Liverpool FC Forum

Last night was a blow. Not the end of the world.

Positives to be taken from the performance, Rickie scored his first goal, Moreno looked decent and at times we passed the ball very well.

City took their chances and generally got the tactics spot on. They played our front three very well.

For all those having a go at Allen, he for me was the difference between a midfield that consisted of 1 person in our first game and the domination that we saw for the first 40 mins or so of the game. We were great in that first 40 mins and were it not for that slip up, I think we would have remained a lot more confident in the 2nd half. Clearly the goal came out of nowhere and highlighted the difference in speed between the EPL and other European league.....I doubt he'll make that mistake again. I thought our back 4 looked loads better as well in that first half.

once the goal went in, we got flustered, lost of shape and City had some quality quality quality moments. We were beaten by class finishing and some defence splitting passes that sometimes you can do anything about.

I support the comments about Coutinho as I have been saying for some time that he just lacks the muscle in general. He's way too easily bossed off the ball and out of the game, which puts us a man down and lacking creativity. We really need some additional muscle and creativity up front....am very curious to see Ballotelli putting himself about.

Curious to see what the rest of the transfer window brings.

On another note it was good to see Lambert make a difference from the bench. Wingers are looking good too

I have to say I liked the look of us when Markovic and Can came on, Markovic and Moreno looked a real handful down that left hand side and that was up against the champions in their own backyard, I can see those 2 causing some of the lesser lights in the division some real bother over the coming months.
Can put himself about and gave us a presence in the middle as well, it's surprising how big he is, he stood talking to Toure at one point and there wasn't much difference in size, he's quick over the ground for a big lad as well.

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Tue Aug 26, 2014 11:03 am wrote:I have to say I liked the look of us when Markovic and Can came on, Markovic and Moreno looked a real handful down that left hand side and that was up against the champions in their own backyard, I can see those 2 causing some of the lesser lights in the division some real bother over the coming months.
Can put himself about and gave us a presence in the middle as well, it's surprising how big he is, he stood talking to Toure at one point and there wasn't much difference in size, he's quick over the ground for a big lad as well.

Note he was almost stepping on Gerrard's toes. Took up very similar positions.

devaney » Tue Aug 26, 2014 6:52 am wrote:Got to say some of the reaction on here is nothing short of pathetic. Before Moreno's unfortunate mistake we were actually on top and played some very good football. City under Pellegrini are a very impressive outfit and if some fans can't see that then I feel very sorry for them.  I thought the team were impressive except for Johnson and possibly Gerrard. If some people have the inability to accept that we got beaten by a better team then they should seriously ask themselves a few questions !!

Stop kidding yourself Dev ,City let us play in areas we could cause little damage ,and anyone who believes with the same personnel (albeit Moreno) you've mentioned
above exclusively ,we can successfully negate a team with such a strong midfield is having a laugh . City cruised through that game and they accomplished that by
targeting our 'Achilles heel' and they certainly wont be the first team to do so if we continue leaving our defence and midfield bereft of a ball winner....The amount of opportunities City crafted for themselves ,a large percentage came from crosses from Johnson's flank ,and why Gerrard feels the need to drop in between our CB's is something that needs addressing quickly ,as this can only hinder any development in the understanding and eventual cohesion of Skrtel and Lovren.

Johnson should be dropped ,I mean his inclusion in the team is not even funny any more,and if by some freak of nature he gets the nod over Manquillo for the Spurs game
the same ridiculous scenario will unfold again ,as for Gerrard I expect a defensive midfielder whose primary objective is to shield and strengthen our defence should be
approaching the ball rather than backing of the opposition runners and ending up on our goal line....We improved significantly when Lambert ,Can and Markovic were introduced ,and in truth the substitutes I've mentioned were the only players capable of breaking Cities complete dominance,but the game was all but gone by then.

Lets be honest here Coutinho was marshalled superbly and like against the Saints his threat was quelled entirely ,Sterling was isolated on the wing and stopped from
coming inside more centrally ,Pellegrini got his tactics spot on,he negated our main threats and stifled any inventive football that was likely to evolve.

City were good. I'm afraid though that when we're going to lose a game, one can tell within the first half hour. How many times do we see the awfully frustrating tactic of working the ball down the wing, only to turn back and punt it back to a CB or keeper and try a new, slightly modified approach? It's these times when something needs to change, and I get a feeling BR is letting fear take a hold of him now. Last season he was free. Now there's pressure and last night he seemed reluctant to change things until it was too late. Still I think last night was encouraging and agree with those who said this game came too early. Now it's about keeping spirits up and readying the squad to hammer Spurs. We'll do it

I think we're all talking about things we rather than the manager don't have the first clue about.....

But that's all we've got to talk about...

leeroy74 » Tue Aug 26, 2014 7:03 am wrote:Kazza - I thought it could be quite a nice touch when the game is played and over to go back and edit the title to show the result, like I've done with my Southampton thread. What do you think?