I re watched the Palace game a few days ago. Hendos influence was immense. Him and Thiago in there together could be something special.
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Problem is we are not going to create a lot of chances while we help the opposition to defend by building up slowly and forcing more bodies into their own penalty area. The long ball over the top is o.k. occasionally but not when it becomes your main weapon.
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There was at least three passages of play yesterday in which for some unknown reason the player instead of turning around going forward went back into a horde of (whatever colour shirts Man Utd had on) and lost the ball, Shaq was responsible for one and Gini for one, it may have been Gini on the other.
It was just so disheartening at times to watch guys who are so much better doing the simple things poor.
At the end of the day it was fine, everything was good up until that final pass, move or detail. Maybe we simply put it down to injuries and fatigue I just dunno why since we scythed Palace down we haven’t at least considered Minimino in that front three, is it because one came off sulking and tabloid crap from another came out the day after.
If they want to be like that as I said show the last 4 games and ask them is that really good enough.
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We was robbed.
The “we” I’m referring to is @Walshy07 and myself. We were denied the win we coveted to celebrate our respective birthday’s. We were denied by a combination of the manurite referees’ cabal and our inability to shoot, especially from outside the box.
And, apparently ending the first half early to thwart our attack, is an acceptable practice, according to that infallible judge, mark cl(tw)attenburg, no doubt adding in a sotto voice, “only if manure are not the team in possession”.
Defensively we were sound; Hendo and Fab combined well, however their makeshift paring shows how little confidence Jürgen must have in either Rhys or Nat, with Joel still not fit enough to return to the fray. Our failure to buy a replacement for Lovren / cover for Matip in the Summer, or to bring a centre back in this window, really does look like it might come back to haunt us.
In midfield Tiago was excellent, and Shaq showed why he should be involved more often. Gini was steady although prone to taking one or two touches too many. We miss the likes of Hendo & Fab in midfield, another consequence of not having satisfactory backup at centre-back. Jones’ introduction on 76 minutes for Shaq, did nothing; like Gini he has a tendency to dwell too long on the ball. After showing promise early in the season, he clearly isn’t ready to be a regular.
Up front, all three, but especially Bob misfired. We really can’t get Jota back soon enough both for his goal scoring abilities and to put pressure on the three. I’ll bet Jürgen is kicking himself for choosing to play him in the dead rubber against the Danish thugs.
And why don’t we shoot more often from outside the box? We always seem to want to take the extra touch, another pass, just to get into the perfect position. Unfortunately all this does is to allow the defenders time to pack the box and crowd our players off the ball. Obviously we have learnt nothing from the game against the villains. Sometimes blasting the ball into the box isn’t a bad option.
Overall a frustrating match we could and should have won. But at least we didn’t lose to manure, so we should be thankful for small mercies.
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It was your birthday too…
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The situation with the officials is now a piss take. It goes on and on because the national media say nothing about clear question marks. That our own ex players are on national TV but don’t push back on it either is particularly galling.
I remember Kompany practically crying about injustices against City in the studio, after we beat them at Anfield last season.
Yet when we do ask questions as a club, the national media reacts hysterically.
There are many issues in what refs are doing;
- Stopping our flow offensively and helping opponent’s flow offensively:
Refs blow for fouls against us that they don’t give for us, often stopping our attacks and counter attacks and hindering our pressing game. It goes under the radar, but in aggregate it definitely affects results. Yet opponents get away with obvious fouls, take the ball away and counter attack us.
Refs play on when we’re caught offside and the opponent counter attacks quickly, yet make us take the free kick when the opponent gets caught offside and we have a chance to counter attack.
- Allowing injury risking foul play against our players:
There is a clear open house on our players. Sly afters, thuggish challenges, all not given as fouls, cards not brandished, or severity of card not as it should be. All whilst giving cards to our boys for next to nothing.
- Goals and penalties:
Giving penalties against us when they can, often very debatable incidents, only giving stonewall penalties to us.
Analysing every goal we score and spending five minutes after every tight call to try and disallow it, whilst barely looking at similar incidents when opponents score (Son).
IMO our issue is that we’ve been backed into a corner because we have some issues that have affected results regardless, and whilst we’d not be as far ahead as last season, decisions have meant we’ve less points than we should have. We should still be top.
The pressure has grown and it’s now easy for our complaints to be brushed off as desperate.
It’s not being negative to be concerned.
The centre back situation has affected everything else. It’s taken our best two midfielders out of midfield, it’s affected the full backs, it’s meant an ever changing midfield and it’s contributed to the forward issues.
I have no doubt we will finish top four if Matip plays half or more of our remaining games, Alisson stays fit, Jota returns by early Feb and we don’t have another injury crisis.
The title is probably 50/50 in the above scenario, very unlikely if we have any more significant injuries, and it’s not unreasonable to worry about top four if Matip goes out for the season and/or Alisson gets injured again.
Complacency is often a key factor in empires falling. We should not be complacent.
Covid has really fucked us, it really is soul destroying that it came along just as we got back on our perch. Aside from the affect on the team of no fans, and on club finances, our financially astute owners will also know all about the risks to the financial system that are down the road, and this will be at play.
But not getting top four would be a huge deal. It’s not unfair to say that it could basically wreck the remainder of Klopp’s time here and even shorten it.
To that end, I still maintain that it would be wise to sign a decent centre back this month.
Remember that suspensions will start to kick in soon. Fabinho is two cards away from one.
Imagine going to Spurs without him.
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Even Dermott Gallagher admitting Tierney fucked up by blowing for HT when he did. This is a bloke who more or less never says a referee made a mistake.
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Completely agree on the referee.
All the talk about VAR is utterly misplaced, I actually enjoy VAR when it’s deployed properly i.e. professionally with a degree of competence. My partner has completely lost all interest in watching us as she doesn’t understand any of the refereeing decisions any more.
It’s not even the big issues like penalty calls, but the small issues. The constant bringing play back when we’re counterattacking after an offside. What was up with that? I nearly blew my top off at that. For all those who say there’s no grand conspiracy, I’d really like to believe that, but the farcical nature of the refereeing makes it harder and harder to do so every week.
My big beef isn’t whether fouls in general are “too soft”, or whether a referee is “whistle-happy”. I just don’t understand how people think we can perform well, when the same tackles or worse that get our players booked, become fair play for the other team, or even a foul against us when it’s done on us!
I don’t care for the whole idea of “oh but all teams think that way”. There have been many decisions which once they show the replay, I would go “yeah, fair play that was bad from us”, but this season is just ludicrous. How on earth Clattenburg’s comments get forgotten so quickly is beyond me.
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It’s not up for debate. +1 means at least 60 seconds, not 56 if you need a piss, can’t be arsed running for the extra for 4 or you don’t want Liverpool to score.
This is the most basic, simple thing for a referee to get right. Between this and the farcical added on time at Palace heads need to start rolling.
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I would like to advocate a call for Boudica’s future sacrifices to be far more effective. The odd burning at the stake or perhaps being quartered may be an option to consider.
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When Utd players were clearly offside play continued into another phase and then play was stopped as the flag was raised.
This happened 3 or 4 times first half
Liverpool player in same situation is flagged?
Why?
It could lead to injury/red card etc if a defender dives in thinking the opposing striker is on.
I think its contrived, and an advantage to Utd was being sought every time. Its really annoying at this stage. Just add it to the Mane decision.
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Maybe a post/discussion for the Mo thread but what does Kevin Palmer mean when he says Liverpool “clearly have a problem with Mo Salah and that has been the case since the reprimand following the wedding/Covid issue”?
Don’t know the details, but interesting about Mo. We do know he went to the wedding and got covid. I think it was his brother, so from a human standpoint, a very understandable trip to watch your brother get married. But then I don’t know the details.
What if the club said no, and Mo went anyway?
What if the club said wedding ceremony only, wear a mask, no party… and Mo partied, stayed longer, and everyone didn’t wear masks?
Lots of possible variables that I don’t know the answer to, but if Mo was reprimanded when he returned, it explains some of the surliness we’ve seen. Then again, it could easily be nothing. Strikers get a bit moody when they aren’t scoring, so that explains it too!
A couple of comments by Klopp a little while ago about not keeping a player against his wishes were interesting. Some media smoke about Mo wanting a move, and normally that stuff is ignored, but when Klopp spoke it added a little weight.
Smashing player, and if he stays, he will score many more goals here. But if he goes, it will be for a tidy sum and I will wish him well… and at that point we will sign another striker, with a Nike inspired Mbappe the dream.
As for the game against Man Utd, we could have won and we could have lost. We had most of the play but they carved out two good chances and easily could have got the three points themselves. We aren’t quite firing and work needs to be done. If there’s a little disharmony or discord in the camp, Klopp needs to get on top of that so the season doesn’t suffer even more.
Oh, and Jota! How we could have used him up front during this dry spell. We bought him to rotate with the main three, to keep everyone sharp. At just the time they’ve gone off the boil he is out after injury in a dead rubber against Midgtyyland. That one still frustrates.
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THIS. repeatedly, over and over again. so fucking frustrating to watch.
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Well, the fact is we are one injury away from derailing hopes of a top 4 place. If Fabinho gets injured, we are in a mess. Matip, we can never rely on him to stay 5 games being fit. We have got to dig deep and add a player , find a solution, if it takes a few millions extra.
It was so frustrating watching City’s defence last night. How a flt Van djik could bail us out with headers in tight games.It just goes to show how much our centre backs are important for our gameplay, that it suffers without them.
Sadly, even the full backs are completely off the boil. Robbo looked like a hull city player last night and I am afraid to say this but, at times he is too one dimensional . Lots of running with endless pointless crossing without ever reaching a single forward player.
Partly the blame goes on the fact that there is not enough competition for places. And even if there is , either they are injured, or Klopp isn’t putting them on, basically not utilising the squad strength at hand. I feel at times some of the players have become too comfy and they get away with a poor performance.
The only thing I want to say about the forwards is, I just don’t like the starting position of Mane and Mo. They are far too close to the by-line and then expect themselves to become Messi and walk past 5-6 players to shoot. They need to be in the box for me …more often than not. It’s not like we have midfield runners who will shoot , for which the forwards need to stay wide to create space.
Lastly,Monday started on a worst note, as I read somewhere today that Jota’s recovery is now 2 weeks further delayed and will only be available around mid-feb 
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Yes me and my son did just that it was great
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I was a bit depressed by that performance. The team is completely unbalanced with Henderson and Fabinho as CBs. We don’t have the pressing power in the midfield or the energy that these two provide and we need. United had their deckchairs out for most of that game. They defended comfortably and were the better team in the second half. Had two great chances, easily the best of the game. Alisson saved our arses.
We have just run out of ideas up top. So predictable. Passing in front of them the whole time then lobbing in a hopeful cross to no one. Mo tries to do too much and Bobby can’t seem to do anything right at the moment. We just don’t have the drive in midfield to pen teams in their own half or to create chances through the counterpress like we normally do.
We probably just need a break. A goal from anywhere just to get us going again. I’m sure we will come good again but the CB situation is really over-shadowing everything right now and the knock on effect on the whole team is obvious.
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Finally someone mentioning the diabolical decision from Tierney to blow his whistle early just as Mane was about to score! At that moment I thought the world was against us!
A lot of thoughts.
I think City are looking like the favorites at the moment, and Klopp is right that we’re in a battle for top four at the moment. Given the injuries, and maybe I’m late compared to some of you, I’m starting to realize that we might have to adjust our expectations. When we drew against Brighton and Everton, I thought “we got hosed” in both situations by VAR/officiating. When we drew against Fulham, I went “shit day at the office.” When we drew against WBA, I went “classic Big Sam.” When we drew against Newcastle, I went “that’s the last draw for a while, we’ll win the next one.” Then the next one happened. Yet, the fact that — despite our worst run of form in ~3 years — we’re somehow just 3 points off the top is crazy. Gives me the faintest bit of hope. That said, on the flip side, I do recognize that the table is so condensed that we are only one or two more bad results away from falling further down.
Before the game, I had a nagging feeling that United were going to get a jammy 1-0 with a penalty or set piece, particularly with the media going “they’re flying and Liverpool are struggling.” With that in mind, I do think it was important that United didn’t win, mainly to stem the media love-in they’ve been receiving for the last month or so. They are a decent side who can attack well, but I don’t think they’re as good as their recent results suggest, and they have been fortunate in so many games this year. Imagine if they won at Anfield, something they hadn’t done five years to the day…we would have started hearing about how it was written in the stars. It still may well be, but it feels less like that after yesterday, thank goodness. Crazy to think how much the narrative can change in weeks — four weeks ago, after the Palace game, they thought we were going to walk it. Hey, there’s still time in the season for it to change again!
Our own performance was obviously concerning. We started well, the workrate was there, but even considering their defensive discipline, our final ball and decision making in the final third was abysmal. At the same time, I thought we did pretty well defensively against a potent offense and with two midfielders at center back. The injuries have killed us this year, no doubt, and while the two big ones in defense have had a knock-on effect of making players play out of position, the irony is that we’ve actually done decently well in defense. Probably a result of a slightly lower last block, but still.
On that note, I’m absolutely done with Matip and Keita. Made of fucking glass. (Welcome them to the “what could have been” group alongside Aurelio, Agger, Sturridge, etc.)
In terms of positives, Alisson was the difference between a draw and us losing that game. There have been so many United games at Anfield over the Premier League years where their goalkeeper has made a flying save and then we’ve given up a stupid goal and they’ve won a jammy game — Forlan’s double, Rooney in 2005 and 2016, could even argue Reina fumbling Ronaldo’s free kick to the feet of O’Shea. Yesterday would have been the same but, unlike in the other cases, we had a genuinely world-class goalkeeper (Reina was up there at his best, but not as good as Ali methinks). About damn time.
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Was just about to type this. He blew six seconds early.
Normally I’m alright with that if the game is just petering out and and there is nothing on. Fine blow a couple of seconds early. Whatever.
But blowing early when a player is clean through on goal? That’s absolutely fucking scandalous. It needs raising and investigating.
I’d make timekeeping much less arbitrary. I don’t want to go American Football, but I do think there is a problem with team killing added time. From three minutes of added time, it’s quite normal that a team will destroy two minutes of it with subs, blag cramp, or the goalkeeping ‘clutching it gratefully time his chest’
So my proposal would be once added time is reached, then the ball must be in play for that time. The watch is stopped every time it goes out of play.
It also shouldn’t be the referee. I’d take that out of the hands of refs. Mind you, I’d take the whole refereeing of football games off referees. Sub-contract it to Capita or something. Can’t be any fucking worse than this shower.
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