Topic: Liverpool 0 - 1 Aston Villa post match winge

[clinical]

Its about time we realise we aren't going to be as good as last season. Accept it, without Suarez we're not as good. We have a stronger squad though which is needed with champions league football. But top 4 is a tough ask

[istvan kozma]

Its about time we realise we aren't going to be as good as last season. Accept it, without Suarez we're not as good. We have a stronger squad though which is needed with champions league football. But top 4 is a tough ask

4 games in already shitting the bed

[Saul Goodman]

4 games in already shitting the bed

What he's saying is quite reasonable and has nothing to do with your wet dreams. Many of us held similar views before we kicked a football this season.

[Barneylfc∗]

4 games in already shitting the bed

It's hardly shitting the bed. It's being realistic. Suarez put the fear of god into defenders last season. He could pick the ball up from anywhere, literally anywhere in the opposition half and either score, or make the keeper work. Fuck Rooney's goal against a fucking clampet of a keeper who may as well have ran into the post. Check out Suarez against Norwich. Twice. The man is a fucking football genius. We don't have that spark anymore. 4 games in, and bar the Spurs game, we've looked pretty fucking average going forward. How many times against an Aston Villa defence consisting of Phillipe Senderos and Nathan Blake, did you think "This is when we are going to score". I'll tell you how many - 0. We had 1 shot on target all game. 1. The last shot on target from either team in that game was Agbonlahor's goal. We were pathetic up front.

[Twelfth Man]

It's hardly shitting the bed. It's being realistic. Suarez put the fear of god into defenders last season. He could pick the ball up from anywhere, literally anywhere in the opposition half and either score, or make the keeper work. Fuck Rooney's goal against a fucking clampet of a keeper who may as well have ran into the post. Check out Suarez against Norwich. Twice. The man is a fucking football genius. We don't have that spark anymore. 4 games in, and bar the Spurs game, we've looked pretty fucking average going forward. How many times against an Aston Villa defence consisting of Phillipe Senderos and Nathan Blake, did you think "This is when we are going to score". I'll tell you how many - 0. We had 1 shot on target all game. 1. The last shot on target from either team in that game was Agbonlahor's goal. We were pathetic up front.

We were pathetic upfront with Suarez in the side against Villa last season.

[istvan kozma]

While Suarez was here we failed to beat Villa at home and Barker was playing centre half in those games, as I said we've only played 4 games, it's stupid to make conclusions this early.

[Bruce88]

Didn't see the game so can't judge but onwards and upwards!

[MolbyLovesGravlax]

But top 4 is a tough ask

Assuming Chelsea and City are a given, then we need to finish in the top 2 out of Us, Arsenal, Everton, Spurs and Utd. We are better than Everton or Spurs (we just fucking spanked them at their place for fuck's sake) and they have Europa which tends to have a much more negative effect than CL footie.
So really people are saying it is likely Utd will accumulate more points than us.

[fcsantos]

Shouldn't have read the posts on here, rename this the post match c  t thread.

Ridiculously negative reaction by some Newcastle-like supporters.

If we finish higher than 3rd it's an achievement, who were top this time last season?

[istvan kozma]

What he's saying is quite reasonable and has nothing to do with your wet dreams. Many of us held similar views before we kicked a football this season.

And what were your views before a ball was kicked last season?

[Saul Goodman]

Assuming Chelsea and City are a given, then we need to finish in the top 2 out of Us, Arsenal, Everton, Spurs and Utd. We are better than Everton or Spurs (we just fucking spanked them at their place for fuck's sake) and they have Europa which tends to have a much more negative effect than CL footie.
So really people are saying it is likely Utd will accumulate more points than us.

Just remember that like us last season all they have to concentrate is on the league. Falcao/Di Maria are massive additions to any team but to a team who are only going to need a core group of 13-15 players they become even bigger. We need to as a squad get up and running pretty quickly.

[stoa]

At the end of the day, we have two more points compared to the same fixtures last year. It is something positive in my view. Yes, we didn't play well and all the possession during the second half counts for nothing, if you don't do anything with it. In my view, this game showed what Suarez gave to the team. He's a player who is not afraid of going one vs. one (or even more) in the box. He's trying to make stuff happen. Today, too few of our players tried to do that. Balotelli has shown that he is not someone who can replace Suarez in that respect. I'm not using this to slate Balotelli. It's just an observation and in my view the team's/manager's approach has to change accordingly. Then again, I'm sure that Brendan Rodgers and his staff have seen the problems and will be working on correcting them.

In addition, it probably didn't help that we had so many new players in the team. With hindsight, I don't really see why Sterling didn't start today. It might be a fitness-issue and if it was, then fair play to Rodgers. If it wasn't, I don't know if it wouldn't have been better to have him start against Villa and then give him a rest in the Champions League.

In general, I like the look of our team and I like the direction we are going in.

[Halcyon Lissome]

I might be in the minority, but I'm not that upset about the loss. I think Rodgers' choice for attack was a bit misguided - or in other words he trusted them to come through and they've let him down, but it was predictable. If we hadn't had conceded so early I think it could've worked out better but the concession meant that Villa no longer had the onus to go forward and actually play football and that suited them fine.

I'm not sure if it is because I'm bitter a bit but I just think often teams that do nothing but sit in their half get too much credit for a defensive display. Villa more or less had everybody back and resorted to kicking lumps in our players. Going forward, they had little else but set-pieces. They're more a rugby team than football team. Pure 'shit on a stick' football.

[S]

Its about time we realise we aren't going to be as good as last season. Accept it, without Suarez we're not as good. We have a stronger squad though which is needed with champions league football. But top 4 is a tough ask

I really can't believe anyone honestly thought we'd be as good as we were last season.

Personally don't think we're good enough for top four either but that's for another topic.

[KiNki]

who are the four better teams? chelsea yeah, city probably, arsenal maybe? who's the other?

[Samie]

I really can't believe anyone honestly thought we'd be as good as we were last season.

Personally don't think we're good enough for top four either but that's for another topic.

Who's better than us after Chelsea and Man City?

Can't be finishing too high up or you'd be shitting it like last seasons title run in.

[Twelfth Man]

My mate just reminded me that Leyton Orient have beaten Villa this season.

[Bolrick]

Some learning points (IMO that is ...)

1)I think the only way to play gerrard in this team is we have the players in front of him moving all over the pitch. At this moment that involves playing with 2 up top if DS & RS ain't gonna start.

2)Gerrard in a 2 man midfield isn't gonna work (Unless if you have Hamann or Mascherano playing alongside him)

3)Henderson should be played further up. Playing him so deep is a very HODGESONy move.

4)If for some reason we have to play a 2 man central midfield ...then why don't we go with any 2 from allen, hendo or lucas.

5)The defence still looks all over the place (even with a change of personal). Surely this shows that the way this team is set up is contributing to it.

6)This defeat feels a lot like the home defeat to saints last season. There were problems with the way the team was set up : 4 central defenders playing in a flat four if I am not wrong vs playing gerrard in a midfield 2 and ballotelli lone up front. Then Suarez was back from his suspension and we moved up a gear. I think the key to future performance is to play with 2 up front to take the heat of the defence and midfield.

[ThisIsNotAnID]

who are the four better teams? chelsea yeah, city probably, arsenal maybe? who's the other?

Those three are definitely better. Let's see how United play today before we can decide if we're better than them.

[Samie]

Those three are definitely better. Let's see how United play today before we can decide if we're better than them.

we're better than them. no need to wait for that.

[Snail]

Fuck.

[SwordInYourGut]

We can afford to drop 10-12 points more than last season and still finish in the top 4. From that point of view this defeat doesn't really change too much. It only crushes the unrealistic title aspirations some of us were harbouring. Onwards and upwards and hopefully a quality CM in jan.

[Twelfth Man]

We can afford to drop 10-12 points more than last season and still finish in the top 4. From that point of view this defeat doesn't really change too much. It only crushes the unrealistic title aspirations some of us were harbouring. Onwards and upwards and hopefully a quality CM in jan.

Ain't crushed shit for me, we are still on to bring 19 home.

[ThisIsNotAnID]

We can afford to drop 10-12 points more than last season and still finish in the top 4. From that point of view this defeat doesn't really change too much. It only crushes the unrealistic title aspirations some of us were harbouring. Onwards and upwards and hopefully a quality CM in jan.

Not really. United are going to perform better than Everton did last season and we might just miss out if we don't try to be consistent.

[Zoomers]

Just got in.

We were utterly shite.

That is all.

10/10. That's quite an analysis.

[Barneylfc∗]

Fuck.

It's your fault Sian. You chose a birthday party over the mighty reds

[Barneylfc∗]

While Suarez was here we failed to beat Villa at home and Barker was playing centre half in those games, as I said we've only played 4 games, it's stupid to make conclusions this early.

4 ggames in yes. How many of those 4 have we looked like winning and in total control? I'm not a knee jerker by any means, but the point stands. Without Suarez we are an easier team t obeat

[MolbyLovesGravlax]

We lose this game and suddenly everyone thinks Utd will get more points than us? Seriously?
Yes Utd have spent, hugely, on some top quality. It should push them on. But they still are a team with a weak underbelly far beyond anything we have. They will get torn apart by the best teams in the league and will have more days like we had today than we will over the course of the season.
The lack of faith in our manager and players is kinda scary. More often than not 20 wins will get you 4th place. Do people really not look at the teams in the league and not see us being able to get 20 wins?

[Owl]

Conceding a goal with our defensive record is no suprise.

We are basically a team that needs to out score the opposition in most games in order to win as we will concede a goal in most games.

And the problem today were the 3 on top. Lallana is very short on fitness having missed most of pre season, balotelli and markovic are new to the team.

Still, One shot on target at home against hutton, senderos, baker and cissokho is a fucking horror.

Lack of creativity from midfield was also disgraceful.

The result isn't as schocking as the performance. U simply expect more from a team that has invested massive amounts this season.

[Zoomers]

Watching MOTD (which I certainly didn't want to lol...) It's fucking disgusting how Hutton targeted Balotelli. Something really needs to be done, I hope we file a complaint, especially regarding that kick off the ball.

Still, One shot on target at home against hutton, senderos, baker and cissokho is a fucking horror.

That definitely is fucking horrific.

[Nut/ella]

We really need to stamp the point that it's a whole new team. The defense is new, midfield is new and so is the attack. We might not have the incision we had with Suarez, but we have tidy, proven players who're made for our style of football. It was very apparent in the game that none of the boys were making any runs into channels nor picking any remote run. That's an obvious result of lack of training. And it's even harder when the opp parks a bus after taking an early lead. They'll need more time to understand each other and get back to the silky smooth football we knew.

We also need to remember that it wasn't just last season. Even in Brendan's first season, we had a great second half and it had been going on since then even with additions/outgoing players. It's not a flash in the pan.

Last but not the least, we played City, Villa, Soton and Spurs. That's a tough start for any team and not just in the all-teams-'are-tough-in-this-league sense. We'll strut along with the odd defeat here and there and still be within top 3/4/5 by December and from then on we'll see more cohesive performances. I'm not too worried.

[redoneusa]

Too early to judge to be fair. Performance was not good enough we can all agree on that. Other teams up the top part of the table will have games like we did today. No need to start writing off our season just yet.

[GrkStav]

I seem to be in a very small minority. I thought we were not bad at all. Nothing to write home about but the final score was not even close to being a fair result.

Senderos twice blatantly kicking and clipping Balotelli with impunity is just not on.

[Halcyon Lissome]

Senderos twice blatantly kicking and clipping Balotelli with impunity is just not on.

The funny thing is if you push a player in the face or something off the ball it is a red card but that kick goes unnoticed. Football's double standards.

[WaterfordRed]

This match was not about missing Suarez. He has gone.  The failure was not responding to AV gameplan which was quite good on their part.
Balotelli was having no joy on his own up front. So why not put Lambert on at half time or before that to support him and get in their face and give AV something to think about. Especially since we were looking for two goals from very early on. Two strikers at home is a must. This would have jolted the AV game plan and taken the pressure off Gerrard who was nullified by them.  Instead, we were treated to hundreds of pointless passes across the field and backwards with no penetration and few options.

[Abrak]

It is not at all surprising that the team which started with Suarez Sterling and Sturridge didnt look as good as last year. I thought the individual performances were not too bad and all the newcomers showed potential. I just think we lacked any cohesion as a team.

There is no point complaining about teams coming to Anfield and parking the f***ing bus. Any team that doesnt is pretty insane. If you play 5 at the back and deny us space in the final third we tend to look pretty ordinary. And the opposition also know we are vulnerable to leaking a goal at the other end. It isnt surprising that we look better against a Spurs side that was determined to take us on. We were pretty lucky last year that so many sides tactically played into our hands. I doubt it will be the same this season. 70% possession one shot on target tells the story. We do seem to be lacking a plan B.

The other tactic that Villa use that I expect to see a lot more of this season is - try to goad Balotelli into losing his temper or doing something rash. It obviously didnt  work and Balotelli's restraint was admirable. Hopefully the officials will take note and keep a closer watch for this in future games.

[GrkStav]

The funny thing is if you push a player in the face or something off the ball it is a red card but that kick goes unnoticed. Football's double standards.

What's the rule here, can the FA take retroactive action against Senderos in this case?

[Ken-Obi]

Personally don't think any action will be taken but referees for future games would probably be a little more lenient on our fouls to 'even' things out while keeping an eye on Mario's interaction with his markers.

That said we lost to an opportunistic goal, not Philipe Senderos.

[Twelfth Man]

What's the rule here, can the FA take retroactive action against Senderos in this case?

Was it violent conduct? No.

[The North Bank]

If Sterling and Sturridge can stay fit, Liverpool are certainties for top 4. No doubt about that.
It would take a horrendous sequence of injuries and bad luck, coupled with Manchester united playing like they havent done for over a year, and even then it would be too close to call.