beejay

This is such a weird season, record points yet some really slack play in so many games. We've been saying since the start of the season that just wait until we click but it's never really happened other than the odd game. I watch the warm-ups when the full backs get to the bye-line and cross for the forwards or have a shot and 9 times out of 10 they miss, so we shouldn't be too shocked when they do the same in the match. But it's so annoying - we hit the first man again and again and again or hit it straight at the keeper again and again and again. Every other fucking side manage to put it through the defender's legs to put it on a plate for their strikers so why the fuck can't we!!! Dave's right that if we had 2017-18 Salah we would be walking the League but the same applies to Firmino. The 2019 version is a pale shadow - there was one break in the 1st half when he had about 3 different team mates available to put through on goal and he passed it straight into touch for a goal kick. "WTF was he thinking of" I bellowed at the mrs.

Fair play to Klopp, I can't imagine a single punter would have opted for Mane up front and Origi on the left wing but calls like that distinguish the best managers from the pack.

Great report DU. My main gripe at the moment (other than Bobby's dreadful displays) is the lack of fight in the side. West Ham have nothing to play for, same as Leicester, yet they were first to every ball while we were passive and disinterested. This is the fucking title we are going for - why aren't the players battling for every ball, straining every sinew, running the extra yard? Have they hit the wall and can't give anymore than they are doing? Or are some of them freezing with the nerves? Surely it can't be the former because we have chopped and changed throughout the season and having gone out of 2 cups early, we have enjoyed more breaks than our rivals. But there just isn't the energy, the drive, the relentless pressure that we have become accustomed to under Klopp. I would love to see the running statistics this year compared to last, we must be way, way down.

It may have been 3 shots on target they had, but I can remember a couple of other anxious moments including the shot over the bar with the last kick of the game. As the ball fell for their guy to hit the whole crowd sucked in their breath, followed by a huge "yeeesssss" as it flew over the bar. Agree about Keita, looks completely lost and he was slow - a couple of times he was free but was caught within a few yards and lost the ball. A shadow of his Leipzig self. Seemed like his team-mates weren't sure about him either, he was in space on the left throughout the 2nd half but the pass nearly always went back inside.

Made no sense to loan out Clyne at the time. Why not at least wait until the back end of the transfer window, we knew that Gomez was out until then and we should have kept Clyne until he was back. Leicester are a decent side with a strong forward line, it's their defence that's costing them. They will do the same as Palace, suck us in and play for fast counter-attacks exposing the fullbacks one-on-one.

I was on the Kop and it was pure bedlam, went on for ages - so long that I completely missed the Kloppwalk. Then giving it to the blueshite after the whistle had blown hahaha merry xmas everton

I remember watching our first game of the season when we tore West Ham to shreds and thinking that we now have the perfect balance between constructing the play through the defence and midfield and unleashing our forward power on the opposition. One of the goals in that game made me purr like a cat, we were being pressed high by West Ham but we kept our composure and moved the ball around until Trent threaded a clever pass to Naby who had found space in the centre, he ran with the ball at their back-peddling defence before releasing the ideal short pass to the overlapping Mane to coolly finish. Whatever has changed since then, it certainly wasn't a new system that we had worked on all close season because this was fast, accurate, high-tempo, destructive football of the type we were used to seeing last season but have failed to deliver much more this term. We were still rock-solid at the back in that opening match but the interplay all over the pitch was a joy to watch compared to the laboured approach now where game-after-game we see players isolated and losing possession as soon as we are in the final third of play. Like everyone else says, it seems ridiculous to pick faults in our play given the outstanding set of results in our unbeaten start but I just question if we should go back to the balance of that West Ham line-up with Gomez permanently next to VVD, Trent at rightback, Gini in a withdrawn No 8 and Naby providing the forward drive, with Milner all energy offering the link between midfield and up front. Firmino to stay central but swapping regularly with Mo and keeping close to his part of the field. A couple of the midfield options can be varied but those roles should stay the same. Maybe clutching at straws here because I'm sure Klopp is also searching for the right mix, but it just isn't happening...yet

Accepted. Schoolboy error

Meant in jest...following on from the strops in the Top 4 thread

Reported. Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Is there any chance we are in for Sanchez? Arsenals best player by a street and Man City don't really need him. Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Can you remember 2 games back when Origi scored the winner against Sunderland after coming on as a sub or maybe one game back when Ben Woodburn scored the clincher against Leeds about 10 mins after coming on?

Go to the match. Sorted.

Flanagan's passing from the back made a big difference I thought, started so many moves by simply passing the ball quickly to feet to a player in the same shirt. Also looked like Klopp told the players to move the ball faster and go at a higher tempo. It didn't always work in the first half but when it did, we stretched City far more than at Wembley. All our changes made a difference, Flanagan was better than Moreno ; Lallana better than Coutinho ; Origi better than Sturridge. Lovren = Lucas. Like Dave said in the Wembley report, we have strength in depth but we have no world class players for the rest to feed off.

If there's one sector of the market where we have done well in recent years overall, it's snapping up young English talent. As Dave said in the article - Sterling, Shelvey & Ibe have been successes and we have some great prospects coming through in Ojo, Jerome Sinclair, Herbie Kane & Yan Dhanda who were all picked up from other academies. I thought we had moved away from this strategy when we let Spurs take Dele Alli after scouting him for ages and this could bite us in the ass one day because I think he could be a real star. So buying Joe Gomes is good news for me, if he is as good as they say at this age then we should aim to bring him through like Everton have done with John Stones, starting him in games at full back and the odd Cup game at centre back before giving him his chance to claim a first team place on merit.

If there was one player who deserved better than a 3 it was lost on me, truly desperate by the lot of them. Mario was -3 and Skrtel back boncing the ball onto Lovren's fat arse for Mignolet to palm direct to their 70 year old to knock into our empty net just summed up the rest of them.

Markovic is a massive disappointment, can't see any sign of a player there at all let alone in the £20m class. Sure he's only 20 years old but for that sort of cash you would think he could offer some potential but he looks like a rabbit in the headlamps, has none of the blistering pace we thought he had, can't go past a player and hides like no-one I've seen in a red shirt since Downing. Should be sent to the u21s to try to learn to be a footballer before we see him again.

That's one of the issues with release clauses, they don't specify the payment arrangements so the selling club can insist on 100% up front.

He is supremely driven and we have benefitted from that but it also explains why he is off. He wants to be the best player in the world and we're not quite ready yet to give him that platform. He has improved big time since he's been with us though, a couple of years ago he was perceived as a scorer of great goals but not a great goalscorer because he missed so many one-on-ones but now he is prolific. Amazing player, incredible will to win and we will miss his hunger as much as his talent.

Tough start for us, hmmm

Some of the younger ones are available as well - Conor Coady, Jack Robinson and maybe Suso by the sounds of it. Then there's Coates and possibly Toure, Brad Jones, Enrique?

Maybe the delay is while they do a deal with Bournemouth? If they don't want to sell, why don't they just tell us to fuck right off the same as we did on Suarez with Arsenal.

Great news, must confess I wasn't sure about Rodgers after the 6 months when he had to endure that awful Being Liverpool exposure and he seemed to be more of a management consultant than a coach plus the signings were the same old average to crap that had held us back for years. But now that he has got a grip of the club and the players, wow have we improved at a ridiculous rate way way beyond all expectations. And that is the problem he will now face because the pressure will be on next season to continue improving and that could be difficult if the other sides around us get their act together. But we are in safe hands, we have a manager with the hunger and know-how to make us great again and he has a touch of class about him as well

It's eating away at me that our failure to strengthen in January has at the death cost us the title. We massively ran out of ideas yesterday and had nothing whatsoever on the bench to change the game. Come what may, we are in the Champions League next season with a core of the most exciting talent in Europe and the transfer "team" have to sort their shit out and give the manager the tools he needs to take us to the next level. We have massively over-achieved this season with a tiny squad after doing the reverse for 3-4 years. Now is the time to invest the extra cash in top players and we should be a great option for any good player in the market, including the likes of Shaw.

At least the Manc circus is distracting me from worrying about the Chelsea game.