Topic: CL: Liverpool 3 vs 2 AC Milan Tomori OG ‘9. Rebid ‘42 Diaz ‘44 Mo ‘48 Hendo ‘69

[deFacto please, you bastards]

I think the point is that us not capitalising on such a good start opened the doors to that happening. AC Milan clearly aren’t shit and they’ve got players who can and did punish us, thankfully we were able to have an answer to that which is great.

Doesn't matter how clinical you are in front of goal, if you defend like we did in that spell, you are going to concede chances at the very least, let alone goals. Efficiency in front of goal doesn't matter if you aren't doing your job at the other end. It's a two way street. Even if we were up 4-2, the reason for the goals conceded would have been the same at 1-2.

[Chip Evans]

It is not just Mo's stats he is starting to play with the kind of intensity Suarez played with.

That realisation that you scare the shite out of most of these lads and are miles better. He's relentless. He'll hit 40 this year if he stays fit 

[Samie]

[Stockholm Syndrome]

Scoreline does fairly reflect the game. We were so much better than these, and they weren't even necessarily bad. Without that funny spell we probably walk away with a simple 3-0
 
We were boss, and this was a proper European night

[the_red_pill]

He is ridiculous. Can't think of many more dangerous and consistent players in Europe. We're blessed.

I saw a comparison mail on one of those sh*te talking football sites the other day...

I couldn't believe the stats!
I'll post it sometime.
One stat was that he scored something like 24 more goals than Ronaldo (sofar) in something like 30 less games! (and Ronaldo scored loads of pens)
Didn't think of that before!

I'm not saying he's Ronaldo... just looking at it in perspective.


EDIT: Here ya go:

TX Bill says we need a few more years to consider Salah and where he sits in the list of premier league greats, especially compared to Ronaldo, Henry and Shearer. Well, yes. Ronaldo has played 197 games in the Prem, which is significantly more than Salah, with just 162. However, Salah has scored 100 goals in that time, as opposed to Ronaldo’s 86. So, 14 more goals than Ronaldo in 35 fewer matches. Henry and Ronaldo both had amazing individual seasons where they scored 30 and 31 goals respectively. But, wait, Salah scored 32 in Prem in 2017/18. Twice league top scorer and once runner up (and once 5th) in the last 4 seasons. Shearer was Premier League top scorer 3 times, Henry 4 and Ronaldo once. If, and it is a massive if, Salah is top scorer this season he is level with Shearer and 1 behind Henry.

TX Bill rightly highlights Salah’s ability to win penalties. He is absolutely correct, Liverpool get an astonishing cavalcade of penalties, all of them awarded for Salah dives. They have had an amazing 11 penalties in their last 118 Premier League matches, at a mind blowing rate of a penalty every 965 minutes. Dive, dive, dive, it is basically all Salah does.

Oh and he also has 45 international goals which is 15 more than Shearer and only 6 behind Henry, despite playing nearly 50 fewer games than Henry.

[PoetryInMotion]

Diaz ran a lot, but seemed like a headless chicken for the most part.

Rebic looked quality. Haven’t really watched him play for Milan before, but he looked a class above what they had on the pitch tonight.

I think you are referring to a different player. Diaz was cutting through our lines at will when they had possession. We stopped that by playing a measured 2nd half. We could do that because we got our goals fairly early. Imagine had we been chasing the game or the winner in the last 20. It could've gone chaotic and opened up spaces for both teams.

[jillcwhomever]

We need to drop Van Dijk more often. When he doesn't play the football is just mental.

Yes it was mental. It was almost back to those days when Klopp first arrived. It was a brilliant game and a good start.

[PoetryInMotion]

Ohh. Love this

[Charlie Adams fried egg]

Great game, fantastic entertainment.
Sometimes it’s best to forget the circus that surrounds the game and the endless debate and just enjoy it for what it is.

While it’s not perfect, I really enjoy European football compared with the PGMOL/ Sky axis of shite in the PL, along with the yard dog teams like Burnley.

^ great pic of 2 fantastic defenders.

[mattD]

Well that was fun. Agree with Jurgen that the moments before half time, we looked poor. No focus and really poor concentration for the most part. They did reorganise and to be fair there only looked to be one winner in the second half.

Mostly though, just delighted to hear Anfield roaring again on a European night and to partake in a thriller. The last year or so just reminds you how precious these moments are.

[FiSh77]

this was Caley XG for the game tonight

Fuck me, that shite just sucks all the joy out of football, if you want numbers then go watch American sports cos they love all that bollocks, doesn't belong in a fluid sport like football

The only expected goals is the 5 I expect us to score before every game

[darragh85]

made hard work of  that. a bit annoying we were poor at cb without van dijk but have to consider it was Gomez first game in a long time.

[So Howard Philips]

Ohh. Love this

European Royalty.

[jonkrux]

Fun game apart from a really strange 5 minutes so I think we win the group especially with the good result for us with Porto and Atletico drawing. Good to see Milan back in the top tier of European football too.

[Sir Capon of Debaser]

Its not quite clicking for Ox but he looks sharp as fuck. Last game he was everywhere but getting in the way and today he was all action. Once it clicks hes gonna take some stopping

[Nobby Reserve]

I think the point is that us not capitalising on such a good start opened the doors to that happening. AC Milan clearly aren’t shit and they’ve got players who can and did punish us, thankfully we were able to have an answer to that which is great.

I’m absolutely fucking elated that we won, boss game, boss night, boss goals, but as do need to start turning 1 into 2 quicker I think or it will cost us points in the future.

Bob on, mate.

[rushyman]

That’s a few times hendos earcupped a celebration

Think he takes notice of tweets too much lol

[mickeydocs]

We're pretty much totally reliant on Fabinho for that function, but he's top class in what he does.

No we are not, Hendo will soon find form and is a good option in that role.

[PoetryInMotion]

It was understandable though, we put so much intensity and energy in to the first 20 minutes that a drop off before half time was pretty much inevitable.

A drop of in intensity doesn't't quite explain us losing the ball cheaply or allowing Milan to run at us and cut us through at will, with the last line of defense failing to hold a line.

It is understandable had we kept our calm, stopped running around, kept the ball more and plug the holes - you can do all that with a drop in intensity. A drop in intensity doesn't explain the madness we witnessed for the 2 goals conceded.

[Beninger]

It's weird how he is not talked about in the same breath as Kane, Mbappe, etc. His stats are incredible.

Hopefully that continues. Keep away the Hollywood clubs and their dirty money.

[John C]

Thoroughly enjoyed that. Fucking hell its boss having crowds back

It was amazing to be back mate. Some great moments of songs, joy and emotions.

Fucking roasting on the MS concourse though

[PoetryInMotion]

Fuck me, that shite just sucks all the joy out of football, if you want numbers then go watch American sports cos they love all that bollocks, doesn't belong in a fluid sport like football

The only expected goals is the 5 I expect us to score before every game

Why? You can enjoy the game and enjoy the numbers, they are not mutually exclusive.

[stockdam]

The yellow card then winning a free kick a minute later was classic Milner

Yes he was the perfect player to bring on. You just knew that he would get that free kick in the corner. I think he was fouled when he fell on the ball minutes later but he’s brilliant at closing out the game.

[Jm55]

Doesn't matter how clinical you are in front of goal, if you defend like we did in that spell, you are going to concede chances at the very least, let alone goals. Efficiency in front of goal doesn't matter if you aren't doing your job at the other end. It's a two way street. Even if we were up 4-2, the reason for the goals conceded would have been the same at 1-2.

Of course but if you’re 3 or 4-0 up at that point it’s a big difference.  There’s also a fair chance that Milan don’t get into those positions if we’ve put 4 past them which our play merited.

In hindsight I’m glad it went the way it did, it was all fucking brilliant, but of course you want us to take the chances and put us 2 or 3 up quicker in future. Teams that go 3-0 up very rarely don’t win matches and at times it feels like we could be 3 up by 30 minutes every game. Even the Chelsea game which will be remembered for that second half could have had Chelsea under serious pressure after 20 minutes.

[Dave McCoy]

I think we were trying to have Hendo play in the role Elliot was performing and that's just not really his game.  Will probably get a bunch more analysis on this tomorrow but that's my hunch as far as some of the issues that occurred when we conceded.  Understandable though as the team was setup to play one way with him and you're not going to change that in 48 hours.

[tubby]

Yes he was the perfect player to bring on. You just knew that he would get that free kick in the corner. I think he was fouled when he fell on the ball minutes later but he’s brilliant at closing out the game.

Literally booted the opposition player in the chest to stop them breaking.  He knows what's up.

[DonkeyWan]

I saw a comparison mail on one of those sh*te talking football sites the other day...

I couldn't believe the stats!
I'll post it sometime.
One stat was that he scored something like 24 more goals than Ronaldo (sofar) in something like 30 less games! (and Ronaldo scored loads of pens)
Didn't think of that before!

I'm not saying he's Ronaldo... just looking at it in perspective.


EDIT: Here ya go:

That's what I mean, his numbers are off the chart, but because he plays for Egypt, no one seems to realise just what a machine he is.

The other thing I find interesting is that Jota, 24, is a player who has numbers that could also see him hit incredible heights as well.

[FowlerLegend]

I think it's worth bearing in mind that this is the 1st CL game with a crowd in around 18 months and it sounded electric and maybe the players lost their heads a bit with that in the 1st 35 mins. They were absolutely flying around and Fabinho and Trent both seemed to be blowing sprinting back!
They are human and have gone from being subconsciously conditioned to no fans to a European Night at Anfield in a matter of weeks. AC Milan were the opposite, the only reason they were not behind by a cricket score after 30 mins was down to really good fortune!

[the_red_pill]

Yes he was the perfect player to bring on. You just knew that he would get that free kick in the corner. I think he was fouled when he fell on the ball minutes later but he’s brilliant at closing out the game.

The experience just shines through.
Good ole dependable James.

[Golyo]

Gave my seat to my nephew as a birthday treat.....hope the little twat remembers what Gin I drink

Uncle of the year.

[Wabaloolah]

Theres a large number of people in the half time thread that should not be allowed to enjoy that game or win. Actually, they shouldn't be allowed in Anfield.

I've not checked but I'm guessing it's the usual suspects!

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Of course but if you’re 3 or 4-0 up at that point it’s a big difference.  There’s also a fair chance that Milan don’t get into those positions if we’ve put 4 past them which our play merited.

Again blaming attacking players for defensive mistakes, does not make sense regardless of how many goals have been scored [or haven't]. the mistakes happened in the defensive third of the pitch individually and collectively, not because of lack of efficiency in front of goal.

Any side worth their salt as I said, will take whatever you give them, [if you do it over and over again] and punish you if they get a chance to do so. Salzburg are miles off this MIlan side, but we were up 3-0 against them, played brilliantly, took our chances, and they got back into the game for the same reason Milan got back into the game. So the forwards werent the blame on the day of that match, like they aren't today, you have to do your job on both ends of the pitch.

[stockdam]

The good thing about tonight is that we played a couple of players who need more time playing. We can’t play VVD every game and we need to play our other two centre halves a bit. So considering this we played well and on another night we would have won 4-1.

Origi, Gomez, Jones, Ox and Keita need to be brought up to speed (as does Konate). It’s not surprising that we looked rusty at times even though we dominated the match.

[Wabaloolah]

Fantastic win, totally dominated them aside from 10 minutes after the ball burst.

Thought Origi was excellent despite the criticism he keeps getting.

Klopp was spot on in his interview, you cannot keep playing the same 11, with a game every three days, so clearly we were going to make changes and that's exactly what we did.

Hopefully Bobby will be back soon and we can keep rotating the front four and keep them all fit.

Well played lads, top of the group, job done!

[Sir Capon of Debaser]

It was amazing to be back mate. Some great moments of songs, joy and emotions.

Fucking roasting on the MS concourse though

Crowd was boss eh. Was the concourse all crying at half time John

Some game that

[stockdam]

Again blaming attacking players for defensive mistakes, does not make sense regardless of how many goals have been scored [or haven't]. the mistakes happened in the defensive third of the pitch individually and collectively, not because of lack of efficiency in front of goal.

Any side worth their salt as I said, will take whatever you give them, [if you do it over and over again] and punish you if they get a chance to do so. Salzburg are miles off this MIlan side, but we were up 3-0 against them, played brilliantly, took our chances, and they got back into the game for the same reason Milan got back into the game. So the forwards werent the blame on the day of that match, like they aren't today, you have to do your job on both ends of the pitch.

Yes it’s much harder to score goals than to concede them. If your defence or midfield turn off then any good team will score……….anyone who plays for one of the top 20 teams or so in Europe is a good player and need to be respected. Having a lot of the ball tends to leave you wide open to the counter.

On the other hand, if a defence and midfield work hard as a unit then it’s very hard to score against even if you have all of the ball.

VVD is the best defender we have and his absence takes a lot away from how we defend.

[MD1990]

We have been awesome last 2 games.

Very encouraging for the season ahead.

[Mighty_Red]

You could say we handed out a 3 nil thrashing, if you ignore those 3 minutes of madness before HT.

A brilliant performance apart from that, 3 great goals (what a strike Hendo), we suffocated them but we let them off the hook. I guess if Mo is going to miss a pen, probably best to do it now than in a bigger, tighter game.

We can't have moments like that at the end of the 1st half however. It's one thing letting in a soft goal, but 2 is terrible. We can't let our concentration drop like that.

Like the pen and the wastage in front of goal, I guess it's better to get these kind of things out the way early in the season.

Job done and let's move on.

[Bobinhood]

"Origi's been just fine and we are going to win the game all day."

Me

Half time

Actually that was a great game, we had too much easy control and fell asleep, got a sharp reminder and then came through anyway. Thats a perfect early season kind of lesson learned but no harm done type of scenario.

[rushyman]

Milan fan crying at going 2-1 up In the 45th minute of a game

How the very mighty have fallen.