Liverpool FC Forum

electrum » Fri Jan 04, 2019 12:08 am wrote:

damjan193 » Thu Jan 03, 2019 11:03 pm wrote:All we needed to do was not lose...

Easier said than done against City at the Etihad 

Mane should have put that chance away. Someone mentioned fine margins.

An Aguero type player for us would make us virtually unplayable imo.
May sound a bit mad but I think we may need an upgrade on Mane next year- a genuine out and out striker.

To be honest I don't think it was all down to luck, and neither did City play way better IMO. We just should have played better ourselves. I didn't expect a win but we should have at least drawn this game.

Dare I mention that a keeper should not be beaten at his near post? Made some good saves but that's a pretty basic one....

bunglemark2 » Thu Jan 03, 2019 10:14 pm wrote:Dare I mention that a keeper should not be beaten at his near post? Made some good saves but that's a pretty basic one....

To be fair to him it went like a rocket, it was past him before he could react.

Sorry but that’s just a outstanding strike and not many keepers stop that when it’s hit so well

Watching that back line I can see City losing again though - they have some big games coming up and we now need to take advantage of the “on paper” easier fixtures over the next 5 games

devaney » Thu Jan 03, 2019 10:09 pm wrote:Three exceptionally good goals and a very unlucky miss from Mané showed just how narrow the marginns are. Credit to both teams. Cracking game. City kept Salah out of it. Not going to whinge about certain individuals. 22 games played. Top of the table and the best goal difference. I’ll take that.

Great Post. Excellent match, by far the highest standard of the season, we weren't far off, small margins. We can definitely win the league this year.

bunglemark2 » Fri Jan 04, 2019 12:14 am wrote:Dare I mention that a keeper should not be beaten at his near post? Made some good saves but that's a pretty basic one....

That's a ridiculous statement to be honest. Point black rocket shot almost directly above his head, no keeper is saving that. Even futsal goalkeepers get beaten from that range with that kind of a shot.

Lovren is a right head fook in big games. Milner didn't look fit Henderson is 1 dimensional. City deserved it tonight over run in midfield we were. Fernandiho is vital to them. But if you said we would have played city twice and be top of league by 4 points at beginning of season I would say you'd be mad

damjan193 » Thu Jan 03, 2019 10:21 pm wrote:

bunglemark2 » Fri Jan 04, 2019 12:14 am wrote:Dare I mention that a keeper should not be beaten at his near post? Made some good saves but that's a pretty basic one....

That's a ridiculous statement to be honest. Point black rocket shot almost directly above his head, no keeper is saving that. Even futsal goalkeepers get beaten from that range with that kind of a shot.

I reckon he'll be disappointed himself, to be honest.
I agree it was a rocket though. I'm more annoyed about Lovren though. Completely switched off. Lost his man.
Didn't see the Kompany challenge but from what I read it could have been red. We should have played on that. He's slow and a liability in defence, can't believe we didn't go after him. Or Stones. Can't believe we had Henderson and Milner on the same pitch when the difference when Fabinho came on was plain to see.

Look at the stats at both Anfield and the Etihad and everything between the 2 teams are virtually identical. Surprising stat tonight is we actually had more possession. There is nothing between us and City and the league will be won by a fine margin..

You look at the Townsend goal vs City, that happens 1 in every 50 shots.

Lallana in Pyjamas » Thu Jan 03, 2019 10:18 pm wrote:Sorry but that’s just a outstanding strike and not many keepers stop that when it’s hit so well

Watching that back line I can see City losing again though - they have some big games coming up and we now need to take advantage of the “on paper” easier fixtures over the next 5 games

Agreed. This fixture is not the end of the world to lose. They lost their unbeaten record against us last season and went on to break the total points record. Now all we gotta do is thrash the rest of the league...

Tonight's game and the CL final in Kiev just highlights that we are not yet the finished article, one of Bob Paisley's finest traits was that he was utterly ruthless when it came to getting rid of players who ultimately weren't good enough.
To take that next step up we need to improve our midfield, it's the one area that's letting us down especially in the big, big games.

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Thu Jan 03, 2019 10:10 pm wrote:

damjan193 » Thu Jan 03, 2019 10:03 pm wrote:All we needed to do was not lose...

He set us up to be hard to beat but the 3 plodders in the middle were clearly out of their depth, even City's flair players like the 2 Silva's were beating them to loose balls. Credit to City they were up for it and they wanted it more.
Reminded me of the CL final in many ways, the game was just too big for a few of them, we were misplacing passes and shanking clearances right from the off. Very sloppy.

I agree Yakka, you aren't going to win any big games with Milner, Henderson and Gini all in the middle. Sure they can keep getting results against the lesser sides but they just aren't good enough against quality sides like City.

We saw this today and we saw it in the CL final last season.

I really hope Klopp does a better effort of embedding Keita and Fabinho into the midfield this season and we bring in a world class CM to further improve the midfield next.

The good thing is with all the progress we are making, we can all clearly see the gap we have with the likes of Lovren, Henderson, etc. Who pretty much are the last vestiges of the mediocrity that plagued our club for so long.

Apparently the last time Wijnaldum, Henderson and Milner played together as a 3 was PSG away, hopefully that result in Paris and this one tonight will make Jurgen reconsider what his 'go-to' midfield is.

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Thu Jan 03, 2019 11:00 pm wrote:Apparently the last time Wijnaldum, Henderson and Milner played together as a 3 was PSG away, hopefully that result in Paris and this one tonight will make Jurgen reconsider what his 'go-to' midfield is.

Wrong - I’ll let you figure out the more recent important game they played together was

And Klopp doesn’t have “go to “ - he has players and tactics for whatever opposition he is facing

I am not all that fussed by the result. Yes, of course it’d have been great to win or even get a draw. But, this team this year has shown it has the quality and mentality to react.

It’s not the first time we have lost this year - league cup, CL away games - but we have always dusted ourselves off and bounced back. I trust Klopp and the boys to do it again.

I also trust Klopp and his decision making. If he wanted to play that midfield three then I’m not going to argue. He has led us to a great position in the league. Did anyone on this forum believe we could be averaging 2.6 points per game after 21 rounds?

It’s one game. Let’s get it out the system and get back to normal business. We don’t play Pep and City every week, but teams we’ve already shown we can beat at a canter.