It could be more due to the mismanagement of the international team. There have been multiple times when he joins up with them and he's not fully fit but yet they still play him. He hadn't played for around 4-5 weeks and then he plays 2 full matches with the international team. Not saying that he isn't injury prone but he's certainly not helped by the idiots at the Guinea NT. Which is a shame because I thought he was excellent prior to coming off. Unfortunately, we need players who are more robust and available.
Another fantastic performance by our boys. There wasn't a single poor performance and I was worried prior to the match about having a makeshift defence, Milner at RB, a weak midfield and an out of form Bobby. No one let us down and all of the 'supposed' weaknesses were our biggest strengths in this game. Fabinho and Matip bossed it all match. Milner got caught out a couple of times due to his lack of pace but overall did well and his forward passing was exceptional. Gini was quiet in the first half but grew into the game, whilst Naby and Jones bossed the midfield and linked up well with the attack. And Bobby had his best game in around a year. Sticking with Bobby - I'm so happy he got his goal. Even without it, he had a really good game and that's all I wanted from him. I accept he will never be a clinical goal scorer and he will miss chances, but as long as his link up play, touch and passing are on point, then he's a valuable asset. It was finally the game where everything (apart from finishing) came back.
An excellent performance, I was quite nervous about this one I must admit. The missing players coinciding with our home record being mentioned every 10 seconds, thought we're bound to lose! On paper it looked scary as ****, but once again Klopp got it spot on and Firmino was so influential dropping back, getting on the ball, dragging defenders with him - was great to see, and then a well deserved goal for his efforts. Milner was outstanding too, what a servant he's been. You could feel a collective *sigh* from all over the country after that
next 4 games: Spurs: Chelsea Arsenal palace LFC LFC: Brighton wolves Fulham SPURS By the end of this spurs could be 12 point behind it would be very spursy of them i suppose. the other important PFAHKT is that we don't play anyone else in the top 6/8 type teams until the new year Palace, west brom newcastle then we play southampton after new years. I feel a run of form coming now. in fact the only big game in january is spurs away
Fabinho has played 7 games for us at CB in the league and Champions League. We’ve conceded 1 goal, and that’s including having Lewandowksi, Werner and now Vardy in his pocket. Fabinho is amongst the best players in the world....
Outstanding performance under those circumstances. Everyone stepped into the breach and played up for the club. Fantastic team ethos and wonderful to see the unbridled joy from everyone when Bobby scored. Special mention for Jonny Evans for his superb contribution for our opening goal. I'm sure all utd followers watching the match enjoyed that
It was an awful own goal, he just miss timed it and hit the back of his head instead. 3-0 doesn't flatter us though, had our finishing been half decent then we could have won 5/6-0. Mané in particular wasted a lot
I don't think such incidents are handball because there's clearly no intent - however, these days you never know what the rules are from one game to the next and I was a bit surprised that it wasn't given. And relieved - though I doubt it would have changed the outcome because we were on it from the start and you weren't. An odd performance from you tbh, there seemed a fear factor that you didn't show against Man City.
Milner is such a down-to-earth bloke. Players like him take me back to my younger days when all footballers were just ordinary men who played the same game as you, but happened to be better at it. A lot better at it than me, obviously. A marked contrast to the ego-driven "superstar" mentality of so many modern players.
I couldn’t agree more....at times I hate and love the game in equal measure these days because of it and at some point, I can see what you describe making me turn away from it for good.
One thing lazy critics and pundits fail to understand about Liverpool is our strength lies in the system and how we buy players to fit into the system. They are still obsessed with individuality and do not listen to simple concepts from Klopp like how a counter-press is a better playmaker than one individual. It is the reason why players like Hendo and Gini are treated with contempt by some of the fanbase. It is the reason why they keep making excuses for Pogba year in year out but in a way dilute the contributions of our players. They also fail to see Klopp's ability to evolve season by season. I have been keeping a keen eye on City and I have to say they have really regressed. Whilst they are still good in possession, they hardly press and they will lose more matches if Pep doesn't make some serious tactical adjustments. He has failed to evolve his team and the results are showing. If you get to watch the game without focusing on the ball but how players adjust their positions with respect to their teammates it is very interesting. We always maintain a shape so if a fullback is caught way up the field, one of the midfielders even a striker at times will take-up his position. Since we are always in the right shape, we tend to be very effective in the press. I always wondered why Keita with all his injuries gets to play if fit but his intelligence in pressing is top-notch. Gini is brilliant at blocking passing lanes but hardly makes a tackle so when stats are published, it looks like he doesn't contribute much. Final thoughts, Diogo Jota will have a breakout season similar to Salah. That boy can play and hopefully, he gets to do it in front of fans rather than in empty stadia
Klopp's great talent is also his man-management , which puts him above most other astute tacticians. Look at last night's game, a team ravaged by injury, with the weight of record breaking expectations hanging over them and the majority of fans worried about how they will go about the game. He gets them out there from the off playing with confidence in themselves and each other. He takes good players and turns them into a great team.
I think Klopp is incredibly underrated on his tactical nous as well. He changed the system and style a few times throughout his tenure, and has transformed us into such a technical and hard working team. As you say, we had numerous players out but we played in almost the same style. He is by far the best manager in the world.