Liverpool 0-1 Villa: In game and Post Match Apocalypse

6 players that were signed in the summer starting that match.
For me, that's too many. I know they were dictated by circumstance,
but if Sturridge, Sterling and Allen start we win that game.

Anyway. We move on.

Edit: Yes I know two were injured. That's kind of the point.

6 players that were signed in the summer starting that match.
For me, that's too many. I know they were dictated by circumstance,
but if Sturridge, Sterling and Allen start we win that game.

Anyway. We move on.

Edit: Yes I know two were injured. That's kind of the point.

We move on indeed, the reason the media the rest of the cynics didn't have a w*nk fest is they know as we do the facts are as you state.
This squad in full on mode has the potential to succeed - we know and they do.

Unfortunately Nikos sucker goals such as Villa scored are always a danger in such games, then the 10 men behind the ball plan is even more exaggerated.
If the park the bus team score early as they did, their game plan can be acted out to perfection.

Right Stuey,but what i'm saying is we have to be extra careful from the very beginning against these teams even try and keep a clean sheet for a half if needed ( i know you might think it's far below our standards) and hit them later when and if the time is right. I don't have any particular managing knowledge but a different approach of this kind of games i think is neeeded.

I'm as p*ssed off as most here, but let's not turn this into the usual "Blame FSG because they didn't give us enough money spend" charade. We don't have City, Chelsea or United's budget, get used to it, but this loss wasn't about not spending enough money. Can't see how Sanchez could have done anything different.

Problem is, we DO have their sorts of income, but the board have the usual "deep pockets and short arms" syndrome. We have a much bigger fan base than City and Chelsea .. AND Arsenal too. Financial Fair Play is actually happening, so another Fenway excuse there has been burned to a crisp.

We've bought some potentially terrific youngsters. But we've also lost some terrific world class talents real leaders like Luis, Dagger and Pepe.

We all KNOW why the team was poor this weekend. And we all knew the weak spots. Yes Raheem and Sturr COULD carry us in a way like Luis did last yr. But thats a very irresponsible way of preparing for the season. We're Liverpool, not Spurs or some such sh*te.

Right Stuey,but what i'm saying is we have to be extra careful from the very beginning against these teams even try and keep a clean sheet for a half if needed ( i know you gonna think it's far below our standards) and hit them later when and if the time is right. I don't have any particular managing knowledge but a different approach of this kind of games i think is neeeded.

When the team is a little more integrated and familiar with each other's style and methods that ''different approach'' will kick in like pressing a button mate.

Right Stuey,but what i'm saying is we have to be extra careful from the very beginning against these teams even try and keep a clean sheet for a half if needed ( i know you might think it's far below our standards) and hit them later when and if the time is right. I don't have any particular managing knowledge but a different approach of this kind of games i think is neeeded.

I don't agree with that.
We go for the jugular from the off.
Get a goal early.

The exception to that would probably be the likes of the Chelsea game, where they sat deep and had the quality to cope.

Problem is, we DO have their sorts of income, but the board have the usual "deep pockets and short arms" syndrome. We have a much bigger fan base than City and Chelsea .. AND Arsenal too. Financial Fair Play is actually happening, so another Fenway excuse there has been burned to a crisp.

We've bought some potentially terrific youngsters. But we've also lost some terrific world class talents real leaders like Luis, Dagger and Pepe.

We all KNOW why the team was poor this weekend. And we all knew the weak spots. Yes Raheem and Sturr COULD carry us in a way like Luis did last yr. But thats a very irresponsible way of preparing for the season. We're Liverpool, not Spurs or some such sh*te.

It's 'game on' now so let's see how the manager and the new acquisitions kick on before we take the dust cover off the drum.
Too much mate, chill and see how it tumbles.

When the team is a little more integrated and familiar with each other's style and methods that ''different approach'' will kick in like pressing a button mate.

Automatism,flexibility/adaptability,isn't it what modern football is supposed to be all about? Spectacle's destroyer i should add though!

I don't agree with that.
We go for the jugular from the off.
Get a goal early.

I don't like it either mate but tactics dull and boring as they can get sometimes win titles.

Also agree with the "jugular" part but the Crystal Palace match won't let me fully do so.
 

Automatism,flexibility/adaptability,isn't it what modern football is about? Spectacle's destroyer i should add though!

I think it depends on how you understand the words. "Tactical" managers can be as boring as F**k.
Or they can allow football to be exhilarating.

The most elegant, instinctive, skilful "natural" footballer ever will always be a result of personal hard work and an obsessive understanding of tactics and repetition of the same stuff over many yrs.

What I hate is muppets like Bodgson, Howard Wilkinson, Neil Warnock etc who are obsessed with the system and have no understanding of flair, entertainment or personal skill. They allow sh*t teams to stay in a division, but F**k.. watching them is torture.

I don't like it either mate but tactics dull and boring as they can get sometimes win titles.

Also agree with the "jugular" part but the Crystal Palace match won't let me fully do so.
 

Our team last yr, whilst nowhere near the finished article, was one of our most entertaining ones for a long time.

Whilst boring teams CAN do well, they are often limited and get "found out" if the players dont have enough individual flair.

Additionally, entertaining teams attract more income. Its this virtuous circle that allows them to reinvest and become even more successful eg Real and Barce.

Lot of great points raised mate but this one of the bigger ones to hit home. Can't believe we didn't sign him when we were so keen on him, as was I. He goes to the f**king Chavs and scores on debut. There looks like there is nothing wrong with the lad at all and I'm gutted we missed out on a player that would have been a great addition to our side, especially in times like these with Daniel out. Him and Balo would have been an ample for replacement for the Daniel and Balo combination.

I can see him coming back to taunt us this season. Gutted that Loic isn't wearing the Red of Liverpool.

Yea, when you think we could have bought Remy for 8m and sold Borini for 14m, its unfortunate.

Our team last yr, whilst nowhere near the finished article, was one of our most entertaining ones for a long time.

Whilst boring teams CAN do well, they are often limited and get "found out" if the players dont have enough individual flair.

Additionally, entertaining teams attract more income. Its this virtuous circle that allows them to reinvest and become even more successful eg Real and Barce.

Indeed we played the most enjoyable football last season, but its about time i think our entertainment was coupled with feelings such as superiority, domination etc synonyms with the club's name. 2.5 decades is long.

As for the ''income'' it means nothing to those who dont gain from it.  If it entailed some silverware though would mean everything.

Yea, when you think we could have bought Remy for 8m and sold Borini for 14m, its unfortunate.

Can people start to realise that there probably was a very good reason why we didn't sign Remy and it may well bite Chelsea in the arse. I have no doubt that Balotelli will come good but I think he probably needs a strike partner to function best. as for the rest of the lads so far I'm impressed with all of them. Villa was a blip but should serve as a good kick up the arse to the team, onwards and upwards.

Can people start to realise that there probably was a very good reason why we didn't sign Remy and it may well bite Chelsea in the arse. I have no doubt that Balotelli will come good but I think he probably needs a strike partner to function best. as for the rest of the lads so far I'm impressed with all of them. Villa was a blip but should serve as a good kick up the arse to the team, onwards and upwards.

agree with you mate, the team will come good. what's happened with remy is a little odd though. he has the right attributes and profile to fit into our team, especially at that price, so something obviously isn't 100%. not sure why people are questioning our transfer policy on this tough, given we spent twice the amount on balo...but can't please them all.

agree with you mate, the team will come good. what's happened with remy is a little odd though. he has the right attributes and profile to fit into our team, especially at that price, so something obviously isn't 100%. not sure why people are questioning our transfer policy on this tough, given we spent twice the amount on balo...but can't please them all.

I'm pretty sure FSG got wind of the fact that Balo may be available on the cheap and thought it too good a opportunity.

Well, what can I say?!

I was confident we would sweep these aside after the pasting we gave Spurs, especially when you consider they have players like Senderos, Delph and Cleverly. Then I saw our line up and my confidence levels dropped massively and instantly thought Rodgers had got it wrong and that we were asking for trouble. To play Coutinho, Markovic, Lallana and Balotelli was completely the wrong choice at this stage of the season; none of them have ever played together and it was clear they hadn't, there was absolutely no understanding there at all. We should have started Sterling and I really don't understand why we didn't, it was best part of a week since the England game and I don't buy that bollocks about having to manage him properly and give him enough rest because if that's the case then we better not expect to be seeing him play a league game and Champions League game in succession.

Lallana had his moments where he was looking decent but on the whole I think he struggled, particularly early on when Hutton was it? was giving him the run around. IMO we should have started Sterling in place of him and then looked to bring him on around the hour mark instead of the other way round. At least then there would have been the understanding in attack between Sterling and Coutinho and Sterling has bit of one with Balotelli having both played against Spurs.

Markovic I think struggled to get into the game and was largely wasteful when he did get the ball.

Coutinho wasn't having a great game either by any stretch of the imagination but when Sterling came on he did seem to improve and was unlucky not to level the score.

Balotelli was out of position far too often and I think that was due to a severe lack of service, constantly he was out wide and we had nobody up top. Didn't help the fact he was getting kicked down off the ball either.

Something I was really hoping for was another clean sheet but by the break I was just relieved we were still in the game because in all honesty, they could easily have been  4 or 5-0 up, they were murdering us with deliveries into the box and was seeing Lovren largely at fault, kept on constantly losing his man and was getting easily beaten in the air.

Last season we were humiliated the way Villa played us off the park but IMO this performance was worse because at least we managed to score last time, they made us look so ordinary it was unbelievable and the amount of control they had of the game was unacceptable. We may have spent virtually the whole second half in their half but it was to no effect; there was no incisiveness, no creativity and we could have played for another 90 minutes and I doubt we'd have scored. It was almost like they were just sitting back and saying "come on then, give us what you got".

Our worst performance of the season so far and to have 2 defeats out 4 in a weekend when we could have taken advantage of those around us is not something I want to even think about.

We have a chance to put that performance behind us and hopefully we will smash it in the Champions League tonight and put us in good stead for our next outing against West Ham.

One thing for sure though, that performance was far from good enough and highlighted a lot of areas where we still need to improve.

Problem is, we DO have their sorts of income, but the board have the usual "deep pockets and short arms" syndrome. We have a much bigger fan base than City and Chelsea .. AND Arsenal too. Financial Fair Play is actually happening, so another Fenway excuse there has been burned to a crisp.We've bought some potentially terrific youngsters. But we've also lost some terrific world class talents real leaders like Luis, Dagger and Pepe.We all KNOW why the team was poor this weekend. And we all knew the weak spots. Yes Raheem and Sturr COULD carry us in a way like Luis did last yr. But thats a very irresponsible way of preparing for the season. We're Liverpool, not Spurs or some such sh*te.

No mate, we don't have their income. Largest clubs in PL last year by income were 1) Manc 2) City, 3) Chelsea, 4) Arsenal, 5) Liverpool (our income being 240m last year vs Manc's 420m). In terms of market value, the ranking was in order of Manc, Arse, Chavs, City and Liverpool - all official audit figures. In terms of fan base, I agree, we are by far larger than Arse, City and Chavs but their ridicilous sponsorship deals partly due to dodgy deals for City and Chavs and partly due to their continued presence in Champion's League for a number of seasons means they have a lot more financial muscle. Simple as that, and we have to accept it. Mancs have spent 60m on Di Maria alone with 200k p/w wages. Can we compete with that? Let's be sensible about this.

That's why it's absolutely imperative we do well in Europe this year and get into Champion's League again to build revenues to their level. With FFP, City and Chavs will struggle in the long run, where as our operating model is more sustainable.

In terms of losing world class talent, Luis was the only one. By the time Pepe and Agger left, they were on the decline. We have always been very good at letting players move on when they are on their way down. The only ones I have really regrestted were Luis, Xabi and Mascha...and those guys wanted to leave, not giving us any choice.

I think where people are going wrong is trying to marry up our global fame and fan base with financial muscle. It would make sense had it not been for the billions of City and Chavs distorting the view. Our absence from Champ's League for 5 years has hit our sponsorships and revenues as well. We have to accept we are not as rich as the other four allbeit more famous and better supported. I wish people would stop beating this "we should be competing financially with every club" drum. It doesn't make business sense, but our revenues are growing again after being on the decline for 5 years, and we have a more sound structure. Hendo's interview after last night's game was also interesting. He ntoed that the team are not used playign with each other with so many new faces, and BR recognised we're not at the same level yet...but it will come.