Liverpool (a) post-match thread

[give it to gordon]

i will just leave this here

On my tv taa moved his arm towards the ball why didnt his arm move towards the ball on the pictures VAR use ?

 

[NorthamptonBlue]

I try to wait until I’ve slept on it before commenting after a defeat.

Yes, the handball decision was a double wammy, denying us a clear penalty and leading to their goal. Disappointing but hardly a surprise to any of us. More worrying, for me, is the current malaise in the team:

Bravo is terrible and rarely saves anything. He needs to go; playing a 34 year old not very tall DM at centre back because Otamendi is awful is not how a top club operates. The injury to Laporte is unfortunate but had to happen sometime. Not reinforcing in the close season has been the mistake we all thought it was. Stones has the attention span of a gnat and should be leaving alongside Bravo and Ota. Like most of us, I am desperate for academy players like Angelino to succeed but he is a poor defender though looked good going forward yesterday. Mendy seems out of favour with Pep and I wonder if his time with us is coming to an end?

On top of our defensive woes, David is getting older as is Kun. I love Gabby but he is still making the same mistakes as he did two seasons ago, particularly but not exclusively offsides. He doesn’t look a guaranteed replacement for Kun. Bernardo is understandably out of sorts. Gundogan has a role to play but not when battle commences. With Rodri fit and Leroy seemingly off to Bayern anyway, we really only have Laporte and Zinch unavailable. That should be manageable for any club.

Winning the league in consecutive seasons was a magnificent achievement but exhausting for the players. Given the ageing squad members, this season might be a good time to blood some of the youngsters. Finding out who is good enough before deciding on transfer targets in the summer seems a sensible way to proceed.

I haven’t given up on the league though. We rarely get anything from Anfield and it hasn’t much affected our trophy count. Continuing to do the same things expecting a different outcome though is a definition of madness. Perhaps we need to accept our current defensive limitations and adopt a more cautious approach?

 

[robbieh]

Garcia should play. Stones and Otamendi are both shot. Dinho is playing better than both

Lack of defensive height would necesitate Mendy play. And to be honest Cancelo looks an upgrade on Walker.

 

[kevin horlocks wand]

Garcia should play. Stones and Otamendi are both shot. Dinho is playing better than both

Lack of defensive height would necesitate Mendy play. And to be honest Cancelo looks an upgrade on Walker.

stones looks like he is suffering from some sort of breakdown. He is a complete nervous wreck.

 

[Tricky_Trev]

stones looks like he is suffering from some sort of breakdown. He is a complete nervous wreck.

It happens to him every season. Has a good spell then has a mental breakdown. Think it was Walker 2 years ago that said Stones can be anything he wants to be “if he believes in himself more”. That’s coming from a guy who knows him better than anyone. So I’d say Stones is a perennial worrier. He’s always inside his own head and not on the pitch.

Pep tried to boost his confidence with that famous quote when the media were questioning him... “he has bigger balls than everyone in this room.” But that was when Pep believed in him. That faith is gone and you can see their relationship is quite tetchy now. All that will keep him at the club for a few more years is his nationality.

 

[robbieh]

stones looks like he is suffering from some sort of breakdown. He is a complete nervous wreck.

I agree he does. Pep probably picked him yesterday for his height, but if his problems are serious he needs time out.

We can all argue about the formation further forward but the midfield and attacking options we have are the envy of every other club in Europe.

The defence is what needs sorting.

In the New year we have Laporte back. Him and Dinho should be a decent pairing.

It still leaves us vulnerable. New CB required.

 

[Ancient Citizen]

stones looks like he is suffering from some sort of breakdown. He is a complete nervous wreck.

A couple of very feeble passes nearly cost us another goal, he looks tremulous to say the least, he's got a constant
expression of abject fear, and his confidence is shot, god knows why. Saying that though, we were blatantly robbed of two pens,
and other decisions were skewed towards the Dippers, when I remember that the utter farce that is VAR robbed us in the CL
last season, we have to beat that, refs and everyone else, as well as the team we're playing.

 

[shemnel]

City, on reflection, played quite well yesterday. We were screwed by VAR and did not help ourselves with amateurish defending for the 3rd goal.

However we squandered a lot of good chances, when Aguero completely missed that side footer from 6yds i was shocked. so that was that, we were totally competitive throughout.

 

[Bill]

i will just leave this here

i said before a ball was kicked that VAR has been brought in to win a title for the vermin. should it work watch for it being scrapped next season.

 

[Bill]

i thought we were brilliant, having to overcome all the injuries, VAR, Bravo and of course a fucking cheat of a ref.

so scared they have to cheat..... love it.