Win Handsome, Not Ugly

All too often after a game like yesterday's I hear/read variations on "It's the points that count, not the performance" or "It's good to win ugly", etc, etc. As though being critical of a performance when we win is somehow being mean-spirited or disloyal.
Bollocks.
Then there's the old riposte "So you'd rather play well and lose than than play poorly and win?"
Bollocks again.
In the long run, performances are what count because points come from them. Ok, we might play badly and win occasionally - yesterday and the first game against Swans spring to mind-, but more often than not we'll drop important points.
I can't remember too many games when we play well and don't get the result we deserve. Spuds away we deserved to win, and there's the 3-1 defeat to Utd last year where we played better than the scoreline suggests, but mostly you get the result your play merits. We'll pick up more points from good performances than we will from doggedly hoping that a bit of luck will fall our way and we can ride it for the whole game.
So, while I'm happy that we got the points, I'm concerned that if we play that way too often we'll just lose too many points to be serious contenders. We can't be complacent and go thinking that that stuff is good enough - we really have to up our game against lower-placed teams.

 

Summary for Greez:

We were **** and have to do better.

 

Think everyone agrees. Performances against teams that sit back haven't been good enough and thats often led to dropped points. While we try to sort out the performance side of things, if we can scrap wins while doing so then it's no bad thing. There's only 2 games where can really remember that we've played awful and grabbed a win, Swansea and yesterday.

 

Oh, we'd all love to win and look fabulous doing it. I'm just happy we got 3 points from a game it looked like we were going to lose. We've done so badly against lower placed teams lately, I'll take 3 points no matter how they are served.

As I alluded on match day thread. United's last 2 or 3 titles were on the back of whole seasons of ugly mediocre performances.

I'd like the team to win a title again before I die. I don't care if they win ugly to do it. (Not that I expect anything close to a title this season)

I'd rather we win pretty, but I'd rather win than lose.

 

FFS.

 

What about that City game this season where we defended for like 70% of the match and won

Never really followed through on that ... oops I said follow through

 

Justt backing up your point

 

We played well though. Playing well doesn't mean smashing a team 5-0. You can get a goal and then play well by being solid defensively like we were. City dominated the ball but created nothing. Best defensive display we had all year, probably in last 3-4 years in fact.

 

Titles have been won ugly.
As much as I'd like to see good football, sometimes ugly is good enough (even on a night out).

 

Burnley were not stting back, they actually came to Anfield to play. We were taken aback because our game
plan was they were going to sit back. Before we knew it they scored a goal.

 

Still sat back. Defence sat back with 2 in midfield in front and just went long and got knock downs, especially after they scored.

 

The main difference between Chelsea and us is, they were able to win games with odd goals when they are not playing well.

 

The problem with Saints OP is over the last decade or so all teams that have won the title could get these 'ugly' results, regularly.

A team will never perform to their best every game so when you're not on it you have to still get results. Basically a team needs a back bone, exactly why Arsenal have struggled for so long.

Nice theory though Saint, but not reality I'm afraid

 

Needing to 'up our game against lower-placed teams' has been a feature of LFC for so long now that we should make a chant of it. Regardless of manager or personnel, we are so well entrenched in losing to 'weaker' opposition it's actually become a phenomenon.

 

I disagree, and I've offered the evidence in the OP. It's not just a theory, the proof is there.
I'm not talking about other teams, I'm talking about us. Not all teams play the same way, and some are able to continually grind out results - but we're not.
We have to play the way that gives us the best results with the manager, players and philosophy that we currently have - what other teams do is irrelevant.
Of course you can win trophies (for example) the Mourinho way, but you have to be able to defend to do that - and we can't. I maintain that the majority of our best results have come from playing the best football, and I don't see how you can argue with that.

 

I kind of agree with saint cos there is a big different between a top side "grinding" and that shambles we put in yesterday.

a top side might not be brilliant but they still play well enough and they look like a grind cos the quality they have still functions

LFc's issues to my mind is we are ultra soft at the back and let in easy goals. If we really played poorly and drew 0-0 thats one thing. There's several games i'd settle for that in looking back at this season but we lost them all didn't we?

I think the archetypal grinder side was arsenal 1991 under graham were the legendary 1-0 to the arsenal chant came form. It was awful to watch but did they play bad and win or play to thier plan and win... you guys decide.

for me LFC were awful, some players hiding, others going off covering klavan, nobody bad mane really trying to get the game won. thats not cheslea under mourinho grinding it out... nor is it Leicester last year is it?

Saint i think is right baout this that teams all have thier own way and sometimes they might not play 100% but they get the basics right. LFc cannot get those basics right and that was not a grind out result.. it was a bit of luck and burnely having shag all quality themselves.

 

yup. need alternatives to come in and up that performance. Lallana hid all game yesterday. looked disinterested. Klavan couldn't cope in the air... off a bang average forward.

 

To much being made out yesterdays win, we battered Burnley at their place and were beaten, goals win games, would anyone have sooner we battered them yesterday and lost 0-1?

A win is a win no matter what and I'll take the good, the bad and the ugly in terms of results between now and the end of the season if means maximum points from games played.

But us being us we'll have the usual mixed bag of wins, draws and losses before may.

 

Summery?

What's that got to do with the weather?




PS...it won't surprise you that were 100% in agreement on this subject

 

When we won against Manchester City at Anfield, it was ugly win.