Burnley 2 Liverpool 0 (Aug 20 2016)

[tlw content]

Beating Arsenal and then losing to Burnley six days later is just about as 'modern day Liverpool' as it gets. I really shouldn’t be surprised anymore, and yet I was. More fool me. I did try telling myself it would be just like us to follow up a great win at Arsenal by shitting the bed at Turf Moor, but I didn’t actually believe it would happen.
 
Those kind of results were in the past, this was our bright new dawn under Klopp now that he’s got his own players in and had a full pre-season to drill them in what he wants to do. We no longer have those pesky midweek European commitments to ruin our preparations for the league matches now either, so things are bound to be better this year, right? Apparently not. Not if this is how they play after a full week’s preparation anyway. 
 
This was 90 soul destroying minutes with not a single tiny little crumb of positivity to take from it, and any sliver of hope I’d allowed myself to feel after Arsenal has gone now. They haven’t changed a bit; they’re still the same flaky, inconsistent unreliable twats who put a huge dampener on the entire summer after what they served up in the Europa Final. Fucking losers.
 
Call it an over reaction if you like, and I really, really, hope it is and that I’m being a hysterical, knee jerk fanny, but watching this it just felt like nothing has changed and the flaws we’ve had for years haven’t been addressed, not least the complete lack of balls and backbone. 
 
Anyone can lose a game of course, and it’s not even that we were beaten by a newly promoted side that’s the main issue (although that is always hugely deflating). No, it’s the all too familiar manner of this loss that is most depressing. We just can’t beat shite teams and that’s what has been holding us back for years. Is there another team out there who could lose 2-0 despite having 81% possession and only allowing two shots on target? 
 
It’s almost impossible to do, but we usually find a way. This is the kind of thing we do frequently, it’s just so fucking easy for shite to beat us. We’re great underdogs but terrible favourites.
 

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[Paul]

Yep.

[an tha]

Only go the preview part as I am too tight to pay for a membership or whatever...but seems pretty much dead on to me.

 

We lack nous and bollocks and the guile to break these shite teams down and have done for years.... and it looks like nothing has changed.

 

New season, same old Liverpool.

 

You just can't trust this team and it's flaws are so obvious yet remain unfixed.

 

I am quite amazed that Klopp hasn't brought in men in his own image and that we continue to line up with the same passive shithouses that have led us into the mediocrity we find ourselves marooned in....I also find it unbelievable that he genuinely believes in what he has, he isn't stupid.

 

You'd expect to see some signs of change, some signs that we have learnt/are learning our lessons in these games, that Klopp has found a way to get the players up for it enough, that we have a plan B if plan A fails - but there was not a shred of light in this display - just the same old depressing story. Literally nothing to grab hold of and say "It will be OK" you can see what we are trying to do about the problems we have and have had for so long in these games.

 

Just a depressing cocktail of the same shite:

 

Mistakes, getting bullied, no fight, poor decision making, lot's of aimless play with a lack of guile, urgency and pace. Conceding to just about every chance the opposition have - resorting to potshots from far out, gutless, spineless, abject shite...

 

The worst part is it was easy to see coming and it will remain the case until the problems, the gaping, glaring problems have been addressed - and as things stand it looks like none of them have been and worse still it looks like there is no plan in place to do so.

[Paco]

The only reason sturridge seems to stay fit now is because he doesn't sprint. As you say though still the best finisher and needs to be up front. Maybe Klopp wants rid of him and playing him out wide might make him give Klopp an excuse.

[jonnyp]

A midfield of Coutinho, Lallana, Firmino with Sturridge on the right is lightweight against a compact, well drilled team who are up for it.

 

We're four players down from the get-go as we head into a match that requires fight, backbone and heart.

 

On their day all can be great, but when they're off and worse still all on the same off -menstrual-cycle it never ends well.

 

Where are our leaders, fighters and basically give-a-fuckers?

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Spot on. I'll be honest, the win against Arsenal, and the manner in which we shipped goals after being ahead raised alarm bells for me that this could be more of the same - we attack or defend, there is no in between.

 

What I found more worrying was Klopp saying the drills we'd been doing hadn't included anything for giving the ball away at the wrong time. That's exactly what we should've expected, for Burnley to wait for the opportunity, to suddenly press for a mistake, doing to Klopp what he's done to others.

 

Watch Lallana, Henderson and Wijnaldum at those moments, and it's clear their mindset is already switched to the transition to attack, and it takes them a moment to realise what's going on. Those are the moments that a DM or even a smart CM who can read the game are absolutely worth their weight in gold.

 

Maybe more drills and time together will improve them as a unit, but it'll take a few good performances stringed together to wash away the way last season ended, and the lurking suspicion that little has changed.

[Paco]

A midfield of Coutinho, Lallana, Firmino with Sturridge on the right is lightweight against a compact, well drilled team who are up for it.

 

We're four players down from the get-go as we head into a match that requires fight, backbone and heart.

 

On their day all can be great, but when they're off and worse still all on the same off -menstrual-cycle it never ends well.

 

Where are our leaders, fighters and basically give-a-fuckers?

They had 4 in midfield and we had 5. No matter who was in there we should have outnumbered them.

[an tha]

The only reason sturridge seems to stay fit now is because he doesn't sprint. As you say though still the best finisher and needs to be up front. Maybe Klopp wants rid of him and playing him out wide might make him give Klopp an excuse.

if he wants rid, then just get rid. 

 

fucking us up fucking about with him isn't the answer

[ZonkoVille77]

As I said in the match thread before the game, we'd likely lose this game. It's what we do. Shithouses.

 

We're fucking shite.

[jonnyp]

They had 4 in midfield and we had 5. No matter who was in there we should have outnumbered them.

 

Thank you for underlining my point.

 

Its qualitative not quantitative. 5 weak vs 4 strong

[s(k)aturation]

Our arch rival isn't United or Everton anymore.

 

It's the parked bus.

[mattyq]

It really annoys me when Henderson receives the ball and ships it back to Lovren straught away. He's the MF and he should be taking it forward.

Lovren was doing his hands behind his back thing again for one of the goals as well

[Einch]

Sturridge is broken. There's not much point in him being on from the start if he is not able to cope. I understood the plan for Burnley. Start from the back and draw them out and then pass it quickly through them and get at the defenders fast. The plan has one massive flaw - our players. Bunch of wasters.

[Stickman]

I think Sturridge's training consists of him sitting on his arse all week then al long as he doesn't strain anything while doing that then he gets stuck on the pitch at the weekend .

Until we get a couple of horrible bastards on the pitch who will kick arse (theirs and ours) then results like this will keep happening.

[Section_31]

Sturridge and Henderson should have been replaced with top class players. We also desperately needed a central defender and a left back. We needed a Houllier-like window this window - a completely new spine - but we've not got it, for whatever reason. I can only hope we've got our eye on players and will pull a couple of quality signings out of the bad.

 

I'd personally fuck off Leilana and Firminho while they've still got decent sell on value, do similar jobs, both lightweight and unable to be depended upon.   

 

Replacing Mig (who's a fucking disgrace) was a good start, as was getting rid of Allen. 

[eeyore]

Disappointed no reference to whynaldum

[Stickman]

Disappointed no reference to whynaldum

I think we're still trying to come to terms with how to spell his name right.....Give it a few more weeks and the forum will be up and running

[stringvest]

It really annoys me when Henderson receives the ball and ships it back to Lovren straught away. He's the MF and he should be taking it forward.

Lovren was doing his hands behind his back thing again for one of the goals as well

 

 

He panics if there's any opposition within 10 yards of him when he receives the ball.  It's awful.

[liverpoolsno9]

Carragher said in his commentary that Burnleys best chances are gonna come from our goal kicks. Ming looking for the short one, with Burnley pressing our back line into mistakes. There was couple occasions where Ming obviously doesn't want to hit it long but there wasn't a short kick on, so he plays it into 1 of the back 4, under pressure, where the only option is to give it back to Ming who can then kick it long. What the fuck? Meaningless, stupid passes amongst the back 4 & keeper is something I thought we'd seen the back of with Bodgers. Against these teams that are gonna press us to fuck, it's asking for trouble. Just because he can't fucking kick it, I mean, a GK that can't kick a dead ball long? It can't be overstated how much Ming is fucking us up, every part of his game is shit. Doesn't help when the 10 players in front seem to be lacking the basics though. How many simple, misplaced passes did we see, not even hurried into errors. Another thing that struck me is the ability of some of the spineless twats to control the ball. Basics. We're just shit, we'll be doing well to beat last years position. Selling Wee Joe has weakened us and he wasn't good enough. Oh, and Firmino can fuck off.

[Mark M]

Mignolet the shot stopping goal keeper that doesn't actually stop any shots.

[Ipplfc]

It's been three months since that horror show in the Europa league final,three fuck'n months and we are forced to play Milner (who has stated he hates playing there)as a left back,that's a fuck'n joke.two games and Lovren has turned his back on two shots both resulting in goals,that sums up this team for me,a shower of fuck'n shithouses