Match Day Thread Vs Man Utd (A)

The mistake is already compounded by the fact that, the Villa kids apart, we haven't won a game in January, are out of the cup, and are out of the chase for the title. IF we buy now we MAY just cling on to Top Four. They should have had a deal ready for somebody they were going for in the summer, or simply paid what we had to get a decent loan in. Anything but penny-pinch and dither for the whole of January.

 

Edson Cavani has put in an order to Manchester Marine Supplies for two tanks of oxygen. He told them his dive yesterday was good but he wants the next one to be perfect

 

I'm looking at that yesterday and remembering that tackle on Origi last season by Lindleflop that VAR and Twatkinson deemed fair. But it's OT and Uniturd, innit - what do you expect? Still say Uniturd had most chances, no matter what the balance of play. They deserved it, imo.

 

united shots 14
liverpool shots 14

united shots on target 6
liverpool shots on target 6

United corners 4
liverpool corners 5

Stats can be misleading but was a very even game and neither side were any better then the other bar united scoring a free kick close to the box and TAA missing ours

 

I thought utd had one good period from 30mins to 45mins and aside from that we had good control.

the reality is salah stood off rashford after doing well tracking back thinking he did his job then ping and its an equaliser. Williams really messed up big time.

we got 2 goals and threw two in (though its hard to call greenwoods goal thrown in. it was preventable again)

We were in that game wheich is good, firmino raised himself finally. I just wish we would show more intent. still too many crabbing.

Williams did great imo for the second half as his passing improved massively. really positive from him.

Wijnaludm, rubbish, zero intent. Jones, the same, far too safe. robertson actually similar. The could all carry the ball and try draw people out of shape or look for the ball down the channel.

 

There is no way you can say we are out of a title race, that's crazy talk.
Anyway, there is no title race atm., I always look at March as being the month the race for the title starts.
( Apart from last season when we were a billion points clear by new year)

 

That did pass my mind, but I did say he or someone needs training for the role you daft *insert expletive*

 

You ever heard ther phrase... you can't teach an old dog new tricks

 

Barring favourable decisions, united aren't all that. Their defence is as crap as ours and yesterday proved that. They're just jammy bastards who'll get found out eventually

 

It's not hindsight to say that we should have signed a CB over the summer.

Many have been asking about our lack of squad depth and backup for years. We only this year got a proper LB in to cover for Robbo. Only this year we bought a proper forward option in Jota. Prior to this season, we'd rode our luck insanely well in having all of those first choice players available for most of the time. We gambled and it worked out. That doesn't take away from the fact that backups were still needed. Similarly this season; you need 4CBs before you look at drafting in midfielders or anyone else. We gambled again except this season, the gamble failed.

At best, we can't financially justify buying a CB so were just crossing fingers to get through the season, at worst it's complacency.

 

Or we refuse to waste money buying a squad filler, instead preferring to use our money more productively by only buying to improve the first team.

Sure, a inferior CB would improve our situation right now but that is a short term view, we only do long term signings nowadays.

 

That still supports my point...this is nothing new. We rode our luck with injuries at full back and up front for 3 straight seasons before we signed another option.

They would have known for a while that Lovren would be leaving in the summer. Hell, if actually working to a long term goal, they would have been planning for that window for well over a season in advance. Point is, they've had plenty of time to find and buy a suitable 4th CB (a 17year old kid doesn't count) and they've not. This time it bit them on the arse.

 

Going into a season with aspirations of retaining the league and trying to win the CL, with only 3 first team CB’s was an error of judgment in the first place. Having lost both first picks for likely the season and having had time to see that the reserve team lads either aren’t either good enough or ready yet, and being left with only one, who’s made of glass, not bringing in at least a loan signing in this window, is mental imo. Especially when you’re having to play you’re only real DM at CB.

 

We went into last season with no decent cover at LB, RB or up front

 

Pushed your luck too far then mate.

Klopp distancing himself from player acquisitions in his post match last week was telling imo.

 

We definitely had luck with injuries last season, and definitely haven't this.

We managed the funds and opted for a quality first team over a squad.

 

I'm not having that. What was the figure I saw recently - something about Liverpool having the seventh biggest NET spend in the Prem in last five years? We've chosen to spend what money we have on first team players, for sure, and that was my acceptance of not buying Werner just to mainly sit on the bench, especially after the money we lost after Covid (but who didn't?). But let's analyse our really big spendings - VVD and Allison. Didn't most of that come out of the Coutinho money? I know we originally didn't want to sell Ford, and we'd already £50m for Vigil in the summer of 2017, but would we (FSG) have paid the extra £25m and the £50m for Allison had we not got the Coutinho money? I'm doubting it.

 

Not sure what any of that as to do with my post, I never said the owners invested loads or not enough. I said we manage our budget, whatever that budget may be.

 

I agree that we took risks. However, they paid off in silverware. Had we spent the Coutinho money on several players rather then VvD and Alisson, would we have still won those trophies? City have real quality in depth but even they took risks at CB last season....so even the richest of all teams take risks that may bite them..although we seem to take more.

However, for not having quality cover for your first eleven for so long means that you basically grind them into the dirt through lack of rotation. I think we are seeing this now, together with some unlucky injuries.....you could also argue that we have been lucky with injuries until this season.

Reality is that FSG are not going to pump in the kind of money needed to build a squad like we need. They never have. You just need to look at the net spend figures to see that we have to generate our own money and not rely on rich benefactors or dodgy sponsorship deals. The VvD and Alisson deals gave us real quality at the expense of depth....this is always going to be our dilemma.

LFC are more valuable now than ever before. Football is in a strange moment. It would not surprise me if at any point in the next couple of years, FSG exit with a huge profit on their initial investment. It is, after all, why they invested in the first place.