04 Mar 2020 06:41:37
First of all congratulations to Chelsea second half they were by far the better team. The young lad had a great game as did Giroud and Willian whilst he was on always looked dangerous.
As for Liverpool. First half was fairly even but it was clear to see where the changes needed to be made. Then after the first 5 minutes of the second half nothing changed. But Klopp decided to ignore it until it was too late. Unfortunately except for 1 pass to Mane Minamino just looked like he had no idea what was going on. Origi was awful his touch and decision making. And Lallana maybe had a decent 10 minutes in the first half but otherwise he was completely over run in midfield his persistent turning with the ball cost us possession countless times. Fabinho wasnt great but he obviously had far more responsibility than normal with Lallana next to him and origi and minamino not providing the defensive cover in front of him that Salah and Firmino do so well.
We were short of ideas second half nobody willing to take a shot on.
By the time Klopp made the changes it was too late and why he took Jones off who had been our best midfielder left me scratching my head. I understand Klopp changing the team for this game even though I would rather have seen it stronger. But if you have the players on the bench you have to use them.
The ironic thing is that since the winter break which Klopp wanted so badly we have been terrible. Lucky against Norwich and west ham. No goal in our 3 defeats. Need a big win against Bournemouth now to get some confidence in before Atletico otherwise with the league essentially in the bag our season could be over by next week and well wishing we had the FA Cup to play for.

1.) 04 Mar 2020
04 Mar 2020 07:49:28
Fabinho always seems to take a while to get his touch when he comes back from injury or break. Lallana just charging about everywhere like a headless chicken leaving massive gaps behind him. Early days for Minamino I'd say he's trying to fill in for Bobby playing that role that no one else can play like Bobby. Will take a while to learn. Origi is struggling when you'd hope he'd be fit and raring to go. struggling without Hendo calming things down and motivating the lads. Hope this turns around coz going out to athletico now would be pretty sad.

2.) 04 Mar 2020
04 Mar 2020 07:55:24
What was the formation last night, were Lallana and Fabinho sitting together?
Not entirely sure, it looked all over the place.

{Ed001's Note - Lallana was absolutely horrific last night. I am quite sure he did not know what formation we were playing either! That was a big worry, that Klopp seems to turn to him so often when he has been so bad all season apart from scoring against United. It is becoming apparent that him leaving will be doing us a favour, which is a shame as he had started playing really well before his injury problems began. He needs to be playing regularly to get back to form and he just isn't going to get regular starts with us.}

3.) 04 Mar 2020
04 Mar 2020 08:10:06
Unfortunately last night Lallana reminds me of a 50 year old playing football with his mates on a Saturday afternoon. His touch is still there and he has the odd shimmy in there, but apart from that completely ineffective. He would look good in a highlight reel or a 2 minute YouTube video but if you watched the whole game you would be asking what he was trying to achieve.

I have to say VVD wasnt that hot either, for his standards. I know he usually cruises around as if the game is easy but last night he seemed to be a touch lethargic, Saturday also.

4.) 04 Mar 2020
04 Mar 2020 09:37:04
Interesting situation now that just came to mind. If the players had been feeling no pressure at all (or as they were saying) during the unbeaten run, how does it feel for them now, I wonder, after two consecutive defeats? Is it the reverse situation? Do they feel loads of pressure and are now in the frame of mind of "the League is ours but if we don't win the UCL, people will say we're not that good"?