Topic: CL: L’pool 3 vsPSG 2 30' Studge 35' Milner ‘91 Bobby ‘40Meunier ‘83 Mbappé

[the_red_pill]

Bet he's even more keen to play here now

We've been linked with him the past 2 seasons. Hell- we were linked yet again just 2/3 weeks ago and someone rubbished it. Dunno if it was Klopp.

[boots]

Neymar is a hugely talented player. But he is not really a 'team' player yet. He thinks the team should play for him. If he put in the effort and ran himself into the ground, he'd be unstoppable. But he doesnt, often gets the hump and slouches around. Delays passes too long and at times appears disinterested. Its his work ethic thats the issue. If he wants to be up there with Messi and Ronaldo, he should take at look at their respective work ethics. Currently all he has is Ronaldo's petulance and ability to fall over a blade of grass.

[Red Beret]

Apologies if already shared.  

[the_red_pill]

Some of the younger players are turning out to be world class, Robertsons first time crosses are brilliant, no messing about taking a first touch, it's straight in before the opposition have to time to cover. same with Van Dijk,ball comes to him.straight to Firmino while he's open and in he goes for the winner. done me head in the past taking a touch for control then playing the obvioous ball and the players been closed down and the chance is lost.
The whole team is full talent but they all want to play as a team.
We should be blowing away teams and we will soon enough, this is a very special team full of belief and attitude, they will run their heart out.

My word Robbo is rapid!?
I was amazed at how he sprinted past Mbappe - starting in our own half and in 6/7 yards, he passed him and ran with it up to the edge of their box.

Leftback is sorted beyond a doubt!

[LovelyCushionedHeader]

Think TAA just lost concentration and let him go. It’s something he’ll improve on no doubt, but did little else wrong. Thought the Corner was well worked mind.

I don’t think it was TAA’s fault at all. He wasn’t marking Mbappe, he was marking a zone that Mbappe was stood in. It would have been against the tactics for him to track the run.

I think PSG basically noticed a flaw in our set up and tried to exploit it.

[killer-heels]

The night couldnt have gone better. We won, we played well, Firmino effectively got a rest, his replacement played well and a draw in the other game opens up the really big possibility of getting this group tied up by game 4.

Also big praise for the midfield. I bet if you asked most fans (injuries permitting) who would be their starting midfielders this season it would have been Fabinho, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita and many would have put in Lallana as well.

[Gili Gulu]

I worry about footie journalists (not really).

In the (Manchester) Guardian Paul Wilson's marks for the players last night, he gave Virgil a 7, and summed up his game as "Forced early save from Areola, booked for clumsy challenge".

He was imperious against three of the most lauded forwards in the world, including two players who have been compared with Pele, and that Cavani fella is not too shabby either.

[the_red_pill]

Awesome win, welcome back Champions League.  Thought Studge was decent, Sadio everywhere, Salah poor, kept losing posession, Gini best of the three, Hendo broke up play well.  Full backs had Mbappe and Neymar in their pockets.

Milner, what a tackle on Neymar in the first half, he hated that, really shook him up and as for Bobby, get in lad, awesome cameo  and a fabulously taken goal to keep the reds on the march.

Love it, love it, love it!!!

Neymar had to change his shorts half-time. Shat in his pants with that Milner tackle 

Showed him who's BOSS 

Loved that! Then you had Hendo tackling left, right and centre in the middle of the park. I think he was done about 3 times in the first half. They were demolished by a hardworking, well-oiled machine.

Now they know what a team looks like! Absolutely bulldozed!
At one point, Neymar was strolling after being dispossesed- IN their own half!
I never want to see someone like him at Liverpool.

[Red Beret]

Obviously all the top sides are still a bit rusty, given the WC hangover; and ours isn't the only side whose players are having trouble clicking.  But we just passed another major test after going up against Spurs, and we remain undefeated in all competitions we are currently kicking balls in.

That will weigh heavily on any opponent hoping to take points off us, starting with Southampton.  We're not just carving out a reputation as being hard to beat this season; we're also hard to score against, hard to draw against, and just effing hard in general.

Those teams who have, in the past, raised their game against us, only to roll over and have their belly tickled by one of the other big six, may now be looking at us and thinking they might want to conserve their energy for easier games.

[Larse]

We looked good already, in possession, in defense and on the break. Only negative yesterday: we were missing this last pass in both possession and in our counter attacks sometimes.

My biggest positive about this game was to see that missing one of the front three doesn't affect our game to much. Sturridge is no Firmino but did a really good job. Last year when one of them didn't play you could really see it affected us a lot (best example being the CL-final). Yesterday Salah was far from his best and Firmino didn't play and we still did a great job. And the best thing about all this is, that except Alisson and a Shaqiri Cameo, non of our new signings have even played.

Our midfield three was fantastic. Wijnaldum MOTM for me, he has been one of my favorite players for a while now but this year he really stepped up. Milner: also amazing. He is 32 and still improving. Some weeks ago Klopp has said that as well. I can't remember the exact words but it was something like Milner "took the next step in his development". I don't think I have heard a manager talk about a 32 year old midfielders development before. Other midfielder his age are struggling to keep their standards while he is sill developing.

[emitime]

Not sure which was my favourite part of the match. There was the intense pressure early in the first half where it finally looked like the team started to click again.
There was the long period in the second half where we were just controlling the game, but doing so in an aggressive manner, producing decent chances for ourselves.
Or there was the period after the equaliser where we really got back at them instead of panicking.

Thoroughly enjoyed each of them; thought we showed some real intensity, maturity and steel.

[CallumLFC]

Wijnaldum has stepped it up big time this season. Far more assertive and hiding less.

Brilliant performance and my MOM.

[NaivetyinBlack]

Tuchel, the fanny.

Boss night, reds. One eyed Bobby is my favourite after the no look Bobby.

[12C]

No different from playing for Jose Mourinho then?

Ahh but think of the hugs😉

Just read the coverage on the Beeb site. It hasn’t occurred to all these pundits that perhaps PSG were terrified of our press, and so set up to hit us on the counter if they could. Theat was their plan in leaving the “big three” up front when defending deep.
I said this before the draw, no one -not Real, not Barca, not even Manchester City, will want to come to Anfield. Tuchel was right. This is Anfield, this is what they do!

[Clint Eastwood]

The night couldnt have gone better. We won, we played well, Firmino effectively got a rest, his replacement played well and a draw in the other game opens up the really big possibility of getting this group tied up by game 4.

Also big praise for the midfield. I bet if you asked most fans (injuries permitting) who would be their starting midfielders this season it would have been Fabinho, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita and many would have put in Lallana as well.

Fekir.

[Fitzy.]

Another huge plus is that Keita got a rest and can probably play in next two games. Klopp is using the squad the way he wants to, not the way fans expect him to.

[scouse neapolitan]

Very professional performance. Millner the standout for me. We'll have some more nail-biters in the next few months for sure . Definitely reckon that we'll have an easier time in the away legs.  Well done everyone.

[lukeb1981]

By the time we play them away we should be well up to speed and if they play with the same tactics as last night they will get some hiding . Tuchel is a horrible little c*nt.

[Jookie]

Amazing game and an amazing performance by the Reds in Europe. Since Klopp took over us our European record has been great (albeit the 2016/17 season we were not in Europe). A number of nights for fans to remember (Dortmund, Villarreal, Porto (a), City, Roma). Last night sits alongside those games.

The reason I mention this is that I got a few texts of match going friends last night that seemed to suggest 'decent result but performance wasn't great'. I was bit shocked. Thought we played really well though we aren't fully clicking in the final 3rd. Maybe it's a case of people not trying to get carried away. My personal fear is that people are becoming accustomed to these type of European performances. It's becoming the norm and if we aren't blowing teams away then people aren't waxing lyrical about the results or performance. We saw the same under Rafa. Not necessarily about blowing team away but people thinking QF/SF of the CL was the norm.

Here's our European record between Rafa and Klopp:

2010/11 Europa League L16 knocked out by Braga
2011/12 DNQ
2012/13 Europa League L32 knocked out by Zenit
2013/14 DNQ
2014/15 CL 3rd in Group stage, Europa League L32 knocked out by Beşiktaş

Since then Europa League runners up, DNQ and CL runners up.

There's an absolute stark difference in our performances in Europe under Rafa/Klopp and the interim period. We should enjoy it while it lasts since you never know what is around the corner.

[redk84]

That was a really good performance.

I was most impressed with how we dictated the game for most of the 2nd half...been waiting years for our team to get to this point where we look in control when on top and can play the game on our terms.
PSG were interesting. As soon as they recovered the ball they ziplined it to their attacking players and tried to kill us with their speed of attack. But we have some quick players too with excellent recovery, a special shoutout to the fullbacks last night who were brilliant and did not do much wrong.

Milner - exceptional. Hendo and Gini too....really got a hold of that midfield battle.

The first half I thought we cancelled eachother out a bit and it was good to see the sparring back and forward between the teams. We started to exploit a weakness with our balls into the box causing a problem. Great goal. Then the pen was nailed on and this was the point where we had them.

I thought the front 3 played well, Mane especially. Salah I thought did good too actually, i think his goal being discounted messed with his head a bit and he went searching for an impact too much as he has done at times. His mis-layed pass leading to their equalizer was annoying but its ok, mistakes can be made and at that level they will be punished at times.
Thankfully Bobby came up with the goods at the right time and we got a deserved win which sets the group up nicely for us.

EDIT: Really happy for Studge. Great moment for him

[Mutton Geoff]

PSG are a great example of you can have all the talent in the world but if you dont want to put in the effort and work for the team then the team suffers:

What a contrast to our lads busting a gut every game as for the result it would have been a crime if PSG got anything out of that game , they didnt deserve it and they didnt get it.

Great to see the wiggly arms man score and great pen by Milner even when the keeper guess the right way he had no chance, and Bobby's winner was simply well crafted and pure talent.

Accolades also to Roberston and TAA, and our center backs and especially to Henderson and Milner who were in their faces all game in fact sod it they all played well on the night , just one caveat we need to get far more clinical in front of goal and convert these chances to goals as we did last season, then we would have had 5 or 6 last night.

On last nights showing i fully expect that we can beat them on their own pitch.

[wheresnemeth]

The PSG midfielders especially Rabiot looked exhausted near the end of the second half, even though it looked like our players were doing most of the running throughout the game.

[jepovic]

Neymar is a hugely talented player. But he is not really a 'team' player yet. He thinks the team should play for him. If he put in the effort and ran himself into the ground, he'd be unstoppable. But he doesnt, often gets the hump and slouches around. Delays passes too long and at times appears disinterested. Its his work ethic thats the issue. If he wants to be up there with Messi and Ronaldo, he should take at look at their respective work ethics. Currently all he has is Ronaldo's petulance and ability to fall over a blade of grass.

His problem, and probably PSG's problem, is that in the league they win most games at 80% effort. It was the same for Neymar in Barca. Winning most games easily makes players lazy. The difference in defensive effort between our front three and PSG's was enormous,and their midfielders were left alone for much of the game. Our full backs got all the time in the world.

If the second best team in PL was Arsenal, Liverpool wouldn't be as good.

[solidgold]

PSG game plan was to soak and pounce. They did that on a number of occasion when we put a misplaced pass in midfield. Salah did that twice and we got punished luckily only once. Virgil snubed off the other one in the box. That kind of play only worked if u tracked back after losing thr ball. PSG forward line is not used to tracking back. Cavani and Neymar stayed up. Angel too. So Trent and Robbo overload the flanks immediately after and our midfield stepped up. Then we squeezed them into their last third and pinging balls into the 6-yard box making it impossible to defend. Firmino goal was a classic example of how we squeezed the space in front of the last third. Choking them to defeat.

[BTGH]

The goal should have stood imo, it's an unintentional follow through after he wins the ball

Not only that but he's basically just decided to disallow it about 15 seconds after he scored

Every keeper might as well just pretend to be injured now, what a fucking farce

I actually suspect the keeper was feigning injury.  He received a boot on his inner thigh/groin area but his first instinct was to hold his right hamstring and roll about......I would like to think 99.99% of men would immediately use their hands to cup their private area should the same "injury" happen to them

[sms1986]

Someone fire up a southampton thread already, bored of this twatting now need to start thinking about the next team that are getting battered by the tricky reds.

Yeah, I wish we were playing every other day!

[RogerTheRed]

We could do with scoring a couple of free kicks and more goals per corner. Area for future development :-)

[CHOPPER]

Good start, some good, some very good and some not so good bits last night. You can see they(PSG) are a class act when they get going, fortunately, we didn't allow them to get going, too much.

If I was a manager, supporter, player from another European team, I would absolutely not want to get us in the knockout stages when we do get there.

Next job to beat Napoli and we can be happy in the knowledge that even only 3 points from the back-to-back games against RSB should/will, have us through to the knockouts where, as mentioned, no one will want to be drawn against us.

[Paragon]

The pot 3 team beating the pot 1 team. That wasn't supposed to happen 

[FlashingBlade]

... no one will want to be drawn against us.

I'd like to be drawn against us...but only if the artist was flattering to me and I didnt look so..er!..heavy boned...and can I stand next to Robbo and Milly cos they're me faves!

[Lynndenberries]

Couldn’t be happier for Sturridge. I was nervous about him starting in a high intensity match like that, but he proved me wrong. Great to see him on the scoresheet in such a big moment.

[wige]

Amazing game and an amazing performance by the Reds in Europe. Since Klopp took over us our European record has been great (albeit the 2016/17 season we were not in Europe). A number of nights for fans to remember (Dortmund, Villarreal, Porto (a), City, Roma). Last night sits alongside those games.

The reason I mention this is that I got a few texts of match going friends last night that seemed to suggest 'decent result but performance wasn't great'. I was bit shocked. Thought we played really well though we aren't fully clicking in the final 3rd. Maybe it's a case of people not trying to get carried away. My personal fear is that people are becoming accustomed to these type of European performances. It's becoming the norm and if we aren't blowing teams away then people aren't waxing lyrical about the results or performance. We saw the same under Rafa. Not necessarily about blowing team away but people thinking QF/SF of the CL was the norm.

Here's our European record between Rafa and Klopp:

2010/11 Europa League L16 knocked out by Braga
2011/12 DNQ
2012/13 Europa League L32 knocked out by Zenit
2013/14 DNQ
2014/15 CL 3rd in Group stage, Europa League L32 knocked out by Beşiktaş

Since then Europa League runners up, DNQ and CL runners up.

There's an absolute stark difference in our performances in Europe under Rafa/Klopp and the interim period. We should enjoy it while it lasts since you never know what is around the corner.

Well said Jookie.

[Peabee]

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sadio-mane-roberto-firmino-goals-15172268

“I think Bobby doesn't need his eye to play so I told him,” Mane smiled.

“I sent him a message on Monday saying: 'Hey Bobby, come on, we need you.'

“You've all seen the 'no look' goals so I think he doesn't need his eye to play. I texted him saying: 'You don't need your eye!'”

[Fitzy.]

The pot 3 team beating the pot 1 team. That wasn't supposed to happen 

Potty

[Gili Gulu]

That wasn't supposed to happen 

What PSG and Napoli said when they drew us from the third pot.

[gjr1]

Oh yes we are...

[Dench57]

eww

[meady1981]

Last season:
'Only got to the final as they never played top teams'
Getting drawn PSG:
'They'll get found out in that group this time'
Beating PSG:
'Doesn't count, they're shit'

Football fans are bell ends.

[Suareznumber7]

Neymar is a hugely talented player. But he is not really a 'team' player yet. He thinks the team should play for him. If he put in the effort and ran himself into the ground, he'd be unstoppable. But he doesnt, often gets the hump and slouches around. Delays passes too long and at times appears disinterested. Its his work ethic thats the issue. If he wants to be up there with Messi and Ronaldo, he should take at look at their respective work ethics. Currently all he has is Ronaldo's petulance and ability to fall over a blade of grass.

This is a different Neymar to the one that played in Barcelona.  He was most definitely a team player with them and was often tracking back defending.  I think he gets his ego stroked a bit too much in Paris and the fact that it’s a piss easy league for PSG means that he basically can do what he wants in a match and it doesn’t effect the result. 

[Chakan]

Yes, he had a right go for the ball, but still a foul.

No. How on  earth did you get that from what I wrote?

So since he had a right to go for the ball, got to the ball first,  what exactly is he supposed to do after that?