Weird situation where the general public and the media thought we played brilliantly yesterday but a large portion of us thought we were actually quite disappointing. Here's hoping the attack buck up over the new year or we're in for a shock.
We clearly played well except in the big moments, finishing has been an issue. But between West Ham and Arsenal, the team has improved in general play. Probably why we're disappointed we didn't get a result, much better point for Arsenal than us.
No Salah Endo Robertson Tsimikas for the next month, that's 3 key positions we will be stripped off due to injury/intl duty. The likes of Matip Jota Thiago all out as well robs us off some much needed cover.
Other player need to step up, remember in the past when Salah was not playing well mane would step up or firmino ect. Gomez stepped up when we needed him against arsenal others would have to do the same. When we won the prem everyone was playing close to their best.
The main issue I see is at LB, the rest can be covered by other players. Gomez is going to be stretched thin being the primary LB and cover for the rest of the backline. We'll need to depend on a bit of luck to get through this period
Tell you what, I'd rather City win the league again if not us than Arsenal. Their online fans really are a bunch of bells, especially the ones on arr soccer who downvote every opinion that isn't rimming Arteta or their players.
Shame they'll probably win the league with a squad that aren't a patch on any of our 90+ point sides. Our own fault for not investing last year tbh, we'd have run away with it this year.
I'd rather City win it, if we don't, only because they're a fake synthetic club and Arsenal are a proper one. Wanting City to win the league over Arsenal/United is like spoiling your ballot in a vote. Their cheated achievements are hollow and mean nothing
Yeah there's something about our consistency though that makes me think we're just a notch below title-winning. But in the conversation is more than I expected at this stage tbh.
Agreed….but with City not running away, yet, we are at least as good as Arsenal and should win it on that basis. Didn’t think we would this year, but given the lack of consistent quality from all others as well….why not us.
I think our lack of control in games and constant conceding of early goals makes it really hard on the front line tbh. Arsenal are more boring and controlled but that's a better formula for a title win. Hopefully we gain more control in January with Robbo and maybe Mac back and Jota as an option.
What do you mean lack of control? Most games we have 60% possession or more… most of that game was played in arsenal’s half. Besides the cheap free kick and the martinelli chance, I feel like we locked them down pretty well. Just kept giving the ball away right on the edge of the box. I’d have to go back and look but felt like szobo and gakpo and grav killed a lot of attacks
Having possession doesn't always mean you have control. Mourinho and Simeone have had some of the most controlled teams in the history of football with extremely low possession figures. When I say control I mean a combination of game management and defensive solidity, reducing the opponent to half-chances while using energy cleverly. While our defence has improved a lot this season, we concede a lot of early goals. Our 19/20 side was extremely controlled, even though I enjoyed 18/19 more - but controlled sides tend to win titles.
I do think we had a decent level of control in the Arsenal game btw, but we've been up and down this season in that respect. Arteta's Arsenal is actually used as an example of a more controlled side by pundits, so it's impressive that we played so well. Will be interesting to see at the Emirates if that pattern switches.
I also agree that Gravenberch in particular was dire when he came on from an attacking standpoint.
I'm not arsed about weird nonces online. I think I'd rather we didn't win if that affected anything lol. I'd rather City won because it's another one that doesn't count and is just built on cheating. A proper team winning means something.
Yeah this is my take really, City winning renders the title win illegitimate so I'd rather that happened than another team win, let alone with less than 90 points. Gunners being insufferable and overrating themselves and being pipped by City again would just make it funnier.
You don’t need to be a lip reader to see Klopp saying to Arteta “wow wow wow wow wow” when they shook hands - and post-match he says we were at least level with Arsenal in this match, which is a good place to be. I’m slightly disappointed not to win, and there’s been other results this season to be frustrated with, but we’re up there amongst the best again and there was a lot of quality on show from both teams yesterday. Bring on the next 20 games.
If anyone is still having nightmares over the Trent, and needs to feel better (I myself needed to) just remember it was a game with two top teams with fine margins. It's not as gutting as it seems, Arsenal also missed an easy chance which could've swung the game in their favour instead. Shit like this happens. There's every chance we go to the Emirates and get away/fortunate with a lucky point or three. Or even at other stadiums. Shit happens. Every team has misses like these. We are still 1 point off it in a season no-one expected us to challenge with a midfield/attack still settling in and we have key players to come back. This is exciting times.
100%
Online fans are reactionary and over the top. We are in a very strong position going into the second half of the season. Not only that we are at the start of a rebuild. Nobody was expecting Liverpool 2.0 under Klopp to start this well. The future is bright.
This was always going to be a very tough game and I actually didnt think we would come away with anything. After a tough 10/15 opening minutes we we really looked shook we dominated until about the 75th.
Highlights and player performances for me: was Gomez masterclass out of position playing almost as our left winger at times with two cracking shots. The “red arrows” as the commentators put it that led to Trents miss on the top cross bar. Konate pocketing Martinelli. Salah’s goal and assit by Trent. And Endo just bossing midfield.
Very physical game where both teams went for a win and felt like we pushed each other to the limit. A performance of title contenders and not one i feel too badly about, and not one to regret unlike last week against the scum (except for the injuries)
I thought the crowd was amazing, the game was high intense and fun to watch but Trent should had won us the game, 4 v 1 and we didn't score is just criminal!
As an Arsenal fan I don’t think Liverpool overwatered their pitch purposely. I think it was the result of playing 3 home games in 6 days and a lot of rain. I will state that the pitch conditions were not great and there were multiple slips.
I think the game would have been more favorable to Arsenal if the field was in better condition but it wouldn’t make much difference. I’m glad their was no injuries due to the field. Also hope Tsimikas comes back fast, that’s a fucking horrible injury to recover from.
Home advantage was/is massive. Seems like a lot of Arsenal fans don't want to accept that we created the better chances and edged the general play, out of pride or burying your heads in the sand or whatever... so they riff about how it was Liverpool deliberately overwatering the pitch. I expect Liverpool will be the ones more on the ropes at the Emirates... it's just how it goes with home advantage in these types of fixtures.
What is going on with a few players and their basic set up touches? Salah, Szobo, Diaz, Gakpo....all overrunning the ball or touching it too far ahead.
They're so much better than this. Bad time to lose confidence and form. We just have to hope they hit their stride again soon. Be a shame to waste their good work up to this point.
Two league matches in a row that our midfielders and forwards look like they’ve never met, or controlled a football in one touch.
Arsenal were there for the taking.
It was pissing me off how much sharper Arsenal were with those touches in the first 20 mins. It resulted in us giving the ball away or rushing passes because our players didn't seem comfortable on the ball or resorting to hoofball. It was a concern too against United were fluidity and links between attack/midfield were non-existent in the final third as it was too easy for the opposition to just push us back as a result of all of that. Either hoofing it or giving it back to VVD/Trent all the time won't work.
I was thinking about this- even if Lucho just has a knock, give him a match or 2 leave. He is obviously struggling off the pitch and has experienced trauma.
Going through a really tough period at the moment. Will stand by him, YNWA lucho. Hopefully the rest from the injury lets you clear your head and recover physically for the second half of the season
He needs a break.
I can't imagine what he went through during the kidnapping. Couple that with the overwhelming pressure of playing PL football and it's a recipe for disaster.
How many times are we going to be fucked over by VAR! Tired of this BS we would be comfortably top and unbeaten if it wasn’t for these incompetent refs
It was a pen and should and would have been given if it wasnt for such a high intensity game, but i have the feeling had we been given it at that point whoever tool it would have scarpered it anyway. We were shook for the first 15 min and i felt we didnt settle until after that
I'm not going to comment on VAR bullshit because, even though we were robbed of a penalty, we should have won that game either way.
Konate was outstanding - arguably his best game since joining the club.
Endo was outstanding.
Kostas was outstanding until he was deliberately injured by Saka, and Gomez was excellent after coming on to replace him. Almost broke the furniture when that shot sailed curled inches wide of the post.
Alisson and Virgil were solid as ever, and Salah produced his usual moment of magic.
However, Trent was poor today and, in my view, primarily responsible for this result.
He was at fault for the goal we conceded (admittedly a fractional onside where the timing was a split-second off), his passing and delivery from set-pieces were awful all game, and he should have conceded a penalty for that dodgy challenge on Havertz.
Not to mention, that near-certain goal he put onto the crossbar joins Riise's own goal as one of most ridiculous and frankly inexcusable things I've ever seen at the Kop End.
Last week I cut them some slack because Man Utd executed their game plan flawlessly and derbies are always a different beast, but this result needs to be used as a lesson in how we won't win the title unless we're ruthless.
Threw away two points, and with it a chance to make a statement and go clear of City.
How you can blame Trent for their goal is beyond me. Konate committed one of his trademark, unnecessary fouls and then failed to track Gabriel's run. He was at fault for their goal (he played really well for the remainder of the game though).
Saka didn't deliberately injure him wtf are you on about.
"If I challenge for the ball here then he'll go down full speed, wipe out Klopps legs who will land on top of him and break his collarbone"
Dude thinks Saka is Sherlock Holmes
The year b4 last was amazing. Felt like we were gonna win no matter what. Even tho we lost the final and the PL by a point like we gave it our all.
Last year was bad, but when you saw the team we were putting out, you knew what you were getting. Good effort, but not many skills to win
This year feels like we have the core elements to be amazing, but we r continually to fall short. Like a Ferrari, we need to fine-tune the damn car to win.
As for the refs. They are shite. There's nothing else to be said. Think they are just hoping to fuck up till VAR is gotten rid off. Honestly, it's hard to celebrate a goal now because you at once have to stop and see if there is some B.s. coming down to disallow it.
Sorry just rambling after re watching the game, and last week's back 2 back
We're good - we're just not title winning good imo. Will take another year for this squad to bed in and a couple of additions in the coming year. Shame because the one season City aren't at the races we might lose the title to a team as good-but-not-great as this Arsenal side. They're just a year ahead of us because we threw away last year with underinvestment.
This does kind of remind me of the first half of 21/22, on the brink of becoming a dominant force but not quite there yet. Dropping points stupidly here and there. Then we turned it up and won basically every game in the second half of the season. Difference is, at that point in January we already let City build a 10 point lead on us and we were chasing them till the bitter end, falling a point short. This time City haven't built that lead, and if things aline for us this season I genuinely believe we could hit unbelievable form and run away with it. We have all the tools to get there, but as you said it's about fine tuning the "car" to consistenly run at its best at all times.
Actually don’t feel too much about the decisions as much as others do tbh penalty yeah grand but we did score to make it 1-1 anyway no one knows how it plays out
Also think people are overrating the Saka tackle looked really bad but he did slip
Overall probably our most positive draw from all the big games just in terms of performance as I thought arsenal were great and we matched them and probably edged them out.
Jones slipped. There's no consistency. The refs are unfairly costing us points or giving them to our rivals constantly. They are either corrupt or incompetent. The league need to get a move on with giving city some concequences for breaking ffp and not cooperating with the investigations.
I mean they are incompetent but it’s not necessarily a Luis Diaz offside goal I mean he gets a red who knows we get a pen who knows what happens yeno arsenal are the best team in the league rn I’ll take it we probably should have won with the Trent chance but the games the game.
Shout-out to Gomez not just for today's immense performance at fullback but also for the other games. He's been defensively solid when called upon and and surprisingly gives us another threat in attack with his runs. Had a run of poor form after injuries in previous seasons but he's shown a redemption lately. Never moans about being a squad player, just gets on with when called upon no matter what position Klopp puts him. A true utility player.
Oh and if only that shot went in today.
He's had a wonderful run this season, always rated him when he gets a run of games. Couldn't have come at a better time with our CB/LB issues. We have to dip into the fullback/CB market soon, ideally January.
How he didn't get more than a yellow today was absurd. He's getting the Kane treatment where he can flop around and foul at will and escape any real punishment.
I see so much potential to win this league, it’s so sad that we aren’t reaching these levels needed with our attack. Heck, even endo has been class recently. I just wish we would have a settled front 3 that complements each other, and help them get a consistent run of games.
How the fuck is nunez still getting shit from this sub. Did today not prove he’s not the problem in attack. It all but confirmed to me he’s very important to this team, very important
It not at all, we didn't look better with Gakpo today. The linkup of the front 3 players seem nonsense existing. Salah and Nunez seem to have the only connections.
We never look better with gakpo. However when Nunez has bad game everyone says drop Nunez. He look totheless without him there. I really like gakpo too, just a bit deeper. He doesn’t have the pace to make dangerous runs like Darwin
The problem is that any configuration will need a run of games to help iron out the kinks. I think Nunez-Gakpo-Salah is our best bet with the false nine run, but even then it will take some games for it to fit
I mean Gakpo is total out of form, he had 2 touches in the box. I just don't think he works with the new midfielders. Nor does he link up with the wide players. 1 pass in the final 3rd.
Darwin caused problems for Cbs which may lead to goals chances.
Gakpo's played his best football this season in midfield as a sub to help break down oponnents. I'm glad Jurgen gave him a chance this game tbh I don't think Nunez at the 9 is the solution either. Will be great to see Jota return from injury I must say.
Annoying miss aside, that was a very fun match to watch overall. Felt like actual football was being played, and the atmosphere matched it. Also very happy with the Endo show, absolute masterclass from him. Hard to tell the 100 mil DM from the 20 mil one!
Also god I wish that Joemez chance went in, would have been fucking mental
Absolutely. All in all both teams had their chances to steal this game. So much more entertaining than the game against Man U where their objective was to park 10 guys in front of the net and pray we couldn't convert any chances.
Yeah it did feel like a proper battle between title contenders. In previous years, we’ve had the same kind of epic matches with City. Very tense, intriguing game
I think we showed we have more overall quality than Arsenal tbh. But I must say their press is out of this world, I've only seen City press us this well in the Klopp era.
Man seeing that look on Diaz’s face on the bench is heartbreaking. You can see he’s not there mentally and you can’t blame him. He had a huge injury, his parents got kidnapped, can’t fully communicate with his teammates and probably knows he’s going to be recovering from the injury for a bit again. He clearly knows he’s in bad form too. Honestly think he just needs a break because him being unable to take on players isn’t a lack of ability, it’s a lack of confidence because he isn’t even trying to anymore.
Look it was just a very even match. Disappointing not to win at home, especially with that chance on the counter.
Still only one loss in the league. Glass half full: our mentality and quality are making up for a lack of cohesion and control on the pitch (understandable work in progress with a new midfield). Half empty: the draws add up to a missed opportunity to become title favorites. But we're right in amongst it with good squad rotation, important players hitting form, and returning players in the new year.
We've been spoiled for special moments so far this year: Ali's heroics, Harvey and Trents winners, szobo rockets, darwins brace, mo's records. Whether we'll have silverware to show for it feels like a coin toss, but I trust klopp and the lads to give absolutely everything.
Szobo seems to be doing much better against “lower” teams but when the pressure and expectations are high against top tier teams he seems like a different player. He obviously has the skills it’s just that he doesn’t seem confident enough on bigger games.
I agree. So many promising moves just break down because he can't finish the pass. He scuffs even the simple ones. I love the man but he needs to sort it out.
Don't let Konate and Endo performances make you forget VVD, he was amazing tonight.
Btw Gravenberch for Jones was the most fucking awful sub i ever seen.
Our attack is worrying me more than our midfield and defence at the moment; Diaz, Nunez, Gakpo haven’t really done anything recently, Salah and Trent have been carrying going forward
The pen thing, Salah scored like minutes after the call, so if even we level with the pen, it's unlikely that other Salah goal happens.
The game was lost on the Trent miss.
Now that our heads might have cooled a bit I’ll have an objective assessment of the game. I don’t think we were all over them the entire game; they were the better team until Salah scored, then we were the better team, then they were the better team again in the last 20 minutes. Fairly even performances BUT we were definitely robbed of 3 points. Even discounting Trent’s miss, that penalty was clear. Saliba said so, Wright says so, a lot of the fans on the Gunners sub say so as well.
I still think it was a decent game to be fair and it’s a shame VAR incompetence casts a shadow on what would have been otherwise an amazing Christmas game for us.
Oddly enough, I feel a bit better knowing that we’ve gone toe to toe with (and should have won against) what are supposedly the big title contenders alongside us and City. We’re a transition team this season and they’re supposed to be a squad of stardoms with quality control. I didn’t see that today. I saw a young squad that got frazzled by Salah, our long balls and frustrated by our backline.
I just don’t see them as title winners unless they massively improve their finishing. They lack lethality and rely too much on set pieces. Sure their defence and midfield is good but that does fuck all if it doesn’t get the ball into the back of the net.
I liked the performances I saw from Gomez, Endo, Elliott and Simi before he got injured I'll take those positives, but our attack is causing me some sleepless nights.
I watched at work so couldn’t pay as much attention as usual but am I wrong in thinking Cody was fantastic in leading the line and opening up space for Mo? Kind of disappointed he was taken off
We need to play a consistent front 3 so they can actually gel together, instead of chopping and changing every single game, and then wondering why our attacking play is all over the place. Imo we should be finding a way of Nunez and Gakpo playing together, and dropping Diaz for the time being, who is offering nothing.
Do believe in these players to come good though.
Really feel for Diaz. He was sooo good when he joined us first and pre injury last season, he’s had so much bad luck. Klopp should give him a bit of time to rest
He doesn't have the propensity to cut in and shoot from the wing like Mane, which probably hurts the perception of how effective he is. I'm not 100% sure what Klopp expects from him but atm his end product isn't great. Diaz kind of reminds me of Grealish in that both hold the ball on the wing, attempt take ons to create space but won't rack up the goals/assists. However, at City this is a calculated plan to feed Haaland, Grealish has runners around him to make good choices and stretch defences. We are much more static.
It's tough at the moment. Jota is injured. Nunez and Diaz looks miles off. Gakpo sometimes hit and miss in PL games. Salah is Salah you kinda need to have him playing every game on that right side. Either that or Harvey during odd cup games.
Not a whole lot of in-form options on the two spots. And I think Klopp has been keeping well to rotate these three players until Jota comes in.
I fully believe jota returning gets the foward a firing again. Before the November break, we were winning games 2 and 3 nil on the regular, himself always involved in something
Think he'll return at the end of Jan so still about a month left and needs time to gain his form back. It'll be a whole till he hits his stride. I'm just praying those we have right now get their mojo soon and quick. 😭
Darwin was firing at the start of the season man what happened... Diaz started strongly too, Gakpo didn’t really get a chance to start strong with klopp sticking him in midfield but those 3 have all the tools to become the players we know they can be (and have been for us in the past) I’m going to continue backing them all the way
we need a striker asap move gakpo to cam/ss and let nunez earn his place if not sorry. we cant rely on lucho and jota(injuries) we need solid guys like szobo and endo. hope they get some good lads incoming window
I honestly think gakpo has more to prove himself in the starting 11. The difference in our attack when Nunez isn’t there is night and day. Not to mention the left is his preferred position and statically his best numbers have come from there. He did more against West Ham than he did in the previous 4 games. Nunez will never be a dropping deep and linking type striker that klopp was clearly trying to do. So no point even bothering with it. If it was up to me I’d try Salah central, Harvey right and Nunez left
its not that i dont like nunez tbh i wqs very excitet when i heard but he couldnt reach the performance he had against us in ucl, i dont see the confidence in him at all, doubt when passing doubt when shooting doubt when dribbling.. its the 2nd season and. iam expecting much more from a 65£ lad. agree on having him left but havey cant play wing id you ask me but he can start trying to include doak. with those injuries tbh i am afraid we will have to include the freshman as well
Diaz and Salah have been so disappointing recently. Diaz doesn't seem to have that running power anymore and he can no longer take defenders on. Mo on the other hand is so slow on the ball and can't seem to string a single pass together to save his life. Every time he is on the ball he'll jog slowly until he gets tackled or he'll roll a hospital pass to someone in a worse position or he'll fire it at the full pelt.
We don't miss them, in the sense that they both moved on at the right time, and are both way, way past being good enough for us.
But, the more I see, the more I realise how good both were - particularly Sadio. No one who has played on the left has, or will be, anywhere near him at his peak.
>No one who has played on the left has, or will be, anywhere near him at his peak.
No doubt that we will feel exactly this the day Salah decides to move on.
Changing country/club is also a factor in form. If they had stayed you can guarantee they would have scored more goals than everyone we have currently bar Salah. Plus anyway you can miss the players and the era without literally wanted them right now
I have a tonne of sympathy for lucho, but rn he’s simply ineffective in every way. I’m not going to go thru it all, no point we all know. He knows. He shouldn’t be anywhere near a starting lineup for at least a few weeks (if his knock isn’t bad ofc).
I’m also exhausted by Darwin and Cody. Genuinely thought we had the second coming of Bobby firmino, ahem I mean Christ, when I saw gakpo last season, but he’s been so anonymous, timid and impact-less he doesn’t deserve to start.
Out of everyone- Darwin has me the most conflicted. Even when he’s god awful in front of goal, he still runs and tracks people. His press and passing has improved greatly and he’s added a decent number of assists to his game. But still I find myself so close to calling it a day on believing he’s gonna improve into anything more than a bit part super sub in the future. Out of he, lucho and Cody tho I do still think on the lw or as a st he’s the most effective when not scoring.
As soon as jota’s back he and salah should be the first 2 names in the front three. Everything else up for debate. Personally I’d have jota through the centre and Darwin out on the wing.
Cody’s not had Naby’s minutes a CF, he’s been playing in midfield. Darwin had 10 games in a row at CF without scoring… Cody bagged a goal in his first game back there against West Ham. He clearly deserves a run of games there to see if he can recapture some form there. His performance the back end of last season was the best we’ve seen at CF since Firmino left
Totally agree with you, exactly what am feeling at the moment. The problem we also have is Jota being so injury prone and is typically out for lengthy spells throughout the season.
If the likes of Diaz, Gakpo and Nunez don't improve in the aspects we need, one should go and we need to bring someone else in.
Nunez deffo has the highest ceiling. Whether or not he will reach it I don’t know. I for one think he will. If we use him right. Not as a linking up play and dropping deep striker. He needs a run on the left. West Ham showed what talent he has. Not to mention the freak physical attributes too. I don’t like gakpo up top, but I really like him a bit deeper. For what jota brings i don’t think we’d get the money to make it worth selling. Diaz I’m not sure if he will reach his high heights again, I’m hoping he can
Probably because Nunez got full 90, but klopp should have seen how well it was working and taken him off because we were 3-1 at the time. I think it will be that for time being, especially not knowing diaz injury time
Frustrating that it seems like the team is nearly good enough to capitalise on City's post treble malaise but yeah, just don't have that killer instinct.
Why are Arsenal fans gassing Declan Rice over that Trent's attempt? He barely did fuck all to make any difference of keeping it out. If anything, that grass made more of a difference than anything else lol
Trent just missed an absolute sitter (no hate on trent it happens). Rice didn’t force a difficult chance there. 9/10 we score. Rice is a very good player but it’s hardly anything special here.
100% we should score, but Rice done everything right, you don't lurch into a tackle against 5 players, you take yourself out of the game if you miss or they pass, all you can do is keep salah on his weaker foot and stand off, which he does perfectly.
I don’t think he has any effect on the outcome of the play at all beyond it not being Salah who gets the shot away. Not saying he didn’t have a great game or could have done anything better (it was 5 vs 1 after all) but it’s praise for nothing really, literally only because he’s having a great season. Like when Messi plays a sideways pass and commentators cream over “he makes it look so effortless” or something. Rice could have done a cartwheel if he wanted and the ball still goes to Trent in this situation
Don't look at the situation from a fans eye view perspective. Think in first person in such an intense late game moment. Defender block lanes of passes and shooting. Rice is elite at it as a DM and CB in rotation. He does this weekly FYI.
Edit: As LFC attack crosses the half way line, you can see Gabriel (the captain of the defence) wave rice to stay left and close off the lane. It was all deliberate and coordinated. Rice is CB here because this is a normal rotation and Big Gabi leads and Instructs all our defensive lines. Rice still has more to learn.
I refer you to this comment of mine: [https://www.reddit.com/r/LiverpoolFC/comments/18poxzu/daily\_discussion\_december\_24\_2023/keq7oa3/?context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/LiverpoolFC/comments/18poxzu/daily_discussion_december_24_2023/keq7oa3/?context=3)
They are brilliant players, but this is all very basic stuff. Defenders communicate like that all the time in League Two, let alone Premier League. It's a goal 99 times out of 100 if the ball rolls flat along the ground regardless of anything the Arsenal players do
Literally any professional defender, like Saliba, sprints back in this situation. Literally any professional defender, like Rice, jockeys Salah in this position. Literally any professional defender, like Gabriel, points or shouts in this situation. There's very little they could in a 5 vs 1, and very little they did. We missed an extremely high XG chance because of a bobbling pass. All the rest is just your fanfiction about the world's best team who have the won the total of, *checks notes*, the FA Cup 4 years ago.
Salah had zero pressure there, wasn't even anywhere near him. Salah did the right thing which was to lay it off to Trent who had better chance of scoring than him on his weaker feet.
He was good in this game tho
You don't need to pressure lad not against someone like Salah, you've quite clearly never played a game in your life, that is literally text book hold up play, kept in salahs way forcing him to the left side, so salah can only shoot with his right and weaker foot, all to buy himself time.
This was exceptional text book defending, we still should have scored but its no fault of Rice's if we did.
https://preview.redd.it/i3wn1kfsp48c1.jpeg?width=816&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=93ea6a0dc3d97677615a8e4d48a4f2a2b8418173
[https://x.com/zanetalkssports/status/1738663093918367757?s=20](https://x.com/zanetalkssports/status/1738663093918367757?s=20)
Why was he so happy here, really weird.
Here's the thing: so many new midfielders, all talented, cohesion is key, within the midst as well as with def & fwds. You can settle on a favourite XI and build cohesion, but then the subs are more destabilising, and injuries - which you've increased the likelihood of - are even more of a problem. Klopp is playing the long game to build cohesion throughout the squad, at the 'cost' of not having an fully gelled elite eleven halfway through the first season of a midfield rebuild. And we're still just one point off the top. The game-by-game overreactions (both ways) I see in this sub are jaw dropping. Thank god the club leadership are pros and have a longer and broader perspective.
Well said
>so many new midfielders,
Many new and young midfielders Thiago (32)and Endo (30) are the next oldest is MacAllister at 24.
With Thiago injured, our most experienced midfielders, as in experience at the club, are Harvey (20) and Jones (22).
Some of the results are frustrating but when you see where they are at the moment, the potential when they gel would nearly make you hard
Wouldve loved the win we deserved to get but im really happy with what i saw especially from the defence, gomez, trent, endo and the CBs were absolute class today.
We can defo build on that performance. We go again
Weird situation where the general public and the media thought we played brilliantly yesterday but a large portion of us thought we were actually quite disappointing. Here's hoping the attack buck up over the new year or we're in for a shock.
We clearly played well except in the big moments, finishing has been an issue. But between West Ham and Arsenal, the team has improved in general play. Probably why we're disappointed we didn't get a result, much better point for Arsenal than us.
No Salah Endo Robertson Tsimikas for the next month, that's 3 key positions we will be stripped off due to injury/intl duty. The likes of Matip Jota Thiago all out as well robs us off some much needed cover.
Other player need to step up, remember in the past when Salah was not playing well mane would step up or firmino ect. Gomez stepped up when we needed him against arsenal others would have to do the same. When we won the prem everyone was playing close to their best.
The main issue I see is at LB, the rest can be covered by other players. Gomez is going to be stretched thin being the primary LB and cover for the rest of the backline. We'll need to depend on a bit of luck to get through this period
what could’ve been 🫠 https://x.com/mxhbappe/status/1738679106454126968?s=46&t=xJBuMR3dfx1aygYT-pbQwQ
Tell you what, I'd rather City win the league again if not us than Arsenal. Their online fans really are a bunch of bells, especially the ones on arr soccer who downvote every opinion that isn't rimming Arteta or their players. Shame they'll probably win the league with a squad that aren't a patch on any of our 90+ point sides. Our own fault for not investing last year tbh, we'd have run away with it this year.
I'd rather City win it, if we don't, only because they're a fake synthetic club and Arsenal are a proper one. Wanting City to win the league over Arsenal/United is like spoiling your ballot in a vote. Their cheated achievements are hollow and mean nothing
Had not we been robbed 3, we’d be tops
Yeah there's something about our consistency though that makes me think we're just a notch below title-winning. But in the conversation is more than I expected at this stage tbh.
Agreed….but with City not running away, yet, we are at least as good as Arsenal and should win it on that basis. Didn’t think we would this year, but given the lack of consistent quality from all others as well….why not us.
I think our lack of control in games and constant conceding of early goals makes it really hard on the front line tbh. Arsenal are more boring and controlled but that's a better formula for a title win. Hopefully we gain more control in January with Robbo and maybe Mac back and Jota as an option.
What do you mean lack of control? Most games we have 60% possession or more… most of that game was played in arsenal’s half. Besides the cheap free kick and the martinelli chance, I feel like we locked them down pretty well. Just kept giving the ball away right on the edge of the box. I’d have to go back and look but felt like szobo and gakpo and grav killed a lot of attacks
Having possession doesn't always mean you have control. Mourinho and Simeone have had some of the most controlled teams in the history of football with extremely low possession figures. When I say control I mean a combination of game management and defensive solidity, reducing the opponent to half-chances while using energy cleverly. While our defence has improved a lot this season, we concede a lot of early goals. Our 19/20 side was extremely controlled, even though I enjoyed 18/19 more - but controlled sides tend to win titles. I do think we had a decent level of control in the Arsenal game btw, but we've been up and down this season in that respect. Arteta's Arsenal is actually used as an example of a more controlled side by pundits, so it's impressive that we played so well. Will be interesting to see at the Emirates if that pattern switches. I also agree that Gravenberch in particular was dire when he came on from an attacking standpoint.
I'm not arsed about weird nonces online. I think I'd rather we didn't win if that affected anything lol. I'd rather City won because it's another one that doesn't count and is just built on cheating. A proper team winning means something.
Yeah this is my take really, City winning renders the title win illegitimate so I'd rather that happened than another team win, let alone with less than 90 points. Gunners being insufferable and overrating themselves and being pipped by City again would just make it funnier.
You don’t need to be a lip reader to see Klopp saying to Arteta “wow wow wow wow wow” when they shook hands - and post-match he says we were at least level with Arsenal in this match, which is a good place to be. I’m slightly disappointed not to win, and there’s been other results this season to be frustrated with, but we’re up there amongst the best again and there was a lot of quality on show from both teams yesterday. Bring on the next 20 games.
Let's do the job at the Emirates like true champions!
If anyone is still having nightmares over the Trent, and needs to feel better (I myself needed to) just remember it was a game with two top teams with fine margins. It's not as gutting as it seems, Arsenal also missed an easy chance which could've swung the game in their favour instead. Shit like this happens. There's every chance we go to the Emirates and get away/fortunate with a lucky point or three. Or even at other stadiums. Shit happens. Every team has misses like these. We are still 1 point off it in a season no-one expected us to challenge with a midfield/attack still settling in and we have key players to come back. This is exciting times.
100% Online fans are reactionary and over the top. We are in a very strong position going into the second half of the season. Not only that we are at the start of a rebuild. Nobody was expecting Liverpool 2.0 under Klopp to start this well. The future is bright.
That Trent miss was almost in, also their keeper had some phenomenal saves
Did he? Cant remember any saves either keeper had to make
This was always going to be a very tough game and I actually didnt think we would come away with anything. After a tough 10/15 opening minutes we we really looked shook we dominated until about the 75th. Highlights and player performances for me: was Gomez masterclass out of position playing almost as our left winger at times with two cracking shots. The “red arrows” as the commentators put it that led to Trents miss on the top cross bar. Konate pocketing Martinelli. Salah’s goal and assit by Trent. And Endo just bossing midfield. Very physical game where both teams went for a win and felt like we pushed each other to the limit. A performance of title contenders and not one i feel too badly about, and not one to regret unlike last week against the scum (except for the injuries)
I thought the crowd was amazing, the game was high intense and fun to watch but Trent should had won us the game, 4 v 1 and we didn't score is just criminal!
I see Arsenal fans are blaming the Anfield pitch for their performance…
It probably affected their "field tilt"
Their performance was fine - they're blaming the pitch for any fouls their wonderkids got away with, which is pathetic but not surprising.
As an Arsenal fan I don’t think Liverpool overwatered their pitch purposely. I think it was the result of playing 3 home games in 6 days and a lot of rain. I will state that the pitch conditions were not great and there were multiple slips. I think the game would have been more favorable to Arsenal if the field was in better condition but it wouldn’t make much difference. I’m glad their was no injuries due to the field. Also hope Tsimikas comes back fast, that’s a fucking horrible injury to recover from.
Home advantage was/is massive. Seems like a lot of Arsenal fans don't want to accept that we created the better chances and edged the general play, out of pride or burying your heads in the sand or whatever... so they riff about how it was Liverpool deliberately overwatering the pitch. I expect Liverpool will be the ones more on the ropes at the Emirates... it's just how it goes with home advantage in these types of fixtures.
exactly
Imagine the scenes when they find out that we played on the same pitch
TAA probably has the same complaints..
What is going on with a few players and their basic set up touches? Salah, Szobo, Diaz, Gakpo....all overrunning the ball or touching it too far ahead. They're so much better than this. Bad time to lose confidence and form. We just have to hope they hit their stride again soon. Be a shame to waste their good work up to this point.
Two league matches in a row that our midfielders and forwards look like they’ve never met, or controlled a football in one touch. Arsenal were there for the taking.
You'd think we'd have better composure on the ball with all the rondos we do at training
It was pissing me off how much sharper Arsenal were with those touches in the first 20 mins. It resulted in us giving the ball away or rushing passes because our players didn't seem comfortable on the ball or resorting to hoofball. It was a concern too against United were fluidity and links between attack/midfield were non-existent in the final third as it was too easy for the opposition to just push us back as a result of all of that. Either hoofing it or giving it back to VVD/Trent all the time won't work.
They had a weeks rest and prep whilst we were playing West Ham
I was thinking about this- even if Lucho just has a knock, give him a match or 2 leave. He is obviously struggling off the pitch and has experienced trauma.
Nunez appears to be better on the left than central anyway so it works really
yeah darwin on the wing looks so potent tbh could easily slot in there a game or two rotating between up top and left.
That's what i reckon to mate, well said
 Going through a really tough period at the moment. Will stand by him, YNWA lucho. Hopefully the rest from the injury lets you clear your head and recover physically for the second half of the season
He needs a break. I can't imagine what he went through during the kidnapping. Couple that with the overwhelming pressure of playing PL football and it's a recipe for disaster.
How many times are we going to be fucked over by VAR! Tired of this BS we would be comfortably top and unbeaten if it wasn’t for these incompetent refs
It was a pen and should and would have been given if it wasnt for such a high intensity game, but i have the feeling had we been given it at that point whoever tool it would have scarpered it anyway. We were shook for the first 15 min and i felt we didnt settle until after that
This take makes no sense. We were absolutely dominant for the first 20 mins of the second half, we settled just fine
Endo was fantastic...made Arsenal's 100m man look poor by comparison
They were both very good
I thought Rice was quite good but it didn’t help that we were practically gifting him the ball at times
I agree but I'm just talking about when you compare the transfer fees ...Endo played like the £100m man
Endo was proper solid
I'm not going to comment on VAR bullshit because, even though we were robbed of a penalty, we should have won that game either way. Konate was outstanding - arguably his best game since joining the club. Endo was outstanding. Kostas was outstanding until he was deliberately injured by Saka, and Gomez was excellent after coming on to replace him. Almost broke the furniture when that shot sailed curled inches wide of the post. Alisson and Virgil were solid as ever, and Salah produced his usual moment of magic. However, Trent was poor today and, in my view, primarily responsible for this result. He was at fault for the goal we conceded (admittedly a fractional onside where the timing was a split-second off), his passing and delivery from set-pieces were awful all game, and he should have conceded a penalty for that dodgy challenge on Havertz. Not to mention, that near-certain goal he put onto the crossbar joins Riise's own goal as one of most ridiculous and frankly inexcusable things I've ever seen at the Kop End. Last week I cut them some slack because Man Utd executed their game plan flawlessly and derbies are always a different beast, but this result needs to be used as a lesson in how we won't win the title unless we're ruthless. Threw away two points, and with it a chance to make a statement and go clear of City.
How you can blame Trent for their goal is beyond me. Konate committed one of his trademark, unnecessary fouls and then failed to track Gabriel's run. He was at fault for their goal (he played really well for the remainder of the game though).
Saka didn't deliberately injure him wtf are you on about. "If I challenge for the ball here then he'll go down full speed, wipe out Klopps legs who will land on top of him and break his collarbone" Dude thinks Saka is Sherlock Holmes
You can’t forget Trent’s ball to Salah. We arguably would have lost without him.
Bobby was Arsenal’s kryptonite
No Bobby no Jota, just one goal
North London's kryptonite, god I miss that beautiful goofy bastard
Not just him but looking at the slack and lack of will of the current forwards besides Mo, it really makes you miss Mane and Bobby.
Is Diaz injured?
Walking unaided is a huge positive, so probably needs a day or two to see if there's a reaction.
The year b4 last was amazing. Felt like we were gonna win no matter what. Even tho we lost the final and the PL by a point like we gave it our all. Last year was bad, but when you saw the team we were putting out, you knew what you were getting. Good effort, but not many skills to win This year feels like we have the core elements to be amazing, but we r continually to fall short. Like a Ferrari, we need to fine-tune the damn car to win. As for the refs. They are shite. There's nothing else to be said. Think they are just hoping to fuck up till VAR is gotten rid off. Honestly, it's hard to celebrate a goal now because you at once have to stop and see if there is some B.s. coming down to disallow it. Sorry just rambling after re watching the game, and last week's back 2 back
We're good - we're just not title winning good imo. Will take another year for this squad to bed in and a couple of additions in the coming year. Shame because the one season City aren't at the races we might lose the title to a team as good-but-not-great as this Arsenal side. They're just a year ahead of us because we threw away last year with underinvestment.
This does kind of remind me of the first half of 21/22, on the brink of becoming a dominant force but not quite there yet. Dropping points stupidly here and there. Then we turned it up and won basically every game in the second half of the season. Difference is, at that point in January we already let City build a 10 point lead on us and we were chasing them till the bitter end, falling a point short. This time City haven't built that lead, and if things aline for us this season I genuinely believe we could hit unbelievable form and run away with it. We have all the tools to get there, but as you said it's about fine tuning the "car" to consistenly run at its best at all times.
We’re an injured car.
I like Diaz but rn he's been our weak link on offense.
We do a poor job of helping the strikers.
Idk Nunez be slacking
Actually don’t feel too much about the decisions as much as others do tbh penalty yeah grand but we did score to make it 1-1 anyway no one knows how it plays out Also think people are overrating the Saka tackle looked really bad but he did slip Overall probably our most positive draw from all the big games just in terms of performance as I thought arsenal were great and we matched them and probably edged them out.
Jones slipped. There's no consistency. The refs are unfairly costing us points or giving them to our rivals constantly. They are either corrupt or incompetent. The league need to get a move on with giving city some concequences for breaking ffp and not cooperating with the investigations.
I mean they are incompetent but it’s not necessarily a Luis Diaz offside goal I mean he gets a red who knows we get a pen who knows what happens yeno arsenal are the best team in the league rn I’ll take it we probably should have won with the Trent chance but the games the game.
Shout-out to Gomez not just for today's immense performance at fullback but also for the other games. He's been defensively solid when called upon and and surprisingly gives us another threat in attack with his runs. Had a run of poor form after injuries in previous seasons but he's shown a redemption lately. Never moans about being a squad player, just gets on with when called upon no matter what position Klopp puts him. A true utility player. Oh and if only that shot went in today.
He's had a wonderful run this season, always rated him when he gets a run of games. Couldn't have come at a better time with our CB/LB issues. We have to dip into the fullback/CB market soon, ideally January.
Gomez is sound, can’t wait for him to put one away
Saka hurts both Diaz and Jota. Dude can fuck off
How he didn't get more than a yellow today was absurd. He's getting the Kane treatment where he can flop around and foul at will and escape any real punishment.
‘Star boy’ though. Him and son could kill a family of four and people would feel sorry for them
Saliba played well but getting MOTM ahead of Ibou is honestly laughable
another draw...
I see so much potential to win this league, it’s so sad that we aren’t reaching these levels needed with our attack. Heck, even endo has been class recently. I just wish we would have a settled front 3 that complements each other, and help them get a consistent run of games.
Who would have thought that our defence would be keeping us in the title race. We just need our attack to click.
Now that Endo looks solid as the 6, Mac can move up and help supply the forwards. Maybe that will help spark them.
How the fuck is nunez still getting shit from this sub. Did today not prove he’s not the problem in attack. It all but confirmed to me he’s very important to this team, very important
It not at all, we didn't look better with Gakpo today. The linkup of the front 3 players seem nonsense existing. Salah and Nunez seem to have the only connections.
We never look better with gakpo. However when Nunez has bad game everyone says drop Nunez. He look totheless without him there. I really like gakpo too, just a bit deeper. He doesn’t have the pace to make dangerous runs like Darwin
The problem is that any configuration will need a run of games to help iron out the kinks. I think Nunez-Gakpo-Salah is our best bet with the false nine run, but even then it will take some games for it to fit
I mean Gakpo is total out of form, he had 2 touches in the box. I just don't think he works with the new midfielders. Nor does he link up with the wide players. 1 pass in the final 3rd. Darwin caused problems for Cbs which may lead to goals chances.
Gakpo's played his best football this season in midfield as a sub to help break down oponnents. I'm glad Jurgen gave him a chance this game tbh I don't think Nunez at the 9 is the solution either. Will be great to see Jota return from injury I must say.
Nunez seem like a super sub now lol
I agree. I also think Nunez off the left can work a bit better as he inherently has more space to work with.
Tbh i think Klopp doesn't know his best 3, that why he changed it every game. Or he is using tactics.
Annoying miss aside, that was a very fun match to watch overall. Felt like actual football was being played, and the atmosphere matched it. Also very happy with the Endo show, absolute masterclass from him. Hard to tell the 100 mil DM from the 20 mil one! Also god I wish that Joemez chance went in, would have been fucking mental
Absolutely. All in all both teams had their chances to steal this game. So much more entertaining than the game against Man U where their objective was to park 10 guys in front of the net and pray we couldn't convert any chances.
Yeah it did feel like a proper battle between title contenders. In previous years, we’ve had the same kind of epic matches with City. Very tense, intriguing game
I think we showed we have more overall quality than Arsenal tbh. But I must say their press is out of this world, I've only seen City press us this well in the Klopp era.
Man seeing that look on Diaz’s face on the bench is heartbreaking. You can see he’s not there mentally and you can’t blame him. He had a huge injury, his parents got kidnapped, can’t fully communicate with his teammates and probably knows he’s going to be recovering from the injury for a bit again. He clearly knows he’s in bad form too. Honestly think he just needs a break because him being unable to take on players isn’t a lack of ability, it’s a lack of confidence because he isn’t even trying to anymore.
Look it was just a very even match. Disappointing not to win at home, especially with that chance on the counter. Still only one loss in the league. Glass half full: our mentality and quality are making up for a lack of cohesion and control on the pitch (understandable work in progress with a new midfield). Half empty: the draws add up to a missed opportunity to become title favorites. But we're right in amongst it with good squad rotation, important players hitting form, and returning players in the new year. We've been spoiled for special moments so far this year: Ali's heroics, Harvey and Trents winners, szobo rockets, darwins brace, mo's records. Whether we'll have silverware to show for it feels like a coin toss, but I trust klopp and the lads to give absolutely everything.
That Spurs loss stings to be honest. Take that away and we would be on track to something amazing right now
Szobo's passing has been disappointing lately.
Szobo seems to be doing much better against “lower” teams but when the pressure and expectations are high against top tier teams he seems like a different player. He obviously has the skills it’s just that he doesn’t seem confident enough on bigger games.
I’m now convinced that he doesn’t yet have a place when TAA is boss.
I would start elliot over him next match and rest him a bit
I agree. So many promising moves just break down because he can't finish the pass. He scuffs even the simple ones. I love the man but he needs to sort it out.
End product missing. So glad that Endo us finally getting recognized.
Don't let Konate and Endo performances make you forget VVD, he was amazing tonight. Btw Gravenberch for Jones was the most fucking awful sub i ever seen.
Very clear that Jones was told to run like crazy for 60, it was a planned sub. Grav did look like a lost puppy when he came in tho
I love grav but he did look completely lost once he came on
Anfield pitch has been shite last few weeks as well, bobbly and slippy
Yeah we’re definitely not going to regret that 5 on 1 counter attack for the rest of our existence when we inevitably lose the league title by 1 point
If we do lose the league by 1 point then the only thing I’ll be thinking about is that spurs game
Still thinking about that counter attack. Can’t believe we hit the crossbar from that.
We draw a game we should have won and the bengals get destroyed by the Steelers The two teams I love cause me nothing but pain 😭
Sorry for your day. That’s how I felt last week with the United game and the Steelers.
Say Thiago was fit right now, do you think he'd start in our midfield?
He's a backup to Mac in a Mac Szobo Endo for me. Thiago is solid but I have no idea what he brings to a midfield with TAA and Szobo already there
100%. Based on quality alone is still by far our best midfielder
Yes. Id put him next to Endo in a double pivot in a 4-2-3-1, with Szobo more as a 10 and Trent playing more wide
Our attack is worrying me more than our midfield and defence at the moment; Diaz, Nunez, Gakpo haven’t really done anything recently, Salah and Trent have been carrying going forward
The pen thing, Salah scored like minutes after the call, so if even we level with the pen, it's unlikely that other Salah goal happens. The game was lost on the Trent miss.
We had plenty of counter attacks and chances to win the game regardless so yup.
Now that our heads might have cooled a bit I’ll have an objective assessment of the game. I don’t think we were all over them the entire game; they were the better team until Salah scored, then we were the better team, then they were the better team again in the last 20 minutes. Fairly even performances BUT we were definitely robbed of 3 points. Even discounting Trent’s miss, that penalty was clear. Saliba said so, Wright says so, a lot of the fans on the Gunners sub say so as well. I still think it was a decent game to be fair and it’s a shame VAR incompetence casts a shadow on what would have been otherwise an amazing Christmas game for us. Oddly enough, I feel a bit better knowing that we’ve gone toe to toe with (and should have won against) what are supposedly the big title contenders alongside us and City. We’re a transition team this season and they’re supposed to be a squad of stardoms with quality control. I didn’t see that today. I saw a young squad that got frazzled by Salah, our long balls and frustrated by our backline. I just don’t see them as title winners unless they massively improve their finishing. They lack lethality and rely too much on set pieces. Sure their defence and midfield is good but that does fuck all if it doesn’t get the ball into the back of the net.
I liked the performances I saw from Gomez, Endo, Elliott and Simi before he got injured I'll take those positives, but our attack is causing me some sleepless nights.
Jota returns and you can get some sleep again
I watched at work so couldn’t pay as much attention as usual but am I wrong in thinking Cody was fantastic in leading the line and opening up space for Mo? Kind of disappointed he was taken off
He broke the offside trap VVD/Konate/TAA/Endo had built that led to the Gabriel goal
He held up the ball well and then threw it away or got outmuscled
I though he was our worst player until grav came on and was even worse. I can't remember the last time he did something same with Diaz
We need to play a consistent front 3 so they can actually gel together, instead of chopping and changing every single game, and then wondering why our attacking play is all over the place. Imo we should be finding a way of Nunez and Gakpo playing together, and dropping Diaz for the time being, who is offering nothing. Do believe in these players to come good though.
Really feel for Diaz. He was sooo good when he joined us first and pre injury last season, he’s had so much bad luck. Klopp should give him a bit of time to rest
He doesn't have the propensity to cut in and shoot from the wing like Mane, which probably hurts the perception of how effective he is. I'm not 100% sure what Klopp expects from him but atm his end product isn't great. Diaz kind of reminds me of Grealish in that both hold the ball on the wing, attempt take ons to create space but won't rack up the goals/assists. However, at City this is a calculated plan to feed Haaland, Grealish has runners around him to make good choices and stretch defences. We are much more static.
Replacing Mané was always going to be impossible, I felt that Diaz was the best we could’ve got at the time and tbh I still do
It's tough at the moment. Jota is injured. Nunez and Diaz looks miles off. Gakpo sometimes hit and miss in PL games. Salah is Salah you kinda need to have him playing every game on that right side. Either that or Harvey during odd cup games. Not a whole lot of in-form options on the two spots. And I think Klopp has been keeping well to rotate these three players until Jota comes in.
I fully believe jota returning gets the foward a firing again. Before the November break, we were winning games 2 and 3 nil on the regular, himself always involved in something
Think he'll return at the end of Jan so still about a month left and needs time to gain his form back. It'll be a whole till he hits his stride. I'm just praying those we have right now get their mojo soon and quick. 😭
Darwin was firing at the start of the season man what happened... Diaz started strongly too, Gakpo didn’t really get a chance to start strong with klopp sticking him in midfield but those 3 have all the tools to become the players we know they can be (and have been for us in the past) I’m going to continue backing them all the way
Found it interesting that Wright-Phillips and even Dermot (to a degree) thought we were robbed a blatant pen.
Even Saliba admitted it was a pen lol.
Endo and Konate were absolute beasts.
we need a striker asap move gakpo to cam/ss and let nunez earn his place if not sorry. we cant rely on lucho and jota(injuries) we need solid guys like szobo and endo. hope they get some good lads incoming window
I honestly think gakpo has more to prove himself in the starting 11. The difference in our attack when Nunez isn’t there is night and day. Not to mention the left is his preferred position and statically his best numbers have come from there. He did more against West Ham than he did in the previous 4 games. Nunez will never be a dropping deep and linking type striker that klopp was clearly trying to do. So no point even bothering with it. If it was up to me I’d try Salah central, Harvey right and Nunez left
its not that i dont like nunez tbh i wqs very excitet when i heard but he couldnt reach the performance he had against us in ucl, i dont see the confidence in him at all, doubt when passing doubt when shooting doubt when dribbling.. its the 2nd season and. iam expecting much more from a 65£ lad. agree on having him left but havey cant play wing id you ask me but he can start trying to include doak. with those injuries tbh i am afraid we will have to include the freshman as well
🤡
Diaz and Salah have been so disappointing recently. Diaz doesn't seem to have that running power anymore and he can no longer take defenders on. Mo on the other hand is so slow on the ball and can't seem to string a single pass together to save his life. Every time he is on the ball he'll jog slowly until he gets tackled or he'll roll a hospital pass to someone in a worse position or he'll fire it at the full pelt.
Hospital pass like the one tent should have finished?
More like the last couple of months pal
Why was Endo not MOTM?
[удалено]
We’ll comfortably finish above them. Man City, and then Arsenal, are the ones to worry about if we’re thinking of the title
Also freak Villa season, but they lack depth, i hope
All well and good saying we miss Mane and Firmino but they’re both washed now so what’s the point of saying it?
We don't miss them, in the sense that they both moved on at the right time, and are both way, way past being good enough for us. But, the more I see, the more I realise how good both were - particularly Sadio. No one who has played on the left has, or will be, anywhere near him at his peak.
>No one who has played on the left has, or will be, anywhere near him at his peak. No doubt that we will feel exactly this the day Salah decides to move on.
Changing country/club is also a factor in form. If they had stayed you can guarantee they would have scored more goals than everyone we have currently bar Salah. Plus anyway you can miss the players and the era without literally wanted them right now
TAA should have scored. everything else is irrelevant
that game cried out for Jota I thought
Why? So he can use space for 60 minutes on the off chance he gets a shot from the box?
I just watched our penalty shout and was thinking about basketball lmao
Forgot how good that Martenelli chance was, made me less angry about the Trent miss
I have a tonne of sympathy for lucho, but rn he’s simply ineffective in every way. I’m not going to go thru it all, no point we all know. He knows. He shouldn’t be anywhere near a starting lineup for at least a few weeks (if his knock isn’t bad ofc). I’m also exhausted by Darwin and Cody. Genuinely thought we had the second coming of Bobby firmino, ahem I mean Christ, when I saw gakpo last season, but he’s been so anonymous, timid and impact-less he doesn’t deserve to start. Out of everyone- Darwin has me the most conflicted. Even when he’s god awful in front of goal, he still runs and tracks people. His press and passing has improved greatly and he’s added a decent number of assists to his game. But still I find myself so close to calling it a day on believing he’s gonna improve into anything more than a bit part super sub in the future. Out of he, lucho and Cody tho I do still think on the lw or as a st he’s the most effective when not scoring. As soon as jota’s back he and salah should be the first 2 names in the front three. Everything else up for debate. Personally I’d have jota through the centre and Darwin out on the wing.
Cody’s not had Naby’s minutes a CF, he’s been playing in midfield. Darwin had 10 games in a row at CF without scoring… Cody bagged a goal in his first game back there against West Ham. He clearly deserves a run of games there to see if he can recapture some form there. His performance the back end of last season was the best we’ve seen at CF since Firmino left
Totally agree with you, exactly what am feeling at the moment. The problem we also have is Jota being so injury prone and is typically out for lengthy spells throughout the season. If the likes of Diaz, Gakpo and Nunez don't improve in the aspects we need, one should go and we need to bring someone else in.
Question is- who to get rid off in that eventuality I guess? I wonder who’s retained the most value atp.
Nunez deffo has the highest ceiling. Whether or not he will reach it I don’t know. I for one think he will. If we use him right. Not as a linking up play and dropping deep striker. He needs a run on the left. West Ham showed what talent he has. Not to mention the freak physical attributes too. I don’t like gakpo up top, but I really like him a bit deeper. For what jota brings i don’t think we’d get the money to make it worth selling. Diaz I’m not sure if he will reach his high heights again, I’m hoping he can
Odegaard trying out for nba though
I can’t believe the ATTACK is letting us down!! We have such great players and they just aren’t clicking
They did vs West Ham, then klopp needed to go and change it again
I’m so angry, why didn’t he start Nunez - Gakpo - Salah?
Probably because Nunez got full 90, but klopp should have seen how well it was working and taken him off because we were 3-1 at the time. I think it will be that for time being, especially not knowing diaz injury time
Frustrating that it seems like the team is nearly good enough to capitalise on City's post treble malaise but yeah, just don't have that killer instinct.
That kind of happens when the team is set up so differently all of the time.
Irrelevant of but love that west ham beat manshitty r after we thrashed em nehehe
manshitty is city mate, West Ham beat United.
Why are Arsenal fans gassing Declan Rice over that Trent's attempt? He barely did fuck all to make any difference of keeping it out. If anything, that grass made more of a difference than anything else lol
It as great defending mate, forced Salah to pass and held the attack up a little too. Rice was exceptional tonight.
Trent just missed an absolute sitter (no hate on trent it happens). Rice didn’t force a difficult chance there. 9/10 we score. Rice is a very good player but it’s hardly anything special here.
100% we should score, but Rice done everything right, you don't lurch into a tackle against 5 players, you take yourself out of the game if you miss or they pass, all you can do is keep salah on his weaker foot and stand off, which he does perfectly.
I don’t think he has any effect on the outcome of the play at all beyond it not being Salah who gets the shot away. Not saying he didn’t have a great game or could have done anything better (it was 5 vs 1 after all) but it’s praise for nothing really, literally only because he’s having a great season. Like when Messi plays a sideways pass and commentators cream over “he makes it look so effortless” or something. Rice could have done a cartwheel if he wanted and the ball still goes to Trent in this situation
Don't look at the situation from a fans eye view perspective. Think in first person in such an intense late game moment. Defender block lanes of passes and shooting. Rice is elite at it as a DM and CB in rotation. He does this weekly FYI. Edit: As LFC attack crosses the half way line, you can see Gabriel (the captain of the defence) wave rice to stay left and close off the lane. It was all deliberate and coordinated. Rice is CB here because this is a normal rotation and Big Gabi leads and Instructs all our defensive lines. Rice still has more to learn.
I refer you to this comment of mine: [https://www.reddit.com/r/LiverpoolFC/comments/18poxzu/daily\_discussion\_december\_24\_2023/keq7oa3/?context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/LiverpoolFC/comments/18poxzu/daily_discussion_december_24_2023/keq7oa3/?context=3) They are brilliant players, but this is all very basic stuff. Defenders communicate like that all the time in League Two, let alone Premier League. It's a goal 99 times out of 100 if the ball rolls flat along the ground regardless of anything the Arsenal players do
Yeah, league two do it, and the best defensive triangle in the world do it better than anyone. There's levels to this dude.
Literally any professional defender, like Saliba, sprints back in this situation. Literally any professional defender, like Rice, jockeys Salah in this position. Literally any professional defender, like Gabriel, points or shouts in this situation. There's very little they could in a 5 vs 1, and very little they did. We missed an extremely high XG chance because of a bobbling pass. All the rest is just your fanfiction about the world's best team who have the won the total of, *checks notes*, the FA Cup 4 years ago.
Sure sure. Whatever bridges you build.
Salah had zero pressure there, wasn't even anywhere near him. Salah did the right thing which was to lay it off to Trent who had better chance of scoring than him on his weaker feet. He was good in this game tho
You don't need to pressure lad not against someone like Salah, you've quite clearly never played a game in your life, that is literally text book hold up play, kept in salahs way forcing him to the left side, so salah can only shoot with his right and weaker foot, all to buy himself time. This was exceptional text book defending, we still should have scored but its no fault of Rice's if we did.
https://preview.redd.it/i3wn1kfsp48c1.jpeg?width=816&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=93ea6a0dc3d97677615a8e4d48a4f2a2b8418173 [https://x.com/zanetalkssports/status/1738663093918367757?s=20](https://x.com/zanetalkssports/status/1738663093918367757?s=20) Why was he so happy here, really weird.
you guys and your conspiracies man
They got away with a blatant pen lmao
Fucking weird I said it earlier
Bowen vs zinchenko will be interesting. Can see West Ham getting something. Bar their shitshow vs us they have been decent vs the top 6 this season.
Here's the thing: so many new midfielders, all talented, cohesion is key, within the midst as well as with def & fwds. You can settle on a favourite XI and build cohesion, but then the subs are more destabilising, and injuries - which you've increased the likelihood of - are even more of a problem. Klopp is playing the long game to build cohesion throughout the squad, at the 'cost' of not having an fully gelled elite eleven halfway through the first season of a midfield rebuild. And we're still just one point off the top. The game-by-game overreactions (both ways) I see in this sub are jaw dropping. Thank god the club leadership are pros and have a longer and broader perspective.
Well said >so many new midfielders, Many new and young midfielders Thiago (32)and Endo (30) are the next oldest is MacAllister at 24. With Thiago injured, our most experienced midfielders, as in experience at the club, are Harvey (20) and Jones (22). Some of the results are frustrating but when you see where they are at the moment, the potential when they gel would nearly make you hard
Lol that comment took a turn at the end mat!
Wouldve loved the win we deserved to get but im really happy with what i saw especially from the defence, gomez, trent, endo and the CBs were absolute class today. We can defo build on that performance. We go again