West Brom 2 Liverpool 2 (Apr 21 2108)

[tlw content 17,095]

This result did my head in far more than it probably should. There wasn’t a great deal riding on the game as we should still secure a top four spot regardless. A draw isn’t good but it isn’t a terrible either considering the circumstances (changed team, minds on the Roma game etc), but for most of the game I was just annoyed and frustrated at the lack of urgency in the performance. 
 
It was probably due to how easy the game was. We had all the time in the world on the ball and West Brom weren’t showing any real fight, not with the ball anyway. When they didn’t have it they weren’t pulling any punches, quite literally in the case of that big fucking animal at the back, but for a team that was basically playing without any real pressure and had nothing to lose, they were pretty lifeless I thought. Almost as lifeless as the pitch. 
 
Watching how the game unfolded I’d have put money on Klopp having a moan about it afterwards. I wish he hadn’t, as it serves no purpose other than to alert other teams that this is an effective way to slow us down. He should have said nothing as it just looks like sour grapes and it’s the kind of shit I’d expect from Guardiola or Mourinho. 
 
That isn’t to say he doesn’t have a point. That pitch was difficult for us and gave West Brom an advantage. So what though, it’s their pitch so it should give them an advantage. We water our pitch to give us an advantage, they don’t water theirs because it suits them better. 
 
I didn’t really notice anything untoward in the first half but the longer the game went on the more obvious it became that the pitch was behaving strangely. There were two incidents in the space of a couple of minutes that set the alarm bells ringing for me. 
 
The first was when Klavan tried to let a bouncing ball run through to Karius only for Rondon to almost get there first. Karius was really quick onto it and saved the day, but Klavan is a wily old pro and he doesn’t make errors of judgement like that. On any other pitch the ball runs through to the keeper and Rondon doesn’t get a sniff. 
 
Almost immediately after that, Gomez headed a ball back to the keeper and it just kind of plopped onto the turf as though the ball was burst. There was no zip in that pitch at all. The grass looked a little bit long and they didn’t water it so it was as dry and lifeless as a nun’s….. no I can’t finish that sentence. I went to a school that was run by nuns, I’ve got to have more respect than that. 
 
The pitch was dry and lifeless, let’s leave it at that. Here’s the thing though, what right to do we have to expect West Brom to help us out by watering the pitch? They’re an alehouse team that wants to play long and probably 90% of their goals come from set-pieces. They don’t need a greasy surface to zip passes about on, but we do. So why the fuck would they give us that kind of advantage? 
 

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[Jurgens Red Army 233]

Great report as always Dave, well worth the £2 a month.

[Josef Svejk 5,381]

"As good as we are we just can’t fucking shake these stupid slip ups. We’ve beaten City three out of four times, and failed to beat West Brom in three attempts. That right there is modern Liverpool in a fucking nutshell."

 

Yep.

[Paul Wright 40]

1st paragraph fuckin verbatim my thoughts.

[dockers_strike 4,130]

I was disappointed with Jurgens comments after the game. I think on reflection a day or so later he will be too. He is normally a lot more classy than that and some of the stuff he came out with.

 

I can well understand him being pissed off at the pitch the shite reffing decisions the shite defending of Gomez late on plus a couple of others who some people have raved over and the result.

 

But whatever our players should be able to judge the weight of a pass on a dry or wet pitch and far too many were wayward. West Brom eventually went for shit or bust and it very nearly paid off for them. After their equaliser I only thought the next goal was coming to them not us and if there had been another 10 minutes to play well the result does not bear thinking about.

 

After all the great performances recently this was a big disappointment although I can understand the players having an eye on Roma first leg as loads of fans and local media have had them on the final never mind the semi. I do not generally agree with the idea our squad quality drops off alarmingly outside the first eleven as some say. If it was not for the semi andplayers playing a conservative game we would have won that with the same team on another day. With the exception of City I think the quality of Spurs Chelsea and Uniteds squads outside their first eleven are no stronger.

[Joe Strummer 417]

No action to be taken against Hegazi, seems it's ok to punch your opponent in the midrift.

[an tha 8,441]

The level of incompetence and or corruption among these twats is unreal...

 

Just read this - staggering.

 

"Referee Stuart Atwell did not see the incident so the matter was referred to the FA’s disciplinary panel.

 

The panel is made up of former referees, who are not allowed to confer with each other about the incident.

 

A unanimous verdict was not reached as at least one of the members of the panel did not find the Baggies player guilty of violent conduct."

[piphomer 58]

Your thoughts on Mo are exactly what I'm thinking every game.

[dockers_strike 4,130]

The level of incompetence and or corruption among these twats is unreal...

 

Just read this - staggering.

 

"Referee Stuart Atwell did not see the incident so the matter was referred to the FA’s disciplinary panel.

 

The panel is made up of former referees, who are not allowed to confer with each other about the incident.

 

A unanimous verdict was not reached as at least one of the members of the panel did not find the Baggies player guilty of violent conduct."

 

I am gobsmacked. One of them did not find that violent conduct. No wonder none of them are going to the world cup.

[Red74 1,629]

Thought Firmino made us worse when he came on. Same as in the derby the other week. Klopp’s put him on the left in both of those games and we’ve been lucky to get away with a point in the end due to his carelessness with the ball.

[DaveT 703]

I thought Klopp was right in is comments about the pitch - but not right to mention it in the interviews. It was counter-productive. Small-time teams like this lot will always do whatever necessary to gain advantage. Wish he'd gone to town more about the appalling refereeing performance. Nobody's even mentioned the shocking tackle by Rondon on Ings in the first half - it was an absolute minimum of a yellow, arguably a red. I've got a freeze frame of it, both feet off the ground - therefore not 'in control' as per the convention, with one boot about to make contact near Ings's knee. He merely got a talking to,ffs!

The Hegazi ruling is beyond satire. At least it means he'll be available to kick and elbow Harry Kane in a couple of games time.

[StevieMax 126]

I am gobsmacked. One of them did not find that violent conduct. No wonder none of them are going to the world cup.

It may have been actually worse than that, as the quote was "as at least one" 

No wonder all the referees and ex-referees (Poll, Gallagher, Webb etc) been keeping quiet over the lack of English referees going to the World Cup