Topic: Liverpool 1 V 1 Burnley (Arfield, Salah)

[Gnurglan]

Just seen the goal

Blaming AA for 'losing his duel' is absolutely ridiculous and is clearly trying to deflect away from the hopeless CB situation .

That header from AA duel happens. It was food and drink for any centre back pairing but the idiots went for the same ball and it drops for the fella to score

TAA wasn't the problem. It's Matip, Klavan and Can who need to do better. There's one threat and naturally everyone was watching the ball instead.

[Johns_Barn]

Couldn't agree more. He should have been sold, regardless of any supposed message it sent by keeping him.

So if we had the same result, the whole fans base would say, "see...if we had couts, this would never have happened. We're a selling club going nowhere! Why can't we keep our best players?!"

[Groundskeeper Willie]

Why say ah you're of those then? You generalised the crowd of which I was one of. Anyway I don't want to argue so I'll leave it there

One of those who thinks I can't have an opinion on some match going fans because I don't go myself anymore. Was what I meant.

[Koplad83]

Only speaking for myself, but I was going the match from the 70's until 2010, so I feel I've earned the right to slag off those who sit in fucking silence or constantly moan and fucking groan all the way through. People's circumstances and priorities change, I put my young family and paying off my mortgage before the match, that's why I hardly go these days. Just because I don't go anymore doesn't mean I shouldn't expect those who do to stick to the standards I've had since I was a kid, get behind the team, support them, don't get on their backs.

Yeah you have earned the right but did you never get frustrated. People have drink are passionate and sometimes that turns into frustration. It happens and always has. To slag people who pay there hard earned cash to go and watch isn't right in my opinion

[Groundskeeper Willie]

Why say ah you're of those then? You generalised the crowd of which I was one of. Anyway I don't want to argue so I'll leave it there

I should have made more clear I didn't mean in general.

[todda]

The whole back four didn't cover themselves in glory as TAA lost his duel, Matip didn't clear it, Klavin, well the less said about him the better and Robertson didn't read the danger and fall deeper. Also Can left a lot to be desired with his positioning, just as he did against Seville with the quick throw in for their 2nd.

[Chief Brody]

I should have made more clear I didn't mean in general.

Nah


If you took that personally you've probably got something to worry about.

[Chief Brody]

Anyone mentioned their stand-in keeper having a blinder.

I'm sure it's a gypsy curse.

[sms1986]

Anyone mentioned their stand-in keeper having a blinder.

I'm sure it's a gypsy curse.

Or it's the keeper who usually isn't first choice trying his best to impress against a big team.

[CallumLFC]

Anyone mentioned their stand-in keeper having a blinder.

I'm sure it's a gypsy curse.

I can't even think of one good save. They were all routine and straight at him.

[Giono]

This 80th minute substitution shite needs to stop. I can understand bringing on a tall player, or a striker like Solanke around that time, sort of, but Oxlade-Chamberlain isn't the type to make an impact so late on. He needs time to grow in to the game.

Emre Can - for a player who was signed as a defensive midfielder, played a season at left back and a season at centre-back, he's ghastly at defending. I've never known a player to ball watch as much as he does. His lack of defensive ability is what's preventing him being a decent midfielder.

I think midfield is much more about decision making than reaction like some defensive positions. You can't just have opponents run at you, you must run at them and chose when to do it. How many times have we seen goals scored against us and Can is standing or walking in the area?

This is true especially under Klopp who expects midfielders to join pressing actions, join attack, and help out defence. I don't think that Can is ideally built for Klopp's tactics. A slower league like Italy may be more suitable. 

I wonder if Can is playing with a calf injury again like early last season?

[Koplad83]

Nah


If you took that personally you've probably got something to worry about.

Nah

[rushyman]

Anyone mentioned their stand-in keeper having a blinder.

I'm sure it's a gypsy curse.

I heard this and thought 'fuck sake again' then saw his saves

If he lets any of those in he wouldn't belong in a Sunday league team. Right at him, every one

[Fairytale of 2005]

So if we had the same result, the whole fans base would say, "see...if we had couts, this would never have happened. We're a selling club going nowhere! Why can't we keep our best players?!"

You keep your best players by competing, players want to leave because we win naff all.

[Giono]

Lucas had a big part in that, protecting the back four at the end of last season.

Also Klopp was more pragmatic at the end of last season.  Especially away from home we defended more compact and we more dogged.

I'd like to see Klopp revert to some of that.

We were without a runner in midfield (Hendo) and a runner in attack (Mane). It was necessity.

We just got 35 chances against a defensive team with 10 behind the ball who beat Chelsea and tied Spurs...we missed a penalty against Sevilla, we lost our best striker to a red card early against Man City.

It is not time for panic stations, despite so much of our fan base forgetting to take their meds and losing it.

[Chief Brody]

I heard this and thought 'fuck sake again' then saw his saves

If he lets any of those in he wouldn't belong in a Sunday league team. Right at him, every one

Did he get anything on the effort that hit the bar?

[Rush 82]

Anyone mentioned their stand-in keeper having a blinder.

I'm sure it's a gypsy curse.

Par for the course at Anfield - the fucker will go elsewhere and revert to reserve keeper level 

[UntouchableLuis]

Feels like the January situation last season a bit with losing Mane who has been unquestionably our best player and biggest threat so far, Coutinho will take a few games to get back to fitness and Lallana continues to be a miss.

I think as long as we can get to January in the top 4 and through our group it can be a good season. I'm willing to give everyone at the club this January window to fix our defensive problems. If we don't sign at least one quality centre back in January (probably 2 needed) I will question it big time.

Until Mane returns I think we need to go with Salah and Oxlade on either flank to maintain the counter threat we have. Keep Milner in the side for now.

[Rush 82]

Bloody hell! Just seen the two corners - the one that Matip cleared and that Mignolet saved - holy fuckballs - must be some of the worst defending (bar the actual saves) that I've seen from us.

Based on that I'd say that the luck evened out - unlucky in not scoring more, fucking lucky in not conceding more.

[Klippity Klopp]

We were without a runner in midfield (Hendo) and a runner in attack (Mane). It was necessity.

We just got 35 chances against a defensive team with 10 behind the ball who beat Chelsea and tied Spurs...we missed a penalty against Sevilla, we lost our best striker to a red card early against Man City.

It is not time for panic stations, despite so much of our fan base forgetting to take their meds and losing it.

I don't like stats saying "35 chances" - how many were good chances?  Not many.

It's not panic stations, but equally why not try and be better defensively?  If it helps the team win more points, I don't see why it shouldn't be looked at.

[JackWard33]

I don't like stats saying "35 chances" - how many were good chances?  Not many.

17 shots from outside the area. Moronic

[rob1966]

Yeah you have earned the right but did you never get frustrated. People have drink are passionate and sometimes that turns into frustration. It happens and always has. To slag people who pay there hard earned cash to go and watch isn't right in my opinion

Frustrated? I was watching the shite Souness served up, so it went beyond frustrated. Never got on the backs of the players in the ground, moaned like fuck to my mates though afterwards. People do spend their hard earned going, doesn't mean they should be moaning and groaning all the way through.

[surfer. Fuck you generator.]

Coutinho should have a 2 shots from outside the box limit set per game till he settles down a bit. Anything more, unless it's a goal, you lose a cut of your weekly wage to charity. Man if that was a teammate he's getting Sadio Mane'd.

[J-Mc-]

TAA wasn't the problem. It's Matip, Klavan and Can who need to do better. There's one threat and naturally everyone was watching the ball instead.

Trent isn't a massive problem but he is one. He was targetted all game yesterday, especially from goal kicks and not just because of the height disadvantage, but because he was caught out of position a lot aswell.

[Koplad83]

Frustrated? I was watching the shite Souness served up, so it went beyond frustrated. Never got on the backs of the players in the ground, moaned like fuck to my mates though afterwards. People do spend their hard earned going, doesn't mean they should be moaning and groaning all the way through.

I remember souness aswell, although I thought we were boss as I was a kid😂. I don't get on the backs of the players also never ever boo, just wanted to make that clear.

The thing is no one is moaning and groaning all the way through, certainly not enough for it to be audible, it's something that creeps in later in the game depending on how things are going and although I don't do it myself I wouldn't have a go at those doing it as they've been going a long time and still are. The vast majority encourage for the most part but sometimes frustration takes over.

[Giono]

I don't like stats saying "35 chances" - how many were good chances?  Not many.

It's not panic stations, but equally why not try and be better defensively?  If it helps the team win more points, I don't see why it shouldn't be looked at.

Would a DM have helped against Burnley's 4 chances? Would a DM have helped Firmino score that penalty against Sevilla?

I think the ease with which the most expensive menagerie of luxury attacking players assembled by a petro dictatorship cut through a 10 man Liverpool away from home is making people pine for a deeper defence than this squad has shown since Kenny 2.0...that team that could defend but not score... Just that flashback to a team that had Skrtel as 'player of the year' makes me shudder.

[Linudden]

It's a joke Klavan has started three consecutive league games. Whenever I see him in the lineup I already know the clean sheet's gone. I'm sure he's a great bloke and that Jürgen likes him as a person but how on earth couldn't he have found at least 10 defenders better than Klavan for say 20 mil last summer?

Mark my words, the defense will cost us any chance of hitting the 1/4 of the CL and qualification for next year's tournament as well. At least stick to Matip and Lovren and allow them to build an understanding because Klavan is a non-starter and I doubt he's even good enough for fourth choice for any other top six club and not getting any younger.

I'm also extremely irritated with the lack of urgency consistently shown whoever is the Liverpool manager throughout the decades whenever we're not getting a result. To wait for the first sub until min 77 or whatever it was when we were dead stuck and not getting through is absolutely tumultuous if we're expected to grind a breakthrough. To not even make the third sub when at 1-1 and having Henderson and Wijnaldum there is bordering on insane. I think Klopp's a cracking fairweather coach in that when it works it's flawless but we seriously need him to smarten up on the match coaching. It's like he gives up games when they're not going our way and most players just run into dead ends and look clueless in those situations. We did very well last autumn but ultimately the spring was a major disappointment. This year I fear we'll end up in Everton territory unless Klopp becomes more active and stops rotating the defense left, right and centre.

Next week is make of break for this season. Leicester is a must-win game to maintain any sort of title challenge. I struggle to see us doing that as things stand. Ultimately we lost the title chance on 31 Aug when we didn't buy any centre back. It's like the decision not to buy a striker in 2012. Thankfully we have players like Mané and Salah to compensate for the deficiencies, but... for how long? Also, no Mané in this game was a stark reminder of how important he is. Sturridge didn't seem to make a forward run all game. How on earth can Firmino be shunted out wide when it's evident Studge doesn't have the stamina or mentality to take on the pressing game? He's the epitome of a supersub these days. Burnley at home proved why we're going nowhere if he starts.

Of course we can still finish fourth even if we lose Leicester. But the title? Nope. We need six or seven straight wins now I think. Of course I can have patience but I can't take us throwing away a season in the transfer market while waiting to be allowed to bid for a player who wasn't for sale.

[Giono]

17 shots from outside the area. Moronic

When they had 10 massive men inside the box all match, it is frustrating but a little understandable.

[jooneyisdagod]

When they had 10 massive men inside the box all match, it is frustrating but a little understandable.

I agree. The key to not having a high number of long shots is partly ensuring that we play the passes quicker, which did not happen at all against Burnley and partly that was because Phil was starting too deep. In the second half, having Milner pick up the ball off our CBs allowed Phil to push higher and that improved the speed at which we passed the ball. Still, it didn't help that Phil was rusty as fuck and clearly trying to get the goal that would lift a little bit of pressure off him. I think I saw signs of development in how we deal with such teams. We aren't going to improve our defence until we sign VVD or someone of that nature. But we can improve how we break down teams like Burnley. And I think we are doing that, frustrating as this result is.

[keyop]

2013/14: great going forward, problems at the back.

2017/18: great going forward, problems at the back.

When will we learn.

[killer-heels]

2013/14: great going forward, problems at the back.

2017/18: great going forward, problems at the back.

When will we learn.

Id take another 13/14. Maybe not quite the heartbreak at the end.

[Giono]

I agree. The key to not having a high number of long shots is partly ensuring that we play the passes quicker, which did not happen at all against Burnley and partly that was because Phil was starting too deep. In the second half, having Milner pick up the ball off our CBs allowed Phil to push higher and that improved the speed at which we passed the ball. Still, it didn't help that Phil was rusty as fuck and clearly trying to get the goal that would lift a little bit of pressure off him. I think I saw signs of development in how we deal with such teams. We aren't going to improve our defence until we sign VVD or someone of that nature. But we can improve how we break down teams like Burnley. And I think we are doing that, frustrating as this result is.

I thought the same thing during the match. He wanted to hit the reset button with a goal perhaps. But he wasn't the only player guilty of shooting rather than finding a team mate unfortunately. Robertson shooting rather than passing to Salah was a glaring example.

[Linudden]

2013/14: great going forward, problems at the back.

2017/18: great going forward, problems at the back.

When will we learn.

That year Suárez and a young, fit, fresh Studge destroyed teams like Burnley at Anfield. Bobby is a grinder and a decent scorer but let's be honest, he's not Golden Boot material. Salah and Mané may well score 15 each and that will surely help but with midfield productivity so far being very low and Firmino unlikely to score more than 12-13 yet again we're in big trouble with this defense. It's a hopeless situation for Matip, the one defender in our current squad who'd gotten anywhere near the 2007 squad.

[jooneyisdagod]

2013/14: great going forward, problems at the back.

2017/18: great going forward, problems at the back.

When will we learn.

Are you suggesting that we've learnt nothing in that period? Because I would argue that as a club, we've clearly identified issues and tried to deal with them. Not all solutions have worked but we've clearly become better at solving problems. I'm not even calling for patience exactly. Just saying that the current management structure is showing clear evidence of identifying problems and solving them. The defence isn't one that has been solved yet, but seeing how other issues have been solved, I'm not sure we need to panic.

[Purple Red]

2013/14: great going forward, problems at the back.

2017/18: great going forward, problems at the back.

When will we learn.

We haven't had the same manager in that time period so it's a bit misleading to say that. There are two separate phases of development in there.

[jooneyisdagod]

I thought the same thing during the match. He wanted to hit the reset button with a goal perhaps. But he wasn't the only player guilty of shooting rather than finding a team mate unfortunately. Robertson shooting rather than passing to Salah was a glaring example.

Robertson needs to be more intelligent in his play. He's quite decent and his natural positioning from a defensive front is better than Moreno's. But blindly whipping crosses into the box might get the average English pundit ejaculating, but it might not work for our team. It might not even work for most top teams with the possible exception of Chelsea. Sturridge was guilty of the same on the other side as Coutinho where he often shot as well but led to nothing. And Milner is another that blindly crosses and needs to stop that shit. Maybe it's because I'm not religious but I fucking hate crosses.

[Kenny's Jacket]

The defence isn't one that has been solved yet, but seeing how other issues have been solved, I'm not sure we need to panic.

We've not had a leader on the pitch since Gerrard and Suarez. Mig still in goal.  Difficulty beating a low block.

What issue's have we solved?

[keyop]

Not misleading at all considering Rafa gave us the template for defensive shape and discipline and had us firing up front. A club is about a philosophy, not just a manager and owners, and I'd like to think four years is enough time to address a core problem area, especially as we spent £40m on a player we didn't need in the summer without addressing the glaring CB issue. I know it's not as simple as that, but until it's addressed well find it hard to win a title.

[mkingdon]

How many of "these days" have we seen over the years?

Battering a team and not winning, it is so bloody frustrating. We are on one of those runs at the minute where the small crucial details aren't going for us.

Remove the ridiculous last minute goal at Watford, the missed penalty vs Sevilla and the crossbar from Solanke yesterday and our season looks really positive and we'd be firing on all cylinders.

Having said that the team need to be more clinical so these small things don't matter so much. One goal from over thirty chances is woeful and once again a team score against us with their first attempt after being battered for nearly half an hour.

I don't get Klavan starting so many games to be honest. Lovren is having a shocker but he won't get better and/or regain his confidence being benched every other game. 

The team need to take the next game by the throat and ruthlessly put someone to the knife as our attacking play deserves.

[Giono]

Robertson needs to be more intelligent in his play. He's quite decent and his natural positioning from a defensive front is better than Moreno's. But blindly whipping crosses into the box might get the average English pundit ejaculating, but it might not work for our team. It might not even work for most top teams with the possible exception of Chelsea. Sturridge was guilty of the same on the other side as Coutinho where he often shot as well but led to nothing. And Milner is another that blindly crosses and needs to stop that shit. Maybe it's because I'm not religious but I fucking hate crosses.

Ya, I found that frustrating. It gave me flashbacks to last season with Milner and Clyne pumping in crosses...cause that's what you do...

Surprisingly, Milner attempted 10 crosses in the match, playing as a number 8. The same as TAA. Robertson only attempted 4 but they were to nobody.