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Manchester City 3 Liverpool 1 (Aug 25 2014)


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Dave Usher

 

 

 

What a horrible experience that was. I wouldn’t say our bubble was burst but it’s definitely had some of the air let out of it. It was a reality check and a half as City won this without even really having to do anything. We know what City can do when they’re at it - look at how they played in the second half at Anfield in April - but they didn’t even need to play well to score three against us in this one. That rankles, you can accept letting goals in when it’s due to coming up against great attacking play, but that wasn’t the case here; we were just piss poor at the back.

 

Goals notwithstanding, we were the better side for most of this game but what good is that when you defend like a pub team? Defensively we were just like last year; an error prone shambles. It wasn’t even bad organisation, it was just stupid individual fuck ups. Again. The goals we gave away were just shocking. This loss was completely self inflicted, but we saw this kind of carelessness throughout last season. It didn’t really matter too much then because we had a certain superstar number seven and when we let in three we’d often go and score five or even six and laugh about it afterwards. Suddenly it’s not so funny. 

 

There’s no superstar number seven anymore to cover up for the suicidal tendencies at the back and City took full advantage of that. I’m not sure what upset me most; the defensive errors or that we didn’t look like scoring for most of the game. It’s probably the drop off in the attacking play that concerned me the most. That was what our success last year was built on and if we lose that then we’re in trouble as we clearly still can’t keep clean sheets.

 

We were bossing it until the first goal but you just knew when we didn’t make it count with a goal that we’d end up paying. It’s always the way in big games, you need to make it count when you have the upper hand because against the better sides there’s no margin for error. 

 

In fairness we weren’t creating much but we were first to every ball, our passing was crisp and incisive and we were looking in control. The home crowd were edgy and had started to get frustrated with their team and it was all going according to plan for us. Sturridge went closest with a lovely shift to his left that fooled Kompany and a shot that hit Joe Hart in the chest. Other than that we had a lot of possession without making it count, and we wasted several set-piece opportunities too.

 

We looked good though, there was an authority about our play and nothing to be concerned about. Then one ball into the box causes a minor problem, Lovren eventually dealt with it but Moreno (who’d done very well until that moment) dawdled and got caught napping by Jovetic whose powerful close range shot went through Mignolet. Just like that all the good work of the opening half an hour meant nothing. So, so fucking typical. Did anyone actually think we were coming back from that? I know I didn’t.

 

Every time we come here we do the same. Take it to them, look good and then shoot ourselves in the foot. Every. Fucking. Time. It’s infuriating and demoralising. In possession we looked good until it repeatedly broke down on the edge of their box. I hate saying this - especially as any time I hear anyone else saying it I get pissed off as it’s such a lazy observation - but we desperately missed the invention, movement and general menace of you know who. I don’t want to say that as he’s gone and we need to look forward, but it was just glaringly obvious that we were missing him.

 

Sterling started brightly enough, Sturridge was doing ok but we were just lacking something up there. When Sturridge drops off or drifts wide there’s no-one else up there to give the centre backs a problem. We can’t tell Sturridge to just stay up top and not move around as it’s not his game and he needs to be allowed to do his thing. It’s not been a co-incidence that we’ve looked more threatening in both games so far when Lambert was sent on to partner him though.

 

Coutinho had one of his typical ‘away days’ and I’d have probably hooked him for Markovic at half time. When it’s not going for him he rarely turns it around so best to just get him off and try something else. Brendan eventually made that move but we were 2-0 down by the time he did. Markovic looked bright and purposeful and linked up well with Moreno a few times. Something to build on there I’d say, particularly as they’re both still kids.

 

City’s second goal was once again all too easy though. It wasn’t as bad as the first or third goals and at least they had to put some work in to create this one, but we really need to do better than that. It galls me that we’ve let that fucking Jovetic jabroni score twice against us yet again, as I think he’s shit. Both his finishes were shit, his face is shit, his name is shit (he can’t even spell Steven properly, the tiny mouthed cunt) and he looks like a reject from Geordie Shore. I’ve got a seriously irrational hatred for this bum, he’s my new Jon Dahl Tomasson.

 

At 2-0 it was obviously over and now I feared a drubbing as we’d have to chase it and start taking daft risks. Even so, I didn’t think we’d give up a goal quite as bad as the one Aguero scored about two seconds after coming on. That was seriously fucking pitiful. Lovren allowed him to get goal side far too easily but the worst part of it for me was Mignolet. Seriously, what the fuck was he doing? Look at his positioning, he’s in no mans land and showed Aguero four yards of space at the near post. Even I’d have scored that. It just makes me despair because we should be better than this by now. We can’t keep giving away bad goals all the time, it needs to stop or we’re in trouble. 

 

Emre Can replaced Allen (the pick of our midfielders for me) and Lambert came on for Sterling (who all but disappeared after the break) and we had a good little spell where we scored one and went close a couple of other times. I doubt Lambert will get credit for the goal as it may have gone in off Zabaleta. It was well created by Sturridge and I thought Lambert should have buried the initial header really. It hit Joe Hart and then either Lambert or Zabaleta bundled it over the line.

 

If we’d have somehow bagged a second then City might have suffered the same fate we did at Selhurst Park last season. They were wobbling and we suddenly discovered some belief again, but despite getting into some great positions City managed to keep us at bay. That’s the difference isn’t it.

 

A mate of mine made the very pertinent point that City got away with almost all of their mistakes but we get punished for most of ours because they can defend when they’re having to scramble and we can’t. It seems whenever we fuck up it costs us a goal, but City arguably made as many errors as we did but saved themselves. 

 

Two great examples came when we were having a good spell of pressure and got into brilliant positions on the left. First Moreno got in behind but as he tried to pick out Henderson a City defender stretched to cut it out. When City were in that situation they scored to go 2-0 up. Secondly, a ricochet fell to Lambert but Kompany got back to clear the cross from right in front of his own goal. 

 

If that’s our defence dealing with those situations chances are at least one ends up in the back of the net. I’m not sure how you fix that, coaching I guess? I know one thing though, even if Lovren turns out to be even better than expected, he’s not going to stop us from conceding goals because it just seems to be in our DNA now.

 

Just when we were building a little momentum and threatening to give City a bit of an uncomfortable end to the game, Johnson then limped off leaving us with ten men. No great loss, he was shit again anyway, but going down to ten men finished us off once and for all. Actually I’m being a little harsh on Johnson, he wasn’t the reason we conceded three goals and he wasn’t the reason we were toothless in attack either. He just didn’t really help much. His evening was summed up when he tried to run through Clichy instead of going around him and somehow injured himself in the process. 

 

Just what the hell has happened to him? For a long while I put it down to his attitude, but if it was that he’d still be putting in the occasional good display surely? I no longer think it’s that he can’t be arsed, I just think for whatever reason his confidence is shot to pieces as he just doesn’t look like Glen Johnson anymore. He’s putting plenty of effort in getting up and down the pitch, it’s just when he’s got the ball he’s not looking remotely threatening anymore. He’s hesitant and seems like he’s thinking too much at times rather than just playing on instinct.

 

Him picking up that injury was just farcical really and summed up what was just a shitty night in which nothing was ever going to go our way. We had a glimmer of hope at 3-1 as City were wobbling and we had some dangerous moments, but going a man down just stopped us in our tracks and added injury to insult. 

 

It got worse as Skrtel twisted his knee and probably would have gone off if we had any subs left. He soldiered on, as did Moreno who went over on his ankle and ended up hobbling through to the full time whistle. Just about everything that could go wrong did. It was just a wretched night for us and we need to just put it behind us and move on quickly.

 

We were lucky not to end up with nine men, as Can should have been sent off for a second yellow. The first booking was harsh as it was basically just shoulder to shoulder and I wouldn’t have even given a free-kick, let alone a booking. But having gone into the referee’s notebook what the hell is he doing diving like that? Embarrassing, and he really should have been sent off. The ref took pity on us there I think.

 

It’s too early in the season to draw any conclusions from this loss, disappointing as it was. I mean last year we had some poor performances and results in the first half of the campaign only to tear it up in the second. We could do the same again, none of us know at this stage. 

 

This result does knock our confidence a little. Not necessarily the players’, but certainly with the fans. I know I’m not feeling especially bullish after this and I have some serious worries ahead of next weekend. Defensively weak and toothless in attack, it doesn’t bode well for any title hopes.

 

There are some straws to clutch though. We’ve got Lallana and Balotelli to come into the side which should help us become more unpredictable in the final third. In fact I’d suggest that how far we go this season will depend an awful lot on the impact Balotelli has and whether he can help to plug the enormous hole left by Suarez. He isn’t the same type of player as Suarez, in fact he’s nothing like him at all, but he can fill the role Suarez occupied as he’s versatile enough to play in a two, a three, just off Sturridge or leading the line.

 

He’ll play all of those roles in a vastly different way and won’t be as good as Luis, but if he performs as he can then he’ll make a big difference to us, especially in the difficult games such as this one. City knew what they were doing, they just kept it tight and waited for the mistake. They weren’t at their free flowing best but they knew they didn’t have to be. Other sides will no doubt look to do the same thing, and Spurs at the weekend will be incredibly tough because Pochettino is a shrewd tactician. 

 

Trying to look for positives, I guess you’d have to say the debuts of Moreno and Markovic were somewhat promising and presumably they will only get better as the season progresses. It didn’t right seeing Markovic laughing and joking with one of his mates in the City side afterwards though. Save that tip you get off the pitch lad, fans don’t want to see that shit after we’ve been beaten.

 

The biggest positive I’ll take from this though is that we don’t have to go to the Etihad again this season. I’m fucking sick of the place, and City’s fans can fuck off too with the Gerrard taunting and the ludicrous “one greedy bastard” chant at Sturridge. ONE greedy bastard? ONE??? You deluded fuckwits, there’s not one player at City who isn’t there because of the hugely inflated wages they are paying these days. Not fucking one. Every last one of them are there because City are loaded. Dicks.

 

We need to get the rig back on the road quickly though. Losing at City isn’t THAT big a deal as most teams will suffer the same fate. Winning at Spurs would almost compensate for it though, as six points from the opening three fixtures would be decent enough given the difficulty of them. If that’s going to happen the defenders need to get their shit together and the attackers need to up their games too. Hopefully Balotelli comes straight into the side alongside Sturridge, as given how easy we are to score against we need to start making the opposition shit their pants again at what we can do at the other end.

 

Losing is a setback of course but it’s almost to be expected. It’s not the loss that shook my confidence in the team; it’s the poor play in both penalty areas. Hopefully it’s just a one off, but I can’t lie, I’m feeling more than a little trepidation about the trip to White Hart Lane this Sunday. Mario, it’s over to you son.

 

 

Team: Mignolet; Johnson, Skrtel, Lovren, Moreno; Gerrard, Henderson, Allen (Can); Sterling (Lambert), Sturridge, Couinho (Markovic):


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Yeah spot on Dave. We need some serious intense defensive coaching, surely that is happening but it needs changing if so. It's not as if there aren't enough excellent ex-defenders sitting in the stands. 

 

Johnson's indecision on the ball is painful to watch not just for the team but to see a good player in seemingly terminal decline. A good GK to threaten Mignolet's place is needed this week too.

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Johnson's forward play is excruciating. The amount of times he runs directly into the opposition defender, no dribble, no driving to the byline - nothing.

 

Does he expect them to just stand to one side and let him through?

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I'm not sure about the mention of Suarez, even if he hadn't gone to Barcelona, he'd be banned anyway so I'm not sure how he could've helped us out. We lost plenty of big games when he was playing anyway.

 

Time to move on & let the media bleat on about him.

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"...he can’t even spell Steven properly, the tiny mouthed cunt..."

 

Genius.

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Mignolet has been shit for a while,i have no confidence in him and dont think our defenders do either,he needs to be more dominating.

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Can't beat an over 30 goalkeeper (old arse) with bags of experience.........dare I mention Peter Cheque ......there said it....

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Spot on Dave, excellent as ever

 

Biggest signing we could make this season is a good defensive coach,

Steve Clarke anyone?

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Steve Clarke is a manager now. Even if he were to ever come back he'd only probably advise some midfield protection for the centre-backs, better full-backs and a top class goalkeeper.

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As shit as Mignolet apparantly is, he's already bagged us 2 points against Southampton with a stunning save from Scneiderlin, and also mad a huge save against Spurs yesterday just before the break to preserve our lead.

Every keeper in the legue makes mistakes. Cech certainly has made his more than his fair share over the last couple of season, as does Hart. We just seem to overlook them as we are not paying as much attention to other teams.

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i. How many times have Liverpool played MNF and won? Who has the worst record for MNF? Thanks, Sam

 

MARTIN SAYS: We can’t break it down into Monday Night Football appearances for you, but with the help of our friends at Opta we can tell you how many times each team has played a Premier League game on a Monday (including Bank Holiday matches) and explain their record in those games.

 

Liverpool have played 218 Premier League games on a Monday, which is 18 more Monday matches than any other side. The defeat against Manchester City means that their Monday record now reads like this: P218 W106 D52 L60

 

They have a Monday win percentage of 48.85%, which is the fourth best record in the Premier League. The most successful team on a Monday is Manchester United, who have won 115 of their 195 games on that day, losing 36 of them (I suspect they have the best record on every other day of the week as well!) Liverpool are the only other team to have won more than 100 Premier League matches on a Monday, while Arsenal and Chelsea are the only two sides with a Monday win percentage above 50%.

 

Tottenham have lost 68 Premier League on a Monday, more than any other team. The current Premier League team with the worst win record on Mondays is Crystal Palace, who have won only two of their 16 games played. They will get a chance to improve that when they play Sunderland on Monday Night Football on November 3.

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not as bad as I thought as it seemed like we always lost or didnt win on mnf.

 

also didnt realise we d played so many monday games

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Yeah anytime I see us down for MNF I automatically assume some midtable team with nothing to play for will carve out a draw against us. Usually the Stokes, Villa's, Fulhams of the world.

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