Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours 2016/2017

BorneTobyWilde

NukaCola wrote: »

Emre got man of the match? Really?

The slide and the nod tipped it in his favour.

NukaCola

Carra losing the plot being cut off by Jaime!

Osmosis Jones

Origi with the assists for both goals.

monkey9

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

The slide and the nod tipped it in his favour.

And his magnificent hair.

SuperTortoise

Question: How do you go about leaving a man free on the back post from a cross into your own box in injury time, being a goal up?

I don't know if it was Klavan or Milner that should have been picking him up but **** me.

ricero

Gotta to admit im shocked we came back and won that after the mentality and form this side has shown against the lesser teams since the start of the new year. Huge win considering we have city away next who i reckon will finally end our amazing run against the top 6.

Huge win but i expect to see more of the same performances in our run in against the lesser sides

Agent Coulson

I'd rather play like that against the bottom half teams and win than have 70/80% position and lose.

mosstin

NukaCola wrote: »

Carra losing the plot being cut off by Jaime!

Do I not like that!

https://twitter.com/tonyhodson1/status/840988751262306304

PaddyWilliams

So I missed the Spurs game and we won. I saw Leicester and we lost. Then I missed the Arsenal game and we won. We went 1 down and I turned off. 2-1 win. Maybe I shouldn't watch any more games?

Morzadec

noodler wrote: »

We need to recognise, well Klopp needs to recognise, that that was nowhere near good enough.

Random deflection and a nowhere strike from Can. We were one block and a poor marking from a throw away from a draw.

Two in a row though. Finally.

Yup agreed, we could have easily lost or drawn that.

This is the big test for Klopp. Am I being hyperbolic to say that his Liverpool career, his legacy and any success he may bring us will ultimately rest on him finding a solution to this?

It's become very clear that we have eleven players and a plan that works incredibly well against big teams. And does not work at all against weaker teams.

Klopp needs to address this in terms of personnel, tactics and motivation. He has a window and a lot of time to get this right for next season.

I don't buy that it's motivation alone. We were hammering some of these teams earlier in the season, but it does seem like we may have been figured out.

Weaker teams set up very differently against us, and our 4-3-3 with this personnel does not seem to work.

Some changes I would consider:

- Sign a pacy left footed left back to replace Milner for these bread and butter games. I really like Milner but we need to stretch teams better in these games and do things quicker. Milner, by default, makes the game slower and narrower when the ball goes wide left. Keep Milner for the big games at left back or consider using him in midfield again.

- Sign a proper number 9 to give us options when teams defend deep and narrow. Giroud is not a player I think is a world beater, but is very effective for Arsenal when they need to make things happen in the box, and contributes to their effectiveness in dispatching weaker teams. Our 2017 struggles have all been about teams denying us space in the middle and pushing us out wide where they know we are impotent.

- Consider a tactical change - 3 at the back perhaps? Working well for Spurs and Chelsea. May not be the answer for us, but I'm not sure this version of 4-3-3 is either. I would like to see our centre backs given more licence to come out of defence when they are not pressed, encourage them to play one-twos to open things up a bit. Again, teams give us space and time here because they know we can't hurt them here. Maybe we need a better ball playing CB here also (again, maybe not for every game, but use them for the right games)?

Teams are clearly negating our strengths and giving us space, time and ball where they know we're less likely to hurt them. Don't give them the luxury. Come up with a clear plan B / alternate plan for these games, keep the opposition guessing tactically, learn how to hurt teams in areas where we're currently not hurting them.

They are setting up a plan full in the knowledge of exactly how we will set up. Surprise them and negate this plan, or make yourself less predictable.

This is the test for Klopp. The problem is so clear now, that's the one positive. It's a clearly identifiable problem so there has to be everything done to look into how to solve it.

We may continue to struggle this year, but tactics need to change and players need to be brought in next year to resolve it - not necessarily players that are even better on paper than those we have, just players that are more suited to playing against teams defending in the way that have been lately, teams that think they have figured us out (and on evidence clearly have figured us out)

NukaCola

https://twitter.com/OptaJoe/status/840984759530586112

"16 – Liverpool have now won 16 Premier League games this season; equalling their tally of wins for the entire 2015-16 season. Growth."

SlickRic

There are simply issues that must be addressed in the summer, or this pattern of turgid performances against Burnley type opposition will continue.

Milner and Clyne don't offer nearly enough at fullback. We desperately need good, effective attacking fullbacks. It's a must in the modern game.

There is zero control at CM. Hendo is the closest we've got to someone who can do it. But we need someone better than him even, because some of our miscontrol and poor passing is embarrassing.

We need an actual striker who we can trust. Firmino is not it. He's not clinical.

We all know about CB and goalkeeper.

Recruitment, recruitment, recruitment. We must do it, and do it fúcking well.

BorneTobyWilde

30 POINTS to play for, gives us 85 pts.
Would like to get at least 78

Utopia Parkway

Hendo ruled out for City game already. Didn't realise he was still on crutches.

citytillidie

Don't care about the performance at this stage just get the points on the board

daithijjj

An awful performance and scraped through.

Coutinho was poison.

Bench is appalling for the size of the club.

Harry Palmr

I thought Mig had a good game - made the big calls, went through players and got something on the ball. Don't think he whacked any long ones straight out either (but open to correction on that!)

The weaknesses more generally are the ones we all know about - incredibly thin squad for a club of this size. 5 players needed peppered across the squad - left back, left attack, No 9, proper DM and a CB. Less worried about goal keepers with a better side in front of him.

BorneTobyWilde

We played them off the park at Burnley and lost so today is a good result. It wasn't ''ugly'' , we played ok.

niallo27

daithijjj wrote: »

An awful performance and scraped through.

Coutinho was poison.

Bench is appalling for the size of the club.

So true on two of the points. Coutinho has been brilliant so calling him poison is a bit harsh. He is just off form. Having no decent striker is what worries me, orgi is so average.

Damien360

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

We played them off the park at Burnley and lost so today is a good result. It wasn't ''ugly'' , we played ok.

only if you ignore the entire first half which was by definition, ugly.

ShamoBuc

Harry Palmr wrote: »

I thought Mig had a good game - made the big calls, went through players and got something on the ball.

Meant to mention that. Came off his line twice into a group of players and punched well clear. The first time he basically went through 2 Burnley player, great to see as it's seen as weakness he has.

BorneTobyWilde

Kane could be out for season, gives them the problem we've had the past 3 years, no decent striker. Evens the playing field on run in .

Agent Coulson

Kerrigooney

Yep,I like this new clean every ****er out of the way Mignolet. Keep it up lad.

I thought we were actually worse today than in some of our recent defeats but I don't give a crap. 3 points is 3 points and I'd rather have points on the board than games in hand.

If Kane is out for the season we should be Abel to catch them.

Turtyturd

Down with jokes.

5starpool

Agent Coulson wrote: »

I'd rather play like that against the bottom half teams and win than have 70/80% position and lose.

You'd rather we win than lose? That's quite the statement.

:pac:

Gbear

Agent Coulson wrote: »

I'd rather play like that against the bottom half teams and win than have 70/80% position and lose.

I don't see how having less possession and being just as **** on the ball for most of the game qualifies as an improvement.

I don't think it was qualitatively different to the other ****e performances.

We just got away with this one.

BorneTobyWilde

Great is the power of habit, we need to be consistent.

Agent Coulson

Gbear wrote: »

I don't see how having less possession and being just as **** on the ball for most of the game qualifies as an improvement.

I don't think it was qualitatively different to the other ****e performances.

We just got away with this one.

We won the game that's an improvement :P

Gbear

Agent Coulson wrote: »

We won the game that's an improvement :P

No arguments there.

If we can pox our way to a win in the other 10 I won't be complaining (much).

5starpool

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

We played them off the park at Burnley and lost so today is a good result. It wasn't ''ugly'' , we played ok.

We didn't play them off the park at Burnley. We had all the ball and loads of shots, but almost all wild efforts from distance. We didn't look like scoring at all that day, which doesn't fit with played them off the park.

daithijjj

niallo27 wrote: »

So true on two of the points. Coutinho has been brilliant so calling him poison is a bit harsh. He is just off form. Having no decent striker is what worries me, orgi is so average.

You can be truly awful for a long period and there's no pressure on your position in the team. That's what they need to address. I have zero confidence in them doing it though.

Coutinho was terrible today, i was only talking about today. He could be even worse against City in the next game and i would say there is a 100% chance he would start the next regardless. That problem has to change and not just for him. We have to have the capacity to drop under-performing players.

ricero

Honestly have faith in Klopp to strengthen the squad this summer and bring in quality. He brought in Gini, Mane and Matip have been good signings and improved the first 11. My only worry is that FSG will be tight bastards yet again

NukaCola

daithijjj wrote: »

You can be truly awful for a long period and there's no pressure on your position in the team. That's what they need to address. I have zero confidence in them doing it though.

Coutinho was terrible today, i was only talking about today. He could be even worse against City in the next game and i would say there is a 100% chance he would start the next regardless. That problem has to change and not just for him. We have to have the capacity to drop under-performing players.

When you look at other teams fighting for top 4 our squad is probably the thinnest in terms of quality. Our best first 11 can beat anyone but go past our 13/14 option and we are absolutely average at best.

mada999

Harry Palmr wrote: »

I thought Mig had a good game - made the big calls, went through players and got something on the ball. Don't think he whacked any long ones straight out either (but open to correction on that!)

The weaknesses more generally are the ones we all know about - incredibly thin squad for a club of this size. 5 players needed peppered across the squad - left back, left attack, No 9, proper DM and a CB. Less worried about goal keepers with a better side in front of him.

Totally agree with all that Harry... Mig had a really good game

Those 5 positions need to be filled imo.. with at least 5 or so leaving too. Prob need 7 or 8 but getting them all in to gel might be tough.. needs to be done though

Harry Palmr

I'd like the think that apart from three valuable points this game will also prompt an examination of what it takes to beat limited but dogged sides. In the first half Burnley were winning almost every 50/50 and were more proactive in the opening spell than I think the home side were expecting, during the second half Liverpool started to match them and were generally more industrious closing down and defended with greater coherency - players in banks of four moving in units. It's grand to be a bit free and easy in attack but defending requires discipline and lots of it.

citytillidie

Good news for those peering over the fence Man Utd could be out of 6th by the time they next play in the league.

5starpool

Klopp forgetting to turn off his levitation powers during the game.

Harry Palmr

citytillidie wrote: »

Good news for those peering over the fence Man Utd could be out of 6th by the time they next play in the league.

I'd nearly hope Everton beat Liverpool just to keep them 7th! :pac:

monkey9

Our first eleven is decent and we've struggled when the likes of Coutinho and Mane were missing for long periods. So clearly, we really need to strengthen the squad from a quality point of view and not be left with the kind of bench we had today, albeit we were missing players.

But also, we're going to be in Europe next year in either the Champions or Europa League and that's going to drastically affect our performances in the league, especially the way Klopp likes his teams to play. We've struggled at times this season even after playing one game a week or like Leicester after what was basically a mid season break, so i dread how next season will be with those added games if we don't improve the quality and depth of our squad.

This summer transfer window is going to be so so important.

5starpool

Harry Palmr wrote: »

I'd nearly hope Everton beat Liverpool just to keep them 7th! :pac:

Agent Coulson

Already conformed that Henderson will miss the City game and he will also miss the England game which isn't a bad thing.

https://twitter.com/_pauljoyce/status/840992991091273729

~Rebel~

niallo27 wrote: »

So true on two of the points. Coutinho has been brilliant so calling him poison is a bit harsh. He is just off form. Having no decent striker is what worries me, orgi is so average.

Normally I'd agree, but today Coutinho really was poison in a more literal sense than usual. He negatively affected the performances of everyone around him.

Lallana was clearly told to stay right up around Origi, buzzing around that number 10 spot, with Mane and Coutinho supposed to drop a little deeper to get on the ball quickly. Mane caused loads of problems - but Coutinho couldn't do anything. Poor first touches, awful passing, not giving an option, never trying to take a man on. So Gini ended up having to try to cover that area too to get something happening, leaving Can a bit overwhelmed in def midfield.

Everything got more controlled when Coutinho went off. Genuinely worst i've seen him play. The City match is more his type of game, but he really needs to get his head together. So many moves broke down as soon as he got on the ball, or, because he wasn't getting into open areas to receive it.

Delighted with the win, but that first half especially was just painful.

SlickRic

As bad as Coutinho was, he still was the one who turned, ran at Burnley's defence and made something happen in the lead up to the equaliser, which incidentally also shows what we seriously lacked over the whole game - someone to take the ball in close, turn and run at them to make something happen.

I agree that we need quality backup to him, Mané, Firmino etc. The fact Klopp chucked Woodburn on at the hour mark for our star player who was underperforming is a good sign that Klopp knows these guys need pressure on them from the bench.

~Rebel~

Oh, also, can we please stop lofting in those pointless high balls? Seems like every time an overlap is offered, whoever has the ball feels compelled to use it, and we end up with another waste as the ball is harmlessly floated in to noone and knocked away. So so many of them in that first half especially.

It was telling that it took Origi to get out wide and put in the type of ball he himself would have wanted for the equalizer.

We should have a "no balls above chest height in their half" rule or something.

Vicxas

Keita collapsed after their BL game:

Leipzig's Guinea star Naby Keita recovering after collapsing - http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/39249508

Weren't we looking at him?

~Rebel~

Vicxas wrote: »

Keita collapsed after their BL game:

Leipzig's Guinea star Naby Keita recovering after collapsing - http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/39249508

Weren't we looking at him?

"It was probably a combination of several factors. I am glad that there is no deeper disorder. His test results were all okay, that is why we have to look at what was the cause."

God that's good at least... this sort of thing often seems to unearth more serious underlying heart problems. Hope he's ok and it was just a freak mixture of a few things like dehydration, blood pressure etc.

cj maxx

Missed the game on tv but on Today fm the commentator said our defence was all over the shop . Top 4 is probably already gone as the City game is the only game we play against those above us . . Need to be beating the lower to mid table teams and hope Spurs and Arsenal have their annual meltdowns.

ricero

cjmc wrote: »

Missed the game on tv but on Today fm the commentator said our defence was all over the shop . Top 4 is probably already gone as the City game is the only game we play against those above us . . Need to be beating the lower to mid table teams and hope Spurs and Arsenal have their annual meltdowns.

Top four already gone ? **** sake