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Manchester City 4 Liverpool 0 (Jul 2 2020)

     

     
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    Dave Usher

After the Lord Mayor’s Show as they say, and as far as results go this was a dung cart and a half. The performance didn’t really reflect the scoreline but against City you only have to be a little bit off and this is what can happen. 

 

I’m just glad our Etihad nemesis Aguero was missing otherwise this could have been really embarrassing. 

 

Ordinarily 4-0 would be embarrassing enough but with the title already won and this result cutting our lead to a mere 20 points, embarrassment isn’t really the right word. Neither is humbling, or chastening or whatever. 

 

We’re the Champions and we’re 20 points ahead of City regardless of what happened in this game, so I don’t actually know how to best describe this loss. I know I hated it though. I had a proper cob on for the rest of the night and I’m still irked about it this morning. 

 

Maybe that’s unreasonable and if you’re not arsed about what happened at the Etihad then more power to you. I just hated seeing us lose like THAT. And to lose like that to THEM.

 

Judging by how tetchy Klopp was afterwards on Sky you could be forgiven for thinking he felt the same. It’s only when you watch the interview he did with LFCTV straight afterwards that you understand how he really felt about it. He was more philosophical than angry, but that’s almost certainly because of the line of questioning.

 

When assessing Klopp’s post match mood you have to take into account just what a monumental dick bag Geoff Shreeves is. He’s probably the worst one out there as his questions are just fucking moronic half of the time. Lowest common denominator, basic, shitty redtop style questions. He’s the Jim White of TV.

 

Usually Klopp shows more patience with him but I completely understood why he got so arsey this time. There’s a reason every top manager has had run ins with this tool. After a bad result the last thing you need is Shreeves pushing his own little narrative and trying to get you to take a stroll down “Whopper Avenue” with him.

 

He asks a stupid question based on his own agenda and when he doesn’t get the answer he wants he asks the same stupid question in a slightly different way hoping he’ll get what he’s looking for. 

 

Instead of asking Klopp “so, how did that happen?” and just letting him talk (Jurgen is great analysing how the game went) he wanted to peddle the story he’d tried to get going pre-match about our players not being prepared or focused because they’ve been celebrating all week.

 

Like I say, it’s lowest common denominator, redtop shite and it clearly got Klopp's back up. The players had one night on the ale, a week ago, and have been training hard ever since. There was no lack of effort from them and they took the game seriously. 

 

They didn’t lose because some of them got bevvied a week ago. They lost because they were wasteful with the countless opportunities they created and they made far too many stupid mistakes in defence. The effort was there in spades, it’s insulting to infer that it wasn’t.

 

If you want to put the result down to partying or them not being arsed about the rest of the season then that just tells me that you haven’t been paying attention. It’s not who these players are and it’s definitely not who Klopp is. That was why he was pissed off in his Sky interview, not because we lost.

 

The LFCTV interview was much more informative simply because Peter McDowall basically just says “disappointing result there, Jurgen. What went wrong?” Klopp then tells him what went wrong. 

 

Not clinical enough, too many mistakes, can’t do that against such a strong opponent etc. 

 

And that’s exactly what it was. The easiest and laziest thing in the world is to put this down to the players not being up for it, but it’s nonsense. They were still running and trying to score even in stoppage time at 4-0 down.

 

Effort wasn’t the problem. Intensity wasn’t the problem. Sloppiness at both ends of the pitch was the problem and yes maybe that’s in some tiny part due to them not playing for the highest stakes possible, and therefore not quite being fully switched on mentally. 

 

Rather than it being a lack of effort, I think it was more a lack of fear. By that I mean usually when we play City everyone has to be completely focused on not making any mistakes because the stakes are so high. You have to play almost the perfect game because if you don’t the consequences can be catastrophic.

 

That wasn’t the case this time though as we already had the title sewn up. Maybe players were taking too many risks? Being a little too casual? Some of the decision making was terrible so I'm just saying, maybe the ‘nothing to lose’ thing comes into it, even at a subconscious level. 

 

We might have gotten away with it against most opponents but Sterling and De Bruyne were bang up for this game and they made us pay.

 

It hurts. I don’t like it. I’m still sore about it but it can happen. If anything, it highlights even more just how incredible it is that we’re 20 points ahead of these fuckers. 

 

This game really came down to who scored first. We started the game well and I felt we were well on top for the most part until we gave away the penalty. That changed the momentum of the game but it was the second goal that really killed us I think.

 

After that I thought we looked wide open and ripe for City’s counter attacks. We never really got close enough to De Bruyne (even though funnily enough I thought Fabinho actually had a good first half) and Trent and Joe had too many problems with Sterling. 

 

I can sort of understand that. You come up against De Bruyne and Sterling when they’re at their best and it’s tough. The most disappointing thing for me was how Robbo made that little fucking manc ballbag Phil Foden look like Messi. 

 

That was hard to take as I just hate Foden. I have no rational explanation for it other than it’s just his fucking face. He’s right up there with the most annoying faces out there. He’s my new Jon Dahl Tomasson I think. I see his face and just want to slap it.

 

This was such a strange game. The score makes it look like we got battered, especially as City could easily have scored more, but it didn’t really feel like a battering and it definitely didn’t start out that way.

 

We began the game really brightly. Mo should have done better when Van Dijk’s ball over the top sent him clear. He brought it down on his chest and then went for power with his shot, forcing Ederson into a decent save. 

 

Thing is, Ederson was stood 14 yards out and the ball was bouncing so Mo should have lobbed him. It would have been more difficult to miss than score in that situation. All you have to do is get it over his head and you’ve got the whole goal to aim for. To make it even more frustrating, Bobby completely fluffed the rebound, which summed up his night really.

 

Mo then went through again and struck the post with a well placed shot. That was just unlucky. To make it even more frustrating, Sadio completely fluffed the rebound, which summed up his night really.

 

It felt like the goal was coming but then City went ahead completely against the run of play.

 

I don’t have any complaints about the penalty. Yes, Sterling grabs Gomez first, but that’s just two players grappling and it’s fine. It’s also fine when Joe has a grab back at him too. The problem is he keeps hold of him and then has two bites at trying to tackle him while doing so. 

 

Sterling went down easily in the end but when a defender has been pulling you for two or three seconds, preventing you from getting away, at that point you’re entitled to go down. Clear penalty for me.

 

Not great from Gomez, but Henderson and Wijnaldum are both just stood there looking at him and neither moved to help him out. I do wonder if Joe defends that way against another City player though? Was he trying to outmuscle Sterling rather than just defend him properly, or am I overthinking that?

 

Anyway, absolutely no complaints for me on that decision by Anthony Taylor other than why exactly was Gomez booked? If that’s outside the box there’s no way that’s given as a yellow card. A penalty is more than sufficient punishment and I thought Taylor was completely out of order putting Gomez into the book too. Maybe that’s the law now, it’s hard to keep track of the bullshit changes that they’re making every year.

 

Joe was actually hooked at half time and the booking was probably a big factor in that. Fabinho moved to centre back for the second half and did ok. At this point it feels like it makes more sense using him if needed than bringing in Lovren, but we’ll see what happens whenever Gomez is rested. I feel like we haven’t seen the last of Big Dejan yet.

 

I wasn’t overly concerned at going a goal down but the second one really was a killer. Suddenly it felt like we had a mountain to climb. Just a really shitty goal to give away too.

 

When we’ve played City in recent years the thing we’ve done really well is not give the ball away cheaply. Because when you give it away cheaply and De Bruyne picks it up in space, you’re fucked really. They get runners going wide to spread you out and De Bruyne always picks the right ball.

 

This time Gini gave it away needlessly and before you know it they’ve bypassed our midfield and are running at our back-pedalling defenders. It was happening all night.

 

De Bruyne found Foden and he picked out Sterling. Gomez has no chance at this point as he’s caught on his heels when Sterling immediately cuts back inside with this first touch. 2-0 and it’s the player we’d least want to make an impact who’s done all the damage. 

 

Turns out he can play well against us after all, but only when there’s no fans in the stadium.

 

The third goal was probably the worst. Oh Robbo, just what the fuck was that? Actually I forgot to mention that on the second goal when Gini gave it away, Robbo inexplicably went chasing a ball he had no business going for and he ended up taking himself out of the play completely.

 

Well he did it again on the third goal. It was embarrassing actually. So rash it was worthy of a Sunday League player. He just charged at Foden, completely out of control, and he made it easy for the City youngster to just pop the ball off and then spin off him into space.

 

I don’t think Alisson covered himself in glory either as Foden was on his right foot and had Alisson dropped back and made him beat him with a well placed shot then you could accept that. Instead he just charged out and was beaten by a shot that ended up in the middle of the goal. Not good.

 

Sterling almost bagged a second when he ran half the length of the field before his shot was deflected inches wide by Fabinho. Look at Robbo on that one again though. Chasing the ball like a dog in the park.

 

The fourth goal was self inflicted too. Trent was just so fucking casual and weak there. He presented the ball to City and once again they had us turned around and De Bruyne was running at our retreating defence.

 

Again, look at Robbo though. He’s with Sterling but leaves him to track another runner who is already being picked up by Ox. The ball goes to Sterling in space, he turns inside a desperately trying to recover Robbo, and although his shot was going wide Ox didn’t know that and put it in his own net as he tried to block it.

 

It summed up the whole night. Just a comedy of errors. In between all those goals we had loads of opportunities but wasted them all. The high press worked well at times and we won the ball back frequently only to do nothing with it.

 

If there was one moment that summed up the attacking performance it was when Sadio found himself in front of goal with only Ederson to beat and he literally did nothing. Didn’t even touch the ball. Just allowed it to roll past him.

 

In the end City could have scored more than four. Actually they did but they had one laughably ruled out for ‘handball’ in stoppage time when Mahrez beat Alisson on his near post. 

 

Alisson had also gotten away with murder earlier when he came out for a cross he had no chance of getting and had to watch gratefully as De Bruyne put his header wide of an open goal. I’m not actually sure this was Alisson you know. Are we sure it wasn’t Adrian in an Alisson mask?

 

For all the calamities at the back though, on another day we’d have scored four or more too. You need to be clinical against City and we weren’t. It feels like this happens quite a lot in general and games are often a lot closer than they should be because of it.

 

It’s funny really because De Bruyne said before the game that we played better last season when we finished second. In some respects I think he’s right but I’d go one step further and say that in attacking terms we played even better the year before.

 

Of course we’re a vastly superior all around team now and we know how to get results in different ways, but as a unit I thought the front three dropped off a level last season from the year before, and I think they’ve dropped off even more this year.

 

Not to the extent that it’s hurt us, obviously, but can you honestly tell me that Firmino or Salah are playing as well as they did two years ago? Mané has actually gotten progressively better every year, but the front three as a whole have dropped off this year in terms of their goal output.

 

It seems daft pointing that out when we’re twenty points clear at the top and don’t get me wrong, I’m not making too big a thing of it. It’s just interesting I think.

 

The amount of games they’ve played over three years might even be the explanation for it. Bobby in particular has looked goosed for much of this season and seems to get subbed a lot. 

 

Could the lack of quality cover / competition for the front three be causing the drop off? Not only does it mean they don’t have to fight for their place but it also means they are hardly ever rested. Over the last three seasons they've gone from being unstoppable to brilliant to very good.

 

Bobby was really poor against City and it was no surprise when he was replaced by Origi, who unfortunately was equally ineffective. He's not the answer, although in fairness it's really difficult for bit part players who hardly play to ever show their best level. Look at Danny Ings now, for example. He wouldn't be playing like that if he was getting 15 minutes from our bench every other week.

 

You know what, I’m going to crunch some numbers here just to see how much of a drop off there has been. I’ll disregard the domestic cups and just go with Europe and the Premier League…. hold on.

 

Ok, so two years ago, the season when we reached the CL final and finished fourth. We scored 131 goals. An incredible 89 came from the three main forwards (we also got 12 in half a season from Coutinho). 

 

Last year when we won the CL and got 97 points, we scored 113 in total and got 69 from the front three, twenty less than the previous year.

 

This year, we’ve romped away with the league and so far have 87 goals. The front three are on just 51 though (which includes the World Club Cup when Bobby scored a couple). At best it looks like they’ll finish on mid 60s, which continues the downward trend.

 

My eyes tell me the same thing. When they’re on it the front lads are sensational (last week against Palace for example)  but whereas the team as a whole is much better now, the front line has dropped off two years in a row now.

 

Maybe it’s nothing to worry about and next year they’ll bounce back and score shitloads. But maybe they won’t? And if they don’t, what viable alternatives do we have to mix it up? 

 

The answer to that is none, unless you think Minamino is going to be able to provide the same kind of impact we’ve had from Mo, Sadio or Bobby over the last few years?.

 

Don’t mistake this for moaning. I love all three of those lads and they’ll all be remembered as legends when they eventually move on. This is a great team that has achieved great things and hopefully this is just the start.

 

I’m not actually even criticising them as individuals and I’m certainly not calling for any of them to be replaced. If anything I’d like us to get them some help as I fear we might be asking too much of them. A fourth player who can share the load and help to keep everyone fresh and fighting for their place would be just lovely, but I won't hold my breath. 

 

I just think it has to be at least a little bit of a concern to Klopp that the goal output from the forwards is decreasing year on year. It’s not like they don’t get enough chances. It feels like we get loads of great situations in almost every game, yet so often we’ve been winning 1-0 or 2-1. It just makes life more difficult when you aren’t clinical.

 

That’s what this came down to in the end. City were just much sharper in the final third and they were marginally less error prone at the back.

 

I say marginally because they made shitloads of errors too. How many times did we catch them playing out from the back, nick the ball from them and then waste the opportunity? Half a dozen at least. 

 

Do you remember who it was who gave the ball away though? I don’t but that’s only because we didn’t score from any of them. 

 

If we had made them pay for those mistakes then I expect people’s view of the performances of Laporte, Garcia, Rodri, Ederson or whoever would be entirely different. City would be discussing them the way we’re talking about Trent and Robbo today.

 

Games like this are often decided on little things. Yeah, in the end it got away from us and if you make the mistakes we did then you deserve whatever punishment you get. For a while though this game was in the balance.

 

If Mo’s shot goes in instead of hitting the post then we’re talking about a different game. If Anthony Taylor and VAR did their job and gave handball against Ederson and sent the cunt off, then we’re talking about a different game.

 

If the title had still been in the balance then I’d probably be talking about that decision forever, much like I still obsess about the same manc ref not sending off Kompany in this same fixture last season.

 

This time VAR also comes into it, but it still falls on Taylor because if he’d given handball it wouldn’t have been overturned. And it was handball. And it prevented a certain goal.

 

That reckless, ugly, neck tattooed cunt came flying out of his goal as he tends to do, and he completely fucked up his clearance. The ball hits his foot but then goes underneath him and if it doesn’t hit his elbow then Salah is clean through on goal.

 

With the title already wrapped up it’s not a big deal and will soon be forgotten but decisions like that change games. I don’t want that twat anywhere near our games with the Manchester clubs in future, but then I said that last year and here we are talking about him again.

 

I’m not blaming him for the result but equally there’s no denying that we’re talking about a completely different game if he sends Ederson off.

 

He didn’t though and we lost 4-0. It’s not nice but it was self inflicted and it might be a lesson that the lads can learn from. The margin for error you have in most games is just hugely smaller when Kevin De Bruyne is on the pitch.

 

What happens next is the most important thing. The points record is still on but we need to play much more like we did against Palace and a lot less like we did at Goodison and the Etihad.

 

I expect to see some changes for the weekend. Trent needs a kick up the arse and Neco is pushing hard for a spot so let him play against Villa. You could also make a case for starting Minamino in Bobby’s spot to see if he’s a viable option there.

 

Keita will probably come back too. I thought he was fairly lively when he came on in this game, whereas Ox didn’t really do anything to justify getting a start.

 

I honestly have no idea what to expect over the next few weeks now because football without fans is fucking weird and we’re seeing all kinds of mad results. 

 

With the title sewn up and so many games in a short space of time there’s naturally going to be a lot of rotation and we don’t know what that will mean for results.

 

One thing I’m not expecting is for us to win all six games as that almost seems impossible now under the circumstances. 

 

I know it doesn’t ultimately mean anything as winning the league was all that mattered, but I don’t want the season to fizzle out with a spattering of draws or even defeats. Let’s finish strong and lay down a marker for next season too, and yeah, that points record would be great while we're at it. Chances to make history don't come along that often so let's not waste it.

 

Star man isn’t easy as hardly anyone played well. Fabinho was fine, Hendo did alright and Salah looked lively (especially in the first half). I’ll probably go with Van Dijk as he did his job well enough and couldn’t really be held responsible for the clown show going on around him.

 

 

Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez (Oxlade-Chamberlain), Van Dijk, Roberton; Fabinho, Henderson, Wijnaldum (Keita); Salah, Firmino (Origi), Mané (Minamino):


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The title was won, we can't drop more points than city already have. In that respect the game mean't fuck all really. We won the games we had to win, when it really mattered. 

 

The next game is more important as apparently there's a only a short break between this season and next and I'd like us to not drift into bad form. The season was about 38 games total and not one game. They can have a win every season at their place if we can win the league, fuck it they can even have 5 goals while we carry off the Premiership if that makes them happy.

 

 

 

 

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I agree about the forwards as a unit. It feels like we've been waiting two years for them to "click" consistently. Amazing that we've crushed the league with them so often below what we think we know they're capable of.

 

Part of the explanation is that it's unfair to compare them with what might have been over-performance in the past, part is that we've adjusted and tightened up our overall game a bit and part is that opposition defences have been learning about what to do to neutralise them ( e.g. Firmino doesn't get so much space when he drops into the pocket and has to drop even deeper, nobody gives Mo time or space to place that left -footer into the top, far corner). 

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Great report as usual. Pretty much sums up how I felt watching it.

Never seen a good game when we lose or a bad one when we win.

Not having the pre-season friendly shit I'm hearing, it just hurts like fuck to lose.

Only plus for me, I turned off when they scored the fifth, got up this morning to find it only four.

I think Origi is very similar to what happened to Heskey, ask them to play away from their strengths and they suffer.

And, I still don't get Naby.

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I had to google Foden as I genuinely have no idea what he looks like as I dont have the sports channels. Fairly punchable but not Terry Christian manc twat punchable. 

 

Regards the drop off in the front three, absolutely right, they need to be kept on their toes with another quality option (which can bring its own problems) but the signings of Van Dijk and Fabinho have definitely brought a slight "clipping of the wings" of the red arrows- albeit producing the trophies that count    

 

 

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Actually disagree about the Ederson thing, it bounced and hit him was what I saw. I got annoyed about the linesman on the far side though who first half dodged making offside decisions to let VAR rescue him, City go through and get a corner which is allowed to happen of course. So they get a chance on goal because he didn't do his job.

 

Good points about the front three, I am concerned that we let Werner go though the wages were way too high. We need better than Origi as backup for sure, very grateful for his contributions 2 years ago but he's done nothing this year. 

 

I'd give Williams a game at left back to see if he can play as backup for both sides

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I know firmino helps facilitate mane and salah with his workrate but his lack of goals is awful for a side that creates so much chances.

Wont happen but I’d love us to get Jimenez off wolves as a bobby upgrade 

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7 hours ago, aws said:

I agree about the forwards as a unit. It feels like we've been waiting two years for them to "click" consistently. Amazing that we've crushed the league with them so often below what we think we know they're capable of.

 

Part of the explanation is that it's unfair to compare them with what might have been over-performance in the past, part is that we've adjusted and tightened up our overall game a bit and part is that opposition defences have been learning about what to do to neutralise them ( e.g. Firmino doesn't get so much space when he drops into the pocket and has to drop even deeper, nobody gives Mo time or space to place that left -footer into the top, far corner). 

I agree. The way teams set up against us is night and day compared to 3 years ago.

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Good report Dave. This game has just added to my overall feeling of quiet satisfaction at being champions instead of the all guns blazing, hell for leather fuck all you bastards glee that it should be. Its daft, but I can't shake it.

 

Just like the derby, you just knew after an hour we were getting absolutely nothing from the game, it was so frustrating. And it is never, ever, ok to lose a game 4-0, to anyone, anytime. It should always sting.

 

I said to a mate last night that if you had to picture a smug, full of himself looking Manc, then you wouldn't go far wrong with Foden, but I'd forgotten about Terry Christian. Very good player though, unfortunately. 

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14 hours ago, tokyojoe said:

I really thought Jurgen was about to twat Shreeves one.

Oh please let it happen, even if it's a cunt like Pep or Mourinho, Shreeves has needed a dig since the turn of the millennium!

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Yeah, Shreeves is a fucking tit. Gets away with asking shithouse questions far too often. Pushes the answer with the question, as Kloppo picked up on there. The “I suppose you can put it into perspective the performance today as you’ve won the league anyway” question was a continuance of what Klopp had got annoyed at with hinting at the attitude issue. Worded in a snide cunt manner though. You can’t fool our Jurgen, you fucking rat.

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Pretty much captures most of my feelings. I was pretty confident when the team news cam out and after 20 minutes I could only see one winner, and it wasn't City. We were much the better team early on, could/should have had a couple and they looked really nervous at the back. We were getting behind them regularly in that phase.

I don't necessarily agree with the Ederson handball thingy, but he definitely gained an advantage and the episode once agan underlines the handball anomaly i.e. accidental handball gets treated differently when it's about scoring a goal versus stopping one. 

I agree with Klopp that the main difference was about using the moments, they did, we didn't. I think the reason we didn't was that, although the effort and willingness was there,  we didn't have the sharpness and focus in the head to exploit the moments. That's the only way I could explain the stupid decisions (Robbo going awol, Trent throwing it in straight to to one of theirs) or the complete lapses in concentration - Sadio letting the ball run past him when the goal was gaping.

Anthony Taylor lived down to expectations - we were still winning the ball back from them high up late in the game - only for him to give them soft free kicks. Taylor or Tyler, can't decide who's the bigger cunt.

 

Let's hope we get our heads sorted out for the remaining games, it would be such a shame for this brilliant season to fizzle out in a whimper.

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He didn't mean to handle it but to me that means nothing when you've rushed miles out of your goal to deny a striker who is clean through. You come out that far, you better get the ball cleanly because if you don't and you stop it with your hand or arm, then tough shit, it's a foul.

 

That was much worse an offence than Ndidi's handball at Goodison that led to a penalty. 

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18 hours ago, m0e said:

I agree. The way teams set up against us is night and day compared to 3 years ago.

This is true, but we still get fucking loads of those moments when we win the ball and the forwards have the chance to link up and do something.

 

Three years ago when they had those moments they would tear teams apart. Now it feels like their conversion rate in those same situations has plummeted. I don't have stats to back that up, it's just the impression I get from watching.

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31 minutes ago, dave u said:

 

 

Three years ago when they had those moments they would tear teams apart. Now it feels like their CONVERSATION rate in those same situations has plummeted. I don't have stats to back that up, it's just the impression I get from watching.

Stop chatting shit and just shoot will ya

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1 hour ago, dave u said:

This is true, but we still get fucking loads of those moments when we win the ball and the forwards have the chance to link up and do something.

 

Three years ago when they had those moments they would tear teams apart. Now it feels like their conversation rate in those same situations has plummeted. I don't have stats to back that up, it's just the impression I get from watching.

You know how you talk about other teams scuffing chances against us because they are few and far between?

 

I think its similar here. Because teams sit deep, we would naturally feel more pressured to put away our chances.

 

My memory says we had absolutely shit loads of chances 3 years ago and missed as many as we scored.

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Our sides finishing can be really poor. Infuriating how many of our players sky the ball, scuff it wide or pea roll it straight to the keeper it's bizarre. I'd also drop Firmino we all love him but he can't be untouchable, when he's great he's great but he's offering no threat. He needs to be more than just somebody pressing from the front. I wouldn't start him v Villa I'd bring him on as a sub, I definitely wouldn't put mane or salah in the middle, try minamino or something.

 

We are champions this shit is done let's try stuff. As long as it's not origi out wide or gini out wide. I'd sell Origi.

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It's not specifically the finishing that I'm referring to, although that's part of it.

 

It's more about the situations that SHOULD lead to goals or at the very least chances, but they often don't.

 

The other night for example, we won the ball in their half on so many occasions (City were just giving it straight to us a lot of the time) but it rarely led to a good opening. Whether its the wrong pass, no pass, an under-hit pass, an over-hit one or whatever, I don't think we make as much of these situations as we did do a two or three years ago.

 

Classic example was Bobby passing it behind Sadio when he'd have been in on goal. Shit like that seems to happen much more now than it did.

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I'd give Origi a run of games and rest Firmino.  He's clearly nowhere near decent form, and putting Origi in there will give him a chance to put himself in the shop window, and he has these days learnt how to do his fair share of work without the ball.  That said, I'd give the young lads the odd game before the end of the season too.  

 

I agree with Dave, two of our three forwards are getting dragged backwards towards the ordinary - I'm not sure what is causing it - injuries, tiredness, complacency, lack of competition - but the appetite is not what it was, and bad decision making, lazy and sloppy execution is definitely creeping in.  It's not just this one game, and we are capable of firing at 100% still, just not as often.  

 

Strengthen from a position of strength please Jurgen, don't wait until momentum is taking us in the wrong direction.  

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52 minutes ago, dave u said:

No idea what you're on about.....

Conversation rate instead of conversion rate Dave ???   .....aghhh just checked you've changed it haven't you. 

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We also seem to have got worse for trying to walk the fucking thing into the net. Jurgen needs to remind them you get the same reward for a deflection off your arse and a goal of the season contender.

 

Oh, and occasionally have a shot ?

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