16 Oct 2017 13:27:24
At 2 30 on Saturday I was pretty satisfied, although we didn’t get the three points I felt we played well and Klopp’s plan worked better than Mourinho’s. Since then my view has soured a bit and I find myself questioning a couple of the more negative decisions Klopp made. First of all, however, the good must be acknowledged.

A lot of people are saying that Mourinho was playing for a draw, I think it was a bit more subtle than that, he was playing not to lose; his approach, like so many teams approach to playing Klopp’s Liverpool, was to play tight at the back and hope to nick something at the other end. With Martial, Young and Mkhitaryan (that fella needs a nick name) looking to find the gaps in Liverpool’s defence and Lukaku menacing our CBs that was a sensible approach. It’s worth noting that he also tried to mark Henderson out of the game but quickly abandoned that plan. Klopp countered with the most defensive set up I’ve seen him employ in a long time. There were two key parts; the first was that Can played deep so that he and Henderson were more of a pair, this immediately countered Mourinho’s initial plan to pressure Henderson as Can was there to offer a second outlet.

The second decision was to reign in Gomez and, in particular, Moreno. Moreno is yet to redeem himself in my eyes but Saturday showed that, when he plays more conservatively and with discipline, he can be an effective defender. With the fullbacks holding their position and Can alongside Henderson there was no space for Utd to exploit and they were completely shut down as an attacking force. In this battle Klopp completely outsmarted Mourinho. I’d also like to reserve special praise for Gomez who impresses me more every game, I initially thought that, when he had regained fitness, Clyne would take the fullback position back from TAA but with how Gomez is playing I’m no longer sure. Part of me still wants to see Gomez at CB so Clyne’s days aren’t definitely numbered but there’s a decision to be made there.

Klopp may have won the battle in front of his own goal but this meant Liverpool lacked the fire power to win the battle at the other. With Can playing deeper there was a lot of pressure on the third midfielder to drive the attack and I just don’t think Wiji is good enough for that role. If Mane was fit Couts would have played there so Klopp had a decision to make between Wiji and AOC, I think he made the wrong one. AOC is yet to do anything of note in a red shirt but Couts had to drop off the Utd defenders to effect the game and that left our forward line outnumbered. AOC starting on the wing instead of Wiji in midfield would have balanced the team much better.

The other thing that infuriates me is again how late Klopp left his substitutions. I have no problem with Couts coming off, with his recent schedule there was almost no chance of him lasting the 90, but by leaving it so late there was no chance for the subs to effect the outcome. As a team Liverpool lost the plot in the last 10 minutes of the match anyway. AOC showed some promise and looked like he could hurt Utd but Liverpool couldn’t make use of him, we lost composure and started aimlessly punting the ball forward instead of using the fresh legs in our forward line to tear holes in Utd’s defence.

Klopp got a lot right on Saturday but, whilst we were a bit unlucky not to get a goal, I think it was missed opportunity. Thanks to the relatively poor starts of Arsenal and Chelsea the top four is still very much achievable but with just one win in eight matches we MUST find our form soon.


1.) 16 Oct 2017
16 Oct 2017 14:14:50
He did not get 3 points against one of the worst UTD side turned up against us in my memory. A midfield without Pogba and Fellaini ( meaning no lumping of the ball up and no creativity at all ) . At home you got to win your matches we did not and now the advantage goes to UTD for the return leg! I have seen people calling UTD crap, if they were rubbish why did we fail to win the match?


2.) 16 Oct 2017
16 Oct 2017 17:13:49
Complete nonsense, Harry. You are contradicting yourself again as usual. You spend your time worshiping Mou and Utd on hefre and just cos Mou choked and parked the bus cos he was afraid Klopp would embarrass him (as he's done most of the time in the head to head), you now call them the worst team in Utd's history. You also spent your time saying that Utd would smash us on Sat BUT cos that did not happen, you are now slating Klopp who you gave no chance of getting a point, for not winning. Your hatred for him is becoming so cringeworthy that I'm starting to fear for you. Give it a rest, mate.

Yes, they were rubbish and that is a fact. I did not say that, Gary Neville did. Parking the bus does not mean that you suddenly don't know how to complete 3 passes together on the counter and Neville slated Mou for that and on many other points on Sky. Get over it!


3.) 16 Oct 2017
16 Oct 2017 17:19:46
Putney, hindsight is always 20/ 20 so for me, no point replaying the match after the fact. We had chances to win and did not take them and that is that. Also, why make changes when we are bossing the game in every dept.? What if we made the change and it stifled our momentum and we lost the initiative, what happens then? This is why you have to consider many factors before making a change as you don't make a change that early as you don't know how the team will react to it.

We gave them nothing and Klopp was smart enough not to fall for Mou'stcrap cos that is how BR got done in 2014 and we lost the league. Also, this is the 8th game of the season and there are 30 games left in the PL and not beating Utd is not the be all and end all and decides nothing cos even if we won, it would have decided nothing. Losing would have been a disaster and Klopp was well aware of that. We take the point and move on.


4.) 16 Oct 2017
16 Oct 2017 19:47:19
Absuing / mocking / bullying or imposing your opinion on someone doesn’t make your hindsight / opinion / argument correct Bingo. It makes no differences to my view. There are lot of posters I know personally but who don’t give a damn about your view bingo!
You don’t need to reply on every post against every poster. Try respecting each other’s opinions!
Discussions are fine as it is to determine what is right! Arguments brings ego.

I am done!


5.) 16 Oct 2017
16 Oct 2017 22:37:31
Harry, It is only me imposing my opinion if you cannot prove me wrong. I called you out on your hypocrisy and clearly you can't handled being called out. I posted facts about your conduct and I noticed that you did not dispute anything I posted so that means you agreed with me calling out your hypocrisy. The other day, Ed01 called mocked you and called you a spoilt, petulant child. Were you outraged then? If the answer is no then save your phony outrage for those who care cos I certainly don't.

As for you knowing posters who don't agree with me, you must think I care about such nonsense or require positive reinforcements or something. Unlike many on here, I actually enjoy debate and I have a very thick skin unlike "some people I know" who need people to agree with them for self validation. We are all free to respond to any posts we feel like and no one gets to tell anyone what and when they can post their comments. I will continue to do that in a respectful manner. If you don't like them, don't read them. Simple.


6.) 17 Oct 2017
17 Oct 2017 10:44:53
A good post Putney, well thought out and I agree for the most part. A loss to Man Utd would have really put the cat amongst the pigeons but as it is, the team knows they were realistically the only team that could have won, and a well deserved clean sheet too, and that's a big confidence boost vs. where we were before the game (and worth a lot in the long run if we can build on it) .

At the end of the day, we all need to recognise that setting up with the kind of balanced side required for clean sheets, is by definition going to limit your chances against a side as good as Man Utd. despite that we had a few good opportunities to win it, with De Gea's save, Salah's miss off the boot of Coutinho and Can's touch a few of the notable ones, not to mention a couple of headers from corners.

It is something I am happy to see from Klopp and if we can continue to play like that consistently, cut out stupid goals, and Mane, Salah, Firmino, Coutinho and Lallana can get back on form we'll still score more than enough to be a force to be reckoned with.


7.) 17 Oct 2017
17 Oct 2017 10:46:01
Harry, if you read Putney's review, there's not much to disagree with. A very fair assessment.

We did well to have so much dominance of the game whilst still stiffling their opportunities to catch us on the break. Really disappointed we didn't score, and agree the subs were too late to have any impact. Klopp needs to realise that 60 is the new 75 ;-) .

I am pleased to see that we can play a more defensive shape when needed, and would've liked to see AOC for Couts, and Couts for Gini, even if just for the first half, as that could've been the key to unlock more shots on goal.

Good write up, Putney.