No doubt about the fact that we were trounced by a very fit and well prepared team.Evidently Dean Smith spent hours studying LFC videos and the work was worth it. They beat our high line with ease. To win at this level you have to make use of every little trick you can and it was obvious that Villa had left the grass long to make it difficult for dribblers and our short passing game. Just one of many things against us last night but frankly no real excuse for being that bad.
I guess by now Grujic has gone. Pity, we could have used him.
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The players are fine, it’s the defensive set up that is an issue, playing too far forward while the fullbacks play as wingers, it’s easy to see where the space to attack us is. Klopp and his coaching staff need to take the rap for last night and it’s been coming since late January.
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I would partly agree with that. Fact is we have been doing the same things to long and people have learned how to counteract it. Having said that there was really no excuse for some of the terrible defending last night, not just from the back four, midfielders were not picking up runners either. It was just like a set of dominoes , one falls so the next one goes and the next one etc. One mistake after another.
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Really? Thought we had a few half chances… Even Mo did incredibly well with 2 half chances.
Most shots we had went straight down the keepers throat.
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Still in a state of shock and will be for some time! I remember that 5-1 loss back in the 70’s(correct me if I’m wrong!)at Villa Park. But 7-2!!! WTF!!!
Unfortunately my pre match pipe smoke never took place due to unforseen circumstances, so I will shoulder the blame for this obscene defeat.
I have two weeks to get back to pipe match fitness.
Please forgive me TIA family. It was my fault.
I thought Robbo and Jotta came out with some credit, they both looked a real threat going forward. Salah now has 5 goals, so his shooting boots are fine!
I’m off for a special session with nursey! She says I look awful!!!
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Yeah I wasnt implying that the situation is the same as last year, or that he will automatically repeat exactly same numbers, but that at this minute he is our only option and rather than going hysterical about him being awful we should support him. As you said it is much to do with how the team infront of him performs.
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Yes, I think that’s part of it. But only to the extent that the team need to effectively mitigate for Adrian being so shit.
The whole team has to perform differently when Adrian’s in goal - to such a degree that they almost have to operate on the basis that there isn’t anyone in goal at all. That’s pretty dire.
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I think that’s slightly over reacting myself. What I would agree on is that you cant rely on him with the ball at his feet. You do not want to be giving him a pass.
I will concede that’s still a big adjustment to make
Turning your argument around. Playing in a manner that gives the opposition shots on goal just because you have potentially the best goal keeper in the world is not too clever a strategy either in my book. I prefer my goal keepers to be bored.
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Subpar performances all over the park. Adrian set the tone with an early howler. Only Robbo emerges with any credit in that defence as Trent, Joe and Virg were all crap. The midfield was overran, Fabinho seemed off the pace, Wijnaldum peripheral, and Keita even more so. Villa had their tails up and we were just getting overrun. Up front Firmino continue his poor form, Mo huffed and puffed but wasn’t in it that much, while Jota did reasonably well as a newbie… not great, but decent. Robbo, Jota and maybe Mo… apart from that, the others were all rubbish.
So, with 8 of the 11 having a bad day at the same time, what do you do?
Over to Klopp. He will lay into them, train them, help them… and then it will be down to the desire and professionalism of the players to bounce back, and I think they will.
Bad day, incredible in many ways, but we were well beaten, even if you can also make a case that Villa were both good and lucky, and we were both bad and unlucky. But luck never determined the result. We were outplayed, and they showed more desire too.
We know we have quality, just look at the points haul for the past two years. I hope this result is just what the players needed, at just the right time. We can’t assume we will do anything, or win anything, if we don’t go out there and earn it and take it.
I’m seeing the Villa game as a timely reminder of that age old principle. Now it’s over to the players and we will see how they respond.
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Hopefully this is a off day like against Watford last season.
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Actually thinking about it, Becker has not exactly been at his best since the restart. There were a series of games when every shot seemed to go past him…
if the line is too high, isn’t there someone (like a captain or a manager or a goalie or someone in defense) who can say 'eh lads, I think the line might be a bit too high"? (asking for a friend)
That off day was the start of a noticeable dip in performance levels which, with a couple of exceptions, has pretty much continued since.
Can’t be bothered to look but pretty sure we have conceded a lot of goals since that Watford result…
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tbh i’m bored of this result now so i’ll just have a strong spliff and forget about it.
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You’ve turned the point around and made it into another point entirely 
When we’ve got Alisson in goal we don’t play with the intention of allowing opposition to have shots on goal, we’ve been playing in a way that suggests we don’t care. Evidently the coaching staff think that the risk-reward of playing a high line when we’ve got Alisson behind sweeping is worth it. It’s a risk that can pay off (it often has) but it requires factors that I don’t think exist currently.
A) It requires Gomez and Van Dijk to be sharp. Neither of them currently are - they haven’t been for a while now.
B) It is more effective when play isn’t allowed to continue even when an opponent is clearly off-side.
C) It requires someone with the physical presence, speed, and footballing ability to be in goal so as to act as sweeper (Alisson).
Arguably all three of those factors need to be in place. None of them currently are - ergo, we need to go back to holding a slightly deeper line and playing a bit more compact in our own half. Yes it will mean our transitions will be further from the opponent’s goal but we ought now to have the creativity to break the opposition’s defensive lines. It might also allow Salah, Mane and Jota (for example) more space in behind the opponent’s back four as dropping back ought to invite the opposition further forward.
I wish you a speedy discovery.
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Only a lawyer would think that 
Do you not concede that the priority problem is the form of the back line and, in my opinion, the midfield in a defensive scenario?
But I think we are in agreement that we rely on Alisson’s sweeping ability. Lose Allison and we didn’t adjust. For me that is only part of the problem. As you’ve rightly highlighted Gomez and VvD have not been switched on.
To be clear, from a tactical perspective I have no objection to a high line. I think it’s essential for what we want Robertson and TAA to do. There are other reasons also - compressing the space that the opposition can play it, easier to press etc. etc.
For me it needs a simplification in the way you play with Adrian in there. Nothing overly drastic just keep it simple. I’m honestly surprised that the players don’t know this but I’m honestly more concerned about Gomez, VvD and the midfield cover. I’d be looking to address that before heaping more pressure on Adrian or panicking about goal keepers. What are we doing differently? Is the line higher than it was previously? What is happening in midfield.
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picked a good week to miss the middle third of the match
saw trouble from the instant robertson played the backpass for the first goal, you have to know that’s adrian back there and avoid unnecessarily incorporating him. but other than that, robertson is the only one in our defense who didn’t bomb the joint out
keita was shit, very disappointing. you can see the space left behind him when he surges forward and those tight passes he plays & follows don’t come off. obvious that we missed henderson in midfield
gomez’s pace enables us to play that higher line, but he also invites teams to try those long balls–and some weeks he can’t handle them. it’s a shame matip is made of porcelain, having that other top-shelf option is comforting
clear pen on salah at 1-0 and he was good again, at least. bob ain’t bob no more very sad
Look at Klopps fist .