Liverpool 1 Man City 4 (Feb 7 2021)

[tlw content 14,143]

 

 

 

Report by

Dave Usher

 

I’m writing this immediately after the game so I can get it out of the way and try to forget it ever happened. This was an absolute shambles and I dread to think what’s going to happen between now and the end of the season because the team looks completely broken now.

 

Klopp’s version of events afterwards couldn’t be further from my own but that’s fine because I don’t think he believed a word of it. He’s trying to boost flagging morale and putting the boot in and saying how shit this was is hardly going to help. He’s said the right things because the confidence of this team has gone completely and he needs to rebuild it.

 

There’s no way he can possibly think that this performance was fine though. It wasn’t. It was shite. Even at 1-1 before Alisson’s sabotage act this was shite. That ugly bastard in goal for City didn’t have to make a save of note. By full time he still hadn’t. It's a recurring theme now. Too often we don't work keepers enough.

 

We’d marginally been the better side in the first half but that’s only because City seemed to be in second gear and were possibly still gripped by their “Anfield hoodoo”, especially when they missed a pen. We hadn’t been good though. Not at all. I think we caught City by surprise by how shit we were. They were geared up for fire and brimstone and we gave them wet bogroll. Like I said last week, should change the sign to "This is NOT Anfield".

 

In the end City won this without even extending themselves. They didn’t even break sweat because it was so easy they didn’t need to. Forget the mistakes that handed them the points and just focus on how we played. Not good enough. This just doesn’t even look like Klopp’s Liverpool. It’s unrecognisable.

 

They aren’t mentality monsters currently. They’re feeling sorry for themselves and only a few of them look like they’re even still fighting now. Most of them look shell shocked. And fucking knackered. There's no energy, no zip.

 

Like I say, I thought this performance was meek, timid, overly cautious and devoid of all confidence and belief even BEFORE Alisson fucking handed them the game on a plate. The first half was mostly shite but it maybe didn’t seem that bad because City offered absolutely nothing themselves until Sterling won a penalty. Gundogan skied it into the Kop but ultimately it didn’t matter.

 

This will sound stupid but I knew after about five minutes we weren’t winning this game. One incident was all it took for me to come to that conclusion. Ederson kicked the ball straight at Mané and for a second I thought “aye aye, here we go”. Ten seconds later the ball was back with Alisson. What the fuck????? That’s not Klopp’s Liverpool. It just isn’t. It’s the exact fucking opposite of Klopp’s Liverpool.

 

Klopp's Liverpool don't go backwards. They go forwards. All the fucking time. Over and over and over. They take risks. They lose the ball but they win it back and then shove it straight down the opposition's throats. We've turned into a team full of Gareth Barrys. Fucking slow, boring, crabs.

 

 

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[Kevin D 8,552]

[Vector Sigma 137]

Grim reading to go to bed on, cheers Dave!

[an tha 7,066]

Sorely depressing.

 

We are missing everything about us that made us great over last couple of seasons.

 

Like watching an old fighter who's legs have gone try and fight from memory and the poor bastard no matter how hard he tries just can't get his shots off, can't see his opponents shots coming and when they land, can't absorb them.

 

It's tough to watch and its not a blip, or a downturn - it is what we are and what we will continue to be until we get our centre halves back and as a result of that our midfield back.

 

I'll argue we fucking chose this though and it didn't have to end up like this, we could hae done a lot more to cope and done it a good while ago - but that argument can go round and round forever....what can't be argued is we are a team in absolute crisis and every week that passes it sets deeper into every area of the team.

 

The big question now for rest of season is have we got enough to get that top 4 spot, as fear is if we don't there are some dark days ahead.

[El Rojo 9,606]

We all dream of a team of Gareth Barrys playing Ed Sheeran football. 

[Code 1,174]

Totally agree Dave, we keep playing the ball backwards too much and we lose it too easily.

 

Hendo’s passing from the back certainly does not help, its abysmal, I’ll post the numbers tomorrow. He needs to get back in midfield.

[jonnyp 216]

How many myths and stories show than in breaking a curse or overcoming insurmountable odds, that often it comes at a heavy price, great loss or sting in the tail?

 

In our own odyssey, we attained our own unattainable but without being able to share in the joy, in person with the team. Those celebrations continue to be denied, we are unable to shove it down the throats of all those deserving of our ire and since we have had to endure the great loss of many of the team, be it by presence or form.

 

Let’s not forget the journey and trials we have endured, and put this season into that perspective. Yes, it’s unbearable to feel that we never succeeded, but the fact is that we did, we overcame, we broke our curse. 

 

Unlike before, we know we have the fortitude to do it again, that the ‘golden sky’ is more than just words, it’s a rallying cry. Let’s take this season on the chin, and use it to build towards the next.

 

So much about the club is better than it was before, it’s easier to go on a new odyssey when your stocks and rations are much better provided for than the scrimping and piecing together we started the last one with.

 

 

[ManéMan 20]

Spot on about that Ederson kick straight to Mane. Our forwards usually pounce on such mistakes but Mane seemed to be taken surprised by it. 

Also when the forwards are receiving the ball,  for the past several games, their first touch is taking them back away from goal instead letting it roll forward and taking it in stride - similar to how Minamino scored his goal for Soton the other day.

[s(k)aturation 5,682]

Your truth hurts, Dave.

[leslie 0]

Truth is we are missing our leader badly, vvd used to take control of a game, organise the defence, set up attacks and feed the forwards, we will continue to struggle until he returns and gains match fitness, without him some of our players have lost their way, Allison has become nervous and our fullbacks seem to have lost confidence, even Henderson seems nonplussed, we need you know who back asap. 

[DalyanPete 562]

Ten seconds later the ball was back with Alisson. What the fuck????? 

 

Think that just about sums the season up, we are like a Chuckle brothers tribute act, to me to you,to you to me.

As I don't watch any other football I had no opinion onThiago other than what I read on here, unlocking defenses and all that, hope he finds that key.because I'm yet to see anything, pretty impressive fouling though.

 

 

[mike23 539]

No idea how this team have fallen so far so quickly but we've got certainly got real problems. There's only so much you can blame the injuries for and this has gone way beyond that. This group of players have been amazing for a couple of years, but they've been an absolute embarrassment since the West Brom game.

[Pete 1,136]

Back to being fucking shit again.  Oh joy.

[Daisy 21]

Said it before this is all on the owners. 

 

The first team players have given them everything for three years with no squad and now when they desperately need help, FSG deliver two reject bums for free on the last day of the window (one of which didn't even make the squad) 

 

Wouldn't surprise me if they've seen them in training and thought fucking hell we are fucked here boys. 

 

Needs to be coridnated fans action to drive them out

[ralph 64]

Too brutal Dave, too honest. 

[rb14 1,504]

I have never seen a team so willing to play backwards. Ever. Free kick to us in the final third? Five passes and it's back, deep in our half. Play out from the back and an opposition player comes within 15 metres? Back we go. Or hoof it aimlessly. 

 

Here's the thing. Fuck getting beaten at Anfield by Everton. Continue on this trajectory and I genuinely fear we won't have Klopp next season. 

 

 

[s(k)aturation 5,682]

2 minutes ago, rb14 said:

Here's the thing. Fuck getting beaten at Anfield by Everton. Continue on this trajectory and I genuinely fear we won't have Klopp next season. 

 

Totally hope I'm insane, but I have a very uneasy feeling about that too.

 

 

[Mikhail 99]

I've said more than once that I consider this season a write off due to COVID however, that was with the hope that at the end of the season everything would at least be close to normal again However, things are still so bad that Liverpool can't even travel to Germany for their CL match and there is a very real possibility that we will go into next season with fans still banned from stadiums.

 

If we go into next season with this form while still being unable to really buy or sell players it's gonna be even worse. It's so demoralizing watching the team suffer.

 

Everything that could have gone wrong this season has and it's a fucking joke. We didn't get to celebrate our title and we have had to go through the worst luck while defending our title what the fuck man.

 

The only thing I can do is hope that Jota comes back to help the forward line rest and the new defenders are good enough to allow our midfield to return, and then finally can this injury bug just leave us alone until the end of the season.

 

 

 

 

[Moo 885]

40 minutes ago, skaro said:

 

Totally hope I'm insane, but I have a very uneasy feeling about that too.

 

 

I think it's more insane to not have an uneasy feeling about it, especially if come the summer there's little or no investment in the team.  Still, with hugely important players to come back from injury you've got to hope he wants to stay to see if he can achieve any more with them.

[s(k)aturation 5,682]

Just now, Moo said:

I think it's more insane to not have an uneasy feeling about it, especially if come the summer there's little or no investment in the team.  Still, with hugely important players to come back from injury you've got to hope he wants to stay to see if he can achieve any more with them.

 

Yeah, but as is being pointed out more than once here, this has been going on since Watford.

 

Can this squad achieve more?  With VVD back, a fully functioning midfield (with Thiago in the mix) and Jota?

 

Maybe. 

 

Because we'd never want to be hanging by our Niagras waiting for more quality personnel to arrive... 

 

 

 

 

[Marcas 65]

Tough love Dave, can’t disagree with any of it. There’s no part of the team is operating at anything like what it can.I think Bobby is now a one game in 5 (if we’re lucky) player, nothing is working for him and he just looks slow. Surely JK recognises that? Then there’s midfield. We have no drive, zero creativity. We need to get fab and Hendo back in there immediately to try and get momentum before the end of the season (which I agree is a write-off at this stage). We have zero strength in depth - I’ve been a big critic of Jones but speak fair he was the best of the MF’s, but he got hooked for a guy staring 36 in the face who was never the quickest to begin with. I love Milner but just what was Jurgen hoping for with that one? We have a list of sick-note players who can’t play 3 games in a row and even if they do, how many are 1st team certs? We utterly wasted £52m on Keita; we won the ECL and totally failed to capitalise by strengthening the squad. Likewise with the Prem - Jotta and Thiago may make a difference but would you bet on it at this point? Everyone could see we needed back-up at CB but we did nothing until sick-note Joel did a sick note Joel and even then we leave it to the last day and end buying two guys who no-one has ever heard of, one of whom we gazumped Celtic for! Yeah I know VVD played there, but at this stage if we’re in the market for the same players Celtic are chasing something has gone seriously fucking wrong. No doubt we’ve had an appalling run of luck, but there’s been bad decisions along the way no no-one is exempt from that, not even the boss unfortunately. Christ what a start to the fucking week...

[Red Shift 361]

Moving Hendo and Fab back to midfield doesn’t stop them defending, in my opinion. If anything it is added strength to the back line - so many times we’ve seen them both intercept an attack well before the backline has to act. Also, as you correctly say, their presence would be a much needed boost for Thiago. I firmly believe it is the key to a turnaround. Yes we may ship goals, but we’ll look more like scoring them too.

 

I remember a certain title challenge under Rodgers where we shipped tons of goals but nearly won the league. 

[Total Longo 3,188]

32 minutes ago, Marcas said:

Tough love Dave, can’t disagree with any of it. There’s no part of the team is operating at anything like what it can.I think Bobby is now a one game in 5 (if we’re lucky) player, nothing is working for him and he just looks slow. Surely JK recognises that? Then there’s midfield. We have no drive, zero creativity. We need to get fab and Hendo back in there immediately to try and get momentum before the end of the season (which I agree is a write-off at this stage). We have zero strength in depth - I’ve been a big critic of Jones but speak fair he was the best of the MF’s, but he got hooked for a guy staring 36 in the face who was never the quickest to begin with. I love Milner but just what was Jurgen hoping for with that one? We have a list of sick-note players who can’t play 3 games in a row and even if they do, how many are 1st team certs? We utterly wasted £52m on Keita; we won the ECL and totally failed to capitalise by strengthening the squad. Likewise with the Prem - Jotta and Thiago may make a difference but would you bet on it at this point? Everyone could see we needed back-up at CB but we did nothing until sick-note Joel did a sick note Joel and even then we leave it to the last day and end buying two guys who no-one has ever heard of, one of whom we gazumped Celtic for! Yeah I know VVD played there, but at this stage if we’re in the market for the same players Celtic are chasing something has gone seriously fucking wrong. No doubt we’ve had an appalling run of luck, but there’s been bad decisions along the way no no-one is exempt from that, not even the boss unfortunately. Christ what a start to the fucking week...

With Jota out, what are the options? We loan Minamino out, so that leaves very little. I'd happily never see Origi in a red shirt again and Shaqiri and Chamberlain aren't far behind. 

[halewood pete 2,688]

Wet bogroll.Sums up the performance perfectly. 

[dockers_strike 3,079]

Up to their pen I thought we'd just and I mean just, shaded it. They got the pen almost against the run of play. Ive no problem with the pen against Fab so long as we get them. And all too often we dont. At least Oliver evened it up with Mo's pen.

 

I agree about us being slow. I think Gini was the main culprit. I love Bobby but he's a shadow of the player he was even if he did force a save from Ederson. Sadio may have the excuse of not being fully fit but in all honesty, his performance was no worse what we've seen from him this season so far.

 

Yet again, Mo was on his own up front showing any fight. Young Curtis was showing fight but I dont think he was as good as you make out Dave. He led one break then played a truely awful ball about 5 yards behind Gini and the move broke down.

 

You're bang on about Virgil. Ive took quite a bit of stick saying our problem isnt the CB position. At the moment, 2 of our 3 forwards, 4 if you include Origi cannot score in a brothel.

 

I fear there's something majorly wrong at the club now. Jurgen is very, very tetchy in interviews. Even before last season's title win, he'd have laughed at arsehole like shreeve and the others. Now, he's Mister Angry.

 

Covid has fucked football. Im left wondering if the likes of Sadio had a move lined up but this has fallen through due to the finances of the buying club? Gini's contract situation isnt helping. chelsea spunking the cash about clearly wrecked Jurgen's plans to bring in Werner, losing van Dijk, Gomez and Matip was truely calamitous and loads wanted Degsy just got shot off.

 

Alli, what can you say? You missed Dudek and those 2 goals by that manc for comparison. But Alli isnt the only one in this team filled with indecision right now. Some of them get the ball and it's like a hot potato to them or they're thinking 'what the fuck do I do next?'

 

Scary days ahead I fear.