Topic: PL: Liverpool 0 vs 1 Burnley ‘83 Barnes (p)

[WhereAngelsPlay]

Do you recommend a medium or large hook with that?

He could put a 22 on and he still wouldn't get a nibble.

[Kekule]

Can it get worse?
i remembered someone posted the imaginary script for Barnes to score in the final minutes against us!

Can it get any worse?

Well there is the small matter of going to the home of our fiercest rivals, who we we’ve all been taking the piss out of for several years and are currently gloating at being six points clear of us, in a one off knock out cup match this weekend. I’m sure that noise, in that weird horrible whiny accent, that you can constantly hear going on in the background won’t get any louder if we lose that... !

[jckliew]

Missing Virgil does not make us dry up in terms of scoring. Most of the forward line can be swapped around but it is still just rinse and repeat --- making the same mistakes over and over.
It's because of the system we play. It's set up to press and force mistakes, not to create.

Our midfielders are pressing less intensity in the last few games because the opposition is allowing us to play with the ball. However, our main problem is the proverbial BUS! We just cannot break it down!

[Black Bull Nova]

Can it get worse?
i remembered someone posted the imaginary script for Barnes to score in the final minutes against us!

Can it get any worse?

I remember, it was you then, would not come in here and remind people.

[jckliew]

I remember, it was you then, would not come in here and remind people.

Was not me who made that prophecy. i would remind people like Jill to be realistic. She had us winning since the Soton game.

[Bergersrightwingviews]

So much bedwetting. 19 games left and 6pts off the pace in an utterly bizarre season. Yeah, we could miss top 4 but we could also win it. Too early to say either way.  Our next 6 games will tell us more. And it could actually be good that they’re against better opposition than won’t camp ten men in defence.

You're right.  We need to improve a lot and we need to do so pretty much immediately.  However, if we were 1st and 6 points ahead of City I wouldn't think it was done (we could be 7 points behind City if they win their game in hand, but still.
 That is not done and dusted with half the season left).  Man Utd are simply nowhere near as good as Man City and I still expect them to finish no higher than third.

[Son of Spion]

I didn't watch, but beforehand I fully expected a 0-0. The 0-1 doesn't surprise me though. I struggle to see where our next goal comes from, so really didn't expect it to come tonight against these. It's all quite bizarre really.

At the start of the season many of us were saying how great it was that we finally had quality cover in virtually every position, yet not so long later the side was devastated by so many injuries that we were suddenly threadbare.

It's fair to say that this is a monumental freak of a season. It's a mess of epic proportions generally. The likes of we have never seen and will probably never see again. For Liverpool, it's a case of absolutely everything going wrong all at once. I've never known us to be so disrupted by injuries. I've never known us to have so much possession of a football yet fail to score against the dregs of the league like we have in this poor run.

There are genuine reasons for optimism though. Well, I think there are anyway. One reason being that quality sides and players do not turn to shit overnight. Neither do world class managers. we have been absolutely gutted by injury, yet are still bothering the top of the table. Our rhythm and momentum has been stalled at every turn too, and we have had the worst run of poor decisions I can ever recall. Now, these things can happen, but they always run their course. They can never be maintained forever, so this astonishing run of negativity will burn out, and we will rise again. That, is inevitable.

Sometimes all the stars align in your favour, but sometimes they all align against you too. Both extremes are imposters to an extent, with normality residing somewhere in between. Balance will return at some point, and when it does, we are one of the clubs who will be fighting at the very top, for the biggest trophies.

On a personal note, this season doesn't even feel like our title defence. For me, that will take place when we have the game back, with fans in stadiums and passion reverberating all around. As it stands, this season just feels like a sham in order to keep the TV money rolling in and clubs in business. I honestly struggle to take any of it seriously. I'd also feel the very same if we were 20 points ahead too.

That's just a personal take, so I don't expect others to see it the same way.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

That's not fair. Folk have a right to be pissed of at this run of form. We're better than this.

Pissed off at who or just generally pissed off ?

It's not like they're not trying & I think that they're earnt a bit of leeway

[RK7]

I’d love him to put fab back in middle and push Thiago on

But it’ll be as you say I think

I'd like to see us work chances in the box from central positions, we're at our best when our front players combine and play one touch. It commits defenders and that's when we can use our full backs as the spare men in great positions. Thiago further forward could definitely add another player with that quality to play one touch and move.

[Bergersrightwingviews]

It's fair to say that this is a monumental freak of a season. It's a mess of epic proportions generally.

I mean, yes.  That's pretty much true.  BUT, I worry the team are starting to feel sorry for themselves and that really concerns me.  It's okay for us fans to be all "woe is me" but if the players are feeling like that they need to snap out of it immediately.

I was thinking of Dr Peters the other day as someone mentioned him.  I worry we are doing the opposite of what he advises his patients to do.

When Origi hits the bar I worry the team goes "oh fucking hell, not again we are never going to score" whereas last year they would have thought "Good chance.  We will make another one. A goal is coming."

Obviously, I have no idea what the lads are thinking, but this is my impression of this season as compared to last.

I could be wrong of course.

[kasperoff]

Pissed off at who or just generally pissed off ?

It's not like they're not trying & I think that they're earnt a bit of leeway

Generally pissed off.

[rushyman]

Me too - im going to bed 

To better times my friend

[kasperoff]

I mean, yes.  That's pretty much true.  BUT, I worry the team are starting to feel sorry for themselves and that really concerns me.  It's okay for us fans to be all "woe is me" but if the players are feeling like that they need to snap out of it immediately.

I was thinking of Dr Peters the other day as someone mentioned him.  I worry we are doing the opposite of what he advises his patients to do.

When Origi hits the bar I worry the team goes "oh fucking hell, not again we are never going to score" whereas last year they would have thought "Good chance.  We will make another one. A goal is coming."

Obviously, I have no idea what the lads are thinking, but this is my impression of this season as compared to last.

I could be wrong of course.

We've spurned every chance and half chance we've had over the past 5 games (bar 1). We are also making the wrong decision in almost every key moment around the box. We aren't even getting a deflection go flying in. Villa get 3 fucking deflected goals in one game against us.

It's just not right.

[LOHAG]

The simple answer to this of course is don’t hit the f’in bar. 1 on 1 with the keep in the penalty box.

[Dim Glas]

Pissed off at who or just generally pissed off ?

It's not like they're not trying & I think that they're earnt a bit of leeway

That’s my thinking, but then I quickly realise everyone is different  Maybe it’s a generational thing too, who knows.

So many questions where answered the last 2 or 3 years, so many things put to bed as it where, I am not mad at anyone at the club - especially putting into consideration what is going on around us. I don’t dwell badly in these results. Only thing that bothers me from a football perspective is getting shat on by officials every game.

And only thing that bothers me away from the pitch, is the wankers in the media, be it pundits, journalists, commentators or whoever (and yes, plenty of ‘fans’), laying into Jürgen Klopp and putting undue pressure on him. It’s not easy for him right now due to the covid situation and lack of travel part of things with his family (as it isn’t for many of us), and the way they get so excited at the thought of making his life difficult and piling on the pressure pisses me off no end.

[rushyman]

One last thing ...

Hi redcafe lurkers. Enjoy

You’re not gonna win the league either, ha, that’s made me smile again.

And your going out of the fa cup on Sunday. To us. After we didn’t score for 4 games  Also fun

[arbiarbi]

I hope today Klopp will think about the game till 6am because 2 am didn't work.

[A-Bomb]

I hope today Klopp will think about the game till 6am because 2 am didn't work.

What are you waffling on about?

[him_15]

Keep our head up guys.

[zadoktBeast]

On a personal note, this season doesn't even feel like our title defence. For me, that will take place when we have the game back, with fans in stadiums and passion reverberating all around. As it stands, this season just feels like a sham in order to keep the TV money rolling in and clubs in business. I honestly struggle to take any of it seriously. I'd also feel the very same if we were 20 points ahead too.

That's just a personal take, so I don't expect others to see it the same way.

I'm with you!

[Mozology]

Only one win in our last six games, and that was the Villa kids. Only one scored in the other 5 games.

[Son of Spion]

I mean, yes.  That's pretty much true.  BUT, I worry the team are starting to feel sorry for themselves and that really concerns me.  It's okay for us fans to be all "woe is me" but if the players are feeling like that they need to snap out of it immediately.

I was thinking of Dr Peters the other day as someone mentioned him.  I worry we are doing the opposite of what he advises his patients to do.

When Origi hits the bar I worry the team goes "oh fucking hell, not again we are never going to score" whereas last year they would have thought "Good chance.  We will make another one. A goal is coming."

Obviously, I have no idea what the lads are thinking, but this is my impression of this season as compared to last.

I could be wrong of course.

I think those comments are fair.

On a good run, players tend to believe it will happen for them. More often than not, it then does so. On a bad run, the reverse can happen. They maybe then try too hard and overthink things, whereas in a good run they are more instinctive, so don't overcook it.

To be honest, they probably do feel a bit sorry for themselves at the moment. That would be normal given the circumstances. Of course, that's not good for a title defence though. I'm sure the staff at Liverpool will be on this, and I'm sure the tide will turn at some point. Dreadful runs can turn on a single event, and maybe this one will too. Maybe a scruffy, deflected goal goes in for us. Maybe we pull a win out of the bag in a big game we are now expected to lose. One way or another, things will eventually turn.

It does feel like we are in freefall just now, yet the margins have been so small. We are miles better than current results have shown, and the little things, the small margins will soon start to fall in our favour, or at least a bit more evenly. It's a massive test for our players and manager, but they've dealt with so much in recent seasons then come back stronger. I think they'll do the same this time too.

[zadoktBeast]

This freak of a season, with no fans, is clearly having a big toll on our manager - he's a people person and loves people.

It's tough to watch him looking so forlorn without the human contact, without the meaning of the game there - but he'll be back, and so will we

[12Kings]

On a personal note, this season doesn't even feel like our title defence. For me, that will take place when we have the game back, with fans in stadiums and passion reverberating all around. As it stands, this season just feels like a sham in order to keep the TV money rolling in and clubs in business. I honestly struggle to take any of it seriously. I'd also feel the very same if we were 20 points ahead too.

Really good post, agree with everything you’ve said.
Just a look at the table tells you all you need to know about this season. I think there’s a few more twists and turns though ahead. But it’s a joke, without the fans, this is most definitely a different sport.
It lets teams off the hook to play like Burnley do week in week out. It lets the refs off the hook too, their getting a way with murder and having a field day with var this year because they know there’s no pressure now.

Where is football going long term. If this virus is here to stay regardless of vaccines, it could be a case of rescheduling the season to start in spring finish autumn so we can have no interruptions, we need the stadiums full again. I can’t see it happening any time soon, fuck this tv football.

[Black Bull Nova]

This freak of a season, with no fans, is clearly having a big toll on our manager - he's a people person and loves people.

It's tough to watch him looking so forlorn without the human contact, without the meaning of the game there - but he'll be back, and so will we

This may be the most depressing January there has been in living memory around the world, I would be surprised if Jurgen is immune to this. He'll have elderly relatives and friends back in Germany who matter to him. Things are not normal, football does not exist in a vacuum.

If we don't win it, then let Brendan rather than City or United. Having said that, far from over.

[Dim Glas]

I hope today Klopp will think about the game till 6am because 2 am didn't work.

Dont be a dick

[Number 7]

This freak of a season, with no fans, is clearly having a big toll on our manager - he's a people person and loves people.

It's tough to watch him looking so forlorn without the human contact, without the meaning of the game there - but he'll be back, and so will we

Klopp looked distraught in the post match conference. He is feeling the pain just like all of us are.

[ScouserAtHeart]

Why anyone would say focus on the FA Cup is beyond me. It does nothing to help the club's financial situation, and hence our squad building. All it does is help a few fans feel all nostalgic.

Play the kids + Ox, Shaq, Origi, Minamino. Let the rest of them stay fresh for Spurs. If we don't get Top 4, you can forget about getting good players in over the summer even if we sell one of the front 3

[Pistolero]

I was thinking of Dr Peters the other day as someone mentioned him.  I worry we are doing the opposite of what he advises his patients to do.

When Origi hits the bar I worry the team goes "oh fucking hell, not again we are never going to score"

To be fair I suspect even Dr Peters thought that too...

[killer-heels]

Why anyone would say focus on the FA Cup is beyond me. It does nothing to help the club's financial situation, and hence our squad building. All it does is help a few fans feel all nostalgic.

Play the kids + Ox, Shaq, Origi, Minamino. Let the rest of them stay fresh for Spurs. If we don't get Top 4, you can forget about getting good players in over the summer even if we sell one of the front 3

Sorry but why not? Its an absolute myth that you only sign good players if you play CL.

[Topkev]

Thus week we have had multiple Premier League leaders swapping places . It's not the same without fans in grounds ,just TV for adverts and Sky collecting their monthly subs . Leicester were still playing in normal time at gone 10pm. It's not a real season, but lot of games to make top spot again. Pity Lovren not in squad stil.

[Son of Spion]

Really good post, agree with everything you’ve said.
Just a look at the table tells you all you need to know about this season. I think there’s a few more twists and turns though ahead. But it’s a joke, without the fans, this is most definitely a different sport.
It lets teams off the hook to play like Burnley do week in week out. It lets the refs off the hook too, their getting a way with murder and having a field day with var this year because they know there’s no pressure now.

Where is football going long term. If this virus is here to stay regardless of vaccines, it could be a case of rescheduling the season to start in spring finish autumn so we can have no interruptions, we need the stadiums full again. I can’t see it happening any time soon, fuck this tv football.

I think one of the things the past year has shown us with regards to football is that it's the fans that make it what it is. Since Sky repackaged football there has been a feeling that fans in grounds were maybe not so important after all, but recent events have shown just how wrong that is. It's supporters who bring the passion, the pomp and ceremony. Supporters who charge the atmosphere and ramp up the intensity of the occasion and help get the adrenaline flowing in the players and the ground and, in turn, stirs the passions of the TV audience.

There has been a lot of talk about 'the product' that football has become, but the package is made up of many components. Fans in stadiums are a crucial part of all that. Of course, the absence of fans is well out of the control of the game just now, but the fact remains that what we have at the moment is a hollow shell. A passionless season of going through the motions in order to keep football afloat through TV money. Fair enough, this is a case of having to make the best of an appalling situation, but it still highlights once and for all just how important the fans are to the game.

A void has been created in football just now, and it often feels like referees, VAR and pundits have somehow decided that they'd fill that void with monumental levels of utter bullshit. Maybe they feel it makes 'the product' more exciting but, to me, it just makes this sham of a season feel like even more of a farce.

Anyway, at some point, fans will be back. Some kind of normal life will be back, and the Liverpool we know and love will be back too. 

[ScouserAtHeart]

Sorry but why not? Its an absolute myth that you only sign good players if you play CL.

It's not impossible of course. We could unearth more good players who are still under the radar. But unless we have the money to overpay massively, it's just so much harder. I'm not talking about Mbappe or anyone like that. But I don't think Alisson or Van Dijk would've joined us without CL football for example.

How many times did we hear over the years that players didn't want to come to us for reasons like no CL football or that they wanted to live in London. All that stopped when we consistently got into the Top 4.

[Son of Spion]

Klopp looked distraught in the post match conference. He is feeling the pain just like all of us are.

He hurts because he cares, and the fact he cares so much will see him and the players turn this around.

[Red_Rich]

The biggest worry I have is that Jurgen seems to have lost his mojo too.  Yes, the players aren't doing great but I think ever since the post-match vs Brighton there's been a change in him.  He seems less arsed. He seems to have resigned himself to it all.  The grinning and such like after WBA equalised.  Things like that.  I think it's got a lot to do with there being no crowd.  He bounces off that energy more than the players themselves.  I don't know, but he hasn't had that same relentless drive and never-say-die attitude.  I get the feeling he can't wait for this season to be over and to go again with a full squad and crowds back in stadiums.

[killer-heels]

It's not impossible of course. We could unearth more good players who are still under the radar. But unless we have the money to overpay massively, it's just so much harder. I'm not talking about Mbappe or anyone like that. But I don't think Alisson or Van Dijk would've joined us without CL football for example.

How many times did we hear over the years that players didn't want to come to us for reasons like no CL football or that they wanted to live in London. All that stopped when we consistently got into the Top 4.

They dont, but Van Dijk and Alisson are not the only good players we bought. We bought some good players when out the CL and so have other sides in this league.

Our ability to find real quality is up there with the best and no doubt we can do it again.

We slowly have amassed quite a lot of footballers that are not contributing much. Matip, Keita, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Shaqiri, Minamino and Origi for example. Add to that some first teamers that may no longer be as effective and there is enough scope in this squad to raise money and replace them with new players.

Long term we will be fine, with or without CL for one season.

[Dim Glas]

The biggest worry I have is that Jurgen seems to have lost his mojo too.  Yes, the players aren't doing great but I think ever since the post-match vs Brighton there's been a change in him.  He seems less arsed. He seems to have resigned himself to it all.  The grinning and such like after WBA equalised.  Things like that.  I think it's got a lot to do with there being no crowd.  He bounces off that energy more than the players themselves.  I don't know, but he hasn't had that same relentless drive and never-say-die attitude.  I get the feeling he can't wait for this season to be over and to go again with a full squad and crowds back in stadiums.

said it here before, I think some of it is a family thing rather than a football thing - i.e. he can’t see them now cos of covid and lockdown and travel restrictions, so it doesn’t surprise me if he’s feeling a bit flat about things.  And as much as he loves football, they of course come first. Can’t be easy.

Although the smiling thing, that’s something he’s done many a time before 

[Caligula?]

The biggest worry I have is that Jurgen seems to have lost his mojo too.  Yes, the players aren't doing great but I think ever since the post-match vs Brighton there's been a change in him.  He seems less arsed. He seems to have resigned himself to it all.  The grinning and such like after WBA equalised.  Things like that.  I think it's got a lot to do with there being no crowd.  He bounces off that energy more than the players themselves.  I don't know, but he hasn't had that same relentless drive and never-say-die attitude.  I get the feeling he can't wait for this season to be over and to go again with a full squad and crowds back in stadiums.

He was absolutely seething today in the first half and has been incredibly annoyed on the touch line during other games as well. That doesn't look like someone who isn't arsed or resigned to what's going on. It's as if they work on certain things in training, carry out his instructions, and then come match day look as though they've never played together and play like a bunch of headless chickens.

[lgvkarlos]

Watching Trent hit aimless crosses game after game is literally making me rage, for god sake is this our only game plan. Shaq was literally the only player trying to play football.

[Red_Rich]

He was absolutely seething today in the first half and has been incredibly annoyed on the touch line during other games as well. That doesn't look like someone who isn't arsed or resigned to what's going on. It's as if they work on certain things in training, carry out his instructions, and then come match day look as though they've never played together and play like a bunch of headless chickens.

Ok then, maybe it's his press/media interviews.  Remember the one when he couldn't get over the Crystal f**king Palace result?  He doesn't seem arsey and angry enough post games.  Like the spark has been taken out of him.  I'd expect him to be spitting feathers more than he is.