Liverpool 4-1 Leicester City: In game and Post Match discussion

BOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!

Can't stop watching that goal, such a sweet strike.  Actually thought Gigi did really well, had to check a good run and bided his time giving a perfect pass.

Fantastic. Firmino MOTM by a mile, but as per the English pundits can't see past an England International. Lallana was a close 2nd IMO for MOTM, but Firmino gets it.

negatives - defensive blunder, shocking loss of composure after the blunder and at the same point some players seemed to go into hiding.

Yeah, we do seem to have a problem when in front and we concede... even when Gerrard was Captain, but we do seem better coming from behind under Klopp than we have for a few years . I think the problem is when you are winning you have everything to lose, when you are losing you have everything to gain. So sometimes it's easier to play when you are behind.

The way we disappeared in the final last year still gives me nightmares.

Law 16 of FIFA’s ‘laws of the game’ state that at a goal-kick: “The ball is in play when it leaves the penalty area,” and that “opponents must be outside the penalty area until the ball is in play.”

Furthermore: “If an opponent who is in the penalty area when the goal kick is taken touches or challenges for the ball before it has touched another player, the goal- kick is retaken.”

Just read that the Vardy's goal should have been dis-allowed according to the above rule. Source - Echo.

Law 16 of FIFA’s ‘laws of the game’ state that at a goal-kick: “The ball is in play when it leaves the penalty area,” and that “opponents must be outside the penalty area until the ball is in play.”

Furthermore: “If an opponent who is in the penalty area when the goal kick is taken touches or challenges for the ball before it has touched another player, the goal- kick is retaken.”

Just read that the Vardy's goal should have been dis-allowed according to the above rule. Source - Echo.

I don't care about that rule and whether or not it should have been ruled out, I'm more bothered that we put ourselves in that position to begin with. Lapses in concentration like that can easily cost you a game.

Law 16 of FIFA’s ‘laws of the game’ state that at a goal-kick: “The ball is in play when it leaves the penalty area,” and that “opponents must be outside the penalty area until the ball is in play.”

Furthermore: “If an opponent who is in the penalty area when the goal kick is taken touches or challenges for the ball before it has touched another player, the goal- kick is retaken.”

Just read that the Vardy's goal should have been dis-allowed according to the above rule. Source - Echo.

Thankfully, it doesn't mean much with the final score being 4-1. It would have been a different story had the game ended in a draw or a Leicester win.

GREAT to have a performance where even with a bad error, we win comfortably. The sum of the 90 minutes is that we were easily the better team and deserving of three points.

Saturday's game was the only match we were in position to win on Saturday. We weren't playing anyone else, with another style or another group of players - it was just that game and we did what we were supposed to do. If we with the title, will someone say "Yes, but it isn't the 2014 title!!!???"

Of course we are not there yet - nobody is saying we are. But isn't the point to enjoy the ride, one match at a time. You have to do some serious mental gymnastics to not acknowledge progress with this group.

For me, Friday will be our toughest game of the season thus far, and maybe toughest game of the entire season barring perhaps Man City away (all circumstances being equal). A draw there would be alright re the table.

I'm interested to see what goes on with Can coming back to full fitness, whenever that is, and Coutinho being available again for 90 minutes.

I think this game really showed us how good Sturridge and Firmino can be together. Although Couthino can produce that magic and is a wonderful player i feel he can be a bit predictable a times coming in on his right. Firmino makes better use of the ball the majority of the time. Love to see that front 3 of Sturridge, Firmino and Mane get a run of games.

I think this game really showed us how good Sturridge and Firmino can be together. Although Couthino can produce that magic and is a wonderful player i feel he can be a bit predictable a times coming in on his right.

Firmino makes better use of the ball the majority of the time.

Love to see that front 3 of Sturridge, Firmino and Mane get a run of games.

Bobby has been so underrated by a lot of people .

Was at the game, thought Gini was fairly anonymous for a good portion of the game and maybe the only negative bar the gift we gave Leicester.

Otherwise Matip was excellent, calm and collected.
Bobby danced around the Leicester defence as did Mane. Lallana had a great game also and I really liked the attacking lineup. Studge should have had a penalty too.

Great atmosphere too, main stand looked fantastic. Haven't heard noise like that since the EL games last season.

I don't care about that rule and whether or not it should have been ruled out, I'm more bothered that we put ourselves in that position to begin with. Lapses in concentration like that can easily cost you a game.

Well, if you see the replay, it clearly shows Okazaki made his run very early, which made the reaction time a bit less for Lucas. Not that I'm defending Lucas in any way, but these 1 sec margins determine the decision making in the game. Half a sec more , and who knows where the ball would've gone.

Watched it live in the alehouse and didn't think we were brilliant, thought we did enough to win the game with flashes of good play and moments of Sunday league apathy, Migs attempted punch for example, I'm sick of this kind of half arsed mediocre level of play, he has to go, he's simply not good enough, he's been here long enough now for him to know when to come and when to stay, his decision making has cost us in the past and they will again, and no amount of pillow talk from his missus is going to change him permanently,

I hope Karius comes back against Chavs and goes on to be a permanent fixture, it's early doors for him but although he has yet to play I'm still more at ease with him between the sticks than I am with Migs there,

Anyhoo, I watched the whole match again yesterday alone and thought we were a lot better, same game I know but without distractions I could concentrate more and absorb what went on , I think in Firmino we have a world class player who will thrive under Jürgen, he reads the game well and is capable of doing things unexpected even form his own teammates, he linked up well with Studge complimenting each other nicely, we have seen already his relationship with Coutinho and more recently Mane,

 I thought Mane was slightly off his game for whatever reason, might be a slight knock or perhaps he was just missing Cou,
Yesterday for me gave us a insight to what I hope will be our regular front 4,  Coutinho, Firmino, Mane & Studge, Lallana although playing well will imho be the unlucky one, but will get game time , likewise Origi,
Gini is getting better each match and thought he had a great game, he could usurp Mane as our best signing if he continues to improve, he'd have to go some mind you,

In the end we won at a canter, although we did go through a spell where we could have fu**ed it up completely had that ball dropped under the bar,

So onto the chavs Friday, I'd be happy heading north with a point if I'm honest, but wouldn't just be fantastic if we fu**ed them over, I'm not ruling that out, I've went for 1-1 in the prediction league, we don't park the bus so if we can keep it fairly tight at the back, don't get bullied by Costa and his antics, get in behind them we can do them, I think we can get at them , if we keep our heads and keep the pace high.


YNWA

Was at the game, thought Gini was fairly anonymous for a good portion of the game and maybe the only negative bar the gift we gave Leicester.

Otherwise Matip was excellent, calm and collected.
Bobby danced around the Leicester defence as did Mane. Lallana had a great game also and I really liked the attacking lineup. Studge should have had a penalty too.

Great atmosphere too, main stand looked fantastic. Haven't heard noise like that since the EL games last season.

I actually thought Wijnaldum did more to mix up the pace of the game than any other player out there on Saturday.

Watched it live in the alehouse and didn't think we were brilliant, thought we did enough to win the game with flashes of good play and moments of Sunday league apathy, Migs attempted punch for example, I'm sick of this kind of half arsed mediocre level of play, he has to go, he's simply not good enough, he's been here long enough now for him to know when to come and when to stay, his decision making has cost us in the past and they will again, and no amount of pillow talk from his missus is going to change him permanently,

I hope Karius comes back against Chavs and goes on to be a permanent fixture, it's early doors for him but although he has yet to play I'm still more at ease with him between the sticks than I am with Migs there,

Anyhoo, I watched the whole match again yesterday alone and thought we were a lot better, same game I know but without distractions I could concentrate more and absorb what went on , I think in Firmino we have a world class player who will thrive under Jürgen, he reads the game well and is capable of doing things unexpected even form his own teammates, he linked up well with Studge complimenting each other nicely, we have seen already his relationship with Coutinho and more recently Mane,

 I thought Mane was slightly off his game for whatever reason, might be a slight knock or perhaps he was just missing Cou,
Yesterday for me gave us a insight to what I hope will be our regular front 4,  Coutinho, Firmino, Mane & Studge, Lallana although playing well will imho be the unlucky one, but will get game time , likewise Origi,
Gini is getting better each match and thought he had a great game, he could usurp Mane as our best signing if he continues to improve, he'd have to go some mind you,

In the end we won at a canter, although we did go through a spell where we could have fu**ed it up completely had that ball dropped under the bar,

So onto the chavs Friday, I'd be happy heading north with a point if I'm honest, but wouldn't just be fantastic if we fu**ed them over, I'm not ruling that out, I've went for 1-1 in the prediction league, we don't park the bus so if we can keep it fairly tight at the back, don't get bullied by Costa and his antics, get in behind them we can do them, I think we can get at them , if we keep our heads and keep the pace high.


YNWA

If that was Mane off his game I'd love to see when he's ON IT!

We're getting there, aren't we? 

Regarding Costa, how many times since joining chavski has that so-and-so got away with with a clear sending off offence or two, and gone on to score?  The b*st*rd better not do it against us...

But bring on the bluechavs, lets go Super Reds!

Q:   You're Claudio.

How would you have set up your team to mark Bobby , Studge  and Mane ... with Lallana lurking ?

Q:   You're Claudio.

How would you have set up your team to mark Bobby , Studge  and Mane ... with Lallana lurking ?

The same way the chavs will on friday, forget about stopping outside the ground and just drive the bus straight down the tunnel onto the pitch.

I don't care about that rule and whether or not it should have been ruled out, I'm more bothered that we put ourselves in that position to begin with. Lapses in concentration like that can easily cost you a game.

If he hadn't have run across the box Lucas wouldn't have been under the pressure as quick.  However, you're right - it was a F***ing stupid place for Mignolet to kick it to.

I actually thought Wijnaldum did more to mix up the pace of the game than any other player out there on Saturday.

Everyone sees different things. Granted I haven't watched it back yet but would like to in the next few days to reevaluate maybe.

What a performance that was, first home game of the season with the visiting champions and they were played off the park. Special mention to Ranieri, quality guy who was honest with his appraisal afterwards, many other managers in the league could take a lesson or 20 off him.

Migs: Made one decent save and took an awful lot of knocks to the point he looked worse than Kell Brook that night. Also a few howlers in there though, a couple of crosses he completely missed, some very dodgy passes out from the back. 5.5/10

Clyne: Was our worst player by far, amazed he hasn't come in for some criticism elsewhere when you look at the contributions he had to our attack, one decent cross to Sturridge who misjudged the flight but other than that he consistently gave the ball away and delivered very poor passes to his team-mates. I thought it was a really poor show from him. Defensively he was ok and as some say that's his main role but his efficiency must improve going forward or I think in time we'll be looking to upgrade. 5/10

Matip: Cool, calm and very assured, dominant in the air again and lovely on the ball, a quality performance. 7.5/10

Lucas: Gutted for him to give away the shocker because he was our best defender other than that, his passing out from the back was excellent, his closing down on others and covering for Milner was superb and overall without the error he'd have been right up there with the best on the day but the error was a total shocker and so out of character. Should have been ruled out due to a technicality but still you expect better. 7/10

Milner: After knocking him recently this was a really good performance by Milly, including the Firmino assist and the general good play moving forward this was much more back to the Barca friendly stuff. I suppose while getting comfortable in the position we should expect a bit of inconsistency because on the last game I'd have him nowhere near LB and on this game I'd be more than happy. Improve that consistency and who knows. 7.5/10

Henderson: Lovely through ball for Studge onto Mane after link up with Firmino and overall had an assured game. Tracked back with a bit more purpose and on one occasion you could see Klopp with clenched fist after one of his challenges, much more what we want to see if he's to keep that role in the side. Should have scored though but still much better these last 2 games from Hendo. 7.5/10

Lallana: Brilliant performance capped off by a brilliant goal, rightfully getting plenty of praise at the moment and looking like a really good fit in that role when on this form. Him and Mane have a bit of partnership developing too which I like the pair of them dovetailing runs and really understanding each other. One of his best performances in a red shirt and would be just behind my MotM. 8.5/10

Wijnaldum: Much better from Gini, love his late arrivals into the box this game, starting to show what he's about but this was a home game and that remains an interesting tag he has to shift. Put himself about more in the midfield area too and overall I think this was the most encouraging from him that I've seen. 7/10

Mane: Another superb performance, really does look an absolute gem of a player. Love his energy, work-rate, willingness to help the team and honestly I'm delighted we have him over Gotze. If he can shake the inconsistent tag (which considering he's been at this level since all of preseason he's shaking it a touch already) then he's an absolute bargain. Scares defenders and they really don't know if he's going to blitz them at any time. Really intelligent runs again and I was very impressed. 8.5/10

Studge: Much better than recent times, movement much better and deserves plenty of credit, did however miss a couple of really easy chances. Once where put clean through from Firmino and the other where Mane put it on a plate 5 yards out. Thankfully neither cost us and the Firmino/Studge combination is delicious. 7.5/10

Firmino: What a performance, to be MotM in this game took some doing but for me there was no competition. Outstanding first touches a couple of times that had the crowd roaring, once killing it from mid air. His combinations with Milly and the runs he was constantly making gave us so many options in and around the box. I did note that even in the first 20 seconds though he was willing to track back even to our corner flag. Honestly the lad is relentless. Fantastic first goal, reminded me of a Suarez goal, that effortless simplicity that just makes the keeper look a bit of a fool. Then the second, again made what some would have mucked up look so simple. 4 clear cut chances created other than that and people are finally starting to realise what a star this lad is. 9/10

Klopp: Has us now 14 unbeaten at home, scoring 4+ regularly and you really can see things coming together nicely. Would be good if he could get his full choice of players at the back because without Can/Karius I really don't think we've seen how we're going to shape up consistently but all the signs are there for a very nice season ahead for us. Got his selection spot on and I totally understand where he's coming from with the quietening the crowd signing his name. He takes the blame when there's plenty to go around and wants the credit to go to the lads as he expressed afterwards, exactly the leader we need. 9/10

Well in lads!

Remember two years ago when we had severe issues getting players into the box? It seemed like we actually had players who struggled to navigate themselves over the white lines. Even last year, Benteke's major problem was not getting in the box - one thing I actually agreed with Michael Owen on in commentary was him constantly lamenting his failure to do so.

It seems really simple but this is one thing Gigi is not scared to do - if you watch him off the ball, he is constantly running deep into the oppositions defences, more often than not finding his way into the defence and taking opposition players with him. It has more to do with an intuition as to where to go rather than just merely going gung-ho but I think he's definitely making a subtle impact. He replaced Joe Allen, whose ability to keep the ball was excellent but he lacked that attacking instinct, and wasn't quite as adept at making the right runs at the right time. Wijnaldum I believe has the ability to do otherwise, which could potentially come to seriously harm opposition defences in the future. Here's hoping, and I think his performance against Leicester was quietly encouraging and he could be 'the source of all the space' we could exploit.

Remember two years ago when we had severe issues getting players into the box? It seemed like we actually had players who struggled to navigate themselves over the white lines. Even last year, Benteke's major problem was not getting in the box - one thing I actually agreed with Michael Owen on in commentary was him constantly lamenting his failure to do so.

It seems really simple but this is one thing Gigi is not scared to do - if you watch him off the ball, he is constantly running deep into the oppositions defences, more often than not finding his way into the defence and taking opposition players with him. It has more to do with an intuition as to where to go rather than just merely going gung-ho but I think he's definitely making a subtle impact. He replaced Joe Allen, whose ability to keep the ball was excellent but he lacked that attacking instinct, and wasn't quite as adept at making the right runs at the right time. Wijnaldum I believe has the ability to do otherwise, which could potentially come to seriously harm opposition defences in the future. Here's hoping, and I think his performance against Leicester was quietly encouraging and he could be 'the source of all the space' we could exploit.

Love that about Klopp. He wants people in the box. When the ball spreads to the right, the left "winger", the striker, and two midfielders are in there waiting for the ball to be put in the box.

Gini naturally gets forward and that's when he looks his best. Looks like a player who was brought in with a purpose and his attributes are what Klopp wanted in midfield. Interesting to see what happens when Can comes back. Can could slot in and Henderson pushed forward but then we have Sturridge, Origi, Coutinho, Mané, Lallana, Firmino all fighting for the other 3 spots in attack.

Good problems.

I think this game really showed us how good Sturridge and Firmino can be together. Although Couthino can produce that magic and is a wonderful player i feel he can be a bit predictable a times coming in on his right. Firmino makes better use of the ball the majority of the time. Love to see that front 3 of Sturridge, Firmino and Mane get a run of games.

This. But I'd like to see the four of them play.

Coutinho for me is completely wasted out wide. His vision and ability to pick a pass out is his biggest asset so why not use that? I've never understood why we play him on the left.

Firmino on the other hand is a complete work horse and his biggest strength is his movement, he never keeps still. I think Firmino on the left for us would be a bit like how Ljungberg was for Arsenal, just constantly making runs and dragging defenders all over the place. He has a little bit more strength (and energy perhaps) than Coutinho too so I'd prefer him to track back.

For me it makes sense to keep Sturridge up top who is deadly when given a chance, having Mane and Firmino out wide who won't give defenders a minutes peace, and then having the quality of Coutinho in the middle who will supply them with passes all day long. We don't want Coutinho to make runs, we want him on the ball in the middle of the pitch, where we have lacked quality ever since Stevie left us.

This. But I'd like to see the four of them play.

Coutinho for me is completely wasted out wide. His vision and ability to pick a pass out is his biggest asset so why not use that? I've never understood why we play him on the left.

Firmino on the other hand is a complete work horse and his biggest strength is his movement, he never keeps still. I think Firmino on the left for us would be a bit like how Ljungberg was for Arsenal, just constantly making runs and dragging defenders all over the place. He has a little bit more strength (and energy perhaps) than Coutinho too so I'd prefer him to track back.

For me it makes sense to keep Sturridge up top who is deadly when given a chance, having Mane and Firmino out wide who won't give defenders a minutes peace, and then having the quality of Coutinho in the middle who will supply them with passes all day long. We don't want Coutinho to make runs, we want him on the ball in the middle of the pitch, where we have lacked quality ever since Stevie left us.

I think Firmino is completely wasted out wide and goes away from what he's good at. Phil at least has some pace and trickery with his quick feet to be able to take on fullbacks, it's just his decision making that needs to improve to be more effective there. Firmino is more about linking the play together and dropping in to spaces between the lines.

However, i don't see why Phil couldn't perform the same role that Gini is doing but better. Gini has been solid but i've always liked the idea of playing Coutinho deeper in midfield and bursting forward from deep.