Topic: Round Table Aston Villa 0-6 LFC

[Hinesy]

that'll teach you to beat us in a semi final of a cup...


A week is long time in politics but two or three days is massive in football.  Granted Villa weren't great, but at least of 3 of our goals were sublime, Coutinho's cross was astonishing in its speed, it just kind of floated over and hung about a bit waiting for Daniel to head it in, whereas Toure's goal was like watching your dad on Ninja Warrior, stand there and don't get knocked over...

We're a shower of bastards when we lose, witness the endless I-told-you-so's on here after a loss/draw. I don't see many of them here today loving the scene.

I felt sorry for Benteke, coming on earlier would've done him a world of good, otherwise I kind of thought like the Norwich game, what can we learn from such a victory?

1. We're a better team with a good striker in it.
2. Coutinho's good isn't he.
3. Er that's it.


What have I missed?

[Hinesy]

Bump

[CHOPPER]

Thank you very much Aston Villa for being so shit, I could get 11 lads and lasses from in here and we'd give them a game. And thats even with Hinesy up front.


A nice mauling with no goals conceded to ease the frustrations at both ends of the field and to finally get the goal difference back to a '+' level(February and we are finally in the + zone, how sad's that!) and we now have a 5 day gap to the next game, then a week to the one after that and then, 3 days to the season defining/saving game of the season.

[Kelvinlfc]

Decent win for confidence but I'm not taking a lot from it, as good as I think we were Villa are fucking aweful atm

[poopscoop]

I regret Benteke coming on at all. I don't mean that in a snidey bastard way (well, not much). By the time he got on Studge and Coutinho, the main creative threats had gone off - so he was basically back to plowing the furrow up top alongside young Divock.
Brilliant to see us give someone a proper pasting but shocked by how shot Villa look. With the exception of Gil and maybe Westwood, there is not one player who you say I wouldn't mind them at my club. The marking for Kolo's goal was just utter, utter, miserable, ugly, lazy shit. Sorry for the Villa fans who had to witness that. Onwards and upwards for us though! Brilliant to see that front three today - all played well today.

[Gnurglan]

Felt like an important win. Sturridge, Coutinho and Firmino playing together and we had to win this game. For us to go out and win they way we did must give us a confidence boost. When we beat Southampton, I thought that would be the start of something. It wasn't. Maybe this win could be that start. Six different goalscorers can only be a good thing for us. Many players get to feel they contributed. Thought it was good by Klopp to let Stewart and Origi be part of the win. Benteke's confidence would probably have been best helped by a goal, but at least he was allowed to escape some negative attention. Hopefully he can get to score a few soon. There's quality in him and so far we haven't managed to find it, which is a shame.

Was pleased with the way we controlled everything vs Villa. Thought we did it all through the game. My only worry was when it was 0-0 and 1-0. Once we scored the second, I felt we had three points secured. No way were we going to screw things up another time, not with the Sunderland game fresh in our minds. 

[rscanderlech]

I didn't see the match and only saw the goals afterwards. What struck me with some of goals is the sheer lack of defending. Our defence might be rubbish but our defenders still try to stop goals from going in--they just aren't very good at it, hence we've conceded the 15th/16th most goals in the league this season. Villa's defenders were just not trying at times. The Toure goal is the obvious example but even on the first goal the defending was quite bad, for example.

Nonetheless, as you can see, when Coutinho and Sturridge and Origi play, we have greater precision in the final third, more pace in the final third and more confidence in the final third. Hence, goals. Keeping Sturridge and Coutinho fit could even allow us to reach advanced stages of the EL.

[farawayred]

It's easy to write good things about a 6-0 trashing, but what impressed me most was the different nature of the goals. If I can describe them in one word, this is how it goes:
1. Sturridge's - sharpness. Coutinho's ball was on on a dime and Sturridge knew where exactly to go and where to place the ball. As if both of them have played all season. We have missed that for ages, Benteke does not attack these spaces.
2. Milner's - experience. Put a good ball in reach of a few players, but make sure if no one touches it it goes right in the corner. This forces the defense to play the ball, not only the attackers. Super!
3. Can's - grit. Fight for a ball in midfield, and when you win it, keep supporting the attack. We need more of this.
4. Origi's - speed. I mean, come on, how easy did this goal look? But it started with Phil's brilliant pass that set Origi one on one, but it was his speed that was eye-catching. (How many one-on-ones did Benteke score?)
5. Clyne's - persistence. In fairness, he probably should have scored at the first opportunity, but he didn't slow down and when Origi nicked the ball on his path, he tapped it in.
6. Kolo's - confidence. Probably being 5-0 up by that time has a role to play. But the way the playe developed was a bit weird. When Hendo hit the corner, I thought "oh man, he didn't beat the first man." The ball was flying so low and it was rising almost all the way until it hit Kolo's head... He just redirected it to the net. We were actually dangerous from corners...

I wonder if we can keep this up and build on it, but Coutinho, Sturridge, Origi all make a difference. We have missed them for most of the season... Where would we have been with them fit...

[kenworthy]

Very important win at a very important moment for the club. Sets up an interesting run-in towards the end of the season. The pressure is somewhat off, as expectations of a top 4 finish have gone (even though not mathematically). We have a fit(ish) Sturridge, Coutinho and Firmino who looked incredible together (albeit against a horrid side), and the kids are getting opportunities. Could be a really fun couple of months if the form starts to click, with some weeding-out happening at the same time. 

[Cork Red]

I just hope wee Divock is ok after his foray into the crowd.

He looked proper gobsmacked, like the bloke in the Tango ad back in the 80's

[kkjellquist]

Villa's effort was embarrassing and I feel for their supporters.  Professionals collecting checks and have a jog around the pitch is what I saw from them.

With that, we really needed the boost.  Good to have an almost fully fit squad and.....Coutinho!!

[Black Bull Nova]

I just hope wee Divock is ok after his foray into the crowd.

He looked proper gobsmacked, like the bloke in the Tango ad back in the 80's

Apparently Dicock has tweaked his lipsmack and will be out for a month, assuming the counselling sessions go well and the results of his blood tests are OK

[Persephone]

Villa's effort was embarrassing and I feel for their supporters.  Professionals collecting checks and have a jog around the pitch is what I saw from them.

With that, we really needed the boost.  Good to have an almost fully fit squad and.....Coutinho!!

Villa were horrendous, as was Lescott's tweets after the match. If I was a Villa fan I'd have gone mental after that. Luckily I'm not so Igot to enjoy our easiest game of the season with a permanent smile. So good to see Firmino, Coutinho and Sturridge on the pitch together, I think those 3 will form a great understanding.

Phil Coutinho was a little magician last night, he was everywhere but that pass for Origi was sublime. We've missed him almost as much as Sturridge.

[ABZ Rover]

Just needs to keep his pucker up and he will be fine.

[GBF]

Villa's effort was embarrassing and I feel for their supporters.

dem supporters who didnt want Rafa as their manager

[Chakan]

Villa's effort was embarrassing and I feel for their supporters.  Professionals collecting checks and have a jog around the pitch is what I saw from them.

With that, we really needed the boost.  Good to have an almost fully fit squad and.....Coutinho!!

Fuck their supporters. Hope they relish being in the championship! I know i'll enjoy that they are.

[Red-Soldier]

Fuck their supporters. Hope they relish being in the championship! I know i'll enjoy that they are.

Seconded 

Think they could really struggle down there next season!!

[kaz1983]

Was Firmino playing in midfield or upfront with Sturiddge, in more of a 4-4-2?

[redmark]

Was Firmino playing in midfield or upfront with Sturiddge, in more of a 4-4-2?

Behind him, fairly typical 4231 (Milner right, Coutinho left), with a fair bit of movement. He doesn't get much credit for it, but Milner's running off the ball was superb and created a lot of space at times.

[kaz1983]

Ah yep, your right about Milner and I see it. You need that kind of player, you can't have 3x #10's all wanting to do tricks and take that central zone. We before had it in Kuyt who was always being discussed at the end of the season.. "who will replace him?" etc etc..... everybody now looks back and understands that he was absolutely key for us back in 2006-2009

[McrRed]

Just a word on Kolo's goal. It was no accident and the marking wasn't as bad as it seemed at first. The ball was put into the middle of the goal where Sakho was doing his best impression of a fleet of bulldozers. He absolutely cleansed the area, a play straight from the pulis-fatsam  handbook of gnarly ploys. Leaving Kolo with the simple task of getting the header on target , which he did so beautifully.

Once our management team have had their collective cherry popped, we are going to be so dangerous. I can't wait for next season... and this one's only half done. Exciting times ahead!

[Severely]

Aston Villa were absolutely shocking - to the point that I expect we would have won without Sturridge - but make no mistake, there's no chance or would have been as comfortable a win without that man. All tactics aside, he scores with the first chance he gets. How much of a burden does that relieve on the rest of the team? What's the value of that clinical first goal? Priceless. And the thing is, if he's kept fit, that's something he offers with a consistency that very, very few strikers in the world do.

[alvaro]

To be completely honest it seems to be this is more about how awful Aston Villa were than about how good we were. The Augsburg game will give us a much more clear picture of how good our strongest front 3 is.

Thats all I have to say about the game to be honest, Aston Villa were THAT bad, we cant really analyze the game.

[Rush 82]

A fine, fine game!

Brilliant to see our best players back on the field and see them produce the goods.

[Rush 82]

To be completely honest it seems to be this is more about how awful Aston Villa were than about how good we were. The Augsburg game will give us a much more clear picture of how good our strongest front 3 is.

Thats all I have to say about the game to be honest, Aston Villa were THAT bad, we cant really analyze the game.

Yeah, that's why we're the first team this season to batter them 6-0. Doesn't matter how poor they were, it still takes some doing to win 6-0.

[alvaro]

Well, they didn't play every game this badly.  And it does matter how poor they were when we are trying to draw conclusions. Just look at the players that scored.
Milner, Can, Toure and Clyne. Those same players have hardly scored during our awful run in the league. 
Do you know expect the same players that failed to score in crucial games to start knocking them in because they scored against the worst side we have played in the league since Derby ?

I do have some faith in the team of course. But that's because I have seen Coutinho, Firmino, Sturridge and Origi damage competent teams not because I saw them thrash Aston Villa.

[DanA]

I think this is what we all were hoping for in the pre-season. The type of movement we saw was superb with everybody contributing. It's the first time we've seen Coutinho, Firmino and Sturridge together and it looked dynamic and goals weren't a problem. It was very different to what we've seen all season.  I still feel like another dynamic player on the RW as an alternative to Milner would add a lot in situations but can't complain about his performance. 

I think all season we've been complaining about not being unable to break down teams who sit off us. Now that we finally destroy a team doing this people complain about how passive they were and poor they looked. You can't have it both ways, I think it was a step in the right direction.

[Tobez]

One thing that struck me as being quite interesting is how we weren't really playing too much as a 4-2-3-1, but more as a 4-3-3 with Henderson, Milner and Can having quite a lot of freedom to play around in the middle and swap positions. There were some real positive things coming out of this, but once or twice we saw some pretty wide gaps in the middle that a better team might well have exploited. Now, I'm not saying that we should give up and throw this away - it's probably the best shape and personnel we can get in the midfield right now - but it will probably take a few games before everybody's up to speed with exactly what they're doing and when they're covering.

It was interesting to hear Henderson say after the game that he felt he had to sit back a bit and plug gaps because of the creative players in front of him. He really does do his best work going forward and it would be great to see the quick-passing Henderson of 13/14 alongside Firmino, Coutinho and Sturridge.

Also quite interesting was the point in which we really did switch to a 2-3 midfield but with Milner as a RB and Clyne pushing on. I wonder if that's a tactic which could be useful against the more tightly-packed defences when they're a) quite narrow and b) not expecting Clyne in the attack.

As a conclusion, keep Sturridge fit and we're in the mix. Get Origi playing when he isn't at at least we have pace in behind. It's all we really need to start stretching teams and allowing the creative players space to make an impact.

[Dubred]

Well, they didn't play every game this badly.  And it does matter how poor they were when we are trying to draw conclusions. Just look at the players that scored.
Milner, Can, Toure and Clyne. Those same players have hardly scored during our awful run in the league. 
Do you know expect the same players that failed to score in crucial games to start knocking them in because they scored against the worst side we have played in the league since Derby ?

I do have some faith in the team of course. But that's because I have seen Coutinho, Firmino, Sturridge and Origi damage competent teams not because I saw them thrash Aston Villa.

At the end of the day.....this is still the Premier League and to put 6 past any team in this division is remarkable, and should be applauded.

Prior to this game the max Villa had conceded in a game was 4, and they've done that twice this season.

Our players still had to put the ball in the back of the net, something we have struggled with massively this season.

So why lets not applaud our guys, rather than making out any bloody team could have done what we done.

The confidence it will give the lads will be invaluable.

[Petadroli]

For me the second half of this season feels like the 12/13 season after we signed Coutinho and Sturridge in January. We saw the progress the team made under a new manager, how Coutinho and Sturridge would change dynamics in the side. From February on we won 7, drew 5 and lost only 2 games. Anybody remember the 6-0 away thrashing of Newcastle? The 5-0 against Norwich? The 4-0 against Wigan? It proved to be a sign of things to come. But let's not get carried away here. Since Klopp took over, we have had some memorable wins, but also some very disappointing losses. It is a big process to reform this team into serial winners, Klopp himself said as much a few days ago. Let's push on and see where it takes us this season. We can win a trophy for the first time in 4 years in 12 days and I believe we will.

[TepidT2O]

For me the second half of this season feels like the 12/13 season after we signed Coutinho and Sturridge in January. We saw the progress the team made under a new manager, how Coutinho and Sturridge would change dynamics in the side. From February on we won 7, drew 5 and lost only 2 games. Anybody remember the 6-0 away thrashing of Newcastle? The 5-0 against Norwich? The 4-0 against Wigan? It proved to be a sign of things to come. But let's not get carried away here. Since Klopp took over, we have had some memorable wins, but also some very disappointing losses. It is a big process to reform this team into serial winners, Klopp himself said as much a few days ago. Let's push on and see where it takes us this season. We can win a trophy for the first time in 4 years in 12 days and I believe we will.

Hmmm let's see.  A good result has often been followed by an awful one this season.... I remain cautious (but optimistic!)

As I've said before, Courinho and Sturridge were more important to our revival than Suarez in the spring of 13..

(Not that Suarez wasn't the better player mind you).

[xbugawugax]

Well, they didn't play every game this badly.  And it does matter how poor they were when we are trying to draw conclusions. Just look at the players that scored.
Milner, Can, Toure and Clyne. Those same players have hardly scored during our awful run in the league. 
Do you know expect the same players that failed to score in crucial games to start knocking them in because they scored against the worst side we have played in the league since Derby ?

I do have some faith in the team of course. But that's because I have seen Coutinho, Firmino, Sturridge and Origi damage competent teams not because I saw them thrash Aston Villa.

To be honest what is your expectation?

We just won by 6. I repeat 6. Villa is bad but we beat them by 6. Have any other teams beat them by the same margin? I'm sure you get the message by now.

I'll take a victory against the lower side with Milner, Clyne, Emre and scoring against them every day of the week. Coming into the game, I wasn't even sure of us getting 3 points despite having Coutinho, Sturridge and Firmino starting considering the unpredictable nature of our form.  It's always against the lower sides that we choke. And as much as I hate to say this, its this kind of bread and butter games that makes the old Man u sides champions year after year. We get the bread and butter games right and any win against our rivals is just a bonus.

I still think that the side didn't even get out of 2nd gear. The game has a training feel to it and that's how rubbish Villa are or shall I say we make them look rubbish.

[Timbo's Goals]

I'll make no fucking apologies and just add what I've been banging on about for 18 months - the huge significance of which I honestly don't think has fully registered with a large swathe of Reds as they seek out their usual goalkeeper/back four/defensive midfielder scapegoat.

That is - any proper footy team at any level needs a proper attacking outlet/cutting edge and the penetration that accompanies it in order to function in the manner the good Lord and Shanks intended a team to function. If you don't have it then as we have seen in so many games this past 18 months there's not actually much point in a team turning up? The "team" may just as well sit in the dressing room and play Snakes and fucking Ladders because on the pitch they'll merely end up running down blind alleys or inviting Row Z patrons to partake in the game.

That said, if Sturridge, Origi and Coutinho do manage the quick return that is now being hinted at then the positive transformation in our play will I'm sure be a dramatic one.

Nor is that simply rose-tinted cock-eyed optimism.

Rather it is reasoned logic that the presence of such a potent front three will provide much craved reassurance and galvanizing effect to a hitherto hardworking yet increasingly demoralised team and fan base. And it will result in chances being created and goals being scored. The rescue act we all long for.

Such is the pivotal significance a bona fide attacking outlet can provide to any team.

And yet for all the negatives of [our various shortcomings this past 18 months or so] the positives that can come from knowing that the opposition defence can suffer even more than our own from the incisiveness of our own attack boasting a fit Sturridge, Origi and Coutinho has to give us all hope.

Get that top end sorted and the rest can surely flow from there.

 

Early days but I'm fucked if I’m writing ‘owt else even if we did win by six goals.

 

[alvaro]

Our expectation is to beat shit sides by a bunch of goals which we did. It doesn't mean anything though.  I try to think we are not the best when we win nor the worse when we lose. The same posters that are wanking over the 6-0 are the ones that will completely overreact when we lose a game again. Just watch.

[kcbworth]

Early days but I'm fucked if I’m writing ‘owt else even if we did win by six goals.

 

Haha Timbo you don't half like being right

[Timbo's Goals]

Haha Timbo you don't half like being right

Ha ha.

If only it happened more often I could dominate every thread!!!

 

[markedasred]

Thank you very much Aston Villa for being so shit, I could get 11 lads and lasses from in here and we'd give them a game. And thats even with Hinesy up front.

This is the standard narrative from everyone, from on here to the telly. What about the form table before this game? did anyone take a peek at that? This is how it reads: Villa WDDLW Liverpool DLWLD. They lost less and won more than we did, were having a slight uplift in form whilst we embraced mediocrity through injury and overplaying whoever could play. They thought they had a chance, had a bright start, then had the wind knocked out of their sails by our newly rediscovered 13/14 style supreme performance. The thing that made them seem shit was our killing of their confidence. We did the same to Arsenal and Spurs under Brendan. It was more about what we did to them than them being shit before we started.

[kcbworth]

Ha ha.

If only it happened more often I could dominate every thread!!!

 

Good addition to this roundtable still

[keyop]

To be completely honest it seems to be this is more about how awful Aston Villa were than about how good we were. The Augsburg game will give us a much more clear picture of how good our strongest front 3 is.

Thats all I have to say about the game to be honest, Aston Villa were THAT bad, we cant really analyze the game.

This would be true if it weren't for the fact that Villa have been poor all season, and yet we put two more goals past them at their place than City, Utd, Arsenal, and Leicester combined:

Aston Villa 0-1 Man Utd
Aston Villa 0-0 Man City
Aston Villa 0-2 Arsenal
Aston Villa 1-1 Leicester

Credit where credit is due. Winning 6-0 away from home isn't something that happens very often, even against lower league teams in the cup.

I don't understand when people can't give credit or analyse a perfomance because the win was somehow 'too easy'. If its clear a team isn't playing well then you do the professional thing and you systematically destroy them - that's exactly what we did the whole game, and we were still pushing for goals after 85 minutes.

Rewind to seasons past (or even last week) and we were letting 2 goal leads slip or taking our foot off the gas only to invite pressure and have a nervy last 30 minutes as the opposition smelt blood.

What we did against Villa was to be clinical in front of goal, keep pressing, build a good lead and then rest key players. That's exactly what the top sides do against relegation fodder, and it's a sign that we can be ruthless when we want to be. The key is to do this consistently, and to ensure that if the opposition are having a bad day, we keep pushing relentlessly until they crumble. It obviously helps having a front 3 of Sturridge, Firmino and Coutinho, but everyone played their part in the game. Villa didn't exactly park the bus, but we were able to move them around at will due to the clever movement of our front players and some composure in front of goal.

This was a unique game in many respects - we scored 6 (with 6 different scorers), we played Sturridge, Coutinho and Firmino together (and it looked great), we didn't concede from a set piece (and even scored from one), plus we ended up with a positive goal difference and Kolo Toure got on the scoresheet.

If ever there was a game to be a turning point in our fortunes, then surely this is the one.

Onwards and upwards.

[Red Beret]

As I said in post match, when you fail to score against us, and we manage to score against you from a corner, then you know your club is in the shitter. 

A massive massive boost for our team as a whole, especially those returning from injury.  Much needed confidence for our next game.  I am sure all the lads are working hard.

We may yet finish this season with a few smiles.