Villarreal 1 Liverpool 0 (Apr 28 2016)

[Jairzinho]

Would the people saying 0-0 away in the first leg is not a good result be happy with 0-0 if we played at home in the first leg?

 

Happier.

 

But then we're a different team to Villarreal, so I'm not sure it's exactly the same.

[JermainePennant]

totally disagree with this. Firmino was dogshite he might as well not been on the pitch and if Sturridge had played we would have had them pushed back even further as there back three would be bricking it with him running in behind. I lost count the number of time Firmino lost the ball or made the wrong decision. This match for me was the most frustrating I've watched all season. We were so in control it was laughable. When i saw the possession stats i was surprised it was only 54% as it felt like we owned the midfield! bossed by Allen again. Klopp made a big mistake with sturridge. Im not a fan of his at the moment but at least we would have had someone trying to get in on goal and not dandering around the edge of the 18 yard box...

 

I just hope we dont pay for it at Anfield.

Agreed on Firmino, he's infuriating to watch and when I do watch him I get the impression he isn't the most intelligent with all the easy passes he gives away.There was a couple of times in that game where he had opposition players closing him down and he casually flicked the ball to them like he didn't even see them when he clearly did.Ive been trying to like him but I'd sell him in the summer, he's not good enough up front and is not good enough on the ball to play as an am.

 

Why Klopp is willing to move our best players around or drop them to accommodate him I don't know, he can win the ball back as much as he wants but if he's going to keep losing the ball when he has it it's not helping us.

[Lee909]

[aws]

0-0 away is a decent result and I have no problem at all with Klopp's tactics. Not too happy with the Ibe substitution because he's offered nothing to us on his recent form and he's not very good at playing a disciplined, defence protecting game. So smith would have been better if the aim is to keep a clean sheet and Strurridge would have been miles better if we're trying to nick a goal.

[3 Stacks]

Klopp's tactics wouldn't have bothered me if we were a team that had the capability to be defensively solid and play for nil nil's. But we aren't. 

[Kevin D]

What's the point of being comfortable, if you're never going to score in a million years? The away goal that Sturridge would have scored (cos I'm sure he would) would have been so valuable.

It's part of a strange modern formulation. It no longer matters if a defender makes critical mistakes, because he's good on the ball, or offers a spare man in attack. It no longer matters if a striker scores goals, so long as he creates space and works hard.

 

Goals, are neither here nor there. What really matters are pass completion rates and Kilometres covered

[William_Ulsterman]

0-0 away is a decent result and I have no problem at all with Klopp's tactics. Not too happy with the Ibe substitution because he's offered nothing to us on his recent form and he's not very good at playing a disciplined, defence protecting game. So smith would have been better if the aim is to keep a clean sheet and Strurridge would have been miles better if we're trying to nick a goal.

 

yeah i agree with this i don't mind the tactics as someone said it worked for Rafa but we have to have some chance of a goal and trying to bang them in from 20 yards out might work once in every half a dozen games it back fired here. The only thing i saw wrong was no out and out goal scorer.

[G Richards]

My first comment after the match was that they were there for the taking and Klopp made a tactical mistake by not getting more firepower on the pitch to try to get an important away goal. I stand by that view, but it's all about the fine margins.

 

We were very solid and we made them look quite ordinary for most of the game, so a strong case for Klopp getting it spot on can be made.

 

However, must it be either/or? Why can't it be both/and? Why can't we be solid, and then add more of a goal threat, say around the 60 min mark?

 

0-0 away is not a great result, but it is better than losing 1-0 away. Before the game I predicted a 1-1 draw, and with an away goal in the bank, I thought we would get them at Anfield.

 

Now that I've seen them, the home leg is altogether a more tricky affair. The onus will be on us to win, and that plays right into their hands. The one main strength they do have is a fast, incisive, break. Unfortunately we saw it right at the end of the first leg. If they do it again at Anfield we will need to score three. That is not beyond us, but it gets increasingly difficult and obviously you can't always pull a rabbit out of the hat.

 

If we progress to the final the first leg of the semi will be forgotten. If we don't, it will stick out as some sort of missed opportunity. We were easily good enough to come back to Anfield with a 1-1 or better. Now it's on a knife edge...

[Section_31]

Hindsight is everything, if he'd gone three up front and we'd lost he'd be branded tactically naive. He played it straight out of the rule book and it would have worked but unfortunately we just don't have the tools to do the job.

[moof]

Hindsight is everything, if he'd gone three up front and we'd lost he'd be branded tactically naive. He played it straight out of the rule book and it would have worked but unfortunately we just don't have the tools to do the job.

We do, he was sitting on the bench.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

We would definitely have scored if Sturridge had played, but only because he didn't play. 

[an tha]

'But there was something else which rankled Jurgen Klopp and his frustrated players on the two-hour flight home. Villarreal’s wild celebrations had stuck in the throat'

 

I am glad this is the case - i commented on here after the game that i hope Klopp and our players had clocked the way they were celebrating and it was OTT and looks like they have.

[moof]

We would definitely have scored if Sturridge had played, but only because he didn't play.

Do you think we're less likely to score with Sturridge on the pitch?

[Jairzinho]

Hindsight is everything, if he'd gone three up front and we'd lost he'd be branded tactically naive. He played it straight out of the rule book and it would have worked but unfortunately we just don't have the tools to do the job.

 

Why does it have to be what we did or three upfront? Could it not be something in between?

 

And if he doesn't think we have the tools to do the job then why would he pick those tactics?

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Do you think we're less likely to score with Sturridge on the pitch?

 

 

I think our likeliness to score is probably balanced by our worse closing down from the front. Still, what we can't do is give the air of 'we would have won if Sturridge played, why didn't Klopp think of that, the big idiot', which is essentially just crystal ball bollocks. Clop has done this before and we've done very well our of it. Just because it didn't come off this time, it doesn't mean he made the wrong choice. 

[jimmycase]

I dont think villareal were there for the taking. They're not mugs.

 

We could have played sturridge and still lost. I think the comments some are making are on the back of the way we lost to an added time goal.

[moof]

I think our likeliness to score is probably balanced by our worse closing down from the front. Still, what we can't do is give the air of 'we would have won if Sturridge played, why didn't Klopp think of that, the big idiot', which is essentially just crystal ball bollocks. Clop has done this before and we've done very well our of it. Just because it didn't come off this time, it doesn't mean he made the wrong choice.

And just because it was the right choice before doesn't mean it was the right choice this time.

 

We have two strikers available, one of whom being Benteke, plus a woefully out of form Firmino. I don't think it's that outlandish to suggest that we'd be better off with Sturridge on the pitch.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

And just because it was the right choice before doesn't mean it was the right choice this time.

Well, Klopp was the one making the judgment call on tactics. But no, it doesn't - especially with the benefit of hindsight - but that's the entire point I'm making; we have no idea what would or wouldn't have transpired, which is why it's fucking daft to use it - as it has been - as a stick with which to poke into Klopp's eye.

 

We have two strikers available, one of whom being Benteke, plus a woefully out of form Firmino. I don't think it's that outlandish to suggest that we'd be better off with Sturridge on the pitch.

 

 

Nor do I, which is why I never said it was.

[Section_31]

We do, he was sitting on the bench.

Tools to do the job as in having defenders who can defend when you're playing a defensive game.

[kop77]

Thursday night again  

[aladdinsane]

Tomorrows papers say Can is in full training and could return for the the 2nd leg. Sturridge will also start.

[Stu Monty]

Agreed on Firmino, he's infuriating to watch and when I do watch him I get the impression he isn't the most intelligent with all the easy passes he gives away.There was a couple of times in that game where he had opposition players closing him down and he casually flicked the ball to them like he didn't even see them when he clearly did.Ive been trying to like him but I'd sell him in the summer, he's not good enough up front and is not good enough on the ball to play as an am.

 

Why Klopp is willing to move our best players around or drop them to accommodate him I don't know, he can win the ball back as much as he wants but if he's going to keep losing the ball when he has it it's not helping us.

 

I'd guess because he's contributed to the final bit of putting the ball in the net a lot more than most of the other players this season. Infuriating as he might be sometimes. 

[3 Stacks]

I'd guess because he's contributed to the final bit of putting the ball in the net a lot more than most of the other players this season. Infuriating as he might be sometimes. 

 

Agreed. "Gee why does Klopp rate Firmino so much?" Probably because he's directly contributed to about 20 goals this season and he has great workrate. Not that hard to figure out.

[kop77]

[Paco]

Jurgen Klopp came out fighting afterLiverpool’s defeat in Villarreal last week.

 

“My first thought after they scored, when I saw all of them celebrating, was: ‘Sorry to say but you have to come to Anfield.’” he told his post-match press conference at El Madrigal, adding ominously: “It’s only half time.”

 

Spot on, most would say. The dangers of premature celebrations are well known. Within minutes of the final whistle came a stat, via @OptaJoe, which proved as much. Of the last five teams to lose 1-0 in the first leg of a Europa League (or UEFA Cup) semi final, four have recovered to reach the final.

 

Liverpool, ironically, are the one team that didn’t, eliminated on away goals by Atletico Madrid in 2010. They were beaten in Spain, before going on to fall to Diego Forlan’s extra-time strike at Anfield.

 

Atletico’s team that night included David De Gea and Sergio Aguero, while Watford boss Quique Sanchez Flores was their manager. They would go on to beat Fulham in the final, though what happened to their manager is anybody’s guess...

 

So that was the last time Liverpool faced a 1-0 first-leg deficit in a European semi final, and they didn’t manage to overcome it. What of the others? Here’s a run down...

 

1966 – Celtic (WON)

 

Celtic captain Billy McNeill, and Liverpool captain Ron Yeats, shake hands before the first leg of the European Cup Winners cup, semi-final, at Celtic Park, Glasgow. April 1966

 

The season before Celtic became the first British side to win the European Cup, Jock Stein’s men faced Liverpool in the Cup Winners’ Cup semi final.

 

The first leg was played at Celtic Park in front of 76,000, with the Scots winning 1-0 through Bobby Lennox’s first-half goal.

 

The game was by no means a classic – indeed, the Evening Times’ correspondent began his report by writing: “Spare me, please, from a further dose of the boredom served up by Liverpool at Celtic Park last night.”

 

The correspondent – Gair Henderson – went on to say “Is one goal enough? I say ‘yes’”

 

He was wrong. A week later, goals from Tommy Smith and Geoff Strong saw Liverpool through to the final, where they would lose to Borussia Dortmund. “Floodlit robbery,” Henderson called it. Few inside Anfield cared.

 

Tommy Gemmell of Celtic picks the ball out of the net after Tommy Smith scores Liverpool's first goal in the 1966 semi-final

 

1971 – Leeds (LOST)

 

The Europa League was still called the Fairs Cup when Liverpool and Leeds, two of English football’s dominant forces, were drawn together in the last four.

 

Leeds were chasing a double, duelling with Arsenal in the league and progressing in the competition they had won in 1968. Liverpool, meanwhile, had already secured a date with Arsenal in the FA Cup final and had seen off Bayern Munich in the previous round.

 

Leeds, though, were a fearsome proposition under Don Revie. They won at Anfield thanks to Billy Bremner’s goal. Bremner had been a doubt for the game through injury, but Revie’s gamble paid off.

 

Liverpool, according to one report, had “most of the play, most of the near misses and most of the bad luck,” but still fancied their chances heading to Elland Road for the second leg.

 

Their luck was to remain out, however. A goalless draw in Yorkshire saw Leeds through. They would beat Juventus on away goals in the two-legged final. Liverpool would have to wait another two years for their first UEFA Cup triumph.

 

2007 – Chelsea (WON)

 

Nobody will ever forget the first instalment of the Liverpool-Chelsea Champions League semi-final trilogy, but the second was pretty special too.

 

After Luis Garcia and the so-called ‘Ghost Goal’ in 2005, Jose Mourinho knew all about the ‘power of Anfield.’ And though his reign at Stamford Bridge was on a downward curve by the time the 2007 semi arrived, Chelsea were still favourites to go through to the final, where AC Milan or Manchester United would wait.

 

Even more so, then, when Joe Cole gave them a narrow victory at Stamford Bridge in the first leg. They hadn’t managed that in 2005, so surely that would make the difference?

 

May 1, 2007: Liverpool's Daniel Agger celebrates scoring the opening goal against Chelsea during the UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg match at Anfield.

 

Nope. Daniel Agger’s brilliantly-crafted goal cancelled out the lead at Anfield, and Liverpool were the better side thereafter. They hit the bar through Dirk Kuyt, who also had a goal ruled out in extra time.

 

In the penalty shootout, Liverpool scored four from four. Arjen Robben and Geremi missed for Chelsea, and Mourinho was once more left to scramble for an excuse.

 

Liverpool, England - Tuesday, May 1, 2007: Liverpool's goalkeeper Jose Reina celebrates after beating Chelsea on penalties with team-mates Daniel Agger, Dirk Kuyt, Steve Finnan and Xabi Alonso during the UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg match at Anfield.

 

Good omens? How about these for some positive stats...(courtesy of Ged Rea)

 

Liverpool have lost only 3 times in the second leg of a European Semi-Final home or away.

 

Down the years Liverpool have won 89% of their second leg home games in the Semi-Final compared to 57% when they have played the first leg at Anfield.

 

This is the Reds 17th European Semi-Final - their first in six years and they are hoping to reach their 12th Final.

 

The Reds have played 9 of those Semi-Final second leg ties at Anfield, winning eight and drawing the other. The only time they failed to win was in the 1976 UEFA Cup when a 1-1 draw with Barcelona was good enough to take Liverpool to the Final with Phil Thompson netting the goal.

 

Overall at home they have won 12, drawn 3 and lost one of their 16 Semi-Final games in Europe. The only defeat came at the hands of Leeds in 1971.

 

They have progressed to the final on three of the five occasions they lost the first leg of the semi away from home (Celtic 1966, Borussia Moenchengladbach 1978 and Chelsea 2007). The two occasions they failed to overcome the deficit were against PSG in 1997 and Atletico Madrid in 2010.