11 Apr 2024 21:56:57
Ed01 what do you make of klopps starting line up. was it a case of him listening to medical dept regarding players being tired or was he prioritising the league over the europa. for me he should of went with strongest 11 and killed the game an then rest players if needs be. i really hope he didn go with a weaker team so we're fresher for league game. winning games at this stage keeps momentum and players won't feel tired once their winning. love to know what you made of that team tonight ed01.

{Ed001's Note - it was a mistake. A bad mistake. He went with a weaker team, but worse, he got the tactics wrong. Atalanta's weakness is the flanks, but we stuck with an inverted full-back leaving no width on the right. That allowed their wide man on the right to stay forward and keep Konate from being able to mark the two forwards they were playing. Which meant that Endo was forced to drop in centrally as Virgil was being dragged out wide to deal with de Ketelaere, who kept drifting out to their right. We either needed Gomez to sit and help out defensively or to play Bradley in order to push back their left-side as well.

Let's be honest, starting off with a weakened side like that, in the qtr-final of the Europa League, just gave them a boost and hope. It was a terrible decision, especially in terms of full-backs, who should have been Robbo and Bradley from the start.

The other one that annoys me is Klopp's constant rotation of the centre-backs alongside Virgil. He did it last season as well and the defence suffered, partly because of the constant change, but partly because of his bizarre choice to play the ball-playing centre-back (last season Matip, this season Quansah) in the Premier League and the physical, pacey centre-back in Europe. It should be the other way round. The Prem is fast and physical, better suited to having Konate as first choice. Europe is slower and gives a bit more time and space on the ball, so better suited to having Quansah/Matip starting.}

1.) 12 Apr 2024
12 Apr 2024 05:15:19
Ed1, everything look awful last night. Wrong lineup, awful tactics, awful atmosphere from the fans, awful defending and again awful finishing from our forward line. Everything just went wrong yesterday. Probably the worst game under Klopp that I have ever experienced. To be honest, I'm worried with the way we are finishing our season.

{Ed001's Note - it does seem to be petering out.}

2.) 12 Apr 2024
12 Apr 2024 07:00:57
I do think Sunday will be make or break for season. We need a really good performance and a good win scoring a few goals if we to get any momentum going into final straight. We look a team with absolutely no confidence and as if we running on empty and we've been poor for a while now. Up to last nite vvd+mac where playing really well and I think carrying us but when they had poor games there was just nothing.

3.) 12 Apr 2024
12 Apr 2024 07:07:28
Someone wrote on Facebook : "A masterclass in defending and goalscoring. " Ed001 has given the reasons.
I have long been concerned about the defence. Essential.
After Sunday I was very concerned about our scoring ability. Man U are a very poor side and should have been easily beaten. Instead we laboured. Atalanta are just above mid table in Serie A. We lost at home.

4.) 12 Apr 2024
12 Apr 2024 07:28:37
From the first couple of minutes I seen vvd jogging round and losing the ball I knew we were in trouble.
Jones looked so unfit, Tsimikas was absolutely terrible to the point were I would just sell him and let the young lads have a go. The attitude and decision making from the hole team was absolutely terrible. But klopps decision making was worst! We have bottled it big time. We have let Man U get to us over the last two game and we are now paying the price.

5.) 12 Apr 2024
12 Apr 2024 08:53:33
Gomez was a problem yet again, since he played at 6 he started to believe his own media hype, he is a defender end of, he is good on the ball and a great defender, use him as such, him as an inveted full back isn't working, Konate looked like Sakho, Tsimkas should have been sold in the summer, taking Elliott off was ridiculous, McAllister looked knackered and should of been rested for Elliott to drop into mid, we look like we don't have the confidence to finish chances off, we hold the ball too long and miss Robertson, Trent and Bradley who can give and take a quick passes and make us flow, we got what deserved, we are due smashing someone 4/ 5/ 6 so it needs to be next week, this 2% nonsense left the stadium flat too, so the fans can take some blame, if they want to protest, on the 2nd minute turn your backs and not watch for 2 minutes. This was a failure all throughout the club for once.

6.) 12 Apr 2024
12 Apr 2024 07:56:49
Ed1 - I was thinking back to that run of games prior to the last international break. When we went 1-1 vs City and missed an opportunity to nail them. Then we bizarrely went strong in 2nd leg vs Sparta before sputtering and getting knocked out of FA Cup vs ManU.

Feel like we lost some ascendancy in our season around that mark. And since the break we’ve been good in patches but seem to consistently start every game in reverse.

{Ed001's Note - that was the most bizarre moment of the season, the 2nd leg against Sparta. It is hard to even make an argument of any kind for the reasoning behind that team.}

7.) 12 Apr 2024
12 Apr 2024 08:41:40
ED01. I'll always love Klopp for what he's done but he is a stubborn man. How he couldn't see last night the issue with our fullbacks I'll never know. Genuinely think we should play 3 at the back the rest of the season. Konate VVD and Gomez. We're too open in defence and that's killing us the most.

8.) 12 Apr 2024
12 Apr 2024 09:11:09
Ed001 mate, the other thing I noticed, Klopp disir change to combat the one to one man marking!

9.) 12 Apr 2024
12 Apr 2024 09:53:14
I think the Nunez miss was where the game turned, if he had finished what was a great chance then the game looks very different. It was a shocking miss.

{Ed001's Note - oh here we go, blame Nunez for missing when the whole team was playing terribly from the start and the crowd were non-existent. The game never turned, it was the same from start to finish.}

10.) 12 Apr 2024
12 Apr 2024 09:55:21
Was in the stadium last night and whilst i agree it wasn't a great atmosphere it also wasn't the worst Anfield i have been too.

The atmosphere was pretty good up to and including kick off but then it went pretty dead when we started doing ticky tacka football around the pitch with zero penetration and looking players looking like they were in a local park effort wise.

The only time the the atmosphere rose in the first half was when the stadium broke into the Jota song which was strange as he was still sat on the bench at the time.

Player wise they cancelled Mac out and we were found massively wanting and in the 2nd half Kelleher had the ball and 10 outfield players were literally stood still.

Elliot i think was unlucky to go off at half time but I'm not sure what position he was playing in the first half because he spent more time in the middle of the park trying to make things happen than he did out on the right.

We could look at naming and shaming individuals but on the grand scheme of things every single one of the players was off the boil and for me their effort and intensity on the pitch had everything to do with the crowd.

From the players who played whilst not having great games i think only 4 stood out who looked like they really wanted it and that was Gakpo, Robbo, Elliot and Jota.

Only thing I'm going to criticize the match crowd for last night was the walk out with 7 minutes to go of the game. I've not seen that at Anfield ever in Klopps time.

But i suppose they can argue they spend their money on tickets so they can leave whenever they want.

Me and the boy stayed until the end and it felt like torture but you know what it was a massive come down to earth for me and some humble pie.

For the last few weeks I've been planning my trip to Dublin for a final we weren't even in at the time.

Last night i thought we'd turn up and roll them over and its quite clear so did the players.

Well done to Atlanta players and their fans who were brilliant before, during and after the game.

Sad thing is this could be Klopps last ever European night at Anfield and he's been let down by all.

11.) 12 Apr 2024
12 Apr 2024 10:05:15
Spot on Ed. Dreadful night all round.

Hopefully everyone (crowd included) will be back on the right track on Sunday.

12.) 12 Apr 2024
12 Apr 2024 10:29:22
A bad night all round. It could have been 0-5.

Atalanta bullied us all over the pitch with their man to man system.

Strange selection choices by Jurgen.

Perhaps this is a timely smack in the chops.

Up to Klopp now to re-light the fire. 7 more.

13.) 12 Apr 2024
12 Apr 2024 11:46:40
Ed001, is that any different to the comment above about tsimikas over hitting a cross early on it setting the tone, I am saying the Nunez miss had a similar effect. All of our forwards are struggling with taking chances, that is literally a fact. They all have to take some responsibility for our downturn in form, along with the bizarre team selection from the manager.

{Ed001's Note - how could the Nunez miss change the course of the match if we are saying it was already set from the beginning? You are clearly missing the point. It changed nothing, we were terrible from the start, that was a symptom not a cause.}

14.) 12 Apr 2024
12 Apr 2024 12:32:45
Yes, Nunez still looks raw at times with inconsistent finishing but look at his growth from a year ago.

His energy and dynamism gets him into positions and chances other players would not get anywhere near. He's a disruptor and creates space. A tremendous player with huge potential.

Playing with a more natural finisher like Jota or maybe with Salah more centrally and Szoboszlai / Bradley providing width would be interesting.

I think Gakpo is playing well and should start against Palace. Great touch and links up play well. Good to see him showing his quality.

Suspect Jota will be on the bench and build up minutes. He's class and been a real miss.

Yesterday was bad but with Ali, Trent and Jota back, I'm optimistic we can kick on.

15.) 12 Apr 2024
12 Apr 2024 13:11:13
Klopp will be missed but his team selection will not so many times he has got it wrong. Hopefully our next manager has that thing called common sense.

16.) 12 Apr 2024
12 Apr 2024 14:26:12
Ed, I thought Klopp would go string and try to get a foot hold in the tie BUT boy, did he screw it up with the weakened side he picked. Nothing worked from the off.

And why is he rotating for the sake of it? We don’t even use our FB’s in advanced positions any more and this is stifling our ability to get good service from our FBs onto Darwin who is lethal in the air. It was a wretched night collectively and everyone is responsible starting with the manager.