Liverpool 2-2 Sevilla : In game and Post Match discussion

The question is; does Klopp has the guts to sell one or two of the big names comes January to show he means business? I'm sure whoever we got in to replace these clown of a defence will not do any worse.

Hopefully he saw N'Zonzi and pointed to Henderson what he should doing before fcking him off to Russia.. at a pack with donkey Lovren.. the most overrated and useless players that I've seen in a Liverpool shirt.

Could be mate. Emre got the higher score due to his effort to be honest, the lad really did put in a shift but I agree that he doesn't know what's going on around him enough of the time, or nearly enough of the time. It was a problem that was raised about his game early on, that awareness just isn't there.

Hendo was a tough one to score because he did some things well and when the closing came off it was fine but so often he just ghosted past his man, but unfortunately he was ghosting past the man with the ball, not with the ball himself I just couldn't get my head around that, doing it once or twice you think mistimed but doing it 4 or 5 times and it started really pissing me off. Time and again the space in the middle would then be enormous and we were lucky not to concede better chances on the back of those moments and while we weren't punished it was no thanks to Hendo. Also thought his passing was really poor, aside from the 1-2 of course, lots of aimless passes just hit into the corners that are clearly played for Salah/Mane to run on to, but they're not just 40/60 passes, they're passes that give our lads no chances and with those time and again the speedsters will be bloody knackered by the time they get a decent one.

So yeah, just frustrated me mate, nothing new there though as you know too well

Yeh I get it - I defend him at times but we're discussing who was less shitty tonight......

To that end one thing is for sure.......neither were good ENOUGH tonight.

Look at the 2nd goal - Can is nowhere and it's Henderson trying to cover.......

Right before your eyes.

Both were at fault, both should have done better, I actually thought Henderson should have done better between the two.

Then of course you had the poor positioning of our defenders who completely lost it.

I lost count of the number of times he just ran straight past the ball as if he was blind.

Yeah, totally bizarre.

Of course the missed penalty was a major factor

Have you seriously never seen this team concede more than 1 goal after being ahead? Doesn't matter if we're ahead by 1 or 2 goals, one mistake is all it takes for the other team to get back into the game. We don't know how to hold the lead, end of.
Besides, we were lucky not to concede in the last minute there.

Entertaining ol game, but disappointing not to get the 3 points
Rue the missed peno from Firmino, miss the days when SG stuck them all away. Not sure he has the mentality to be peno taker long term.
Once we missed that, and they scored, thought we got a bit more ragged, and desperate, lots of off target shots.
And unfortunately the subs had no impact, Cou and Sturdge had time to do something, Cou hardly got into the game, he needs more time.
Moreno, was great going forward, but out of position for 1st, and didn't stay with the guy for the 2nd. Liked Matip taking the ball out of defense, Lovren looked rusty, and Gomez was the opposite of Alberto, more solid, but nowhere near as good going forward. Karius, not at fault for any goal, and apart from that had little to do.
Hendo had good and poor spells, Can was OK, thought Gini did pretty well.

But - you need to be able to defend to progress in competitions, and we don't seem to have made any progress improving the defense for several years. Our summer buys - mainly attacking. Our main problems - in defense. Do the maths....

He did one good thing - the through ball to Moreno for our first goal. And that was it.

Aside from that it was a f**king atrocious performance by Henderson. Side pass, side pass, side pass, back pass. I lost count of the number of times he just ran straight past the ball as if he was blind. Opposition players brushed him off like a feather. He failed to intercept the ball once it seems. And when he did receive the ball he appeared all jittery, shitting himself almost, desperate to get the ball away in sheer fear of doing something wrong...often backwards or sideways. Yes he works hard, harder than most, but a lot of it is wasted energy because of his own lack of awareness and confidence. But he's Liverpool captain? These shouldn't be issues surely?

Just imagine - Henderson is transported back in time to the night of the 8th December 2004 as captain of Liverpool in place of Steven Gerrard - an alternative history. We're 2-1 up against Olympiakos but we need a third to ensure progress through to the next round. The stadium is on edge - just ONE chance and possibly with it ONE goal is all that stands between us having a shot with the big boys in the knockout rounds or slogging away once more in the UEFA Cup. The commentators up in the gantry are anticipating an exciting crescendo - choosing their words carefully for what promises to be a spectacular end to the match! It's just going into the 90th minute and then.... for this exciting climax we go to Martin Tyler commentating live for Sky Sports!

=======

Martin Tyler: Riise, it's a bit strong. Here's Carragher, trying to stay cool. Mellor....lovely cushioned header to HENDERSON...who goes back to Riise on the left...it's just not materialising for Liverpool.

........

93rd minute

Martin Tyler: Well the three minutes of added time are up, the referee looks at his watch...and that's it. Liverpool are sent crashing out of Europe. They are winners on the night here at Anfield but that failure to bag that all important third goal means that they'll have to make do with the UEFA Cup. The crescendo we were promised at 2-1 did not materialise in the end and sadly for them it's a disappointing return ultimately for Liverpool in the Champions League.

I remember how a lot of fans compared him to Gerrard

aaaaakh....

Thing is though, we keep blaming the individual defenders, and there are good reasons for that, but the team as a whole (except ironically, the front lads) just doesn't seem to know how to set up to defend.  That's insane at this level.

It starts with the midfield, a slow and weak and often missing Gini and slow Can and a hardworking hardrunning hendo that often looks better than what he actually is. Can;t teach players new tricks at this stage and age, either they are good enough or that they aren't. Klopp persists with these 3 players in midfield and Klopp has to be fully responsible for that. When a novice like me can see that glaring weakness and he can't or won't do anything when the opposition can see that and exploited that to the fullest then Klopp is simply asking for trouble. Too much faith on players not good enough and too stubborn not to change the tactics. 

Both were at fault, both should have done better, I actually thought Henderson should have done better between the two.

Then of course you had the poor positioning of our defenders who completely lost it.

Fair dos fella. I thought Hendo switched off for a fraction but flicked back on when he saw the fact that Can was way off.....

Regardless - I don't like them together and right now Can is doing my head in more than Hendo........we all see what we believe we do anyway

Have you seriously never seen this team concede more than 1 goal after being ahead? Doesn't matter if we're ahead by 1 or 2 goals, one mistake is all it takes for the other team to get back into the game. We don't know how to hold the lead, end of.
Besides, we were lucky not to concede in the last minute there.

No doubt you're right, but you still have to take your chances and they don't come better than a penno.  He should have buried it.  Missed the goal.  The pen was crucial. 

We're missing Lallana big time. Hendo, Can, and Gini just doesn't cut it.

Fair dos fella. I thought Hendo switched off for a fraction but flicked back on when he saw the fact that Can was way off.....

Regardless - I don't like them together and right now Can is doing my head in more than Hendo........we all see what we believe we do anyway

We can agree that Lovren is absolutely hopeless, I mean bloody hell.

Yeah, totally bizarre.

If I did that my friends and family would be telling me to go to the opticians and worrying themselves sick that something was seriously wrong with me.

We're missing Lallana big time. Hendo, Can, and Gini just doesn't cut it.

We are mate.

Goodnight my fellow disappointed disillusioned Kopites.

Stuck record time on here, but what else can you say? Just the exact usual from us.

Good going forward in the first half, but not clinical enough to kill the game. And, of course, comedy defending at the other end gifts them 2 goals and we drop 2 points in a game we should have won easily.

Players of note: thought Salah was excellent, his high speed hustling is a really good fit for Jürgen's style; Moreno was superb going forward in the first half, but still can't defend; Lovren is too nervous; Matip is too relaxed ( still think he's decent though); Coutinho got a pretty good reception, good to see him back in the side; Karius had a decent game, good distribution with his throws.

Going to be another rollercoaster season watching us, but hard to see us winning anything defending like we do.

Yeh I get it - I defend him at times but we're discussing who was less shitty tonight......

To that end one thing is for sure.......neither were good ENOUGH tonight.

Yeah, fair enough mate.

Hurts my eyes... at least we've got Keita coming and breathe!

We're missing Lallana big time. Hendo, Can, and Gini just doesn't cut it.

We're missing a #6, VVD and Butland

We're missing Lallana big time. Hendo, Can, and Gini just doesn't cut it.

The problem with Lallana’s return will be in place of Gini and not henderson.    The problem is that Henderson thinks he is Gerrard. Personally, i would drop Henderson indefinitely.

I'm going to put this very simply. We have three major problems at the club.

• 1. We don't defend near well enough.
• 2. We just aren't near clinical enough up front.
• 3. We're paying the price for a chronic lack of investment in experience.

We're great in our approach play but the front three are too wasteful and we lack the ruthlessness needed to kill teams off when we have them on the ropes. We're also too nice, and not just in our generosity of gifting the opposition goals, but in our lack of cynacism. Suarez would pinch and sledge players non-stop throughout a match and we seem to have no one in the side who can do that, someone who can wind up a player to the point they make a mistake. We have a lot to learn in a very short time if we're to become a success with this team. Finally, seven goals conceded in two matches proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Klopp was wrong to suggest only Van Dyke could improve us. A Chimp's Tea Party would be an improvement over our back five when defending.

No doubt you're right, but you still have to take your chances and they don't come better than a penno.  He should have buried it.  Missed the goal.  The pen was crucial.

No doubt he should have buried it, but a missed penalty is not indicative of our issue. The main problem to me is, as good as our attack is, they are still extremely wasteful with their chances. And the final passes are terrible. Couple that with our sh*t defense and we're in for many more upsetting results this season. 

Sorry to say this but i cant see us winning thing this season.

Klopp stubborn and inflexible in his approach. Subs so late that they may not bother coming on. We may win some will lose more than others. 

I think i will never see us win PL.

Hardly the end of the world that result. One of the two hardest games (in theory) we'll have in the group and they didn't beat us, we beat ourselves. While that F***ing sucks, it is still all there on the tape to improve from. I've been saying this for years so who knows if they'll ever actually work it out, but I'm still less angsty when I see a Liverpool team look far better and just F**k it themselves, rather than be soundly beaten all over the pitch and look like a second rate side. Maybe just me, but this group is easily still there for the taking. I don't know if anyone expected to win every group game, I certainly didn't.

Move on. Smash Burnley at the weekend. Coutinho only just starting to get back into things. Spartak in a couple weeks will have to deal with a Mane coming off a couple weeks rest. Good luck.

. The crescendo we were promised at 2-1 did not materialise in the end and sadly for them it's a disappointing return ultimately for Liverpool in the Champions League. [/i]

Olympiakos  Spartak scores and the game ends 2-2.

Come back Stevie. We miss you more than you miss us.