Liverpool 2 Bordeaux 1 (Nov 26 2015)

[tlw content]

Not exactly the thumping win we were hoping for to build confidence at Anfield, but it’ll do. The positives are that we’re through and the final group game isn’t that important, so Klopp can rest people if he likes, and also that we came from behind to win, which is always a good thing as it gives players belief they can come back when they concede the first goal.

It’s good that Benteke got himself a goal too. It’s all well and good seeing us play so well without him like we did at City last week, but that’s not really sustainable over a period of games as Firmino is not a reliable goalscorer. With Sturridge continuing to be a fanny the fact is we need Benteke fit and firing if we’re to keep winning games consistently. Especially at home.

What do you make of him? It’s weird to me as one minute he looks ace and the next he looks like a big oaf. It’s not game to game, it’s minute to minute. I lean towards believing he’s quality and that he’ll score a ton of goals once he gets a good run of games and settles into a rhythm, but I can see why some aren’t buying into him yet. The thing about him is that he’s really fucking explosive. He’s turning out to be the player that Balotelli was supposed to be. A player who can be ambling around doing nothing and then out of nowhere, WHALLOP! Goal.

He’s scored some brilliant goals already, but he’s also missed some real sitters. He’s the reason we won this game though, even if his performance was up and down. The other Belgian in our team defo owes him a pint or two after this. Just what the hell was Mignolet playing at? To be fair I thought that six second rule must have been scrapped because it’s never enforced even though goalkeepers abuse it continually. I often count how many seconds keepers hold onto the ball and it’s usually longer than six seconds, but it never gets called.

So I was pissed off that Mignolet was punished for it. At least I was until I found out he had it for 22 seconds. Sorry, but that’s just asking for trouble and the ref had every right to penalise him. You could maybe say the common sense approach would have been to warn him first and if it happened again he could blow the whistle, but 22 seconds? The ref probably thought “this cheeky bastard is completely taking the piss out of me”.

 

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[SasaS]

 

The players are not as comfortable at Anfield as they should be, and I guess only a run of wins will change that, so even though we’d all like to have seen a more convincing win than this, it’s another small step.

 

Well, Lucas looked pretty comfortable to me with that ridiculously cheeky nutmeg in our box.

[Bernard Diomede]

I honestly thought the 6 second rule had been scrapped. I remember Suarez used to hold his fingers up and time goalkeepers so the referee could see how long was taking. That must be the first time in years that it has been given.

 

Still doesn't excuse him taking 22 seconds though the dope.

[SasaS]

I think it's like encroachment, tolerated until it's taken to a ridiculous length, one step is OK, but if you take three and are level with the penalty taker, it gets enforced.

[TheHowieLama]

Fuckin Mignolet

[DaveT]

We did just enough to win against poor opposition, but I'm not sure we could have stepped it up again if they'd scored an equaliser. The referee had a shocker. He was one of those refs who knows the rules but doesn't know the game. He was well within his rights to penalise Mignolet, but that law was brought in to stop goalies wasting time. Mignolet was hardly wasting time, ffs, just being dopey. A ref with a feel for the game would have just gesticulated for him to get on with it. As for our pen, it was soft, but it was more of a foul than most of those he gave against us when the French hit the deck at the merest hint of a challenge....despite most of them being built like brick shithouses.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Mig looked like he thought if he bounced the ball he'd be allowed another ten seconds. It was his fault, but he came up against a bit of a stickler for the rules, and that one's never enforced to the point of an indirect free kick. Didn't Clyne get done for a foul throw too?

 

He seems to be one of those players who have to be given rigid instructions to make up for their mental weakness, so if Klopp says try to play it out from the back his brain implodes when no one's free. 

 

As for Benteke, I have more confidence that he'll score when he has to strike the ball instinctively than when he's in space. My lingering doubts about him are more to do with how the players around him will be set up to get the best out of him, whilst not changing so much that they look lost when he's injured.

[TheHowieLama]

My guess is it is going to be the same players it is now. A few of them will play near him - a couple will be further away.

[ZonkoVille77]

We'll struggle tomorrow too.