I do agree with all of this but why is there so much focus on that penalty decision anyway? It shouldn't be that way.
We didn't drop two points because we got a penalty given against us that Jürgen didnt agree with.
We dropped two points because we didn't play very well and never caused Everton enough problems. 1-0 is a dangerous score line because anything can happen, as we saw.
He said he will take the blame when rotation doesn't work, but he hasn't accepted or admitted that he got the team selection wrong. And it was wrong. He was defending taking salah off saying he replaced him with a like for like replacement in firmino. Why not have both on the pitch though?
Me personally I'd have liked him to come out and said something along the lines of 'I picked the 11 players that I thought were best suited for this game but we didn't play as well as I hoped and that's a mistake on my part. As for the penalty then nah I think it's bollocks'.
Fair enough. This argument I can totally understand and see it completely from your perspective. Having watched us implode last Jan and Feb I can forgive Jürgen for being a little bit more cautious entering the heavy fixture list and some of our lads, especially in attack, have played a lot of minutes.
I used to be someone who didn't think rotation was necessary, I've since learned that it is absolutely necessary and expecting peak level performances day in, day out, is living in fantasy land. So Jürgen is learning and with that he may also be learning he needs a deeper squad, perhaps Solanke wasn't the right option, or leaving him on so long was quite possibly the wrong call but as said at the time, this is such an easy thing to say with the benefit of hindsight. Everton were creating nothing and had I been the manager I wouldn't have thought we needed a second, even though I thoroughly agree that 1-0 is always a dangerous lead, even more with our defence.
So yes, I totally see it from your perspective and I've no problem whatsoever with people levelling this criticism at Jürgen, as the result says, he got it wrong in the end but at 1-0 I can also completely understand the motivations behind each substitution. Maybe he'll learn from it, maybe it's just one of those things that is typical Liverpool, Fat Sam taking over just at the right time for them to sort their leaking defence, us just hitting enough minutes that players need to be protected a little and also a little bit of underestimating the opposition with the initial team selection.
However, with regards that last point, had Mane's chance been a goal then all this is moot and the bigger culprits out there who didn't fulfil their roles, or do enough with their chances, in my opinion, were Henderson and Milner. Henderson has got to the point with me where I'd rather see anyone but him, I'd even rather Karius in midfield I'm that sick of seeing his dire form at the moment. When that pass got squared to him by Coutinho, even accepting Henderson was in a better position, I doubt there was a person in the crowd who didn't know where that ball was ending up and frankly, given the time, the situation and opposition that shot summed him up in an instant. If the best you produce as captain, in the last minute of a Derby with a clear sight of goal, no real defender closing you down, is that embarrassment of a shot then I'm sorry the light bulb has to be going off in Jürgen's head that it's time to change because that lad simply crumbles under any weight of expectation. In horse racing terms he's a flat track bully, put him against sub standard opposition and he can hide, against quality, or with pressure he is not good enough.