oh well. We got a point, could have been worse. Seriously lacking midfield without Thiago
For sure but there's no doubt that when together the trio of Fabinho, Hendo and Thiago were surprisingly awful today. Elliott and Milner added a bit of energy and immediacy to the game but by that point we'd lost too much time. In hindsight, starting Firmino blew back on Jürgen's face badly - he really offered nothing. Trent - one of the worst games I've ever seen him play. I'm not sure where his head was at and he's got a lot of work to do. Not a good start at all by him. But he'll get there.
Some of our passing was utterly ghastly - fairly simple passes being under hit, over hit, misplaced etc. Matip's pass in the leadup to the penalty being a perfect example.
Diaz - for all the tenacity and effort he does, the simple fact is he's going to have to start scoring goals and that's how he's going to be judged in the coming months. Being a threat is one thing but you need to follow that up with the countless goals and assists required to play in this Liverpool squad.
It's only one game into the season but remember Mane. I honestly feel if Sadio was there we'd have been 1-0 up in that first half hour. Regardless of how sh*t we looked on the field during a period of play, Sadio had an unbelievable ability to come out of nowhere and score the all important opener. We don't have that get out of jail card available to us now so the simple fact is we're just going to have to start playing better, especially in the first half of games.
Not nearly enough urgency or speed shown by those players who played from first to last. I really don't want to see that coming only from our substitutes who saved our bacon today. Do I believe we're going to win the league this season? On that performance, absolutely not. The midfield causes concern. It's no use seeing Thiago being subbed every 3 weeks with a hamstring injury and having to rely on Keita (who it seems, a bit of hayfever would cause him to miss three weeks) and Elliott who is still so young and developing. There's a regular midfield, especially with Fabinho and Hendo there that will stop you from losing games but very few personnel in that area who will make you win ones. That we had to rely on the seasoned veteran, James Milner, to help bail us out today says everything. If we're going to be proactive in that area then Jürgen's going to have to maximise the hell out of Carvalho and Elliott this season because that's where the progression in that area is coming from. Is it enough though?
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