Liverpool - post match thread.

[bondsman]

He couldn't have done anything, Yaya put him under pressure the minute the ball left his foot, this was from a free kick if I recall

So he couldn't have controlled the pass or challenged wjinaldum?

 

[Blue Mooner]

I see the knee jerk brigade are out in force. We controlled the game from start to finish. Klop and Milner admitted that their game plan was not to sit back and defend but our quality forced Liverpool to do so.

You can't claim it was Liverpool reverting to that tactic after their goal as we were dominating before the goal.

57% possession, more passes, more interceptions, better passing accuracy, more shots on target. On every single measure we were the better team, except on the most important, goals scored.

We do lack a cutting edge and I think the team lacks natural goal scorers but in no way did we deserve to lose that game. I'm just glad for once the referee wasn't directly responsible for helping the result.

I'm absolutely gutted but only a fool couldn't see the overall improvement to our game this season over last.

 

[ayrshire_blue]

I doubt you'll see them next season, as of now he has no choice but to play them

Again though, go back to Maffeo and Angelino. Maffeo put in arguably our best right back performance of the season at United in the cup. Done ok against Celtic where in truth nobody stuck out yet nobody was particularly poor either. Both him and Angelino shipped out to Girona.

We are absolutely struggling in the full back position and it doesn't matter how many times or how many people say 'not ready yet' I absolutely 100% disagree.

The truth is that they CAN'T ACTUALLY DO MUCH WORSE IF ANY than our current full back options. And if their performances are similarly as poor as Kolarov/Zabaleta, then they have time on their side to learn and improve. Kolarov, Clichy, Zabaleta and Sagna are past that stage. They have all peaked and you can't make a player out of them in the full back position.

That's the part I can't understand. We have full backs who in some cases are frankly fucking shite, yet we don't give products of arguably the best youth academy in the world a go because they're 'not ready'. Not ready for what exactly? To replace the dross we already have?

 

[IWasHere]

Are you watching it with your eyes shut? To who? Fernandinho the player he was trying to pass to but completely sold him short with a lazy shite pass.

Agreed all full backs need to fuck off, should of been addressed in the summer

Yeah true

 

[bondsman]

I've said it before but by selling Aguero for a decent price, we can bring in two top quality replacements. Two players who are more mobile and don't hang around in offside positions waiting for "service".

So which two? Getting rid of aguero ain't a solution. If you give the lad the ball he scores look at his record for city and in the prem it's frightening. Get some fucking fullbacks bring back our goalkeeper or a proper keeper replace vk and replace Yaya are what needs to happen.

 

[stonerblue]

I was in the pub and leathered so remember very little about what seemed to be a shit game.

What i do recall vividly though is the fucking whining scousers booing sterling constantly. What the fuck is up with them? A young lad has the temerity to leave their oh so perfect club so they spit bile and hate directly at him for the next 2. 3. ten years??
Fucking scouse wankers.

 

[YaYa's Left Peg]

Why what has Klopp won? A game 1-0 at anfield against us? You'd think Liverpool has just beaten us in the fa cup final the way you're talking.

And you really don't sound like you want Pep to turn it around. You wouldn't be calling him 'my man' if you did.

You're boring me now mate.

Have a great day.

 

[IWasHere]

So he couldn't have controlled the pass or challenged wjinaldum?

This is Kolarov we're talking about

 

[Rammy Blue]

Whilst the end game is going to be something truly special, both Pep and Begiristain dropped a massive bollock with their choice of players in the summer.

Instead of spending money on Moreno, Zinchenko, Rulli and Sane we should have reinforced the fullback area.

Pep wants to play a high intensity system yet his tools to do so are all wrong. The fact we were never really linked with a RB, and the fact that Grimaldo went to Benfica for £2m, shows how much we've overlooked key areas.

Pellegrini's last summer, Alex Sandro was on the market. A top class LB who was available for £18m. Rather than spend the money, we decided to splash £13m on Patrick Roberts who's spent the last 18 months on loan.

It's all well and good buying these young talents, but for the here and now we needed those upgrades, and to have four fullbacks over 30, and our youngest CM to be 28 is absolutely wank decision making.

Excellent post.

I find it wrong to absolve Pep from a portion of the blame. I know Txiki also carries the can, but to spend circa £150mil and not address the key issues of full back is an utter disgrace, and hence the picking of Kolarov week in week out makes me sick.

 

[dubblue]

Unless things improve rapidly (which they might, btw), we are not getting top 4.

As it stands, Chelsea are clearly better than we are and I would say Liverpool and Arsenal are too. And the rags seem to have settled into a winning groove and (I am sad to say) are looking quite good. We're in a battle for 4th between Spurs and the rags and as it stands I think we'd lose out.

However, we may very well improve. All is not lost.

I do think it's vital we get at least 4th. There's the money aspects of course and the issue of being more difficult to attract the very top players. But I also worry that if we finished say 5th, Pep might call it a day.

If he quits at the first sign of adversity in his management career I would be glad. He clearly then isn't what most on here think he is.

 

[M18CTID]

Every team in this league is unstoppable if they play to their potential- it's a fucking lame excuse.

Turning it on for the odd 45 minutes a game is a disgrace and it's either the manager cant motivate them or the guy who buys them is buying the wrong type of player.

How long does he need to get them motivated ? There's a distinct lack of hunger at this club-it's a gravy train.

Right now even the red shit look a more hungry cohesive unit than us, something ain't right.

It'a pretty obvious that I wasn't talking about players that don't put a shift in - that's a different matter altogether. I didn't see a lack of motivation yesterday - I saw Liverpool, in the first half at least, do a slightly better job in negating our attacking threat than we did theirs. That doesn't equate to players not trying or not putting enough effort in. Maybe you're one of those that thinks every time we get a negative result means the players haven't tried.

I'll also add that footballers, no matter how good they are, can't always play at their best level and they can't turn it on and off like a light switch. Furthermore, you can't just expect us to steamroll every team we play - it'a 11 v 11 and as far from an exact science as you can get.

It sounds like you're suggesting we get rid of not just the manager, but also some of our best players as well because they committed the cardinal sin of being human and having an off day.

 

[City_Sean]

Excellent post.

I find it wrong to absolve Pep from a portion of the blame. I know Txiki also carries the can, but to spend circa £150mil and not address the key issues of full back is an utter disgrace, and hence the picking of Kolarov week in week out makes me sick.

It absolutely infuriates me, the decision making from the top brass at the club has been absolutely wank.

 

[stonerblue]

I see the knee jerk brigade are out in force. We controlled the game from start to finish. Klop and Milner admitted that their game plan was not to sit back and defend but our quality forced Liverpool to do so.

You can't claim it was Liverpool reverting to that tactic after their goal as we were dominating before the goal.

57% possession, more passes, more interceptions, better passing accuracy, more shots on target. On every single measure we were the better team, except on the most important, goals scored.

We do lack a cutting edge and I think the team lacks natural goal scorers but in no way did we deserve to lose that game. I'm just glad for once the referee wasn't directly responsible for helping the result.

I'm absolutely gutted but only a fool couldn't see the overall improvement to our game this season over last.

Good man.

 

[CrownPointBlue]

I see the knee jerk brigade are out in force. We controlled the game from start to finish. Klop and Milner admitted that their game plan was not to sit back and defend but our quality forced Liverpool to do so.

You can't claim it was Liverpool reverting to that tactic after their goal as we were dominating before the goal.

57% possession, more passes, more interceptions, better passing accuracy, more shots on target. On every single measure we were the better team, except on the most important, goals scored.

We do lack a cutting edge and I think the team lacks natural goal scorers but in no way did we deserve to lose that game. I'm just glad for once the referee wasn't directly responsible for helping the result.

I'm absolutely gutted but only a fool couldn't see the overall improvement to our game this season over last.

Christ I hope last years performance isn't the benchmark against which we're judging progress by Pep......and btw,goals & clean sheets win games.

Two shots in 95 minutes ?? Perhaps if we have 3 next year that'll be progress too ?

 

[FanchesterCity]

I see the knee jerk brigade are out in force. We controlled the game from start to finish. Klop and Milner admitted that their game plan was not to sit back and defend but our quality forced Liverpool to do so.

You can't claim it was Liverpool reverting to that tactic after their goal as we were dominating before the goal.

57% possession, more passes, more interceptions, better passing accuracy, more shots on target. On every single measure we were the better team, except on the most important, goals scored.

We do lack a cutting edge and I think the team lacks natural goal scorers but in no way did we deserve to lose that game. I'm just glad for once the referee wasn't directly responsible for helping the result.

I'm absolutely gutted but only a fool couldn't see the overall improvement to our game this season over last.

We did not control the game from start to finish.
Control is when you achieve the outcome you want, we didn't.
Having the ball doesn't give you control any more than a steering wheel puts you in control of a vehicle. If you can't drive it properly, you don't have control.

Liverpool 1 - 0 City. Controlled the game my arse.

 

[jamesha]

Some massive overreactions on here but I share the concerns about whether the current players can adapt to Pep's system.

Aguero had a poor game and was not really involved in any of the buildup play. If we had a tall, powerful striker in the middle then I doubt teams would be so willing to let us have so much possession. If we had a Niall Quinn/Andy Carroll type player on the pitch instead of Kun yesterday then the outcome might have been different.

I am not advocating that we move to this but as a plan B it has some value as Arsenal have proved with the late goals snatched by Giroud this season.

 

[bondsman]

Excellent post.

I find it wrong to absolve Pep from a portion of the blame. I know Txiki also carries the can, but to spend circa £150mil and not address the key issues of full back is an utter disgrace, and hence the picking of Kolarov week in week out makes me sick.

Add to that the stream of poor cbs we've bought the fact we have one proven cf its a joke. I'm also frustrated that despite all the hype about our youth project none seem able to break through.

 

[stonerblue]

If he quits at the first sign of adversity in his management career I would be glad. He clearly then isn't what most on here think he is.

 

[OB1]

Whereas I assume you'd want someone like klopp at the helm? Except in his first season in the prem, of course, because Liverpool finished 8th, wasn't it, and I'm guessing you would have definetly lost faith then?

Here's a manager who, imo and I'm sure a lot of people's, coached the best team I've ever seen play. He then went on to coach a very good Bayern side. He's won more trophies in the last decade than anyone. He's managed some of the best players in the world, implemented an attacking system that he's world renowned for, and probably has been given the biggest accolades from fellow professionals, colleagues and rivals than any other single manager to date.

Now you might not give a shit about any of that but let me ask you a question, if not Pep then who? Please tell me who you think could magically wave their wand and turn this side into champions within 6 months?

If you struggle to answer that how about just getting behind the manager, behind the team, and give him the support he needs to do his job. We have the chance to build something special with pep, it may not work, but let's not abandon it after 6 months!

We've waited long enough for Pep to get here so we need to show some patience now but that is often in short supply with football fans; fortunately I expect the people with power at the club will support their new manager. He certainly needs support because he inherited a squad that needs a major overhaul to allow him to implement his style, even a style adjusted for Premier League requirements.

People refer to a manager's job being to make the best of his available resources, and I am sure Pep is trying to do that, but you hire Pep because he plays a type of football that matches the style that the club wants to establish as an integral part of its own identity. Therefore, the manager isn't here to conjure up a style that is based around his inherited resources, which is why you end up in a compromise / transition season.

You can blame management for not getting the squad into a shape for Pep's purposes but, whilst I think recruitment could have been better, that, as mosssideblue (iirc) alluded, is easier to say than do. People, with reason, complain about our full backs and ideally we would have signed at least two in the summer but the contract situations of the existing crop may have made it very difficult to open space up in the squad, a situation that will be a whole lot different next summer, so City may have acted as they have with that in mind.

I happen to think Pep is doing a lot more (right) than some want to credit him. I think for example, his game plan was fine for Liverpool but it is hard to justify when the result goes against you.

 

[Blue Mooner]

Christ I hope last years performance isn't the benchmark against which we're judging progress by Pep......and btw,goals & clean sheets win games.

Two shots in 95 minutes ?? Perhaps if we have 3 next year that'll be progress too ?

We did not control the game from start to finish.
Control is when you achieve the outcome you want, we didn't.
Having the ball doesn't give you control any more than a steering wheel puts you in control of a vehicle. If you can't drive it properly, you don't have control.

Liverpool 1 - 0 City. Controlled the game my arse.

Liverpool didn't have any shots on target! They had one chance and scored it, lady luck was shining for them, I'm guessing there's very few games, if any, where a team that hasn't mustered a shot on target has won a game but they did. That's football.

No one here is claiming it was a vintage performance but before the game we were being told Liverpool were going to blow us away with the famous anfield crowd behind them

They didn't, they got one goal with their first attempt, and then defended like Burnley might to hold onto the lead - and this is one of the allegedly top clubs in the premier league, not daring, or not able to go toe to toe with us.