We lost a game... (AM post-match)

[rurikbird]

The bottom line – we were not at our best, and against this Atletico team, so spirited and organized, we needed to be. If there is a weakness in this Liverpool team, it's a tendency get rattled at noisy European grounds: we can remember Napoli twice, PSG, Barcelona to some extent (even though the performance there was mostly good), and even Belgrade a couple of years ago. It's only natural – those stadiums are designed to be intimidating, but true European giants should be able to absorb all of that hostile energy and play with the same freedom they do at home. Evidently, we're not there yet.

Among our players, I thought only Robbo, Salah and Alisson emerged with credit. Trent's delivery was off (way off in the beginning, then got better, but he couldn't find a telling moment), Mane was not well, Fabinho rusty, Henderson for once showed some limitations as he couldn't pick a hole in the Atletico wall as the most advanced of the 3 midfielders. Overall, Simeone's plan worked to perfection: the early goal was a bonus, but I suspect he would have taken the scrappy, unsatisfying 0:0 too. The most noticeable thing for me was the way they limited our opportunities to counter-press by cleverly avoiding almost every one of our pressing traps – that must have took hell of a lot of analysis on Simeone's part and positional work by the players, but they did it. They also managed to work our back line in the first half with constant runs in behind, despite having to sit deep and having almost no pacy attackers – that also took some engineering.

The only positive is that we are still very much in it and now there should not be any complacency among the players and the fans. Let's give them hell in 3 weeks!

 

[binomial]

No ideas for 95 minutes.

Not the end of the world, away from home in Europe we're usually fucking drab.

Lost to Roma Lost to Barca Lost to Napoli Lost to PSG Bottled a 3-0 lead at Sevilla

 

[LeTallecWiz]

A few thoughts
* Better team won tonight - and the scoreline kind flattered us. A better, more confident front line would have scored more than that solitary goal.
* That being said, their goal was all luck ... and sometimes, that bounce just goes against you.
* They're a glorified Stoke - play strong, determined, defensive football and it works. The only difference, is they're a bunch of cry babies who exaggerate fouls to no end.
* As for our players ...
1) TAA was really poor with the ball tonight. I guess he's human after all. One good cross all night (88th minute I think).
2) I don't know how to grade our CBs - thought they were troubled, but in control. Surprised how good Morata was in the air.
3) Fabinho slowed us down today - he's still not up to pace and I think his inclusion, ahead of a Keita/Ox was a mistake unless 0-0 was our goal.
4) Hope Hendo's injury isn't serious. He's got a few weeks break until the rematch at Anfield.
5) Gini - poor today. Lots of the ball, but did nothing.
6) Mo wasn't bad today - last touch let him down today, bar that one shot which was going in. Not sure why he went off.
7) Bobby had some lovely touches, but also seemed a bit 'off' today.
8) Not sure why Mane went off - the yellow was harsh, but when he ran at them, they had no answers.
9) Origi always looking for his right foot and was poor. Take what the defense gives you against a team like this ... Poor.
10) Klopp's allowed a 'bad game' but at HT, if Mane had to come off, I'd have gone 4-3-1-2 with the 1 being Ox or Keita. That would have made it harder for Athletico to continue their game plan.
11) He's not why we lost but I thought the ref was very poor tonight. Two things stick out - stopping the play with Correa milking a foul (it wasn't a head injury - play the fuck on) and not giving Ox a FK when he was clearly fouled. Maybe the environment got to him, but a lot of the calls I thought we could have had (even a VAR on that hand ball just outside the box by their LB) were ignored.

Hopefully we're up for the game at Anfield but I thought this was a terrible draw for us. This is the only cup they can win this season, and they played like it tonight. Credit to them even though the antics really fuck me off.

 

[FoxForceFive]

That game came too soon after the winter break imo.

We'll get through at Anfield.

 

[Woland]

I think it was very polite of us to play exactly how they wanted us to

 

[Frogfish]

Reposting this.

Have to say WTF Klopp though. Why was Mane taken off ? Because of the yellow ? Injury ? It seems because of the Yellow.

Why was Mo taken off ? I thought he was causing them problems. Why didn't Keita start ? It was clear that we lacked creativity against such a defence. Why was Ox and then Milner brought on ? Not Keita when trying to break them down. Ox was not going to retain the possession around their 18m that we needed to create something.

No Keita isn't a panacea but he is the most creative of the options we had and he holds on to the ball very very well in tight areas and under pressure as well as being able to win the ball back better than the other options. I thought he was the right call tonight.

One of the rare occasions Klopp's messed it up I feel but if there is one weakness in Klopp it's away from home in Europe where he frequently starts with too defensive a lineup ends up having to chase the game, and usually fails to recover.

 

[Markeh]

A few thoughts
* Better team won tonight - and the scoreline kind flattered us. A better, more confident front line would have scored more than that solitary goal.
* That being said, their goal was all luck ... and sometimes, that bounce just goes against you.
* They're a glorified Stoke - play strong, determined, defensive football and it works. The only difference, is they're a bunch of cry babies who exaggerate fouls to no end.
* As for our players ...
1) TAA was really poor with the ball tonight. I guess he's human after all. One good cross all night (88th minute I think).
2) I don't know how to grade our CBs - thought they were troubled, but in control. Surprised how good Morata was in the air.
3) Fabinho slowed us down today - he's still not up to pace and I think his inclusion, ahead of a Keita/Ox was a mistake unless 0-0 was our goal.
4) Hope Hendo's injury isn't serious. He's got a few weeks break until the rematch at Anfield.
5) Gini - poor today. Lots of the ball, but did nothing.
6) Mo wasn't bad today - last touch let him down today, bar that one shot which was going in. Not sure why he went off.
7) Bobby had some lovely touches, but also seemed a bit 'off' today.
8) Not sure why Mane went off - the yellow was harsh, but when he ran at them, they had no answers.
9) Origi always looking for his right foot and was poor. Take what the defense gives you against a team like this ... Poor.
10) Klopp's allowed a 'bad game' but at HT, if Mane had to come off, I'd have gone 4-3-1-2 with the 1 being Ox or Keita. That would have made it harder for Athletico to continue their game plan.
11) He's not why we lost but I thought the ref was very poor tonight. Two things stick out - stopping the play with Correa milking a foul (it wasn't a head injury - play the fuck on) and not giving Ox a FK when he was clearly fouled. Maybe the environment got to him, but a lot of the calls I thought we could have had (even a VAR on that hand ball just outside the box by their LB) were ignored.

Hopefully we're up for the game at Anfield but I thought this was a terrible draw for us. This is the only cup they can win this season, and they played like it tonight. Credit to them even though the antics really fuck me off.

Klopp was asked post match of they took Mane off because he was being targeted and he said yes, they were trying to get him a second yellow.

Anyone know if we get a different ref second game?

 

[LeTallecWiz]

That game came too soon after the winter break imo.

We'll get through at Anfield.

Don't be so sure mate - this is the best team in Europe at playing this way.

 

[MomoWASright]

Klopp was asked post match of they took Mane off because he was being targeted and he said yes, they were trying to get him a second yellow.

Anyone know if we get a different ref second game?

Different ref.

 

[Markeh]

Different ref.

Fantastico

 

[LeTallecWiz]

Team seems really miffed ... Robbo "They were celebrating after the game as if they'd won it, there's still a game at Anfield and we'll be there"

 

[Insignificance]

Klopp was asked post match of they took Mane off because he was being targeted and he said yes, they were trying to get him a second yellow.

Anyone know if we get a different ref second game?

We should just focus on what we need to do and any ref can come along.

 

[Insignificance]

We were very good at the first 10-15 of second half but couldn't keep that momentum going. Normally we then enter the period of the game were we are better than anyone else but cred to Madrid who made it very difficult.

We need to dance like a butterfly and sting like a bee in the return. Mentality monsters; Is it a myth or a fact? We shall see. All in a sudden the invincible season can come to an early end. I am fucking nervous already. Love that feeling!!!

 

[moron]

Lots of different opinions as to why we lost, but in the final analysis there are a few things to note:

1) Some have said our formation was all wrong at against that sort of setup, probably true, but ain't going to go and argue with Klopp on that considering he has won every knock-out in Europe and taken us to three UEFA finals. Fuck that - not even worth it.

2) I thought Fab had a good game, and a consistent one compared to our other midfielders, thought Gini, and Hendo were passing back too much and playing it very safe in the first half when we dominated the ball. There was just too much slow build up, and they always seemed crowd out the final third, it's in times like this you need a steam rolling dribbler to go at them and break their lines. Sorry we don't have such a player.

3) Mane been taken off - very wise decision by Klopp, I think Klopp knows Mane very very well - and when he gets upset with an opposition player he can get pretty nasty - just constantly digging, that guy wound him up by getting him a yellow so you could see he was going to lose his shit. Klopp saved him from a sending off.

4) A lot of comments about the play-acting - to be honest, I was surprised how little they did - first half - hardly any, second half a bit more but not as nearly as much as I was expecting.

5) The Ref certainly lost his shit in the final 15 minutes - don't know why - probably got fed up with our slow play in the final third and thought we were a hopeless lot.

6) Don't really give a shit about the result. Probably good for the boys to experience a loss - I mean some have probably forgotten what it feels like. Does not feel nice, but I think we needed a loss.

 

[binomial]

Dont know why we struggled so much, ok they have a tight defense and they barely make a mistake but to not even register a shot on goal.

Champions of Europe not able to have a shot on goal.

 

[ibromurph]

Anfield (and a biased home ref) should see us over the line.

Apart from a lucky corner, we dominated that game without a lucky break. The boys got a nice little wake up call in the first 10mins. We've had it too easy for too long.

This game should get us angry for the 2nd leg. We'll be ready this time.

 

[Dreambeliever]

I’m not so confident. They didn’t allow us to play. Big second leg to come.

 

[Y1]

I am actually blasé whether we win or not today. As long as we win another 5 more PL games, this is a very good season for us already. Everything else is a bonus. Bonus is good but can do without.

 

[Dreambeliever]

I am actually blasé whether we win or not today. As long as we win another 5 more PL games, this is a very good season for us already. Everything else is a bonus. Bonus is good but can do without.

While I can understand this view we should also be looking to win as much as we can while we are one of if not the best team on the planet.

 

[Y1]

While I can understand this view we should also be looking to win as much as we can while we are one of if not the best team on the planet.

Not going to browbeat anyone. It is still one game at a time.

 

[Farkmaster]

While I can understand this view we should also be looking to win as much as we can while we are one of if not the best team on the planet.

Well, yeah, we will try to do that. I don't think we're going out to lose!

But we struggle in games like these, and we should try to fix that in the summer with some better options.

 

[mom]

No easy games at this stage of the comp. But, this was never going to be easy. They’re incredibly organised and rely heavily on their defence, which, unsurprisingly, did its job incredibly well at home. Will that same defence last 90 mins at Anfield? No, I don’t think so. I think we’ll nick a couple at progress.
I’m more concerned about Hendo going off than this result.

 

[LeTallecWiz]

Anfield (and a biased home ref) should see us over the line.

Apart from a lucky corner, we dominated that game without a lucky break. The boys got a nice little wake up call in the first 10mins. We've had it too easy for too long.

This game should get us angry for the 2nd leg. We'll be ready this time.

They got into a lot of good attacking positions.
If we had them, we'd have won 3/4-1.
We may have dominated, but they dominated in good chances.

 

[Woland]

I was a bit surprised when I saw no keita or ox in the starting lineup up. Not knocking klopp at all, but did think with keita starting Saturday he'd be looking starting last night. I don't think fab and gini together are the kind of thing you need when you're looking at two banks of four moving up and down their own half like they're chained together

 

[FoxForceFive]

They played well, considering that's the way they play all the time, it's understandable.

I think Klopp was loathe to adjust the way we play dramatically to combat their formation & anti football style, & figured we'd find a way to win.

If this team isn't playing its second game after a two break I think that's a slightly different performance from us too. Despite their antics, play acting & snide fouls, we got 90% of it right, it was just the final ball that we got wrong so consistently.

You get them in rhythm & in good form & they find a way to score a couple last night imo.

Anfield will be a very different prospect, three weeks of footy to play to get up to speed, & our crowd behind them.

It won't be easy, at all, but I do think we'll find a way to beat them.

 

[FoxForceFive]

I was a bit surprised when I saw no keita or ox in the starting lineup up. Not knocking klopp at all, but did think with keita starting Saturday he'd be looking starting last night. I don't think fab and gini together are the kind of thing you need when you're looking at two banks of four moving up and down their own half like they're chained together

I was convinced Keita would start for the same reason.

The analysis lads all said they wouldn't though, simply cos both players lose the ball more (understandably as they try to create more), & Atletico are known for breaking well on the counter when the ball is lost in advanced positions.

 

[Dreambeliever]

Well, yeah, we will try to do that. I don't think we're going out to lose!

But we struggle in games like these, and we should try to fix that in the summer with some better options.

Absolutely highlighted the fact we have plenty of room for improvement in terms of squad depth. If anyone actually didn’t know this already.

 

[moron]

I think it was very polite of us to play exactly how they wanted us to

The least we could do for them in honour of their ground where we won number 6.

 

[Brizzle]

Couldn't watch the game but as predicted in the pre match thread - they were completely negative and we played our 'trusty' midfield 3 when we really needed another creative and positive force in the middle? On paper it was the most obvious way the game would play out. Everything still to play for but how did we get it so wrong?

 

[MomoWASright]

We didn’t get it so wrong. We fucked up for their corner and didn’t put some chances away. Salah’s control when Oblak fucked up and Henderson not hitting the target is were the key moments for me.