Hoffenheim 1 Liverpool 2 (Aug 15 2017)

[tlw content]

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.


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[eeyore]

the link to read full report doesnt work on tapatalk..

[Bobby Hundreds]

Just waiting till the day Moreno spots a butterfly while playing and ends up climbing through the stands chasing it.

[Rotpeter]

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.

[sir roger]

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.

[DaveT]

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?!

[3 Stacks]

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.

[Ipplfc]

I'm worried about how shit hendo's been in the first two games.

Hopefully it's just him getting back into it