Topic: CL: Liverpool 1 v Napoli 0 - 33' Mo

[Mizerooskie]

Gomez is very fast and will be a great partner for VVD. Both Lovren and Matip have shown that they are capable at CH. I don't think we need any more CHs.

For 3rd and 4th choice center halves, they're fantastic.  I do worry about Lovren's recent string of injury problems, given his age (will be 30 in July).  Hopefully it's now sorted, but it's much more difficult to recover from nagging injuries in your 30s.

As for the match, we were fantastic.  Sliced Napoli open consistently.  With some more composure in the box, we'd have had 4 or 5.

[Dubred]

It's getting harder to see where the gaps are. I think we are a bit short at full back but nothing too major. Maybe we could do with a world class midfielder but let's see what Fabinho and Keita can do first.

Isn't that an amazing feeling??  We've looked year on year and thought our squad needed some changes.  And then when we made those changes we'd often lose a player in the process.

We're close now.  Really close to the complete squad.

Then comes Klopps next challenge.....not only keeping all the squad together, but working out how to keep things fresh year on year despite minimum changes hopefully needed.

He's the perfect personality for that challenge though.

[Timbo's Goals]

These champions league nights will be the death of me but I need more of them. Hearing the whole ground scream a goalies name like that at the end. That wasn’t just like a pepe reina pepe reina hey hey little chant that was a stadium standing behind someone at the top of their game. I’ve never heard anything like it for a goalkeeper

Saw your terrific post last night and tried to reply but the site went down for me.

Anyroad just wanted to say spot on.

That huge spontaneous outpouring of relief and joyous emotion with everyone of us baying out his name following that save was one of Anfield's greatest ever fandom moments - and that's speaking as one who goes back even prior to our '61/'62 promotion season.. It's still resonating with me even as I type. It was fucking primeval. Amazing. Just amazing.

No prizes for guessing what the Kop will be bellowing as he runs on before the game on Sunday afternoon.

 

[Jm55]

Saw your terrific post last night and tried to reply but the site went down for me.

Anyroad just wanted to say spot on.

That huge spontaneous outpouring of relief and joyous emotion with everyone of us baying out his name following that save was one of Anfield's greatest ever fandom moments - and that's speaking as one who goes back even prior to our '61/'62 promotion season.. It's still resonating with me even as I type. It was fucking primeval. Amazing. Just amazing.

No prizes for guessing what the Kop will be bellowing as he runs on before the game on Sunday afternoon.

 

Similar to the thud of the advertising hoardings when Gudjohnson put that shot wide in 2005.

[MerseyMania]

Great win and Noob question.
Can I get an alert when E2k posts? Who are the other great writers of Rawk and is there any way I can get an alert whenever any of them post.

[Buck Pete]

These champions league nights will be the death of me but I need more of them. Hearing the whole ground scream a goalies name like that at the end. That wasn’t just like a pepe reina pepe reina hey hey little chant that was a stadium standing behind someone at the top of their game. I’ve never heard anything like it for a goalkeeper

I must have been lost in the Euphoria of it all last night because I just didn't hear the Allison chant at the end.

I stayed singing until after all the players had gone off but can't for the life of me remember it.

People I was with were talking about it on the way home and people are mentioning it on here, so it obviously happened.

I'd really love a vid or clip of it.

[LovelyCushionedHeader]

Between now and the last 16 game, Klopp has to suss out why we played so badly in away games thisvseason.

Playing badly in those games has enabled us to be top of the league, because we were playing within ourselves or resting players. If we had gone full force against Napoli away, we wouldn't have got a point against Man City the following weekend. Likewise if we had gone full force against PSG away, we wouldn't have had the energy to score a last minute winner against Everton.

Last night showed that we can pull out a performance when we absolutely need one but it's a different Liverpool this season. One that just gets the job done.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

We've had a tough start to the season in terms of matches,who we played and we played them and how often we played them. The Napoli performance is directly connected to that and we could and should have gotten out of with a point. Losing to PSG is no crime, considering they have only lost two games there in the last 40 some home fixtures in Europe. The real shock was the loss in Belgrade, and also the midfield did not perform to it's ability. Let's not forget the chance Sturridge had right before they scored, that could have turned out very differently.

We will learn from that, and I am not worried about it at all going forward.

[goalrushatgoodison]

We were really really fucking good last night.

That is all.

[tornado]

Playing badly in those games has enabled us to be top of the league, because we were playing within ourselves or resting players. If we had gone full force against Napoli away, we wouldn't have got a point against Man City the following weekend. Likewise if we had gone full force against PSG away, we wouldn't have had the energy to score a last minute winner against Everton.

Last night showed that we can pull out a performance when we absolutely need one but it's a different Liverpool this season. One that just gets the job done.

Agree with most of what you say but not the point about that last minute goal against Everton

[FlashGordon]

How many of us here when we saw the starting midfield of Hendo, Milly and Gini had facepalms?

I'd rather wait till the end of the game to facepalm thank you very much. Or half time at the very least.

[wige]

Moral of the story.  If you can afford lads who are the best in their position in the world - break the fucking bank - where the club can take it. Imagine 11 of the class of VVD, Alisson and Mo. We're a great side when we're up for it. Gini during home CL performances is the best midfielder in Europe - niche, but so, so great to watch.

Had several Sadio Mane related heart attacks there.

Onwards.

While I agree that those three are a slight level above the rest, think it's important to point out that our minimum level, throughout the squad, is now very good, at worst. The majority is top drawer.

Robertson, Gomez, Lovren, Trent, Gini, Firmino, Mane all for me are amongst the best in Europe in their roles. I'd only leave Fabinho & Keita out of that because they've not had much time in this team, but I think they're of a similar potential.

Henderson, Milner, Sturridge and Shaqiri might fit into that previous group for some, but I think they're a slight level below - even if some - Shaqiri - have hit very high levels this season. They're what, nailed on Champions League/International quality players at worst?

Then we have Mignolet, Matip, Moreno, Clyne, Lallana and Origi who all qualify as top level premier league players in my mind. If people don't agree, based on recent performances/fitness, that's fine, but we're talking largely about 3rd and fourth choices here. Which include current/former internationals.

We have an utterly elite squad.

[Caligula?]

Playing badly in those games has enabled us to be top of the league, because we were playing within ourselves or resting players. If we had gone full force against Napoli away, we wouldn't have got a point against Man City the following weekend. Likewise if we had gone full force against PSG away, we wouldn't have had the energy to score a last minute winner against Everton.

Last night showed that we can pull out a performance when we absolutely need one but it's a different Liverpool this season. One that just gets the job done.

Yeah, I'm going to call bullshit on this one. We played a near full strength squad against Napoli but badly underperformed. We weren't saving ourselves. You think Klopp was happy after that performance? We got a draw against Man City because Mahrez skied a late penalty over the bar. And we scored a last minute winner against Everton because Pickford decided to palm the ball back into play and onto Origi's head, not because we didn't go 'full force' against PSG and somehow saved all our strength so that Pickford would gift us the win at the end. We've just performed badly in European away matches this season for whatever reason, and it goes back to Roma away last season as well. There's no reason why that can't be rectified though.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Yeah, I'm going to call bullshit on this one. We played a near full strength squad against Napoli but badly underperformed. We weren't saving ourselves. You think Klopp was happy after that performance? We got a draw against Man City because Mahrez skied a late penalty over the bar. And we scored a last minute winner against Everton because Pickford decided to palm the ball back into play and onto Origi's head, not because we didn't go 'full force' against PSG and somehow saved all our strength so that Pickford would gift us the win at the end. We've just performed badly in European away matches this season for whatever reason, and it goes back to Roma away last season as well. There's no reason why that can't be rectified though.

That Roma away game was a different scenario. We needed two goals to be fully comfortable and ensure our progress. We got lazy in the 2nd half, we were virtually through.

No Klopp wasn't happy with the performance, but the intense fixtures in a short period of time in between the international break impacted us in what we wanted to do. We played badly, but it can be fixed, it's not the end of the world as you said

[scalatore]

Playing badly in those games has enabled us to be top of the league, because we were playing within ourselves or resting players. If we had gone full force against Napoli away, we wouldn't have got a point against Man City the following weekend. Likewise if we had gone full force against PSG away, we wouldn't have had the energy to score a last minute winner against Everton.

That's not really verifiable, is it? I do agree that Klopp's approach to the group stages for the past two seasons appears to be "just get through" rather than "dominate," and I think that's a perfectly fine attitude. Plenty of room to drop points in the group stage. No idea why people are rocking up after last night's awesome display to demand an explanation for some other results that don't really matter.

[LovelyCushionedHeader]

Yeah, I'm going to call bullshit on this one. We played a near full strength squad against Napoli but badly underperformed. We weren't saving ourselves.

Surely you realise that we were tactically set up differently in the Napoli away game compared to last night? As in, we weren't set up to press for the whole ninety minutes meaning we didn't exert anywhere near as much energy because in the grand scheme of things there wasn't enough riding on the match for us to take that long-term risk. We tried to play well and get a result whilst playing within ourselves and saving as much energy as we could; we failed.

I'm not denying that we played badly, because we obviously did, but that was in part due to us deliberately playing in a style that would result in us not giving everything we had.

[Timbo's Goals]

I must have been lost in the Euphoria of it all last night because I just didn't hear the Allison chant at the end.

I stayed singing until after all the players had gone off but can't for the life of me remember it.

People I was with were talking about it on the way home and people are mentioning it on here, so it obviously happened.

I'd really love a vid or clip of it.

Ha ha. So clearly it wasn't the whole crowd!!!

It was immediately following the failed overhead kick that followed the save. What made it so special for me was the instinctiveness of it. As far as I know it was the first time it's ever been chanted. I certainly wasn't aware of it before - and it was pretty well unintelligible in the sense that it was in essence just a communal noise but it just came pouring out as this sort of instinctive primeval expression of acclaim for the magnitude of what Allison had just done. I found myself bellowing it before I actually realised I was doing it if that makes any sense.

 

[Black Bull Nova]

Real Madrid please, unfinished business there.

Players won't need motivating for that one and they are pretty ordinary without Ronaldo

[El Denzel Pepito]

Posted about a bunch of Napoli fans being generally rowdy and disrespectful on the coach up to Liverpool. Well, I’m on the coach back to London at the moment and there’s three Napoli fans at the back of the coach, near where I’m sat.

One of them has just gone and taken a shit (seriously) on the back seat. I’m not kidding. There’s a fucking toilet right there yet he goes and does that? How is this normal behaviour... Luckily a woman on board has a spray to get rid of the smell because it was honestly fucking lethal.

Would hate to generalise a whole fan base but honestly what a fucking bunch of degenerate c*nts they are.

[Mutton Geoff]

Strange feeling to be confident of winning a game 1-0 these days, with no disrespect to previous keepers and defenders what a contrast to recent seasons.

The Spine is becoming to look good and very effective now.

[gray19lfc]

Posted about a bunch of Napoli fans being generally rowdy and disrespectful on the coach up to Liverpool. Well, I’m on the coach back to London at the moment and there’s three Napoli fans at the back of the coach, near where I’m sat.

One of them has just gone and taken a shit (seriously) on the back seat. I’m not kidding. There’s a fucking toilet right there yet he goes and does that? How is this normal behaviour... Luckily a woman on board has a spray to get rid of the smell because it was honestly fucking lethal.

Would hate to generalise a whole fan base but honestly what a fucking bunch of degenerate c*nts they are.

Driving out the ground last night and there was some trouble by The Valley pub.  Saw one lad try to whack a Napoli "fan" with what looked like a closed umbrella.  Had a look on twitter and it sounds like there were Napoli "fans" using their belts as weapons on our fans, ala Roma.  Scumbags.

[El Denzel Pepito]

Driving out the ground last night and there was some trouble by The Valley pub.  Saw one lad try to whack a Napoli "fan" with what looked like a closed umbrella.  Had a look on twitter and it sounds like there were Napoli "fans" using their belts as weapons on our fans, ala Roma.  Scumbags.

Yeah I saw that too. Here’s someone reporting it to Mersey police. https://twitter.com/therazor100/status/1072625901953839104?s=21

They came to Liverpool with an ‘aggressive’ mindset right from the start. https://twitter.com/sam_hussain95/status/1072510852329287684?s=21

[CHOPPER]

Yep, did absolutely fucking not enjoy that. Having said that, we're through. Pheeeew.



Monday, Monday...............

[mrantarctica]

Posted about a bunch of Napoli fans being generally rowdy and disrespectful on the coach up to Liverpool. Well, I’m on the coach back to London at the moment and there’s three Napoli fans at the back of the coach, near where I’m sat.

One of them has just gone and taken a shit (seriously) on the back seat. I’m not kidding. There’s a fucking toilet right there yet he goes and does that? How is this normal behaviour... Luckily a woman on board has a spray to get rid of the smell because it was honestly fucking lethal.

Would hate to generalise a whole fan base but honestly what a fucking bunch of degenerate c*nts they are.

These are the same characters that then throw banana peels and make monkey chants when dark skinned players are on the field. Ironic.

[Son of Spion]

Driving out the ground last night and there was some trouble by The Valley pub.  Saw one lad try to whack a Napoli "fan" with what looked like a closed umbrella.  Had a look on twitter and it sounds like there were Napoli "fans" using their belts as weapons on our fans, ala Roma.  Scumbags.

They did the same last time they were here. I've got no time for them. They act like feral scumbags.

I know I posted this last night too, but they robbed Ali Horn, a busker in town, before the game.

Twats! 

[TepidT2O]

Strange feeling to be confident of winning a game 1-0 these days, with no disrespect to previous keepers and defenders what a contrast to recent seasons.

The Spine is becoming to look good and very effective now.

Agreed...

Centre midfield isn’t quite sorted, we’ve got several really good players, but we now need one or two to step up and become world class..

[Buck Pete]

Ha ha. So clearly it wasn't the whole crowd!!!

It was immediately following the failed overhead kick that followed the save. What made it so special for me was the instinctiveness of it. As far as I know it was the first time it's ever been chanted. I certainly wasn't aware of it before - and it was pretty well unintelligible in the sense that it was in essence just a communal noise but it just came pouring out as this sort of instinctive primeval expression of acclaim for the magnitude of what Allison had just done. I found myself bellowing it before I actually realised I was doing it if that makes any sense.

 

Sorry Timbo and yeah it makes sense

I think time stopped for me when he made the save and I was transported away from Anfield to some kind of celestial sphere until after the final whistle blew.

[jckliew]

I'd rather wait till the end of the game to facepalm thank you very much. Or half time at the very least.

How many of us here when we saw the starting midfield of Hendo, Milly and Gini had facepalms?

C'MON!  Be Honest!   

[Bobinhood]

Towards the end of this is a bit of that Allison singing , on lfc tv "tunnell cam and more" for napoli

https://video.liverpoolfc.com/player/0_mw1muap9/?feedId=4894e552-b329-4132-bf8d-f5fbafe95f20&page=0&pageSize=20&sortOrder=asc&title=Featured%20Videos

[ThePoolMan]

It's getting harder to see where the gaps are. I think we are a bit short at full back but nothing too major. Maybe we could do with a world class midfielder but let's see what Fabinho and Keita can do first.

A midfielder like Jorginho would be the type of player we lack currently.

[Caligula?]

One less Italian team in the competition. I really don't want to generalize, but is there a club in Italy with a fanbase who aren't absolute c*nts? Now if Roma and Juventus could make prompt exits as well, that'd be great.

[ArthurDent]

One less Italian team in the competition. I really don't want to generalize, but is there a club in Italy with a fanbase who aren't ....? Now if Roma and Juventus could make prompt exits as well, that'd be great.

A bit of an ironic post given your username. The Milan clubs aren't bad, and in general the farther South you go the worse they get.

[So… Howard Philips]

A bit of an ironic post given your username. The Milan clubs aren't bad, and in general the farther South you go the worse they get.

Caligula was certainly no poster boy for good behaviour though was he?

[redk84]

Can't ask for much more from the last 2 weeks. Team have been exceptional and we're sitting on top of the league, CL knockout place and we have been putting in some pleasing performances recently.

Injuries at CB especially very annoying and not good timing wise but midfield starting to look better and the front 3 finding eachother better.....

Onwards

[NarutoReds]

To be honest, I thought that we were going to batter them, stroll in the park.
Turned out it was destined to be a hard-fought win. Wow!! Really hard to beat them, isn't it?

[robgomm]

Between now and the last 16 game, Klopp has to suss out why we played so badly in away games thisvseason.

Our league away form is excellent so I don't really understand what's gone wrong in Europe. There's something very passive about our approach.

[PhilV]

THIS! I'd hate for us to just starting lusting over other players as if we can just take whoever we want no matter what they cost as if we are City, Chelsea, Barca or Real. I also don't think we should start thinking that splurging cash is the new normal. We spent big on Alisson and VVD simply because they fixed gaping holes in our team and could make an obvious difference to our first XI (not just the squad).

We will probably spend big (i.e. £60m+) on 1 player over the summer, but it'll be another game changer not a luxury addition. To talk about spending big on a defender when one we've been developing has made big progress is more than a bit disappointing.

Klopp has tons of faith in our team, let's have a bit of the same.

Very well said, I think for me an attacking mid is the key purchase we need, one who can add goals from the midfield, Keita has that in him but we haven't seem it yet, and if we deploy Fabinho as a 6 then we want another midfield threat instead of a holder, we have Milner and Hendo and Gini who do that role well.

Maybe we'll see cover brought in for the strikers, of higher quality, Origi has done great recently but him and Solanke are big drops in quality COMPARED to our starter front 3 so who knows - having said that, Klopp may look to the youth, with Nathaniel Phillips, Curtis Jones, Rhian Brewster, Camacho and others showing their face every now and then who knows who the next starlet could be.

[fowlermagic]

Been distracted all week due to the passing of a friend but just wanted to chip in and say thank you Alisson for putting a wee smile on my face. One of those nights where the club puts a little light back into a shyte day.

[Schmidt]

It's getting harder to see where the gaps are. I think we are a bit short at full back but nothing too major. Maybe we could do with a world class midfielder but let's see what Fabinho and Keita can do first.

Our lack of depth in attack has been a concern for a few years and still is, though I doubt we'll do anything about it until the summer at least.

[newterp]

To be honest, I thought that we were going to batter them, stroll in the park.
Turned out it was destined to be a hard-fought win. Wow!! Really hard to beat them, isn't it?

We kind of did batter them - though of course the scoreline didn't show it. They didn't really really trouble us - apart from the wonder save. xG was something like 3.4 - 0.9