Red Star Belgrade (6/11) Champions League

[Bobby Hundreds]

So familiar I feel like I've watched this pattern since 1991. 

 

 

[Stouffer]

Why do we persist with trying to cross the ball to our attackers; this ain't FIFA, they're tiny.

 

Just fucking fuck it. 

[Baltar]

We've just not looked right this season. Yes we're unbeaten in the league which is great, but we've been forced to grind out wins way too often and our defence has been by far our best unit. What happened to the team that was blowing opponents away so easily last season? A defeat like this has been coming unfortunately.

[El Rojo]

Poor from Jurgen tonight. His gambles in Matip, Lallana and Sturridge backfired spectacularly.

 

 

[Captain Howdy]

My word that was grim. In fairness we’ve been shite all season yet somehow remained unbeaten in the league, a statistic that won’t be surviving much longer if this turdfest is anything to go by. Is it the absence of  Buvac? I really wouldn’t know but it’s certainly a theory that’s gathering momentum, whatever things need sorting and sorting quickly because after so much optimism this season is going to start sucking ass very soon.

[suzy]

11 minutes ago, Jennings said:

I think Suzy needs to take some blame here!!!  

 

She he got to the thread late and had already had a bad day. Unacceptable!!

Oi!! I didn't finish work til 6pm - I did my best!

[an tha]

We need a player who can put foot on it and control tempo and someone who has some vision/guile.

It is a massive oversight on Klopps part to have a midfield as pedestrian and as lacking in guile as ours.

Literally no craft in it at all.

 

Our stuttering performances are all on our midfield - they don't do anywhere near enough to help the attack or the defence....but especially the lack of help for our attack.....it is a creative void.

 

 

[aRdja]

Alisson - 4

Matip - 4

Van Dijk -6

Trent - 5

Robbo - 6

Gini - 5

Milner - 4

Lallana - 5

Mane - 4

Salah - 5

Sturridge - 5

Subs:

Gomez - 5

Firmino - 5

Origi - 5

[SammyAftershave]

A total shambles of a performance. Having both Sturridge and Lallana in the starting line up was taking the piss and inviting trouble (which we got from a pub team). Absolutely no positives to take from this game except HIV. Not irreparable for us still to qualify but we've put a shed load of unnecessary pressure on ourselves. Terrible Rodgers-like night in Europe. MOM should be interesting.

[SammyAftershave]

Ardja, Ardja, you're far, far, far too kind with those marks. No one on the pitch came close to a 5.

[El Rojo]

Suzy out. 

[Dr Nowt]

27 minutes ago, Babb'sBurstNad said:

Red Star tonight, that was complete shite.

Red Star at night, glad we got beat.

[El Rojo]

Word of praise for Robertson, charging around covering two or three positions and trying to drive things on when others’ heads had already dropped. Wish every player had his spirit. 

[Captain Howdy]

11 minutes ago, an tha said:

We need a player who can put foot on it and control tempo and someone who has some vision/guile.

It is a massive oversight on Klopps part to have a midfield as pedestrian and as lacking in guile as ours.

Literally no craft in it at all.

 

Our stuttering performances are all on our midfield - they don't do anywhere near enough to help the attack or the defence....but especially the lack of help for our attack.....it is a creative void.

 

 

The problem is that the summer signings have so far not worked out, yes patience is needed but for for a hundred million it’s reasonable to expect more.

[KevieG]

Basically Gomez and VVD need to play in the centre all the time. If Matip and Lovren don't like that then they'll just have to deal with it. Trent needs to come out of the team for a while. He is struggling badly. I'd give Clyne a run.

 

Shaq needs to be given a proper starting run in the team as well. We are desperatly short of creativity in the middle. It's November now and things still haven't "clicked". Who is to say that will even happen.  Klopp needs to get ruthless with some of these.

[Carvalho Diablo]

We are crying out for some pace and creativity in midfield. Shaq may not be the quickest but it's no coincidence that our best performances this season have been with him playing in the team alongside our front 3, with only the 2 holding midfielders behind him. Far better balance. 

[Captain Howdy]

Yeah Matip needs to disappear and Lallana is done.

[jsjazz]

Can't say it wasn't coming. Bar a couple of games we've been pedestrian all season, surviving mainly down to the tight defence. Eventually lady luck is going to look the other way.

Biggest problem all season (apart from all three forwards misfiring at the same time ) has been the lack of creativity and guile from midfield. In 95 minutes today I didn't see one player take on and beat an opponent, the passing was over or under hit, and they looked scared to play a forward pass- it was all pass pass pass sideways, lose it, rinse and repeat. I'm not even sure a single creative player will change that- its partly lack of movement from those in front and around them, and partly I don't know what the pattern of play is supposed to be. Quick long ball to a marauding full back? Not happening so much this season, and when it does the full back more often than not doesn't put a quick ball in.

Poor Lallana bless him at least tried to make some runs but it looked like he was running in treacle.

No urgency the whole game- if you didn't know the score you would think we were winning, not losing 2-0.

The league position is very good, the results have been very good, but the football hasn't been as enjoyable this season. Hope we come out of this rut soon.

[Captain Howdy]

Just now, Carvalho Diablo said:

We are crying out for some pace and creativity in midfield. Shaq may not be the quickest but it's no coincidence that our best performances this season have been with him playing in the team alongside our front 3, with only the 2 holding midfielders behind him. Far better balance. 

Agree, I think Shaq is a must 

[aRdja]

1 minute ago, KevieG said:

Basically Gomez and VVD need to play in the centre all the time. If Matip and Lovren don't like that then they'll just have to deal with it. Trent needs to come out of the team for a while. He is struggling badly. I'd give Clyne a run.

 

Shaq needs to be given a proper starting run in the team as well. We are desperatly short of creativity in the middle. It's November now and things still haven't "clicked". Who is to say that will even happen.  Klopp needs to get ruthless with some of these.

Unfair on Lovren. He wasn’t at all involved tonight. It was all on Matip.

[johnsusername]

Allison's starting to let in goals. Goals that he shouldn't be letting in?

 

I'm torn - on the one hand I don't like us getting beat, on the other this Forum is so much better when we do. 

[KevieG]

3 minutes ago, aRdja said:

Unfair on Lovren. He wasn’t at all involved tonight. It was all on Matip.

Not blaming Lovren but Gomez needs to play in his position. 

[skend04]

8 minutes ago, johnsusername said:

Allison's starting to let in goals. Goals that he shouldn't be letting in?

 

I'm torn - on the one hand I don't like us getting beat, on the other this Forum is so much better when we do. 

Achterburged.

[El Rojo]

Robertson/VVD/Lovren/Gomez is our best defence by a distance right now.

 

Don’t want to see Lallana again until he’s holding up a Bournemouth shirt on deadline day next January. 

[rubble-rouser]

out complete inability to just shut up shop is shocking.

 

Squad depth has been exposed again.

 

The formation was all wrong - no width in midfield, front 3 too far up, Willjnaldum exposed so much he’s have needed to be Souness, Keane and Viera rilled into one to protect out back 4.

 

VVD’s complacency caught up with him. Sturridge and Lallana looked like they haven’t played for weeks and Mane was like he has been all season - trying loads but making all sorts of bad decisions. 

 

Add in bad misses by both centre backs and a Trent shocker and we have a genuine feel-bad factor that has been lacking since Klopp’s first couple of months. 

 

The only brightvspot for me was Mo. I’m not saying he played especially well, and his hesitancy is unrecognisable from evenearky last year, but he looked  abbot more self-confident. I thought he was really unlucky with the one that hit the post and he didn’t do a lot wrong with the one that he lashed and the keeper saved late on.  I pointed out in the first game of the season that he looked off the pace (and got negged for it). I think he has looked physically stronger the last 2 weeks or so but just not quite backing his own ability. 

 

Robbo didn’t do a lot wrong either.

 

Worstbthing is that to qualify we now need to go all out in 2 games games that could have been academic had we got 2 points from out away games so far. The forwards and midfielders are massively stretched and the feat has to be that it has aknock

on effect on league form, even in piss-easy fixtures like Fulham and Everton. 

 

That 02/03 feeling again