Liverpool FC Team Talk, Gossip, Rumours 2020/2021

yourdeadwright

Ottoman_1000 wrote: »

Yes, like all systems opposition teams will evolve and your edge will be gone. That high defensive line was a game changer last season for this team, it can still be hugely effective but if you don't have the personal or if your players on the field are lacking confidence in the system it can be a disaster (Villa 7-2)! The only other team that set up like Liverpool is Bayern and although they are winning and top of the league, they are conceding a huge amount of goals this season as teams are finding their away around it. Difference been though the standard of the rest of the teams in Germany in quite poor compared to the EPL so Bayern wont get caught out to often.

I think Klopp knows he needs to come up with something different as his frustration is very visible these days. The UTD game could be interesting as they smell blood and if they go for it that could play into Liverpool's hands as I feel Klopp would love noting more than an open expansive game to change the record at this stage.

United will come to play on the counter attack and be happy if its a draw ,
Like all of our games this season the first goal in that game will be absolutely massive,

Buddy97mm

Decisions are certainly not in our favour this season. In the last three (disappointing) games, we have seen no foul given when WBA attacker climbed all over Fabinho for their equaliser, no foul given when Newcastle keeper quite clearly pulled back Mane, and last night no handball given (may have been questionable), no foul on Mane by KWP (should have been penalty) and no free given for Walcott's two footed tackle just below the knee of Milner. All of these were apparently looked at by VAR who deemed the referee's decision ok. Previous post has shown how VAR has been very unkind to us.

I really don't believe there is any conspiracy here, but do wonder if as a team, we are too naive and passive in situations like those mentioned - we never surround the referee clamouring for a decision to go our way (a la Mourinho team) nor do we seek the most of any fouls committed against us - Mane stayed on his feet when grabbed by Darlow and even last night stayed on his feet initially when fouled by KWP, going to ground seconds later as an afterthought. There were numerous other instances last night where Mane was fouled by KWP, Salah was headlocked, etc., but we seem to be too honest in these situations, which is commendable in many respects but is ultimately doing us no favours. In the modern game, it appears that to get a free given to you, it is not enough to be fouled, you must make the most of this foul by going to ground quickly and ideally accompany this with a blood curdling shriek of pain (heard all the more in past few months). It actually also helps if you are a British player (Kane, Grealish, etc.) or indeed an admired technical player (DeBruyne, Fernandes, Pogba, etc.) rather than one of those nippy foreigners (Mane, Salah) who apparently are rarely fouled.

To provide some context, in our last three games vs WBA, Newcastle and Southampton, Liverpool averaged 73% possession during those games. One would expect that with that amount of possession, plus the fact that we spend most of those games on the front foot, attacking rather than defending, that you would receive more frees than the opposition. Yet, over the three games we apparently committed twice as many fouls as the opposition, committing an average of 11 fouls per game compared to opponent's 6 per game. In addition, we received an average of 2 yellow cards per game compared to opponents one. This to me is bizarre, yet it is borne out further by stats for the season overall, which show that Liverpool are the third highest team in terms of number of fouls committed, yet 17th in the division in terms of frees received for fouls by the opposition.

These stats suggest that either we are a quite dirty team, strategically committing twice as many fouls on teams who have a quarter of the possession, which is really hard to see and accept; I cannot think of one player in the current team who I would consider remotely dirty or physical, indeed I wish we had someone who would give us more of a bite, as I think we lack a little in that area. The more realistic interpretation in my view is that we are naive in terms of seeking to win frees, whilst opponents make the most of every challenge and tackle, to ensure they maximise the frees they receive.

yourdeadwright

Any links to CB today ?
We need something to give the lads a lift a new arrival along with Thiago, Naby and Jota coming back into fitness would be nice,

I know it sounds pessimistic but I worry for our top four chances without a new CB, We have no divine right to near the top of the table and we need to start winning football matches again ASAP

Agent Coulson

Liam Miller has joined Charlton on loan till the end of the season.

If he didn't want £400k a week and his agent wanting £10m in fees I'd say go all out for Alaba.



Ashley Williams is a free agent at center back :pac::p

KevRossi

theoneeyedman wrote: »

It's been open season on the 2 speed merchants recently, particularly Mane. Been kicked, pulled, dragged, knocked continuously by most teams, especially over the last 6 to 8 weeks. Zero protection from the referees.....

Shearer, Lineker and Co. did their work IMO. Always focusing on the two of them 'diving'. I reckon that's why they aren't getting the decisions. All players throw themselves on the ground, some are cleverer at it than others. PL refs usually don't like the theatrics. They need to learn off Kane if they're going down.

Agent Coulson wrote: »

If he didn't want £400k a week and his agent wanting £10m in fees I'd say go all out for Alaba.

Kicker reported that Alaba has stated that he wants to finish the season with Bayern. I doubt they'll sell him as he'd be a loss to them if they can't find a replacement. They have their eye on another CL as they'll probably walk the Bundesliga.

They may be tempted with an offer of €15 million, I'd be prepared to buy him for that.

KevRossi

Kicker reported that Alaba's manager Pini Zahavi wanted €125 million in wages for a 5 year contract and that he gets an 8 figure sum as commission. Hoeness and Salihamidzic threw Zahavi out of the meeting. And rightly said the extra few million will not make Alaba any happier.

brevity

Buddy97mm wrote: »

Decisions are certainly not in our favour this season. In the last three (disappointing) games, we have seen no foul given when WBA attacker climbed all over Fabinho for their equaliser, no foul given when Newcastle keeper quite clearly pulled back Mane, and last night no handball given (may have been questionable), no foul on Mane by KWP (should have been penalty) and no free given for Walcott's two footed tackle just below the knee of Milner. All of these were apparently looked at by VAR who deemed the referee's decision ok. Previous post has shown how VAR has been very unkind to us.

I really don't believe there is any conspiracy here, but do wonder if as a team, we are too naive and passive in situations like those mentioned - we never surround the referee clamouring for a decision to go our way (a la Mourinho team) nor do we seek the most of any fouls committed against us - Mane stayed on his feet when grabbed by Darlow and even last night stayed on his feet initially when fouled by KWP, going to ground seconds later as an afterthought. There were numerous other instances last night where Mane was fouled by KWP, Salah was headlocked, etc., but we seem to be too honest in these situations, which is commendable in many respects but is ultimately doing us no favours. In the modern game, it appears that to get a free given to you, it is not enough to be fouled, you must make the most of this foul by going to ground quickly and ideally accompany this with a blood curdling shriek of pain (heard all the more in past few months). It actually also helps if you are a British player (Kane, Grealish, etc.) or indeed an admired technical player (DeBruyne, Fernandes, Pogba, etc.) rather than one of those nippy foreigners (Mane, Salah) who apparently are rarely fouled.

To provide some context, in our last three games vs WBA, Newcastle and Southampton, Liverpool averaged 73% possession during those games. One would expect that with that amount of possession, plus the fact that we spend most of those games on the front foot, attacking rather than defending, that you would receive more frees than the opposition. Yet, over the three games we apparently committed twice as many fouls as the opposition, committing an average of 11 fouls per game compared to opponent's 6 per game. In addition, we received an average of 2 yellow cards per game compared to opponents one. This to me is bizarre, yet it is borne out further by stats for the season overall, which show that Liverpool are the third highest team in terms of number of fouls committed, yet 17th in the division in terms of frees received for fouls by the opposition.

These stats suggest that either we are a quite dirty team, strategically committing twice as many fouls on teams who have a quarter of the possession, which is really hard to see and accept; I cannot think of one player in the current team who I would consider remotely dirty or physical, indeed I wish we had someone who would give us more of a bite, as I think we lack a little in that area. The more realistic interpretation in my view is that we are naive in terms of seeking to win frees, whilst opponents make the most of every challenge and tackle, to ensure they maximise the frees they receive.

I've said before that Klopp doesn't want to have people going down easy or engaging in the dark arts. If Mane or Salah were on a different team I think their behaviour would be very different. I can also imagine Henderson, Milner and Robbo to be a bit more aggressive in their protests with the ref if the were in a different team

I think he expects the officials to do their job competently. It's up for discussion whether or not they are.

Markitron

KevRossi wrote: »

They need to learn off Kane if they're going down.

No amount of learning will change their nationality

chicorytip

brevity wrote: »

I've said before that Klopp doesn't want to have people going down easy or engaging in the dark arts. If Mane or Salah were on a different team I think their behaviour would be very different. I can also imagine Henderson, Milner and Robbo to be a bit more aggressive in their protests with the ref if the were in a different team

I think he expects the officials to do their job competently. It's up for discussion whether or not they are.

Last season Salah was the master of that particular dark art. Refs are now copping on with regard to him. There was no obvious penalty claim last night. I don't understand why Klopp is alleging bias. You get some, others you don't. It's the same for every team. I thought Henderson did very well. Mane at least was trying, Salah seemed disinterested.

yourdeadwright

chicorytip wrote: »

Last season Salah was the master of that particular dark art. Refs are now copping on with regard to him. There was no obvious penalty claim last night. I don't understand why Klopp is alleging bias. You get some, others you don't. It's the same for every team. I thought Henderson did very well. Mane at least was trying, Salah seemed disinterested.

Really your man clearly took out Mane back leg with his back leg, Sky focused on the foot he went for the ball with but it was the other foot that caught the back of Manes calf,

The handball I have no idea what the rules are any ore but for me that type of one was always a penalty, Hand on to the side and ball smacked his hand , More of a peno than the one City got against us ,

Also why was Armstrong allowed foul Henderson for there goal ? I noticed it at the time and Ing's mentioned it after there plan was to grab and push one of the line back so he'd be on side, Not sure why its allowed

Also for the of foul they gave against Salah on the keeper , you know you have VAR why not wait a second see if we score and then you can check Var if its valid ? Ref was very very quick to blow against us but not against them ,

The Milner one how the ref or linesman didn't see that is beyond me ,

Knex*

We barely switch the play anymore. I don't know if that's largely down to VVD not being in the team, a change in tactics, or something else. But I'd love to see the stats for the last 3 games in how many times we switched the ball from one flank to the other.

Trent had a nice one last night, but that was it really. Seems like it has massively reduced in recent weeks, which makes it far easier for a defence to just sit where they are and stay compact.

I think the threat of the long ball is what has helped us become the side that we are over the past few years. Whether its switching play, or those lofted through balls through the middle to Mane & Salah, but we seemed to have just stopped implementing them to any decent fashion recently.

Henderson had a few crap attempts at the lofted through ball vs West Brom in the first half, and they've barely resurfaced again since.

BorneTobyWilde

Thiago did nothing impressive last night, huge build up to his first start, and then nothing .

Blanco100

the kelt wrote: »

But whats the point in telling them that?

You, me, them everyone knows play well and they still probably wont get a game against utd.

Case in point being Minamino who probably played his best game for us against Palace and hasnt seen a minute since.

Spot on. And the fringes players know it too. Seems to be a closed door in terms of competition for places.

Milner jumping Neco in terms of replacing TAA last night and Minamino/Origi are making up bench numbers unfortunately. If not trusted to make a difference last night when game was in the melting pot then there's no real future for them IMO.

The big issue is when the full backs are nullified. The front 3 are forced to play more narrow. West Brom, Newcastle and Southampton allowed Robbo space last night and simply crowded the box. It's harder to find a man in a crowded penalty area.

We lack a midfielder who can score from distance in games like this. Dont think TAA is showing poor attitude just don't think teams have been allowing us impose our will on teams.

I have to say though I'm actually enjoying Klopp being a whiny pr*ck with refereeing decisions in the media. Classic Fergie type sh*t. Putting in the hard yards, so if there's any future 50/50 calls going forward all eyes will be on it and refs will feel the heat.

yourdeadwright

Blanco100 wrote: »

Spot on. And the fringes players know it too. Seems to be a closed door in terms of competition for places.

Milner jumping Neco in terms of replacing TAA last night and Minamino/Origi are making up bench numbers unfortunately. If not trusted to make a difference last night when game was in the melting pot then there's no real future for them IMO.

The big issue is when the full backs are nullified. The front 3 are forced to play more narrow. West Brom, Newcastle and Southampton allowed Robbo space last night and simply crowded the box. It's harder to find a man in a crowded penalty area.

We lack a midfielder who can score from distance in games like this. Dont think TAA is showing poor attitude just don't think teams have been allowing us impose our will on teams.

I have to say though I'm actually enjoying Klopp being a whiny pr*ck with refereeing decisions in the media. Classic Fergie type sh*t. Putting in the hard yards, so if there's any future 50/50 calls going forward all eyes will be on it and refs will feel the heat.

I think we need to go 4 2 3 1 for a bit and when teams set up to stop that go back to 4 3 3 ,

When are Jota and Naby back ?

With: Naby its 7 games 25 goals
Without : Naby 10 games 12 goals ,

rob316

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Thiago did nothing impressive last night, huge build up to his first start, and then nothing .

He sprayed some nice passes, but he didn't look anywhere near fit. Our midfield was pressed hard and he struggled. I thought the Ox was absolutely useless though.

Osmosis Jones

I wouldn't say there's no chance for youngsters getting into the team, Curtis Jones has played 18 games this season.

yourdeadwright

rob316 wrote: »

He sprayed some nice passes, but he didn't look anywhere near fit. Our midfield was pressed hard and he struggled. I thought the Ox was absolutely useless though.

It was a bad call to start both Thiago and Ox in midfield both lacking match sharpness due to injuries , Id expect both to start v Villa to get more up to speed

the kelt

~Rebel~ wrote: »

I've seen this mentioned a fair few times - he was alright, but wouldn't say it was anywhere near his best game, and he was quiet enough after his goal for large parts. Wasn't bad by any means, but it wasn't exactly a barnstorming performance to blast his way into the team either... I'm surprised he's not come off the bench in the recent games, given how bad we've been, but I'd still judge Shaqiri to be the more likely - and more influential - inclusion.

I actually agree with ye in regards to shaq.

But it isn’t a case of Mina or Shaq blasting their way into the starting 11 or anything of the sort.

But throw them on and see can they bring something different when what’s on the pitch isn’t working offensively.

West Brom game saw us bring ox on 83 and origi in injury time

Newcastle shaqiri brought on 2 minutes into injury time

Last night shaq on 80 mins and no one else.

It’s not a case of giving offensive players minutes for the sake of it, it’s trying something different because what’s on the pitch isn’t working.

Osmosis Jones

At least Thiago looked interested in scoring, he was basically the only player on the pitch to have a couple shots from range, both of which were fortunately deflected beyond goal

giveitholly

yourdeadwright wrote: »

It was a bad call to start both Thiago and Ox in midfield both lacking match sharpness due to injuries , Id expect both to start v Villa to get more up to speed

After Thiago playing 90 mins last night I can't see him starting

Blanco100

rob316 wrote: »

He sprayed some nice passes, but he didn't look anywhere near fit. Our midfield was pressed hard and he struggled. I thought the Ox was absolutely useless though.

We have a few players who contribute sparingly due to persistent injury.

Matip, Gomez, Keita, Ox

The only consistency they provide is you know they will miss at least 25-30% of the season through injury.

BorneTobyWilde

Henderson was a loss in midfield, really needed him in there, bad enough losing FAb in there, without losing Henderson. Ox was poor replacement .
We have fit CBs, use them.

70% possession, 17 shots, 10 corners,

Ask anyone the question ''who won that game'' who didn't know the result and they'd say the team with those stats. It was the same at Newcastle, all Liverpool.

Not a lot is wrong, that's for sure.

yourdeadwright

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Henderson was a loss in midfield, really needed him in there, bad enough losing FAb in there, without losing Henderson. Ox was poor replacement .
We have fit CBs, use them.

70% possession, 17 shots, 10 corners,

Ask anyone the question ''who won that game'' who didn't know the result and they'd say the team with those stats. It was the same at Newcastle, all Liverpool.

Not a lot is wrong, that's for sure.

I agree losing Fab is bad enough but losing Henderson means we lose intensity and lose rhythm which we need, Thiago should bring that touch of class and cleverness to go with work rate high tempo , .

We NEED a CB asap

Buddy97mm

brevity wrote: »

I've said before that Klopp doesn't want to have people going down easy or engaging in the dark arts. If Mane or Salah were on a different team I think their behaviour would be very different. I can also imagine Henderson, Milner and Robbo to be a bit more aggressive in their protests with the ref if the were in a different team

I think he expects the officials to do their job competently. It's up for discussion whether or not they are.

I think there is discernible difference between engaging in dark arts and ensuring that it is obvious to the officials that you have been fouled when you have been fouled. I feel it is the latter of these which lets us down, riding foul challenges and staying on our feet at times when maybe it would be better to maximise the foul committed, but not straying into "dark arts" territory.

Milner is at times actually the perfect example of this. He is to my mind the greatest of game managers we have when closing out a game. If we are winning by one goal coming into the last 10 minutes of a game, there is nothing I like more than to see than him coming on. He is not a diver or anything even close to that, but he knows to take the ball into certain areas (corner flag typically), invite a fairly dodgy challenge and make sure the referee knows that the challenge has been fairly ropey. No dark arts, no theatrics, no rolling around on the ground, just making the opposition commit to questionable challenges and ensuring you win a free.

Enzokk

yourdeadwright wrote: »

The Milner one how the ref or linesman didn't see that is beyond me ,

I don't know what to call it any longer. It seems too targeted to be incompetence. Somehow that foul wasn't even given a replay. I think I know why, because the VAR would have had to look at it had there been one, but somehow even though Milner was down there was no replay. Then again never attribute malice to what can be explained as incompetence.

I think because we ran away with the league last year and because referees are scared of the LiVARpool crap from last year we are not getting judged fairly. These are the same people that somehow contrived to give handball for everything at the start of the year and with no change of the rule it is now judged differently. It didn't take a scientists to know the rule can be interpreted differently, but because they were told they didn't know how to use VAR they spat their dummies and we saw the result. Now they are back to the old rules again. It's a farce and I know some will downplay it but the amount of decisions that have been going against us is insane. I just hope when people say it evens out it turns out to be true, so we can get some good luck towards the end of the season. I doubt it works this way though.

x43r0

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Thiago did nothing impressive last night, huge build up to his first start, and then nothing .

His passing was miles above the rest of our players. Surely you could see that?

Aside lack of match fitness though, he was clearly marked out of parts of the game. You could see a box of 4 players closing the space around him when it looked like there might be a pass going to him

yourdeadwright

Enzokk wrote: »

I don't know what to call it any longer. It seems too targeted to be incompetence. Somehow that foul wasn't even given a replay. I think I know why, because the VAR would have had to look at it had there been one, but somehow even though Milner was down there was no replay. Then again never attribute malice to what can be explained as incompetence.

I think because we ran away with the league last year and because referees are scared of the LiVARpool crap from last year we are not getting judged fairly. These are the same people that somehow contrived to give handball for everything at the start of the year and with no change of the rule it is now judged differently. It didn't take a scientists to know the rule can be interpreted differently, but because they were told they didn't know how to use VAR they spat their dummies and we saw the result. Now they are back to the old rules again. It's a farce and I know some will downplay it but the amount of decisions that have been going against us is insane. I just hope when people say it evens out it turns out to be true, so we can get some good luck towards the end of the season. I doubt it works this way though.

The Mane one against Newcastle is utterly bizarre , in what world is that not looked at ?

Then when we commit a foul its looked at for 10 minutes encase there is any possible way it can be given against us,

Osmosis Jones

I didn't think Thiago was bad at all, he didn't get into the opposition third at all really but was picking the right pass and advancing the ball time and time again, it was a very poorly balanced midfield.

yourdeadwright

This sounds crazy but is Costa fit ?
Surely he'd be worth a punt for 6 months , especially since teams are camping in there own 6 yard box against us ,
He cant be any worse than Origi or Taki

FlawedGenius

I think Liverpool need a striker aswell. Origi isn’t good enough. Baffled me when Liverpool got rid of Ings, who is a lot better than Origi, and could and should have played a lot more at Liverpool. Pool also sold on Brewster. It was always said that if Liverpool last season aswell ever got a few injuries to a few key players in the spine of the team, that they’d struggle as no strength in depth. United on the other hand are flying, have so many attacking options, but also a fragile central defense, the whole back line actually apart from Telles.
But United are great at beating the mid to lower teams, flat track bully’s if u will.

Anyway if I was a Liverpool fan, I’d be very very worried, not just of United but City. Klopp has gotten abit Bentizesq and cringe lately with his whinging about not getting the decisions, Liverpool last season got so a fair few debetable penalties, and last minute winners (Everton). United get more because they get the ball into the box more and have players with tricky feet and pace that if clipped they’ll go down. Klopp said United’s just another game, he knows full well it’s not and instead of saying yes it’s a big game and we want to win it, we are looking forward to it, but no, he knows he’s in trouble.

A very exciting time ahead. Imagine if United win the league on front of fans, because of the vaccine u would surely think at the very least a decent amount of fans will be allowed attend come May.

Exciting times ahead indeed!

yourdeadwright

FlawedGenius wrote: »

I think Liverpool need a striker aswell. Origi isn’t good enough. Baffled me when Liverpool got rid of Ings, who is a lot better than Origi, and could and should have played a lot more at Liverpool. Pool also sold on Brewster. It was always said that if Liverpool last season aswell ever got a few injuries to a few key players in the spine of the team, that they’d struggle as no strength in depth. United on the other hand are flying, have so many attacking options, but also a fragile central defense, the whole back line actually apart from Telles.
But United are great at beating the mid to lower teams, flat track bully’s if u will.

Anyway if I was a Liverpool fan, I’d be very very worried, not just of United but City. Klopp has gotten abit Bentizesq and cringe lately with his whinging about not getting the decisions, Liverpool last season got so a fair few debetable penalties, and last minute winners (Everton). United get more because they get the ball into the box more and have players with tricky feet and pace that if clipped they’ll go down. Klopp said United’s just another game, he knows full well it’s not and instead of saying yes it’s a big game and we want to win it, we are looking forward to it, but no, he knows he’s in trouble.

A very exciting time ahead. Imagine if United win the league on front of fans, because of the vaccine u would surely think at the very least a decent amount of fans will be allowed attend come May.

Exciting times ahead indeed!

Season isn't even half way gone its not a must win for either side at this stage ,

KevRossi

FlawedGenius wrote: »

I think Liverpool need a striker aswell. Origi isn’t good enough. Baffled me when Liverpool got rid of Ings, who is a lot better than Origi, and could and should have played a lot more at Liverpool. Pool also sold on Brewster. It was always said that if Liverpool last season

Ings joined in summer 2015 and spent most of the next two seasons out of action. By the time he got back in late 2017 we had the Firminio/Salah/Mane axis that was firing on all cylinders. There was no way he was getting a regular starting spot with them ahead of him, I got the impression he asked to leave as he was getting no game time, but I'm not entirely sure on that.

Great player, great attitude, just was with us at the worst possible time in his career.

EDIT: Yeah, he wanted out and Klopp wanted him to stay. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/danny-ings-interview-at-liverpool-i-would-go-home-sit-with-my-dogs-and-feel-upset-i-moved-to-southampton-to-be-happy-tc2d89g8p

Osmosis Jones

The absolute most important trait for a backup player to have is availability, there's no point having someone on the bench for in case one of the front 3 get injured, only for the backup to be injured too.

.G.

Liverpool and City both have way more touches in the box compared to United since Ole came in. This spiel about them getting it into the box more is rubbish, and proven to be so. Liverpool alone had over 400 more penalty box touches in that time.

Ditto for the fast tricky dribblers spiel. Liverpool have 6 players in the top 100 of dribbles attempted per 90. United have 5.

They get decisions no other top team gets, not just Liverpool. I find it mad fans of other clubs choose to jump on Klopp for highlighting it when its detrimental to their own clubs just as much.

I don't care how may pens United get I just want the ones Liverpool should get to actually be given.

Fitz*

It's not the number of penalties given, it's the manner of them.

What gets given one week for Man Utd (Pogba) is not being given the following week for Chelsea (Werner?) or Liverpool (Mane).

BorneTobyWilde

x43r0 wrote: »

His passing was miles above the rest of our players. Surely you could see that?

Aside lack of match fitness though, he was clearly marked out of parts of the game. You could see a box of 4 players closing the space around him when it looked like there might be a pass going to him

Gave away the sloppy freekick that they scored from, picked up a yellow from a bad tackle, another bad tackle early in second half, should have been off, ref let it slide. But yea, he's total class, it was just hard to show it last night.

BorneTobyWilde

Fitz* wrote: »

It's not the number of penalties given, it's the manner of them.

What gets given one week for Man Utd (Pogba) is not being given the following week for Chelsea (Werner?) or Liverpool (Mane).

Officials can be got at, both financially and mentally. VAR looks compromised if you look at what one team is getting , compared to the rest.

BorneTobyWilde

If United win game in hand and beat us we'll be 6 points behind them, and also possibly in 5th with other teams winning, Leicester, City, Spurs/
United then play again before us, win that and gap to them will be 9pts .

Shanotheslayer

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Officials can be got at, both financially and mentally. VAR looks compromised if you look at what one team is getting , compared to the rest.

That some crazy speculation Toby.

Financially? I'm all ears to hear your theory on this

Blanco100

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Henderson was a loss in midfield, really needed him in there, bad enough losing FAb in there, without losing Henderson. Ox was poor replacement .
We have fit CBs, use them.

70% possession, 17 shots, 10 corners,

Ask anyone the question ''who won that game'' who didn't know the result and they'd say the team with those stats. It was the same at Newcastle, all Liverpool.

Not a lot is wrong, that's for sure.

70% possession, 17 shots, 10 corners,

With one shot on target.

For 3 consecutive games we have failed to trouble the goal of mediocre opponents despite having most of the ball.

fyfe79

.G. wrote: »

Liverpool and City both have way more touches in the box compared to United since Ole came in. This spiel about them getting it into the box more is rubbish, and proven to be so. Liverpool alone had over 400 more penalty box touches in that time.

Ditto for the fast tricky dribblers spiel. Liverpool have 6 players in the top 100 of dribbles attempted per 90. United have 5.

They get decisions no other top team gets, not just Liverpool. I find it mad fans of other clubs choose to jump on Klopp for highlighting it when its detrimental to their own clubs just as much.

I don't care how may pens United get I just want the ones Liverpool should get to actually be given.

Standard at this stage. Just like "Liverpool had VAR in its back pocket last season, what comes around goes around" nonsense. Last season Liverpool had+2 in terms of favourable VAR decisions whereas Utd had +7.

It's just easy and bantertastic to have a pop at Liverpool when the facts don't back it up at all.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/english-premier-league/story/3929823/how-var-decisions-have-affected-every-premier-league-club

.G.

I do wonder if the refs actually hate Klopp , he gives them absolute pelters from the sideline every single game, especially when they have to do fourth official. The club also wanted answers from PGMOL over the Everton game, don't think I've ever heard of something like that before.

I genuinely don't think there is conscious negative bias towards us from the refs, unconscious is very possible though!

Ultimately its up to us to start playing well again and take games out of the fine margins an official can affect and we will. Not even half way point in the season, we haven't had a real slump in the league for two years or so, so we've been well spoiled. Add to that the top half of the league is so closely packed together that any run of wins immediately puts you back in contention so I'm still very upbeat about the season on the whole.

Just need to end the slump ASAP!

Utopia Parkway

FlawedGenius wrote: »

I think Liverpool need a striker aswell. Origi isn’t good enough. Baffled me when Liverpool got rid of Ings, who is a lot better than Origi, and could and should have played a lot more at Liverpool. Pool also sold on Brewster. It was always said that if Liverpool last season aswell ever got a few injuries to a few key players in the spine of the team, that they’d struggle as no strength in depth. United on the other hand are flying, have so many attacking options, but also a fragile central defense, the whole back line actually apart from Telles.
But United are great at beating the mid to lower teams, flat track bully’s if u will.

Anyway if I was a Liverpool fan, I’d be very very worried, not just of United but City. Klopp has gotten abit Bentizesq and cringe lately with his whinging about not getting the decisions, Liverpool last season got so a fair few debetable penalties, and last minute winners (Everton). United get more because they get the ball into the box more and have players with tricky feet and pace that if clipped they’ll go down. Klopp said United’s just another game, he knows full well it’s not and instead of saying yes it’s a big game and we want to win it, we are looking forward to it, but no, he knows he’s in trouble.

A very exciting time ahead. Imagine if United win the league on front of fans, because of the vaccine u would surely think at the very least a decent amount of fans will be allowed attend come May.

Exciting times ahead indeed!

Some amount of guff there.

Ottoman_1000

.G. wrote: »

I do wonder if the refs actually hate Klopp , he gives them absolute pelters from the sideline every single game, especially when they have to do fourth official. The club also wanted answers from PGMOL over the Everton game, don't think I've ever heard of something like that before.

I genuinely don't think there is conscious negative bias towards us from the refs, unconscious is very possible though!

Ultimately its up to us to start playing well again and take games out of the fine margins an official can affect and we will. Not even half way point in the season, we haven't had a real slump in the league for two years or so, so we've been well spoiled. Add to that the top half of the league is so closely packed together that any run of wins immediately puts you back in contention so I'm still very upbeat about the season on the whole.

Just need to end the slump ASAP!

This is it, regardless of the referring decision they should be putting 3/4 past the like of Brighton, West Brom, Fulham and Newcastle to take the doubt out if it. A combined 3 goals scored against those 4 teams is not even the form of a top 4 side let alone wannabe champions...West Brom have conceded 9 goals in the 2 games they have played since Liverpool for gods sake...

giveitholly

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Some amount of guff there.

Username checks out

mightyreds

KevRossi wrote: »

Ings joined in summer 2015 and spent most of the next two seasons out of action. By the time he got back in late 2017 we had the Firminio/Salah/Mane axis that was firing on all cylinders. There was no way he was getting a regular starting spot with them ahead of him, I got the impression he asked to leave as he was getting no game time, but I'm not entirely sure on that.

Great player, great attitude, just was with us at the worst possible time in his career.

EDIT: Yeah, he wanted out and Klopp wanted him to stay. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/danny-ings-interview-at-liverpool-i-would-go-home-sit-with-my-dogs-and-feel-upset-i-moved-to-southampton-to-be-happy-tc2d89g8p

Also the year before he went on loan I was over at Anfield for Brighton near seasons end, Ings came on in the game and he looked like he was running on ice, injury's looked like they really had killed his career( and probably should have) , he went out on loan next season and Origi scores in a champions league final.

If hindsight was foresight and all...

Osmosis Jones

Ings also spent half of his first year at Southampton injured

Ottoman_1000

FlawedGenius wrote: »

I think Liverpool need a striker aswell. Origi isn’t good enough. Baffled me when Liverpool got rid of Ings, who is a lot better than Origi, and could and should have played a lot more at Liverpool. Pool also sold on Brewster. It was always said that if Liverpool last season aswell ever got a few injuries to a few key players in the spine of the team, that they’d struggle as no strength in depth. United on the other hand are flying, have so many attacking options, but also a fragile central defense, the whole back line actually apart from Telles.
But United are great at beating the mid to lower teams, flat track bully’s if u will.

Anyway if I was a Liverpool fan, I’d be very very worried, not just of United but City. Klopp has gotten abit Bentizesq and cringe lately with his whinging about not getting the decisions, Liverpool last season got so a fair few debetable penalties, and last minute winners (Everton). United get more because they get the ball into the box more and have players with tricky feet and pace that if clipped they’ll go down. Klopp said United’s just another game, he knows full well it’s not and instead of saying yes it’s a big game and we want to win it, we are looking forward to it, but no, he knows he’s in trouble.

A very exciting time ahead. Imagine if United win the league on front of fans, because of the vaccine u would surely think at the very least a decent amount of fans will be allowed attend come May.

Exciting times ahead indeed!

you actually think this UTD side will win the league??? what ever about finishing ahead of Liverpool, they wont finish within 10 points of City and that is the facts of it...

.G.

Ottoman_1000 wrote: »

This is it, regardless of the referring decision they should be putting 3/4 past the like of Brighton, West Brom, Fulham and Newcastle to take the doubt out if it. A combined 3 goals scored against those 4 teams is not even the form of a top 4 side let alone wannabe champions...West Brom have conceded 9 goals in the 2 games they have played since Liverpool for gods sake...

I read today something about our xG, don't have the exact numbers but it was something like 2.4 for Palace, 7 goals, our combined xG for the recent draws and Southampton defeat, over 4 yet only 1 goal!

The slump in our confidence after the Palace game is really weird. We should have been purring having walloped them and beat Spurs in the best way possible yet we went to absolute sh!te because we didn't increase our lead as we should have done in that first half against West Brom.

Ottoman_1000

.G. wrote: »

I read today something about our xG, don't have the exact numbers but it was something like 2.4 for Palace, 7 goals, our combined xG for the recent draws and Southampton defeat, over 4 yet only 1 goal!

The slump in our confidence after the Palace game is really weird. We should have been purring having walloped them and beat Spurs in the best way possible yet we went to absolute sh!te because we didn't increase our lead as we should have done in that first half against West Brom.

That's the most difficult bit about their current form to understand. Last minute winner against Spurs and then wallop Palace to go top at Christmas you would think the would be buzzing for the cannon fodder that followed after Christmas, but the drop off has been alarming...