Villarreal 1-0 Liverpool: In game and Post match debates

As for Ibe who is getting a lot of grief, the lad is clearly very low on confidence. Was this the right game to throw him on? Probably not the best.

He had only recently put in a good performance against Bournemouth where he assisted on goal and was involved in the other.

Would have been a solid away performance of the match had ended a few minutes earlier.

As it is I think we can this lot over at Anfield, however watching that tonight they were there for the taking and I said after 20 minutes that I think if we really wanted to go for the throat we could have scored a few away goals there.

Very easy to say in hindsight now but I think Klopp got that one wrong tonight, I would have liked us to have gone for the win because I think it was there for us but we were obviously happy to take the 0 0 and then got hit with a sucker punch at the death.

Sorry mate. Maybe when you said they would score first.... it was an own goal

I was setting up an average Anfield European night ok the bit about Lucas was a bit of license but we can dream

As for Ibe who is getting a lot of grief, the lad is clearly very low on confidence. Was this the right game to throw him on? Probably not the best.

he has gone backwards in his development these past few months .

Feel numb right now... that game should've been ours as they were definitely there for the taking just weren't clinical enough.

Ibe was f**kin useless.. That was his big chance to show what he's made of in that second half and he blew it..

That cross Milner put in for Benteke's head when he came on with three minutes to go should've been happening twenty minutes earlier..

Thought Lucas was brilliant.

They have some decent players and they always looked like scoring when they broke in and around our box..

Ming's save was class and kept us in it..

We can do this but we are gonna need the atmosphere more than ever to help us out and put the shits up them at Anfield.

I was unable to watch the match, only managed to listen to it for a while, so I can't judge the performance. Disappointed with the result though - I was hoping we would have at least scored away from home.

It's far from over though, we can surely beat them at home.

I was screaming in this thread for quite a while saying I wanted him to bring a striker on. They were completely there for the taking and if you don't go for the throat when you have the opportunity, it can cost you and it did tonight.

I'm a massive Klopp fan by the way and I'm also a massive Rodgers fan and think he was right to continue playing the way that had gotten us into the position we were in against Chelsea. So no, these criticisms aren't only coming from people who slated Rodgers for that.

And how do you know putting on a striker wouldn't have inbalanced the squad against a very creative Villarreal at home? Firmino was in the role of a 'defensive forward' - pressing and holding the ball up. Klopp obviously thought he may be able to put in the pressing game a bit more effectively under Firmino than Sturridge.

No doubt if this was Anfield that Sturridge would have played - this was a tactical decision, so anyone pissing themselves at the 'ill treatment' of Sturridge need to take a lie down.

ok so who doesn't think the anticipation of the game at Anfield has now risen. Its going to be a special night

the players will not fear Villa Real after tonight I fully expect a thunderous performance with a manic Anfield crowd

Don't think it will be quite as good as Dortmund but we will certainly get behind the team...I'll be cheering the team on from the front of the Kop next Thursday.

St. Etienne in 1977 was brilliant, FC Zurich was a bit of a anti-climax in the Semi but we still got the boys through to the Final in Rome, lets hope history repeats itself and we can get the boys to Basle 

Firstly, is it the same people saying these things? I'd hazard a guess and say probably not.

Pragmatic is doing whatever is best to get the result. It doesn't mean defensive. Sometimes throwing everyone forward is more pragmatic than remaining solid.

So would you say Jürgen was approaching this game pragmatically tonight, because to me he went there with a clear game plan to knick a goal (which Joe Allen 5mins, Firmino hitting the post, Moreno clean through) which we almost did. Plus keep it tight at the back, which apart from the odd half chance we managed for 90+ minutes?

To me it was an extremely realistic and sensible approach to a game against a team that had conceded only goal at home in this competition. I get the Sturridge criticism and share the frustration but looking outside my own frustration I can understand why accepting a 0-0 (as it very much looked like and almost was) was also a reasonable choice.

From my perspective, as I've suggested before, there's something between Jürgen and Sturridge that just doesn't click and perhaps tonight that's bitten us on the arse a little but it's hard to say for certain because I know for damn sure he wouldn't have put in the hard yards that Firmino did but I don't know for damn sure that he wouldn't have produced a moment of magic that Firmino didn't.

Decent enough performance, but no true striker meant no cutting edge. Cant understand why sturridge didnt come on 2nd half.

Then Moreno has his customary brain fart, chasing an interception that was never on, Kolo is left exposed against a quicker player, and we have a tough job on our hands.

As others have said, i fancy us to score at least a couple at Anfield, but if they score at any point it'll be a long way back.

Our defending overall has improved under Jürgen, but he seems to have a blind spot about Moreno, who is one of the most brainless defenders I've ever seen. I'd really like to see Milner put at left back in the next leg. Then Sturridge could come in while everybody else just stays the same.

Think its gonna be tougher than most seem to think, but that one change in selection would give us a far better chance.

As pissed off as i am tonight, there is still hope. Sturridge has to start, i'm hoping Coutinho is available and that Jordan Ibe doesn't feature at all!!

I thought Villareal were like a poor man's Atletico tonight. Defensively solid and more workman like in midfield than brilliant.

Given Milner m.o.t.m but in truth we didn't have a real stand out performer but 6 or 7 who had very good games.

So would you say Jürgen was approaching this game pragmatically tonight, because to me he went there with a clear game plan to knick a goal (which Joe Allen 5mins, Firmino hitting the post, Moreno clean through) which we almost did. Plus keep it tight at the back, which apart from the odd half chance we managed for 90+ minutes?

To me it was an extremely realistic and sensible approach to a game against a team that had conceded only goal at home in this competition. I get the Sturridge criticism and share the frustration but looking outside my own frustration I can understand why accepting a 0-0 (as it very much looked like and almost was) was also a reasonable choice.

From my perspective, as I've suggested before, there's something between Jürgen and Sturridge that just doesn't click and perhaps tonight that's bitten us on the arse a little but it's hard to say for certain because I know for damn sure he wouldn't have put in the hard yards that Firmino did but I don't know for damn sure that he wouldn't have produced a moment of magic that Firmino didn't.

I don't think there's anything between them, I just think he got his game plan completely wrong. As you said, we came to nick a goal when we should have come to bury the tie. We should never be looking for 0-0 in a European tie, we should always be looking to win and settle for 0-0 if that's how it ends. Simply put, Klopp got his team selection and tactics wrong tonight. It happens. Let's hope he rectifies his mistake at Anfield.

Seems like Jordon Ibe is taking the full brunt of a lot people's frustration and I get that, he was woeful.

I'm surprised Clyne hasn't come in for more criticism, if anyone gets a chance to watch a game notice how many attacks break down with him. It was painful to watch, he was consistently awful on the ball tonight. Granted "that's not his primary role" however in our side it is a key part of our attack and it got to the point where Villareal were quite happy for him to have the ball. Incredibly frustrated with his game going forward at the moment.

I don't think there's anything between them, I just think he got his game plan completely wrong. As you said, we came to nick a goal when we should have come to bury the tie. We should never be looking for 0-0 in a European tie, we should always be looking to win and settle for 0-0 if that's how it ends. Simply put, Klopp got his team selection and tactics wrong tonight. It happens. Let's hope he rectifies his mistake at Anfield.

Fair enough 5 times, if that's what you believe.

I personally thought they deserved more respect than us coming here to bury them, a team that conceded only 1 goal at home so far in the competition and conceded at a rate of about 0.5 goals per game at home in La Liga.

You could be right and if we went gung-ho we could have won 4/5/6, I just don't believe that's truthfully the case.

Seems like Jordon Ibe is taking the full brunt of a lot people's frustration and I get that, he was woeful.

I'm surprised Clyne hasn't come in for more criticism, if anyone gets a chance to watch a game notice how many attacks break down with him. It was painful to watch, he was consistently awful on the ball tonight. Granted "that's not his primary role" however in our side it is a key part of our attack and it got to the point where Villareal were quite happy for him to have the ball. Incredibly frustrated with his game going forward at the moment.

Too be fair to Clyne the number of times Firmino gave the ball away was just as frustrating.
Or even indeed Moreno consistently out of position but I suppose we all expect that now!

Seems like Jordon Ibe is taking the full brunt of a lot people's frustration and I get that, he was woeful.

I'm surprised Clyne hasn't come in for more criticism, if anyone gets a chance to watch a game notice how many attacks break down with him. It was painful to watch, he was consistently awful on the ball tonight. Granted "that's not his primary role" however in our side it is a key part of our attack and it got to the point where Villareal were quite happy for him to have the ball. Incredibly frustrated with his game going forward at the moment.

Mate Clyne has been that all year absolute sh*t in attack so it was an indifferent performance.

So poor in attack that teams actually offer him all the space on the right knowing he has no meaningful end product.

Fair enough 5 times, if that's what you believe.

I personally thought they deserved more respect than us coming here to bury them, a team that conceded only 1 goal at home so far in the competition and conceded at a rate of about 0.5 goals per game at home in La Liga.

You could be right and if we went gung-ho we could have won 4/5/6, I just don't believe that's truthfully the case.

That was the problem, mate. We showed them far too much respect. We where nothing short of toothless as a result.

We know Villarreal are nothing special and as long as we are mindful of getting caught out high up the pitch we will get the result at Anfield.

Which incidentally for all those advocating Sturridge from the start who plays best with a partner would have really left us open to the counter.

Too be fair to Clyne the number of times Firmino gave the ball away was just as frustrating.
Or even indeed Moreno consistently out of position but I suppose we all expect that now!

Yeah was just about to say this - Firmino was getting more slack as the game wore on.

Too be fair to Clyne the number of times Firmino gave the ball away was just as frustrating.
Or even indeed Moreno consistently out of position but I suppose we all expect that now!

I disagree with Firmino, I saw him do plenty of good things in this match and thought he was easily our best forward but I could easily be accused of having a bit of rose tinted glasses on as I really like the lad.

Moreno is out of position all the time but I've got to the point that he's so often out of position it's actually by design

As crazy as it may sound we're prepared for it and to be fair to him he offered a lot more threat than Ibe or Clyne on the other side and I don't believe Moreno had nearly as bad a game as it appears some do.

Mate Clyne has been that all year absolute sh*t in attack so it was an indifferent performance.

So poor in attack that teams actually offer him all the space on the right knowing he has no meaningful end product.

Extremely fair that Dado, it's a case of deciding what we want with him, is being reasonably solid (he's not watertight by any means) at the back enough to make up for such poor play in forward areas. I've always preferred attacking full back/wing backs so perhaps I'm biased there too.

This would have been the perfect game for Origi. Gutted for the lad.