Post match: Man Utd v Liverpool (EPL 22/8/22 8pm)

The Albert Match Days
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I didn’t see a lack of effort from the lads to be honest, rather a lack of cohesion and fluidity in our game, in offensive situations as well as in defensive ones. The lads looked stale, yes, but rather because of either, lack of fitness, or not knowing really well how to move on the pitch and find other players and bringing them into the game.

To be fair, the mancs were good in their transitions between offensive and defensive. They managed to nullify our attacks and expose our weaknesses at the back. They deserve some credit for giving us a game. Of course, the lads should still have clattered them if they had played at a fraction of their usual levels. But their game was off for long spells in the game, and not for the first time this season.

I wonder if our pre-season preparation hasn’t been too hard this time around. So many injuries in the squad, and those still on the pitch seem at 50% at best of their usual level. Klopp is known for inflicting pain on his players during pre-season. Has he gone too far this time?

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367

There’s a few players in our squad, who make Daniel Sturridge look like
‘Iron Man’.

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Salah’s a shadow of his former self, but still our goal threat. Need others to step up too. We screwed if he, or Diaz, get injured

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Why are they both starting SO wide on the pitch!! It’s hard enough when you play more central but attack-wise it’s suicidal for our scoring chances if our only two goal threats are so far away from goal.

Can someone explain the tactical thinking here? I don’t get it

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Raj is a cock with an anti-Henderson agenda. He can get to fuck…

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That is absurd. You do realise that people can train well even if they’re smiling and/or joking right?

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And we’re constantly sticking crosses into box with 1 attacker v 4 defenders. It’s like we’ve changed shape for Darwin, even when he’s not playing

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We look like we’re playing at the end of a season rather than the start. In the seasons where we’ve done well under JK we’ve looked sharp and focused right from the first game. There’s been no evidence of that at all so far. So many players miles out of form, or injured, or just looking a bit knackered. Everything and everyone looks jaded. Even Klopp. He’s been uncharacteristically irritable in press conferences this season. It’s like they all needed another month off.

Last night I couldn’t see us scoring and it was a genuine shock when we actually did. For all his faults Nunez makes us less predictable. I love Bobby but he is past it now and the CBs have their deckchairs out when he plays. It’s like we’ve got an enormous hole in the middle of the attack. Also I’m sick of seeing teams run through one on one. Every game it happens. Doesn’t matter who plays CB. The margins are so fine on offside a lot of it is down to luck. We didn’t get lucky last night and we can’t expect Alisson to save us every time. We’ve got to be much tighter at the back. Klopp said it himself last Jan, ‘Defence first’. He needs to remind himself and everyone else why he said that.

Added to all this there’s no control in the midfield. The debates about who plays there can go on and on but the bottom line is our record without Thiago in the midfield is ordinary. If he’s not available we can’t control games, even against limited teams like United. The people who said we needed to reinforce the midfield this summer have 100% been proved right. I thought we could get away with it but we obviously can’t and we must do something about it.

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LOL…nothing to see here…

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I mean, wasn’t the whole point of Iron Man that he built something to keep himself alive?

Sturridge better get inventing…

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I’m not 100% sure about that. Feels to me like he’s slowly getting back to his regular performance levels.

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I would love to see VDB start at right back against Bournemouth and play Trent in front of him.

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I mean can’t be any worse defensively

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No, and he might surprise us also Trent can be all out attacking.

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That was 30 minutes into the game, we were better after that period they showed that so it’s more an indication of the poor way we started rather than the game as a whole.

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Would love to experiment with this but would be more confident if we had a top class RB to cover

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Since 2017, we’ve really only had one major blip of sustained bad form, and that was due to unprecedented injuries (and we still managed to salvage that season). That is amazing consistency, and if not for oil money, would see us win a string of titles.

DDL – the start to this season is troubling for sure, and with the outlook on injuries there is some concern over the next month. This could just be a mini dip or, according to some, the start of stagnation. As ever, it’s a game of opinions. What is certain, however, is that Klopp has more than earned the right to have a middling season, with the future outlook and planning still being bright.

There are many young (and new) fans for whom this is something different. For those that lived through the Souness years/ the 30 year wait/ the oh so near seasons, will have something to compare.

Social media has turned a lot into “live for the moment here and now” types, full of hyperbole. Just look at Man Utd – they were in the doldrums a day ago, staring into the abyss of the championship, and after one game, some are now acting like they have transformed into Brazil circa 1982.

We need X, Y and Z. Never mind that Klopp’s whole journey in management has never been a chequebook manager. The shiny new toy. Grass green if only we had X instead of the useless (!) Curtis Jones or take your pick. A few years back, it would’ve been wtf is Andy, we need Ryan Sessegnon. Splash out £150m for him, as he’ll be in the team for 15 years. Rather, Klopp will wait for the right player.

How many times have we heard in the last 4 years in this and the previous incarnation forum, let’s buy Mbappe, even while Mane, Salah and Bobby were creating history. Yes, if had Jose Mourinho, then he would be calling out FSG right after yesterday’s defeat that he needs your Judes, and he needs them right now.

As for my view, this is just a small blip, and we will get it sorted pretty soon. Get behind the team, cut out the negativity of booing certain players, and see where we are after 10 games or so. I’m not being a superfan with this post. I get it. It’s a forum, we are going to be discussing strategy/transfers/what the team needs to do right now/etc.

But it needs to be done without resorting to hyperbole. FSG can certainly splash the cash. But we are living within our means against the likes of $hitty, Barcodes, and Chelsea who have been gifted over a billion.

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Difficult to say. Carvalho certainly started to make things happen but we still huffed and puffed a bit.

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This, I have my concerns with how we have started and I think if I’d watched the second half after Rashford had scored I might feel a bit more hopeful but the injury issues are certainly concerning, I said elsewhere even if it looked like say Jota or Jones (or others) were on the verge of returning I’d be ok but seem to be losing more without any returning.

I do think we have the means to buy and I think we need to consider a purchase in CM as there is zero reliablity in most of the options and having to play Hendo, Fabinho and Milner every game especially with the run that is about to happen just risks it getting worse.

We play home twice the next two, they are not easy games but we need to try and win both.

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