Liverpool - 2017/18

[Adisa]

It’s worth pointing out we’ve had dead performances like that with Coutinho in the side this season. It was a mix of a solid Swansea performance with a terrible Liverpool one.

We need to sign someone now to replace Coutinho I think.

Apart from the defending surrounding the Swansea goal, I thought Van Dijk was ok. He tried too hard though.

Who would you sign?

 

[Cutch]

What’s going on with the captaincy? Why do they keep passing it around? Giving it to want away players doesn’t seem the wisest idea

 

[JustFootballFan]

In one, apart from the VVD bit, he created our best two chances in fact both him and Matip were our most creative players which sums up the problem.
Instead of analysing in depth the issues and the nuances around them ill just keep it concise and say we need a signing a Lemar/Fekir/Mahrez. We've lost one high output player and we need to replace him, it's sheer arrogance if we dont. Utter delusion from the club if they think this will suffice.

Missing Coutinho is one problem. Having two midfielders that have 2G and 3A combined in 40 games on the 2nd best attack in the league is another. Can/Wijnaldum are nothing players against a deep-sitting team. Liverpool simply get nothing from anywhere outside Salah/Firmino/Mane/Coutinho and Ox with 3 goals/3 assists in nine starts. They need players in midfield that can play a precise vertical ball, make quick decisions and decoy runs that support the attackers. Wijnaldum and Can do none of these things.

Last year it was not that bad, because Milner (age decline) and Lallana (injuries) were at a higher level, too.

 

[Klopper76]

Who would you sign?

I’m not sure. We need a creative spark to replace Coutinho. Loan us Pogba for the rest of the season?

 

[Carlsen19]

They should sign Nabil Fekir, although I hope they don't.

 

[IAmAWinner]

Stock Liverpool. They would win the title if every match were against top 6 opposition. Selling Coutinho in January was a ludicrous decision.
Don't think Mahrez or a Lemar would solve a lot. Need to improve that talentless midfield. Keita isn't enough.

 

[mav_9me]

Who would you sign?

In one, apart from the VVD bit, he created our best two chances in fact both him and Matip were our most creative players which sums up the problem.
Instead of analysing in depth the issues and the nuances around them ill just keep it concise and say we need a signing a Lemar/Fekir/Mahrez. We've lost one high output player and we need to replace him, it's sheer arrogance if we dont. Utter delusion from the club if they think this will suffice.

 

[Paxi]

Firmino is anything but crap .... he is better than anything United have up front ..... probably even when Sanchez arrives. Time will tell.

Okay, thats just fecking stupid.

 

[TheReligion]

Firmino is anything but crap .... he is better than anything United have up front ..... probably even when Sanchez arrives. Time will tell.

 

[KM]

Glad to see them brought back to ground after every Liverpool pundit proclaimed them as the second best team in England after they defeated City. It's incredible that one match can eclipse the league table etc.

 

[Kraftwerker]

Stock Liverpool. They would win the title if every match were against top 6 opposition. Selling Coutinho in January was a ludicrous decision.
Don't think Mahrez or a Lemar would solve a lot. Need to improve that talentless midfield. Keita isn't enough.

Would they?

They’ve only won once against the top 6 (and nearly threw it away).

Battered by Spurs and City away. Drew with Chelsea and United at home. Drew with Arsenal away. Won City at home.

 

[Klopper76]

Stock Liverpool. They would win the title if every match were against top 6 opposition. Selling Coutinho in January was a ludicrous decision.
Don't think Mahrez or a Lemar would solve a lot. Need to improve that talentless midfield. Keita isn't enough.

We haven’t been as good in those games this season. Our worst performance came away to Spurs.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

Glad to see them brought back to ground after every Liverpool pundit proclaimed them as the second best team in England after they defeated City. It's incredible that one match can eclipse the league table etc.

This. Well put.

And think about this - in the space of a week, we've seen City knocked down a peg, then Liverpool pulled back to Earth, and we've signed Sanchez, from Arsenal, underneath City's noses...

Beautiful stuff.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Delighted these cnuts got beaten after the mass hysteria following their win over City.

 

[Jim Beam]

They slipped again?

 

[Thisistheone]

They looked so flat last night.

The lack of squad depth could burn out Firmino, Salah etc. Then we could see another rough patch like January '17.

 

[Alex99]

Tonight's match just shows how one-dimensional they are.

In boxing terms, Liverpool are your classical slugger. They will KO you if you decide to go toe-to-toe with them, they love it. Show a bit of defensive nous, and they toil and quickly run out of ideas, and start swinging wildly for the one-punch knockout.

Pep was incredibly arrogant thinking he didn't need to adapt his tactics and could play Liverpool at their own game and beat them at Anfield. A lot of teams make the same mistake by pressing them high and trying to attack Liverpool head on. That is exactly what Jurgen has them trained for.

The Swansea manager summarised the blueprint to beating them perfectly when he said Liverpool are your F1 car, but you have to make them sit in London rush-hour traffic to win.

I don't think teams are incapable of going toe-to-toe with Liverpool, but it is a very risky strategy. Liverpool will only ever play that way, the only change they'll make is not pushing up quite as high (as they did against United at Anfield earlier this season) and settle for possession in front of their opponent's back line. Knowing that Liverpool will only ever play one way, you can choose to stifle them and limit their chances, looking to hit them on the counter or with a set-piece, or you can go toe-to-toe. If you opt for the latter you may end up shipping 4 like City did and find yourselves (almost) down and out in a quick flurry, but equally, you may knock them for six and find yourself 3 or 4 to the good.

 

[Trikie]

Missing Coutinho is one problem. Having two midfielders that have 2G and 3A combined in 40 games on the 2nd best attack in the league is another. Can/Wijnaldum are nothing players against a deep-sitting team. Liverpool simply get nothing from anywhere outside Salah/Firmino/Mane/Coutinho and Ox with 3 goals/3 assists in nine starts. They need players in midfield that can play a precise vertical ball, make quick decisions and decoy runs that support the attackers. Wijnaldum and Can do none of these things.

Last year it was not that bad, because Milner (age decline) and Lallana (injuries) were at a higher level, too.

I think that's a pretty fair assessment. Keita will make a difference when he arrives but will need a better quality midfielder alongside him. Would like to see someone like Sergej Milinković-Savić come in.

Would they?

They’ve only won once against the top 6 (and nearly threw it away).

Battered by Spurs and City away. Drew with Chelsea and United at home. Drew with Arsenal away. Won City at home.

We did beat Arsenal at the start of the season as well, so we have won two but I get your point

 

[ChaddyP]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[Hawks2008]

"w-we won't miss Coutinho la"
"what's important is that we've got Klopp"
"Van Dijk is a bargain in the long run"
"look at Andy Robertson running about la"

 

[Foxbatt]

That 0-0 is now looking a lot better for United.

 

[Dec9003]

Not one bit surprised Swansea won, they've won a trophy more recently than Liverpool have.

 

[Nick.]

Zero creativity in central midfield. They will struggle to break down organised defences.

 

[Kapardin]

Zero creativity in central midfield. They will struggle to break down organised defences.

True. Not replacing Coutinho could cost them 4th spot. Chelsea strengthening with Dzeko and us with Sanchez will help us both consolidate our positions. But Spurs and Arsenal will be hot on Liverpool's heels.

 

[MR Reese]

I agree

True. Not replacing Coutinho could cost them 4th spot. Chelsea strengthening with Dzeko and us with Sanchez will help us both consolidate our positions. But Spurs and Arsenal will be hot on Liverpool's heels.

I agree. Would be better for us if you guys actually beat Spurs! They are only two points away..

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Delighted these cnuts got beaten after the mass hysteria following their win over City.

Was unreal the amount of crap I had to listen to from Liverpool supporting friends and colleagues after that game, all convinced they had turned the corner .

 

[Robbie Boy]

Was unreal the amount of crap I had to listen to from Liverpool supporting friends and colleagues after that game, all convinced they had turned the corner .

Ah stop, it was bloody hideous stuff. The media went into full-on wankfest mode, it made me not want to read any football related sites etc.

 

[Cascarino]

We definitely need a new goalkeeper but left back? Moreno and Robertson have both been in great form. Can't see us signing a right back any time soon either.

I rate Robertson highly. I said on here when Liverpool signed him that he had the potential to be among the best LB's in the league (still a long way to go but there aren't many great LB's in the league). Was very underrated from his Hull days. I still think Moreno is pretty poor though, but maybe I'm being unfair on him.

 

[AR87]

Still think they'll get 4th.

 

[Minimalist]

Firmino is anything but crap .... he is better than anything United have up front ..... probably even when Sanchez arrives. Time will tell.

He doesn't get much praise to be fair and he's pretty effective considering he's not the most extravagant player (being Brazillian and all that).

Still would rather have a striker like Lukaku up front (or Kane etc).

 

[RedCurry]

Still think they'll get 4th.

No chance they'll finish ahead of Spurs in my opinion. Kane and co. are far too talented and will drag their team home, just about.

 

[Charles Miller]

They need a wc keeper, another good CB, two full backs, two new midfielders + Keita.
- Goalkeeper: Alisson(Roma)
- CB: Miranda(Inter)
- Full backs: Cancelo(Inter) / Alex Telles(Porto)
- Midfielders: Jorginho(Napoli) / SMS(Lazio).

Alisson
Cancelo VVD Miranda Alex Telles
Keita Jorginho SMS
Salah Firmino Mané​

 

[engulfing]

The problems are partly tactical, klopp doesn't know how to play against parked buses. It's partly because your defence needs rejuvenation to stop leaking goals and van dijk wasn't signed for his defensive ability but for his ability to accelerate the attack even more. Another sign that klopp is inflexible and has yet to properly address the lack of a plan b.

 

[hasanejaz88]

This is the first match Liverpool have lost to a team outside the top 6 this season, that too after losing one of their best players, who they haven't replaced yet. It is natural that they will struggle to find their attacking rhythm in some matches after the departure of Coutinho, no need to go on about the tactics as they have generally worked this season where in previous he struggled against teams sitting back.

It will be interesting to see whether Klopp reacts and tries to sign an attacking player in light of the previous performance. It would be a statement of their ambition, like United signing Sanchez, and put to bed fan's fears that Keita and VVD were only bought using Coutinho's money and they won't be willing to increase their net spend.

 

[ShadesOfTomato]

It's madness to not sign another attacker after selling our best one this window. It's not the way an ambitious club acts. Top four will be a tall order if the club doesn't.

 

[Rafateria]

The problems are partly tactical, klopp doesn't know how to play against parked buses. It's partly because your defence needs rejuvenation to stop leaking goals and van dijk wasn't signed for his defensive ability but for his ability to accelerate the attack even more. Another sign that klopp is inflexible and has yet to properly address the lack of a plan b.

Wow. Amazing how some random guy on the internet can know why we signed VvD .. even though it would be obvious and Klopp has already clearly stated why ... here's one who comes to an alternative conclusion ! *laughing my balls off*

 

[engulfing]

I've said brf

Wow. Amazing how some random guy on the internet can know why we signed VvD .. even though it would be obvious and Klopp has already clearly stated why ... here's one who comes to an alternative conclusion ! *laughing my balls off*

I've said before on here that vvd is defensively vulnerable and that's why the big clubs passed on him. No use arguing about it, in 20 games you'll see.

 

[Dumbstar]

I've said brf

I've said before on here that vvd is defensively vulnerable and that's why the big clubs passed on him. No use arguing about it, in 20 games you'll see.

Why wait 20 games? You've seen it in one Klopp game, that's good enough for me.

 

[Klopper76]

They need a wc keeper, another good CB, two full backs, two new midfielders + Keita.
- Goalkeeper: Alisson(Roma)
- CB: Miranda(Inter)
- Full backs: Cancelo(Inter) / Alex Telles(Porto)
- Midfielders: Jorginho(Napoli) / SMS(Lazio).

Alisson
Cancelo VVD Miranda Alex Telles
Keita Jorginho SMS
Salah Firmino Mané​

We don’t need two fullbacks. We need a keeper, another CB, one or two midfielders and an attacking player to replace Coutinho.

We don’t desperately need a striker. We always seem to score goals.

 

[Charles Miller]

We don’t need two fullbacks. We need a keeper, another CB, one or two midfielders and an attacking player to replace Coutinho.

We don’t desperately need a striker. We always seem to score goals.

I dont think you need a striker. What i dont like about your full backs is that they never pass the ball to the man free out the box, they always go to the line and make crosses, even when its obviously not the right option.