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Hoffenheim 1 Liverpool 2 (Aug 15 2017)


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Report by
Dave Usher
 
 
 

Can’t complain about an away win in Europe against a team that hadn’t lost at home for 16 months. We’d all have taken a 2-1 win beforehand and there’s nothing at all wrong with that result. How we got it isn’t really important, getting through this tie is the only thing that matters so from that perspective this was a good night’s work.

 

That’s not to say the performance didn’t give some cause for concern, just that you have to be pleased to win a difficult game without playing particularly well. I didn’t think we were really at the races in attack, and I thought we looked ropey as hell at the back. Yet we won, and really should have done so by more goals. What this suggests is that if and when things do click, we’ll take some stopping. 

 

Hoffenheim’s record last year shows them to be a dangerous opponent. Finishing fourth in the Bundesliga makes them worthy of respect, as does their previously long unbeaten home record. They’re big bastards too, and score more goals from set-pieces than any other team in Germany. So on paper this was a difficult fixture, and they were the better side for most of the first half. That said, it felt as though any problems we had were entirely of our own making and there was nothing from them that was particularly menacing.

 

They looked decent enough passing the ball around, but any chances they had were because of our mistakes or poor decision making. Klopp said he was happy with how we defended. I’m not having that, although I understand why he would say it as he needs to build confidence within the team. Our defending has been ridiculed by everyone since Watford so Klopp has to try and lift the players. The truth is though, our defending was shite in this game and we were fortunate not have conceded long before we eventually did. 

 

The Moreno thing baffles me. I thought he played at Watford because Milner was being held back for this one. To start Moreno again just feels like we’re being trolled now. It’s almost funny seeing him do the same mad things over and over, but I don’t blame Moreno because he is what he is. He does his best, his attitude is good, but he just doesn’t get it, does he? 

 

I mean what’s the first thing an away team in Europe sets out to do in a first leg? Keep it tight in the opening stages and quieten the crowd, right? Yet here we were, 11 minutes in, and Moreno was upfield when the ball was lost. That’s ok, nothing wrong there, but instead of getting back into position, he goes charging off trying to win the ball back. Again, not necessarily the worst thing in the world, but when you don’t win it you call it quit and then get back where you should be. 

 

Unless of course you’re Alberto Moreno, in which case you just keep chasing like a fucking dog in a park. He ended up in their box closing down the keeper, twenty yards ahead of any of his team-mates. I actually admire his work ethic and enthusiasm, but his lack of game intelligence is actually comical. With Moreno awol, Hoffenheim took advantage and worked the ball into the area that he should have been, leaving Lovren isolated against Gnabri.

 

This is the exact type of scenario that Carra was talking about when he said it doesn’t matter who is playing centre half when they are being left so exposed. Lovren got himself into a mess and clumsily brought Gnabri down. It was a soft pen and the former Arsenal man made a meal of it, but the whole situation was completely avoidable. Look at it this way, would Milner have gone charging off like that? No chance.

 

But this is what Moreno does, he can’t help it. It’s not his fault, it’s Klopp’s fault, because he either encourages it or condones it. Otherwise he wouldn’t still be picking him. In the end there was no harm done because the Mig had obviously done his homework and anticipated that Kramaric would wait for him to dive before deciding where to put it. He didn’t commit himself and the striker bottled it and his a tame spot kick straight at him.

 

A huge let off, and one we took advantage of. The opening goal was no more than we deserved because the foul that led to it was cynical in the extreme. Mané produced a brilliant run out of nothing and was crudely hauled down as he burst through the centre. The defender was given a yellow card, which was the correct decision as there were other defenders back covering, but even though their position was good there was no way they were stopping Mané. Morally it should have been a red card, as the punishment didn’t seem to fit the crime.

 

Thankfully Trent stepped up to deliver the kind of punishment the referee could not. That free-kick was just class. The whip and pace he put on it to go around the wall into the bottom corner. It was a bit like Suarez at Godson. It’s boss the way he’s on set-pieces now, I just hope it doesn’t change when the little snake comes back in. I don’t mind them sharing free-kicks, but I want Trent on corners. It was a great moment for the kid, but even before the goal I was thinking how assured he looked.

 

His team-mates clearly trust him as there’s never ever hesitation in giving him the ball, even when he’s in tight spaces, and his use of the ball is usually great. He’s a talent, that’s for sure, but the biggest thing he probably has going for him is that he’s level headed and just wants to improve. There are loads of talented kids, but the ones that go on to have the best careers are the workers who are prepared to listen. He seems to fall into that category, hopefully that doesn’t change. 

 

Getting an away goal changes the tie and it put more pressure on Hoffenheim to come at us. 0-0 at home isn’t a bad result as a score draw puts you through, but once you concede at home you have to chase the game a bit. And if you chase the game against us, then Mané and Salah become a big factor. 

 

I thought Mané looked great again, but Salah was frustrating. He kept looking like he was about to do something significant but never quite managed it. Firmino played him clean through in the first half but his first touch was terrible and sent him onto his right side. No matter, with his pace he should have been able to run clear of the defence and get back onto his left side before shooting, but he seemed to slow down and looked hesitant, allowing the defender to get back to pressure him, and his right foot shot was crap. 

 

He’s a proper menace though and looks threatening all the time. What I like most about him is how he follows everything in and is always looking for tap ins. Not many wingers have that mentality, but he’s scored a few goals like that for us already. He’s also been close on a few other occasions where it hasn’t quite fallen to him, but he’s been there on the back post looking for a tap in. The second goal being a good example.

 

Milner had come on for Hendo and when he latched onto a lovely ball from Firmino he was looking to pick Salah out on the back stick. The cross nicked off a defender and gave it a bit of extra curl, which took it away from the keeper and into the top corner. Look at Salah though, he was right on the spot to put that in if it had been drifting wide. He was right there when Matip’s header hit the bar at Watford too, and with that kind of instant he’ll get plenty of goals. 

 

At 2-0 we were threatening to end the tie there and then, and every time one of their attacks broke down it looked like we’d kill them on the break. It just didn’t quite happen though, We had chances, Firmino should have scored and both Mané and Salah were wasteful too. Hoffenheim looked like they’d ran out of ideas, although Mignolet did have to make a couple of saves so the threat was always there.

 

Then out of nothing we gave them a goal that might yet changed the balance of the tie. It was just a basic diagonal ball, but Matip and Alexander-Arnold let the lad get between them, but it needn’t have been a problem had Trent played to the whistle instead of waving his arm looking for offside. He could have got back and made a challenge but he kept appealing for an offside flag that correctly didn’t come. 

 

In fairness, the lad took it well and it was a great strike, but it was a present really. Suddenly they had a spring in their step and we were hanging on. They had a couple of corners that we actually dealt with very well, but this habit we have of giving away stupid late free-kicks really needs sorting. Lucas might have gone but his spirit lives on. It was Gomez on Saturday and Grujic in this one. 

 

It was a good ball in and the lad had a free header that thankfully he didn’t keep down. We almost blew it again though, and it’s incredibly frustrating. What will happen is we’ll have a run of games soon where we defend well and maybe keep a succession of clean sheets. We can do it, we ended last season with four straight shut outs, but it’s only going to be a temporary reprieve and there’ll be another Bournemouth or Norwich type game around the corner. 

 

We just have to hope that the second leg isn’t when it happens, because we’ve done enough to put ourselves in a great position to go through and just need to be professional enough to see the job out now. I didn’t see anything from Hoffenheim to unduly worry me though and if Mané and Salah are on their game we should win comfortably. And if we get into the group stages nobody is going to want to face us.

 

I feel as though - if we can get there - this competition could suit this team down to the ground and the bigger the opponent the better. Personally I want to come up against Barcelona at some point, as I’d honestly fancy us to fucking murder them. The likes of Atletico or Juve would be a nightmare for us, but Barca wouldn’t scare me at all. We’ve got to get there first though, so no more stupid fuck ups lads. 

 

Star man would have been Trent but for that daft mistake, so instead I’m going with the Mig. The saves he made weren’t anything special, but they all came at crucial times and he did what was needed. 

 

 

Team: Mignolet; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Lovren, Moreno; Henderson (Milner), Can, Wijnaldum; Salah (Grujic), Firmino (Solanke), Mané:


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If Lovren, the DM, left-sided midfielder AND the left-sided forward haven't worked out how to cover an attacking fullback yet.  Then our problems are far bigger than Moreno.  It's not like him going awol comes as a suprise to anybody.

 

It's easy to pin it all on Moreno, but there is more than one guilty party here.

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I agree to some extent with Rotpeter. With 3 defensive-minded midfielders and a left sided forward on the pitch surely one of them should have noticed softlad's position and covered for him until his return.

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If Lovren, the DM, left-sided midfielder AND the left-sided forward haven't worked out how to cover an attacking fullback yet.  Then our problems are far bigger than Moreno.  It's not like him going awol comes as a suprise to anybody.

 

It's easy to pin it all on Moreno, but there is more than one guilty party here.

Made the same point at the time. Moreno was a liability so why didn't Klopp:

a) Take him off

b) tell him to hold his position - especially at 2-0 away in Europe

c) get him more cover as it was clear they were targetting him and he was getting left isolated constantly.

Bottom line, though - why the hell is Klopp picking him in the first place?!

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About Moreno, some guy on RAWK made a great post with heat maps and player positions which showed that Moreno was basically deliberately left isolated so that Mané could stay up the pitch and run at their slow right-sided CB all game. Wijnaldum, who played on Moreno's side is also nowhere near him.

 

Conversely, when you look at the positions, the right side of the formation is totally stacked and bunched together and Arnold has plenty of cover from both Can and Salah.

 

It would explain why Moreno was targeted so often and why I think it's unfair to criticize him too much in this game. He was actually given an unbelievable amount of responsibility and he didn't fuck up majorly, so kudos to him for that.

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