gkmacca

Quite depressing, though not surprising, to listen to Carragher's interview with Neil Jones. He really seems to believe that masses of fans regard Sky as some kind of magical place, and punditry as a rare science which all viewers revere as a crucial means of enlightenment. The fact that most people switch off when the pundits are on or go off for a pee seems absolutely beyond him.

It was the first incident that irritated me, because it got him into that vulnerable situation, and it's getting to be a habit. He seems to think he needs to take one for the team when it's not at all necessary, or maybe he's just clumsy, but it's happened a few times. He's a fantastic prospect, but he needs to learn to concentrate more consistently, and a be a bit more cute.

Yes. I was watching the new version of Frasier the other night, and thought, if anyone really laughed as often as that electronically enhanced studio audience did you'd be physically shattered after 25 minutes. I think something similar whenever there's apparent surprise that even Anfield has its quiet moments - unless it's some incredibly important game, why wouldn't there be quiet periods? Watching a side trying to find a way through a nine-man defence is quite absorbing - if you were leaping up and singing it would be pretty bizarre.

More controversy for Roger Waters as this mysterious right wing figure appears as part of his stage act:

I didn't really need reassurance, or fortune telling. The fact is he has plenty of doubters, he's had some uneven performances and he looked under-confident today. I suspect he'll grow into the team once he finds a rhythm, but there's no certainty about it.

I thought the most telling moment during Tsmikas' outing was when Salah gestured for him to play a long diagonal pass that was never really on, and he did so immediately and of course it was intercepted. He needs to settle and grow into the team, seeing as he's got to play now, and play with more confidence.

Whom he shunned during her final years.

I said his last but one pen was more of a blast but was informed by some that it was a precision shot. I still think that's absurd. But it got the uncertainty out of his system. Since then he's returned to placing it with pace.

Pickford: 'We gave it our all, worked hard and decisions definitely didn't go our way, no shock there.' The sheer cheek of this poltroon is astonishing.

It was a scarf of two halves...

Dyche on VAR, 2019: 'VAR has to be right, I can't wait for it to be introduced'. Dyche on VAR after Spurs v LFC: 'I don't think you can or should complain about human error. It's part and parcel of the game. You just have to accept it'. Dyche on VAR today: '"I have no clue [how Konaté wasn't sent off]. I asked the referee and he said it wasn't a bookable offence. I'd like to think there are a lot of fair-minded people in football who can see that's a yellow card.'

He got more into the game when he started going over to the left. It's amazing how he keeps getting goals even when most of the time he's running straight into defenders on the right, but it would really freshen up his game if he got out of that rut running down the right. Make the defenders think again about what he's going to do, create confusion as to who should be covering him, give him different shooting options. He's an extraordinary talent but even players at that level sometimes need to be nudged into ways of reinvigorating their habits on the pitch. Fans can't deny how wasteful he was for most of the game today - it was exasperating.

Dyche: “From a group of players giving maxim to the cause..." Unless you're aiming for some Benthamite adapation, mate, I think you've eaten one too many worm.

I didn't think McCoist (an LFC fan) was too bad, aside from chatting endlessly to the commentator even when an attack was going on in the penalty area - why the hell do directors allow them to keep doing that? What WAS tiresome was Ferdinand's constant drivel, including the 'invaluable' information on when some bloke's single was due to be released (sorry: 'dropped').

Sad. A strangely morose character, even before the plane crash (there's a story about Shanks greeting the manc players off the bus at Anfield. He went over to Charlton, said, 'Christ son, are you unwell, you look terrible!' Charlton's supposed to have gone white with alarm, gone off to see the club doc and he dropped out of the team). Pity he didn't enjoy it all more, because he was a heck of a midfielder.

Thank god that's over. We've got some very smart players, but every now and then they act really stupidly. Trent repeatedly going for flash long passes when sound short ones were on in several directions, Dom going for wild shots, Diaz the same, Konate getting booked for the kind of silly foul he does way too often, Mo losing the ball over and over and over again, someone playing the ball to Nunez when he was running away facing the other way, all just hugely frustrating. We won, that's what matters, but learning certain lessons matters, too. If we'd stayed cool, passed the ball better, we could have thrashed this lot.

Fucking hell, is this just going on and on? The point is: VAR say they will check EVERY incident in the box that could be questioned as to a pen, and we have seen them do that even with the most ludicrously innocuous ones, so whether we think or don't think it was a pen it HAD to be checked. Bloody hell!

The combination of lots of red cards and depleted teams playing 100+minutes will be the key thing.

I know, but that's not the point. The ref isn't supposed to just blow before it's checked, and that definitely wasn't checked.

Decent half, but wasteful. We're either not playing the right early ball to Mo, or he's running it straight into the legs of a defender. As I've said before, they know every trick he has coming in from the right - he'd be better off shaking things up a bit and drifting over to the left every now and again. Trent needs to come to terms with the fact that there are other players who can hit a good free kick. No room for Beckhamitis here. He has a particular weakness for trying to loop the ball over the wall when the kick is too near for that to work. That pass out from Alisson to someone coming in from the right - it's led to a loss of possession so often recently I really wish he'd bin it. The ref crap as usual. Wasn't it Young who blasted the ball away earlier on? So much for that being an automatic booking. Onwards and upwards - with more cool-headed passing up front we can sort this out.

There is absolutely no way VAR checked that penalty claim before the ref blew for half time.

You haven't even tried making potions, stitching cloth dummies to stab or chanting spells? You've gone straight for the anti-jinx jinx? If only the Enlightenement had happened!

Well, you sort of do. It's the day in the month of your birth. Same as when you were alive. It's just not that much fun for you now. How many pages of messages to Ginsoak's family did we get last week? Seems a bit odd to object to this thread. Until they abolish the calendar (a favourite trick of new regimes) the sentiment will remain relevant.

It's a sad reflection on how the bluenoses have behaved in these games over recent years that my most prominent concern going into them is that we don't end up with any injuries. And at a time when the standard of refereeing is at a major low, that concern is even keener. Szoboszlai is such a Souness sort of character he'll surely be looking at this game as one on which to stamp his signature, although hopefully not via someone's thigh or face (tempting though that is, we can't do with another suspension).

He has the nous and the technique to follow Dalglish in terms of gradually moving to a deeper position. Even now I'd like to see him given (or encouraged to take) a more flexible role, especially in terms of movement across the front line, because I'm sure he'd get more goals this season if he did roam more often than he does. Watching him on the right these days is a bit like watching a fly repeatedly try to get out of the house by bumping into the window.