HAS any other shower of cunts made you doubt your own sanity as much as these lads? Christ almighty.
Now I’ve got the blasphemy and the C word out of the way, where do you even begin with that?
Forget that before the game a draw is “probably” an acceptable result, what is it about this team that makes them so emotionally fragile?
We are a team of two faces, and it could be argued perfectly in the image of the man on the touchline, raging and defiant at one moment and sullen, lost and panicked the next.
For all the calm authority of the first half, all it took was a solitary Sevilla goal for The Reds to reach for the panic button and that no one was surprised is the most damning indictment of all.
This team will take any excuse on offer to feel sorry for itself and make the mess of the most serene situation.
Having made it to half time with the goals against column showing nil, I’d foolishly allowed myself to dream of safe passage and having a couple of pints safe in the knowledge that The Reds had navigated safe passage out of the Champions League group stages for the first time in nine years.
But cometh the second half, cometh the shotgun to the foot.
After a decent run of form for The Reds, all it took was a Wissam Ben Yedder near-post header before every nagging doubt came home to roost, maybe the ghost of Basel still lingered among a few of them.
You can pretty much sum up the game in the performance of Alberto Moreno, fine first half, good on the cover, but once he’d been beaten at the near post by Ben Yedder for Sevilla’s first the writing was on the wall, such was the drop off in Moreno’s performance his miscontrol would hand Sevilla their second goal via the penalty spot, foul or not, we put ourselves in a position to implode.
I’m not even having it that Sevilla were particularly good, more us being horrendously shite once we saw our arse, but it’s not just the boys at the back to blame.
As irresistible as the front three are when they are on it, their ability to retain the ball and take the sting out when we need it is wanting, the decision making terrible, not once was anyone’s thought to slow the game down until the introduction of Emre Can and James Milner.
The great shame of it is that this team invariably beats (or in this case, draws) with itself, having managed to navigate themselves top within a minute of the victory that would see us into the group stages once again our ability to overthink cost us.
One of my calming mechanisms is to distract myself with bookies odds once the fear sets in, but you could’ve offered me 1000-1 on the game ending in Liverpool victory the moment the ball went out for that last corner and I wouldn’t have taken it off you.
Whether it’s ill discipline or lack of mental strength Liverpool once again have been found wanting when it really matters.
Recent Posts:
[rpfc_recent_posts_from_category meta=”true”]
Pics: David Rawcliffe-Propaganda Photo
Full disclosure: I didn’t see the game (family commitment, y’know yourself….)
Two comments:
a) Before the game, a draw was ABSOLUTELY a good result. Away draw in the Champions League against the other good team in the group, resulting in a situation where a home win against Spartak in the final match guarantees top spot.
b) Related to the above, I’ve been amazed by how little credit/respect the TAW folk (especially Guttman) have given to Sevilla all week. They’re not one of Europe’s top teams, but we’re far from being in a position where we can yet afford complacency against a side that’s been consistently winning European ties over the last few years.
He was not fine in the first half. He made some big mistakes that allowed Seville big chances.
The bar at left back has dropped so low that not making mistakes make him a good player.
I was laughing hearing some people, on the podcasts, saying he was much improved this season.
A left back that does not contribute goals or assists. Is often out of position and tackles with two feet off the floor.
It’s great Klopp has faith but no league titles will be coming our way.
Still. We are through to the next round and I am confident any team can be beaten at Anfield.
I say let’s knock Manure out in the next round.
I’m sure same country avoidance is still in place for the first round of the knockout stages so we can’t draw them.
And jib the Manure reference, it’s awful.
no comment,
I know it sounds like 20/20 hindsight but I honestly thought Moreno could ‘have one’ here, going back to his old club after the game he had against them in the Europa final and after the interviews he’s had this week saying how much he has changed as a defender just felt like a recipe for disaster
You lot at the wrap and the sorry lot in the stands are just as bad, if not worse than the lads on the pitch. Weak mentality. Which one of you’s threw Moreno under the bus on twitter for all 150K followers to see? After one bad game where it was obvious he wasn’t alone in his struggles? Seville made a mockery of our midfield. Everyone stretched, everyone exposed. The knee-jerking was just about as pathetic as the away fans standing there quietly feeling sorry for themselves second half looking like they might cry or collectively shit themselves at a fucking group game. Jesus wept. Bunch of fucking clowns surrendering to the circumstances. I hate that.
And stop shouting over each other on the podcasts.
But what about the comment piece?
Short and to the point. It was alright, Andy. But I’m here for a whinge.
the danger signs were there early on….Moreno was caught well out of position in the first half a couple of times and Sevilla should have scored. The frustrating thing is he has the physical attributes to be a top top player but he will never fulfil his potential because he is brain dead! He’s fluffed his lines too many times now and enough is enough!!
Moreno was lucky it didn’t go to 1-1. He’s always telling us how he defends before he attacks now. We’ll he was in no mans land for their second big chance.
Whilst the defending was poor for the first, the free kick it resulted from was worse. Why is he doing that there? The opposition were going nowhere. It was a 2 handed shove. Stupidity. Clearly a pen too. There was contact. End of. There’s no law about interpreting how the player goes over. It stops at the contact without winning the ball.
The bottom line for me is I hold my breath anytime Moreno goes near a player in and around the box. He’s fuckin mad. It’s another example of Klopp putting too much faith in mediocre players. Yes, he’s good enough to be left back v Huddersfield and even Southampton. We’re gonna have to play better teams though. We’re aiming higher than just top 4.
Come on. Shut up the shit. Albie Moreno doesn’t play against Sevilla every week. Problem sorted.
The problems at liverpool are a whole team problem we should attack as a team and defend as a team Moreno just not good enough nor Klavan nor Matip nor Henderson nor Mignolet nor Karius so until these players are replaced with quality with a few leaders with more intelligence we aint gonna win nothing, we give the ball away far too easily make too many risky passes and give opposing players far too much space so yeah weve got miles to go before we can be confident about getting a result against any team.
Even if we were bought by some money-laundering, petro-dollar PSG-type outfit, who then insisted on throwing money at Klopp, I still think he’d stick with this current shower of mediocre, midtable players.
His # 1 fault is his shockingly poor judgement of talent. New contracts for Migs and Lovren? His persistence with Moreno and Karius? His insistence that there are no better CB’s than what we have?
And then the inability to organize a defense in 100+ games?
In Klopp I hope, but certainly not trust
I have to agree that the front men take some of the responsibility for the second half collapse. Yes, Moreno’s found on Ben Yedder was stupid, but it followed Mané sloppily letting the ball get past him in the first place. As the disaster of the second half unfolded I was continually yelling at Mané and Salah to a) defend more robustly and b) keep the ball and slow things down when they had it. As you say, until Milner and Can came on it didn’t seem to occur to anyone to calm things down and take the sting out of it.
Ahh to be an LFC supporter these days:
Win a game — we are top 4, title contenders , we’ve turned a corner, players are like former legends, our manager is the messiah with specs!!!
Lose a game — the team is shit, that player needs to go, kill him and his family, f you, f him, no leadership, ref’s fault, manager doesn’t know what he is doing, FSG out!!!
Draw a game — disgruntled jibes referencing the points in a loss
So Moreno made mistakes, so what?! We didn’t lose the game. If this was a two leg cup tie we would’ve won on away goals right?
We’re still in it in the CL and in a position to make top 4. Moreno has helped us in the previous matches and every point counts.
Imagine how Sevilla fans felt last night when we scored two identical goals from set pieces. They must’ve have expected us to be really shit at that as our past record/stats showed and would’ve turned the blame game on before half time. Instead they turned into the near-miracle at Sevilla.
If it was the final we might have lost it.
Moreno wasn’t tested in a high pressure match against a quality opposition the media, TAW and most fans were convinced he improved. The improvement I think was his attacking play and not making mistakes for certain period of time and games against less quality opposition.
However Klopp knows him best I would wager and maybe he should’ve managed expectations better in these types of matches. Hindsight is always great though.
So did the midfield do their job well? The attack (from a defensive standpoint)?
Also Klavan and Lovren didn’t do much wrong. That is another positive for me, and they must be really feel bad for Moreno knowing what they go through and how we all let them know it.
Mistakes happen in football, even stupid ones, and so it is the team, captain and manager to do something about it when they can, and the supporters to support like they really mean it, whether 3-0 or 0-3.
Lastly I still don’t know what the Ox is doing at LFC, though I am always encouraged when he comes on. :)
Come on! We can beat Chelsea this weekend. Sevilla supporters’ serve as an example so let’s not drop our heads or cause the team and manager’s heads to drop either.
We still have a lot to play for. A lot!
Up the Reds!!!
Agreed yes still lots to play for but this team is NOT good enough to do pool proud, they need to realise you cant win every game 6-0 and cant just keep attack after attack they need to read the game and act accordingly instead of the gung ho I dont give a shit football, I mean every player has a resposibility to his team mates that nobody gets past him and nobody whupps his arse as for scoring goals we have the players to score against anyone but they all need to think more defensively and cover should a team mate make a mistake cos as you say shit happens even to the best players they seem to as a whole play too much high risk football and nobody seems capable of taking the game by the scruff of the neck and slowing the game down like the great Liverpool teams could do, they need to close a game down and say cmon this is LFC we are a great side you cant beat us, we make far too many mistakes all over the pitch and the truth is we need about 5 more quality players to do any damage either in the league or the Champions league……but this team could do a lot better if they all just took a bit more responsibility.
Just got back from Seville. That team and that shithouse manager don’t deserve our fans. Bellends.
In short, Moreno is a good wing back, but not a full back as long as he has a hole in is backside. Wing backs generally only work alongside competent and confident centre backs with a defensive central midfield player who intuitively knows when to drop in to fill the space.
We currently have neither of these attributes so deployment of Moreno should be limited until we do or, if that is not the plan, he should be moved on and replaced by a more competent defender.
“One of my calming mechanisms is to distract myself with bookies odds once the fear sets in, but you could’ve offered me 1000-1 on the game ending in Liverpool victory the moment the ball went out for that last corner and I wouldn’t have taken it off you.”
Exactly how I felt. I knew – not just suspected, but knew – the equaliser was coming. We always give in to the inevitable narrative. Opponents always seem to get exactly what they need and exactly when they need it.
First half – sublime. Treated a top side with a proud home record with absolute contempt. Bullied them, hassled them, outpaced them and outworked them. It was majestic. This I hope offers an insight into what a fully functioning Klopp side will look like.
Gotta say glad the boys took on board my comments for the Chelsea game was so much better thought hendo sala n ox had really strong games, played more like a team and were unlucky, looked knackered but hey thats what your paid for, gotta do it every game wont go too far wrong, well played pool.
Pool 7 Spartak 0 I reckon going by Coutinos celebrations he already knows he is leaving in January already sold.. Just was so subduid