Match Day Thread Premier League, Cups & Euro Watch

Ryan Babel to Gino Wijnaldum- No better place than Anfield.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/liverpool-gini-wijnaldum-contract-future-23251952

 

VVD contributed quite a few goals and was the organiser at the back. I doubt we would have conceded set piece goals like against WBA if he was there. He is a massive miss for us. That said, we are very wasteful in front of goal and we had enough chances to kill off all those lower table teams. Some terrible VAR decisions have not helped

 

our attack is affected as we are seeing extremely slow passing compared to gomez and vvd where in effect they pass behind each other more than at each other.

then in front of fabinho and Phillips or Williams you've 3 lads who crab sideways in front who take 2 or 3 balls to move it from one side to the other.

its rare robertson or taa get a go forward pass. rather to feet or behind d them so they pass backwards again

its all too simple to defend against.

contrast to the instant thiago came on last time. suddenly trent is going forward, the ball played is forward, it demands the player to come onto it and look to do something.

vvd and gomez can both play expensively and stretch teams. taa is half fit imo. hasn't been right

 

VVD is worth fifteen goals a season. We missed him.

 

Also I noticed Thiago was willng to take shots outside the box.
Is rare that Hendo and Gini will take pot shots from distance unless its a run away attack or laid on for them.

We're becoming a bit like the 2010s Arsenal, a need to walk it into the net, and this makes it easier for defensive teams like West Brom to defend against us. Pack the box and the area just in front and you stiffle those clever balls into the forwards, in turn the forwards then stop making the movement in the box and start standing still.

Long range shots aren't always the best idea and its not wht you want to be doing all the time, but there are some benfits to throwing a few in during a game. Theres always a chance you hit a blinder, it deflects, the keeper cocks up and misses it or there is a chance of a rebound. It adds an elemts of unpredicatbility that worries defenders.

also another reason we miss Fabinho in midfield, cause he can hit them.

And why Coutinho was so good in those awkard games

 

100% agree. The shame of Fab's brilliant performance at Chelsea seemed to lull the club in to thinking they didn't need to replace Lovren: but firstly, he was playing alongside Virgil, and secondly he was only proving he was a decent stopgap. We will miss his influence in midfield just as City did with Fernandinho playing CB. He's the best DM in the league, imo, but he's not immune to injuries himself either - look at his record. All-in-all, to not get a CB (or two) in September was short-sighted: to not get any this month is pig-headed obstinance.

 

Any team in the world would miss VvD. We are no different. Add the fact that we lost our other first choice CB AND possibly the best DCM in the world and it should not be a mystery to anyone that we are not at our potent best. We’re still top though. Go figure.

To counter this, we have to play with a tad more caution as we have no pace at the back. Our high press, which in effect is our creativity by winning the ball in dangerous areas....well, isn’t so high...and our forwards are having to play and run differently. That said, the mom vs Newcastle was their GK. it happens. In fact the only game that concerned me was the Fulham game....when we were way off the pace...but then every other european team that weekend dropped points.

Given the fact that we have lost 3 key players from their positions, PLUS Thiago, one of the best in the world in his position, PLUS Matip, Alisson and Trent for longish periods, throw in the Hendo, Jota injuries and I’m astonished that we are actually top.

Although reading through some of the comments, you wouldn’t believe we’re top at all.

 

I wounldnt mind by wijnaldum scores loads for Netherlands with shots like it.

I think wijnaldum really wants to play on right side as does henderson.

what I find really frustrating is the amount of times you see us half break. you just know someone is going to either half hit a pass or play it behind someone and check the momentum.

when we break well its devastating.

when we don't it almost always peters out and we let defenders get set as we take no risk at all and recycle.

also look at Fulham game. mane absolutely had their left full on toast any time he wanted. what dis we do? pass it in front and never ran at them.

drive at teams with pace and they will make errors. walk it though and they can stand up and block.

these are all things that confidence brings but I just dont see it.

I have said it before. when we break neither mane not salah now want to carry the ball and assist. they would rather give it early and make it easy for the defender in the hope they get the return to score off than make sure of the goal.

salah at times is criminal how he will just pass it to a marked player rather than drive with the ball. he just wants to be on the end of the final ball.

 

In all my years of watching football, I never came across so many fans eager to lay into their own team until I started using these forums.
They'll claim it's a critique, of course.



This'll make me popular.

 

We’ve all done it to be fair. The difference is that right now, we are top of the table despite losing half a team. I expect to drop more points. I expect others to drop points too. Fundamentally, just staying in the race with our injury list is a massive achievement imo. This is going to be a tight race.

 

'Joint top', according to the Clogsparker media and pundits, whatever that may be. Evidently we're actually owed a half share of the '89 title, as being level on points means the same position.

 

I wholeheartedly agree: I'd have bitten your hand off to be in this position when Virgil was confirmed out for the season (both of them when Joe followed a few weeks later). But that was when I thought we'd bite the bullet and buy at least one quality CB in this window: it seems, if press reports are to be believed, that we won't. Shame, as the Prem is on its knees waiting to be won again, and we won't go too far in the CL either, despite qualifying with consummate ease.

 

it is my only frustration and criticism tbh. We should never have started the season with 2.5 CB’s (Matip is 0.5). Equally, we should definitely buy in this window, although we will be in a very weak negotiating position, we just have to.

 

We had to shell out top dollar for Virgil, and for Allison too. Not every catalyst can be a bargain. There's no FFP, as such, this season, so we just have to slap it on the credit card, imo. I agreed that we couldn't afford to buy Warner as a bench-warmer after all the money we lost in the pandemic (and what a bullet we dodged there), but Warner was a luxury - an new CB (or two) is an essential.

 

I don’t trust the rumours anyway. The last thing that the club will say is that we’re desperate

 

I get a bit pissed off after a poor performance and might moan a bit for the rest of that day, but once I've slept on it I'm just back to being positive about the next game.
We're not functioning as well as we could, but I'm sure there are reasons for this and the players generally are doing their best. We just have to get behind them and wait for things to come good again.

 

Leicester making short work of Newcastle 0-2

 

Maybe Leicester are the "dark horse" Liverpool 's crown.

 

until Andy Carroll bags one