Liverpool (a) - CL Quarter Final pre-match thread

[RayCTID]

Bad cat aids, more than likely.

There is that but anything other than a defeat will be a bonus

 

[denislawsbackheel]

Kun out for Wed.
Not feeling right it is reported.

 

[HarrytheBlue]

Having Silva back is key, it will enable us to play through their press.
They swarmed all over Fernandinho last time, when he did not have David as an outlet. This time we will retain the ball and their kamikaze press will be their downfall.

Get our normal game going and when they chaaaaaarge at us we should be winning the ball and have them sprinting back towards Karius with options on the right and left.

 

[Deepest Blue]

Unusually for me I'm going to have a bit of a moan.

Not at Pep or any particular player but at the perceived inevitability of
a) us losing at Anfield "cos we have a shit record there" and
b) Sterling's head going and him being benched for this one.

All these stats about us failing to win at that shithole in previous years are totally irrelevant except for the game in December and maybe the one last season.
If Pep is the Coach we think he is he will have planned how to get over this obstacle for a long time and certainly during the 3 week break that we have just finished.
He and his assistants will have watched hours of film and micro analysed City v Pool/United v Pool and even Bayern v Dortmund from past seasons to pick out patterns and devise ways to overcome them.

Pep will not just accept "Oh, Raheem always struggles against his former team. Best just leave him out."
That is what lesser coaches would do.
The reason that he's the best guy out there is because he wants to help Raheem smash that perception and turn that negative into a positive.
I've no idea how he will do it but I'm sure he's going to try.

All in all I'm very confident that we will outthink and outplay them over the two legs and that if anyone stops us from winning the CL this season they'd better be ready to play the game/s of their life.

Rant over.

 

[kaz7]

start well and not dozy and we can see out their mad start,eddie to ping it over their press and no brainfarts this time,get an away goal when we can

 

[spiny]

A fit Delph is a big bonus to link with Silva and Sane. Hopefully Sergio will be fit for the derby or replay.

 

[cadds92]

Unusually for me I'm going to have a bit of a moan.

Not at Pep or any particular player but at the perceived inevitability of
a) us losing at Anfield "cos we have a shit record there" and
b) Sterling's head going and him being benched for this one.

All these stats about us failing to win at that shithole in previous years are totally irrelevant except for the game in December and maybe the one last season.
If Pep is the Coach we think he is he will have planned how to get over this obstacle for a long time and certainly during the 3 week break that we have just finished.
He and his assistants will have watched hours of film and micro analysed City v Pool/United v Pool and even Bayern v Dortmund from past seasons to pick out patterns and devise ways to overcome them.

Pep will not just accept "Oh, Raheem always struggles against his former team. Best just leave him out."
That is what lesser coaches would do.
The reason that he's the best guy out there is because he wants to help Raheem smash that perception and turn that negative into a positive.
I've no idea how he will do it but I'm sure he's going to try.

All in all I'm very confident that we will outthink and outplay them over the two legs and that if anyone stops us from winning the CL this season they'd better be ready to play the game/s of their life.

Rant over.

I agree with Esteemeed Kompany’s assessment of the Sterling situation in that dropping Raheem would show us giving Liverpool a bit of a one up before a ball has been kicked.

There has to come a point when he will perform against Liverpool so we can’t just drop him every time this fixture pops up.

I actually think if Sterling plays like he did against Everton and for England in that sort of second striker role driving through the midfield from a central position will suit him in this game rather than just getting kicked into next week by Robertson and becoming frustrated with the Liverpool cheers from it.

It’s very similar to how Willian plays for Chelsea.

 

[HarrytheBlue]

Much has been made of the atmosphere at Anfield on European nights but De Bruyne doubts that will be a factor. 'I don't think so,' he said. 'Obviously they have their style of play and to play there is tough.

'But apart from those 10 minutes when we conceded goals last time, we really did ok. It was not the best game we have played, but I don't think there were lots of periods when they were in control”

Our Kev will make about 3 assists on Wednesday and possibly score the 4th

Only Salah would get in our team, and that is only based on ability and not actually whether he would fit in with our set up. Churlish not to recognise that the guy is a hit man in front of goal. For me, we impose our normal game, converge on the guy with the ball and the rest takes care of itself. I would rather have had the perfection tomorrow than at Goodison though. Sweaty palms just thinking about tomorrow - even more than the Cup Finals since 2011.

 

[simon23]

In a huge minority probably but would have much prefered kun to GJ.....kun os just the better goal scorer....i thibk GJ will get lost in this game.

 

[Metalartin]

I don't see where the guy Steven was talking to gets his optimism for beating us at the Etihad, unless we get complacent, overconfident and they hit us on the counter? Do we take big risks from winning positions anymore though?