I keep seeing this narrative, and it simply isn’t true.
We defended better than they attacked. Mainly due to Ali, admittedly, but true all the same.
Or is defending no longer part of the game?
I keep seeing this narrative, and it simply isn’t true.
We defended better than they attacked. Mainly due to Ali, admittedly, but true all the same.
Or is defending no longer part of the game?
Don’t you just hate it when our own fans do that in the match threads too though…
Genuinely did not see where the ball over the top came from. Not only was he an impenetrable wall in front of goal he also played a large part in unlocking their defence for the winning goal. As complete a performance from a goalkeeper as I have ever seen.
Alot has been said about keeping them at arm’s length but the shot map is masking that they did have a one on one after Virgil pulled a Lovren and some of those long range efforts drew marvelous saves that other keepers would have let fly into the corner, low xG or not. Simply astonishing.
We were poor for large parts but the way they were talking we were 5 down.
They are meant to be impartial
I think the ‘Liverpool were poor’ thing is largely because on the rare occasions we got the ball, we were absolutely useless with it. We couldn’t play simple passes and we look devoid of ideas. There were a few occasions where we find ourselves in good positions on the break, chances to create chances, and we just balls up a simple pass.
But defensively, especially in the second half, it was a masterclass. In the last third of the game they know it’s not happening and the just start taking potshots from outside the box. Good luck with that, lads. We’ve got the best keeper in the world and he’s having the game of his life.
I felt for about 20 mins in the 1st half our midfield got lost a bit. Felt like we didnt have one.
In the 2nd half although we gave up the ball a lot I think that was more by design and although we didnt have the ball we looked better.
Yeah no one is questioning work rate etc but it was really frustrating to not see the ball for 5 mins, get it back and then give it away 3 seconds later.
We gave a chance away when PSG were offside, we won it back so the ref played on and we gave it back immediately on the edge of the box.
That was the frustration. We didnt keep the ball well and a few times we had a good chance to break and the ball was poor. All 3 forwards who started last night had a mare with the ball.
Oh, I dunno. I think Ali pretty much trademarked the rope-a-dope tactic.
If you look at all the Ali saves bar two or three you would expect him to be making those.
Japan time. It’s like normal time, but is available in a vending machine.
That means he made three you wouldn’t expect him to make?
Brilliant!
I always said that when we used to have those 1–0 losses against teams like Burnley, the opponents were actually great and we weren’t—because if we’d been on form, we would have scored.
So why is it now, after we’ve won 1–0, people say we were terrible and the other team was amazing? It’s basically a Burnleyesque (or Madridesque) performance, whichever way you want to see it.
Once we’d settled into what kind of game it was, and what our objective was, PSG couldn’t touch us.
For all the media wanking about the step-overs and possession and tricks, for the last half hour they were reduced to shooting from distance.
So it makes the save even better.
The thing is that saying ‘bar one or two’ dismisses that those one or two are pivotal and also, positioning plays a massive role in judging whether a save should have been made or not which is not always so clear. In general, Ali has a penchant for making saves look easy which is in no small part down to positioning while other more flashy keepers look spectacular. I genuinely think that alot of keepers for other top teams concede from some of those viewed as saves Ali is expected to make with commentators screaming that no keeper in the world is saving it.
Good to have you back w.a.h.
Hockey, ice hockey
Even if Konate had been red carded, I very much doubt the outcome would be wildly different. Quansah for Jota would have been the potential change, and that wouldn’t have changed our attacking options too much, as we struggled to make the proper passes anyway.
Overall, the smash and grab narrative isn’t really a true sense of the match. As @cynicaloldgit says, defending is part of the game. Our keeper did what countless others have done against us, had a world class performance. Thing is, he does it regularly. Our defence played very well, limiting them to speculative efforts. If our passing had been better we could gave won by two or three.
Ok, in some respects we were lucky…but count all the “unlucky” momennts we suffered and realise we were due a bit.