Man City 3 Liverpool 2 (Dec 22 2022)

[tlw content]

 

I don’t really know what to make of this. I can rationalise it by saying it’s the toughest place we could have gone to and that we ran them really close. When you look at it that way, it’s not bad. Sure, it’s disappointing to be knocked out of a competition we won last year, and it’s never nice losing to them, but in that context there’s no need to feel downhearted by anything or worried about the tests to come.

 

I’m struggling to see it that way though. I’m judging it on what I saw and how I felt when watching it, and viewed through that prism I don’t feel great about it at all. I didn’t see much that I felt good about but I saw lots that I didn’t like. We won’t truly know what level we’re at until we’ve played the next three games, all of which we should win. This wasn’t a game we should win. It was a game that we could win, but equally it’s one that we could easily lose. This isn’t the game to tell us whether the break has allowed us to hit reset and get back to doing what has made us so successful. We’ll only know that when we’ve faced teams like Villa, Leicester, Brentford and others of that ilk.

 

That being said, I saw nothing in this game to make me think we have sorted anything out. The things that were going wrong in the first half of the season don’t look like they’ve gone away. Klopp himself said he wasn’t happy about the counter-press because “it was non existent”. How the fuck can that be the case when they’ve just spent weeks working on this shit and sitting in a classroom watching instructional videos? Ljinders said they’ve been showing them clips and re-educating them on how to become horrible to play against.

 

On this showing it seems like the players showed as little aptitude to work in the classroom as I did. I didn’t listen in class, I didn’t do homework and I really just couldn’t be arsed with school at all. Looking at this game, and specifically the car crash that was the opening 15 minutes, all I can think is that the lads were throwing paper aeroplanes around, scratching their initials on their desks and generally just taking the piss in class.

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[Kevin D]

It was great for the public here at Manchester to see us. They must have been wondering what this team everyone has been talking about are all about and now they’ve seen. We were wonderful.

[bigal]

Teams have been overloading the back post at set pieces all season and we fell for it again, do we never learn?

[Captain Turdseye]

Sleepy Joe. Haha. It’s funny because it’s true. 

[Jurgen Knows]

I’m with you on VAT spoiling games with 3-mm offside calls. I’d also rather have human errors than that. But I don’t trust the referees to keep their biases out of it. I’d tolerate 3-mm offside calls over biases.

[DalyanPete]

Not sure how Darwin keeps hitting/mishitting his shots wide. I know you can't teach what Fowler had but surely he'd benefit from some Godlike coaching. It's all about making the right choice. 

Naby looked like he'd never away, still shite. Hope he signs a pre contract agreement with anyone so I can count down the days until he's gone.

[Barnesey]

Ive not seen the first goal again but I think you are being a bit harsh on joe. Low cross just behind him and Haaland gets the run and scores with his studs. Tough to do much better. 
 

kelleher might be mr cool but the reason we struggled with short goal kicks was because he took so long to make a decision. If we’re gonna do that we need to move the ball quickly and not let the opposition close us down. 
 

overall, I thought we did better than I expected but we had the chances to have won that so a tinge of disappointment 

[King Kenny 86]

Games over training all pro's say that.

Citeh away both at 3/4 strength proper competitive minutes under the belt.

Villa with their shit Everton reject keeper and undercooked by another 3 days to us. I expect big things there performance wise and a win.

After that it's keeping everyone healthy which this medical team seem palpably unable to do.

I can see some formation switches in the coming games until fresh legs come in January 

1 up top , 3 at the back.. . Depending on opposition and venue.

One thing for sure, great or shite, it should be interesting (note I avoided entertaining).

Small shout to Konate thought he looked top in the world cup. Also on the pod Matip Konate not the worst pairing if Shit Virg turns up.

[dockers_strike]

Great report Dave and pretty much how I saw it.

 

As you say, the next 3 league games will really give us insight on how the performance over the rest of the season pans out.

 

Im beginning to think the players arent just physically shattered, they are mentally shattered as well.

[Whelan5]

Sleepy Joe. Now that's good 

[dave u]

16 hours ago, Jurgen Knows said:

I’m with you on VAT spoiling games with 3-mm offside calls. I’d also rather have human errors than that. But I don’t trust the referees to keep their biases out of it. I’d tolerate 3-mm offside calls over biases.

 

I broadly agree. They still get things wrong even with the video to help them, so there's still an element if them giving whatever they want to give anyway. Linos tend to be much more reliable and better at their jobs, albeit its an easier job.

 

12 hours ago, Barnesey said:

Ive not seen the first goal again but I think you are being a bit harsh on joe. Low cross just behind him and Haaland gets the run and scores with his studs. Tough to do much better. 

 

He's caught on his heels so ends up waiting for it where Haaland is on the move and can attack it. It's only a slight error but that's all it takes against them.

[terry symes]

On 24/12/2022 at 04:02, Jurgen Knows said:

I’m with you on VAT spoiling games with 3-mm offside calls. I’d also rather have human errors than that. But I don’t trust the referees to keep their biases out of it. I’d tolerate 3-mm offside calls over biases.

Doesn't keep bias out of it though. The guys in the portacabin can still decide what they want. Even with offside calls they can draw those poxy lines wherever they want to.

 

"It’s here to stay, I know that, I’m just saying I enjoyed the lack of VAR here, it was like the good old days. I suspect I’m in a minority though."

 

Would genuinely blow my mind if you were in a minority. The actual viewing and enjoyment of the game is infinitely better.

[Jurgen Knows]

22 minutes ago, terry symes said:

Doesn't keep bias out of it though. The guys in the portacabin can still decide what they want. Even with offside calls they can draw those poxy lines wherever they want to.

It doesn’t eliminate the bias, but it significantly reduces it in my view.