LFC 2-1 Ludogorets Razgrad: In game and Post Match Discussion

We look so void of ideas sometimes it's scary.

Balotelli’s lack of movement off the ball must be so easy to defend against.  Borini changed the game, you could see him making the runs and drawing the defenders in.  Something Mario did not do.

At one point, and I’m not sure if the cameras picked up on this….  It was around 60 minutes – they had the ball for a minute without us being arsed.  Henderson was screaming at Mario to press the centre backs, so he did reluctantly and that caused them to get nervous and give it away.

It’s going to take some time getting used to Mario upfront, especially with Sturridge out for a couple of weeks.  At the moment, and I feel like a tosser for saying it, Malotelli just reminds me of Andy Carroll.

I'm fairly sure that one of the main reasons we look devoid of ideas is the formation we've played in the last two matches, there's no space to move into and we're falling over each other. That added to the lack of responsibility some are taking is making us look pedestrian. Gerrard is playing so deep, and Moreno/Manquillo are so boxed in, that at best we are playing 5-4-1. When you add in Henderson who often drops in next to Gerrard before giving it straight back to whoever has passed it to him, and we're staring down the gun-barrel at 6-3-1 with a striker who isn't massively mobile.

While Sturridge is injured (at least until then IMHO) we ought to play the diamond and 4-4-2.  Narrow up the midfield so we give Moreno in particular the room to bomb, and get someone up with Balotelli to give us more out ball options (Borini or Sterling). This we did last night and instantly looked like a better side.

I watched quite a lot of Milan games as it is my favorite club in Italy and this lack of movement that you are talking about was standard for him. Hope it will not be the case here and he will change this. But in Milan off the ball he was walking on the pitc most of the game. That is also one of a major reasons why he was sold as Inzaghi is not tolerating this any more.

He wasn't the best but not the worst mate. He could have done better for that goal...but I would blame Moreno leaving that space to bomb up front needlessly, Stevie's positioning and Migno's unnecessary vacation of his line more than Lovren for it. Lovren put in a few top notch tackles and wasn't that bad I thought.

Yep I thought Lovren did Ok too. Having forced the guy wide onto his left foot for the goal (which came from a top notch through ball in fairness) he was entitled to think he'd done enough to make the scoring of a goal extremely difficult. He wasn't to know Mignolet was going to leave himself marooned in no mans land, and had the keeper gathered the shot at the near post people would have forgotten Lovren's role in the whole incident.

I watched quite a lot of Milan games as it is my favorite club in Italy and this lack of movement that you are talking about was standard for him. Hope it will not be the case here and he will change this. But in Milan off the ball he was walking on the pitc most of the game. That is also one of a major reasons why he was sold as Inzaghi is not tolerating this any more.

It's a funny one with Balotelli. On the one hand we crave movement, but on the other it's pointless him spending too much time out by the touchline. I'd personally like to see him playing on the chest of their centre half, but also more adept at dropping in (with us being better at firing it into his toes). It may only be a five yard "come", but he's a big strong boy with good feet who protects it well. I think we'd get a lot of joy from there  both from him getting free kicks, and if we can get players around him things happening.

He wasn't the best but not the worst mate. He could have done better for that goal...but I would blame Moreno leaving that space to bomb up front needlessly, Stevie's positioning and Migno's unnecessary vacation of his line more than Lovren for it. Lovren put in a few top notch tackles and wasn't that bad I thought.

Moreno's getting a bit of flack for that, but really he was making a supporting run for Sterling, who lost the ball.

I would blame Moreno leaving that space to bomb up front needlessly, Stevie's positioning and Migno's unnecessary vacation of his line more than Lovren for it. Lovren put in a few top notch tackles and wasn't that bad I thought.

Come off it. Moreno was providing support for Sterling like he had been all game and the fact he was spending time up the pitch was the reason we opened the scoring. I don't mind him being that far up the pitch if he gets back which he was doing all game, at full pelt. It was Sterling who was hogging the ball then and trying to take them all on and got needlessly tackled.

The midfield was nowhere to be seen and the amount of space they had there was shambolic...as was passing it straight through Sakho's legs.

Then Mignolet having no clue what to do again and like when Aguero scored against us this season, was well off his line and made it easy for them to score.

Out of all that Moreno has very little fault in the goal because leaving space or not, Sterling shouldn't have lost the ball so cheaply and the idfield should have been there to cut it out and Migs should generally not basically hand them an open goal.

Anyone looking to blame Moreno needs to give their head a wobble IMO given what everyone else involved was playing at.

C'mon lads - don't leave it open-ended; don't leave the deluded guessing: how long do you believe it will be before the players "settle"? [they seemed to have settled quite well at Spurs btw]. Which brings me on to this...

Never in the history has one so deluded used the word deluded so many times.
 

As to the question of how long it'll take, ask F**k, he may know. I don't think Brendan could answer that question. Personally mate I think it'll be a couple of months as the basis of our style of play under Brendan is there and the players he brought in are used to that style so it's down to them understanding each other so our passing play can become more fluent. At the moment passes are a yard off and players are having to stretch, chase or go back for balls which slows down the pass and move style of play and allows the opposition to gain possession which again stifles Brendans vision of how we should play.

So basically we'll be at a sprint before Xmas.

Moreno's getting a bit of flack for that, but really he was making a supporting run for Sterling, who lost the ball.

this is very true, i forgot about sterling losing the ball. no need to have a go at sterling for it and moreno looks like the kinda fb whose instinct is always to attac (which i actually really like), but, with less than 5 minutes to go, we need to be more disciplined and see the games out. better teams would not have let us back in the game like that.

this is very true, i forgot about sterling losing the ball. no need to have a go at sterling for it and moreno looks like the kinda fb whose instinct is always to attac (which i actually really like), but, with less than 5 minutes to go, we need to be more disciplined and see the games out. better teams would not have let us back in the game like that.

No need to have a go at Moreno or Sterling.
We didn't need both Gerrard and Henderson to get high up the pitch that late in the game.
Both were cut out in one move, when Sterling was dispossessed, leaving the defence open.

I would blame Moreno leaving that space to bomb up front needlessly,

How do you feel about the other fullback "needlessly" bombing up front towards the end of the match?

Never mind the bullshit, you start that comment with an unbelievably naïve statement about ''replacing Suarez'' which in itself is a totally unrealistic proposition and everyone knows it.
So like most of your comments a base negativity dazzles slightly dimmed by some peripheral bullshit.
Have a word lad.

Have we not replaced or at least attempted to replace Suarez then?

So we've just let a superstar leave and have ended with a system that has proven to be immensely effective, right?

You seem rather confident in your own views, so tell me - why was Balotelli brought here? How will our system differ to last season and how will this benefit us?

why was Balotelli brought here? How will our system differ to last season and how will this benefit us?

Balotelli and Sturridge will get fully fit.
They will tear teams a new arsehole.

In the meantime we actually have to proper fullbacks in the team.
This summer we've turned the weakest part of the team into one of the strongest.

We've got 5-6 new players bedding in, but when they do it'll be awesome.
That'll happen sooner rather than later.

3 points are always vital but the performance was not the best. Our defense is still dodgy.

I wasn't available plus since we lost last game,I don't do the next. Im back in business for the weekend.

Have we not replaced or at least attempted to replace Suarez then?

So we've just let a superstar leave and have ended with a system that has proven to be immensely effective, right?

You seem rather confident in your own views, so tell me - why was Balotelli brought here? How will our system differ to last season and how will this benefit us?

Not really sure how big this requires printing but try this for size Suarez is unique, one of a kind and as such is irreplaceable.
Not sure either about your powers of perception:
We got a shitload of dosh for the unique/irreplaceable Luis Suarez, the shitload of dosh was used to sign several players, Balotelli included who the manager could nurture and mould into the finished article.
We were cruelly beaten to the ultimate prize of Prem. league football last season, more of the same will do just fine with our strengthened back four and some great potential across the whole team we are better equipped this season than for a long time.

It was a poor team performance but I can see enough to make me genuinely excited about this team, it will all click into place and when it does we'll be every bit the force we were last season.

My major concern is still Stevie, yes I know he got the penalty to get us out of jail, but his distribution is worse than last season and his movement is not a patch on what it used to be, we really need to look at phasing him out during the course of this season.

Anyway hopefully we can get a nice early goal against West Ham which will open up the floodgates.

It was a poor team performance but I can see enough to make me genuinely excited about this team, it will all click into place and when it does we'll be every bit the force we were last season.My major concern is still Stevie, yes I know he got the penalty to get us out of jail, but his distribution is worse than last season and his movement is not a patch on what it used to be, we really need to look at phasing him out during the course of this season.Anyway hopefully we can get a nice early goal against West Ham which will open up the floodgates.

Agree mate. For me, there is so much to be excited about. No matter how much you point out the new arrivals, the lost of the 3rd best player in the world and the amount of youngsters  in the team, someone always comes up with "but we should have bouhgt this guy and that guy" etc etc etc. People want instant results. It's getting really boring.

I've been saying that Stevie should be a regular this season and start to phase him out next season, but his performances this season have started to change my mind. He is below par regularly, his passing isn't the same and his defensive immobility is really costing us. None of this is his fault, the milage the lad has on him is enough to make it understandable...but we need to start looking at life without him this season, not next.

I also think we gotta play Balo alongside Sturridge when he's back. We are better with 2 up front. Balo's strength and skill compliments Sturridge's movement and finishing. It's gonna start to click very soon...I can feel it in my loins.

It was a poor team performance but I can see enough to make me genuinely excited about this team, it will all click into place and when it does we'll be every bit the force we were last season.

My major concern is still Stevie, yes I know he got the penalty to get us out of jail, but his distribution is worse than last season and his movement is not a patch on what it used to be, we really need to look at phasing him out during the course of this season.

Anyway hopefully we can get a nice early goal against West Ham which will open up the floodgates.

Yep, agree.

I said in the season prediction thread i expect a slow start, and with a few spine players missing i think that has amplified some teething problems. It's much easier to phase in new players when the spine to the team is solid and consistent. Right now we have 5 players who weren't here last season starting - there is going to be some problems as you'd expect.

The challenge is reducing the effect and gaining as many points as we can right now. Any win will do. Just keep working on it, it'll eventually click and we will come home strong.

Few have said it, but Ludogorets did play very well to their credit. They came with a great game plan and executed it well and nearly won. They shut down our attack, went in hard and committed to unsettle our lads and could of gone ahead at any point in the second half. Well done to them, i hope they produce that against the other teams and nick points off them

Not really sure how big this requires printing but try this for size Suarez is unique, one of a kind and as such is irreplaceable.
Not sure either about your powers of perception:
We got a shitload of dosh for the unique/irreplaceable Luis Suarez, the shitload of dosh was used to sign several players, Balotelli included who the manager could nurture and mould into the finished article.
We were cruelly beaten to the ultimate prize of Prem. league football last season, more of the same will do just fine with our strengthened back four and some great potential across the whole team we are better equipped this season than for a long time.

Who the manager could nurture and mould into the finished article? Why are you so confident that will be the case? Besides, it's not like all of Brendan's transfers have been a success at this club.

No two players are the same, so in effect all players are "unique". We could never replace the quality that Suarez offered us, but we could always limit the loss of quality. We sold a first team striker and bought a first team striker. So technically we have replaced him, but because of contrasting styles and level of abilities, most supporters would rather claim we haven't replaced Suarez, as the drop in quality is pretty damning.

You've got to give Ludogorets a lot of credit, they were remarkably composed considering it was their first Champions League appearance. They played well in possession and defended well. That said, we put in a poor performance overall, though on the plus side it's obvious there's a lot more to come from this team.

Great to be back in the biggest tournament in the world, was fantastic to watch us run out on a European night and loved the 5 cups on the Kop. Despite the average performance we won and got the points so ultimately it was a good start.

People forget the Ludogorets team beat PSV and Lazio last season, they aren't as sh*t as a lot of people are making them out. Of course we should beat them more comfortably at home but they aren't complete amateurs.

People forget the Ludogorets team beat PSV and Lazio last season, they aren't as sh*t as a lot of people are making them out. Of course we should beat them more comfortably at home but they aren't complete amateurs.

Unfair to class them as if they are a poor team I thought they played some better football than Liverpool This was the easiest game on paper so we need to improve-a lot.

Who the manager could nurture and mould into the finished article? Why are you so confident that will be the case? Besides, it's not like all of Brendan's transfers have been a success at this club.

You name me a manager who buys guaranteed success every time, managers at clubs with bottomless financial resources can and do make signings that fail to produce the goods.
BR took us to the nearest margin of winning the league while being under financial restriction and failing to sign targets he had specified would have benefitted the team. 

No two players are the same, so in effect all players are "unique".

The difference is in the qualification of the word ''unique'', some may be described as uniquely a bag of sh*te, while in Luis' case the word unique is a positive inference to describe a footballer who is head and shoulders above his peers with regard to skill, insight and tactical nous.
So your statement about the strict interpretation of unique is rather approximate if not faulted. 

We could never replace the quality that Suarez offered us, but we could always limit the loss of quality. We sold a first team striker and bought a first team striker. So technically we have replaced him, but because of contrasting styles and level of abilities, most supporters would rather claim we haven't replaced Suarez, as the drop in quality is pretty damning.

You must excuse my fixation with the word ''unique'' but the above depends entirely on your questionable definition of that word.
As stated the word by definition is 'incapable of being replicated'.
The lads we have acquired have the potential to do a job for us, there is faith in the manager that given the opportunity he has the ability to make that happen. 

Few have said it, but Ludogorets did play very well to their credit. They came with a great game plan and executed it well and nearly won. They shut down our attack, went in hard and committed to unsettle our lads and could of gone ahead at any point in the second half. Well done to them, i hope they produce that against the other teams and nick points off them

Last year, they drew against Lazio at home scoring 3 goals, then beat them away as well as beating PSV at home 2-0. They are NOT a pushover. But let's not focus on that, it's much easier to moan about the players we didn't buy rather than celebrate those we did.