Manchester City 2-1 Liverpool: In game and Post Match discussion

It's clear for everone but Klopp that Henderson and Lovren should be on the bench. They don't  belong to a title challenging team. Henderson would not even get in Man Utd or Chelsea which are 4th and 6th! He has had some great games, but he showed againn how limited he is. It's a shame that he does not seem to have the right mentality, it's even more baffling given that he's the captain.

It's only a title decider in the grand scheme of things, if say City finish four points above us - which is what they have taken out of our games.

But we're four points ahead. And need to keep winning. The graft does not stop because we lost in a tight affair (blimey).

Man City are losing my respect here.

Released a video of their players celebrating and watching highlights of their win over us.. within 24 hours of their win.

Kompany going in dangerously on Salah (with absolute intent) and then calling him a pussy as he was hurt.

Absolutely pathetic display from their lads.

Man City are losing my respect here.

Released a video of their players celebrating and watching highlights of their win over us.. within 24 hours of their win.

Kompany going in dangerously on Salah (with absolute intent) and then calling him a pussy as he was hurt.

Absolutely pathetic display from their lads.

Yeah giving Kompany the air time straight after the match to defend and joke about his challenge that could have seriously injured Salah had he not jumped was poor form.

Even worse was rolling out that bald c**t Dermot Gallagher to defend Anthony Taylor’s decision...joke.

Eh, just catching up on the latest pages, and you just said it was a title decider. So you don't have far to look regarding who.

Did you happen to read any of my other posts where I said we would still win the league, still had a fantastic team and still had a 4 point advantage, or did you let your bias against me get in the way, open your eyes and your mind!

It's one game in a season.
City were up for it more as losing the game would almost rule them out.
How Liverpool react from here will determine the title.
Great teams win their next game.
That's what Liverpool will have to do.

From this point on. Win the next game.

Why weren't we up for it, knowing that a win would put us in a great position to win the league? We played that game to get a draw rather than to try and win, it was a tactical error.

It's only a title decider in the grand scheme of things, if say City finish four points above us - which is what they have taken out of our games.

But we're four points ahead. And need to keep winning. The graft does not stop because we lost in a tight affair (blimey).

making the mistake of ignoring phycological difference. If City got beat they would have dropped more points. Now they'll be like a stream train.

I agree. It's not very often klopp leaves himself open for criticism but leaving out fabinho last night was a really strange decision. He's been one of our best players in recent weeks.

I personally would have played Keita too (especially with Milner not being fully fit). Keita is built for that type of fixture. I think he would have really excelled but we will never know.

But we saw (once again) the problems that those midfield three have when they play together so hopefully the mistake isn't made again.

There was nowt wrong with Hendersons' performance last night. He made tackles, ran his ass off, marked, tracked &  tackled, defended well and moved the ball quickly. He did the job of a defensive midfielder. The issue was the other 2 lads playing middle of the park put in very similar performance and are quite similar players. Wjinaldum and Milner had similar games to Henderson last night.

As for Fabinho I actually think he would have struggled in that first half, very little space, no time to get his head up and the ball moving very quickly. He struggled away at Arsenal in a similar environment a month ago. I quite like him but his performancies are being overplayed for me. He looks the part when he has time to get his head up and the oppo are dropping off (just like Emre Can did) but he is slow on the turn (much like Emre) so I can see why Klopp doesn't fancy him to start this type of game just yet. I'm not saying he won't get there but people are painting him to be some sort of Makalele-Alonso hybrid and he isn't there yet.

Personally I also think Keita for Milner would have given our midfield the balance it probably needed on the night. 

How can it be a title decider fuckwit? There’s another 51 points to play for, there’s being some bellends on this forum over that last decade but you boy are claiming that top spot with gusto.

F**k me.

Well if they win by 1 point at the end of the season then that game will be kind of pivotal do you not think?

There was nowt wrong with Hendersons' performance last night. He made tackles, ran his ass off, marked, tracked &  tackled, defended well and moved the ball quickly. He did the job of a defensive midfielder. The issue was the other 2 lads playing middle of the park put in very similar performance and are quite similar players. Wjinaldum and Milner had similar games to Henderson last night.

Backing Henderson after yesterday?  I wouldn't have noticed he played second half had his name not been on the team sheet. Captain invisible.

being 10 points ahead is a lot different from 4 points. Now City have belief and we have nerves. 10 points ahead and we would have ran away with it. It's a massive phycological difference. That's how. I don't care if you think I'm a f**kwit. I think you are a nationalistic, rumour spreading, Lovren loving jackass.

You are as thick as pig sh*t you nobody has ever won a title in January ever. For all we know we both might go on to lose the next 5 matches nothing is a given. How do you know we have nerves? We haven’t even had a chance to respond to anything yet, shows the little belief you have in Klopp and this team.

Still looking at a pretty impressive League table after 21 games how 19 other teams would kill to be in our position.
The notion we set up not to win is just pure fantasy regardless of their two goals we could have and should have had 3.
Exceptionally proud of Jürgen and the boys because the way they kept going last night bodes well for the rest of the season as long as we don't have that c**t of a Referee again he will be remembered if he comes to Anfield

I agree mate, I saw two absolutely top sides going at it last night. Was actually a fascinating game to watch, cat and mouse stuff, very tense. I know we lost the game but you can see the mental resolve in the side (so much of it has come from VVD) but it runs right through the side. I fully expect us to put this to bed and carry on as we were.

making the mistake of ignoring phycological difference. If City got beat they would have dropped more points. Now they'll be like a stream train.

Yes, of course.

10 points ahead would have made all of the psychological difference. Also taking 6 points from them, imagine? We could of gone even further ahead.

Why weren't we up for it, knowing that a win would put us in a great position to win the league? We played that game to get a draw rather than to try and win, it was a tactical error.

It's how Liverpool set out to play.
3 in midfield normally used in games where it's expected to be tight and control is needed.
Small margins and it might have worked. Gomez fit and it might have worked.
Unfortunately it didn't and the game had to be chased 2nd half,
resulting in Fabinho coming on and a shift to the deeper 2 midfield that has been used to
attack teams in more open games.

City had nothing to lose. They had to attack the game.
Maybe people underestimate how freeing that mentality is.
Liverpool caught between not wanting to lose and a draw being enough.

There was nowt wrong with Hendersons' performance last night. He made tackles, ran his ass off, marked, tracked &  tackled, defended well and moved the ball quickly. He did the job of a defensive midfielder. The issue was the other 2 lads playing middle of the park put in very similar performance and are quite similar players. Wjinaldum and Milner had similar games to Henderson last night.

As for Fabinho I actually think he would have struggled in that first half, very little space, no time to get his head up and the ball moving very quickly. He struggled away at Arsenal in a similar environment a month ago. I quite like him but his performancies are being overplayed for me. He looks the part when he has time to get his head up and the oppo are dropping off (just like Emre Can did) but he is slow on the turn (much like Emre) so I can see why Klopp doesn't fancy him to start this type of game just yet. I'm not saying he won't get there but people are painting him to be some sort of Makalele-Alonso hybrid and he isn't there yet.

Personally I also think Keita for Milner would have given our midfield the balance it probably needed on the night. 

I sort of agree with you, all 3 midfielders are good midfielders but for whatever reason they simply do NOT work well together, so why oh why does Klopp keep playing them together?? It is insanity.

BTW Fabinho instantly gave us more dimension and forward momentum, had sod all to do with them dropping off. BTW if Fabinho is slow on the turn how do you rate Milner?

Eh....we got beat. It was bound to happen, and better for it to happen to the (2nd) best team in the league than someone else. We don't have to play them again so there's that. and 2 of our last 3 games against the top 6 are at home. We still may slip up here and there, but I'll take that schedule vs what City and Tottenham have and playing from behind. Much more pressure playing catch up.

Well if they win by 1 point at the end of the season then that game will be kind of pivotal do you not think?

No it won’t. Why single out that game when both sides have already dropped plenty in others?

Well if they win by 1 point at the end of the season then that game will be kind of pivotal do you not think?

regardless of the point difference, it's win the league or think what could have been. This game was pivotal and we don't know the damage done yet. If we go back on another winning run it's just 3 points. It's vital we put this behind us but I'm not sure moral works like that.

It's how Liverpool set out to play.
3 in midfield normally used in games where it's expected to be tight and control is needed.
Small margins and it might have worked. Gomez fit and it might have worked.
Unfortunately it didn't and the game had to be chased 2nd half,
resulting in Fabinho coming on and a shift to the deeper 2 midfield that has been used to
attack teams in more open games.

City had nothing to lose. They had to attack the game.
Maybe people underestimate how freeing that mentality is.
Liverpool caught between not wanting to lose and a draw being enough.

It's quite interesting.....last year Klopp was getting slated by our own for always being in attack mode. This year he shows that he's learned some lessons from that strategy and now people are upset that we are trying to play smarter and more nuanced. The big German can't win.

You are as thick as pig sh*t you nobody has ever won a title in January ever. For all we know we both might go on to lose the next 5 matches nothing is a given. How do you know we have nerves? We haven’t even had a chance to respond to anything yet, shows the little belief you have in Klopp and this team.

Do you really not see the difference between being 10 points ahead and 4 points ahead, WOW, and you have the nerve to call people thick!!

It's how Liverpool set out to play.
3 in midfield normally used in games where it's expected to be tight and control is needed.
Small margins and it might have worked. Gomez fit and it might have worked.
Unfortunately it didn't and the game had to be chased 2nd half,
resulting in Fabinho coming on and a shift to the deeper 2 midfield that has been used to
attack teams in more open games.

City had nothing to lose. They had to attack the game.
Maybe people underestimate how freeing that mentality is.
Liverpool caught between not wanting to lose and a draw being enough.

Yes but that is the completely wrong mind set, if anything we were the ones who had nothing to lose, we should have attacked them much more than we did. I would rather we lost by more goals but had a proper go than the negative passive display we produced.

It's how Liverpool set out to play.
3 in midfield normally used in games where it's expected to be tight and control is needed.
Small margins and it might have worked. Gomez fit and it might have worked.
Unfortunately it didn't and the game had to be chased 2nd half,
resulting in Fabinho coming on and a shift to the deeper 2 midfield that has been used to
attack teams in more open games.

City had nothing to lose. They had to attack the game.
Maybe people underestimate how freeing that mentality is.
Liverpool caught between not wanting to lose and a draw being enough.

We didn't prepare to play against a team with nothing to lose. We gave the game away with a sh*te starting line up. The annoying thing is destroying Arsenal with a fantastic midfield and then benching that midfield. I'm restraining myself from saying things that will put the cat amongst pigeons.

Man City are losing my respect here.

Released a video of their players celebrating and watching highlights of their win over us.. within 24 hours of their win.

Kompany going in dangerously on Salah (with absolute intent) and then calling him a pussy as he was hurt.

Absolutely pathetic display from their lads.

What can you expect from bunch of mercenaries. Classless idiots.