All that good work from the kids to get us this far, only for it end like this? With a fucking whimper. This was a chance to get back on track and prevent a wobble becoming a slump. After this? Yeah now it’s a slump.
There’s a danger of over-reacting and I’m very conscious of that. It wasn’t our strongest eleven and Chelsea away is always tough. The first half performance was alright other than some pitiful finishing. So all of that comes into play. But that second half was so fucking shambolic that it’s hard not to be concerned about just what the fuck has happened to us recently.
If it was just Origi being shite, Lallana being off the pace and Minamino completely vanishing in the second half there’d be nothing to worry about. It wasn’t just that though. The key players are the biggest worry. This was a chance for some of them to put Watford out of their system, but instead they’ve just added to the sense of unease.
Fabinho was dogshit. Robbo wasn’t much better. Mané cut a frustrated, irritated figure all night and I thought he was going to get sent off after the final whistle when he lost his shit with the snide that is Azpilacueta. Even Van Dijk’s standards have plummeted. He was so fucking casual he may as well have taken to the field with a dressing gown and a pipe, while Gomez was worse than all of them. Maybe they’re all still unsettled by Lovren on Saturday?
I’m glad Lovren was nowhere to be seen this time because now people have to look at what the real problem is; it’s not one player, it’s all of them. And I mean, ALL of them. Nobody is playing well right now. Not one of them and I defy anyone to tell me I’m wrong.
It’s hard to fathom what’s happening right now, but that second half was just so desperate. It was really tough to watch because it was obvious we were never going to score and there was a real danger we’d concede three or four. From the moment it went to 2-0 I was fighting the urge to just switch the telly off because it was just so frustrating. Obviously I didn’t do it, but the fact it was even a consideration shows how hopeless it seemed.
It didn’t start off like that though. The first half was frustrating as fuck, but only because we just couldn’t finish off a lot of damn good approach play. There was a lot to like about the first half. We looked like us again. Not exactly like us, as we were far too open in midfield and looked vulnerable to counter attacks.
The midfield trio of Fabinho, Lallana and Jones looked unbalanced. In the Watford report I dismissed the notion that our problem was the absence of Henderson. I’m still not going there, not completely anyway. We should be able to cope without him but the evidence suggests maybe we can’t.
He wouldn’t solve all of our current ills but the one thing that is glaring is that teams are able to run right through us when he’s not there. We play such an offensive style that it’s a really fine line we walk. Klopp describes it as ‘protecting our own attacks’ and what we can clearly see now is we don’t do that anywhere near as well without Hendo.
Our openness coupled with some inventive play up front made for an entertaining half though. We had loads of chances and played some excellent football to slice through Chelsea. Williams was bombing forward and putting in some sumptuous crosses.
Minimino buzzed around was involved far more than we’ve seen him in any of his other appearances, while Mané got himself into some great situations without making the most of them.
Our finishing was fucking hopeless though. If we hit the target then it was usually straight at Kepa. I think we all feared the worst after that pinball incident in their box when Kepa made three saves in as many seconds from Sadio, Origi and Jones.
We had others chances that we squandered too. The only time Kepa was actually stretched was after a sensational run and shot by Sadio that he parried wide. That was also the only time all night that Sadio looked like Sadio in front of goal.
Chelsea had their chances too. Adrian made an incredible save to deny Willian, but seconds later he undid his good work by fumbling one in from the same player. That goal was a fucking shambles, and not just because of Adrian’s blunder.
The fannying around with it around our own box when Chelsea had so many players high up in position to press was just reckless. Fabinho’s role in it can’t be ignored either. Shite that, but then he’s looked off the pace ever since he came back from injury.
Adrian made another incredible save after the break to tip Giroud’s effort onto the underside of the bar, and he also denied Pedro when he raced clear after a mix up between Williams and Gomez. I don’t attach any blame to him for Chelsea’s second goal either, but I am convinced that Alisson would have saved it. Alison is too good to let that fucking bum Ross Barkley score past him.
That isn’t a knock on Adrian as most keepers would have been beaten by it, but you rarely if ever see Alisson concede anything that doesn’t go right into the corner. This wasn’t in the corner. Adrian was beaten by the pace of it, but I don’t think Alisson would have been because he never is.
Which brings me to the question; why was Alisson not selected? Klopp went with a strong team and the only regulars who didn’t start were ones who clearly needed to be rested - Trent, Gini, Bobby and Mo. Alison didn’t need a rest though. So why not pick him?
Probably because of this gentleman’s agreement that clubs seem to have with the back up keeper whereby they get to play in the cups. I get it, and if Klopp has indeed promised Adrian that he’d feature in the FA Cup then he has to stand by that. All I’m saying is that if Alisson had played then I don’t think we’d have lost. We’ll never know of course, and as I say if Klopp has made that agreement with Adrian then it’s all moot anyway.
The one thing I really can’t fathom is the continual selection of Origi on the left. He’s SHITE on the left wing. Absolute fucking shite. Time and again we see the same performance. from him, yet time and again Klopp puts him out there on the left wing.
He’s a centre forward. Not a great one, but he’s got a good knack for finding the net. Klopp has done him absolutely no favours this season by persistently using him on the left. He’s better on the right than he is on the left, and he’s not really much good there either.
The priority this summer has to be signing another forward who is as good as or even better than throatier we have. That’s how you avoid stagnating. The front three are all 100% sure of their places and after a while that is no longer healthy. Origi is no threat to them. Neither are Shaqiri (if he was ever fit) or Minamino. That’s the next step we have to take. Whether that’s Timo Werner or somebody else I don’t know, but that’s what needs to happen.
You know what pissed me off more than anything though? Klopp’s substitutions. Firstly, he left it too late to bring on Milner and Firmino. Secondly, taking Jones off ahead of Fabinho or Lallana was absolutely incredible to me. What the fuck? I know it was done for defensive reasons but we were 2-0 down.
So what if Jones is somewhat naive in his off the ball positioning. At least he was doing something when he had it. That change annoyed the fuck out of me to be honest. Move him into the front three then, or switch to 4-2-3-1 or something. Replacing him with Milner was not going to overturn a 2-0 deficit though, that’s for sure.
Thirdly, Salah should have been on the instant it went to 2-0. Why would you wait until 80 minutes to put him on if you were trying to stay in the cup? There are a number of fans who regularly make sneering remarks about Klopp not giving a shit about the FA Cup. I wouldn’t quite go that far, but I don’t think he’s arsed that we’re out and the fact he waited so long to introduce Salah is fairly damning.
The thing is, I’m probably less arsed about the FA Cup than anyone. Hell, I’d have played the kids again if it were up to me. Klopp didn’t do that and you could argue that the selection of Van Dijk over Matip was proof as to how seriously he was taking the game.
I don’t see it quite like that though. I think he went with a stronger side than he initially intended to because we’d lost two of our previous three and he didn’t want to suffer another loss. He wanted to win the game more than he wanted to progress in the cup, and when it became clear that we were probably going to lose, his substitutions spoke volumes to me.
This one stings at the moment but in a few weeks it will long be forgotten. That’s why we need to keep our perspective here. The last two games have been shockers. In fact, the last four have really. So it’s easy to get down about it but the reality is that we’re going to win the title and we’re well on course for the highest points total EVER.
That has us somewhat spoiled. We’re not used to losing and I think as fans we’re in danger of forgetting how to react to it. I’m not pointing fingers here, as I’m including myself in this. My reaction during and immediately after the Watford and Chelsea losses was completely over the top. Given what the lads have done this season and last (and the one before that for that matter) we don’t have the right to be as angry as some of us are.
That being said, we’d better fucking beat Bournemouth this weekend because this slump could quickly become a crisis. Thank fuck we’re so far ahead otherwise the nerves would be jangling massively now. It’s not just a win we need though, it’s some form. We don’t have a fucking hope in hell of breaking down Atletico playing like this, so the quicker we snap out of this the better.
We will snap to of it, of that I have no doubt. The question is how quickly. We have a spell like this every winter. It cost us the title last year when we had all those draws. Our dip always comes in the month or so after Christmas and then we get our second wind and end the season well. If we get past Atletico we’ve got a great chance of going all the way again. Will we get past Atletico though? Not playing like this we won’t, so Jurgen needs to figure this out quickly.
Star man? Just like Saturday I’m not naming one as nobody deserved it. It would have been Adrian but for the howler on their first goal. The least shit was probably Williams (shite second half crossing notwithstanding) or Jones, but they didn’t do enough for me to justify giving either the star man, so no-one gets it.
Team: Adrian; Williams, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Lallana (Salah), Jones (Milner); Mané, Minamino, Origi (Firmino)
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