All the lads played well.
Just went on TIA and amazed that they gave Jones MOTM.
He played well but the front 3 and the back 5 were better than him IMO
1 Like
There, fixed it 
3 Likes
Start the Everton thread but don’t watch the game.
You can watch Schalke vs Dortmund instead. It’s also a Derby and at the same time.
5 Likes
He who starts the pre match thread shall not watch the game live.
This should be in the forum rules.
6 Likes
Well, that was a great win. Leading 2-0 after the so-called ‘away’ match is really a big plus. It will help us for our ‘home’ game, as away goals are worth more than home goals.
That being said, and reflecting on who was MoM, I’m still a bit concerned about how things will pan out for us going forward. Just like at Leicester, our lads did everything right: the energy, the commitment, the quick passes to put our quick forwards on their bike, the counter-pressing… and yet, our lads didn’t create a lot of clear-cut chances by themselves.
One springs out in memory, the one during the first half, with that disallowed goal from Bobby. Another one in the first half, with Salah missing to score when one-on-one against the keeper. But otherwise? It needed two defensive errors from Leipzig to get us over the line. Of course, these errors were also generated by our lads’ relentless pressing, so the errors were provoked and we won more than deservedly.
But still, that lack of ability to create chances and transform them into goals could continue to bite us. Our lads really need to rediscover that ruthless streak they had for such a long time, and which they lost a bit over the two last months or so.
Three MoM for me:
Allisson. He had a really hard time with his long balls, of which many went out directly. He also lacked assurance at times when on the ball. But his one on one saves to keep us in the game before we scored were decisive.
Trent. Much much improved performance from the lad for me. Good dangerous crosses, solid at the back, bombing up and down the pitch, taking influence on the game… that’s what we are expecting from this young lad by now on a regular basis, and it speaks volumes about his talent. Hopefully he has put his slump behind him now, we’ll really need a Trent in full form for the next times.
Salah. He did what Salah does most of the times: to score a crucial goal when the game is on the knife’s edge. Well done!
Mentions to Mané (really good goal as well), to Bobby who found back a part of his mojo, and to Jones who was excellent throughout.
6 Likes
4 Likes
take it like a man dude. haven’t you ever heard of the word sacrifice?
we are glad to sacrifice you
8 Likes
Great result and well deserved.keep it tight in the second leg and we may be able to create a bit of momentum and go on a CL run.
2 Likes
Thought our front 3 looked a lot fresher today, almost back to what we expect, also how many times did Thiago get a foot in to win the ball back and finally Curtis is becoming such a strongnplayer on the ball, but needs now to improve his penetrative passing in the final 3rd.
2 Likes
Excellent result and encouraging performance but plenty of room for improvement as well. Fluidity still missing in the final third, some very good starting positions deep in their own half were squandered. Defensively solid enough but Leipzig created enough clear cut opportunities to score at least once. In all honesty, the performance wasn’t that much dissimilar to that against Leicester. The main difference was that Leipzig were more naive and Liverpool for once more clinical.
That said it was without doubt a step in the right direction. The team was full of energy with relentless pressing and crisp passing. Everyone had a good game but standout performers were Thiago who had his best game in a while, Kabak who was far more assured and Jones who at times was taking the piss out of anyone trying to get the ball off him.
6 Likes
You made it clear on an earlier match thread that you are not a fan of Jones, must admit I am. For me he gets involved in so many aspects of the game and I notice that now the senior players seem to trust him completely. Not saying he was a stone wall MOTM on this occasion but I am sure he will win you over. 
Great to see everyone playing well last night , especially good to see Kabak settling in well and playing with confidence. Very entertaining game and great , well deserved result.
5 Likes
One thing that I noticed last night was that Jones started on the left of midfield, Thiago on the right. Leipzig were having some early joy down our right side and Jones / Thiago were switched. It tightened that side right up
3 Likes
Further to my post above we certainly lose a lot of aggression with Thiago in midfield. Enough so that I’m pretty certain he’s not suited to that more advanced role in the midfield 3. We need to give him to time to adapt to playing at the base of midfield or set up with a double pivot. His best position will be at the base but we need to tweak a few things to get the best from him.
1 Like
Well in expectation of a tirade from one or two ref deniers on here, I popped down to Home Bargains and bought enough foil to make myself a sombrero sized tin foil hat.
But it is patently clear from that performance what a difference it makes when you have an impartial referee.
I am sure Martin Atkinson, Kevin Friend, Andre Marriner and Anthony Taylor were fuming last night, and their little WhatsApp group was full of talk of knocking us down a peg or two.
The Sheik will have to stump up a touch more cash I am sure.
Anyway, really pleased for Klopp and the lads.
Great to see the full backs on it, Kabak settling and showing early promise, and the forwards being clinical when given chances. I read some rubbish in the national press about mistakes giving us the result, such football geniuses that they couldn’t work out that it was the pressing that forced the mistakes.
I was pleased to see Jones looking much better and holding his own in midfield, Gini having a good game (you really want to go to Barcelona mate?), and Thiago having a good game too.
The keeper does make your heart flutter at times, and his kicking radar is a bit off right now, but he’s still the best keeper we’ve had for decades and I love him to bits.
As to Hendo, yes he got caught once or twice, but you can’t expect a central midfielder playing at centre back not to.
Finally, yes we did drop a bit when Shaqiri and Oxlade came on, as we did against City and Leicester when we made changes. It’s a tough one, as you can’t flog your best 11 for 90 every match, but hopefully we can get Jota and Keita back before too long, and maybe have Hendo as a midfield option once Fab returns.
Clearly it’ll be hard to win the CL with a makeshift defence against the best forwards on the continent, but you never know, and it’d just be nice to stay in it long enough to get some much needed prize money, help our coefficient, and keep our season alive until the spring.
1 Like
I don’t think Thiago lacks aggression at all, he’s as aggressive as Milner or Henderson. He needs to tone it down a bit if anything.
He’s winning the ball back well in good areas but he needs to cut out the sloppy tackles around the box. I thought he was really good last night though, on and off the ball. Won 2 big headers in our box as well.
1 Like
Perhaps I should rephrase my post but I do find that he gets bypassed by the opposition a little too easily at times? It’s quite possibly a subtle positional thing.
Aside from the most welcome result I dont think we should get overly excited by the performance. Leipzig are probably a bit disappointed that they didn’t get anything from the game. They created some really good chances.
Oddly I found it a quite revealing game in that our issues seemed a lot more apparent last night. Perhaps the balanced refereeing helped in that regard.
2 Likes
It was a good performance but they were set up to help us with that very high defensive line. We won’t see too much of that in the PL. And the goals were gifts. It was a confidence booster I hope. Sometimes a result like this is all you need to get a run going but we’ll know more after the bitters cos they won’t be as generous in defence I’m sure of that.
Said it a few times before but the officiating in the CL is on another level to the PL. It makes a huge fucking difference to the quality of the game and our chances of actually winning. I hate VAR but in the CL they seem to have the right approach. A quick look to see if the ref’s missed anything obvious and then get on with the game. In the PL they analyse everything to fucking death. Breath of fresh air last night.
6 Likes
It’s a pity we didn’t have last night’s ref, Slavko Vinčić, in last December’s match against Midtjylland. Who knows, but Jota might have come through unscathed and have been available to play these last couple or three months. What a difference that might have made. 
Maybe but in the other leg of the trousers of time, Jota and Hendo clash heads in the next match and suffer serious injury resulting in season long lay-offs.
If I hadn’t done something ridiculously stupid (even for me) when I was 16, I’d never had met Mrs K.
1 Like
There’s an obvious reply to this but I wont go there
2 Likes