Liverpool FC Forum

For me it's not just about the points. 4 points clear is still a good margin and if I was offered to be in this position after 21 games I would have snapped their hands off.

However, it's more than just losing points, it's also a very psychological thing. Make no miskate, as far as City is concerned, this was their title decider. Professionals or not, had they lost or drawn yesterday it would have been a huge motivational blow for them. By winning, they get hope that it's still possible. We on the other hand finally lost a game in the PL, and while others on here think that being unbeaten is a burden for some strange reason, I think that it was a big motivational boost for our lads. So basically, what I think is that by losing this game, we've also gave City the boost to go and win 2 or 3 more games that they would have otherwise lost or drawn had they not won against us. We in turn might drop points in games that we would have otherwise won had we remained unbeaten.

All of these players and managers may hide behind the "professionals" mask all they want but motivation and hope gets to everyone and IMO it is the biggest factor we have on our side, whitout it we won't be where we are.

Hence why it’s now we react now - we have some very winnable games coming up - react well from it and the team strengthens- this time last year we took Man City unbeaten record - they used it as a springboard we need to do the same

damjan193 » Fri Jan 04, 2019 11:40 am wrote:For me it's not just about the points. 4 points clear is still a good margin and if I was offered to be in this position after 21 games I would have snapped their hands off.

However, it's more than just losing points, it's also a very psychological thing. Make no miskate, as far as City is concerned, this was their title decider. Professionals or not, had they lost or drawn yesterday it would have been a huge motivational blow for them. By winning, they get hope that it's still possible. We on the other hand finally lost a game in the PL, and while others on here think that being unbeaten is a burden for some strange reason, I think that it was a big motivational boost for our lads. So basically, what I think is that by losing this game, we've also gave City the boost to go and win 2 or 3 more games that they would have otherwise lost or drawn had they not won against us. We in turn might drop points in games that we would have otherwise won had we remained unbeaten.

All of these players and managers may hide behind the "professionals" mask all they want but motivation and hope gets to everyone and IMO it is the biggest factor we have on our side, whitout it we won't be where we are.

Oh City will be buzzing, it was a must win backs-against-the-wall moment for them and they put in probably their best performance of the season. Their form had been very sketchy going into that game but they dug deep and found a performance just when they really needed one. That takes a bit of doing so hats off to them, even the likes of the 2 Silva's and Sterling were crashing into tackles.
We pretty much did the opposite, just like the Europa League Final and the CL Final when the stakes were sky high we went into our shells. Right from the kick off Mane miss-controlled a simple pass which went out for a throw in and we never really recovered from there.
Jurgen has done an incredible job to put together such a competitive team without the backing of a sugar daddy owner, yes we've spent money but we've also had to sell arguably our best player which is something the likes of City, Chelsea and even United haven't had to do.
Given the right platform (i.e when they don't have to chase aimless punts upfield) our front 3 will give any defence in the world trouble, our keeper is top class and our back 4 is amongst the best in Europe too, big Virgil in particular is majestic.
We aren't delivering in the biggest games though because we aren't quite the finished article, if you want to win the biggest prizes in the most popular sport on the planet you can't afford to have any glaring weaknesses and imo we still have one left.
Yes we are 4 points clear but that's because we are very good at beating the lesser lights, in the big head to head games we are nowhere near as dominant.
Our midfield isn't bad, infact it's one of the better midfields in the division but it's not a top class midfield, a good way of looking at it is like this, the likes of Skrtel and Sahko weren't bad players, it's very tempting to say at times let's stick with them (which I often did, particularly Sakho) but it's only when you see what a Rolls Royce like VVD can do and the effect a top quality player has on the team that you realise you were settling for second best.
Despite my asides about them being plodders the likes of Henderson, Wijnaldum and Milner are fvcking good players but they are not top quality players, it's very difficult to win the biggest prizes beating the biggest teams along the way when your engine room is not of the highest quality.
Can we win the league with this midfield? Yes of course we can if they play well, our forward line and defence is top quality and we would be in with a shout even with a worse midfield than this, if we had a top quality midfield though to go along with our attack and defence it wouldn't be a question of if we can win something it would be a question of when.

Very good post Yakka. Pretty much sums it up for me as well.

Hendo, Milner and Gini are all good solid pros ..but not absolutely top class

It was naive tactics and team selection and a rubbish performance by Liverpool team, M. City was also rubbish by their standard, but the beat us regardless, however, Liverpool players were so bad they brought in M. City into the game, if they didn't have Aguero in their lineup, I don't think they would have won!

I didn't have faith in our manager, and I still don't, all the cheap talks about winning the title is far from reality! we have failed to win against the top four, apart from Spurs, I don't recal the result against them.

For any team to win the title must do very well against the top five and beat them, and collect maximum points from the second part of the season, because it is that hardest part, I am not so sure if this manager and his weird team selection will conclude that task!!

The most important 3 points will be against Brigton on the 12 of Jan, therefore, Liverpool cannot afford to lose again if they are going to finish first.
I am not having any high hope against Wolves next Monday in the FA Cup

Final point on last night before we all move on - that midfield played in the following games :
Real final
Napoli away
PSG away
Red star
City away
Chelsea away
Enough said ...

Liverpool may have lost battle of the Etihad but narrow City defeat offers more encouragement than dejection

Chris Bascombe
4 JANUARY 2019 • 12:00PM
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There are two types of defeat. Those that show you how far you have to go and those that underline how far you have come.

Liverpool’s loss to Manchester City falls into category two, Jurgen Klopp’s side vanquished in a high-class game where they had cause to leave The Etihad as encouraged as they were dejected.

For numerous reasons this is a different Anfield challenge, primarily because of the quality of Klopp’s team. City are correctly acclaimed for the majesty of their football under Pep Guardiola. It was their desire and intensity dragging them over the line on Thursday night. That is testimony to an opponent superior even to that which protected its 3-0 advantage against City in last year’s Champions League.

But this is also a different Liverpool challenge because it comes in this social media-polluted era of instant gratification, where players and teams are judged on moments rather than characteristics.

Greatness and haplessness is scattered like the proverbial confetti, the definition of a trend shifting from what is habitual to atypical. Liverpool have lost their first Premier League game in 21 matches, so anyone concluding an irreversible slide has begun on the basis of a loss to this Manchester City team is working with flimsy evidence.


If there is any consolation from Liverpool’s defeat – and it is an admittedly tiny one – it will be an end to the dubious urge for an immediate, premature coronation of champions. The Christmas period has provoked some kind of clumsy ‘hokey-cokey’, clubs declared ‘in’ or ‘out’ of the title race on the basis of a defeat or win like it is a juvenile parlour game. It is January, for God’s sake. No wonder Klopp’s most recent press conferences have sounded like a rally cry to those who cannot wait for the outcome in May to get a grip.



With 17 games remaining, Thursday night’s result was never going to be definitive, merely an enthralling guide as to what might follow. The conclusion is both sides will not just be slugging it out for the rest of this season, but for as long as Klopp and Guardiola are in position. Their next meeting will be as keenly anticipated as this.


It is not and never has been Liverpool’s title to lose. Nor will City believe closing the four-point gap a formality, as if they have gifted the secret of how to beat Klopp to the rest of the league. It required such a mammoth effort by City to win - with a surprise team selection and formation that knowing Guardiola required weeks of tactical consideration - those yet to meet Liverpool are under no illusions as to the scale of the challenge. That is why rather than swiftly exiting The Etihad with their heads bowed, so many Liverpool players made their way through the post-match interview zone with them held high and in talkative mood.

“There is no need to get carried away,” said Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson.

“Why would you lose confidence after a game like that? It is normal to be disappointed by a defeat. Now it is about reaction and I am sure the lads will react in the right way.

“We were beaten by a very good City team but there were still moments in the game where we could have scored one or two more. We just have to accept the defeat. With a little bit of luck it is different, especially with the first-half chance. If that goes over the line it can change the game.


“I am sure it was a great game for neutrals, two good teams going at it. Tactically it was a good game – very intense. We both had our moments and they have nicked it. Overall we are disappointed because we thought we could win.”

In the Premier League, Liverpool will not face a team as good as City again before May. At the start of this season the question to Henderson and others was whether Liverpool could mount a title challenge. Now he is asked about refuelling momentum to preserve a four-point lead.

A month ago, when Liverpool were two points and 15 goals behind City, they would have been swinging from the chandeliers at Anfield when informed of this position.

“All season we have taken it game by game and we will do that again,” said Henderson. “The Premier League is a tough league, the games keep coming. We need to be ready and we will be back”.

“I am confident we can bounce back,” added Henderson.

Reg » Fri Jan 04, 2019 3:09 pm wrote:Final point on last night before we all move on - that midfield played in the following games :
Real final
Napoli away
PSG away
Red star
City away
Chelsea away
Enough said ...

Napoli at home as well - plus many other games that we won

And it was Milner - Gini and Lallana at Red Star

That is exactly the point though LIP. They are all capable of contributing and they are good players. However you don’t get to play at Premiership standard without being a good player. Are Hendo, Gini and Milly outstanding players? In my opinion they aren’t. Are they better than the Premiership average? Again just my opinion but yes they probably are. They can certainly all do a job for LFC but possibly not at the highest level as Reg’s post goes some way to prove. I have never liked the three of them playing together but I have to trust Klopp on his selection. The margins against City were minuscule and on another day the same team could have won. Let’s face it they contributed on making City’s life very difficult and virtually no teams do that at the Etihad.

Lads, WEVE COME A VERY LONG WAY and in my wildest dreams at the start of the season I wouldn’t have predicted that after 21 games we would be top of the league. We might not win the title but one thing is for certain Klopp is going to give it one hell of a go and I wish him all the luck in the world. Let’s enjoy the ride and behave with dignity when things don’t quite go are way.  WE MOVE ON !!

YNWA

devaney » Fri Jan 04, 2019 5:41 pm wrote:That is exactly the point though LIP. They are all capable of contributing and they are good players. However you don’t get to play at Premiership standard without being a good player. Are Hendo, Gini and Milly outstanding players? In my opinion they aren’t. Are they better than the Premiership average? Again just my opinion but yes they probably are. They can certainly all do a job for LFC but possibly not at the highest level as Reg’s post goes some way to prove. I have never liked the three of them playing together but I have to trust Klopp on his selection. The margins against City were minuscule and on another day the same team could have won. Let’s face it they contributed on making City’s life very difficult and virtually no teams do that at the Etihad.

Lads, WEVE COME A VERY LONG WAY and in my wildest dreams at the start of the season I wouldn’t have predicted that after 21 games we would be top of the league. We might not win the title but one thing is for certain Klopp is going to give it one hell of a go and I wish him all the luck in the world. Let’s enjoy the ride and behave with dignity when things don’t quite go are way.  WE MOVE ON !!

YNWA

The player that shouldn’t have started was Milner - he clearly wasn’t fit and I think Klopp took a risk on him

But it was all very fine margins at the end of the day - and it didn’t help that the Ref allowed Fernandinho and B Silva to constantly foul - both should have been yellow carded within 5 mins

Jurgen tried to go there and keep it tight but it was always going to be difficult to contain a City side at home and in do-or-die mode, Guardiola said it himself in his post match prezza that if they would have lost that game the title race would have been over, 10 points plus the momentum a win would have given us would have been too much to claw back.
You could see they were fired up, even their flair players were crashing into tackles. IMO we should have fought fire with fire and picked an aggressive, attacking line up ourselves but there's no guarantee that would have worked either.
All's I know is that any success we've had against City over the last 10 years has tended to come about when we have gone after them and forced them onto the back foot but to be fair it's not often that we've come across a City side as motivated as that one last night.
Given the players currently at the club there might not have been much we could have done, we lost the midfield battle and when that happens you are up against it, you are relying on smash and grab tactics then.

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Fri Jan 04, 2019 6:23 pm wrote:Jurgen tried to go there and keep it tight but it was always going to be difficult to contain a City side at home and in do-or-die mode, Guardiola said it himself in his post match prezza that if they would have lost that game the title race would have been over, 10 points plus the momentum a win would have given us would have been too much to claw back.
You could see they were fired up, even their flair players were crashing into tackles. IMO we should have fought fire with fire and picked an aggressive, attacking line up ourselves but there's no guarantee that would have worked either.
All's I know is that any success we've had against City over the last 10 years has tended to come about when we have gone after them and forced them onto the back foot but to be fair it's not often that we've come across a City side as motivated as that one last night.
Given the players currently at the club there might not have been much we could have done, we lost the midfield battle and when that happens you are up against it, you are relying on smash and grab tactics then.

We created more chances I believe and actually had more shots on target , fine margins on the day - when someone reads your posts you would have thought we were stuffed last night and they steamrolled us - the fixture last year we got beat 5 nil due to going down to ten men , we haven’t had the luck or the decisions over tbe away games

Stop with all the doom and gloom ***** - it’s our first defeat against in the league and it was a very tight one that could have gone either way. We are still doing well and it’s still in our hands - plenty more games and twists yet

Lallana in Pyjamas » Fri Jan 04, 2019 6:31 pm wrote:

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Fri Jan 04, 2019 6:23 pm wrote:Jurgen tried to go there and keep it tight but it was always going to be difficult to contain a City side at home and in do-or-die mode, Guardiola said it himself in his post match prezza that if they would have lost that game the title race would have been over, 10 points plus the momentum a win would have given us would have been too much to claw back.
You could see they were fired up, even their flair players were crashing into tackles. IMO we should have fought fire with fire and picked an aggressive, attacking line up ourselves but there's no guarantee that would have worked either.
All's I know is that any success we've had against City over the last 10 years has tended to come about when we have gone after them and forced them onto the back foot but to be fair it's not often that we've come across a City side as motivated as that one last night.
Given the players currently at the club there might not have been much we could have done, we lost the midfield battle and when that happens you are up against it, you are relying on smash and grab tactics then.

We created more chances I believe and actually had more shots on target , fine margins on the day - when someone reads your posts you would have thought we were stuffed last night and they steamrolled us - the fixture last year we got beat 5 nil due to going down to ten men , we haven’t had the luck or the decisions over tbe away games

Stop with all the doom and gloom ***** - it’s our first defeat against in the league and it was a very tight one that could have gone either way. We are still doing well and it’s still in our hands - plenty more games and twists yet

They were clearly the better side and had the better chances, we could have easily conceded 5 or 6 there last night but for Alison's keeping, some last ditch defending by VVD and some terrible finishing by Sterling.

Relax. We're going to win our next 6 games and be 8 points clear by the end of it...City have Arsenal and Chelsea and they will drop points.   

The game is over.
STFU.
Move on.
We go again.