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Liverpool 3 Manchester City 0 (Mar 2 2016)

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By tlw content,
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tlw content Grand Master

tlw content

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BOOM!! was the reply when Klopp was asked to describe this performance. He could just as easily have been talking about Flanno hammering Raheem Sterling after just 20 seconds, as that was how long it took for City to know they were going to be in for a rough evening. At no point during the 90 minutes did that intensity ever drop and Pellegrini’s side couldn’t cope. 
 
It’s easy to ask why we couldn’t play like this on Sunday but I don’t think it’s entirely fair as there are some extenuating circumstances, not least the heightened motivation of the opposition in a cup final. Effort wasn’t really an issue at Wembley, City just played differently and it wasn’t easy to press them when they were happy to just play on the counter attack. Their approach to this game was a little different I thought, but the main difference was we scored first and they couldn’t just defend and play on the break.
 
Winning on Sunday would have been much more preferable to winning this game and in some ways it was entirely predictable that we’d win this one with ease, as we did the same thing to Chelsea in 2012 after losing the FA Cup to them days earlier. I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a part of me that’s a bit pissed off that we didn't win when it really mattered, but there’s no point dwelling on that.  
 
City still have the cup and we have three points that probably, probably, won’t really count for anything at the end of the season, but I’m trying not to look at it that way and instead just enjoy the performance and result for what it was. There’s precious little to feel good about this season so dismissing a win like this on the basis that they couldn’t do it at Wembley is like cutting your nose off to spite your face. 
 
Put it this way, if the players had just rolled over and died because they didn’t win the cup we’d have been furious. They didn’t do that, they responded in the best way possible and deserve credit for that. There is a tinge of resentment that over two league games we’ve beaten City by an aggregate score of 7-1 yet we lost to them in a cup final, but fuck it, I enjoyed this and don't mind confessing I've had a little spring in my step today.
 
Maybe I was a little hasty on Sunday in wishing the season were over? I wasn't looking forward to this game at all, yet by the end I was buzzing. Flanno’s tackle (and Hendo’s face as he applauded him), Kolo rolling back the years to deny Aguero, Lallana and Milner running City ragged and Firmino’s magic trick when he completely bamboozled Joe Hart by hiding the ball up his shirt after he’d scored…. all of that put a big smile on my face and helped to put the Wembley loss to bed. I just hope they can keep it going.
 


 
Sunday is gone and nothing can change the result of that, but it’s good to see that the players had the fire in their belly to fight back and get some revenge. They were brilliant in this game from first minute to last. We may have played better with the ball in some other games (I didn’t think our football was that great to be honest), but in terms of playing in the Klopp style and the whole “heavy metal football” thing, this was as good as we’ve seen. The players just swarmed all over City and didn’t give them a second’s peace. City were really disappointing but that’s because they couldn’t match the intensity of our players. 
 
Considering some of the team had played a full game last Thursday as well as two hours at Wembley on Sunday, it was an incredible effort to shut City down like this. The energy levels of Can, Henderson and Milner in particular were astonishing. Maybe all this talk about tiredness and too many games is a little overblown? Some players can’t handle it, but for others it’s not an issue and they could probably play every day if they had to. Milner definitely could, he’s a machine.
 
Klopp’s team selection wasn’t too surprising. Sturridge was never going to be involved after Sunday and it made sense to rest Coutinho as well. I did think Allen might have gotten a start to give us fresh legs in the middle of the park, but as it turns out the legs we had in there were more than fresh enough to handle City. Allen looked sharp when he came on though and almost scored a worldy that would have taken the roof off the place. 
 
Is it significant that Lovren got the nod over Skrtel or is it simply down to him having not been out as long? It might be a fitness thing but on this season’s form I’d defo take Lovren over Skrtel, and I’d take Kolo over all of them. He was brilliant again, I’m struggling to think of him doing anything wrong all season in fact. It’s funny when you look at the money City have spent on centre backs since he left, none of whom have performed to the level Toure has this season. It’s not so funny when you realise we’ve done similar.
 
The most welcome change was at full back though. Moreno had to be bombed out after his horror show at Wembley and it was good to see Flanno finally given the chance he deserves. While it looks like a straightforward enough decision from the fans perspective (the vast majority would have Flanno over Moreno), it’s not easy for Klopp because Flanagan needs more recovery time after games and heavy training sessions, so he can’t just hand him Moreno’s spot full time, especially as he’s not been named in the Europa squad (which looks like a huge mistake now), but this performance once again showed we need him in the team. 
 
It was a little surprising he was at right back and that it was Clyne who moved over though. I’m not sure what the thinking was there, it can’t have been anything to do with Clyne’s extra pace being needed for Navas (the Spanish Downing), because Sterling is probably even quicker. Maybe Klopp specifically wanted Flanno on Sterling? That tackle in the opening seconds certainly set the tone for the whole game, and he also made an interception in the box to deny the Kop the opportunity to ridicule Sterling for what would have been an inevitable missed sitter.
 


 
That was fantastic defending that though. He tracked Sterling’s run all the way and slid at full stretch to cut out the pass. That’s why he needs to be in the team; first and foremost he’s a defender who enjoys doing the nitty gritty stuff. He had a few difficult moments in the first half though, mostly self inflicted through getting caught in possession or trying to do a little too much, but in the second half he cut that out completely and was rock solid.
 
He rarely ventured forward after the break and just made sure he kept his side of the field secure, which is what we needed at that point as we were 2-0 up and didn’t take long to add a third. I didn’t really see the opening goal coming at all, we’d had plenty of the ball but it just kept breaking down every time we reached the penalty area. Hart had nothing to do other than field one tame shot from Firmino that went straight at him, but then out of nothing we were ahead.
 
I can’t remember a more muted celebration from the crowd for an opening goal than this, but it’s because half the stadium didn’t realise it had gone in until they saw Lallana celebrating. When he hit that shot from 25 yards nobody thought it was going in as there wasn’t much power in it and it bounced three times before it reached the goal. There’s no way a shot like that was going to beat Hart, and yet it did and it took all of us by surprise, not least Klopp who had a bemused look on his face and then just started laughing.
 


 
I assumed at the time it must have squirmed under Hart’s hand, but watching the replay he didn’t get anywhere near it. I wouldn’t be happy if Mignolet had been beaten with a shot like that and it does look like Hart’s starting position must have been wrong for him to be diving full length and still being unable to get there, but credit should go to Lallana for the placement of the shot which was right in the corner. It wasn’t quite as feeble a strike as I remembered it either, but there’s no escaping that fortune played a part as normally Hart saves that.
 
The goal boosted the confidence of the players, not least Lallana who was inspired for the rest of the game. His driving run and clever back heel allowed Firmino to pick out Milner for the second. Great goal all round that, Milner’s first touch was perfect and he finished well. I like the fact he celebrated it too and didn’t do that insincere “look at me, look how respectful I am” non-celebration. Nothing wrong with what he did at all, and had a former Red done that against us I’d have no problem with it at all.
 
Strange then that City fans ended up booing him and singing that he’s a wanker for the rest of the game. I thought they loved Milner? Yet THAT is all it took for them to turn on him? They sang about Gerrard for most of the night too, and even busted out an “always the victim” chant. I was going to ask “when did they become such insufferable gobshites?” but I already know the answer to that. It was when they won the lottery and stopped being shit. They’re like some sort of “Diet United” now. You stay classy Manchester. 
 
Anyway, we looked in total control at 2-0 up but it only takes one mad moment to change everything, and with Aguero on the pitch you can’t really ever relax. A goal for them would have resulted in mass panic, while a third goal for us would cover us in case of any slight mishap and ensure there weren’t 40 odd thousand people shitting themselves any time City got near our box. 
 
Milner almost grabbed his second of the game after the lively Origi’s cross was only partially cleared to him, but his well struck shot went straight at Hart who tipped it over. We were still the side that was well on top and pushing for more goals, but the next goal was always going to be huge and thankfully we were the ones who got it. Lallana nipped in to seize on a loose ball and drive at the defence before releasing a perfectly timed ball to Firmino who almost nonchalantly stroked it first time into the corner. Lovely finish and just reward for a good night’s work from the Brazilian who bounced back well from a poor showing at Wembley. 
 
It felt safe at 3-0 but the players never let up and you could see how badly they wanted the clean sheet. The closest City came to a consolation was when Aguero skipped away from Lovren and was homing in on goal until the Kolo express flew in from nowhere and completely mugged him. Klopp said afterwards that might be the first time he’s ever given an individual player a standing ovation. He wasn’t alone, everyone was up applauding that. What a guy Kolo is.
 


 
I mentioned Lovren there. He was beaten by Aguero but there was nothing he could really do about that. He found himself in a vulnerable position against a world class player and there was no blame on him for being beaten. Overall he was solid and looked comfortable, as he has done most of the season to be fair. Even when City introduced Bony at half time (for the ineffective Sterling), Lovren and Kolo were rarely stretched, and while they deserve praise for that, a lot of it was down to the phenomenal pressing ahead of them.
 
It started at the front where Origi never stopped running. I quite like him, he’s really started to grow on me. I highly doubt that he’ll ever be a reliable enough goalscorer to lead the line for us, but he’s a hard worker and definitely our best ‘defensive’ striker (other than Ings maybe). 
 
It’s difficult to single anybody out when the whole team did their job so well, but Lallana and Milner probably deserve that little bit of extra praise. They’re always great without the ball and can never be accused of not putting in a shift, but they both did well in possession too this time. They don’t hit these heights as often as we need them to, but when they play like this they look like perfect Klopp players.
 
Kloppo absolutely loves Lallana doesn’t he? It’s not quite a Rodgers / Wee Joe relationship but it’s not far off. A lot of fans aren’t sure about Lallana but a big part of that is probably the £25m fee that he’s frankly never going to live up to. You expect more for that kind of money (unless you're City who are used to overpaying for average players), but from Klopp’s point of view that fee is irrelevant as he didn’t pay it. What he has in Lallana (and Milner for that matter) is someone who is brilliant tactically when it comes to playing Klopp’s much vaunted pressing game.
 
The problem is of course, that he doesn’t score enough goals and the pressing style only really works against sides that want to play football. This is why I don’t expect us to look anywhere near as good on Sunday against Palace as they’ll be happy to play on the break and won’t be passing it around in their own half. Hopefully I’m wrong but those kind of games seem to be far more difficult for us than those against the big boys.
 
There’s definitely a place for Lallana here next season, but I doubt he’ll be in the team every week. He should always play against City though, he seems to thrive on these games and their players really don’t like him do they? After the incident with Yaya on Sunday they went looking for him again in the second half and there were a couple of handbag incidents after they deliberately fouled him. I love how Can is always steaming in there dragging people away from his team-mates in those situations, like the most handsome fucking bouncer since Schwayze in Roadhouse.
 
Can and Henderson both did well in this game and the German in particular was a dominant force in the middle. I go back to a point I made in the report from Sunday though. Did they really do much more then they did at Wembley, or do their performances suddenly look much better because the players ahead of them actually delivered in this game?
 
As with the final, I didn’t see Can or Henderson creating any chances or threatening goal themselves, they just backed up the play, kept the ball moving and pressed the ball superbly. When the forwards do their job properly it’s a lot easier to appreciate the work of the two sitting midfielders rather then criticising them for their lack of attacking threat. This might be Can’s best game since he got here all things considered. There’s a few of his team-mates can say the same.
 
This was a test of character that they passed, but it counts for nothing if they revert to type over the next few weeks and drop points in games they should be winning. We’ve had so many of these moments under Klopp where it looked like we’d hit on something big and were set to go on a run, only for it to completely fizzle out the next game. That’s why I’m not reading anything into this and am just going to enjoy the glow of it for a few days.
 
Well done lads, that was fun. Now just don't go fucking it up at Palace.
 
 
Team: Mignolet; Flanagan, Toure, Lovren, Clyne; Can, Henderson; Milner (Ibe), Firmino (Allen), Lallana; Origi (Benteke):
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Kevin D Grand Master

Kevin D

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The issue with beating them in two league games and not the final is that it shows our problem is not ability, but mentality. The reason that is significant is because we have two matches this month, with our biggest rivals, where character is going to be the decisive factor.

 

If we were all going off for our summer break, then maybe yesterday would be worth smiling over. Nice win, against a good team, with most of these players fucking off, never to return. Instead we're going to have see the spectacle of Henderson and co bottle it at Old Trafford and hand the Mancs a QF place, ending our season.

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beejay Community Regular

beejay

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Flanagan's passing from the back made a big difference I thought, started so many moves by simply passing the ball quickly to feet to a player in the same shirt.

 

Also looked like Klopp told the players to move the ball faster and go at a higher tempo. It didn't always work in the first half but when it did, we stretched City far more than at Wembley.

 

All our changes made a difference, Flanagan was better than Moreno ; Lallana better than Coutinho ; Origi better than Sturridge. Lovren = Lucas.

 

Like Dave said in the Wembley report, we have strength in depth but we have no world class players for the rest to feed off.

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Tom araya Collaborator

Tom araya

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Maybe I'm wrong but I think we play so much better with just 2 of lallana,couthino and firmino with origi running his nuts off up top.playing all 3 confuses things,all running into each others space,lallana and firmino were fantastic last night due to the space they had but like I said I could be totally wrong.

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Lario Veteran

Lario

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I think Hart slipped a little for Lallana's goal, that's why it went in.

As for Palace, I have no confidence in getting a result.

I actually think Hart thought Lallana was gonna bend it into the far corner and was easing that way. When Lallana went near post, Hart couldn't adjust in time.

 

The report is brilliant btw Dave.

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A_S Grand Master

A_S

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There are celebrations and then there are celebrations. Milner's was not much more than a fist pump, so it wasn't like he went into full cunt mode, giving it the beans in front of his old supporters ala Adebayor a few years back. Nothing wrong with that. 

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suzy Grand Master

suzy

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Great report.

 

Did anyone else find it absolutely hilarious when Hart angrily stormed over after Firmino put the ball under his shirt during his celebration, and when he tried to get it back Roberto just gave him a little smile and kept going?

 

Yes, what was that all about from Hart?! Couldn't understand it - it wasn't like they were racing back to start again because they were so close to winning!!

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suzy Grand Master

suzy

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I couldn't watch this game anywhere so I only saw the highlights on match of the day I don't think they showed the Flanagan tackle on the rat at all I would have enjoyed watching that live so cheers for showing the clip.

 

I only saw it on MOTD as well and I was very disappointed they didn't show that!

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JoeBuck Contributor

JoeBuck

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I've been critical of Can before, comparing him to Paul Stewart, but boy did he look more like Souness the other night - a magnificent display from him and all the players.

 

Sunday was weird because for the first time, we felt we were inferior to City.  Wednesday restored the order.

 

 

It might have  been said before on here (and I've not been arsed reading it), but highlight of Sunday was post match, Barney Rubble trying to get into the Residents Bar at the Hilton....he was turned away which was a bad moment ,  so every red in there  came out and ushered him in through the bouncers, almost carrying him the bar...it was probably better than Paris for Alan.

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