Hiya Marv.
How can we 'start well' but concede a 'soft goal'? - that's contradictory. The fact it was also their first 'attack' ( I use the term loosely as it was actually a counter facilitated by Toure's ludicrous free kick) makes it more so.
My observation on challenges / 2nd balls whatever you want to call it is not based solely on this game but on several since we began to dip in form. Pep himself confirmed 'I don't coach tackling'. To me it's evident the team is not drilled to win 50/50s and 2nd balls. This is fine if you're peak-era Barca and you have the ball that much it becomes irrelevant. We're not peak-era Barca.
Liverpool's bus parking didn't help I agree but surely a 'genius' such as Pep should be finding ways to circumvent this tactic? Didn't he face parked buses every week with Barca and Bayern?
I disagree re the effort particularly in the 1st half. We had nowhere near the intensity they had - and this is certainly not the first time we've gone behind due to slack starts.
We lost a tight game yes and yes the defence has a part to play in the loss, but tight games are also decided by good attacking play - we showed very little of that today, so to blame the defeat purely on the defence is shortsighted.
Pep isn't as good as he thinks. His choice now is either to adapt or fall on his own sword.