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Bayern Munich post-match

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rurikbird

Part of the Furniture
Honorary Member




Shots: 15-9
On target: 2-0
Possession: 49-51%
Total passes 505-529
Passing accuracy 78%-82%
Duels won 55-45%
Interceptions 10-22
Clearances 11-29
Tackles 17-16
Tackles won 65%-56%
Fouls 10-13
Corners 5-6

I thought we started very poorly and were lucky not to concede in the first 20 minutes. The main reason for this was probably that we were coming off a long training break against a team very much in competitive rhythm. That initial rustiness was obvious and it's the downside of not playing every few days (the upside will hopefully manifest itself in the remainder of the season). It could have cost us this game and possibly the tie, but fortunately we escaped the dangerous period unscathed and then our players suddenly remembered the feeling of having the ball at their feet, from which point we were on top.

Both teams looked at times intimidated by each other, possibly a side-effect of both coaches bigging up the opposition and just the uncertainty of what to expect from the pacy attackers on the other side. Bayern were uncomfortable playing out from the back under the energetic high press from our front 3; there were lots of uncharacteristic sloppy errors from Neuer and the defenders, however they managed to work out some tactical tweaks in-game and get through it. At some point Neuer just waved everyone forward – no more mucking around, I'll just boot it. This is where having a player (or several) with unshakable confidence and arrogance really pays off – Neuer was just passed fit a few days before the game; had it been Ulreich in goal, I think he would lose his nerve at some point and this game would not end goalless. Small margins and all.

For our part, respecting the opponent too much led to making a wrong decision on the final pass time and time again. What stuck in my memory were 2 situations in the first half when Keita and then Gini had the ball on the break with us attacking in numbers (Bayern showing their vulnerability on the counter, which has been a problem for them this season), but both opted for a "safe" pass to the left for Robertson instead of a slightly more risky, but far more dangerous pass into the middle-right space where Mane and Salah were just about to break open. This part of the game started badly for us and never improved – the absence of a killer last pass in so many promising situations was the story of the game. Defensively, after the period of trembling-legs defending has passed midway through the first half, we coped very well, both Matip and Fabinho grew into the game, while Trent and Robbo did well not to lose their individual battles of Coman and Gnabry respectively. Fabinho was probably my MOTM for making a few inch-perfect tackles when we really needed him.

To be objective, we have to also give credit to Bayern players who defended far better and with more discipline and desire than they had for most of the season. Hummels and Kimmich were superb and I thought rarely-selected Javi Martinez gave Bayern a more stable platform in midfield than Goretzka. On the balance of play we showed that we are overall a better team, our front 3 looked more dangerous than theirs – but this is Bayern we're talking about and they were never going to break so easily. It will be very different in Munich – they will feel the need to attack and we'll have to endure some periods of relentless pressure, but this will also give us more chances on the counter, which as I said before, is probably Bayern's Achilles heel. Kimmich will be a big miss for them and Van Dijk (and Fabinho in midfield) will be a big boost to us. Overall, I feel confident that we can go to Munich and get a positive result.
 
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I dont know why but Im more pessemistic than usual after that game. 2nd time we have come into a match fresh and well rested with lots of time to prepare tactically only to look flat, confused and lethargic. I guess its the continuing sense that we are not in a wobble so much as we are in a slump.

Our record for 2019 now reads P 8 W 3 D 3 L 2. We just dont look right.

I still think we will progress, a score draw in Munich is all we need. But Im not sure how much deeper in the tournament we can go.
 
Barney Ronay:

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Jordan Henderson steps up to show the value of meat and potatoes
3132.jpg


They came to Anfield expecting fire and light and red-shirted vengeance. They came scenting one of those hair-raising nights when the air seems to throb with wild, skirling possibilities. They may, on refection, have slightly misread the situation.

In the buildup to this Champions League first leg against Bayern Munich Jürgen Klopp had promised “passion football”, presumably a sub-genre of the usual heavy metal style: speed-metal football, Lancashire pomp-rock. In the event it went the other way. On a chilly night at Anfield the wind whipped across, the ball bounced and bobbled, a bitter rain began to fall and before long it had become a Jordan Henderson kind of day. And yes, in a good way. Liverpool’s captain was quietly magisterial from start to finish here. Henderson did not run the game. This was a game that did not want to be run at all but which meandered absorbingly at times.

Instead he sniped around its edges. He made more passes than Thiago Alcântara, a significant stat if only because Thiago passes the ball as though put on this earth to do little else, while on his bad days Henderson addresses the ball with all the finesse of a man toe-punting a stray tin can down the hard shoulder of the motorway. Henderson made more tackles than anyone else. He won some vital defensive headers. There was one fine long pass right down the centre to Mo Salah.

Towards half-time he produced one of those moments that often get lost in the highlights edit. Sadio Mané played a casual little nudge into midfield from defence. The pass was intercepted and fed back instantly towards Serge Gnabry. There was a groan on that side of the ground, a feeling of the ground starting to fall away, with no red shirt between Gnabry and the Liverpool goal. At which point: enter Hendo. This was a bravura moment of tracking back, a showboat of a covering tackle as he steamed in and jostled Gnabry aside.

Best of all, Henderson seemed to know something, something that became clear only with the slightly odd spectacle of Liverpool’s captain staying out at the final whistle to applaud the fans at one end while at the other Bayern’s players offered the usual round of thanks to the away support. By the time Henderson finally left the pitch, still shouting and hugging his teammates, stealing the gloss from the visitors, locking in the moment, one finally saw what he was getting at, the looking-glass nature of this tie.

Henderson law runs as follows: this, the home leg, was really the away leg for Liverpool. But two weeks from now that ravenous front three will find more space at the Allianz Arena. And Liverpool will go to Munich with Virgil van Dijk, their most potent presence, back in the team. In his absence Henderson stepped up. It is no mean feat against A-list opponents who left Anfield without a shot on goal but who are not to be underestimated even in a period of deadheading and regrowth. The idea of Bayern as genuine underdog always looked a little specious. This is a well-grooved, obsessively proud European football juggernaut.

Bayern’s midfield here was a pedigree thing. It is easy to forget quite what an artist Thiago is, a player who seems to pluck out a handkerchief, take a breath and polish the face of the ball each time before easing it on. Inside him was Javi Martínez, one of the more understated, ludicrously decorated trophy-hoggers in modern football, with six league titles, a Champions League medal and one World Cup to his name.

Liverpool did start with the full adrenal charge. But Bayern kept the ball well at times. On the right Gnabry was purposeful, at one point vaporising Andrew Robertson as he skipped to the line, a rare feat in itself, and probably worthy of a brown plaque on that side of the ground. Bayern faded after half-time as Liverpool snapped back, led by the captain.

Henderson will no doubt remain Liverpool’s most routinely maligned player, mocked for his meat-and-potatoes style, his ungainly look in this kind of company. Next to, say, James Rodríguez, he can scarcely look like an elite level footballer at all. At one point in the second half he played a throw-in back to the taker with an absurdly exaggerated caution, taking the ball on his instep like a Victorian governess catching an orange in her skirts.

But there is a reason so many excellent managers keep picking him. He plays up to the occasion and never hides from anything, least of all his own limitations. Liverpool did hold steady on a night when they might have blinked. It was thanks in large part to the perfect away performance at home, from a captain who might just have read this tie a little better than anyone else.
 
I dont know why but Im more pessemistic than usual after that game. 2nd time we have come into a match fresh and well rested with lots of time to prepare tactically only to look flat, confused and lethargic. I guess its the continuing sense that we are not in a wobble so much as we are in a slump.

Our record for 2019 now reads P 8 W 3 D 3 L 2. We just dont look right.

I still think we will progress, a score draw in Munich is all we need. But Im not sure how much deeper in the tournament we can go.
We didn't look "flat, confused and lethargic" in the first half ;)
 
I have heard posters / commentators say "we didn't deserve to win", well the second half we didn't but neither did they, they hardly created a decent chance all game, and no I don't call shooting from distance (as most of their efforts were) 'decent chances'. Based on our first half performance we absolutely deserved to win; Salah (header), Matip (shot), Firmino (he should have just lobbed it over the keeper instead of trying to chip it back into the box) and Mane x2 etc. ... at worst you'd have expected us to put at least one away but we have been far from clinical this season and that trend prevailed.

In Germany there will be a few positives for us ; they will be forced to open up and attack more (Goretska for Martinez) and Kimmich (#1 for assists this season in the BM team) will be suspended. VvD will be back (maybe Lovren too) and Fabinho back to his (and our) preferred Cm slot and I'd wager that Robbo, Salah, Mane and Gini will all play better than they did last night. I don't see BM stopping us scoring and can't see them scoring twice or more. Ergo we'll go through.
 
Quick ratings:

Becker : 6 - dodgy turns and a couple of decent saves that weren't too demanding
Robbo : 4 - two poor uncharacteristic defensive errors and most of his crossing was poor too. Not his night.
Fabinho : 9 - not sure there was anything else he could have done except go up the pitch and score or assist. A couple of cracking tackles.
Matip : 6.5 - wobbly start but grew into the game.
TAA : 6.5 - the dangerous Coman (later Ribery) and Alaba were both well contained, his primary job. Dodgy crossing and FKs.

Hendo : 7.5 - excellent first half all over the pitch but anonymous second though still worked hard defensively.
Keita : 7.5 - excellent first half, roaming all over the midfield and dribbling past players and setting up attacks almost at will. Second half he seemed to have been pushed more to the left - where he never performs as well. Was this a Klopp directive ?
Gini : 7 - another who had an excellent first half but disappeared in an offensive sense in the second, his movement also seemed more restricted in the second where he resided mostly on the right which simply didn't work out.

Mane : 7 - again our most dangerous attacker but his poor shooting is often the cause of my hair loss. I'm now bald.
Firmino : 7 - he and Keita were by far our most creative forces, when they went off we lost all direction and resorted to merely running fast.
Salah : 6 - he clearly frightened BM hence every time he had the ball there were 2, 3 or even 4 players around him. Still had his moments but faster recycling to the left may have brought more dividends. A couple of poor efforts off target and a few poor passes lost possession.

Subs.
Origi - 6 - never in the game or able to influence it. Coincided with losing our two creative forces.
Milner - 6 - not sure what the point of this substitution was at all, other than maybe enabling Robbo to get forward more - which didn't work out since Robbo clearly wasn't playing well and shouldn't have been entrusted with more responsibility.

Klopp : 6 - poor substitutions. No Shaq. who could have made a creative difference once Keita and Firmino were withdrawn. Was he injured / unwell though ?
 
We were shite, and that was the quietest match I can remember being at
Yeah I thought it seemed dead quiet. Weird

Anyway, missed most of it through a shit stream, had to be at a leaving thing, but VVD back and Fabinho back in mid is good.

Still think we'll lose
 
Missed all of it due to missing the train I was intending to be on to stream it. Just from what i've read, it is comforting to know that our tight defence is returning but sounds like we missed some chances and didn't create a huge amount with any urgency.
 
Quick ratings:

Becker : 6 - dodgy turns and a couple of decent saves that weren't too demanding
Robbo : 4 - two poor uncharacteristic defensive errors and most of his crossing was poor too. Not his night.
Fabinho : 9 - not sure there was anything else he could have done except go up the pitch and score or assist. A couple of cracking tackles.
Matip : 6.5 - wobbly start but grew into the game.
TAA : 6.5 - the dangerous Coman (later Ribery) and Alaba were both well contained, his primary job. Dodgy crossing and FKs.

Hendo : 7.5 - excellent first half all over the pitch but anonymous second though still worked hard defensively.
Keita : 7.5 - excellent first half, roaming all over the midfield and dribbling past players and setting up attacks almost at will. Second half he seemed to have been pushed more to the left - where he never performs as well. Was this a Klopp directive ?
Gini : 7 - another who had an excellent first half but disappeared in an offensive sense in the second, his movement also seemed more restricted in the second where he resided mostly on the right which simply didn't work out.

Mane : 7 - again our most dangerous attacker but his poor shooting is often the cause of my hair loss. I'm now bald.
Firmino : 7 - he and Keita were by far our most creative forces, when they went off we lost all direction and resorted to merely running fast.
Salah : 6 - he clearly frightened BM hence every time he had the ball there were 2, 3 or even 4 players around him. Still had his moments but faster recycling to the left may have brought more dividends. A couple of poor efforts off target and a few poor passes lost possession.

Subs.
Origi - 6 - never in the game or able to influence it. Coincided with losing our two creative forces.
Milner - 6 - not sure what the point of this substitution was at all, other than maybe enabling Robbo to get forward more - which didn't work out since Robbo clearly wasn't playing well and shouldn't have been entrusted with more responsibility.

Klopp : 6 - poor substitutions. No Shaq. who could have made a creative difference once Keita and Firmino were withdrawn. Was he injured / unwell though ?
Hendo getting the same as keita is pure fucking fantasy.

Keita wasted possession in the second half and I don't think he created chances at will in the first half either.

Henderson was fucking brilliant start to finish
 
I was happy with how we played, we just couldn't score which is a massive disappointment, but we were the superior team. The second leg will be tough, but I'm confident.
 
We barely created a decent chance

There was mane twice....that's about it I think?

We were marked out the game and showed a grave lack of invention

It wasn't an awful performance but I'm most certainly not happy with it
 
Liverpool 0 Bayern Munich 0: The Match Ratings

by Ben Johnson | Feb 19, 2019 | 8 comments
Alisson: 7
Saved one in that Big Joel twatted it at his iron chest from a yard and it bounced out rather than in. Done a fair bit of fannying about with it at his feet, but in fairness I’m into that.
Trent: 7
Plays these games like he knows The Reds are mustard, and he is one of the best in the business. Leads to him giving it away a bit but I’d rather a boss, self-confident young pup than a crabby auld ball bag.
Fabinho: 8
Nothing to do really, then pulls out a tackle and a half with Lewandowski about to pull the trigger. Nothing to do, nothing to do, then bang, another tackle and a half when they were on the break. What a fella. Him in centre mid and Virgil back in next time round and this is a team greatly improved, and this becomes a result that possibly looks much improved after the next leg.
Big Joel: 8
Twatted one at Alisson’s iron chest presumably to see how hard it was. Turns out it’s pretty hard. Lashed a turn of pace in there that no one knew he had to cut one out, and then had his fucking bit foot angles all wrong for that pull-back chance.
Like he has to set them with a fuck off big protractor and then play the whole game with them set that way. Bouncing around Anfield like a fucking Inspiral Carpet. Too fucking big them feet to expect them ankles to move. Would need joints like a shoulder.
Got the positional attacking sense of Fowler, the finishing sense of your dead nan. On the end of everything when you want anyone bar him. Actually thought he was great aside from his attacking output which in fairness you would take all day.
Andy Robbo: 6
Overlapped for a laugh, didn’t get one off Sadio first half that he should have done, and then when he did get one tried to plate it for Mo back stick and twatted it into the Kemlyn. Reckon if he gets the first he boxes the second. Struggled second half with the ball.
Henderson: 8
Some through ball for the Salah half chance after 10. Broke it up well when they countered. Should have took the boot off that Spanish crab when he offered it him. Yes, thanks mate. I’ll keep hold of it, be nice on the mantelpiece that.
Does well not to get sent off on that one where he twatted their lad’s boot and then pretended he got wellied.
Gini: 7
Played well. Couldn’t quite get The Reds boxed but wasn’t a million miles away.
Naby: 8
Thought he was excellent, you know. Manages to open up space for himself all day long. The one in midfield who was linking it all together first half. Had probably run his race when he got took off.
Sadio: 7
On another day could have had a trick first half. Off balance twice in a row for two belter chances but maybe should have done better with them, and with some of the positions he took up. Fine fucking margins, though.
Mo: 6
Quiet night for Mo tonight. Couldn’t quite get away from their clutches, half chances went the other way, people got in his space. One of them.
Firmino: 7
Thought he was good first half. Linked the play, dovetailed with Naby really well, made space, found space. Missed him when he went off and Big Div the invisible come on.
SUBS
Div: 9

Scored the winner against the Blueshite.
Milner:
Keen.
 
Thought Fabinho did an excellent job at the back while Henderson really stepped up in midfield. Individually the midfield played well but collectively we just didn't create enough. The front three still seem out of sorts by their standards from last season.
 
I bet loads of nobheads are going to tell me how well Henderson did, despite being in the centre of and the reason for the least creative midfield display since we had Poulson
 
Both teams had massive respect (fear) for eachother, I think that was obvious. Honestly I think it's a little flattering that Bayern played the way they did but maybe that indicates their recent decline as much as anything.

A goalless draw is no disaster if they actually try to play at home and pace / counter attacking is their weakness, as we're led to believe.
 
An off day for the front 3, but still confident we can go through. The worry is if the all the fron 3 have another off day, who in midfield can step up to the plate with creativity / goals.
 
An off day for the front 3, but still confident we can go through. The worry is if the all the fron 3 have another off day, who in midfield can step up to the plate with creativity / goals.
We're certainly bereft of goals from elsewhere, but we know that's been the case for a couple of season at least now.

I'm not unhappy with last night, the ball is squarely in our court.
 
As the match was kicking off last night I remember thinking I wish we had Chamberlain back to give us something different in midfield.
 
As the match was kicking off last night I remember thinking I wish we had Chamberlain back to give us something different in midfield.

He is decent, but not the messiah.
I liked that Keita took shots a few time, even if he still lacks confidence in some situations, and rather passed it out wide to Robertson when other things were on.
 
Origi, as I said last night, was maddening when he came on. He needed to chase everything and everyone, not give anything up, really pester defenders who were already suffering from cramp. But he just did that weird jogging at angles when the ball was already moving into our half, or else he'd look at their keeper passing the ball out and think, 'Nah, I'll leave 'em to it'. I'd rather we send on a kid from the ressies in future in those kinds of circumstances - at least you'd see hunger and persistence and determination.

I thought it was a pity Shaq didn't come on. He knows the team, he was better-placed to seek out weaknesses and exploit them.

The defence, especially in the first half, were so ridiculously nervy, and, to make things worse, they seemed intent on highlighting it by daring each other to play the riskiest pass they could conceive. Really, when you're in that form and mental state, keep it simple and move it forwards as quickly as you can. When we get into that strange groove we can't seem to get out of it again.

Fabino, though, was really impressive. He made Matip look like the stand-in CB.

Late in the first half especially there were some gorgeous little flicks and tricks by our front three but they were all wasted by poor finishing.

All in all it was a peculiar game - simultaneously dull yet nerve-shredding. I only hope it's left us sharper for the weekend game.
 
Hendo getting the same as keita is pure fucking fantasy.

Keita wasted possession in the second half and I don't think he created chances at will in the first half either.

Henderson was fucking brilliant start to finish
You think my opinion is bollocks and blinkered .... I think yours is exactly the same. If Hendo was so brilliant how come only 1 person has him as MotM. Even Ben Johnson rated both Keita and Hendo as 8s !
 
I thought Fabinho was fantastic, Robbo really wasteful, Mane wasteful, Salah quiet. The rest so-so.
Not sure what's going on with Alisson, I hope he's not caught Achterbergitus. He needs to pack in dribbling past people, and pass it short if at all possible, a lot of his longer balls as of late are flat and going straight to the opposition. He's not playing shit or anything, but looks like he's about to. Virg was missing though so I'm guessing that plays a part.
 
You think my opinion is bollocks and blinkered .... I think yours is exactly the same. If Hendo was so brilliant how come only 1 person has him as MotM.
Because fabinho was better

What an odd point
 
Because fabinho was better

What an odd point
Woland : I bet loads of nobheads are going to tell me how well Henderson did, despite being in the centre of and the reason for the least creative midfield display since we had Poulson.

Haha !
 
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