Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool: In game and Post Match discussion

There are some very dramatic posts in this thread. There's no need to over complicate. We've got a very good first 11 who are totally knackered and a sh*te bench. There's not any more to it than that.

and who's fault is it that the squad is so thin, why for example do we not have a single back up striker, and no I really don't count Ings or Solanke as strikers because they are well below the standard needed in the prem. Midfield and defence I agree is just unlucky because of injuries but there is no excuse for not having more firepower upfront. As much as I think Sturridge's best days are behind him I sure wouldn't mind having him around at this moment.

As others have said lets hope the 1 weeks rest is all that is needed because if we play in the same tired way against Brighton then we lose our place in the CL which will be insane if you consider where we were a few weeks ago.

oh and Buvac, F**k YOU TOO!

lets be honest, this is Liverpool, we were never going to qualify for the Champions League with 3 games to go were we?

it will come down to the Brighton game, and to be honest we need a massive kick up the arse because we have been awful since destroying Roma.

my main worry is this team does not have a winning mentality yet, will this cost us on the 26th?

I couldn’t watch or listen to the game live, but my lad text me and said 73% possession, surely only a matter of time.
With that I thought, yeah they letting us have the ball, sitting deep, we’ll get frustrated, push on and get caught on the counter😳
As it happens, it became clear, they did sit back, but had 5 across the middle. Never over ran us as such, but made it difficult to break through with little space behind.
Expect Brighton to do similar next week, and with our current midfield options lacking creativity, we need to find another solution. Especially with everyone having one eye on the final.
Don’t think Zidane will change the way they play, so hopefully that will create opportunities to get back to our best. Think we may need to win it for CL next season.
Oh the ups and downs of being a Liverpool supporters eh !

Conte & Mourinho - 2 points from 12

Wenger \ Pep we can handle

Lets hope Zidane doesnt change his style

Which CB of Chelsea is better at passing than VVD?

Sorry mate, Auto correct inserted PASS, when I have typed PACE.... I have corrected it in the original post (Must proof read)

The only question that now matters is this, "Can Jürgen get his starting XI fit and motivated in 1 weeks time"?
I genuinely am a bit nervous, thank f**k Brighton have nothing to play for or else we'd be in serious trouble, imagine if we had Swansea or Southampton as the final game!
By the way I'm not being all negative about the team as they have been magnificent this season but something is fu**ed up at the moment, be it fitness or focus and its a big concern.

Why do you feel you have to apologize; or that it is negativity to voice sometime that concerns you about the team..??
To me, it just shows how much you care about LFC, and the manager rather than see everything through Red tinted glass...

Keep voicing your concerns and don't let anyone tell you, or make you feel that you can not

I don't agree with you on the idea that the players let him down precisely because of what you wrote later in your post. You nailed it, the squad is simply not deep enough for Klopp or the players remaining to go into games like this one and perform at the same level they did two weeks ago.

The midfield is completely depleted and left with nobody good enough to offer support to the front three. The two players who offered that on a regular basis are both out with injuries. The right-back and left-back positions have no decent back-up in case of injuries or even for rotation. Same goes for the wings and the striker. We knew that going into the season and it's not surprising that when we lost key players to injuries we had nobody to replace them. Can's absence went unnoticed because OX was there, but now that Ox is out too, its a nightmare in midfield.

It's not the fault of the players or even the immediate mistake of Klopp. He's fielding the players he has and it's simply not enough. I would say that I'm disappointed in him not fiddling with the formation before the game in order to hide the weaknesses and bring in some creativity behind the front trio, but then again, if he does that and we lose the game, he's getting crucified.

This is why a lot of fans, before the season started, were raging for more signings, but this is what we're left with for now. Klopp needs to change things in the formation in order to create support for the front three or its all gonna be copies of the games against Stoke and Chelsea.

When you look at it, we oughta be more surprised that this season has gone so well. 19 yo at RB who is performing really good, LB that everybody believed would be a decent addition at most has turned into arguably the best LB in the league, Salah surprising everybody with double the numbers the most optimistic of us had predicted for him.

Key positions have to be filled with quality and depth. Otherwise this is what happens.

The same squad was at Roma. The same squad was in Manchester. Intensity levels didn't drop there. Why should it just because we're playing less glamorous clubs like Everton, West Brom or Stoke, let alone against a top four rival in Chelsea. Your argument holds no water and is part of the excuses I talked about.

Genuinely worried about having to beat Brighton on the last day to guarantee CL Qualification for next Season.

On to this morning's game, we dominated those cu*ts for the majority of the game, they get one lucky goal and they get the 3 points.

As much as we controlled the game, apart from Sadio's couple of shots, we didn't have another shot on target, I don't recall.
Gut wrenching. Hate those cu*ts.

This dip in form couldn't have come at a worse time. Obviously a combination of having a depleted squad but more importantly Buvac, F***ing off. Hope Klopp can have a meeting with him and get him back to the Club for these last 2 games.

Come on lads, don't F**k this up ...don't let it all rest on us beating RM In the CL Final.

We didn't control the game at all. They dictated how the game would be played from the beginning. They started out by letting us have the ball, soak up pressure, go up the other end occasionally, score, then let us have the ball for the rest of the day telling us to break them down. Their gameplan worked.

As one of the biggest clubs in the world, we want to have a lot to look forward to and play for, at this time of year. Therefore big games and busy schedules are the norm. And it's not good enough to say you were "tired".

Solanke is honestly one of the worst signings we've ever made. Whoever was responsible for it got it horribly wrong. Not only has he scored a total of 0 goals all season long, he misses sitters such as against Burnley in September, Everton in April to name two, costing us valuable points, and contributes nothing to the play either than get bundled off the ball, lose possession as he did yesterday, more than once, or as he did in Rome, get himself needlessly booked. I really don't know what people see in him, but whatever it is, it just hasn't worked out.

So we finish our away games as we started. Disappointed after a trip to London. Thankfully the last game is at home, and it's like golddust when you need a result, as we do. Though Brighton won't set up any differently to Chelsea or Stoke or West Brom. They parked the bus when they were at home, they parked the bus at the weekend, and they're going to park the bus here. So it's going to be another one of those days until we go ahead. At which point we should be able to run away with it.

We'll probably finish next season away from home, so it's important that we take advantage of the last game this year, at home with three days extra rest, to a side thinking of their holidays. So let's see if getting the result we need is as easy as that.

Rangers can have Solanke

Could get a job as the new Kryten in Red Dwarf with his 50p head, don't even think he'll cut it in Scotland, very sluggish for someone so young.

Conte & Mourinho - 2 points from 12

Wenger \ Pep we can handle

Lets hope Zidane doesnt change his style

You can pick and choose stats all over the place - we took 4/6 off Chelsea last season and they won the league.

We handled Conte fine then so therefore clearly we’re worse than last year........except that’s bollocks.

We were flat and thin of squad yesterday and that’s all. Rest is micro analysis that just betrays our own neuroses.

You can pick and choose stats all over the place - we took 4/6 off Chelsea last season and they won the league.

We handled Conte fine then so therefore clearly we’re worse than last year........except that’s bollocks.

We were flat and thin of squad yesterday and that’s all. Rest is micro analysis that just betrays our own neuroses.

Even in regard to our squad being too thin, we've been unlucky with injuries right now. We have 6 CMs in the squad ( not counting TAA). 3 of them injured at the same time is just unfortunate. There's only so many CMs you can have in your squad, sometimes you will get a spell of multiple injuries.

In defence, we are ok for numbers, we just still need a bit more quality.

Up front is where we are over reliant on the front 3. I am a long term moaner about us not bringing in another striker (or striker/winger). We have actually been pretty lucky (all season) that we haven't had the kind of injury problems up front that we have had in midfield. That would really have hurt us far more than our CM injuries are hurting us now. ( It has still meant that those guys are starting to look tired though.)

Even in regard to our squad being too thin, we've been unlucky with injuries right now. We have 6 CMs in the squad ( not counting TAA). 3 of them injured at the same time is just unfortunate. There's only so many CMs you can have in your squad, sometimes you will get a spell of multiple injuries.

In defence, we are ok for numbers, we just still need a bit more quality.

Up front is where we are over reliant on the front 3. I am a long term moaner about us not bringing in another striker (or striker/winger). We have actually been pretty lucky (all season) that we haven't had the kind of injury problems up front that we have had in midfield. That would really have hurt us far more than our CM injuries are hurting us now. ( It has still meant that those guys are starting to look tired though.)

Yep agree

Woodburn should be getting more game time, I honestly believe he'd add more threat and skill than Solanke.

Anyone know if James Pearce of The Echo reads these boards? He doesn't mention where he saw the negativity he mentions here, but I know where I saw it.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/european-heroics-taken-toll-liverpool-14625696

And no, I don't think it's wrong for a supporter to point out flaws in a performance or in a team setup. We all do that. But the tendency to go from euphoria to we're on the eve of destruction after a bad result sometimes beggars belief.

As I said before a day or two off to recover, then a proper build up to Brighton and we'll deliver the needed result, just as we did last year vs. Middlesbrough.

And then comes the biggest match the club has had in a decade. A lot to be thankful for and excited about.

Woodburn should be getting more game time, I honestly believe he'd add more threat and skill than Solanke.

See, the fact that Klopp not been picking him at all makes me think there is some question about just how good he is. I was excited like everyone else when he broke through. I know he was ill for quite a while and apparently lost a lot of weight and it took a lot out of him, but he hasn't been on the park with the first team since September.

Given the circumstances, it doesn't seem likely he will play unless there is a lopsided scoreline. With Lallana supposedly being available for selection vs. Brighton, Ben might not even make the bench.

I hope it's just a case of a lost year because of illness and that he'll hit the ground running during preseason this summer, but I'm wondering just what the future holds for him.
 

See, the fact that Klopp not been picking him at all makes me think there is some question about just how good he is. I was excited like everyone else when he broke through. I know he was ill for quite a while and apparently lost a lot of weight and it took a lot out of him, but he hasn't been on the park with the first team since September.

Given the circumstances, it doesn't seem likely he will play unless there is a lopsided scoreline. With Lallana supposedly being available for selection vs. Brighton, Ben might not even make the bench.

I hope it's just a case of a lost year because of illness and that he'll hit the ground running during preseason this summer, but I'm wondering just what the future holds for him.
 

Didn't realize he been ill, I know what it's like to lose weight through an illness, does take ages to recover physically and mentally, hope he does.

Coming back after a long hiatus and this thread has made me realise why I took that hiatus.

I think people are either too spoilt or have forgotten that we're Liverpool and we never do it easy.

We could finish the season in the champions league next year AND be champions of Europe and then go on to spend a couple of hundred million strengthening the squad and bench.

Get them chins off the floor Red folk, the futures bright.

Think we're at a crossroads here. The future could be as bright as you say or we could be looking at a Thursday-Sunday Europa League schedule which rarely ends well for the seasons to come league position.

We're 2 wins from greatness or a draw and a defeat away from nothingness.

Didn't realize he been ill, I know what it's like to lose weight through an illness, does take ages to recover physically and mentally, hope he does.

It was not a long term illness. It's a poor excuse.

Woodburn should be getting more game time, I honestly believe he'd add more threat and skill than Solanke.

The fact he isn’t getting gametime just tells me he isn’t anywhere as close as we’d have hoped him to have been in his development, either that or he’s not putting the effort in at training. TAA and Gomez have both had tough games this season but on the whole, been regulars now and they are a similar age. If Klopp thought Woodburn had what it takes to come on and have an impact or start and play well, then I have no doubts that he’d have been playing, especially with the injuries we’ve got.

Personally, I’ve never understood all the hype about Woodburn, he made a good first impression but he’s never looked like a special talent breaking through IMO, just a youngster who will be good in the Championship but that’s as far as he goes. You look at TAA and right from the start, he’s looked like a real talent who will go on to become a brilliant player. We’ve not had a player breakthrough properly since the Owen/Gerrard days and TAA looks like the one who could join that list where as I just don’t see that with Woodburn.

Best part of a year since he played isn’t it? Think that speaks for itself.

It was not a long term illness. It's a poor excuse.

First a.mathematician now a doctor/ physio, christ rib you are a man of many talents

Think we're at a crossroads here. The future could be as bright as you say or we could be looking at a Thursday-Sunday Europa League schedule which rarely ends well for the seasons to come league position.

We're 2 wins from greatness or a draw and a defeat away from nothingness.

No we aren’t.

Either way - this has been an enormous step forward.

We won’t miss out on Champ League.

What is absolute is that the squad needs significant improvement - probably 6 players min (allowing for a couple of departures).

Direction of travel is clear - the question is how quick do the owners wanna get there........

It was not a long term illness. It's a poor excuse.

So Dr. Rip, I assume you have all the details of his illness !
Short term illness, doesn’t necessarily exclude long term recovery !

Poor performance in the last few games, we seem to be lacking pace, hope it comes back for the weekend