Liverpool Post Match

[inbetween]

Again too sloppy on the ball and we had more than enough chances to win the game which were not taken. I don't think we played all that badly and battered them in the first half but we are just far to reckless in defence. At times Kompany was diving out of defence trying to win the ball back and you just cannot do it, you have to hold your line and defend! I say it everytime we lose, our defending is desperate and constantly on edge which I just cannot understand. Zaba and Kompany had terrible games yesterday which I find amazing no-one has mentioned, Yaya was brilliant as usual but I can only say that about going forward really. Everything else well... Meh, there is just nothing positive to say really bar they scored 2 fantastic goals which was the only real big difference.

If MP wants to keep his job he has to start thinking about how to innovate with this team because at the moment playing the same formation every week and hoping for a performance and then blaming the performance just will not cut it. Champions need to rely on winning even when they play badly and that just isn't happening, we played well in the first half but even still at the end of the day went down to a poorly defended lead up to a great goal. I don't want to blame MP outright because the performance went to pot later on but still this stubborn approach to not adapting to the opposition quick enough is not doing us any favours.

 

[cheddar404]

What's happened to our pressing game? We don't do it anymore. We can get away with 4-4-2 if we press the ball when we don't have it but we don't seem to do it.

 

[bluesimon]

Furthermore we lack pace, penetration and energy - As a result of either or - lack of motivation /desire / guts, or physical capability ie too old and over the hill, I see little room for improvement in our squad which is a major worry

I think that this says it all. we can go back and forth about individual performances, but overall, there is a complete lack of will, both on the pitch and from the manager. Pellers keeps on saying that 'we will carry on playing our game', despite the fact that many teams have clearly worked us out.

The players have now mostly won a much of medals, are the highest paid in the world and rarely show a true passion when things are not working.

 

[bluesimon]

What's happened to our pressing game? We don't do it anymore. We can get away with 4-4-2 if we press the ball when we don't have it but we don't seem to do it.

City rarely press and have not done so for years. The principle has been don't worry about the opposition getting the ball occasionally coz when we get it back, we can hold onto it, dominate possession and then thread our way to a goal.

At the moment, we could not press a 'grape' and are leaving the opposition space all over the park. Rarely is a goal scored against us now that is not as a direct result of pressing or closing down. Yesterday, two goals from outside the box in almost identical positions and NO ONE even thinning about trying to close down................

 

[Chippy_boy]

The players have now mostly won a much of medals, are the highest paid in the world and rarely show a true passion when things are not working.

Often we see how we SHOULD be playing when we are a goal down with 5 or 10 minutes left (I am not saying we saw it yesterday, but often that is the case).

We can play with real intensity when we need to, and if we started all our games like that, doubtless we'd be in a better place than where we are now.

 

[MeatHunterrr]

What's happened to our pressing game? We don't do it anymore. We can get away with 4-4-2 if we press the ball when we don't have it but we don't seem to do it.

City rarely press and have not done so for years. The principle has been don't worry about the opposition getting the ball occasionally coz when we get it back, we can hold onto it, dominate possession and then thread our way to a goal.

At the moment, we could not press a 'grape' and are leaving the opposition space all over the park. Rarely is a goal scored against us now that is not as a direct result of pressing or closing down. Yesterday, two goals from outside the box in almost identical positions and NO ONE even thinning about trying to close down................

Also we don't have the personnel to play that kind of style. Dzeko, Yaya, Kolarov for example are not suited to pressing style at all.

 

[BLUE THUNDER]

Look at how their defenders didn't give our attacking players any space, made them work hard for everything. Yet look at the space their forwards had, and for both of of their goals our defenders were backing off instead of closing them down!! It was incredibly poor. Our defence is a shambles, that 's the single biggest problem we have. Zaba is a shadow, Vinny is a mistake waiting to happen, Mangala cant read the game well enough and Kolarov is not the best man marker going around. Is it any wonder we're behind the eight ball half the time. Fix our defence and we can turn things around.

 

[Eds]

Firstly I can't take anyone seriously he says Hart was the blame for the goals! Essentially against the better teams i.e in Europe and probably the top six in the premier Yaya cannot operate as effectively in a central two man midfield as a couple of years ago. Silva and Nasri were not bought to provide steel in the midfield. Because the full backs like to bomb on these days we need to play two men holding in these type of games. For months plenty of us have been asking why we are not playing Sergio up front alone with the likes of Silva, Yaya, Nasri, Navas suporting in a three. Two men behind shield the defence. Liverpool have been playing a 343 for a few weeks now which effectively becomes a 352 when they don't have the ball. Everyone bar own coaching staff and players seemed to realise this. We need to have better game management and have to adapt on the pitch quickly. Unfortunately the way we have been playing for the past few months is reminiscent of Mancini's last few months in charge and my worry is that Pellers knows he is going at the end of the season and so do the players

 

[Tbilisi]

Look at how their defenders didn't give our attacking players any space, made them work hard for everything. Yet look at the space their forwards had, and for both of of their goals our defenders were backing off instead of closing them down!! It was incredibly poor. Our defence is a shambles, that 's the single biggest problem we have. Zaba is a shadow, Vinny is a mistake waiting to happen, Mangala cant read the game well enough and Kolarov is not the best man marker going around. Is it any wonder we're behind the eight ball half the time. Fix our defence and we can turn things around.

For the second Coutinho walked round Nasri to shoot,nothing to do with defending......that's where Pelle lets himself down a more aggressive manager would have had him off as he was clearly having a bad day.

 

[We're not really here]

Look at how their defenders didn't give our attacking players any space, made them work hard for everything. Yet look at the space their forwards had, and for both of of their goals our defenders were backing off instead of closing them down!! It was incredibly poor. Our defence is a shambles, that 's the single biggest problem we have. Zaba is a shadow, Vinny is a mistake waiting to happen, Mangala cant read the game well enough and Kolarov is not the best man marker going around. Is it any wonder we're behind the eight ball half the time. Fix our defence and we can turn things around.

For the second Coutinho walked round Nasri to shoot,nothing to do with defending......that's where Pelle lets himself down a more aggressive manager would have had him off as he was clearly having a bad day.

Bang on. The second doesn't happen if Navas is playing. Nor does Barca's second. Nasri does no tracking back. How do you blame defenders when it is a sea of red coming at them? I personally thought all the back four had good second half. You let a right footed player come in onto his right foot. Show him the line and no problem. Basics I teach kids.