Jurgen Klopp readily admits there’s plenty of things about the club that he doesn’t know yet. In midweek for example he was caught out by not knowing when we last won the League Cup. He’s learning more and more about us every day, and this weekend he learned that any time it looks like we’re going places, and any time all of our rivals drop points and open the door for us, we piss down our own leg like drunken tramps. It’s what we’ve been doing for years.
I had hoped that we might have left all that behind and that Klopp’s influence could rid us of that shit, but sadly that’s not the case. He was asked before the game if he was worried about over-confidence but he didn’t even know what that meant! When it was explained to him that it meant “everyone expects you to beat Newcastle, are you worried about that?” he replied “We expect to beat Newcastle too, but we have to show respect”.
The fans confidence levels were at ridiculously high levels, with many expecting another six goal blast and even those who weren’t quite so cocky were still expecting a win. I certainly didn’t think we’d score six (I went with 3-1 beforehand) and I expected it to be a more difficult game than many did, but I also didn’t see any way that we would lose to what is, let’s face it, a fucking terrible Newcastle team.
Unfortunately it looked like half the team (and by half I mean the midfield and forwards) felt all they had to do was show up to win. That’s what it boils down to for me, I’ve got no doubt the reason we were so poor was complacency. They turn up for the big games knowing they have to put in a performance but they rolled up here just expecting to wallop Newcastle, and instead they had their pants pulled down and their arses spanked. This is exactly why we were all “doubters”, Jurgen, because any time we start to become “believers” it blows up in our fucking faces. We’re mentally scarred from years of this kind of shit.
I can’t remember the last time I was so angry after a loss though. Honestly, I’m seething about this one and woke this morning in a foul mood because of it. There were plenty of games last season when I was furious with the performance, but this is different because we’re better than this. We were something of a lost cause last year, but it needn’t be like that now as they’ve shown what they’re capable of. It’s always the hope that kills you and while talk of the title may have been a little fanciful and premature, when you look at the teams that are supposed to be the genuine contenders then why would you not fancy our chances? All the top teams are flawed, but it was beginning to look like maybe we were a bit less flawed than some of the others. Then they serve up this steaming turd of a performance and we remember exactly why up until a few weeks ago no-one gave us a chance.
There’s no excuse for this though. It was utter shite. We started shite, we ended shite and we were shite in the middle. If another half an hour was added at the end we’d have been shite in that too. We’ve conceded two goals so you can argue the defence aren’t blameless, but I don’t have any issue with the back four at all (and neither did Klopp in his interview afterwards). Newcastle only had one shot on target, and that was the breakaway goal in stoppage time when we were chasing the game. Their first goal was a fluke, so I’m not putting this on the defence in any way shape or form. They could have defended that goal better and I’m not saying they were perfect, but they shouldn’t have to play a perfect game against fucking Newcastle. Not if the forwards are at the races,
Moreno was easily our best player, while Skrtel, Lovren and Clyne were three of the least shit. We lost this game because the forwards were fucking garbage and the midfield (Joe Allen apart) was almost as bad. It’s easy to say we missed Coutinho but he wasn’t there on Wednesday night and we scored six, so I’m not buying that at all. Even without him and Can, we had more than enough to win this game.
I didn’t like the team selection even before the game, but Klopp obviously knew earlier in the week more or less what he was going to do and he picked his Southampton team with that in mind. I can’t really be too critical because I haven’t agreed with quite a few other team selections and they’ve paid off spectacularly, so he knows what he’s doing and of course we’re all experts when we have the benefit of hindsight. Benteke, Milner and Firmino were all rested with this game in mind, but all three of them were shite and looked anything but ‘rested’. I don’t blame Klopp for that, I blame them.
I understand why Sturridge didn’t start as he needs to be handled carefully, but Origi had just a hit a hat-trick and his pace would have troubled Newcastle. Leaving him out for Benteke was not the right call for me. The lad’s confidence will have been sky high so just let him go out and play until he shows he shouldn’t be in the team. I’m not saying Origi would have been great against Newcastle, but he deserved the opportunity to go out and at least try to be.
Benteke hasn’t done enough to deserve a starting place and in this game he was fucking gash. He offered nothing at all and he wasted the best chance we had when he hammered over the bar from a few years out. The commentators barely made anything of that but it was a shocking, inexcusable miss. If he scores that we go on to win the game, I’m certain of that. He was getting on my tits from inside the first couple of minutes though. Moreno put in a brilliant first time ball and he was just scratching his arse outside the box, not paying attention. He didn’t look switched on all day, the big dope.
I’ve made certain allowances for him all season because he isn’t getting the kind of service he needs, but I’m finding it difficult to argue with those who reckon he’s just not consistent or committed enough to produce good displays week in week out. He’s mostly been poor punctuated with moments of explosiveness that have resulted in some great goals. I do still think he’ll score goals for us, but the concern now is that when he’s in the team maybe nobody else will. The stats with and without him tell an interesting - and fairly depressing - story. He needs to up his game as he's not at Villa anymore and this isn't acceptable.
Then there’s Firmino, who was brilliant at City and has been crap ever since. He contributed absolutely fuck all too. How he stayed on as long as he did I have no idea, but this just isn't good enough and he needs to be told in no uncertain terms to pull his finger out of his arse. Newcastle are fucking shit, he should be tearing them a new one, instead he’s like the invisible man except when he magically appears to hit the kind of fucking feeble, half arse shot that I usually only ever see at my nine year old daughter’s footy practice. Maybe spend less time in the tfucking barbers and tattoo parlour and more time on the training field doing shooting practice? A few weeks ago he looked like Suarez, but ever since he’s been Iago fucking Aspas. Can he only perform when he’s got little Phil there to hold his fucking hand? Honestly, I’m fucking seething with Benteke and Firmino right now.
Then there’s Milner, bless him. He just can’t play wide because he’s slower than me. In that first half I felt sorry for him because he seemed to be about two yards slower than everyone else. He’s game enough, he wants to do the right things but his legs just won’t get him there. Centre midfield in a three or on the bench. No wonder he doesn’t want to play wide anymore, the lad knows he doesn’t have the pace for it.
Jordon Ibe has no such worries, he’s got all the pace he needs and then some. Unfortunately for all his dangerous running and direct play, he managed to produce the square root of fuck all against Newcastle. He was utterly infuriating, but at least he looked like he might do something, which is more than any of the others did.
Sturridge eventually came on and he was just as bad as the rest. Lallana (who came on at the same time) played a great ball through to him which should have resulted in the equaliser. Instead it resulted in a horrifically screwed right foot shot that almost hit the corner flag. It summed up the day. Lallana was ok when he came on and we saw the value of him when he wasn’t there. He’s the one that leads the pressing, the others usually take their lead from him. It’s not just about running (which he does more than anyone), it’s about knowing where and when to do it, and clearly he’s the best we have at that side of things. No wonder Klopp seems to love him.
Lucas was fucking woeful as well. His day began badly when he passed the ball straight into touch to end a good spell of pressure we had in the opening minute. He continued in that vain throughout (booting another one into touch after the break) and also collected his customary booking. I’d say it’s a safe bet that having to play twice in four days is the problem there, usually he gets a rest in midweek and after this it’s easy to see why.
It was just horrible seeing them play like this and it seems totally inexplicable that they can suddenly go from being so great to looking like shit. Believing their own hype is the most obvious explanation for me, and I hope Klopp watches the tape of this with them and then lays into them all on Monday, the bunch of fucking wastrels. Every single year we seem to lose to the worst teams in the league. It’s a disease that has run rampant through the club since we last won the title. I can’t be arsed checking, but I reckon virtually every season you’ll find we’ve lost to at least one of the relegated clubs. There’s a complacency that needs stamping out, but I don’t know how you do it because players and manager change, but the pattern remains constant.
We were so bad I can’t even get worked up about the terrible offside decision that robbed Moreno of what would have been a brilliant equaliser. He was a good yard onside, but shit happens. Last week we got lucky with penalty decision, this week we got unlucky with an offside. We didn’t deserve to win either game really so all in all we’re a point better off than our performances warranted.
If we hadn’t demolished Southampton in midweek how would we be feeling right now? That win definitely went to our heads a bit but it’s fair enough I think. When you see your team play like that, so soon after doing the same thing to City a couple of weeks back, it’s understandable that belief is going to soar. It’s also perfectly acceptable for us as fans to get carried away and talk about how we’re going to do this and that. It makes no difference because we aren’t the ones out there on the pitch. Besides, you can’t blame people for getting a little ahead of themselves and dreaming of what might be, because it’s no fun being a miserable fucker and expecting the worst all the time.
We didn’t get beat by Newcastle because fans suddenly got excited and started dreaming of a possible title challenge. That has absolutely fuck all to do with it, this is completely on the players, not us. They built us up and then they let us down, same as always. Klopp isn’t used to that as he’s not been here long enough. Maybe now he’s starting to understand just why we were such damaged goods when he arrived.
Liverpool are the smackhead family member always trying to get clean. Just when you think they’ve got their shit together and you begin to trust them again and allow them back in your house, you come home one day and the flatscreen TV has vanished and yer ma’s last tenner has been swiped from her purse. No matter what the Reds do over the next few weeks it’s going to take a good while before I trust them again.
We lost against Palace but that was different. We played ok in that game, the attitude was good but on the day luck wasn’t with us and we lost to a dangerous opponent. I can live with that because you can’t win ‘em all and you’ll get days like that when it just isn’t meant to be. It’s an “acceptable defeat” if you like. What happened against Newcastle is a completely different ballgame and even if we win our next three games 8-0 I’m not falling into this trap again. Many of us went from doubters to believers just like Kloppo asked us to, but fuck that. I’m jumping back into the doubters camp because it’s less painful when they inevitably let us down.
Team: Mignolet; Clyne, Skrtel, Lovren, Moreno; Lucas, Allen; Ibe (Origi), Firmino (Lallana), Milner; Benteke (Sturridge):
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