Topic: CL: R Mad 1 vs 0 Liverpool Benzema 78’

[So… Howard Philips]

I have been to a few away games in Europe and part of the whole thing is enjoying the place you go to. The fact that people spend lots of cash and time to support the team indicates that winning is very important, and being there cheering on the team is the reason for going. However, taking in the sights and picking up the vibe of the city is all part of the event. My last game was Atetico in 2020 andthe fact  I spent a few hours in the Prado, which was great, didn't mean I wasn't interested in us winning the match. To be honest, the match was crap and the Prado visit was the highlight.

One of the benefits of supporting this club is the opportunity to visit European cities, soak up a bit of culture and local atmosphere ( Paris excluded) and watch the match.

I thought liverbloke was a little hard on the poster and I don’t think he meant to be.

[Knight]

You can always tell who the real fans are. They're the ones who hate the rest of the fanbase and spend most of their time here slagging off other fans.

lol very good.

[whiteboots]

well i'm glad that you enjoyed your trip - but i wanted us to win a football match no matter what

Every Red does.

But the opportunity to visit places like Madrid, rather than simply Bournemouth, Brentford and Croydon are to be savoured. I've been following us in Europe since the mid 70's and never take it for granted.

We haven't been convincing this season in any of the competitions, and when you look at how close we were last season, those margins are wafer thin, which is why I understand that we have to take the rough with the smooth.

Wanting us to win, and appreciating that it doesn't happen automatically,  is part of being a fan.

[In the Name of Klopp]

Henry's business as usual comments helped burst any bubble that the United game created.

What when did he say it?

[Dave McCoy]

A day later and it still boggles my mind that the best plan we had was a double pivot including Milner with Gakpo playing a 8/10 hybrid while four first team midfielders sit on the bench. I get the reasons why all the other options also were flawed and said so myself pre-game. Even still it just seems kind of crazy. Maybe this break will be good but honestly the quicker we can get these last 12 games over the better. Hopefully there are some honest and frank discussions happening in the background about how the processes that led us to make these personnel decisions need to change.

[MBL?]

Dont fully agree with that MBL. Whilst the collective drop off has been stark, it was absolutely clear that we had not done enough and the fact that we started with 7 players against Fulham aged 30 or over (not including Fabinho who was 29) that should have set off alarm bells.

In fact its quite infuriating really when you think back to the summer. Calvin Ramsey was our third biggest signing and Carvalho our second. That alone smacks of us being partly arrogant and partly clueless as to our issues.

I take your point. It was clear we didn’t do enough. I just find it a bit fanciful that people go on like they all knew we would decline like this. The general consensus now seems to be that most players can play at a high level in their early 30’s

I thought it quite likely we’d need 3 CMs at the end of this season and couldn’t fathom our failure to bring in one in the summer. Neither of those opinions was particularly unusual and I was probably influenced in that direction by other posters so in no sense am I giving myself any credit or tapping myself on the back here. Now I didn’t expect Fabinho to drop off a cliff but I thought alongside him only Thiago was really good enough and Thiago misses almost half our games. So I thought we’d be 2 CMs short of good enough for half the season. Turns out it’s 3, given Fabinho’s struggles. And at the point that one whole part of your team is, collectively and individually, below the required level, you’re going to struggle. So no I didn’t expect this, but I did expect a significant drop off given the forward turnover and the midfield issues.

I could be wrong as I am all the time but I don’t remember anyone asking for 3 last summer. I don’t see every post on here but I just don’t remember anyone asking for 3. I’d like to see what you were saying at the time if you don’t mind quoting it?