Liverpool v Southampton (League Cup Semi Final Second Leg) Wed Jan 25 KO 8PM

This topic contains 171 replies, has 30 voices, and was last updated by  Songman 7 years, 2 months ago.

Viewing 20 posts - 121 through 140 (of 172 total)
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  • #1423127

    nine nine nine
    Moderator
    • :

    Mr Mak, I have never been a troll and I try and treat everyone with respect.

    As you say there’s been a lot of rivalry between our clubs over the years not helped at times by the Managers and like everyone else I will stand my club.

    And that ball still wasn’t over the line 🙂

    #1423128
    Gibbo
    Gibbo
    Participant
    • :

    No worries Sean – footie always divides opinion and that wont change anytime soon 🙂

    Yeah a good result against Chelsea would be refreshing and get a bit of a good vibe on here. 5 days of doom and gloom until then since we are in a bit of a slump.

    1 last thing – I knew Shane Long would score when he came on last night. It was set up for him to stretch our defense when we were pushing. He is no Robbie Keane but he is the best striker we have for the national

    #1423129

    Songman
    Participant
    • :

    Liverpool is in a slump, but so what, we have been in a slump before (just like other clubs) and come out of it. And the biggest factor in our slump is that Mane is missing, and no other top team has their best player missing at the moment.

    In life as in football, if things are not working out, then it is up too you to find a solution, that is what winners do, not just endless whining and complaining.

    This is what I think Klopp should do, both short term and long term to get us back on track.

    Firstly he needs to go back to our favoured 433 system ASAP, with Origi on the right, Firmino the false 9, and Coutinho on the left. Midfield the Keep it simple and the results will come again.

    Secondly, and this is for the future, it is clear that Mane is our most important player because of his pace, power, finishing and overall football intelligence, so in the summer Klopp must make it his first priority to sign another versatile winger of similar quality. I don’t care if it costs up to 40m to get such a player, just do it.

    Thirdly, I would also prioritise the signing of a top holding midfielder of the
    quality of Kante, so as to protect our erratic defence. This would free Henderson to play in his favoured dynamic midfield role where his energy will prove vital, and together with Wijnaldum, we would thus have our midfield sorted.

    Trust me, signing two such players will go a long way to making Liverpool much stronger and balanced as a team.

    Going forward, we have no option but to get our season back on track, as soon as possible, and I think we will

    #1423132

    nine nine nine
    Moderator
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    I’m sure we will see a very different Liverpool v Chelsea they always raise themselves for the big games.

    I would happily take a draw now.

    #1423138

    NotoriousBingo
    Participant
    • :

    I agree with Songman, we are not that far off from beating these teams that sit back, Can was so close to providing us with the goal we needed, so was Sturridge.
    We all knew that this month was going to be hard because we were losing Mane, add to that injuries to key players such as Coutinho and Matip and the month got that much harder.
    We need investment in the squad, a wide attacking player and another midfielder especially. We could do with another defender as well. Then Clyne is out and even though Alexander Arnold has been good he is a far cry from Clyne when it comes to picking a pass.

    #1423141

    redsforever
    Participant
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    Sean all u said about our past failings are true. But do we have to wallow in sadness and be depressed for all those past failures? Look forward. Otherwise theres no joy. Are u telling me everytime liverpool win we celebrate but we also think at the back of our mind.. ‘oh no dont over celebrate cos we gonna f**k this up real soon.. it always happen’

    #1423142
    MrMakaveli
    MrMakaveli
    Blocked
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    Nine, Ha well maybe I just witnessed and was involved in some arguments with you then. . It’s been so long that I only have the most vague memory of it all. .

    As for the ball, I know it wasn’t over the line. It should have been a penalty and a red card.

    #1423143

    Sean the sailor
    Participant
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    Agree gibbo, long can be very dangerous. He just missing to many chances but great finish last night

    Nine, Chelsea will set up like they do in every game. 3-4-2-1 when they have the ball then 5-4-1 without it. We need to score 1st for Chelsea to really come at us. They won’t park the bus and they have absolutely no need to surge at us. A draw be a good result for Chelsea but not for us.i think it be 0-0 or Chelsea will sneak it 1/0

    #1423145

    Sean the sailor
    Participant
    • :

    Sound advice redsforever but do you ever get the feeling when watching us that you know exactly how the game is going to pan out? It’s just to easy to predict. That’s what’s so first rating and it’s going in years

    Mr mak, nine has never been a troll mate.

    #1423149

    redsforever
    Participant
    • :

    Sean all the time. If u read my previous posts, after we beat city i said i was worried abt sunderland. Was worried abt swansea after we drew utd cos we always messed up whn we’re expected to win easily

    #1423151
    MrMakaveli
    MrMakaveli
    Blocked
    • :

    Sean, I don’t think we do keep making the same mistakes though. I liked Gibbos simplified answer in that we just haven’t been good enough and even the follow up stuff too because even though we haven’t had the ultimate success in the PL, we’ve been (in my eyes anyway) a fairly successful team. I know you will jump in with what have we won and what have we achieved , so on top of Gibbos answer of only 1 in 20 actually “wins”, we’ve won a lot of football matches and we’ve achieve style while doing it.

    There is a saying that society is only 3 square meals away from total anarchy or something like that, well being a top football team is very similar. Deprive a fan of top 4 team of a win for 3 league matches and the same thing.

    To go back tho and say why it isn’t always the same thing, there are seasons when we start poorly and finish well there are seasons when the biggerbteams beat us all over the place. There have been seasons where we’ve had the best defence in the league and ones with the best attack. We even had a season with the best midfield I guess. We’ve played all sorts of styles down the years. Where we’ve done well in cups and not the league or the opposite. We’ve had unpredictable seasons where we thought we’d do well and we finish 8th or like Rodgers season and hopefully this one where we played surpringly high quality football.

    Some of the stuff you’re using to suggest that things have been the same are just a part of the game.

    #1423209

    Songman
    Participant
    • :

    Gibbo, spot on in regards to your answer to Sean, basically a top team remains good even if they change manager e.g. Chelsea who had won Premiership only 12 months before. But when Klopp took over at Liverpool we were not a top team hence it is a rebuilding job.

    For me, despite our early promise, this season is a transition season, and by the end of May, Klopp will have a much better idea of the players he needs to sign. In my opinion the absolute must signings are a winger of the quality of Mane, and a defensive midfielder the quality of Kante.

    For now Klopp needs to go back to our first choice 433 formation, with Firmino as a false 9, Origi replacing Mane on the right, plus Wijnaldum starting instead of Can. Time to focus all our energies on beating Chelsea next week and getting back on track

    #1423224

    Mikus
    Participant
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    Songman, just to add to that, Matip was the only outfield player Klopp had signed last night. He clearly needs more of his players.

    #1423232
    Red Herring
    Red Herring
    Participant
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    It’s too easy to try and explain our 2017 slump in terms of burn-out, missing Mane, Sturridge is crap, etc etc. Good players with successful results don’t all suddenly start playing badly together, you’ve got to be more analytical about what has changed. The reality is that we’ve had a run of fixtures against teams that, for one reason or another, have been suited in getting 10 – 11 men behind the ball for long periods. Here are the (BBC) possession stats throughout January (LFC first): Sunderland (71/29), Plymouth-1 (77/23), Soton-1 (68/32), Plymouth-2 (68/32), Swansea (74/26), Soton-2 (73/27). The only game where we were quite happy with our performance was Man Utd (44/56). See the pattern here? Teams have been given a template to play against us with and the fact that it has had an element of success is now giving the opposing teams more confidence that their gameplan will work and it is now turning into a self-fulfilling prophesy.

    The problem for Klopp is obvious, he has to find a more effective way of removing the parked bus at least to the extent that we can get the first goal which will draw the opposition out of their banks of 4 and 5. Whenever we come up against a team that is prepared to take us on in an open game, we generally come out on top; hence why we are unbeaten against the top 6, in fact the top 10 in the PL. All our problems are against teams in the bottom half. What is more, it’s got to a stage that it is affecting the players as we’re now snatching at chances that 3 weeks ago we were nailing – which can only be down to anxiety.

    Our next game is going to start to exactly the same template – Paul Lambert must be in heaven at the moment as he finalises his gameplan for Saturday. All he has to do is re-run the recordings of most of our games in January and hope for the best. We, on the other hand, just need one to go in off (the proverbial) backside or get a break from the Ref and we should be OK.

    In theory, we should be looking forward to playing Chelsea on the basis that they will come and play; but I’m fearing that they are going to play a variation of “parking the bus” but will focus more on getting more breakaway opportunities – which with their pace will be difficult to counter. Come on Jurgen….time to show what you’re really worth!

    #1423256

    Songman
    Participant
    • :

    Red Herring yes some teams sit back and counterattack like yesterday, but that is not the main factor for our recent losses.

    What about unacceptable defensive blunders, like the two against Swansea? Or Mane’s unfortunate handball when we were on course for a win at Sunderland?

    And most important of all, Mane missing at a time when Coutinho and Matip are just coming back, and not at their best. This has disrupted our 433 most of all like yesterday when we played in an unfamiliar diamond formation.

    In my opinion Klopp needs to go back to our regular 433 with Firmino as a false 9, Origi replacing Mane, and Wijanaldum starting instead of Can

    #1423272
    Red Herring
    Red Herring
    Participant
    • :

    Songman>> Yes, OK, I agree that this problem may not be one-dimensional, but the so-called “formation” is irrelevant when you are playing against 10 or 11 men all in their own third of the field. That’s another beauty of the park the bus philosophy – it totally screws up any gameplan/formation that JK may have been working on all week. It doesn’t matter what your formation is when the the opposition have everyone behind the ball, because the areas of engagement will still be the same.

    #1423282

    Mikus
    Participant
    • :

    Redherring, I agree about the defensive teams we’re struggling to put away. I also don’t like the way Klopp seems to be moaning about defensive teams when he’s being paid a fortune to sort these problems out. We can certainly try and be more intelligent and patient with our attacking play and keep it on the deck. At the same time we do have to acknowledge both the lack of pace and strength in the team. , qualities you really need in the premier league. Just had a quick watch of the Chelsea West Brom game earlier this season – Chelsea too were struggling to find a way through and at one point it looked like it was going to be one of those games. But in the last 15 minutes up steps the bullishness, strength & quality of Costa.

    #1423288

    Songman
    Participant
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    Red Herring ok I agree that it can be hard to break down a team that just sits back and hits you on the counterattack like yesterday.

    So what do you suggest then for Liverpool going forward to defeat such defensive teams?

    For me I suggest playing our regular formation but with more width and much more caution in defence as an option. I mean Chelsea have being playing their regular formation and beating teams that sit back

    #1423294

    Songman
    Participant
    • :

    Mikus I was thinking the same thing regarding Chelsea. Just play your first choice team in your regular formation and the quality will shine through.

    The problem for Liverpool is that our most influential player is missing, and our bes player and best defender are both coming back from injury – Chelsea does not have such big problems

    #1423297

    NotoriousBingo
    Participant
    • :

    when teams sit back we need the pace of Mane to stretch them, instead we got Sturridge who sits at the shoulder of the defenders and waits. Its no wonder we are struggling for goals ATM.

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