first hour was Semenyo running at him and for the first time we saw Arajuo struggle a bit defensively. For all his defensive strength he is a big lump of a lad and maybe being isolated in 1 on 1s with a very good winger isnt the best situation for him, but I have no doubt at all that he was trying to play conservatively given the early yellow. How might the dynamic of the game changed had Anderson been forced to play with a booking for any of the 5 or 6 incidents he was involved in that were at least as worthy as a yellow of either of the 2 Grav got?
So I think its right to call out the dynamic, but think its a harsh read of the first goal. The ball fell to Halaand not because Doku was given too much room to find him, but was deflected from a shot that Arijuo blocked after some fairly diligent 1 vs 1 defending. It was damn unlucky.
This is an example of the dilemma we seem to have. He has some flaws in his game right now, primarily losing the ball too often too meekly. But the biggest issue is he isn’t directly creating enough goals that people reasonably expect from him. He is doing a LOT of this though, and so a lot of our best football is still flowing through him. This just isn’t what you spend over 100m on. Even if you drop him deeper into being an orthdox CM so he can be doing this all game, like a modern day Modric, that still isnt what you spend that sort of money on and leaves us a creative void that still needs to be filled.
I am angry about how this match turned out, but at the mean time, it all felt so meaningless, and pointless (maybe we will find Manchester City 115 next to these 2 words in the dictionaries soon? )
However, perhaps with the Cheaters winning, and the smug reaction of the Cheater’s players after scoring and post match, it stirred up more anger from football supporters all over the land, would be a good thing in the grand scheme of things.
Caution should be taken on interpreting SM as representative, but I dont think they made many friends yesterday with the way they conducted themselves.
Refereeing aside… our £100m+ signings continue to do nothing 0-0 G-A.
I have now given up on Wirtz being anything more than a good squad player. Talented, but is not worth anywhere close to the transfer fee paid.
Both Barcola and Wirtz couldn’t give us even 1 goal against Shitty. They had help too, with Macca, Munoz and Grav playing superbly.
I Blame this mainly on our recruitment process… when you spend £100m+ on a player, that player needs to hit the ground running or at least still give some goal contributions while bedding in, as an attacker.
But these zero stats every week is unacceptable.
I dont care what wirtz does for Germany. He does nothing for us. And he is regressing in (goals and assists).
We are doing the same with Barcola. Giving him excuses as new to league, new to team.
But his finishing is as advertised… (Not good)
Worst of all, he was generally not good in all his matches so far.
This is the PL, not Ligue.
Macca, Salah and Gakpo all had a bad season. And we slated them and wanted to sell/ rid all of them.
Now Gakpo and Macca are irreplaceable… and Salah looks rejuvenated albeit in a weaker league. But he can still score.
Interesting enough we will defend Wirtz and Barcola… but criticize Grav and Dom, the first chance they play poorly in midfield.
Just seen pictures of the Cheaters hierachy sat in the stands with fixed smurks on the faces as if butter wouldn’t melt…how have they got the gaul to sit there…not one of that group should be allowed in any football ground…wouldn’t trust any of them…they knew what barracking they would get…but so brazen just to sit there…so annoying…
The way Iraola plays doesnt lend itself well to being a man down. And either through his evolution to give them another string to their bow, or the players getting more comfortable with it to know how to adapt on the fly to a situation like this, it seems this was far more a tactics and circumstance thing than bottle.
Having our two centre backs, best tacklers etc, marking Haaland on the far post surely didn’t help when being a man down so tactics played it’s part.
We needed that extra body in Jacquet coming over to help out.
Still our major weakness was still that we weren’t putting pressure, or enough pressure, on their midfield. We just let them dictate. That’s weak mentally!
Anyway that’s the impression I got from the little I could bare to watch after Cheated 1st goal.
I also don’t feel these excuses are acceptable except in pointing out that we haven’t got a set of players who hassle the opposition enough!
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