Liverpool FC Forum

That was a nerve wracking last 20 minutes but the 20 minutes that preceded it was right up there with anything that we saw in 2013/14 when we had Suarez and co. Mane and Coutinho in particular were absolutely sensational.
We can talk about the defence but at the end of the day Arsenal is a tough place to go, players like Sanchez, Walcott, Ramsey, Cazorla etc are good players and one or two of their goals had a touch of luck about them as well so I'm not going to be too hypercritical, it's when we start blowing 2 and 3 nil leads at home against sides like Hull and Boro that we should start having inquests.

How did I missed the second half??? Needing to pick up a call but happy to leave Emirates with all 3 points well done lads...more to come 

Gary Neville: "You might as well start the game a goal down with Alberto Moreno at left-back."

Pretty accurate tbh, he must be replaced before the window shuts, please

How good was Mane's goal? We didn't have anyone who could create some magic like this out of nothing since Suarez left us

Mane is awesome on the right he will score and create a lot of chances.

If you want a bit of banter check out Arsenal fantv on youtube its hilarious. I used to watch it last season.

Looks like none of our weaknesses from last season have been addressed (keeper may be bar an unfortunate injury). Set pieces still all over the place and look like rabbits in the headlights when we have a lead in a game

Nice to see Moreno pick up where he left off from the Europa final, if we don't get a left back in we're in for a long season. My nerves were shot at the 70 minute mark and it's only game 1 FFS 

Awesome win.

The scorelines obviously papers over the cracks for both sides. We weren't solid and Arsenal looked like a side missing key players.

Positives:
- Mane looks like he could be a danger man for us. I like him out wide on the right. With Coutinho down the other flank, We'll give sides plenty of trouble when either picks up the ball higher up the pitch and looks to create or go direct.
- Klavan's pace was a concern before the game for me. I thought he did well to deal with the pace the likes of Sanchez and Walcott provided.
- Henderson ran and ran. He was up against it the first half and did reasonably well with Arsenal having the majority of possession and Lallana/Wijnaldum getting caught out of position often. With him, Can, and Stewart seemingly capable of covering that DM position, we can afford to lose Lucas and replace him with CM passer who can add a bit to the side.
- Goals. We have now scored 4 against Barcelona and Arsenal. In Mane, Coutinho, Lallana, Firmino, and even Wijnaldum, we have midfielders who are all capable of scoring 10+ goals a season. 

Negatives:
- Moreno
- Defending down the flanks. Mane & Coutinho will need to track their men a bit better when defending. Both were guilty of leaving the fullbacks exposed time and again even with us up against an Arsenal side on the attack. Pressing and hen having the concentration and commitment to track back is no easy task. It is one of the reasons I thought Lallana did well last season. Always appreciated his defensive duties.
- Wijnaldum. I thought he was completely out of pace the first half. Second half he played a bit deeper and got on the ball a bit more but still not good enough from him imo. Another one who needs to improve his positional play or he he'll have to settle for a place on the bench when Milner is back.

Undecided on:
- Firmino. We scored 4, and he wasn't terrible. That said, he was up against a poor CB pairing and failed to make a real impact. He draws defenders playing the position he does and links up play well on occasion (still frustratingly loses the ball often) but against many other sides when games are tight, we'll need a forward who can cause defenders a few more problems.
- Mignolet. Excellent penalty save and impressed me in a couple of occasions coming out to punch crosses away from danger. Still seems to lack that confidence needed to organize a backline and boss the box with the ball in the air though.
- Lallana. Another one who did well overall on the day.Took his goal well and his movement and link up play higher up the pitch caused Arsenal some problems. In terms of defensive positioning and dropping to receive the ball (given the position he was playing) he struggled a bit. I can see the sense in him playing the position against smaller sides at home but against some of the strongest sides -or a better Arsenal outfit- having him play the position alongside Wijnaldum is a big risk.

I think we need to remember as well that we went to one of the toughest places in the country today and won, you can't expect to go to the likes of Arsenal and dominate for 90 minutes. Yes we made some mistakes and had some hairy moments but thats natural when you go to somewhere like the Emirates or the Etihad etc.
The main thing is that we won.

Im going to miss x2 games in a week lol. Its going to be boring waiting for a whole week for another game.

The post match press conference



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5KHbGnJVUg

The midfield trio were rubbish in the first half. No one was taking responsibility for turning on the ball and breaking the lines. Henderson kept passing the ball back when under no pressure. Really need to get Can back in that position from next week.

Mane looked great. He is so different to the rest of players who support the striker. His direct style of play with complement the others quite well.

Also though Klaven had a solid debut. Always difficult for CBs when they're not familiar with their team mates and opponents.

It was an absolute shambles!  We had rubbish full backs last season and we are STILL have shitty full backs this season, especially Moreno who has cost us the Europa cup final and many games last season , and his follow useless keeper Mignolet so is Clyne and rest of present defenders.
Both teams of yesterday game will not achieve high spots in league as long as they have those shitty defences!

I don't have high hope for Liverpool this season, simply because the main ailing defensive and keeper problems  remained unsolved over the last three seasons, and I don't think Klopp has 100% managed to rectify it, however he has managed to improve the team's attacking wise, but without having a solid defence you don't win things or achieve top spots in the league.  As long as we keep this keeper and line of defence, you would expect a 10 - 15 games of loses a season  8th place spot is a great possibility!

A lucky win against a very average Arsenal side which it has its own problem, but overall a very bad and an easy feeling about this season. I hope I am wrong!

Three points thanks to our rapier like attack ,the genius of our  diminutive but brilliant Brazilian  and a manager who completely turned the game in our favor after a half that Arsenal completely controlled . We all know our weaknesses and the deficiencies in Moreno's game are well noted throughout the media ,but going forward we look fucking ruthless ,let's celebrate that for the time being.   

Apparently the boys ran 117.6km yesterday, a new record since camera tracking started.