Post match: Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool (21/02/26 14:00 GMT)

[JU97ICE]

@Bekloppt

Virgil was about to protest before he realised that we’d scored.

Its actually far worse than that: Instead of celebrating with his teammates he deliberately stayed on the ground and pleaded for action to be taken, possibly because he was sure VAR would find some way to rule the goal out and then bald-headed arse-face Taylor could say “well you never asked for the penalty so it can’t be awarded!”

From the outside it might look like he’s just being selfish but he’s just playing the smart game fighting a rigged set of rules.

[Flobs]

If you only have one player in midfield and the opposition have 5 or 6 it doesn’t matter how good that one midfielder is it’s a thankless task.
When we lose the ball we get at least 6 players back. When we get the ball we try to get at least 6 players forward.
At times we don’t even have one player in midfield. If we do get one player in midfield and he gets the ball he gets no support.

[Bekloppt]

Glad it wasn’t just me GK.

[Noo_Noo]

@Mascot

I’m not convinced that the midfield aren’t experiencing a downstream effect of the front line just being woefully thin and allowing the ball to make its way into midfield under absolutely no pressure. I remember going to a coaching seminar on pressing a while ago, and one of the points being made was that one of of the hardest things to implement in developing a pressing system is that it’s a thankless task for your front players. 9/10 the pressing will seem like it has no impact. The defender will find a way to get the ball through the lines and into midfield. But the point is that in making that pass under pressure, you are increasing the possibility that the pass isn’t perfect and a ball winning situation is created in midfield.

With us at the minute, the opposition are passing that ball into midfield under very little pressure, which means the pass is perfect and the midfielder has it under control and our midfield has a more difficult job to compete for it.

Having Gakpo and Salah either side of Ekitike is like saying to opposition defenders ‘ Take your time lads, and pick your pass’

That said I thought some individual midfield performances were absolutely abject yesterday. Jones has had a lot of sympathy for his inability to get into the team of late. But he did nothing that suggested he wanted to grab his opportunity. It was a performance that reeked of arrogance and entitlement. I saw him get robbed of the ball three times, and his attempt to get it back was limited to waving at Anthony Taylor for a foul he was never getting.

The only plus for him was that Mac Allister was just as bad.

I don’t think that’s the full story. Given the squad we have we should be dominating many games from the middle. We simply aren’t. Forest enjoyed nearly 48% possession, more shots on goal a higher open play xG among other things.

I am always of the belief that a midfield is the heart and the engine room on any side. Get that area right and the other areas function better.

[Limiescouse]

@dalglish

Also why was Macca’s goal ruled out? The replay I’ve seen indicated that, at worst, his hand was in a natural position, and more importantly there was no conclusive evidence it even struck it - looked much more likely his back.

Watching live I was really hopeful they were not going to be able to confidently enough say it came off his arm rather than his back. I certainly couldnt see clear enough evidence for that. Except there is an angle that shows his arm jerk forward from the impact which I think is clear enough evidence of where it hit him

[Flobs]

Yes, there was that one angle that was shown fleetingly that clarified the arm/elbow impact.

[mattyhurst]

Voted Konate motm for that cartwheel.

[mattyhurst]

Hit his arm but unless he was one armed it would regardless. I can totally understand why the rule is there but in this case it’s just silly.

Like if unintentionally the ball bounced off a guy’s arm in the net then understand but he couldn’t do one thing about that.

[Limiescouse]

Amusingly the rule exists in direct response to the outrage at a goal Suarez scored for us after the ball hit him on the arm from point blank range and he put away the rebound. The fact he had the temerity to celebrate drove people insane and so I genuinely think it is only because he is hated so much that there was such an outcry that made FIFA respond

[sgs]

But its clearly not about the squad you have but the team you produce with it!

Our press is not effective because of individual failures and lack of familiarity at the top end, and the lack of connection across the system.

If this seasons proven anything its that its not simply about the quality of the squad…

[Mascot]

@Limiescouse

The fact he had the temerity to celebrate drove people insane and so I genuinely think it is only because he is hated so much that there was such an outcry that made FIFA respond

I remember the outcry about him kissing his wrist in a display of shithouse antagonism. Which I thought was a bit odd at the time, as he had scored the most goals in the country at that point, and kissed his wrist after all of them.

[Limiescouse]

Yeah, that was exactly it.

"look at him, he’s laughing at us. He knows he’s handled it, the cheating cunt. "

[Noo_Noo]

@sgs

But its clearly not about the squad you have but the team you produce with it!

Our press is not effective because of individual failures and lack of familiarity at the top end, and the lack of connection across the system.

If this seasons proven anything its that its not simply about the quality of the squad…

But pressing is irrelevant when you have the ball. We should be dominant, in many games, across the entire spectrum of statistics available to us. We are not.

My point is that domination like that ultimately stems from the midfield. Ours clearly isn’t working, and we need to be asking why that is, given that same midfield won the PL last season.

[koptician]

I can’t remember times under Houllier how our performances were after long breaks but ever since Rafa…
We have NEVER played well with lengthy breaks. Literally not one single time.
Like @Hope.in.your.heart mentioned, it may be that we will see the benefits of this rest later in the season when we stay fresher compared to other teams.
Not saying this to excuse that dire first half but just something to remember.

[CanuckoLFC]

Ronnie Whelan on commentary: I don’t think Arne Slot will be giving them any days off anymore, as they were abysmal in the first half…

[sgs]

If your press isn’t effective, you will be dominant in moments of the game and without sustained possession. Which is precisely what we are atm.

And as much as I agree with you about the MF, it ultimately begins with the frontline, because we’re talking about a connected system. And if one link in the chain is not functioning properly, it affects the rest…