Post match: Newcastle v Liverpool (EPL 4/12/24 7.30pm)

Replace him was the wrong word to backup his position as from now on he will likely breakdown and get injured again. We haven’t learned the lesson we had when we lost most of our CHs and were left to rely on Fabinho and two academy CHs our season unraveled as a result of that.

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That would require him to stay on his feet long enough.

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I’m not disputing his injury history, but this recent incident is a bizarre one to be making this conclusion from. Not sure how many of our players would walk that one off easily.

Again, a really bizarre “lesson” considering we were down to our 7th and 8th choice centrebacks to finish out the season. What’s the lesson there? Keep buying and buying and buying? There’s only so large a squad can get.

3rd choice RB who isn’t a right RB.
2nd choice CB.
LB who is now struggling to play 2-3 games per week due to exertions over many years, and no replacement LB.
Two very intense games in the previous week.
A ref who let them foul consistently.

Plenty of factors in that performance

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He’ll take one look at Conor steaming in and do a double pike somersault and kersplat

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With the amount of games coming up in the next month, I hope Slot can find it within himself to put a bit more faith in those on the fringes, particularly Endo, Morton and Elliott. Should really have killed that game as soon as we got the third goal, and with two sub windows left he could have wasted a decent portion of time getting two of them on and shutting up shop. Obviously can’t legislate for the howler at the end but it’s been a common theme that he often isn’t using the full allotment of subs and seemingly doesn’t have the trust in the midfielders beyond the regular four yet. The amount of minutes we are putting into Grav is a bit of a worry, thought he looked tired for the first time last night. Wouldn’t have him anywhere near the upcoming Girona, Southampton or Leicester games.

A draw isn’t the end of the world anyway considering we didn’t play particularly well away at a tough ground with officials determined again for some reason to use a different set of rules for us.

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Like arse and City when depleted we struggled with so many games. We need bodies back and maybe 2 in. But all in all a point at Newcastle is ok …. If we win at the weekend. But we know it’s their biggest game, they find more energy… let’s see.

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He’ll do that long before Conor gets near him and the fucking idiots refereeing the game will give him a free kick for it.

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It is in Gordons DNA to go to ground at the slightest touch. If you are a team that relies upon free-kicks and a stop/start mentality to their tactics, to get the team up the pitch, he is ideal.
For a team like LFC, that epitomises free flowing football at all times, building the pressure up and up and up… Gordon is the worst type of player to have in the side.
How his name ever got linked with a move to us, baffles me

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Felt like Gordon tried to mock us with the two parts of his goal celebration:

First he did a ‘talking too much’ gesture with his hands and then another Newcastle player put an imaginary crown on his head like Trent once did with Salah.

He probably really thinks he is better than Mo and still disappointed we didn’t sign him.

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I get the disappointment, but if he thinks he’s anywhere close to the same level…

He’s got to score another 10 goals just to be on parity this season, for a start.

Speaking of which, one silver lining from this game: the legitimate King is back where he belongs, on top of the scoring charts.

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Such a frustrating night against the barcodes, on any number of levels. Mascot hits most of it in a very good post. I’m not furious about it though, as in some ways a flat showing was almost to be expected.

The key will be to not let it linger, but instead to bounce right back with the three points. A derby against Everton always sees them raise their game against us. The fact that this is the last one at Goodison will probably given them even more impetus.

So it will be crucial for us to match their endeavor and not allow their physicality to win the day. What I would give for a young Stevie or Souey in the line up right now. Quality for days, and all the bish-bosh you need for occasions like this.

Anyway, the lead has been cut down by a couple of points, but overall we are still doing so well. It’s important to bounce right back against Everton. Game on!

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So you think we should hsve 3 right backs.

Just to recap what happened that season, we lost all three centre backs, both the lads we redeployed from midfield, and both the lads we brought in in January went down. By the end of the season we were down to our eighth and ninth choice.

I’m always amused by the idea that keeping Lovren - who had a notable ability to find himself injured right when we needed a fourth choice to come in - would have eased the crisis. And equally, buying a replacement in the summer, given the way the injuries panned out, isn’t a guarantee of any improvement.

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van Dijk, Gomez, Matip, (Fabinho, Henderson), Kabak, Davies, Phillips, Williams for those who want a reminder of that wonderful time.

The way it’s spoken of is as though we had two Woodgates as centre-backs and that was it.

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I was really intrigued by the idea of seeing Fabinho and then Henderson at Centre Back, as part of my ongoing fascination with playing players out of position. But also because one of my biggest football regrets is that Gerrard didn’t make the switch to Centre Back around 13/14. I know there were always questions about his positional awareness, but in terms of career longevity, I think he could have played on for another two or three years by dropping deeper.

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Didn’t Harry Kewell end up as an improbable centre back?

I will always remember Rafa actually saying he saw Gerrard playing further forward towards the end of his career, around the time when he was being questioned about playing Gerrard as an attacking midfielder rather than a box-to-box.

Rafa: Gerrard can play striker | Eyefootball – this seems to be the only source I can find now but at least it’s somewhat contemporaneous.

All fair points.

Still would argue there was a fair bit of experience in a back four that was opened up more than we would like, which makes one wonder what the issues were in the midfield…

Anyways…two intense games? Brushing aside minnows?

He gives the impression to me of just being a really ugly and nasty piece of work to be honest. One of those people that you just dont like.

He would probably love me saying that.

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