Liverpool (A) Post Match Thread.

[Young Blue]

I can take a defeat (especially when the first is middle of Jan with 15 point gap, 12 at worst by the end of today) and we did crumble a bit 2nd half. Most baffling thing was that D.Silva wasnt called upon because it was crying out for someone to steady the ship.

We missed Merlin, apparently he was ill.

 

[Wrighty Wrexham]

We missed Merlin, apparently he was ill.

If he was ill why was he warming up for ages on the touchine in the cold as a sub?

 

[pavelsrnicek]

In one word I would sum up the display - Sloppy.

I think it’s been coming for 5 or 6 games. Our passing has not been as crisp and decision making not of the high standard of earlier in the season.

Whether that’s fatigue or a bit of relaxation I’m not sure.

The one player who frustrates me the most at present is Sane. Yes he scored...but I thought in this ( and vs Bristol ) he should have had far more impact on the overall game. He has everything needed but is far too soft at present

We were definitely sloppy in our passing for long spells hopefully it was just a bad day at the office.

Have to disagree on Sane, he struggled to get into the match first half as was starved of the ball. Second half he hugely upped his work rate, made tackles back in our own half and was heavily involved in the build up to the 2nd and 3rd goals. He was poor for most of December so I was delighted to see him step up.

 

[inbetween]

First team to really attack us properly and at times we were all over the place but that is just how it goes when you play like we do. We showed a lot of character though and I nearly took out the ceiling when Sergios header hit the side netting... I don't think at any time did we deserve to lose, we just got blitzed in a 10 minute bit of play where a few lost their heads.

Pep will be happy because if we could iron the mistakes out then we would of won. I don't think it was a bad performance by any stretch, they just played very well and matched us where no team has managed to.

We could of kept the ball better but then it is hard to do that when you are being pressed and have the crowd on your back. Having the character to carry on playing that way though and bring it back to nearly draw.. We should be happy and proud to be honest.

The biggest statistic was the ground covered, they beat us by 1km and being beaten for ground covered whilst having fairly equal possession has been very rare this year.

I have a lot of time for Klopp and his way of trying to beat us rather than stop us, we won't play many teams that will play like that. We need to bounce back, carry on and hopefully get back to business as usual as soon as possible.

 

[mat]

If he was ill why was he warming up for ages on the touchine in the cold as a sub?

He had a stomach bug.

Mind you him scoring and shitting on the Anfield pitch at the same time would have made my greatest celebration of all time list.

 

[Young Blue]

If he was ill why was he warming up for ages on the touchine in the cold as a sub?

He must have been "off colour". I heard it was a stomach bug. I assume he was on the bench to keep them guessing on our line up, (to have a psychological effect?), or in case he made a miraculous recovery?
Our bench was very weak, we only made 2 subs.

 

[Scaring Europe to Death]

I don't know what Pep could have done to be weaker in the League Cup and still we managed to get through. The Christmas run would have killed most teams and we did phenomenally well. Liverpool just had a week in Dubai to chill and profited. We beat Leicester away with Mahrez and Vardy in the team with us having Zinchenko, Dele-Bashiru, Mangala, Tosin, Yaya and Nmecha on the pitch.

I wasn't disputing the rotation mate, and your point about Liverpool is a good one.
However, we simply can't afford any more injuries, because Sane and Sterling are starting to look tired, whilst Kompany and Delph are becoming major concerns. Our squad isn't quite big enough for so many games.

 

[PannickAtTheDisco]

I wasn't disputing the rotation mate, and your point about Liverpool is a good one.
However, we simply can't afford any more injuries, because Sane and Sterling are starting to look tired, whilst Kompany and Delph are becoming major concerns. Our squad isn't quite big enough for so many games.

I know, I suspect we'll carry on as per in the League Cup and if we go through, fine, and then I think we'll do the same in the FA Cup. Playing the squad and if we go out, so be it. There's a lot of scope to improve this squad still, I just hope we pick the right players because we'll be set with what we have once we replace the final few obvious departures.

 

[Young Blue]

A clear push in the back on Stones by Fermino for their second. KDB was awesome. If only Sergio had been on form, I thought his header had gone in when it hit the side netting, he's offside too often. Ederson can be forgiven one mis-kick he's been superb this season.

 

[LHarper]

Over the 2 games we won 1 and lost 1.. scored 8 conceeded 4
If we draw them in champions league I would think we would progress and moreso if Silva and Jesus are back

Less about the results and more about the way they disrupt our style. They were the better team in the 5-0 until Mane got sent off.

You're right though, if David and Jesus are playing (we really missed them both yesterday, especially Jesus with the way Aguero played) I would say we would be favourites to go through.