SION no possible reviews. West Brom 23 different reviews. There’s an awareness watching the game now that there need to be words. They can be words of love or words of anger or words of storytelling or words of analysis but there need to be words.
The match snakes through all of our heads, telling a different story, flashing with potential outcomes and realities, each changing our week, our lives, our smiles.
In every moment everything is possible on a day like today. The wheel spins and the ball can fall in any slot.
Review 1:
Went to Ten Bands, Ten Minutes at the Kaz last night. Could be the last ever one. Definitely the last one ever at the Kaz. Liverpool you bad bastard. How has that happened?
The essence of Ten Bands is everyone gets ten minutes to be boss. Ten minutes to do the business. All you need in life to be boss is ten minutes. All you need in a football match is ten minutes. Ten minutes can change everything.
Liverpool had a big ten minutes first half and scored the goal which led to them going on to win the game, finally enforcing their own superiority on poorer opposition and….
Review 2:
1-2 down at half time and Liverpool are undone. Shoddiness abounds. There is toil, there always is. There is shape. There always is. But there is neither fantasy nor is there sense. There is instead toil. Always toil.
So many plugging away and…
Review 3:
Liverpool have yet again thrown three points away. There is dereliction of duty, a lack of selflessness. Until Liverpool grit their teeth and put everything they have towards one goal — the league title — from top to bottom they will struggle.
I’ve been stewing on the Newcastle performance and both Benteke and Firmino were disgraceful. It’s one thing to not work together, another not to try. I saw one supporter whose opinion I respect cite that one was bought by the former manager and the other by the committee but that does not excuse not taking an interest. It was unacceptable.
And then today the goalkeeper yet again decides to switch his brain off. In key moments this sort of thing is completely unacceptable and…
Review 4:
What a three points. The ground was in torment and the Reds turned it around. The Kop in excelsis deo sucking in the winner. Liverpool forcing the issue with panache.
The call was to attack, the manager was in his element and…
Review 5 – 23
– Yet again Liverpool fail to win after a Europa League game. At some point sense will have to prevail and…
– Lovren’s injury was horrific, knocked the whole side out and…
– At some point footballers have to take responsibility for their own shortcomings. There have been two managers at Liverpool this season and neither can find a way to solve this malaise.
Forget how much they earn, they play for Liverpool. That should mean more than money. That should mean another million questions are answered and need to be solved. The weight of the shirt? Have it weighed and…
Where do you end up? A manager and a team in front of The Kop end saluting them after a 2-2 draw against West Brom? Well I was proud of them. Proud they kept coming, proud of Liverpool’s collective roar. I want that. I want Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool to commune. Not to troop out separately but to commune. What is this thing but something from which people come together? Come together before games, come together after games but come together during games? Come together to get behind this thing?
If it isn’t a collective glorious thing then my mother is right and it is just 22 men kicking a ball around a pitch.
Where does that get us?
Where does that get us?
The manager understands this gets us nowhere. The manager parades the players at the end to tell them this:
– They are you. And they are proud of you. Because you ran till you dropped.
The manager understands this gets us nowhere. The manager parades the players at the end to tell us this:
– They are you. They are imperfect like you are. They are flawed like you are. But they gave themselves for you.
You can have a million different things to say about a football match. You can have interesting things to say, things to notice, talking points. You can learn five things. You can find a million ways to say things about 22 men kicking a ball round around a pitch and I know we are going to on The Anfield Wrap this week.
The final whistle went and I left that match roaring and hoarse. Heart pounding. I left that match sweating and twitching. Prepared to fight the world. The final whistle went and I thought Liverpool. Liverpool.
I left that match seeing a many different possible stories. It’s 2-2 against West Brom. It’s not good enough. It’s nowhere near good. It’s more than everything.
Liverpool you bad bastard. I love you.
Well written, Neil, and perfectly captures the conundrum that is LFC at the moment.
Which LFC is going to show up?
Let others mock but I thought that was great by Klopp to take the team to the Kop today. We’re all in this together was the message.
Loved his tussle with the Albion bench too.
How much longer is the English media/officialdom going to put up with the thuggery of Pulis’ teams??? Diabolical tackle on Lovren that should at least get a retroactive red for that c**t.
Mingnolet has to go after that. A huge liability.
Agree with all of this. Bitter mancs trolling ‘the Klopp bow’ but they are simply very, very jealous indeed. What they’d give for that sort of passion right now. Instead they’ve a man with perhaps the biggest notebook in the world playing dull, sluggish, autistic football. Bellend journalists mocking Klopp having praised him for just such behaviour at Dortmund too.
Pullis is a disgrace.
you would think they would have more to worry about at the moment. While that comment he made about their best days being 10 years ago was fucking hilarious for us i think it may turn out to be his Hodgeson Moment.
I loved the players and Kloppo going to the Kop at the end of the game, i loved the fight in the team and the fight in the crowd. You are completely right Pulis is a disgrace as are the twats on MofD lauding that shite, no wonder English managers are given such little regard.
I’ve seen this game about 583 times in last 10 years. Love Klopp, but aside from a few great Aways, how different are we to last season? Lots of work to do. Glad we sneaked a point though.
Kinda agree.
Because a common theme from last season still exists – a striker which cant adapt to our style of play.
Start firmino please. The trio can dazzle again. Up the Reds! soon please…
Jesus. Those “few great aways” account to about 20% of his games in charge so far. Give him some time, yeah? Before making lazy remarks that feed the lazy souls.
well written, as always, Neil.
I share your emotions at the end of the match. because players gave all till the end. And Klopp is rightfully winning over the genuine/natural support of the real die hards.. this special bonding will go a long way.
I never thought I would be really pleased and excited after a 2-2 home draw against WestBrom.. :)
Loved that from Klopp at the end. Shows togetherness. Shows that Klopp and the team want to meet supporters more than half way and shows that they are grateful for support. It was nothing about celebrating a draw, and everything about showing togetherness and thanking the support.
The final 15 minutes is how we want to start a game! We have better players than WBA and a better manager, take on this bunch of cloggers, batter them, scare them and get the supporters shouting – it’s such a great feeling!
Still, with Mingolet farting about and Benteke doing a poor impersonation of a mobile center forward it’s a big ask.
Klopp understands the importance of the Liverpool trinity. We definitely have the right manager to fulfill one third of it. He is trying to bring the other two thirds together again. The has been a chasm for some time. He is acting as a mediator almost. I agree Neil, it is all about the collective of the trinity. Perhaps this game ended up being more than just about 3 points. Perhaps it is about the trinity getting united again.
Perfectly put. Other supporters will probably mock the salute but today was about WAY more than the equaliser. The crowd responded to the Jurg’s pre-match comments, and the players responded to the crowd. Add a reliable goalkeeper into the mix and we’ll be in business. Really feels that way now.
Spot on, both of you.
My match review: I fucking hate Simon Mignolet*
The end.
*the footballer, not the man.
My 2nd match review: I love Jurgen Klopp*
*The man and the football manager.
It felt like a win at the end. But this team does my head…
A finish like shows there *is* character and fight and resilience and perseverance. But I still reckon other teams – especially the big, physical teams – see us as a soft touch.
After the Lovren tackle, I was baying for a Henderson or Benteke or Skrtel to get in Gardner’s face. I wanted players around that useless twat of a ref, I wanted to see some collective “we’re not having this shite” from my team. Instead we saw WBA players grabbing drinks and patting Lovren on chest as his fucking knee explodes. I wanted at least someone to put a stiffener on a WBA player when play next started. Wherefore a Gerrard, Souness, MacMahon or Case? What do you think you would have seen from a Chelsea team or a Utd team in the same circumstances? I despise both to my core, but they know where to draw the line for a Pulis or Allardyce team. If nothing, else, it puts the ref on notice that the game could go up at any time. In such circumstances he’s more likely to clamp down on the physical stuff, which can only play into our hands. It’s basic game management. Arsenal used to be seen as the easy touch amongst the top clubs; I genuinely think it’s us, now.
And yet the character, the fight at the end.
LFC. They fuck your head up.
THIS.
The comment about putting the ref on notice is absolutely 150% smack-the-fuck on point.
T**y P****s and his ragtag bunch of giant sh1tbags. Enough is enough.
Yes. The ref was a craven disgrace.
It’s an issue sometimes. We have a bunch of nice lads. Which is… nice. And what the hell was Origi doing celebrating for ages when there’s a game to be won? Imagine the likes of Bellamy or Suarez doing that. Might need more winners in this team.
From “In such circumstances..”. I think is good reasoning.
I saw Gardiner chatting to Henderson whilst Lovren was on the O2, just wondering what was being said. First time I’ve thought about ‘how Gerrard would have reacted’, since 2013. Milner tried a bit of steel but got wasted on the bye line later. That WBA must just be harder than us, is hard to take.Feel like a father knowing the father of the kid bullying his son at school is a psycho-caveman.
Challenge on Benteke in the box on the byeline was surely a foul anywhere else on the park. At the first sign of a visiting ref’s cowardice they then need to be owned by our players as a team.
David,
‘LFC, they fuck your head up’
And I love them for it.
– I’ll fucking clap them at the end like they’ve won the league when any one of the shitbags takes responsibility defending corners. Someone get Sami Hyypia out of retirement and get a fast lad next to him to cover when we’re up the pitch.
– Not having that heads went after the killing of Lovren tbh Neil. Lallana has to score directly after it.
– I just find Mignolet and everyone’s reaction to him hilarious at this point. People raging and I’ve just got my head in hands in bits.
– Coutinho in and around Benteke doesn’t work and never will. It’s not the players fault because they are who they are but it had the whiff of Suarez and Carroll about it. They’re playing different games.
– Made up for Henderson though. Shame about everything after it.
– Yeah the kaz was boss. Tell Adam Melia he was MoM ;)
Actually thinking on I have got a story:
8 goes up and a fella gets off, “we won’t score.” Thanks for playing, Mystic Meg.
That he could get such a reaction from the Kop after a 2-2 draw against that shower is the start of something great.
The start of an atmosphere actually reappearing at what is the dullest most anti football ground in the Prem at the moment. It’s like we’re not even on the players side at times.
Someone has to break this catch 22 of the supporters moaning about everything, continuously, the players being scared shitless etc etc etc
It started today against WBA.
Vince Lombardi famously pointed out that, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” But what about a thrilling comeback draw, a sense of real belief even when you go down, the push forward with crowd and players alike, well, he had a quote for that too – “The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That’s real glory. That’s the essence of it.”
Drawing against West Brom is far from good enough but it just might be a start towards a better player-fan relationship on matchdays. I can only guess so much thousands of miles away from Anfield, but I sincerely hope this is the case.
Genuinely don’t like to scapegoat any single player. And I’m not suggesting that he’s not good by the standards of the Prem. But, with a top 4 keeper (Courtois, Lloris, Hart, De Gea or Cech), we’d have won that game. Not just because of the howler for the 1st, but for the obvious uncertainty that pervades right across the back 4.
I get that Klopp is trying to instill belief in Migs, but this has to stop now. If he doesn’t see that something has to change then he’s not the man I believe he is.
here we fucking go. So tell us Einstein what is he supposed to do before the transfer window? Make a statement that Mingolet is a giant shithouse and he is going to put Kolo in goal till he can sign a replacement.
Some of the shithouses following this club are fucking spectacular
Sorry that you misunderstood my comment mate, but I wasn’t criticising Klopp for bigging Mignolet up. As you say, what else could he do? I was saying that Mignolet isn’t good enough, and that has to stop. I’d give Bogdan a chance.
By the way, I’m no shithouse as I don’t go round abusing people on the Internet.
agreed ~ Bogdan in goal..Or at least being back our young keeper from Aberdeen.
There’s no place for a reply like this to a bloke who is just expressing his opinion.
We’re supposed to be in this together, not labelling people as shithouses just cos you think of things a bit differently. Fucking disgraceful keyboard-warrior bellendery is just not required.
The team gesture at the end is what almost every home team does in the Bundesligue at the end of the match. Klopp is trying to bond the fans and the team just as he did in Dortmund. He wants the team believing that if they listen to him, work hard and support each other they can win. He wants the fans to believe that his team can excite them, make them happy and produce any result by not giving up. Welcome to the football world of Jurgen Klopp, hold on it’s going to be a hell of a ride!!
I’d love him to say something about the flag issue. He must be aware of it and concluded that discretion’s the better part of valour. He’s a cute politician for all the heavy metal stuff, but he’d score more points with the fans if he at least alluded to it if it’s not sorted by the Leicester game.
Final moan from me on Ming, and our set plays:
LFC have to put together 20-pass moves to get the ball over their line. All that passing, moving, skill, invention, industry, working our rocks off. But Pulis’s f***ing shower only have to put the ball into our six-yard box at a half-decent pace and it causes PANDEMONIUM. Three times they score (one disallowed). It’s DIABOLICAL. Sort it boys, finally.
Make it your quest, your HOLY GRAIL, to be the best at defending set pieces in this league. Then we can finally talk about winning the Prem, let alone Top four. Until then the former’s still a dream.
Klopp has already sorted the early darters,
Now getting the noise and passion back from all the sides of the stadium
It is unrealistic for us to win the title but everything needs to be ready for next season that includes us the fans…. It’s happening now, we the fans will be ready
Hoping for a retro-active ban on Gardner, wish someone would have leveled that twat — or one of his teammates as a reminder — at the next opportunity. Good fight in the end, but other than Phil and Jordan we looked pretty useless, Lallana had some nice touches, but needs to score. Thought Benteke got a little manhandled, the ref should have put it to bed in the first few minutes.
I’m a Blackburn ST holder, my lady a Red, we only get to a couple of games per season. We were there today. I’ll be watching my lads at a Ewood tomorrow and I’m down to Reading next Sunday. True to say I like live football.
There were periods today when I was angry at Pulis’s team, spoilers. Same with Stoke who he turned into an ale-house football side. If I had to watch his team every week, I’d likely give up the game (we played ugly under Big Sam but bloody hell WBA today…)
I think that maybe today Klopp will have realised how tough this league is, absolutely no gimmes here. It’ll be interesting to see the team make-up in 12 months. Too many lightweights physically currently. He needs to strengthen throughout the team.
Amazing finale today, Anfield was rocking. Fans as brilliant as they can be, I’ve experienced too many quiet atmospheres there recently, sometimes like going to the theatre!.
Hope you don’t mind a Rovers fan on here but football needs a strong Liverpool. I think Klopp can take it forward. Love the man’s passion.
So come on you Redmen, buy into this Klopp journey.
I’m a Rovers blue first and foremost but for have a soft spot for you lot.
RTID
Fair play Pete that’s a good post,
Always interesting to hear a neutrals point of view.
cheers, Pete, valid views on Reds.
Good luck to your team…
Just want to thank a Mr Brendan Rodgers Esquire for wasting £32.5m on Benteke. How the fuck is it possible for a lot of us to know THIS is EXACTLY what was going to happen if he signed for us, but someone like him didn’t?
Also well in the lads who supported Rodgers in the summer which helped allow this to happen. Smashing fellas. What a service to our club you performed.
And finally……maybe those of us who said Balotelli is a good player but just didn’t suit the rest of our players, just like we were consistent enough to say the exact same for Benteke before he came, can say we were right, oh so painfully right, again.
We need to Robbie Keane Benteke in January. Out the door, at a hefty loss if need be. He’s a good player, like Balo, and despite appearences he tries hard, like Balo. He’ll score goals and play well elsewhere, like Balo. But he slows everthing down. His presence in the team is hurting us find an identity going forward and prevents us getting into a rhythm. I know Firmino has been shite by and large, and Lallana continues to show why he is only good enought to be a squad player, and Coutinho has also been poor and injured this season, and Sturridge as ever has been made of chocolate, but the sooner we replace Benteke with someone who is agile, fast and can press like Aubameyang or Lacazette (one can dream) then the sooner shit teams stop coming to Anfield knowing it’s easy to get at least a point – organised, men behind ball, good on set pieces.
And while we’re talking about set pieces…it’s been 6 fucking years we’ve been pathetic at defending them. Since Rafa. How and why is that possible? Hodge, Kenny, Brodge, Klopp (he’s only here 5 minutes granted) and about 25 different defenders, midfielders and goalkeepers have all failed to sort it out. I’m sick of being on edge everytime the ball goes in the box, which happens a lot when you have Lucas and Milner giving away stupid free kicks every 10 minutes.
Milner. Another shameful waste of money. Rodgers’ doing again. Hard to believe so many were sucked in by him. Thinks if someone is British and has played in the league for a few years they’re good enough for LFC. Urgh. £7.5m signing on fee, £7.5m per year and the best anyone can say about Milner is “he works hard.”
Games like today will continue to happen until (a) we’re confident of scoring 2 against anyone regardless of their tactics and (b) we’re happy with defending set pieces.
You help the former as soon as you boot Mignolet out the door. Him and Benteke can share a taxi. Can talk about how Belgium will flatter to deceive at another major tournament in the summer. There can be no fucking about. There are 6 way above average German keepers, most of whom command their box well and unlike our current number 1, can put one foot in front of the other and kick the ball 60 yards without any trouble.
Just like last season, 4th is there for the taking. Our manager wasn’t up to it then, this one is. But let’s not make it any harder than it needs to be. I’m not one for buying in January but this year is an exception. Just a keeper and striker will do. Take it out of the summer’s budget if need be. Wait til then to worry about a DM or controller.
PS: This league is still utter filth.
You know Michael, all you ever do is moan and blame. I’m not going to address all of your complaints, because it would take all night. The only one I’ll address is the “well in the lads that supported Rodgers in the summer.” First of all, if FSG would have let BR go in the summer we would not have Klopp now. There are very few managers, if any, that can succeed at Liverpool because of the climate the club finds itself in. Klopp, by any measure, is the best, and maybe the only man for the job, and I think FSG had to wait until the right moment to say goodbye to Rodgers. And they did. And you’re not going to shame me for supporting the manager, or the players, as long as they are at the club.
I also feel like it’s too early to judge Benteke, and especially Milner. Milner works his socks off and does a lot that goes unnoticed. He works as hard as anyone in the Prem. He is also an asset as an experienced pro in a young side, and can deliver a decent cross from time to time. Today was always going to be hard for Benteke. WBA always had 3 defenders around him. He doesn’t always get the best service either, but he scores goals. He and the team need at least a season to figure it out, because there’s a quality striker there.
On a day where the overriding felling between the fans and the team is one of togetherness, and a unified spirit, you still want to jump on here and shit all over it. I’m not going to tell you how to support the club, but it sure seems to me like you might be better off finding something else to do. You sure wouldn’t be missed around here.
For the record, hindsight would suggest to me there was a good reason Rodgers wasn’t sacked. The influential FSG board member who didn’t want him would have got his way. I think you’re right. I think Klopp was sounded out in the summer and said something along the lines of – I’m having a break. I wouldn’t rule out the offer in the future, in fact it’s one that does appeal to me but not now. So Liverpool think ok, we carry on with Rodgers and carry on properly, not half heartedly so if Klopp doesn’t come then we’re not in limbo. They try him again after the Utd game and it gets finalised not long after. In the first press conference there was a time Klopp said (about FSG and Ayre) ‘because we only spoke since 3 days’. It was the most unconvincing thing I’ve ever heard. You have to respect Michael’s points because they’re well reasoned but maybe, if it’d been down to him and the like, we’d have Sean O’Driscoll as manager and Brendan gone in the summer. Thank god some of us have patience and see the bigger picture, haha.
Well said, Matt. I disappear for a couple of months and one of the first things I see when I come back is Chris…I mean ‘Michael Pearson’ moaning like a pound shop whore and telling us all how *he has been right* about something all along. Plus ça change.
Benteke’s EPL record is a goal every 2.2 games, with most of that playing in a side that has flirted with relegation more seasons than not, and including only 13 games for LFC in a stop-start season due to injuries. Factor in our own indifferent start and the bedding in of new players – not to mention a new manager – and the suggestion that we should ditch our second most expensive signing in our history looks like rampant batshittery.
For me, part of the problem is looking at stats. Benteke is a brilliant finisher (sometimes) but it’s definitely not the full picture. You saw the stat prior to today that Liverpool have scored 6 in the 8 CB started. Now if he scores all 6 it makes him look excellent and makes his goal ratio look brilliant but we’ve seen that’s not the reality for the team. We look worse and score less and ultimately take less points.
I see what you are saying, but I’d argue your sample size is absurdly low to be drawing too many conclusions. I’m not going to ignore his performance over 102 games because of what’s happened in his last 8.
Or to put it another way, he’s scored 4 in 9 starts. If the rest of the team has only contributed another 4 in those same games, maybe we look at the rest of the team before we look at CB? Or maybe we look at none of them and give them time to figure out what needs to be done differently when CB is playing before discarding our 32mill experiment after less than half a season?
90% of those 102 games were for Villa though and that’s my point. We’re Liverpool, we have different needs from a striker. Our successful strikers Rush, Aldo, Owen, Fowler, Torres, Suarez and Sturridge all have similar traits. Benteke, Carroll, Lambert and Balotelli are perhaps, of a different mould. It’s not 9 games mate. We’ve seen this since we sold Suarez. Ings will turn out to be a better buy than Benteke. Don’t get me wrong, I think if he’s ok with starting on the bench then I think he can be an asset. We also have to have a look how he plays with Sturridge though Suarez and Carroll didn’t work. Yes, he’s scored four in nine. If it wasn’t a team game that would be impressive. Problem is, it most definitely is
Sorry Robin, our needs from strikers are EXACTLY the same as other teams: score us goals, lad. And his record is that he does. Lumping him in with Balotelli and Carroll is a travesty. His goals to game ratio is far better, as his movement, touch and defensively he’s quickly turning into a Drogba. We were generally shite defending set-pieces yesterday, but when we weren’t it was invariably Benteke’s head that delivered us from further embarrassment. Obviously, thus is not why we bought him, but when you are as bad as Liverpool at defending corners and free-kicks, it’s a an upside not to be sniffed at.
I know it’s a team game, but I’m not having that the whole of the rest of the team have sacrificed themselves to ensure Benteke gets his chances to notch 4 in 9 starts. That’s not what I’ve seen at all. Gibbo referenced it on the Pink saying it’s as much the responsibility of the rest of the team to adapt to the striker as it is the other way around. Don’t continue to play like our C-F is Daniel Sturridge and then complain that our 6ft4ins beast is not scoring 2 in every 3.
Say what you want mate but I’m looking at a bigger picture than individual goals. Here’s the summary I’m looking at.
When Benteke’s started in the league.
P10, W3, D3, L4 For 8
When Benteke hasn’t started in the league.
P6, W3, D3, L0 For 12
Not only that but the 6 he’s started in which we’ve done far better includes City, Chelsea, Spurs and Everton away.
It also includes Villa at home where we scored 3.
**Not only that but the 6 he’s NOT started in
I’m making him look better than he is there.
We will have no problem selling Benteke if we decide to and we won’t make a huge a loss either. There’ll be plenty of takers.
This time last season when I said Rodgers wasn’t up to it, that we weren’t getting top 4 & that he’ll be sacked by christmas 2015, certain posters accused me of all manner of things, including “overreaction,” “being a manc,” and, yes, “rampant batshittery.” How’d that work out? Time has proven who was right and who actually knows fuck all about football.
Robin, you’re wasting your time providing ample evidence and stats. Regardless of the truth and regardless of the amount of times Brownie has been proven wrong in the last year or so (wrong in just about everything relating to Brendan Rodgers and LFC) he’ll continue to think he’s right. He even argued John Madejski wasn’t proven correct in sacking Rodgers, despite him leaving Reading in 21st in December and them finishing 9th, then getting promotion under McDermott 2 years later. A smart man might take a step back and realise maybe he isn’t seeing things well given this, but there you go.
If Benteke plays 30 games and scores 12 goals, but we only score 24 goals and win 9, draw 9 and lose 12 out of the 30, then without him we play 30 games, we score 60, win 15, draw 15 and lose 0, Brownie would still argue that Benteke should be starting. Fuck what works for the rest of the team, fuck the other players, fuck the overall goals we score, fuck the amount of points we’ll collect, as long as Rodgers and Brownie are proven right about something, right?
And as you well point out Robin, the great results we’ve picked up without Benteke have been against far better teams than the poor results we’ve got with Benteke against shite teams.
As I said before he was signed (consistency is key – I said then what I say now and I was right then as I am right now) he is a good player who will not suit us and it is a waste of money. We could have kept the £32m, added £10m and got Aubameyang on similar wages.
Klopp will sort this but it’s going to take longer than it should if we persist with Benteke longer than is necessary. And that isn’t acceptable when the league is this disgustingly bad.
And here’s the wind up:
One season after winning Manager of the Year for a 26-6-6 run, Rodgers leaves the club 3 points off the top 4 and 6 points off first place.
Where are we now after all the heavy metal dies down? We’re 5 points off 4th and 9 points off the pace. Celebrating a tie against 13th place West Brom like it was a Jackson 5 reunion.
And suddenly people who wanted everything black and white now want to talk about context and mitigating factors…
Oh, the irony.
Wow Just fucking wow.
You should be out shopping with the misus Michael if it all annoys you so much.
oh good your back
I agree with all the reasons put forward for the salute but I’m guessing we’ve all over looked a big one. Under the normal T&C’s we’ve have all gone into meltdown after draw against West Brom where we’ve defended appallingly again, the keeper has thrown away the game again and we’ve dominated but not been able to take our chances, again. By punching the air at the whistle and bringing the players over I saw it as pre-empting the doom. Kind of getting in there first with the ‘that was a good result’. It worked a treat too. Even better, we got attacked from outsiders on Twitter for it but we all stood together. We could easily have been fighting each other and going into meltdown.
Dr Klopp wants to heal us. He’s taken the first major step today to changing our mentality. The last 10 at Anfield will never be the same again. Today was the first time the Dr put his hands on us and it felt good. I said it a few weeks ago but if Dr Klopp can’t get us back to where we want to be then no one can.
I would concur if Klopp fails that’s it for us.Benteke isn’t and never will be a Liverpool player no disrespect to him but he is a poor fit for us and a one eyed sheep farmer in the Outer Hebrides could see that
My god! Are we in agreement about something? Excellent stuff. This is the mentality Klopp wants. Merry Christmas!
It doesn’t take us long to vere off track as soon as Poison appears. sorry I meant Pearson.
LFC has been topsy turvy for some 20 plus years now. Yet we’re still a Great Club after all said and done and we achieve what other clubs can only dream of with 1 Euro Cup + 1 Euro final + 1 semi final. within the last 10 years, a time which almost seen us go out of business. And all of this without the financial status of the Oligarchs from wherever. This achievement surly
shouldn’t be underestimated.
Neil yet again is dead with his eloquent as ever summary of what tint to take of this Club? Ultimately whether you’re the manager or simply a fan, this club should come with a health warning as it will seriously impair both your mental and physical health.
The original LFC was built on a shit and piss pitt called old Anfield. It took 1 man who had the vision the courage and the conviction to wage war on the Board as well as on the playing field before the Club made necessary ground improvements which were, according to my 80 year old Dad, so desperately needed to improve Andield to a minimum standard befitting of future European Champions. This constant struggle with the Management resulted in his resignation in 1974 at a time when the Team was about to conquer and dominate Europe for near on a decade. The man took early retirement, never to love another, and eventually he sadly paid the ultimate price with his tragic early death.
Clearly all us fans are aware it is very early days with this current manager and yet there appears to be parallels between the late Great Bill Shankly and Jurgen Klopp and with every passing game which goes by and especially with what was witnessed yesterday in the ground, and I’m currently living in Western Australia, it wouldn’t be a surprise to any of us if in 6/7 years time our conclusion is that surely this man has been cast from almost an identical mould as Shanks, For sure he would he would battle with the Board if it was so required. Perhaps we should spare him his life as he’ll still only be in his mid 50s, however
Jurgen Klopp is a man who surely is at 1 with the Team and the Crowd. And although I was born a left footer I am not a religious man, yet the recent biblical reference from some, to the resurrection of the Holy Trinity, as in the Manager the Team and the Crowd, this does indeed sound pretty sacracinct to me. And to that I will say Amen.
BBC’s reaction of this match the absurd, here’s the bit on Olsson in Garth’s team of the week:
“West Brom were really unfortunate not to come away with all three points against Liverpool, with Jonas Olsson at the heart of an impressive performance for the Baggies.
I thought the centre-half had scored the winner with a fabulous volley that, after some debate, was ruled offside. Then I thought he had won the match a second time with a superb header from another set piece but Liverpool equalised with a cruel deflection.
Liverpool were so relieved in the end that manager Jurgen Klopp went to the Kop to celebrate the point.”
So he obviously didn’t watch the match… but not only that, he’s totally misjudged the salute to the Kop at the end. Clueless.
I’m one of the few Liverpool fans where I live in Nigeria. I’m 34, single and it’s my dream to sing live with the Kop before I die. So who really cares if we didn’t win? The team needs to put in a decent shift… We know that, they know too. What I’d love to see is the kop get behind the team like citeh fans did. Backs to the pitch, and singing like we’ve won the league . That’s the kop I watched as a kid. That’s what got me loving Liverpool. Even if we don’t nick it this season , there’s the next, and we will still keep believing . Come on you reds. ..
Think we fell for it big time. 1st goal cuts them open and we fail to repeat those pattern of play. Benteke’s touches, hold up etc were poor early on so he just reverted to type and went and stood on the centre backs shoulder and we started to launch big diagonal balls into the box which was a fkin ridiculous tactic as that’s West Brom all day.
Yes we have to adapt to him but in games like this where they are massive at the back then he has to adapt to us and we have to continue to look to get round them outside in the last 3rd instead of through the middle.
I’d almost said it was a 3 at the back game, but of not then a 2 and 1 in midfield for cover and using both full backs to get round the back. Clyne was trying to do but Moreno was so tucked in he offered nothing outside.
As much as can say Sturbridge is a game away from injury you can say the same about Mingolet costing us points at the other end, it’s inevitable.
This isn’t a bad squad but it’s massively inconsistent and we have to caveat the season with a manger change but bottom line is unless we get in top 4 this season then we’ll be in same position for players coming in i.e.. 2nd string not CL players.
5 points dropped against shite and I agree we need to prioritise the league but the point of not sending the manger to Europa league games is beyond mental. You might as well say don’t send him to the FA Cup against Exeter that means less than the EL.
I can’t think of an instance where this has happened anywhere in the game before and regardless of the team picked the staff have to travel. It’s beyond arrogance not to turn up and ultimately detrimental to the club longterm and the staff, players etc you send.
The job at the club as is the job at any other club playing on multiple front is to manage that scenario. Unfortunately for us at the moment it’s a more difficult job as we not top 4 at the moment, have the financial clout and depth of quality in the squad.
This was a brutal game like it always is against Pulis. Once again, his team mauls the entire game but because they’re a trivia pursuit collection of Scots and forgotten Englishmen the referee assumes it’s the only they way know how to play and swallows his whistle. Meanwhile one of our “technical” players tugs at a shirt or leans in a bit hard, whistle blows, free kick. Free kicks are the lottery for Pulis. They’re rarely going to score from open play if the defense has any organization and we tend to have that in open play.
Sure. We suck at corners and free kicks. Most solid defensive teams give up their goals that way because they’re a notch above penalties in skill over luck. Olsson played a very good Pulis. Pushed every rule as far as he could from the opening whistle almost daring the referee to call a foul on him because this was going to be it for the next 90 minutes. What are you going to do send me off? Favor the big club? Then he meets a great corner with a great header. Seriously if anyone from deliver had delivered the ball like that and it was met with that header. We’d still be toasting it in May. It was class.
People used to fear Anfield. Now it brings out the best in them.
That said, we were in rage after the no call on the Lovren injury. Amazed by the non-card on the flagrant handball by Gardiner (how is he still on the pitch at the end of the game?) The Reds kept pouring on and they got the goal. Another 5 minutes and who knows. What we knew was they weren’t going to quit.
From the touchline cheerleading and celebrating to the salute to the Kop after the match, Klopp’s reactions were great. I think he’s grown tired of waiting for the team and the support to come around so he’s going to drag everyone kicking and screaming to the dance. He’ll make this happen.
What has happened to Firmino recently though?, after that great performance at Citeh that finally had us believing that he had found a genuine role in the team, and a bonafide option to playing without a No.9, he’s played like a blind man trying to kick a cat that’s been running around the pitch with a bell on it’s collar…
it’s like playing with 9 men if you include Mignolet between the sticks, no wonder we’ve laboured in the last few games (barring Sturridge’s quarterly resurrection at Southampton).
It needs to be mentioned that Lovren was **fouled** for their second goal.
In addition, it needs to be said that the scorer was actually Can’s man. Not for the first time, Can contributed the square root of eff all in defending that corner kick.
Lallana as the man closest to the corner-kicker in our zone was a bad idea. Never do that again, please.
surprisingly, made sense.
It took a deep injury time goal, at home, against West Brom to earn a draw.
We currently sit 9th in the table and it’s very nearly Xmas.
That is all.
Thanks for that.
No worries.
Sure we’re gonna win the title so it’s all good.