West Brom (H) - Premier League - 27/12/2020 - 16:30

[Alex_K 874]

Suspect Klopp took that one a little too much for granted and played the energy conservation game. We never really amped it up. Can’t really legislate for the mistake for the goal. Chamberlain is a strong midfielder: good to have him back in the fold & if he stays fit he adds a different dimension to the midfield. Henderson / Gini / Ox becomes a strong midfield until (if) Thiago is back.

[3 Stacks 2,461]

I thought Chamberlain should have played in place of Wijnaldum. That was the classic type of game where we have little use for what he does in that role.

[Joey8FrogsLegs 768]

11 minutes ago, skaro said:

2 if United win their game in hand, but thankfully, they're shite I keep hearing.

I keep hearing that too. Hope it’s true.

[an tha 6,036]

3 minutes ago, Joey8FrogsLegs said:

I keep hearing that too. Hope it’s true.

I hear they are shite too.

 

I'll be honest and say i don't fancy Rhys Williams against Rashford/Martial or Cavani in a couple of weeks though.

[johnsusername 2,212]

I don't think Man U are shite, but I think (hope) their manager is.

[Arnaud 645]

21 minutes ago, dockers_strike said:

What, Nat Phillips should of replace Jones? Rhys Williams wasnt at fault for the goal so dont get the call for Nat. I think Nat has about the same pace as Rhys as well.

True, but Phillips is better at set pieces, it may have helped.

[Captain Howdy 979]

22 minutes ago, skaro said:

2 if United won their game in hand, but thankfully, they're shite I keep hearing.

As I said earlier it’s anybodies this season, anyone of about 6 could win it, it’s all over the place.

[KMD7 7,308]

17 minutes ago, 3 Stacks said:

I thought Chamberlain should have played in place of Wijnaldum. That was the classic type of game where we have little use for what he does in that role.

Yep definitely. 

[Joey8FrogsLegs 768]

19 minutes ago, 3 Stacks said:

I thought Chamberlain should have played in place of Wijnaldum. That was the classic type of game where we have little use for what he does in that role.

Both Wijnaldum and Henderson are of limited use in games where the opposition park the bus.

 

That said I reckon Ox also struggles in these games, he’s more useful when there is space to attack.

 

Also not many will note the role Wijnaldum played in our goal. His run into the box played a role in opening the space for Sadio. Henderson will offer the same now and then, but less frequently than Wijnaldum. None of them is a proper threat from distance either, Ox is better there obviously. 
 

However I reckon the main reason we lost was the whole team more or less didnt have the right mentality. We seem to play an increasing number of games with reduced tempo and intensity compared to our maximum. And we get away with it less frequently than before.

 

If we had played this game with the same intensity as we did Spurs, Arsenal, Leicester and Wolves at Anfield this season the Baggies wouldn’t have survived. Game would probably have been over within the hour mark, or earlier, and we could have made our substitutions and controlled it for the last half hour.

[lebron 421]

If we're singling out individuals, Henderson was easily our worst performee. Took ages on the ball, and never created anything with it. He's virtually useless in games like these. Could his lofted crosses be any less dangerous? He's earned the right to have a less than stellar performance though, so I'm guessing he'll get an easy ride here. 

 

The reason Ox was brought on was so that someone could draw them out to block a shot. We need one of the mids to carry some sort of threat in games like these. Gerrard, Coutinho, no chance they would have waited inside their own box if we had a shooter in our side.

 

 

A special mention to Kevin Friend, who gave an Atkinson-standard performance in the middle. 

[The Guest 1,823]

I don’t think Klopp got anything wrong really.  They played a 6-4-0 in the first half.  It’s hard to break that down and we did.  What followed was some of our players thinking the game was there for their own personal stats.  We were a victim of circumstance in the second half.  Caught between playing our natural game of just constantly pressuring the opposition and trying to pass out the second half by not giving them easy counters by playing risky passes in their half.

 

The problem with that when you’ve got young players on is that they are more liable to make a mistake like Jones did.  People saying Jones had a bad game though are also mental.  He did the job our midfielders are meant to do.  He gave the ball away once cheaply in the first half and made that colossal error in the second half which led to their goal.

[Arnaud 645]

1 minute ago, lebron said:

If we're singling out individuals, Henderson was easily our worst performee. Took ages on the ball, and never created anything with it. He's virtually useless in games like these. Could his lofted crosses be any less dangerous? He's earned the right to have a less than stellar performance though, so I'm guessing he'll get an easy ride here. 

 

The reason Ox was brought on was so that someone could draw them out to block a shot. We need one of the mids to carry some sort of threat in games like these. Gerrard, Coutinho, no chance they would have waited inside their own box if we had a shooter in our side.

 

 

A special mention to Kevin Friend, who gave an Atkinson-standard performance in the middle. 

Salah was way worse than Hendo.

[Paulie Dangerously 6,690]

My worry is that even dickheads like me knew exactly how they would set up. I knew exactly what their game plan was and exactly how they would react to being 1-0 down. I knew this so why couldn't the champions stop it from happening? 

[The Guest 1,823]

Some more absolute horseshit getting spouted in here.  Hendo and Wijnaldum started the vast majority of games last season against every single type of team which led us the best run of league games we’ve seen in my lifetime.  The idea that they are pointless against any type of team is laughable.

 

Ox was hit and miss when he came on and gave it a go but what is this absolute garbage about starting.  He’d played 15 minutes of football in 3 months or whatever it is and you think he should be starting over our first choice two midfielders who have just played in a 7-0 romp 8 days before.

[Captain Howdy 979]

4 points from Villa, Brighton, Everton, Fulham and West Brom. Fucking hell 

[El Rojo 8,810]

2 minutes ago, Captain Howdy said:

4 points from Villa, Brighton, Everton, Fulham and West Brom. Fucking hell 

And still top. Absolutely bizarre season. 
 

Also, while Villa, Fulham and West Brom fully deserved their results, we were robbed of wins against Everton and Brighton. 

[Wicket 389]

12 minutes ago, Joey8FrogsLegs said:

Both Wijnaldum and Henderson are of limited use in games where the opposition park the bus.

 

That said I reckon Ox also struggles in these games, he’s more useful when there is space to attack.

 

Also not many will note the role Wijnaldum played in our goal. His run into the box played a role in opening the space for Sadio. Henderson will offer the same now and then, but less frequently than Wijnaldum. None of them is a proper threat from distance either, Ox is better there obviously. 

 

However I reckon the main reason we lost was the whole team more or less didnt have the right mentality. We seem to play an increasing number of games with reduced tempo and intensity compared to our maximum. And we get away with it less frequently than before.

 

If we had played this game with the same intensity as we did Spurs, Arsenal, Leicester and Wolves at Anfield this season the Baggies wouldn’t have survived. Game would probably have been over within the hour mark, or earlier, and we could have made our substitutions and controlled it for the last half hour.

Yeah, there’s a lot to be said about this. We won loads of games by just doing enough last year and wearing down the opposition til they cracked. The main difference today I felt was that our intent in the second half in particular was just putting crosses into a packed area. The first half was similar in that we had a lot of the ball out wide but kept overhitting crosses to players that weren’t there - it looks dangerous to a certain extent but is fucking useless when you haven’t got anybody meeting them. It just felt like we were rolling a dice rather than having a specific idea of what to do. 

[Jairzinho 23,025]

1 minute ago, El Rojo said:

And still top. Absolutely bizarre season. 
 

Also, while Villa, Fulham and West Brom fully deserved their results, we were robbed of wins against Everton and Brighton. 

Seven points between first and ninth. 

 

Despite 237 injuries, being monumentally shit in several games, being utterly robbed by bent/shit officiating, we're still top. 

 

As you say, odd season.

[Butch 943]

38 minutes ago, an tha said:

I hear they are shite too.

 

I'll be honest and say i don't fancy Rhys Williams against Rashford/Martial or Cavani in a couple of weeks though.

He's a bit slow, doesn't seem to have any pace. Acciles heel maybe? 

Mane should have had 4 in the first half. 

[TheHowieLama 10,839]

2 minutes ago, Wicket said:

 putting crosses into a packed area

Say it quietly but TAA's delivery this year for the most part has been well below the standard he has set. Compare his to the balls Robertson flashed across the box all game - Salah should have scored 2.

[Mark M 1,520]

I was surprised our energy levels were so bad seeing as we had 8 days off 

[Leyton388 1,308]

I'm fully expecting a CB signed on the 1st Jan. If not sack Parry. 

[an tha 6,036]

Just now, Butch said:

He's a bit slow, doesn't seem to have any pace. Acciles heel maybe? 

Mane should have had 4 in the first half. 

He looks pretty slow and to add to that he is positionally naive (which is to be expected at his age)

 

Sadly being pretty slow and having poor positional sense is a deadly combo and will often get badly exposed against the best attackers.

[Captain Howdy 979]

2 minutes ago, Mark M said:

I was surprised our energy levels were so bad seeing as we had 8 days off 

Which in my opinion proves that this “tiredness” Is all my fucking arse.

[TheHowieLama 10,839]

1 minute ago, an tha said:

badly exposed against the best attackers.