08 Nov 2021 04:46:12
Just so I’m clear, is the season officially over then? Can I put my slippers on and sit by the fire waiting for next August?

We didn’t perform and lost and there is work needs doing. I suspect the manager might have something to say on the subject to the players and I also expect a response from the squad.

The truth is, if we play as well as we can (e. g. Watford) we are as good as, if not better than, anyone in the league. If we don’t then there are a good number of teams who can give us a game. West Ham were up for it so fair play to them.

We don’t have a divine right to win, but equally the fans don’t have a divine right to expect perfection from every player, each and every minute of every game.

We are at a point where one or two need a kick up the backside and the squad collectively need to refocus on what they do best.

We, as fans, need to put our position into perspective - we are mis-firing at the minute but it is not like the situation is dire - let’s see how they respond in the next half dozen matches or so (when hopefully we will return to a near full strength squad) . I think the players have built up a bit of credit in the bank.

YNWA.

08 Nov 2021 07:12:07
There is a pattern developing in the games we’ve drawn and the one we lost, and it’s an alarming one where our midfield becomes non existent, our defence crumbles to pieces and we look devoid of ideas.

Add to that that we may be without Salah and Mane from two weeks before the AFCON and then the tournament (which the tournament runs from 9th January to 6th February), then you can’t in all honesty say that we really have much of a chance this season as realistically, that is 6 to 7 weeks where we don’t have our most regular scorers, I thought we could manage 3 or 4 weeks without them, but 7?

At this point 3rd or 4th will be an achievement.

08 Nov 2021 07:08:47
We are misfiring, missing too many chances, and conceding too many goals. We do not look to have found any consistency: beat United and Watford 5-0 then throw away a 2-goal lead to draw with Brighton and lose to West Ham. We need to either be more clinical or be tighter defensively, at the moment we are neither. Do not forget the impending AFCON either, where we will lose our top goal scorers.

To my mind we needed to have an almost flawless start to the season to have any chance of winning the league, as I believe we will drop points in the absence of Salah and Mane - instead we have gotten more and more inconsistent. The season isn’t over, but I’m of the opinion that, due to the AFCON and our current performances/ results, that the possibility of winning the league is now very slim. I hope I’m proven wrong but I don’t think we are playing well enough to win it,

Would new in January help? I don’t think so. It was clear we needed to strengthen our midfield and we didn’t. I believe some posters suggested we’d have issues in midfield if we suffered from injuries - we have suffered from injuries and now we have issues. The lack of options in midfield is the issue, no creativity or drive, and all similar types of player.

The biggest concern for me is Klopp sticking with out of form, poor performers. Robertson should have been dropped weeks ago but hasn’t been. Matip has been ropey for weeks, Konate still looks unsure, Gomez is still not given a run.

I know stuff like this can seem reactionary, and I guess it is, but these issues which came to the fore against Wedt Ham are no secret, so it is concerning that they continue to go unaddressed.

08 Nov 2021 07:55:42
My issue is klopp persisting with playing an out of robertson over tmikas. sp. seems obvious but klopp so stubborn. What do you think lads? Love Robbo but needs a rest imo.

08 Nov 2021 09:14:11
Seano, Gomez is injured - should be back after the International break.

08 Nov 2021 09:30:34
MartyMacFly, that is also my beef. With Robbo atm, it is becoming desperate. The guy is done as he seems not to know what he is doing. His touch is off, decision-making poor, passing and crossing inaccurate and defensively inept. Something has to give here cos this cannot continue.

As for the perf., we were not good enuff at any point in that game to expect to get anything from it. In fact, we deserved nothing anfd got what we deserved which was well, nothing. Now to go from here to start packing the season in? That's a stretch and frankly just ludicrous thinking esp. since all the other favs. have lost points and lost games.

A flawless start? That would never be possible cos NO team/ fav. has had a flawless start so far so not sure why the bar is being raised for a team that was not supposed to be challenging anyway, per the experts? It was a bad perf. and it is just one loss in 25 in all comps. We need to do better, play better and esp. coach better, IMO. We move on.

08 Nov 2021 12:17:05
I don't know if Robertson's form is down to tiredness or not. I don't think he's the first choice left back at the club, at the moment, though. And our full backs are so important to the way we play.

08 Nov 2021 13:32:26
It was a game of small infinitesimal margins. If Alisson doesn't let that ball go through beneath him (which usually never ever happens) and Mané nets the ball with his head by varying the angle by a couple of degrees, we'd all be dancing and talking about having escaped a close one. My one worry is Robertson. We need him at his best for the rest of the way otherwise he needs to make way for Tsimikas.

08 Nov 2021 13:44:08
Robbo is becoming a really big problem now and something has to give cos this cannot continue any longer.

08 Nov 2021 16:12:18
Just mu thoughts on last nights game. First goal, foul, Ogbonna jumps into Allisson, gk fals backwards, plus the attackers arms are high. Creswell challenge, he gets the ball but on the top of it, excessive force, into a knee high challenge, endangering a opponent. Nothing comparing what used to happen, but on todays rules and previous example, shouldve been a RED.

{Ed077's Note - No foul on the first goal. Allisson flapped at it, simple as.

08 Nov 2021 18:26:57
Personally I think Alisson should have gone Toni Schumacher on them and taken the defender out. Ref isn’t going to give a foul if is “going for the ball”.

08 Nov 2021 19:15:46
Geez, that was 39 years ago in 1982. Give the guy a break and let him live in peace, already.

08 Nov 2021 20:27:04
Interesting fact ArAy, Toni S was one of the biggest sh*t houses in football at the time. He loved a bit of aggro and banter. Apparently he picked up Patrick Battiston’s teeth after battering him, then put them in his keepers bag, then offered them back to Battiston on his wedding day.