Man City 5 Liverpool 0 (Sep 9 2017)

[tlw content]

Well that was a horrible, chastening experience. We don’t lose big very often and it was a strange feeling having to sit through it, just hoping the score wouldn't get too humiliating and longing for the full time whistle to put us out of our misery. 

I don’t remember the last time I felt like that watching a game, knowing we had no chance of scoring and just watching the clock waiting for full time so we wouldn't be further embarrassed. Even in that 6-1 at Stoke it wasn’t really like this because we still looked capable of scoring a consolation or two. 
 
This was different. We were utterly helpless in this one, completely at the mercy of the best possession side in the country and with nothing to fight back at them with. If we’d been offered the 2-0 defeat at half time, is there anybody that wouldn’t have taken it and ran for the hills? 
 
The sending off was the pivotal moment of the game, but until the second goal there was still a chance we might come back. As soon as the second goal went in though we were done for. At 1-0 though, with Otamendi being tormented by Salah and on a yellow card, we still had hope. In fact, had Mo been a bit more streetwise just before City’s second goal this entire game could have gone in the opposite direction. 
 
He went bursting through for the umpteenth time and Otamendi was left isolated. Salah cut inside him and was clipped ever so slightly. You could see how he altered his stride that there had been some contact and had he gone to ground then the ref would have had a tough decision to make. Either a booking for Mo for a dive, or a penalty and second yellow for Otamendi. If it had been the latter, it could have been 1-1 with both teams down to ten. 
 
Instead, Salah stayed on his feet, Otamendi stayed on the pitch and minutes later City made it 2-0 and that was all she wrote for us. We had no chance after that and the only thing left to play for was to try and keep the score down, which we failed to do quite spectacularly. It was five, but they also had two disallowed and Mignolet made a few saves. 
 
Defensively we were an absolute shambles. Some teams are equipped to deal with going a man down and defending their own box. Not us though. Asking us to do that is like asking an elephant to play snooker.
 

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[s(k)aturation]

Great stuff, Dave.

Spot-on analysis of the sending off IMO.

And even better commentary on the shite team selection.

If ever you have an "excuse" to start with the same XI, it's after an international break with the same side that's twatted Arsenal 4-zip.

[Jennings]

It's hard to motivate myself to read articles when we get beat never mind a drubbing. Any articles, but I enjoyed that. Great read.

[Scott_M]

Yes, the decision to play Klavan was odd. We're playing the best attack in the league (apart from ourselves), common sense tells you to play our best (or least shit) defence?

 

Agree with Gomez and TAA as well. TAA had a horrid afternoon, he was poor 1st half dwelling on the ball before Mendy took him to the cleaners in the 2nd half.

 

Midfield was woeful when we went down to 10.

 

Attack-Attack-Attack Wednesday and Saturday.

[s(k)aturation]

Yes, the decision to play Klavan was odd. We're playing the best attack in the league (apart from ourselves), common sense tells you to play our best (or least shit) defence?

 

Agree with Gomez and TAA as well. TAA had a horrid afternoon, he was poor 1st half dwelling on the ball before Mendy took him to the cleaners in the 2nd half.

 

Midfield was woeful when we went down to 10.

 

Attack-Attack-Attack Wednesday and Saturday.

 

 

We don't have any other way.

[Jennings]

Attack-Attack-Attack-Concede-Concede.

[Mark M]

Good article Dave.

Klopp is great but I completely agree on the mistakes he made in this match.

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

Alright saying we only have one way to play, fine, but the manager needs to find a balance, buy some defenders and toughen this side up mentally and physically. Doubt it's possible with a few, playing Klavan proves the folly in the transfer market.

But that's like flogging a dead horse, which would probably be better at centre half be to be fair.

[Trumo]

A defender wouldn’t have gone for the ball the way the keeper did, and that’s part of the problem too. They come charging out and don’t know what the fuck to do other than hurl themselves at the ball and try and take everything out.

 

Don't know if you guys read World Soccer but one of their contributors is the journalist Paul Gardner. His column usually discusses the rules of the game and the anomalies on display around the world, often in the biggest games. One of the things he mentions a fair bit, and which I don't think was discussed anywhere else, is an incident during the last World Cup final. A high ball was played by Argentina to the right edge of the German penalty box. Higuain chased the ball down and Neuer came out quickly, charging it down and taking out Higuain with a high knee in the process. All that was given was a throw-in to Argentina. Gardner's argument was that while Neuer didn't intend to clatter Higuain (like Schumacher on Battiston in 1982), he had no issue with charging out to clear ball and man if need be.

[Tom R]

Mane should have been booked, and so should their keeper. 

 

All the keeper wanted to do was take out our player. That's also endangering an opponent. 

[Scott_M]

Attack-Attack-Attack-Concede-Concede.

Great, a 3-2 win!

[s(k)aturation]

Great, a 3-2 win!

 

 

And there I was, rather encouraged by a scrappy 1-0 win over Palace.

[DaveT]

Good, balanced piece. Some other observations - 

- we were comfortably the better team up to the first goal and equal to them up to the red

- the media and some on here have gone to town on our defence, with some justification; but it should also be said that their defence was shambolic and we were shredding it at will - despite the fact each of their back 3 + goalie (plus also the two wing backs) cost as much individually as our whole back 5 in total. Pep 'chequebook' Guardiola. It was nevertheless depressing to see our defensive line-up going into this game

- agree fully with Dave that we would have gotten something out of this if we hadn't lost Mane; in fact their first goal shouldn't have been given because there was a blatant and critical push by Fernandinho on Wijnaldum in the build up to their first goal. Who knows how this would have turned out if Moss had gotten that one right (mind you it was just one of plenty of mistakes by the officials, without even taking the red into account)

- glad someone else spotted that clip on Salah  - we were all screaming 'Go down, go down', but we just don't play by the same rules as the rest of the league. Need to go back to biting people we don't like!

- the controversy over the red, and the fact that ex-pro pundits are split down the middle shows how much of a lottery decision making is, (*cough Matt Ritchie*)which is all very well, but when it's now costing a small fortune in Season ticket prices, tv subscriptions etc each year, I think we deserve better officiating and more consistency 

- at 2-0 I think Klopp decided we couldn't win and decided to rest Salah, then Wijnaldum and Firmino for Wednesday..... 2-0/3-0/5-0/7-0....humiliating to watch, but so early in the season, was the margin of defeat that critical?

Big performance needed on Wednesday now.

[Razoray]

Great, a 3-2 win!

Unless Salah is on the end if one of the attacks. Very exciting signing but needs to improve his finishing

[jimmycase]

Well sorry dave but the majority of people didnt seem to have a problem when benitez 'rotated' the team every game so why do they have one now Klopp is manager?

 

I cant believe people are already ranting about salah ffs. Yes, he should have done better with the balls he played, he's human not a fucking robot.

[aws]

Rafa got constant stick on here for rotating.

[jimmycase]

And he got a lot of support for it too.

[Scott_M]

Rafa rarely rotated the centre backs.

[Guest Alex_K]

And he got a lot of support for it too.

 

 

 

No he didnt you mug: Rafa received a stream of abuse whenever Torres was on the bench, and any from El Zhar/Ngog/Lucas etc were brought into the team. It cost him favour with supporters more than once. Conceptually rotation is not an issue; the challenge comes when you are habitually inserting mid table or Championship players into the side (as Rafa and now Klopp suffer from). Imagine a team made from Rafa's attacking reserves & Klopp's defensive 'depth'!

[Mook]

I'm trying to think of two things further apart on the 'I would enjoy watching that' scale than that atrocity on Saturday & an elephant trying to play snooker.

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

I'm trying to think of two things further apart on the 'I would enjoy watching that' scale than that atrocity on Saturday & an elephant trying to play snooker.

Can said Elephant play centre half ?

[Ipplfc]

Good report that,

After mane went off,klopp sat down and we didn't see him again till near the end,talk about throwing the towel in,the players obviously felt the same.

The whole midfield (including Milner after he came on) made TWO tackles between them in the whole 90 plus minutes.

As for wijnaldum,when we play away I would just tell the cunt to go shopping or something because he is just a waste of space.

 

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

Wijnaldum is no good at playing away, similar to Rooney.

[manwiththestick]

Rafa got constant stick on here for rotating.

I don't recall that tbh, especially early in his tenure. The pundits and media used to use it constantly as a stick to beat him with, that and zonal marking.

[RedHeadedRed]

To be honest I turned it off at half time I just couldn't watch it l knew it would be a hammering at that stage.It was never a sending off for me, mane gets a three game ban for honestly going in for a fifty fifty yet how many players will be rewarded for conning the ref and winning pens.If there is one small positive to take at least that little rat was suspended for them and didn't get a chance to score against us.