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Real Madrid 3 Liverpool 1 (Apr 6 2021)


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Dave Usher

We waited three years for a chance for payback and THIS is what we got? Absolute fucking shite. What a massive letdown. We probably shouldn’t be surprised as revenge is not something that this team does well. You only have to go back to the insipid surrender against the Blueshite the other week to see that.

 

With this being the Champions League though I really expected better. I had high hopes about this game because other than Porto, Real Madrid might be the weakest team we could have been drawn against. The problem is they can say the same about us, and they’d be right based on this. They won EASILY.

 

We were fucking awful in every single area of the pitch. Not one of the players come out of it with any credit. Not a single one. Everyone was shite and it’s hard to take or understand given the importance of the game. I’d allowed myself to get excited about this one. I was really looking forward to it and believed we’d see a big performance. More fool me, I won’t be making that mistake again.

 

We started badly and got worse. There was a decent spell just after half time but it didn’t last and we were just well beaten. It’s easy to blame it on the team selection, specifically the surprise inclusion of Keita, but that’s just scapegoating. Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending Keita and if he never played for us again I wouldn't lose a minute's sleep over it, but there was far more to this than just Naby being Naby.

 

He did nothing whatsoever but he isn’t to blame for the rest of them making the most basic of errors time and time again. If you want to say we’re a worse team when Keita plays and that we always look more open then I’ll agree with you. This shocking performance had very little to do with Keita though. 

 

Whether it was Fabinho and Wijnaldum simply passing the ball straight to Madrid players when under no pressure, Phillips not being aware of players running in behind, Trent ‘assisting’ at the wrong end or the forward players taking four touches to try and get the ball under control only to still fail, this was just one huge collective shitshow. Everyone was crap.

 

 

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Robbo looks fucked.  He gets left out on the wing on his own constantly.  It’s basically ruined any attacking intent we had there. He’s got pace and can beat a man but he’s not going to take the risk of giving it away stupidly so doesn’t do it.  When you add that to how shit Mane is centrally I just don’t understand Klopp’s thinking.  Get back to basics and get Mane to stay on the touch line and keep things simple running at one man with Robbo overlapping.

 

As soon as Madrid started sitting in to protect the lead you knew we weren’t creating anything because that’s how it’s been most of the season.  It’s too intricate and predictable through the middle and we have too many small players for Trents crossing from deep to hurt teams.  We need to concentrate on getting to the byline so that it opens up the space for those passes in and around the edge of the box when the opposition defence gets stretched.  It just feels like we are hammering a square peg into a round hole any time that situation arises and Klopp just isn’t addressing it.  We’ve went from Mane’s starting position being the left and us struggling because he’s spent most of us time centrally to us now just playing him centrally and him looking permanently shit.

 

Trent was an absolute car crash from the first minute.  It was his classic arrogant performance where he seems to think he’s too good to do the dirty work or he just hasn’t got the brain to.  Going the other way he started hitting those Hollywood balls over the top again and again when they clearly weren’t working.  I really hope Klopp and the coaches tear him a new one over that performance because it was a disgrace and all that’s bad about his game.  He seems to need to be taught the complete basics about defending because the errors he’s making are so easily fixed.  The number one thing being just fucking sprint as fast as you can back towards your own fucking goal.

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There's always been a certain fatalism about being a red since the late 80, where victories in competitions come as a pleasant surprise rather than an expectation, which is why the likes of Istanbul live so long in the memory. I thought the days of pretty much expecting a non performance in a big game were gone, or of expecting to get unceremoniously dumped out of, say, the FA Cup by some also rsns were over. I actually started to feel that way after the world club championship win, because if there was ever gonna be an anticlimax or a banana skin in terms of prep and style, it was that. But no.

 

Sadly it's starting to look like us doing well was a blip and not a new normal.

 

Sad thing is that over the years we've produced inferior teams that you rooted for, and talented ones that you resented because you knew they were capable of better, these lads are starting to fall into the latter category for me. They started to actively piss me off, now I'm firmly in the apathy stage. The five stages of Liverpool grief, of which that is the latter.

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I know it's harsh because I love the guy but I'd cash in on Mane this summer while he's got some value left. Obviously providing we could use the money to help bring in a suitable alternative. The attack desperately needs freshening up. I wouldn't want to lose Mo and we ain't getting much for Bobby.  

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1 hour ago, DaveTucker said:

I know it's harsh because I love the guy but I'd cash in on Mane this summer while he's got some value left. Obviously providing we could use the money to help bring in a suitable alternative. The attack desperately needs freshening up. I wouldn't want to lose Mo and we ain't getting much for Bobby.  

Are you suggesting Bobby is gone and we get rid of Mane??

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I know society is becoming harsher generally , but I find the disrespectful tone of comments towards the three musketeers massively disappointing. For an outlay of less than £100m they have given us an absolute dream of a 3 or 4 years.

 

Mo's performances and figures are other-worldly, and I can't believe the casual way his achievements are grudgingly accepted with almost a dismissive shrug by some fans. Sadio has also been absolutely fantastic and to me still appears to be trying his bollocks off even though his health has obviously suffered from the long covid thing. Bobby has obviously lost his way a bit on the pitch , but was the pivot for all of our success over the period involved.

 

I personally think that we should give Sadio a complete break after the season to recover his health, and look for Jurgen to assure Sadio and Mo that they remain , with Diogo , our main men . I think Bobby could be used as a number 10 type player with limited playing time if he is happy to accept that role.

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A few questions.

 

Why is it now almost seen as a «truth» that Mane is in any way physical affected by covid?

 

I dont understand that at all.

 

How is it affecting him? Has he got slower? Has he got weaker? Has he lost his technique? Has he lost his brain, since he keep making stupid decisions? What is it exactly?

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I haven't gotten angry at that many games this season, between VAR, injuries, no fans, fake fan noise, and shitty performances it's been a slog however, I've just had a throw-it on the shit pile that is this season mentality.

 

For some reason, a part of me thought we were at least 50% of what we were last season with Jota back, Fabinho in midfield again and a sort of settled CB pairing but wow was I wrong. 

 

Watching the team struggle, the commentator talking the most inane shit which really made me miss the fake fan noise and fans of other clubs taking glee in TAA's crap performance because haha I guess Gareth Southgate was right was just too much.

 

Like fuck this performance this is 100% the last time I allow myself to be tricked into giving a damn this season

 

 

 

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10 minutes ago, Mikhail said:

I haven't gotten angry at that many games this season, between VAR, injuries, no fans, fake fan noise, and shitty performances it's been a slog however, I've just had a throw-it on the shit pile that is this season mentality.

 

For some reason, a part of me thought we were at least 50% of what we were last season with Jota back, Fabinho in midfield again and a sort of settled CB pairing but wow was I wrong. 

 

Watching the team struggle, the commentator talking the most inane shit which really made me miss the fake fan noise and fans of other clubs taking glee in TAA's crap performance because haha I guess Gareth Southgate was right was just too much.

 

Like fuck this performance this is 100% the last time I allow myself to be tricked into giving a damn this season

 

 

 

I felt the same. I went into the match with low expectations and convinced myself that i didn't care what the outcome would be in the end. But the attitude on show just boiled my blood.

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Yep.  

 

We were absolutely dogshit until Keita was replaced by Thiago.  I'm really fed up watching the naive defending of our fullbacks as well.  It wasn't as though they were offering much going forward.  Robertson gets caught out of position so often, charging for a ball he's not going to get, leaving massive gaps behind, or misjudging the flight of a ball over his head, or losing the opposing forward.  It never gets discussed on here, but it happens too often these days.  I thought all of our attackers struggled, but at least they put the effort in, and Jota looks much more of a threat - and gives the opposition a harder time - than Firmino.

 

The overall feeling was that they were ripe for the taking there, yet our sluggish and careless start gave them the initiative and built confidence.  I've never seen any of our players apart from Firmino give the ball away quite as often as we did last night.  A lukewarm performance by a team who clearly lacked motivation, determination and spirit.  Really poor.

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1 hour ago, Code said:

A few questions.

 

Why is it now almost seen as a «truth» that Mane is in any way physical affected by covid?

 

I dont understand that at all.

 

How is it affecting him? Has he got slower? Has he got weaker? Has he lost his technique? Has he lost his brain, since he keep making stupid decisions? What is it exactly?

Yep. I'm wondering why 'long covid' is now a valid reason for Mane's shit performances despite no evidence. Seems that the more some people keep repeating it, the more it seems to be accepted as true.

 

The simpler, more straightforward thing is to say he has experienced a natural decline in form this season. Many players usually experience it at some stage in their career. Instead of making excuses for him, our hope should be that he can stop the decline and maintain a good level of consistent form next season.

 

 

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