Neil Atkinson was joined by Paul Senior, Gareth Roberts and Ian Salmon to pick through the carcass that was Liverpool’s ‘performance’ against Crystal Palace.
The Reds have once again put Champions League qualification in jeopardy after meekly succumbing to Allardyce ball.
What did Liverpool get wrong?
Did they take Palace serious enough?
Did the manager get his set up and substitutions wrong or is he limited by a lack of depth in his squad?
All this and plenty more misery all packed into just under an hour.
Direct: The Anfield Wrap – Liverpool’s Shambolic Surrender
Benteke is a £30m striker on 100 grand a week. I’m not sure FSG will allow any LFC manager to keep players like that as a squad players like Chelsea do with Fabregas.
150 grand a week Sturridge will be off this summer. The rest of our squad options on relatively cheap wages.
The problem is being 1-0 up with 4 mins left in the 1st half yet we kept pushing high got caught out and conceded, when we should’ve sit back and saw it out. The problem is more set piece defending incompetence
1 goal should’ve been enough but our defence yet again lets us down. We’ve scored the most goals in the league, goals isn’t a problem, you ain’t gonna score 3 every match. You have to learn to grind out these wins and keep a clean sheet, that’s what Ferguson’s Man Utd used to do against the shite of the league
The team were poor but definitely not helped by the crowd. We can be the best supporters for the big games but are possibly the worst in the PL when playing the lower teams. The atmosphere was flat before the game so I don’t agree that the performance impacted on this. The team needed us and we were sadly lacking.
once you start talking about keeping benteke it’s clear that you’re just whining cos we have injuries. And no one can moan like Liverpool fans if we’re honest.
the man is a shite player who when asked to work his game went to pieces and he struggled to score. He’s fine in a shite team that gives up 70% possession, where he gets involved in half a dozen counters a game and some set pieces. It’s what he did at Villa.
Expect him to work throughout the game and he can’t do it, neither could Carroll, useless lazy crap players that fans pine for once they’ve gone cos they have to have something to moan about. Even when he had that dribble early on he fired stupidly wide – he just can’t combine skills and work.
You don’t hold on to players like that, you get rid and use the money to invest elsewhere. Plan B conversations are for people who don’t understand football.
It’s not in our hands, lads. Not sure how you’ve figured that it is.
United and Arsenal need to pretty much win every game still to catch us (assuming we win ours). The reality is that they all play each other and will drop points.
United have a run of City A Celta A Spurs A Celta H Arsenal A – with the EL in there, do you really think they’ll get maximum points? So, in reality, we win our games we get Champions League football.
I think you have to look at the bigger picture here. Liverpool are progressing under Klopp. I made the point recently that none of the top 4 look particularly better than us. 2 years ago we were miles behind. Now, if in 2 years we’re the best in the country and challenge for the title for the next decade then all these complaints about say, January or Benteke become irrelevant. They were just part of a process of improving. Just to digress, I’d have love it if we won the league under Rodgers that time but Suarez and Gerrard were still going at the end of the season or in Gerrards case time had still caught up with him. I don’t want to win the league and then revert back to the 14/15 season. Look, when we were ranked number 1 in Europe in 2008 I didn’t think for 1 minute we were the best in Europe. I didn’t feel it because we couldn’t win the league. I want sustained success. I want us to be like Liverpool of the 80’s or Utd of the 90’s. Ok, no one will dominate like that again but you get my point.
So, Klopp is doing the things he believes will improve us long term and I’m with him. He’s not the kind of person who thinks short term. Maybe through our impatience that’s disappointing but I’m not concerned. This is his first full season. He’s acknowledged he got things wrong in the short term but I’d maintain we had the squad he wants at the start of the season. There was no European football. Whether we’d describe the injuries as unfortunate is up for debate but we’ve certainly suffered.
So, I’m referring to January. It’s fine saying Ings and Sturridge are injury prone but he would still look at the Mane situation and say we have Sturridge, Ings, Origi and if they can’t play we can even move Lallana out wide. As we neared Christmas things looked different, admittedly but did we try to buy in January? Absolutely. We tried to bring forward some summer targets. When did an in demand player last move in January. I can’t think of one (although there will be an example somewhere). Suarez was from a club none of us have even heard of and actually, we hadn’t heard of him either. He’s the exception not the rule anyway. What’s held Liverpool back for decades is wank signings. We can’t afford to keep getting it wrong and Klopp knows that. Would anyone have signed in January on a 6 month contract? On a one or two year contract? No. We need quality not stop gaps. Would a new signing have hit the ground running in late January or Feb. Who knows?
We’re playing the long game now. Yes, we had a good chance this year but we can’t derail the project by gambling. We need a long term plan of constant progression and that’s what we’re getting one way or another. With hindsight we probably should have bought in January but we don’t know what targets said what. We’re speculating. My point is we need methodical planning. We need to be proactive not reactive. I accept Klopp’s decision and understand his frustration in the market in Jan but I also understand the long game. It is what it is now. We just have to get top 4 and we will.
Look, we had no creativity in midfield. That’s down to unforeseen injuries. The place for real concern is the defending of set pieces. I’d invite anyone to watch the second goal again. Watch Can and Gini. Watch Lovren. Watch Origi at the back post. Firmino is probably best not being in the box for set pieces at all, god love him. This is what’s undone us not January. Why did they have so little fight from the corner?
We don’t want 13/14 season followed by 14/15 and to avoid that we need patience. Yes, it’s hard but this time something is building. The whole club seems in good shape in every department except our current starting 11. Anyone who can’t see that will be rectified in the summer needs therapy to rid their mind of the frustration of the past. Klopp’s not perfect but he’s gonna bring us the success we crave. But, he’ll do it his way, not the way success starved fans think it should be done. That’s why he gets £7m and we get close to minimum wage. There’s method in his madness.
Just finally, I can sense the fans playing a part in holding us back here. It rubs off. I’ve heard Klopp mention what the fans are saying several times. The players will know it too. Maybe mistakes have been made. Maybe we’ve been unlucky. It’s a debate for another time. At this moment though we all need to get behind the team and carry them over the line. It’s crucial beyond words we get top 4. We need to be careful our defeatist attitude doesn’t contribute to not getting it. Everyone around the club whether fans or players are reading TAW and the Echo.
Amidst your constant long waffling, you drop in some absolute bollocks.
Suarez was from a club none of us had heard of? Ajax are multiple European champions and many top players have been there before moving on to wealthier clubs. They a club with pedigree, a club Johan Cryuff played for and helped to make famous.
Also, speak for yourself if you hadn’t heard of Suarez before we bought him. Many of us had heard of him, even watched him in the world cup.
And finally, yes, January can be a tough market but we do occasionally unearth some good signings in January. The aforementioned Suarez, Sturridge, Coutinho and Agger easily come to mind.
Ha, I thought we got Suarez from Groningen. I was actually surprised to see it was Ajax.
Regarding Sturridge and Coutinho, they were both gambles in my opinion. My point was ‘in demand’ players don’t go elsewhere in January (or rarely). Both clubs were ok seeing Sturridge and Coutinho leave. Amongst the waffle I had two points. Trust in Klopp’s judgement rather than slating him and make sure the players we buy have a good chance of succeeding. Liverpool have been held back by poor signings. Hopefully Klopp is not going to make those same mistakes.
Keeping Benteke would have been stupid. He was slow and lazy. Even being at a team perfectly suited to him hasn’t really brought out the best in him because injuries have taken there toll. Havin players that don’t suit our system or our work ethic is destructive to everything we are trying to do. Origi from last season would have been perfect but the boy appears to have no balls and no real desire. The right players are out there.
Wise up guys and stop talking shit.
– What did Liverpool get wrong?
Liverpool (fans, team and manager) weren’t up for the fight against Fat Bastard and his Crystal Palace, besides forgetting that we have 4th Place at stake.
– Did they take Palace serious enough?
Klopp to begin with him, hasn’t taken the EPL serious enough. Palace is just another reminder that he should have done something about the amount of players to match the amount of games he clearly knew about since he joined in October 2015. How would he not know the fixture list (other than the number of games in the knock-out stages)? Did he not experience injuries and illnesses to players in the Bundesliga with both Mainz and Dortmund? Did Jurgen not do his homework thoroughly on past situations of his future club or did he just smile and sign a contract on Rodger’s back?
– Did the manager get his set up and substitutions wrong or is he limited by a lack of depth in his squad?
No depth in squad, judging by the bench of toddlers with boots on and a brainless twit, afforded Klopp no reprieve in making game-changing decisions with those subs. This leads back to his lack of wisdom to build on the squad since October 2015, that included two winter transfers and one summer transfer window(s).
We have to get CL football most importantly for morale if anything, since we already lost two finals last season and it’s going to be difficult to inspire another roster of nearly-journeymen without CL.