JÜRGEN Klopp is now into his third season in the Liverpool job.
The Reds are at a point where seasons are made and broken and we’re still having a conversation about the shambolic situation around who is or isn’t wearing the gloves in Liverpool’s goal.
If the manager has decided that Simon Mignolet is not good enough for Liverpool then why is he persisting in giving him minutes when he’d be much better off giving Loris Karius minutes — regardless of whether he is good enough or not (he isn’t) — and help him achieve that magical word that is so often trotted out of “rhythm”?
I don’t buy the argument that the manager is committed to rotating for cup competitions to the point where he won’t compromise, especially giving the flip flopping and potentially career-harming treatment of Danny Ward.
We’re currently faced with a situation where the goalkeeper who probably would have played tonight has been relegated to the bench to be replaced by the fella who the manager has dropped to fit the original fella in, who, by the way, could have done with some extra minutes familiarising himself with his new teammates and gaining some much-needed confidence having so far looked a shell of the ‘keeper who was supposedly the second best in the Bundesliga.
The situation is an absolute farce and it’s hardly a surprise that both Karius and Mignolet look bereft of any semblance of confidence.
That neither of them are up to the task is hardly up for debate, but given the club’s absolute reluctance to address the situation in the transfer market, we’ve now chosen for some inexplicable reason to compound the situation by making them fight for the title of “who’s the shittest”.
The club have just spent a world-record fee on a defender, giving themselves the chance to maybe reestablish some kind of order, but they have only served to confuse the situation further.
It’s hardly as if Mignolet or Karius are even close to being similar. Both have totally different approaches to the role, which I can’t imagine does wonders for the defensive organisation of their colleagues — which can be keystone at the best of times — in front of them.
Just bite the fucking bullet and pick one and stick with them until the end of the season, because as shite as they both might be, I’d much rather a shite ‘keeper with a clear mind than two shite ones scared of their own shadow.
Or, yerknow, go and sign someone who isn’t abject, it’s not like we’ve not got the dough…
SUBSCRIBE to TAW Player to listen to our post-match show:
#TAWPlayer
Liverpool 2 West Bromwich Albion 3: The Post Match Show@johngibbonsblog @PaulSenior1 @C_Hannan7 @steve_graves https://t.co/pB3aC6o8qf pic.twitter.com/TgJHa1jqGG— The Anfield Wrap (@TheAnfieldWrap) 27 January 2018
Recent Posts:
[rpfc_recent_posts_from_category meta=”true”]
Pics: David Rawcliffe-Propaganda Photo
Sign a top class goalkeeper or at least give Danny Ward a chance. There is no excuse for continuing to play the other two. They are useless. We would have been better of playing Alex Manninger.
Ward must be abysmal if he can’t replace those 2 dickheads.
That offside goal where Migs has a three foot advantage with the length of his arm, the chance to run and jump into the ball, where their lad is backing into it, and he still gets beat. Both of their offside goals actually are why I never want to see him play for us again
Not sure why people always go on about Klopp being ‘incredibly ruthless’, he really isn’t in most cases. He seems to be obsessed with being fair with every player (unless their punctuality is in question). In terms of line ups, I find him very rarely ruthless. Players are constantly given 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th chances. It’s all very well wanting to take a holistic approach and be seen to give everyone a fair crack, but is that really what we want in a football manager? Ruthlessness is Guardiola buying a keeper then ditching him after realising his mistake, or Mourinho drafting in a possibly world class talent in Mikhitaryan, giving him a season and then utilising him as a makeweight in a deal for a better option. Can anyone really say that they feel Klopp will bring us a title or a European cup (an FA or LC would be a start) after witnessing the complete lack of organisation in our side after 2.5 years? Really? Not for me and I’m a huge supporter of the man, our mistakes are just too elementary to give me confidence.
Agree with your take on this situation…
Klopp just isnt ruthless enough IMHO. He is too loyal and trusting to players who are obviously not good enough. He too often reminds me of Wenger’s shortcomings which has cost Arsenal progress in the last decade.
Wenger at least has still won 3 fa cups in the past 4 years though.
How can Ward be worse ?? if he is then move him on, if he isn’t then give the poor lad a game ffs
Aug 2014, Rodgers Reds 4,. Klopps Dortmund 0 .Jk inherited a rubbish defence, it is as bad 28 months later.He doesn’t do clean sheets, none since Dec 26.Fsg are only interested in taking money out of the club,transfer policy is sell first. Fab four will soon be fab zero.
Fsg haven’t taken a penny out of the club since they’ve arrived. You can check our financials. But don’t let the truth get in the way of your bullshit.
Really!
Do you actually believe that?
We are talking about Venture Capitalists who can make the accounts say anything they want. Plus what money never even makes it to our balance sheet and stays within the parent corporate structure?
If you have no proof FSG have taken any money out of the club, and are just basing this on a hunch, or a hatred of venture capitalists, then I suggest you provide the evidence or shut the f-uc-k up.
They have stewards on each post protecting this pie faced waste of space. Mignolet is an embarrassment. Klopp needs to ask himself is his credibility worth Simon Mignolet
Roy Evans was sacked for finishing third.We want Ancelotti. Vvd is the new Lovren Moreno and Jm were a predictable disaster.Why are Ds and Ings still at Anfield? Losing to the bottom two over five days is a sacking offence.
You are so right, I believe Pulis is available, shame we missed out on Fat Sam. 18 game unbeaten run counts for nothing eh? Two poor performances lad, get a grip.
Routine can be a good thing but never when it’s the annual meltdown, be it a crisis of confidence or a lack of squad strengthening after selling your best player . If only there was some way in January we could get people in to replace that awful, non creative midfield or those goalkeepers that we’ve known for some time don’t cut the mustard.
We were shite tonight, top and bottom of it. We’re wobbling again and it looks like we won’t be doing anything to try to remedy it. I’m going to call Klopp on this, the midfield and the keepers (as well as others) should have been replaced or at least attempts made to do so for a while now, apart from the attacking three it’s mediocre. Whether there’s money or not or the players wanted aren’t available I’d just like some clarity from the club, I’d like to know who actually calls the shots.
It’s difficult to see what the club stands for anymore, I’ve seen this club win the league but now coming fourth is the minimum. Revenue collection suits the owners but not the fans. We do have a tendency to climb high for a while only to jump due to the mere thought of where we are and all that entails. Loosing to Swansea and West Brom is frankly just taking the piss.
Oblak’s release clause is not going to get any smaller in July. Just go big where it counts. No position will put more points on the table.
The GF column will sort itself. We need to address the GA column, which has not dipped below the 4o mark in very nearly a decade. For the past four years, we’ve conceded an average of 47.5 goals per season. At what point do you say “enough”?
@Walter
I don’t think it would matter if we had just signed Hansen, Lawrenson and Clemence, in their prime. Something is just badly wrong with our overall defensive coaching and has been for many years. Opposition fans will soon be singing songs, ridiculing us for spending all that money on VVD and we are just going to have to hope that he is mentally strong enough to deal with that.
We basically need to score at least 2 goals to win any game and it’s often 3 or 4. In the league, Chelsea have conceded 13 less goals than us with their left-back playing as an out-and-out forward. West Brom have shipped just 2 more goals than us and lie in 19th place.
Right now, I would put our chances of qualifying for the CL at about 30-40%. United, City and Chelsea will be clear of 4th place by at least 6 points and we are in what is likely to become an annual 3-way fight for 4th with Spurs and Arsenal.
What is so annoying is that we can really hurt both clubs, by qualifying at their expense this year. Arsenal would then have spent 2 years out and would have to downgrade realistic expectations of top-class signings. Spurs would surely lose Kane to a club that would more than double his wages and offer CL football pretty much guaranteed. They are also likely to have teething problems with the new stadium, as a lot of clubs do. Arsenal still haven’t recovered from leaving Highbury (yards away from where the Emirates now sits), both in terms of how well they play and financially.
The new White Hart Lane already looks like being built at 100s of millions over the initial budget. None of their key players earn what the market really dictates and they should be heading for a lot of trouble, if they don’t qualify.
We could redefine the elite group of Premier League teams, this season – a definitive top-4 that included us and left the 2 North London clubs marooned.
It looks like we are going to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, yet again sadly.
Team played like shit all round and Klopp really had no clue whether he was playing against VAR or West Brom tonight. Klopp I also think has no ruthless streak in him. So no use blaming Migs or Karius. And I do feel sorry for Ward. Why the hell was he recalled?
Someone else commented on another TAW article that it might be that the Jan window upsets the momentum of the team, manager, etc, especially after the whole Coutinho fiasco. If that is true it is definitely rearing its ugly head. Bottom two teams have done the business on LFC.
If we lose the league game against Huddersfield then it’s probably going to be very difficult to squeeze into 4th place like last time after Arsenal fucked up.
This time Arsenal seem hell bent on making their usual spot with Mikhi Mouse’s transfer. I think that is more Mourinho pulling a fast one though.
FA Cup would have been nice, but we have CL and the league top 4 spot to play for.
I hope Klopp has some aces up his sleeves.
Up the Reds!!!
I’m pissed off, but let’s not have a collective nervous breakdown here. Honestly, the hysterical tone in some of these pieces. We were shite tonight, more unlucky against Swansea. We’re all silently hyperventilating because Coutinho is gone and we’re fearful that things might unravel. But Spurs were eight minutes from losing to Newport, we’re ahead of them in the league and also in the CL. I want LFC to win every game they play as well and yeah, I’m concerned by the past week’s events, but you’d swear we were mid-Hodge the way things are going on here.
I will agree on the selection tonight though – Mignolet basically knows that he’s not going to be number one even if he gets 10/10 so why play him? Too early to write of Karius as well.
A bit of faith in trying times wouldn’t go astray around here, to be honest.
Well said. Thank you for having some sense on a disappointing night.
Couldn’t watch last night, but we were NOT unlucky against Swansea, we were pure shite. Not one player played well, we were confused and out of position for much of the game. Ol’ Stevie Gerrard woke up on the day of the game to find that somehow he’d been downloaded into the body of Joel Matip. Tried to play but it was like a kid walking around in his dad’s shoes. Robbo and Bobby at one stage of the game swapped positions for… what? A laugh? Where was Captain Can to shake everyone’s heads and get the focus back. This is what it is to be a captain, not having it that anyone can do it, and it should be the bloke with the most scrunched up receipts and random coins and shit in his locker that gets the gig. We deserved to lose then, sad to say. I have no idea about the West Bromwich game, I can here looking for answers.
But I can’t say I’m surprised. Beat the best, looking a million bucks, then surrender meekly to the most average who are playing their “cup final game” against us. Been the same as long as I can remember since Houllier at least. Transcends players, managers, owners, even stadiums – so what is it? The fans? The Liverpool Way? I’ve had a gutful of the inconsistency, but looks like it’s our signature dish like when you go round to your auntie’s and it’s the same crap roast, come winter or summer.
It looks like we just strolled up to the last two games believing the hype, heads full of all the media accolades and highlights videos, humming the background music before Swansea and West Bromwich picked us off like angry magpies swooping onto our heads.
Time to roll up the sleeves and get some strong coffee down the collective gullet. Get sober Reds, before we’re Arsenal-ing out of the CL spots.
@Addicted LOL! Great post.
whilst I agree the thing that concerns me is that we’ve recently played West Brom and Swansea with and without PC, and there is a gap ~ with him drew to WB 0-0 (H) and lost 2-3 (H) without, and Swansea 5-0 (H) with 0-1 (A) without, of course we played well against City but the comparison is with more defensive minded sides. It was also clear to me that we were better as an attacking force when Milner and Henderson replaced Gini and Can and it was no surprise that we conceded when our defence contained Migs and the much improved Moreno.
The goalkeeping issue is a farce.
Similarly, Klopp keeping Gini on for the full 90 again is a farce.
Emre Can making outrageous transfer demands is a farce bcos he is surely too inconsistent to warrant such acclaim.
Also it’s ridiculous if Klopp thinks this squad doesn’t need improvement this month. All good ‘waiting for the right player’, but its not every time that the right player would wait for us.
“If the manager has decided that Simon Mignolet is not good enough for Liverpool…”
This entire article is based on the above assumption, and it’s completely bogus.
Klopp couldn’t be any clearer. (1) Mignolet is no longer #1 but (2) will have chances to fight for his place.
It’s safe to say that many (most) don’t agree with Klopp’s keeper-rotation policy , fair enough. But to write an entire article based on a wrong premise is poor commentary. What, must Klopp suddenly abandon his entire policy, one he has consistently implemented all season (rightly or wrongly is a fair debate)? Or does the writer have inside information about Klopp’s opinion on Mignolet?
How the following is even passed as serious comment is staggering:
“we’ve now chosen for some inexplicable reason to compound the situation by making them fight for the title of ‘who’s the shittest’.”
Seriously?
@Dale Good points Dale. The article is misleading us when Klopp clearly had intentions on what he thinks of Migs.
Karius is not ready by any means, but that’s how it goes at Klopp FC. So better step up or step out of the way. Just keep wondering about Ward though.
I thought Klopp last week had been strong in his conviction that Karius is no1 . So this game has shown up Mignolet again sadly when he could have left his new no 1 to gel with the defence. That is a valid take from Andy.
This post isn’t aware of the massive contradiction it’s actually making! Okay I agree we need a top keeper but to buy one now would still.add to the confusion! See a top would be at a top club and therefore more than likely have played in European competition which would mean he’s cup tied so wed we’d still have to rotate . Hopefully, that’s the last time Mings dons an LFC shirt. I see no reason for him to be given time on the pitch now. Premier League and Champions League. His race should be run. Let’s leave Karius between the sticks till the end of the season and give him a run. If he’s not good enough then buy in the summer.
The problems we have at the moment are:
2 poor “first choice” goalkeepers and a good one who the manager simply won’t give a chance to.
Not one good defensive midfielder in the squad. Can plays maybe one good game in eight. He isn’t even as good I the roll as Lucas was.
An overall approach to defending that is often suicidal. What do we do in training? Why do we make so many basic errors? Why do we so often look completely disorganized?
Too little quality and creativity in midfield. We invariably have two out of Henderson, Milner, Gini and Can in there. Is it any wonder we look bereft of ideas? Selling Coutinho mid-season and waiting for Keita to come in to replace him was moronic. It wouldn’t have been so bad if we’d even brought in another wide forward to cover his loss in that position, but it doesn’t look like we’re going to do that either. It means that we will probably continue to do well in games that are open and absolutely stink the place out in games against packed defences.
Lastly, we are predictable and one-dimensional. We rarely use width to get in behind teams when they park the bus, which leaves us looking like Arsenal 6-7 years ago, vainly trying to pass through teams with triangles in and around the penalty area. We have no plan B. Klopp’s substitutions and tactical changes almost never change the game in our favour. More often than not, he only reacts when the game has started to go away from us or is just a full on lost cause.
Sort those issues out and we might have a season where we win a trophy or can aim for something more than just finishing 4th.
Wijnaldum has been shite all season. He is nonexistant. Midfield is a bigger issue; have a look at the goals we conceded – none of the midfield players were to be seen… Unless we get someone (to replace Lucas) and klopp plays him, these issues shall persist. We may concede fewer goals with a new keeper, but chances will keep coming for the opposition…
I agree Karius is bad, may be he needs gametime to show his worth, mignolet is way worse… But I feel just changing keepers is not the solution. We need an anchorman and klopp needs to change his tactics.
The games we have won, are because we attack well, this doesn’t mean our defensive woes have not existed (and midfield players should be more involved in the defensive side of the game, which we hardly see in todays liverpool) …
I agree that the manager should choose one for the rest of the season and not rotate anymore. But Mignolet didn’t lose us the match yesterday. He could have won us the match perhaps had he been world class, but our loss wasn’t down to him. I would’ve played Karius yesterday before the match but now I’m glad he didn’t play with that midfield and defence in front of him. Him *not* playing does better for his confidence in this case.
Also I find it strange how everyone repeats “our only realistic chance of winning something”. Is it? It’s roughly as realistic as winning the CL based on our record in both. The reality is the day the summer window closed without Keita, VVD, Lemar, and whoever else Klopp had identified as necessary for this season, was and still is the biggest predictor of our season’s successes and failures I think.
@Amy Hey not everyone repeated “our only realistic chance of winning something”. :)
And yeah…the match was lost in the midfield this time, and brought on the comedy of errors. Just wish Klopp had hooked Can and Gini earlier on in the game.
I think the there is a level of miscommunication and misunderstanding between Klopp and the team at times, because his reactions on the sidelines were just bemusement at times.
So I’d pay to know what he told them at half time or before the game or on the training grounds after the Swansea match?
I’d just fix a bollard in the centre of our goal for the rest of the season, it would have a better save ratio than what we have got. It seems to me that we concede every time there is a shot in target!
Oh dear, at least that cheered me up. :). I know some people want to defend Karius on here but seriously, it’s not like he’s had ‘the odd match’ here and there. He’s played around 30 times and honestly, I’ve never, ever seen anything from him in terms of saves, quite the opposite in fact. Anyway, he’s got until the summer, and then hopefully we’ll actually get someone good in. Have to say though, I think there’s a huge flaw in Klopp’s plan of trying to build a side slowly, waiting for his first choice picks. The trouble is that we end up losing our own players so we are constantly searching for another piece in the jigsaw. I think in the modern premier league if you want to truly challenge, then you need to act fast.
Mignolet’s confidence and belief in himself has been shot to pieces after Klopp made it clear he was no longer No. 1 and rightly so but to then go and start him in a game is truly bizarre , if we want to be consistent at the back then he needs to pick the same back 4 for every game bar injuries and also the same keeper they need to gel and get use to each other, the Can situation is another strange matter all together here is a bloke who cant be arsed to sign a new contract or tell the club if he’s staying or going yet is literally strolling around the pitch with the captains armband on it beggars belief he shouldn’t be even playing let alone be made captain . We all know where we need to strengthen and i pray to god so does Klopp but this isn’t a new issue its be going on for years and years but do we really have the money the drive the owners and there i say it only time will tell the manager to lead us to what we all strive for cups and league titles .
Don’t usually get involved in these type of things but having a not bad amateur keeper myself I think I have some insight. The role of a keeper has changed since the likes of Shilton, Clem, Big Nev were diving around. It didn’t matter if they could kick the ball, start an attack – they just had to keep the ball out of their net as often as possible, whether that meant getting a kick in the head or a severed scrotum. But times have changed. Ive seen many posts over recent weeks about the dearth of keeps in the Prem and its true – anyone who thinks Hugo Lloris would’ve been worthy of tying Clem’s shoelaces needs their head examining. I also recall how shite Brucie was when he first played for the reds – a fateful New Years Day versus ManCity can be found on Youtube without too much bother. The reality is that neither -Mignolet and his aversion to anything other than stopshopping, or Karius and his apparent sense that he is fulfilling the modern role of a keeper – are actually very good and certainly not going to make any Reds fans top 10 keepers list over the past 50 years and that’s saying something. The manager has got it wrong, but he appears unwilling to say so, one has to assume because he cant secure the keeper he wants right now. As such he has to prune the best out of what he has and most of his decisions- helped by the flood of goals being conceded in recent weeks – appear to be the wrong ones. Final point, keepers are odd, more so than any other player they like peace of mind, like the feeling they’re trusted, like the feeling of being a superhuman. As such the chopping and changing creates indecisiveness across the entire team/squad and more importantly creates an indecisive goalkeeper. Jurgen, so far you’ve got it wrong and unfortunately its gone on so long now that no one is going to let you forget it.