Liverpool fans point to new scapegoat; how clever Kepa instigated victory

Liverpool Chelsea TEAMtalk

Liverpool fans point the finger at Fabinho after the FA Cup defeat to Chelsea, while Blues fans hail the brilliant Billy Gilmore and Kepa Arrizabalaga, all in our forum.

 

Join in the debate here…

 

Henderson badly missed

The main strength of this side isn’t that we’re the best team man for man, but that every player puts a shift in. And if only a few don’t put a shift in, the system comes crashing down. Seems Henderson’s galvanising abilities are even more important than I thought.

Mikus

 

Mikus I agree with that but its also the balance of the team, they gave Williams plenty of space all night long and we could not do anything with it… I don’t want to single anyone out right now, Chelsea simple wanted it more than us…

NotoriusBingo

 

Jones’ defensive play lacking

Not an awful lot between the two teams to be fair.

We made a few mistakes, and weren’t aggressive enough in midfield. Probably not the ideal game to throw Jones and Minamino in. But fair enough, we need to give them a chance. Jones defensive play lacking a bit. He’s comfortable on the ball, but he’s been a bit selfish at times with the positions he’s going in to.

Well played Chelsea though, deserved winners.

Two defeats in a row, three in four games. We need to see a big performance in the next game.

j c

 

Can’t understand how Barkley was allowed to run with the ball that far untouched.

gingerlfc

 

Fabinho struggling

Ginger>> Barkley was allowed to run that far with the ball because it was Fabinho that was ‘chasing’ him. I’ve been saying since the start of his Liverpool career that Fabinho has a monumental problem of players running past him so easily in midfield and that he has no pace to catch someone that has.

Barkley was faster with the ball than Fabinho was without it! We just about got away with this weakness when the other aspects of his game were working OK; but since his return from injury, he’s been poor all round to the extent that him occupying this pivotal position in the team is really now costing us.

Red Herring

 

Wondered what u lot thought of Billy Gilmour? He bossed the midfield. Ur definitely missing Henderson. Anyway the league is yours. Good luck against Atletico, hope u can get through Simeone’s massive Airbus A380 that he will no doubt park on the Anfield turf

Stuilse

 

Thought things were going well in the 1st half, but in the 2nd we were dreadful.
Midfield completely overrun.Fabinho once beaten is then left for dead.

Last four games not good reading, played 4 lost 3 goals F3 A 8, not scored in three of the games, hopefully we can up our game but it doesn’t seem likely.

Our performances have NOT,NOT,NOT been bad since the break it has been the last 10 games.
Definitely VVD has been brilliant all season but seems to be off his game at the moment.
Bournemouth next, surely we will win this???????

liverlad

 

You’ve got to admire that performance from Billy Gilmour.
Although I don’t think he would have fared so well against Henderson and Gini.

Take nothing away from him though, he ran circles around Fabinho. Not sure he’s ready for Premier League football, but good luck to him, as a fellow Scotsman I hope he will become a top player.

j c

 

Gilmour did very well. Just sat in front of the defence and was excellent on the ball

High line was dreadful the last two games and seems to be higher then usual. Teams are bypassing it no bother these days.

Chelsea fully deserved to win.

Saturday is absolutely huge now

Sean the sailor

 

Another disappointing performance and the 3rd defeat in 5 games. Players lack of inspiration, creativity, passion ans desire. 5 goals in 2 consecutive games show that our defence has great problems and VVDS was poor (again). I do not think that we can pass Atletico and our performance have been extremely worrying.
Probably 22 points gap from City has made us bad.

Congrats to Chelsea for the win!!
I am glad that other teams fans are excited with our defeats something which show how ‘good’ their teams are.
Besides I hope that Klopp has witnessed our disadvantages in order these to be solved in summer with signings.

pinezes69

 

Give Van Dijk a rest

Time to end this blip, by crushing Bournemouth and going through against Atletico.

Need to get our winning mentality back on track, and quickly.

I think Matip should come in for Van Dijk on Saturday to keep him fresh for Atletico. He looked completely shattered yesterday.

As for Henderson, even fans of other teams (like Stuilse) can see how much we miss his energy and leadership

Songman

 

 

 

Brilliant from Chelsea

Brilliant performance from the team and huge performances from Kepa, Gilmour and Giroud, the spine of the team which I think demonstrates how crucial top performers in those areas are! Those 3 were outstanding but everyone played so well, that was a team pulling together all night, Pedro run his socks off all night, reminded me a bit of John Spencer tearing clear of the Austria Vienna defence in 94 when he went clean through, didn’t have the composure of wee John though.

Rode our luck a little in the first half but thanks to Kepa and some top saves we came through it and 2nd half we were by far the better team, Liverpool got away lightly in the end at 2-0.

Delighted for us as fans but more so for Frank, been getting some undue stick lately so he deserves that one. If we can turn in performances like that most weeks we’ll cruise top 4!

luigi mancini

 

One thing I don’t like in a coach is one that changes a team to be fair and give a player a run, regardless of wether he deserves it. What is great this season is the way Frank is making the players fight hard for their place on the training ground and in the team if they get the chance, it is a top quality in a coach and it should get the desire and winning mentality back.

Chris451

 

I was about to put up a summary post but Luigi above summarised everything perfectly imo.

Like him and bar young Billy Gilmour who was immense with everyone else playing their part last night I was most pleased for Frank because the media vultures were beginning to circle.

Only downside was two more injuries.

Bottle that performance and bring it out regularly in the PL run in and we have every chance of making 4th place.

Kepa to stay in goal?

Be tough on Willy but I think so.

nine nine nine 

Kepa was ‘different gravy’

Great result, solid team performance.

Gilmour is going to become a real headache for Frank …. but what a great headache to have!! What a performance and fantastic to see the reaction towards him from his teammates at the end. A lot of comparison to Jorghino, which is more down to Frank’s team selection this year. He should be getting compared to Kante. In the club we have the best holding midfielder in the world in Kante with the pretender for the crown waiting in the wings!!

I hope Tammy was watching Giroud last night. Solid solid performance as a Team Player, worked his socks off with hard graft, no show boating, no posing just hard work. Love Tammy to bits, but think he needs to add a bit of maturity to his game and he can learn from an old pro like Giroud.

Kepa last night different gravy!!! He came for crosses and dealt with them, some super saves but the two things that stuck out for me, the fact he took command of the 18 yard box, he was barking out orders at the defenders but most of all, the number of times he ushered Rudiger and Zouma out of the box and took a good old fashioned byball, not this stupid playing out from the back.

He obviously recognised the fact that Mane and Origi were closing both Zouma and Rudiger down very quickly, and let’s face it neither of them are Messi like with the ball at their feet, but it took the pressure off the defenders and let them concentrate on doing what they are good at. Might not have pleased Frank, who seems to love this tippy tappy playing out from the back, but to me that was a massive factor in both us winning and keeping a clean sheet!!

NIBlue

 

Gilmore’s progressive passing

Billy Gilmore TEAMtalk

Gilmore was the star of the show, the last Chelsea midfielder I remember looking so comfortable so young was Alan Hudson, and for those who remember Hudson that is some compliment. Gilmore though has more in his defensive locker than Hudson ever had. The TV pundits were right to note Gilmore’s progressive passing compared to Jorginho often going sideways, it made life a lot easier for the forwards.

I don’t want to go too far on the basis of one performance, but it is clear that we have a real talent on our hands. Gilmore is likely to get the next few matches during Jorginho’s suspension and he may make it difficult for Jorginho to reclaim his place.

alanp

 

There’s a few of us who said Gilmour is ready now a while back already, his exactly what we need and if Frank doesn’t start him them I am sad to say that will be like Sarri who was afraid to upset his senior players. Barkley was also very good all over the pitch. Still question marks though over the centre halves.

blueowner

 

I don’t have that much to add with what my fellow blue army have already pointed. it was a performance worth to be proud. and the young Gilmour was the standout player of the night. Giroud has given a tough night to VVD, and that is what you need from your strikers, he was unlucky not to score with his shot that hit the woodwork.

Even Alonso of all people put a defensive shift last night. pleased for Ross Barkley, the vultures were circling at him, but last night he has shown his class, but the question is can he keep that level of performance game in game out?

I don’t know what to say about Pedro, on one hand, he has been wasteful and could have given the team under pressure, and on the other hand, he worked tremendously for the team. the one worrying factor from that match last night was the injury that Kovacic has sustained, I hope Frank took him off as a precaution rather than a serious one. he was one of the reasons why the young Gilmour has thrived as he has done all the dirty work and drove the team, and this gave Gilmour time and space with the ball.

Chelsea.man

 

Great win. I really hope we will get a favorable tie at home for the quarter final. This is our only chance to get a silverware this season.

Only saw the highlight, Willian’s goal was lucky but we hit the crossbar twice (Giroud and Mount). We played Gilmour, Pedro, our 2nd string players and they played Minamino, Origi. So both teams mixed the team. They did not play 100% youngsters as VVD, Gomez, Mané played. And Pedro missed a one one one like that, shocking..

Concerned about the injuries. Especially Kovacic as we are really short in the midfield. Jorginho suspended, Kanté injured, now Kovacic injured. I guess Gilmour has to start again against Everton with Barkley and Mount.

aindro