1. Same old, same old.
2. Same shit, different season.
3. Groundhog Day.
4. Elaborate, you say? Really? OK:
a. We are an absolute shambles defensively. This shit needs drilling and drilling and drilling some more until the players can't stand the sight of either Klopp or Melwood. And then he should drill them again. As a group, they are utterly pathetic when it comes to defending; embarrassing even.
b. There is no doubt in my mind that for the open style of football we play a very dominant, pacy, organising centre half would help a great deal and that we should be prepared to pay through the nose for him (Virgil van Dijk you say?). And if you throw a fast, aggressive, box to box midfielder (Naby Keita anyone?) in front of him, no doubt that'd help too. However, even with such players in place, I refer you back to point 4a.
c. Everyone knows we have these issues and everyone exploits them. Over to you Jurgen because you're in your third season and this shit isn't looking any better. Yes, you're all-in on signing top class solutions, but this is far from just a player issue as I'm in danger of over-emphasising now.
d. And while I'm on about Klopp and defensive errors, who the hell makes unforced changes in their back four when closing out a game in injury time? It was asking for a trouble, me and every single one of the TLW boys in our whatsapp group called it as it happened and sure as shit, we conceded. Was it down to Gomez? No. But the last thing you do is give a wobbly back four something new to think about at the death of a game when you're holding on for three points.
e. The lack of a controlling/creative midfielder was glaring too - especially in the first half.
f. Origi: what's the point? The lad has all the tools in his locker to be a grocked-out Thierry Henry, but he's anything but. Did he even touch the ball more than twice after coming on? Pitiful - and that's exactly the same as he was all last season.
5. Got to find some positives now:
a. Can Trent take all our set pieces now please? The lad has a boss cross on him from open play, but also whipped in good free kicks and corners today too.
b. Sadio Mané is sensational. He basically just decided he was fed up losing, grabbed hold of the ball and orchestrated and then finished the first goal. What a talent - and what a character too. More like him please, LFC transfer spreadsheet nerds.
c. Mo Salah started pretty anonymously and then found his groove after his goal and proceeded to show he's going to be a serious asset for us. Nice.
d. *Grits teeth* Albert The Moron wasn't a liability.
6. Before kick off, I was sympathetic towards the club's position regarding Coutinho, VVD and Keita; now I just think there's a reason shit doesn't go our way. It's because we're shit.
7. That doesn't change the fact that we still need to do some serious business in what remains of this window and also put Coutinho and Kia Joo-whatsit back in their boxes. A genuine title challenge is the minimum expectation this season, but this lot won't be enough; nowhere near, in fact.
8. Klopp needs to step up because he has a world class reputation and a world class salary, but starting season three with exactly the same problems he inherited from Brendan Rodgers is pretty far from world class.
9. I'm hoping to be more measured by the Palace game, but it's not been the best of weeks has it?
Paul Natton
@OxtonSoulBoy
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