Man City 3-1 Liverpool: In game and Post Match debates

No need to panic. City at home are outstanding. A lot of teams will go there this season, compete less gamely than us, and be completely destroyed. I can't see many teams getting much at the Etihad, and all our rivals still have to go there. We don't.

I thought the midfields looked quite even. City were excellent at the back, but we looked threatening nonetheless. With a better final ball and more sharpness up front we could have caused them more problems.

Neville and Carragher's analysis about our defence was spot on IMO. It looked exactly what it was: a defence that hasn't had a lot of time together. With some more time and training ground work, it should improve.

If you are thinking about performances, then how about the Southampton game,  we only just by luck won that. I didn't see enough yesterday to justify we have the right 11 or right formation starting. 

Why don't you compare the two performances we were 100x better last night than against Saints and that's got to be encouraging 2 games into the season.
We are only going to get better with more games under our belt.

Markovic was good yesterday, but I don't think he should start yet. I'd give another chance to Coutinho play in the position he played last season.

Mignolet; Manquillo, Skertel, Lovren, Moreno; Gerrard, Hendo; Sterling, Coutinho; Stu and Balotelli.

If you are thinking about performances, then how about the Southampton game,  we only just by luck won that. I didn't see enough yesterday to justify we have the right 11 or right formation starting.

Or how about I take each game, look at it realistically and understand that in football, not everything goes according to plan.
How about accepting the fact that both good and bad luck will play their parts, and that sometimes we'll play well and lose, just as sometimes we'll play badly and win.

I've been watching football for far too long to get carried away by a few results, particularly early in the season when the players aren't fully up to speed yet.

If you want to start second guessing the manager, that's your choice, but it would be prudent to remember that he has forgotten more about the game than you will ever know, that he sees these players every day in training, that he has a specific plan for each player, but also that the opposition will try and work out plans to counter those.
And finally, given the choice of whose judgement I'd trust more, it's really no contest, as I don't think you have much of a grasp of the game.

Rodgers for the second game running didn't choose our best line up. Lucas was dropped and rightly so but Allen wasn't the right choice; don't get me wrong here, I'm not slating Allen or holding a vendetta against him, in fact he started the game pretty well but as soon as they scored he went missing and was almost as though he wasn't on the pitch, at times I thought we only had Gerrard and Hendo in the midfield Allen was so badly missing from the action. We needed Can to start IMO, we needed more of a midfield presence, we saw when he came on he was getting really stuck in and was bullying them off the ball and cutting out a fair amount of their play through the middle, something Allen wasn't doing.

The second mistake and this was by far the biggest but once again I am not surprised in the slightest; Glen Johnson. Aside from once again being utter sh*te, 3 main things really stuck out.

1) Around the 12:30 mark of the game (so early on), City broke up our play and went on the attack, we had players tracking back but he was just casually jogging leading to Gerrard having to try and get out to the gaping hole on that side of the pitch whilst having to try and get Skrtel to basically back him up, a cross came in and it fell to Zabaleta who volleyed over the bar, if it had fallen to Dzeko it could have been a different outcome. Johnson still wasn't back in position when the shot happened.

2) Around the 32nd minute when Sturridge left Kompany for dead and rifled a shot from a tight angle at Joe Hart, City then broke at us and Johnson was once again taking his time to get back. This time he managed to get back before City got in any sort of shot. However, he didn't get back into his own position, instead he went between Skrtel and Lovren for some stupid reason and left a huge space out on the right once again. Luckily no goal came of it.

Also, when they would zoomed out and show our defensive line; Skrtel, Lovren and Moreno were all in a line together but Johnson was hanging back and would have been playing them onside so it shows even more he has no awareness of his defensive line.

3) This is what got me most and I don't want to see him play for us again as it is and this was the final straw. When he got injured, we were out of subs and trying to get back into the game. In that situation, unless it is a serious injury I expect any player, don't care who they are, whether it's Johnson or Gerrard, you play on and at least try to do the best you can. He felt a bit of a twinge that conveniently happened when he got jeered for losing the ball so easily in an attack and he immediately started to walk towards the edge of the pitch asking to be subbed. He didn't look badly injured to me, yet Moreno who looked like he could have actually done some damage when he went down carried on and was still breaking up play and winning tackles whilst not being all that mobile. Same with Skrtel too, he carried on.

Moreno was at fault for the first goal, no question about it but the fact he carried on after going down and trying to make amends all game is a start of making amends for costing a goal.

For periods of the game we were the better team and the only way they were able to stop us was by fouling us. Sterling was causing them all sorts of problems and Coutinho was looking much more effective. We were looking solid defensively too (minus Johnson).

We went 1-0 down to a lapse in concetration and it was pretty much the only thing Jovetic had done up until that point. After Sturridge had the ball in the net it all went wrong, we were on the back foot and when they got the second goal it looked as though the flood gates would open, it was only thanks to a lack of composure on Jovetic' behalf that we weren't 3-0 down sooner.

Aguero scoring with his second touch and within seconds of being on the pitch was a total embarrassment, I don't know if it is just me but Migs seemed a hell of a long way off his line and made it a whole lot easier for Aguero. Aguero had the choice of the shot he went for or an easy lob.

Markovic looked bright when he came on and was causing a few problems, had a good bit of link up play with Moreno too which is a good positive sign for the future. Good to see there is a degree of an understanding there already.

Lambert, I was happy with him once we got to 3-1 but then he bottled going for goal and making it 3-2 when it was easier to go for goal than anything else but he tried squaring it and having Sturridge walk it in. I know he isn't going to be a regular but a player signed to do the job he does should be scoring there, not passing it, no excuse.

We fell apart in too many areas, Hendo was quiet, Gerrard wasn't passing as well as the first half when he was looking dangerous, picked out Sterling a treat after a good run which was dangerous. Coutinho faded and Sturridge looked to be getting no service (took his goal well, just a shame it didn't count).

Overall City were the better team, we had our spells but they were more composed and took advantage when they had the chance. They were patient in their build up play and didn't take any risks and covered each other well when they had to.

I hate to say it but we should have taken the Chelsea approach here, against City at the Etihad you have to be compact and allow very little space and look to exploit any gaps that occur like they done to us last season at Anfield and how they will look to play when they go to the Etihad. We created chances but a lack of discipline to stay compact and defensively solid really cost us in the second half because there were times after they went 3-0 up that I thought it was going to have to become damage limitation. Luckily the changes Rodgers made put a bit more of a positive spin on things and we were able to at least get one goal back.

We may have lost and undeniably lost to the better team on the day but we can't let this result get us down. Some more thought into the team selections; I.e not playing Johnson and more hard work on our defending and we will be okay. This was always going to be our hardest game of the season and we have gotten it out of the way nice and early when they have a pretty tough run of games coming up, the Eithad hasn't been a good ground for us over the last 4 years, think we've last every time we've gone their lately.

We're still ahead of the Mancs too so every cloud and all that.


Also, forgot to say this part about Johnson.

Their second goal could have been cleared off the line if he had headed it instead of trying to get a leg to it!

Rodgers for the second game running didn't choose our best line up. Lucas was dropped and rightly so but Allen wasn't the right choice; don't get me wrong here, I'm not slating Allen or holding a vendetta against him, in fact he started the game pretty well but as soon as they scored he went missing and was almost as though he wasn't on the pitch, at times I thought we only had Gerrard and Hendo in the midfield Allen was so badly missing from the action. We needed Can to start IMO, we needed more of a midfield presence, we saw when he came on he was getting really stuck in and was bullying them off the ball and cutting out a fair amount of their play through the middle, something Allen wasn't doing.

The second mistake and this was by far the biggest but once again I am not surprised in the slightest; Glen Johnson. Aside from once again being utter sh*te, 3 main things really stuck out.

1) Around the 12:30 mark of the game (so early on), City broke up our play and went on the attack, we had players tracking back but he was just casually jogging leading to Gerrard having to try and get out to the gaping hole on that side of the pitch whilst having to try and get Skrtel to basically back him up, a cross came in and it fell to Zabaleta who volleyed over the bar, if it had fallen to Dzeko it could have been a different outcome. Johnson still wasn't back in position when the shot happened.

2) Around the 32nd minute when Sturridge left Kompany for dead and rifled a shot from a tight angle at Joe Hart, City then broke at us and Johnson was once again taking his time to get back. This time he managed to get back before City got in any sort of shot. However, he didn't get back into his own position, instead he went between Skrtel and Lovren for some stupid reason and left a huge space out on the right once again. Luckily no goal came of it.

Also, when they would zoom out and show our defensive line; Skrtel, Lovren and Moreno were all in a line together but Johnson was hanging back and would have been playing them onside so it shows even more he has no awareness of his defensive line.

3) This is what got me most and I don't want to see him play for us again as it is and this was the final straw. When he got injured, we were out of subs and trying to get back into the game. In that situation, unless it is a serious injury I expect any player, don't care who they are, whether it's Johnson or Gerrard, you play on and at least try to do the best you can. He felt a bit of a twinge that conveniently happened when he got jeered for losing the ball so easily in an attack and he immediately started to walk towards the edge of the pitch asking to be subbed. He didn't look badly injured to me, yet Moreno who looked like he could have actually done some damage when he went down carried on and was still breaking up play and winning tackles whilst not being all that mobile. Same with Skrtel too, he carried on.

Moreno was at fault for the first goal, no question about it but the fact he carried on after going down and trying to make amends all game is a start of making amends for costing a goal.

For periods of the game we were the better team ad the only way they were able to stop us was by fouling us. Sterling was causing them all sorts of problems and Coutinho was looking much more effective. We were looking solid defensively too (minus Johnson).

We went 1-0 down to a lapse in concetration and it was pretty much the only thing Jovetic had done up until that point. After Sturridge had the ball in the net it all went wrong, we were on the back foot and when they got the second goal it looked as though the flood gates would open, it was only thanks to a lack of composure on Jovetic' behalf that we weren't 3-0 down sooner.

Aguero scoring with his second touch and within seconds of being on the pitch was a total embarrassment, I don't know if it is just me but Migs seemed a hell of a long way off his line and made it a whole lot easier for Aguero. Aguero had the choice of the shot he went for or an easy lob.

Markovic looked bright when he came on and was causing a few problems, had a good bit of link up play with Moreno too which is a good positive sign for the future. Good to see there is a degree of an understanding there already.

Lambert, I was happy with him once we got to 3-1 but then he bottled going for goal and making it 3-2 when it was easier to go for goal than anything else but he tried squaring it and having Sturridge walk it in. I know he isn't going to be a regular but a player signed to do the job he does should be scoring there, not passing it, no excuse.

We fell apart in too many areas, Hendo was quiet, Gerrard wasn't passing as well as the first half when he was looking dangerous, picked out Sterling a treat after a good run which was dangerous. Coutinho faded and Sturridge looked to be getting no service (took his goal well, just a shame it didn't count).

Overall City were the better team, we had our spells but they were more composed and took advantage when they had the chance. The were patient in their build up play and didn't take any risks and covered each other well when they had to.

I hate to say it but we should have taken the Chelsea approach here, against City at the Etihad you have to be compact and allow very little space and look to exploit any gaps that occur like they done to us last season at Anfield and how they will look to play when they go to the Etihad. We created chances but a lack of discipline to stay compact and defensively solid really cost us in the second half because there were times after they went 3-0 up that I thought it was going to have to become damage limitation. Luckily the changes Rodgers made put a bit more of a positive spin on things and we were able to at least get one goal back.

We ay have lost and undeniably lost to the better team on the day but we can't let this result get us down. Some more thought into the team selections; I.e not playing Johnson and more hard work on our defending and we will be okay. This was always going to be our hardest game of the season and we have gotten it out of the way nice and early when they have a pretty tough run of games coming up, the Eithad hasn't been a good ground for us over the last 4 years, think we've last every time we've gone their lately.

We're still ahead of the Mancs too so every cloud and all that.

Excellent post mate

Sorry anyone, from Oliver Holt to the paper boy, drawing conclusions at this stage is knee-jerk at best and moronic at worst.

We were right in that game even without a proper creative force in the midfield area and Coutinho having his worst game in a red shirt. Up until we literally gift wrapped them the first goal we were the better side!

The 2nd goal was fine work and well played. We could have done better but you always can when you concede.

The 3rd goal was a joke, we were a mess defensively from Moreno, to our line positioning and most of all Mignolet's pathetic attempt at positioning, no wonder he stays on his line when he makes choices like that. Probably his worst mistake in a Liverpool shirt, it was laughable.

So we gifted them 2 and scored 1 ourselves. The next most clear chance was Lambert's, which he should have buried!! So any sane and reasonable person would understand that 3-1 was a flattering reflection on the scoreline, 3-2 would have been more accurate and 2 of those goals to City we'd have gift wrapped.

Now add to that we have Lallana, Markovic, Balotelli to come into the side and it was away from home at the champions then the over-reaction to it is a bit extreme. I'm not saying we'll win the league and when we meet City at Anfield we'll blow them off the park but we are not far away from them, just as we weren't last year. The worry with losing Suarez was that we might step backwards quite some way, I don't think we will.

Need I remind anyone that thinks Suarez would have changed that game that had he still been with us he wouldn't play a game for us until October isn't it? So he wouldn't have changed a single thing!

Onwards and upwards, bring on yer Spuds.

Seriously these excuses it's only a game don't worry about it , bad day at the office are for losers , of course every game matters if you want to win the league and most importantly you have to beat your rivals , and yesterday we were not good it's simple not rocket science , city were so comfortable that they could score from every chance and they did that exactly .

And another thing spurs game it's not an easy game as people are so confident we gonna win , actually it's as much as harder like city game , so I hope the boss is already shouting at our defence cause if we repeat the same mistakes again against spurs we will be punished  .

Anyway I hate losing and especially to city and Chelsea  , because they  take the piss at us and threat is like a small club with only top 4 to 6 ambition .

im sorry the goals were poor defending from Gerrard, Moreno, Lovren and Skrtel. No point in slating Allen or Johnson or Coutinho for the game. It was lapses in concentration from these 3/4 players that cost us at vital moments. It may just be that theyre figuring it out as out new back line but its just how it was last season.

I really wonder if Agger is that bad of a defender, we also need a real defensive midfielder IMO. Skrtel to me has become really poor. His positioning and decision making has been bad for some time now. He's not a leader, and reading of the game isnt good, how long are we gonna let it slide? He's got so much experience but it hasn't done him a world of good.

Rodgers for the second game running didn't choose our best line up. Lucas was dropped and rightly so but Allen wasn't the right choice; don't get me wrong here, I'm not slating Allen or holding a vendetta against him, in fact he started the game pretty well but as soon as they scored he went missing and was almost as though he wasn't on the pitch, at times I thought we only had Gerrard and Hendo in the midfield Allen was so badly missing from the action. We needed Can to start IMO, we needed more of a midfield presence, we saw when he came on he was getting really stuck in and was bullying them off the ball and cutting out a fair amount of their play through the middle, something Allen wasn't doing.

I thought Allen did ok mate, I see he is leading the mom vote in this thread and he also got my vote although the pickings were pretty slim on that front. I thought he actually had a better game than Henderson, particularly in the first half. I thought he looked sharp, pressed the ball well, won a few tackles and kept the ball moving quickly when he had it.

As for Can, I thought he was a bit of a headless chicken when he came on tbh, he ran arojnd a lot but he needed to anything to make me think he should have started the game. in fact, he probably should have gone for two yellows and he looks like he is carrying a bit of timber to me.

I thought Allen did ok mate, I see he is leading the mom vote in this thread and he also got my vote although the pickings were pretty slim on that front. I thought he actually had a better game than Henderson, particularly in the first half. I thought he looked sharp, pressed the ball well, won a few tackles and kept the ball moving quickly when he had it.

As for Can, I thought he was a bit of a headless chicken when he came on tbh, he ran arojnd a lot but he needed to anything to make me think he should have started the game. in fact, he probably should have gone for two yellows and he looks like he is carrying a bit of timber to me.

I agree with this. He wouldn't of been on the pitch long enough if he played a full 90 like that. He seemed to try too hard and looked like a rabbit caught in headlights (reminded me of an early hendo) but he will become more confident and composed in time.

I'd rather have Allen and Hendo when needing to press than Can and Co because he just doesn't seel as mobile enough, if Can was to start id rather it be in Gerrards role.

I thought Allen did ok mate, I see he is leading the mom vote in this thread and he also got my vote although the pickings were pretty slim on that front. I thought he actually had a better game than Henderson, particularly in the first half. I thought he looked sharp, pressed the ball well, won a few tackles and kept the ball moving quickly when he had it.

As for Can, I thought he was a bit of a headless chicken when he came on tbh, he ran arojnd a lot but he needed to anything to make me think he should have started the game. in fact, he probably should have gone for two yellows and he looks like he is carrying a bit of timber to me.

I am not sure I agree with you mate. If what you want from a midfielder is someone who keeps possession quite well, keeps the ball moving (mainly sideways and backwards) but has little genuine impact on the game as a whole.... Allen's your man.

That is not to say Allen doesn't have his uses when you are playing well and others are creating lots of chances,  but when the chips are down and you are a goal behind .... it's probably time to bring someone with more impact on the game on. 

I can't argue that Henderson wasn't as bad as Allen because he probably was, but to me that is more a worry than a reason to praise Allen too much.

I thought Allen did reasonably well in the first half without offering much threat or assistance to our attack, but when the pressure was on and we went a goal behind his limitations became more apparent. He still did little wrong and made the safe pass but is that enough?

Lallana can't get fit quick enough for me.

 

I am not sure I agree with you mate. If what you want from a midfielder is someone who keeps possession quite well, keeps the ball moving (mainly sideways and backwards) but has little genuine impact on the game as a whole.... Allen's your man.

That is not to say Allen doesn't have his uses when you are playing well and others are creating lots of chances,  but when the chips are down and you are a goal behind .... it's probably time to bring someone with more impact on the game on. 

I can't argue that Henderson wasn't as bad as Allen because he probably was, but to me that is more a worry than a reason to praise Allen too much.

I thought Allen did reasonably well in the first half without offering much threat or assistance to our attack, but when the pressure was on and we went a goal behind his limitations became more apparent. He still did little wrong and made the safe pass but is that enough?

Lallana can't get fit quick enough for me.

 

It's time for Rodgers to have a serious think about Joe , he's been with us 3 seasons now and we're still waiting for the exciting player that Rodgers promised us .We have the patience of job but it's wearing very thin right now .

My big worry from this game is our clear inability to absorb pressure. Whenever any team applies any period of pressure we collapse, we just can't cope. It was the exact same pattern away to Citeh and Chelski last year, Rodgers has got to unlock this side of our team dynamic. Hopefully playing away in Europe will cultivate it but on the other hand we could get a rude awakening away to a top side in the CL. Not often, but I do miss Rafas pragmatism at times on showings like last night, his side at their best went into games like last night, killed the game and took a point, this side could never do that, we're great to watch but far too naive at times

Big pluses for me were our performance in the first half. I thought we looked very sharp and bright in possession, our tempo and movement was excellent and it was simply final ball and decision making at let us down.

Biggest and only real plus from the 2nd half was the fact the lads were trying as hard at 3-0 down as they were at 0-0. I didn't see any heads drop, any let off or less effort which speaks volumes for team spirit and togetherness which will stand us in good stead.

Another plus was the performance of young Markovic when he came on, looked decent didn't he. When you think the mancs just spunked their whole wallet on the Argentinian Luke Chadwick you have to be pretty happy with our business for Markovic.

It's time for Rodgers to have a serious think about Joe , he's been with us 3 seasons now and we're still waiting for the exciting player that Rodgers promised us .We have the patience of job but it's wearing very thin right now .

Joe was better then Stevie and Hendo last night

Joe was better then Stevie and Hendo last night

the tea lady was better than them last night , so he was less sh*t than them but going on consistency he's shittier than the shittiest .

the tea lady was better than them last night , so he was less sh*t than them but going on consistency he's shittier than the shittiest .

What has Allen done so far this season to warrant that? He put in a good shift in both matches.

I am not sure I agree with you mate. If what you want from a midfielder is someone who keeps possession quite well, keeps the ball moving (mainly sideways and backwards) but has little genuine impact on the game as a whole.... Allen's your man.

That is not to say Allen doesn't have his uses when you are playing well and others are creating lots of chances,  but when the chips are down and you are a goal behind .... it's probably time to bring someone with more impact on the game on. 

I can't argue that Henderson wasn't as bad as Allen because he probably was, but to me that is more a worry than a reason to praise Allen too much.

I thought Allen did reasonably well in the first half without offering much threat or assistance to our attack, but when the pressure was on and we went a goal behind his limitations became more apparent. He still did little wrong and made the safe pass but is that enough?

Lallana can't get fit quick enough for me.

Not saying he was a world beater mate but the fact he is leading the mom poll suggests a few thought he did quite well last night. Personally for games such as last night I would look to play two holding players, least that way Stevie is getting left high and dry when we loose the ball with both fullbacks 50 yards up the pitch and the rest of the team legging it to get back and help. If we played two sitters you could the play Coutinho as an 8/10 rear than out wide where he is less effective.

Against lesser opposition I think we can play those three in the middle of the park because I would have confidence in our three attacking players to unlock the door but it's no so easy against the likes of City or Chelsea.

Like you I'm desperate for Lallana to get himself fit. He would have been an upgrade on Coutinho in the wide left ole last night and same applies to both Henderson and Allen in the middle of the park.

Not saying he was a world beater mate but the fact he is leading the mom poll suggests a few thought he did quite well last night. Personally for games such as last night I would look to play two holding players, least that way Stevie is getting left high and dry when we loose the ball with both fullbacks 50 yards up the pitch and the rest of the team legging it to get back and help. If we played two sitters you could the play Coutinho as an 8/10 rear than out wide where he is less effective.

Against lesser opposition I think we can play those three in the middle of the park because I would have confidence in our three attacking players to unlock the door but it's no so easy against the likes of City or Chelsea.

Like you I'm desperate for Lallana to get himself fit. He would have been an upgrade on Coutinho in the wide left ole last night and same applies to both Henderson and Allen in the middle of the park.

Unfortunately i don't think Gerrard does too well with another midfielder beside him. I think he gets tempted to get out of position too much because of the possible cover from the other midfielder and he gets caught out. If we were to have two deeper lying midfielders Gerrard has to become a lot more disciplined in his play then when anchoring because he doesn't have the opportunity to burst forward.

Rather have Gerrard on his own anchoring or Henderson/Can in the position.

What has Allen done so far this season to warrant that?

He's done very little , and the previous seasons the same . He's not good enough and Rodgers playing him is just to justify his signing .

On the plus side, we could have just been BEATEN 4-0 BY MK DONS!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28847955

 

He's done very little , and the previous seasons the same . He's not good enough and Rodgers playing him is just to justify his signing .

Many said the same about Hendo two season ago.