Villareal post-game: Keep the faith!
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firmino lallana and moreno were very disappointing and ibe was fucking atrocious. he didnt do one positive thing the entire 45 minutes he spent on the pitch. we were terrible in the final third and thats my biggest concern for the return leg. on a more positive note i thought our centre backs were tuned in particularly kolo who was one of our best players. milner and allen were exceptional again and lucas had a good game too. im fairly confident we can still get the job done. like i said im concerned with our shortage in the firepower department but if we concentrate on not conceding stupidly then its still there for the taking. 1 goal would still be enough to force extra time. villa real look like a very poor team
Not gonna happen
Strange that people are concerned we didn't create much. We were set up that way,
It's a game that cried out for Origi
We'll set up a lot more attack minded in the second leg and batter them
It's a game that cried out for Origi
We'll set up a lot more attack minded in the second leg and batter them
Average performance from an average side. We needed some quality in the final third to secure an important away goal and Im dissappointed we didn't go for it, especially after the Dortmund match. We played for a draw with a poor defense and a mistake ridden keeper. Nobody here will convince me that was the safer, better or more sensible policy to adopt. We will need to see a much improved performance in the return leg, with greater concentration in defense and some precision and quality in the final third. Fingers crossed they can deliver.
I love the way Villareal are all of a sudden some shit team we should roll over with an injury-laden squad.
And why are they shit? Well, because they looked average against the team we put out... which was of course all fucking wrong.
I thought our increasing control of the game vindicated Klopp's general approach, and if we had executed better in the final third, if Firmino had played better, if Coutinho had been more effective, and if Ibe remembered how to play, I think we had enough of the ball to have the correct balance as the game wore on. I think Klopp liked the odds of those things happening more than the odds of Sturridge scoring in the system of play that would have resulted from his selection.
I do think that once we looked very comfortable in the 70th min or so, Klopp was too cagey.
Our team has some definite deficiencies to it, in large part due to injury, regardless of what we selected. I think Klopp picked a team around those deficiencies, and for the opposition, rather than saying we'll play to our strengths. The idea was to take a draw back and play to our strengths at home. It almost worked out.
And why are they shit? Well, because they looked average against the team we put out... which was of course all fucking wrong.
I thought our increasing control of the game vindicated Klopp's general approach, and if we had executed better in the final third, if Firmino had played better, if Coutinho had been more effective, and if Ibe remembered how to play, I think we had enough of the ball to have the correct balance as the game wore on. I think Klopp liked the odds of those things happening more than the odds of Sturridge scoring in the system of play that would have resulted from his selection.
I do think that once we looked very comfortable in the 70th min or so, Klopp was too cagey.
Our team has some definite deficiencies to it, in large part due to injury, regardless of what we selected. I think Klopp picked a team around those deficiencies, and for the opposition, rather than saying we'll play to our strengths. The idea was to take a draw back and play to our strengths at home. It almost worked out.
Common lads, this is no different from us getting a 0-0 away and them scoring in the first minute of the 2nd leg.
At least we fully know what we need to do to win now and hopefully will be focused on the task.
We are not out by any stretch of the imagination. From what I have seen we could match them and we need that bit of luck and composure to get to the finals.
It was never going to be easy.
At least we fully know what we need to do to win now and hopefully will be focused on the task.
We are not out by any stretch of the imagination. From what I have seen we could match them and we need that bit of luck and composure to get to the finals.
It was never going to be easy.
Even though the defence, and Ming especially with two superb saves, were actually bloody good yesterday so your comment really makes no sense in that context.
Though I do agree with you we should have have played more on the front foot. Especially in the 2nd when the loss of Coutinho should have seen Sturridge introduced and Firmino and Lallana played wide (actually Firmino spent most of the match wide right anyway which greatly contributed to our lack of goal threat. Though I thought he generally played well out there - bar a few stray passes aside, and players throughout both teams were guilty of that all night).
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Actually it is - it's better than that !
Villarreal have beaten Real Madrid, Atleti, Sevilla, Napoli and Bayer Leverkusen at home. Held Barca. Only conceded once in EL at home.
Over 20 clean sheets this season in total.
But yet some on here are calling them an average side..
As Fark said, we made them look average. One lapse in concentration from Moreno and Kolo/Lucas away from a perfect defensive performance.
Over 20 clean sheets this season in total.
But yet some on here are calling them an average side..
As Fark said, we made them look average. One lapse in concentration from Moreno and Kolo/Lucas away from a perfect defensive performance.
Who are you calling 'common'?
The main lesson is not to bother coming on here after losses. Some are drunk, some have played stupid computer games for so long they think they're just about ready to manage professionally, and adults search for innumerable different ways to disguise the fact that they just feel like miserable eight year olds. A few days ago this place was at its best. Last night it slumped back down to its worst. Enough broken records to spark a vinyl backlash.
I thought parts of the match were reminiscent of the Chelsea game at Anfield in 13/14 - they'd quickly recover and establish their neat banks of four if we didn't move the ball forward fast enough, and while we did get room to operate down both flanks, especially their left, they seemed happy for us to do that as long as they could crowd and outnumber us in the middle of the box and clear the ball with ease. Without numbers and size in the box, and a proper shooter from distance in the middle, they could afford to sink and let us bang our heads against the wall or shoot wildly from far out.
I'm feeling pretty good that we'll learn our lesson and successfully unlock them in the return leg at Anfield; I just hope we don't concede a stupid goal on the counter that undoes all the work (again).
I'm feeling pretty good that we'll learn our lesson and successfully unlock them in the return leg at Anfield; I just hope we don't concede a stupid goal on the counter that undoes all the work (again).
I'm glad you realised you shouldn't come on here after losses
Apprehensive for next week now because although they are a decent side they are in a poor run of form, I watched the Getafe game at the weekend and they were very average indeed. We really should have got something from the game, because they can play much better than that.
How much longer will it take for Klopp to decide that the execrable Moreno is not good enough. Once again he has cost us, I cannot wait for the goon to be shipped out
How much longer will it take for Klopp to decide that the execrable Moreno is not good enough. Once again he has cost us, I cannot wait for the goon to be shipped out
Like I said in the other thread, I'm not sure why people are being hyper defensive of criticism towards Klopp. He gets unanimous love and complete praise for alot of things, because he gets most things right and we're in very good form this year. He made mistakes last night though, that doesn't make someone a Klopp critic, or "drunk" or a "kid" or whatever else.
He got his initial tactics right, we went there to contain them and keep the scoreline tight, initial job done. But as the game unfolded, it became clear that either Villareal weren't as good as we feared, or they were having an off day. Either way the opportunity was there to go for the jugular. I said it in the closing stages of the first half, we've used yesterdays tactics well in big games, and to a degree the containment side of it worked, but Firmino and Lallana weren't really at the races in an attacking sense. We also had Milner and Allen pressing high in midfield, with a continuous outlet wide that was stopping their wide play high up the pitch, in Clyne and Moreno. It was too easy for us in that sense, so we could afford to sacrifice one grafter for a genuine threat. The decision at half time made that even more perplexing. In his last few appearances, Ibe has not only looked lackluster, he's been a liability in giving the ball away in dangerous areas. He did it last night and it nearly cost us, he gave us all huff and no genuine penetration. Our only player on the pitch who is capable of creating a goal out of nothing, went off ill. Our only other player capable of doing the same was left languishing on the bench.
As it was, we didn't score, and for all our careful, meticulous gameplan, such was the fine balance of play, the whole thing was for nothing because we let a moment of naivety creep in with players following the ball late on and not holding position and watching the opposition players, and we were hit with a sucker punch. If we'd put our best goalscorer on we might have come away with a much needed away goal, or two.
People were talking in the match thread as though a 1-0 defeat (admittedly not a devastating result), was job done. It could and should have been so much more, if we'd managed to see the wood for the trees. Leaving our best player on the bench when we had Villareal where we wanted them was a bad decision in anyones book. It happens, it doesn't mean we all hate Klopp, every manager makes the odd gaff. We went to Real Madrid and left Gerrard on the bench, and everyone wanted to knife Rodgers. Yet we leave Sturridge on the bench here and suddenly everyone can see where Klopp was coming from.
We'll probably go through, so all the arguments either way are neither here nor there, but we could have made it much easier on ourselves. Which, let's face it, is this club all over in cup competition.
He got his initial tactics right, we went there to contain them and keep the scoreline tight, initial job done. But as the game unfolded, it became clear that either Villareal weren't as good as we feared, or they were having an off day. Either way the opportunity was there to go for the jugular. I said it in the closing stages of the first half, we've used yesterdays tactics well in big games, and to a degree the containment side of it worked, but Firmino and Lallana weren't really at the races in an attacking sense. We also had Milner and Allen pressing high in midfield, with a continuous outlet wide that was stopping their wide play high up the pitch, in Clyne and Moreno. It was too easy for us in that sense, so we could afford to sacrifice one grafter for a genuine threat. The decision at half time made that even more perplexing. In his last few appearances, Ibe has not only looked lackluster, he's been a liability in giving the ball away in dangerous areas. He did it last night and it nearly cost us, he gave us all huff and no genuine penetration. Our only player on the pitch who is capable of creating a goal out of nothing, went off ill. Our only other player capable of doing the same was left languishing on the bench.
As it was, we didn't score, and for all our careful, meticulous gameplan, such was the fine balance of play, the whole thing was for nothing because we let a moment of naivety creep in with players following the ball late on and not holding position and watching the opposition players, and we were hit with a sucker punch. If we'd put our best goalscorer on we might have come away with a much needed away goal, or two.
People were talking in the match thread as though a 1-0 defeat (admittedly not a devastating result), was job done. It could and should have been so much more, if we'd managed to see the wood for the trees. Leaving our best player on the bench when we had Villareal where we wanted them was a bad decision in anyones book. It happens, it doesn't mean we all hate Klopp, every manager makes the odd gaff. We went to Real Madrid and left Gerrard on the bench, and everyone wanted to knife Rodgers. Yet we leave Sturridge on the bench here and suddenly everyone can see where Klopp was coming from.
We'll probably go through, so all the arguments either way are neither here nor there, but we could have made it much easier on ourselves. Which, let's face it, is this club all over in cup competition.
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"I just hope we don't concede a stupid goal on the counter that undoes all the work (again)"
Like we've been doing all season you mean? This Liverpool side concedes stupid goals regularly and against far worse sides than Villarreal. It just does. I'd be amazed if we kept a clean sheet next week.
Sorry folks, but if we go out to this lot, Klopp is going to have take his fair share of the blame. I hope to god we can do it, not least because I took a chance and booked a flight to Zurich on 18th May ha..but we can't keep relying on 'them special European nights at Anfield' and thinking that'll fix everything. Jurgen fucked up badly last night and it seems some can't bring themselves to say anything negative about him.
"This lot"... They're a very good side and just look at their home record. We didnt fuck up badly last night.
Mark has a point about the in game management though, the subs could have been better.
Poor result stemming from a crucial lack of ambition, a bad team selection and baffling substitutions.
Villareal weren't great, although they possibly just deserved the win, with Mignolet making two good saves. No away goal and a defeat is very worrying, given that so far at Anfield we have conceded one or more goals to Palace, West Brom, Arsenal, West Ham, Sunderland, Spurs, City, Stoke, Newcastle, Bordeaux, Chelsea, Southampton, Ruben Kazan, Fc Sion, Aston Villa....etc.
In fact, there have only been 5 games in all competitions at Anfield so far in which we have managed a scoreline that would be enough to get through this tie. We concede goals all the time, so there's little doubt we will concede next week, which would leave us requiring three goals. As I said, an awful result.
Mignolet (8) One or two very good saves and kept us in the game, but he wasn't tested that often.
Clyne (7) Really busy night and got through an awful lot of work. He was a consistent outlet, but sadly his use of the ball was lacking and he wasted several opportunities. Defensively solid.
Lovren (6) He had a quieter evening than most, and looked pretty comfortable. Requires someone next to him with genuine pace, though, rather than the glacial Toure.
Toure (5) He made some great clearances and blocks, but he was left floundering twice. Mignolet saved one, the other was a goal. He shouldn't be playing for Liverpool. Zero pace and turns like a fucking milkfloat.
Moreno (6) Hard to score this one. He left Toure exposed for the goal, which is totally inexcusable given that he must know that Lucas, Lovren and Toure don't have the pace to track attackers, so were carved open twice on the left. But he worked so hard to give us some attacking impetus, and was a Trojan all night.
Lucas (5) Made several decent tackles - which is all he has to do in that role - but whenever Villareal ran towards him, he was all to easy to skip past. He has to tackle, because he can't actually run. Another who should not be playing for Liverpool next season. But how fucking long have we been saying that?
Milner (7) To his credit, he did actually try to do it all on his own. He was industrious and made several important interventions, but his passing is still erratic at times.
Allen (6). Busy. Tidy. Neat. Created nothing. Missed an easy chance. The usual from Allen. The absolute opposite of an impact player. did little wrong - apart from the shithouse effort on goal - but Liverpool players need to offer more.
Lallana (5) One Aldi Cruyff turn and one good run. That was it. Dreadful passing and largely anonymous. This team simply has too many of this sort of player: decent, neat, Ok-ish, no pace. When they're all in the same team - Firmino, Lallana, Lucas, Allen - we don't win games.
Coutinho (4) Taken off ill at half time, which was a blessing for him and us. But with him went any real chance of scoring a goal.
Firmino (3) When you play a tight, counter-attacking style of football what you don't need is a "false 9" who can't run in behind, and drops into all kinds of useless positions. Careless, wasteful, slow and totally shit.
Subs:
Ibe (4) Pace, some. Brain, none.
Villareal weren't great, although they possibly just deserved the win, with Mignolet making two good saves. No away goal and a defeat is very worrying, given that so far at Anfield we have conceded one or more goals to Palace, West Brom, Arsenal, West Ham, Sunderland, Spurs, City, Stoke, Newcastle, Bordeaux, Chelsea, Southampton, Ruben Kazan, Fc Sion, Aston Villa....etc.
In fact, there have only been 5 games in all competitions at Anfield so far in which we have managed a scoreline that would be enough to get through this tie. We concede goals all the time, so there's little doubt we will concede next week, which would leave us requiring three goals. As I said, an awful result.
Mignolet (8) One or two very good saves and kept us in the game, but he wasn't tested that often.
Clyne (7) Really busy night and got through an awful lot of work. He was a consistent outlet, but sadly his use of the ball was lacking and he wasted several opportunities. Defensively solid.
Lovren (6) He had a quieter evening than most, and looked pretty comfortable. Requires someone next to him with genuine pace, though, rather than the glacial Toure.
Toure (5) He made some great clearances and blocks, but he was left floundering twice. Mignolet saved one, the other was a goal. He shouldn't be playing for Liverpool. Zero pace and turns like a fucking milkfloat.
Moreno (6) Hard to score this one. He left Toure exposed for the goal, which is totally inexcusable given that he must know that Lucas, Lovren and Toure don't have the pace to track attackers, so were carved open twice on the left. But he worked so hard to give us some attacking impetus, and was a Trojan all night.
Lucas (5) Made several decent tackles - which is all he has to do in that role - but whenever Villareal ran towards him, he was all to easy to skip past. He has to tackle, because he can't actually run. Another who should not be playing for Liverpool next season. But how fucking long have we been saying that?
Milner (7) To his credit, he did actually try to do it all on his own. He was industrious and made several important interventions, but his passing is still erratic at times.
Allen (6). Busy. Tidy. Neat. Created nothing. Missed an easy chance. The usual from Allen. The absolute opposite of an impact player. did little wrong - apart from the shithouse effort on goal - but Liverpool players need to offer more.
Lallana (5) One Aldi Cruyff turn and one good run. That was it. Dreadful passing and largely anonymous. This team simply has too many of this sort of player: decent, neat, Ok-ish, no pace. When they're all in the same team - Firmino, Lallana, Lucas, Allen - we don't win games.
Coutinho (4) Taken off ill at half time, which was a blessing for him and us. But with him went any real chance of scoring a goal.
Firmino (3) When you play a tight, counter-attacking style of football what you don't need is a "false 9" who can't run in behind, and drops into all kinds of useless positions. Careless, wasteful, slow and totally shit.
Subs:
Ibe (4) Pace, some. Brain, none.
I criticised him aswell and said I didn't necessarily agree with the lineup at Madrid, Macca. I defended him because our "stars" got humiliated at Anfield, so I didn't necessarily agree with the over-reaction about Gerrard getting dropped, when he'd been so poor at home. I'm not sure what your point is.
Klopp didn't make great in-game decisions last night, it doesn't mean I'm drunk or I hate him. I think it's a fair and balanced criticism. I've said he's been great all year and he gets unanimous love, I'm not sure how much harder I can try to get it across that I just thought he made a couple of bad decisions. Shit happens, it's not like he forgot to play a defensive midfielder against the World best player in a CL final, or something. They all make bad decisions occasionally.
We'll probably beat them at home, but the right decisions could have made it a bit easier, taking them back to Anfield.
Harsh on Toure. He was good.
This lot could mean Barca or Madrid. Nothing to see here.
Can't argue with those ratings except Moreno who ultimately cost us the game, and in a game of few chances wasted a good chance when a decent pass was the better option. Sure he can run really fast but he cannot put a decent cross in, and rarely shoots on target. But mostly he is always, always being caught out of position. 3 would be more accurate and a fairer score.
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