Man City 2-2 Liverpool: In-Game and Post Match Analysis

Individual errors.
Seems to cost us a lot of games.

Thought Bellamy was spot on post match.

We need a run of wins though to build as it feels like 4 points dropped in the last two games.
Sturridge clearly adds another level to our play.

The January window has given me hope but we need some ruthless displays to the end of the season.

Individual errors.
Seems to cost us a lot of games.

Thought Bellamy was spot on post match.

We need a run of wins though to build as it feels like 4 points dropped in the last two games.
Sturridge clearly adds another level to our play.

The January window has given me hope but we need some ruthless displays to the end of the season.

What did Bellas say mate?

I was so proud of the performance but for me the mistake is down to Pepe ultimately. If he held his line in front of goal Agger and the others would have got back in time. Even if they couldnt a conceded goal from inside the box with a proper shot would have been a lot easier to swallow.

For me Pepe needs some decent competition and so do Skrtel and Agger

I was sitting behind Aguero when he put that in. Amazing goal, but it should never have come to that. Pepe and Skrtel misunderstanding. Agger would have defended that first one too if he hadn't been channelling Tony Adams, but let's not crucify them for it. We should have put the game to bed before that anyway. We stretched City all over the park - the space we had was amazing. Undefeated against the Champions this season, and both games we should have won but for errors. I see the positives in that. City fans all around me were berating their own players from the off. If we keep up the performances we put in against Arse and City, and try to erase the mistakes, we'll fly up that table.

4 points dropped in the last two games

I agree yet two months ago we would have taken 2 points out these two games, and yet today we are dissapointed that shows we are moving in the right direction , Im going to be patient with this one

What did Bellas say mate?

I was so proud of the performance but for me the mistake is down to Pepe ultimately. If he held his line in front of goal Agger and the others would have got back in time. Even if they couldnt a conceded goal from inside the box with a proper shot would have been a lot easier to swallow.

For me Pepe needs some decent competition and so do Skrtel and Agger

He said this was the game in which Liverpool had arrived.
A lot of praise for Sturridge.
I liked his summary of it though something along the lines of:
"Liverpool needed Sturridge, but Sturridge also needed Liverpool"

Goes on to say Sturridge should flourish with the support of the Livepool fans.

Missed the game as I had a family commitment I couldnt get out of, but saw the goals this morning.

By all the accounts I've heard, we played well and should have won - again.

Not sure how we can eliminate these errors though - but if we don't , we are going to struggle to be top 6 with a place in Europe next year.

I still think we have enough in us to do that - and possibly challenge for 4th, but we have to start winning games - draws are not enough

He said this was the game in which Liverpool had arrived.
A lot of praise for Sturridge.
I liked his summary of it though something along the lines of:
"Liverpool needed Sturridge, but Sturridge also needed Liverpool"

Goes on to say Sturridge should flourish with the support of the Livepool fans.

Cheers!

Nice words from a top bloke and yeah he's right about Sturridge, he needed a top team to give him 110% backing and not to be put on a bench

Pepe's understudies do not promote confidence either Steve, really do not see where this criticism of him has any substance, speaking of inspiring confidence the lads in front of him failed on that score time and time again - is it any wonder he took matters into his own hands.
There were players rooted to the goal line ffs while Aguero was allowed to invade Pepe's territory, he scored from the most ridiculous of angles with no defender in sight - was Pepe supposed to forfeit even more time and space or make a decision?

Hi Stuey I'm a little confused, are you having a go me about Pepe or the poster? if it's Pepe IM NOT, I'm referring to the posters critisism of him !

I am100% behind Brendan Rodgers! So happy with our style of play!. A chance of fourth, we have a decent run in.

Hi Stuey I'm a little confused, are you having a go me about Pepe or the poster? if it's Pepe IM NOT, I'm referring to the posters critisism of him !

I thought it might appear I was having a go at you Steve but on the contrary I was joining the chorus in defense of Pepe not the comment lambasting him.
As I posted previously Reina coming out was indicative of the faith or not he had in the defense in front of him, there have been comments about Skrtel and recent mistakes in the same vein as the Pepe comments, people playing the blame game for whatever reason mate.

Sorry to pick your post out Mick, but there are a few blaming only Pepe. All the males in my family played football at various levels including me, my father was a professional for Sunderland back in the day (defender). Now, if a keeper shouts for you to leave it and you already have it covered or can cut out the danger, you deal with it and argue with the keeper later. If Skrtel had done what he was supposed to do in that situation there is no way they score. Both to blame, Pepe coming and shouting when he can't get there, but also Skrtel for not taking responsiblity.

This all day.

Sorry to pick your post out Mick, but there are a few blaming only Pepe. All the males in my family played football at various levels including me, my father was a professional for Sunderland back in the day (defender). Now, if a keeper shouts for you to leave it and you already have it covered or can cut out the danger, you deal with it and argue with the keeper later. If Skrtel had done what he was supposed to do in that situation there is no way they score. Both to blame, Pepe coming and shouting when he can't get there, but also Skrtel for not taking responsiblity.

 Fair enough mate, but to me Reina has the play in front of him and as a defender myself back in the day, if he calls then I leave it. My impression was that Aguerro was going to get there before Skrtel, so the option of the defender hoofing it out wasn't there. I haven't watched replays and analysis mind, I saw it in the pub and made me mind up from that so if I'm wrong then furry muff.

Haven't posted about the game yet. Delighted with the performance from yesterday. Every single player worked their F***ing ass off and that is all we can ask. The past 2 games, point against Arsenal and point against Man City, are decent outcomes. If you said to me before the run that we would get 2 points, I would be happy. Suppose it is a tad disappointed that we did throw away a lead in both games. The City game, however, was impressive. When they got the first goal, I thought we would possibly get hammered. However, didn't quite work out like that, with the team fighting hard to get a result. That's the element I loved the most.

Small note on two fellas who have been very impressive are Hendo and Sturridge. They have been fantastic and I love seeing it. Keep it up!

Bit late posting my thoughts on the game but I choked on a large slice of humble pie after my comments about the fixture after the Arsenal game..
How good was that performance eh !!
To play the champions off their own park takes some doing let me tell you...first goals they have conceeded at home for something like 10 hours of play or something(?)...and we should've had a hatfull..
For me our problem yesterday was not finishing the chances we created....There was some sublime moves yesterday and we just lacked that clinical lash of the boot to burst the onion bag..Everyone was chipping in , in fact Carragher could've had a hat trick..they very nearly gifted us with a nice own goal as well..
I'm not gonna blame anyone for their second suffice to say I wonder if it would've happened had Enrique been on the pitch?..Skrtel at left back?...strange move..
Some power in those boots of Sturridge...thats gotta be the finest toe poke shot i've seen since Kes !!
I'm struggling to name my MOTM...but I'm gonna go with Lucas for excellent use of his mop and bucket...

I feel good today....very good !!

Stunned by the "pepes to blame" on here tonight, Skrtel was at fault end of, if he does his job Pepe doesnt need a rush of blood to the head and if Skrtel does his job even if Pepe comes Aguero doesnt score

Cooled down by much now and you have a valid point here while I've totally blamed Pepe initially. Pepe being Pepe if things were going well I'd believe he wouldn't rushed out in that manner and I think he has seen Skrtel not closing down Agueros fast enough and he tooked the initiative and went for the ball. And Skrtel has simply not done a proper job here, lackadaisical marking at best. Agger and Skrtel has been having it easy of late and it has caused us dearly. I hope to see a tackle, header, a foot, shoved at the back coming from both before the Augueros, Shrieks gets to the ball, not ball watching as if these players can't harm them. Simply said, both of them needs to be much much more ruthless and brutal in their marking. Said that during the match and Agger did just that in the second half, why can;t both do it over the 90 mins and 38 matches. I fail to understand. Complacent?

BR needs to shake them up and give both a solid verbal walloping. If I were BR, I'd have decided by now to get 2-burly defenders in comes the end of the season to show both how to become a big bully. Shame on both when I see a 35-year old Jamie playing as if he's still 25. Many said Jamie has lost much pace, yes he did but he made up for the non-stop running, harassing, tackling, get to the ball first while Agger and Skrtel were doing the opposite, ball watch most of the time.

I thought Downing had a good game, took on the defenders and pinned them back but no end result. BR must work on getting someone to Downing's crosses or passes into the box, otherwise we'll continue to hammer Downing. He looked lost most of the time, not knowing what to do with the final ball. Hope BR saw that and start to work on it.

Just off topic a bit, what has happened to Assaidi? Is he injured or something? I thought he would provide us something different down the left flank.

Agger ball watching from set pieces and crosses is costing us so many goals. I'd be really interested to see just how many we've conceded from crosses this season that haven't been dealt with at source or by the CB's. For City's first there was good interplay out on the wing which excuses Johnson a little but I feel Agger needs to stop appealing for absolutely anything and F***ing mark his centre forward. I remember against Utd people raved about the 'great movement' RVP pulled off to score but it was so simple! Agger has to pick these things up and stop ball watching or he deserves to be dropped as much as Skrtel. I really like Danny, I think he's a good defender on his day and a perfect one for our system but his weak points are getting exposed time and time again.

Agger ball watching from set pieces and crosses is costing us so many goals. I'd be really interested to see just how many we've conceded from crosses this season that haven't been dealt with at source or by the CB's. For City's first there was good interplay out on the wing which excuses Johnson a little but I feel Agger needs to stop appealing for absolutely anything and f**king mark his centre forward. I remember against Utd people raved about the 'great movement' RVP pulled off to score but it was so simple! Agger has to pick these things up and stop ball watching or he deserves to be dropped as much as Skrtel. I really like Danny, I think he's a good defender on his day and a perfect one for our system but his weak points are getting exposed time and time again.

 I agree mate, and I think Danny has gone backwards in his defensive duties of late. He needs to get in contact with his centre forward more, reach for him when he dips in behind, have a feel for where he is. If needs be, get a little handful of shirt while he's in behind, everyone else does it and always has. "Touch tight" they call it in the coaching manuals, and the reason why everyone does it is because it works. Yesterdays goal was very similar to the Van Persie one in that at the end he had no idea where Djecko was. It was worse though in my view because he firstly played everyone in the move in the build up, then appealled for offside and committed the cardinal sin of turning to look at the linesman on the opposite side to where the ball was. That's schoolboy stuff that is, you NEVER ever do that as your mind and eyes should be glued to the ball and the bloke you're marking.

 I've advocated for a while now the signing of a proper centre half who knows how to defend. I've mentioned Ashley Williams as the type of player I'm on about, and there are others like him too. We need someone commanding at the back, a Vidic or a Kompany. Not easy to find, but f*ck me do we need one. 

Agger ball watching from set pieces and crosses is costing us so many goals. I'd be really interested to see just how many we've conceded from crosses this season that haven't been dealt with at source or by the CB's. For City's first there was good interplay out on the wing which excuses Johnson a little but I feel Agger needs to stop appealing for absolutely anything and f**king mark his centre forward. I remember against Utd people raved about the 'great movement' RVP pulled off to score but it was so simple! Agger has to pick these things up and stop ball watching or he deserves to be dropped as much as Skrtel. I really like Danny, I think he's a good defender on his day and a perfect one for our system but his weak points are getting exposed time and time again.

Analysing the goals we've concided through headers, I'd say both Agger and Skrtel were too much of a Mr. Nice Guy and too much of a gentleman. When crosses came in they should have aimed at the opposing forward as much as the ball. If they can't get to the ball, get to the opposition players and unsettle them.

I saw Agger was much more aggresive in the second half, putting a foot or header in before Aguero or Silva got to the ball and it has affected city's going forward. I'm sure BR has asked Agger to be more aggressive and doing what he was supposed to do. Question I'm asking is; why the need for ball watching when he can be aggressive and put in an early tackle/header or shoved players off the ball throughout 90 mins of the game. Has it got to do with complacency or lack of professionalism?

I've seen that happening to Agger and Skrtel earlier in the season, both became more aggressive and marked the opponents tightly, but after a game or two with positive results they lapsed into their comfort zone again. This is repeating itself time and again, either both are not taking games seriously or they continue to underestimate the opposing players. How I wish we have Crazy Horse and Ironman Smith in our ranks to teach both how to boss their territory.

Sorry to pick your post out Mick, but there are a few blaming only Pepe. All the males in my family played football at various levels including me, my father was a professional for Sunderland back in the day (defender). Now, if a keeper shouts for you to leave it and you already have it covered or can cut out the danger, you deal with it and argue with the keeper later.

Excuse me, but are you talking about American football or Indochinese football or another strange alien variant of football we don't know about?

Because, if you're talking about English football, then your comment is asinine. If a keeper shouts for you to leave it and you already have it covered and decide to ignore the keeper, do you know what happens? You crash against each other. The keeper goes after it, you go after it too, you collide and fall in a tangled heap on the ground and the rival player takes the ball laughing his ass off. There's a reason why a keeper shouts for you to leave it instead of just going for it without any warning: to let you know you must get your ass out of the way before the crash.

Skrtel played by the book, no blame on him for doing what he had to do. The only one to blame is Reina. Of all the blooper goals he's been responsible for lately (eight already since last season I think) this one is like the cherry on the cake. We could use some better defenders and halfs, but the one thing we really need is a new GK. All the teams above us in the table have goalkeepers who don't do bloopers; they may be good, they may be just average, but in any case they don't let silly goals in. So... why not us too?

 I think I agree with the poster above but as I'm not sure what asanine means I can't be sure. I too thought it was Pepe's mistake, and I too think he is making too many. That said, this stat about "8 goals since the start of the season caused by his mistakes" is getting quoted as gospel, has anyone checked if it's bollocks or not?

I think I agree with the poster above but as I'm not sure what asanine means I can't be sure. I too thought it was Pepe's mistake, and I too think he is making too many. That said, this stat about "8 goals since the start of the season caused by his mistakes" is getting quoted as gospel, has anyone checked if it's bollocks or not?

http://www.eplindex.com/24758/liverpools-error-log-stats-analysis-of-liverpool-defensive-errors.html

I think I agree with the poster above but as I'm not sure what asanine means I can't be sure. I too thought it was Pepe's mistake, and I too think he is making too many. That said, this stat about "8 goals since the start of the season caused by his mistakes" is getting quoted as gospel, has anyone checked if it's bollocks or not?

Its the start of last season not this one.

Its the start of last season not this one.

 Ah right fair enough mate cheers. I suppose then it depends on what constitutes a "mistake". Even this latest one is attracting some dispute as to whether or not it was Pepes fault, so it's hard to put a number on I should think.

Ah right fair enough mate cheers. I suppose then it depends on what constitutes a "mistake". Even this latest one is attracting some dispute as to whether or not it was Pepes fault, so it's hard to put a number on I should think.

Harsh criticism if that 8 mistakes figure is for over 1 1/2 seasons.

Bad refereeing decisions have cost us around 10 points this season alone.