30 Dec 2019 10:43:10
All this rubbish about Wolves deserving something yesterday is a nonsense for me. We deserved a win against Man Utd by that logic.

The decisions for the goals were technically correct yesterday. Although I think these marginal offsides are a joke. If you need to start drawing vertical dotted lines you've gone mad and it is not clear and obvious. That's the sane for everyone though so cry me a river.

This is all beside the point. VAR is not perfect, just like referees never have got every call right. What matters is how you react to a decision going against you. If Wolves goal had stood, do you think Liverpool would've come out for the last 45 minutes in second gear to conserve energy and grind put the 1-0? Or would Wolves have come out with the "us against the world" fire in their bellies and found an extra 20% from pure anger and adrenaline? The 2nd half would've been totally different and nobody can predict how it would have played out. In the scenario dealt to with teams yesterday Liverpool scored more allowed goals than their opponent and that is why we won.

The reason why everyone thinks VAR is favouring Liverpool is because we are playing so well that the decisions which go against us are not preventing us from getting a result. And there have been several times we've suffered over tight or harsh decisions. Firmino was not offside vs Villa, Villa's goal was offside, Mane was not offside vs Watford, Mane had a harsh handball vs Man Utd, clear Foul on Origi vs Man Utd, seceral clear penalties not given when people have Salah in a headlock because he doesn't go down, clear penalties when Matip or Van Dijk are wrestled to the floor at set pieces etc.

That is what I mean by the reaction. When a decision goes against our "mentality monsters" they dust themselves off and go and pick up points anyway. Whereas for other teams who aren't as much better than the rest of the league than we are right now, a tight decision can sway a close game and seemingly cost them more than its costing us.

People always try to throw stones at the team on top of the tree. It'll never change. Fact is, VAR is getting things right and wrong for everybody but the old saying still stands; "You make your own luck".

{Ed025's Note - good post that mate..

30 Dec 2019 11:33:51
I agree with this post, though I don’t want to dwell on VAR anymore.
But I wouldn’t be so effusive in praise for Nuno, his game plan was essentially the same as we’ve seen from opposing teams so many times at Anfield recently; sit back for a hour and open up in the last 30 minutes.
The first half was totally boring as Wolves saturated their own half with bodies, denying space particularly to Mane and Robertson whilst also having 2 or 3 players constantly on Salah when he was in possession. Oddly the one player given some room was Trent.

I believe Carra gave the wrong Scouser the MoM award, I’d have gone with Coady.
He was virtually flawless. Having said that, Wolves had so many defenders that Coady was able to play almost as an old fashioned sweeper. Everything was in front of him and he read the game well.

Perhaps if Wolves had used Traore more, they’d have got something?
There was a collective inhalation of breath around Anfield when he received the ball, followed by a huge cheer if he was tackled or waves of anxiety if he wasn’t.
He looked a player, and Klopp certainly made a point of congratulating him after ffull time. I think Traore will be coveted by a CL team if he were to chose to leave Wolves.

Nuno’s Wolves are very well coached and do everything in numbers, defending and advancing like a concertina. But their risk / reward approach erred on the side of caution, for me and, as PB pointed out, they should and could have done more to get a positive result.

30 Dec 2019 12:17:30
Maybe if the fixture compilers had given us a little more time to recover after the City game, we could have played our first team and gave you a tougher challenge.
The kids you saw on display are just the tip of the iceberg. We have a conveyor belt of the top young talent on the planet, very rich owners and a world class super-agent building our team. We have only been back in the Premier for 18 months and gave you a game with our second team two days after beating the current champions.

30 Dec 2019 13:28:23
Wolf, that wasn’t your second team, buddy. Only Raul Jimenez, who is your best player by an absolute mile even ahead of all this world class young talent you have, and Traore might have started on another day.
Your team has also only won 7 games this season - out of a possible 20. Dress it up as you like, promise us you’ll take over the world until you’re blue in the face, but your team lost yesterday. Aston Villa have been back in the PL for 5 months and made us work harder for the win than that. Your club has a long, LONG way to go.

30 Dec 2019 15:27:20
Yes, yes, of course. And the beat goes on.