AFC Bournemouth 1-0 Liverpool: In game and Post Match discussion

Klopp should have told them it was the mancs that were out there again,it might have at least generated some interest from them ffs.

From the sublime to the ridiculous. What a screw up. Controlled the first 25 or so but couldn't quite make it count. Then VVD does his half asleep gig. This Mr.Cool thing is starting to wear a bit thin. Have to be on high alert even against relatively modest opposition.

I said we are concentrating too much down Mo's side and it leaves Nunez and Gakpo out of it to a degree. Need to spread the play a lot better. It's a blow, back to 6 pts behind with a game in hand. Can't afford any more screw ups that's for sure.

This hurts - would love to know what they are thinking taking to the pitch sky high confidence and then turn that out

It was almost a carbon copy of the Real Madrid game. Fantastic first 15 minutes where we were opening them up at will then it all went to pot. The biggest difference was we didn't score when we were on top this time, if we had then we'd have blown them away but we didn't and instead we sit here with our first defeat in six League games. It's disappointing to take but that's what we've got to do. Take it on the chin, brush ourselves down and get back on track in midweek.

Alisson - like the United game he didn't have too much to do and his handling of the ball was sound. Couldn't do a great deal with the goal - the blame for that falls solely on those in front of him.

Alexander-Arnold - a suicide pass that put us on the back foot after we'd made a good start to the game and from there on it just went from bad to worse for the lad from West Derby. We know he's not the best defensively so you almost expect errors but failing to jump for a cross and letting the opposition chest it, control it on their thigh and then dink it over your dangling foot is worse than schoolboy defending. We also know, on his day, he can be devastating with the ball at his feet but today was nowhere near that level.

Konate - I was full of praise for his individual performance against United, saying how everyone around plays better when he's there but that wasn't the case today. I don't think he personally did that much wrong but those around him did not play well. Was unfortunate to give a free kick away when he clearly won the ball, despite what that tit Jenas was saying on commentary. Made another last ditch tackle as well. If we'd won, his performance would be that of a decent outing because we've lost it's all doom and gloom and the whole team played sh*te. I don't think Konate was too bad today.

Van Dijk - what I've just said about Konate, can't be said about our number 4 who was F***ing shocking in both boxes. First header, cleared off the line fair enough. Second header, has to score. Slight tug on the arm or not, he has to power that into the net. As for his defensive work, which he's in the team for, poor throughout. We've laughed for the last week at the United players giving up against us, they were getting beat when they gave up. Van Dijk stopped running at 0-0 and it lead to them scoring. Should of dealt with the ball initially, didn't. Should of been up the Bournemouth lad's arse to make sure he couldn't cross, wasn't. Should of bust a F***ing gut to at least get back to cut the cross out, didn't. It's not acceptable to not try.

Robertson - another ok display from Robbo. I said after the United win (I think) that his form hasn't dropped anywhere near as much as others and today was another example of it. For me, he's been our best player this year. Could of got himself a goal if it wasn't for a good save, could of had another couple of assists from set pieces and was another hard working effort from him. Happy birthday Robbo!

Elliott - gave the ball away with his first touch and never recovered. I've said it about the young lad time and again that he does the donkey work well, grafting his bollocks off but with the ball he doesn't have the ability in his feet to do what his brain wants him to do. So it's either give the ball away countlessly or just play safe backward passes that don't hurt the opposition nor help us. I remember similar arguments being made over Jordan Henderson though in his first couple of years here.

Fabinho - wasn't his worst performance of the season, far from it, but also wasn't as good as it has been in recent weeks - but that could be said for most, if not all, of the team. But his failure to track Billing gave their midfielder a free run to goal and obviously tucked it away. It was something I was always critical of Emre Can over, wouldn't (or couldn't) track back and just pass responsibility on to someone else so if they scored, he was far enough away from the play to say F**k all to do with me lads. But Fabinho was the nearest player to Billing when he starts his run and is nowhere to be seen by the time Van Dijk has completely ballsed up the situation and allowed an easy cross into the middle of the box to be knocked in by Billing.

Bajcetic - thought the first half just passed him by. Didn't do much wrong, kept the ball nicely enough but like Elliott on the other side wasn't hurting the opposition. Improved in the second and looked much more comfortable playing as a pair in the middle than the three man we usually operate as. I don't think we're ready to start a League match, especially one we have to win like today, with both Harvey and Stefan. And if does have to be one or the other, then based on their brief Liverpool careers - I'd go for the Spaniard every time.

Salah - looked lively early on, bit of a tame shot with our first real effort but looked as if he was going to continue from the United result. Then as the game wore on, we got a bit more of this season's Salah rather than the one we saw on Sunday. Poor control, trying too much on his own or just not being in the game at all. The penalty was a disaster, it was closer to the corner flag than the corner of the goal. But it's his first missed in over 12 months for us so maybe he was due one.

Gakpo - like his two amigos either side of him, started the game brightly then sort of went into his shell as the first half wore on. Second half, for me was our best player when he dropped a little deeper with the inclusion of Jota. Ran at them, committed them into making fouls, was trying to be the link up man. It won't go down in the history of great performances from him but by far the best of the bad bunch today.

Nunez - started brightly as i've said about Salah and Gakpo. Caused problems which led to Salah's chance, had an effort himself when he cut in and looked like the front three from Sunday. But Darwin ended up playing more like Salah for the rest of the time he was on the pitch, than Gakpo. And I know some of said they understand his frustration at being brought off but I don't think he done much when he was played centrally for the second half. Maybe swapping him and Jota around would of been the best solution.

Jota - like Gakpo, was at least trying to run at the Bournemouth defence. Had a shot early on, won the penalty and huffed and puffed a lot. I've always thought he was better through the middle than out wide so I wouldn't of minded Jürgen playing him centrally and keeping Nunez on the left but I can see why he chose to go the way he did. And let's be honest, he's more qualified than any of us to play players where he thinks they'll be most dangerous.

Firmino - had the sort of performance I was worried he was going to have against United having said he's leaving, we wouldn't actually see him in a Liverpool shirt again even if he was on the pitch. Thankfully against United it didn't go that way, he was outstanding on Sunday during his cameo role. Today though, he might as well of stayed on the bench. I don't know if he did touch the ball when he came on but if he did it didn't lead to much.

Henderson - I've said for a while that he needs to play just for his leadership qualities because without him we seem very short in that regard. He might not do much with the ball to hurt the opposition but his voice is a must on the pitch, especially when we're performing as badly as we did today. Obviously I wouldn't be saying any of this if we'd taken one of those three or four chances we had in the first half and we'd won comfortably.

Milner - another solid dependable performance from the OAP. Great dink to the far post for the Jota header which won the penalty and a good tackle or two thrown in for good measure. I know we don't really want to be using a 37 year old James Milner as our long term right back but for the last few months of this season, it may be the best choice unless Trent's form takes a huge incline.

Carvalho - poor b***ard hasn't been since for months and then he's given five minutes to try and save the day.

Overall it was a bright start that dimmed far too quickly. I don't think it'd be too hard to swallow if it was on the back of the of the Brentford, Brighton and Wolves defeats but the fact it's come off the back of four wins and a draw without conceding and especially a 7-0 twatting of United, means this is a tough one to take because we should of been full of confidence and swatting these cu*ts aside.

But F**k it. It's a game of footy at the end of the day so let's not spend too much time worrying what should of been and let's look forward to what might be in the future. We can't change today's result so getting pissed off isn't going to help, it's only gonna make us feel worse. On to Madrid on Wednesday and another famous night for Liverpool in the European Cup.

It was almost a carbon copy of the Real Madrid game. Fantastic first 15 minutes where we were opening them up at will then it all went to pot. The biggest difference was we didn't score when we were on top this time, if we had then we'd have blown them away but we didn't and instead we sit here with our first defeat in six League games. It's disappointing to take but that's what we've got to do. Take it on the chin, brush ourselves down and get back on track in midweek.

Alisson - like the United game he didn't have too much to do and his handling of the ball was sound. Couldn't do a great deal with the goal - the blame for that falls solely on those in front of him.

Alexander-Arnold - a suicide pass that put us on the back foot after we'd made a good start to the game and from there on it just went from bad to worse for the lad from West Derby. We know he's not the best defensively so you almost expect errors but failing to jump for a cross and letting the opposition chest it, control it on their thigh and then dink it over your dangling foot is worse than schoolboy defending. We also know, on his day, he can be devastating with the ball at his feet but today was nowhere near that level.

Konate - I was full of praise for his individual performance against United, saying how everyone around plays better when he's there but that wasn't the case today. I don't think he personally did that much wrong but those around him did not play well. Was unfortunate to give a free kick away when he clearly won the ball, despite what that tit Jenas was saying on commentary. Made another last ditch tackle as well. If we'd won, his performance would be that of a decent outing because we've lost it's all doom and gloom and the whole team played sh*te. I don't think Konate was too bad today.

Van Dijk - what I've just said about Konate, can't be said about our number 4 who was f**king shocking in both boxes. First header, cleared off the line fair enough. Second header, has to score. Slight tug on the arm or not, he has to power that into the net. As for his defensive work, which he's in the team for, poor throughout. We've laughed for the last week at the United players giving up against us, they were getting beat when they gave up. Van Dijk stopped running at 0-0 and it lead to them scoring. Should of dealt with the ball initially, didn't. Should of been up the Bournemouth lad's arse to make sure he couldn't cross, wasn't. Should of bust a f**king gut to at least get back to cut the cross out, didn't. It's not acceptable to not try.

Robertson - another ok display from Robbo. I said after the United win (I think) that his form hasn't dropped anywhere near as much as others and today was another example of it. For me, he's been our best player this year. Could of got himself a goal if it wasn't for a good save, could of had another couple of assists from set pieces and was another hard working effort from him. Happy birthday Robbo!

Elliott - gave the ball away with his first touch and never recovered. I've said it about the young lad time and again that he does the donkey work well, grafting his bollocks off but with the ball he doesn't have the ability in his feet to do what his brain wants him to do. So it's either give the ball away countlessly or just play safe backward passes that don't hurt the opposition nor help us. I remember similar arguments being made over Jordan Henderson though in his first couple of years here.

Fabinho - wasn't his worst performance of the season, far from it, but also wasn't as good as it has been in recent weeks - but that could be said for most, if not all, of the team. But his failure to track Billing gave their midfielder a free run to goal and obviously tucked it away. It was something I was always critical of Emre Can over, wouldn't (or couldn't) track back and just pass responsibility on to someone else so if they scored, he was far enough away from the play to say f**k all to do with me lads. But Fabinho was the nearest player to Billing when he starts his run and is nowhere to be seen by the time Van Dijk has completely ballsed up the situation and allowed an easy cross into the middle of the box to be knocked in by Billing.

Bajcetic - thought the first half just passed him by. Didn't do much wrong, kept the ball nicely enough but like Elliott on the other side wasn't hurting the opposition. Improved in the second and looked much more comfortable playing as a pair in the middle than the three man we usually operate as. I don't think we're ready to start a League match, especially one we have to win like today, with both Harvey and Stefan. And if does have to be one or the other, then based on their brief Liverpool careers - I'd go for the Spaniard every time.

Salah - looked lively early on, bit of a tame shot with our first real effort but looked as if he was going to continue from the United result. Then as the game wore on, we got a bit more of this season's Salah rather than the one we saw on Sunday. Poor control, trying too much on his own or just not being in the game at all. The penalty was a disaster, it was closer to the corner flag than the corner of the goal. But it's his first missed in over 12 months for us so maybe he was due one.

Gakpo - like his two amigos either side of him, started the game brightly then sort of went into his shell as the first half wore on. Second half, for me was our best player when he dropped a little deeper with the inclusion of Jota. Ran at them, committed them into making fouls, was trying to be the link up man. It won't go down in the history of great performances from him but by far the best of the bad bunch today.

Nunez - started brightly as i've said about Salah and Gakpo. Caused problems which led to Salah's chance, had an effort himself when he cut in and looked like the front three from Sunday. But Darwin ended up playing more like Salah for the rest of the time he was on the pitch, than Gakpo. And I know some of said they understand his frustration at being brought off but I don't think he done much when he was played centrally for the second half. Maybe swapping him and Jota around would of been the best solution.

Jota - like Gakpo, was at least trying to run at the Bournemouth defence. Had a shot early on, won the penalty and huffed and puffed a lot. I've always thought he was better through the middle than out wide so I wouldn't of minded Jürgen playing him centrally and keeping Nunez on the left but I can see why he chose to go the way he did. And let's be honest, he's more qualified than any of us to play players where he thinks they'll be most dangerous.

Firmino - had the sort of performance I was worried he was going to have against United having said he's leaving, we wouldn't actually see him in a Liverpool shirt again even if he was on the pitch. Thankfully against United it didn't go that way, he was outstanding on Sunday during his cameo role. Today though, he might as well of stayed on the bench. I don't know if he did touch the ball when he came on but if he did it didn't lead to much.

Henderson - I've said for a while that he needs to play just for his leadership qualities because without him we seem very short in that regard. He might not do much with the ball to hurt the opposition but his voice is a must on the pitch, especially when we're performing as badly as we did today. Obviously I wouldn't be saying any of this if we'd taken one of those three or four chances we had in the first half and we'd won comfortably.

Milner - another solid dependable performance from the OAP. Great dink to the far post for the Jota header which won the penalty and a good tackle or two thrown in for good measure. I know we don't really want to be using a 37 year old James Milner as our long term right back but for the last few months of this season, it may be the best choice unless Trent's form takes a huge incline.

Carvalho - poor b***ard hasn't been since for months and then he's given five minutes to try and save the day.

Overall it was a bright start that dimmed far too quickly. I don't think it'd be too hard to swallow if it was on the back of the of the Brentford, Brighton and Wolves defeats but the fact it's come off the back of four wins and a draw without conceding and especially a 7-0 twatting of United, means this is a tough one to take because we should of been full of confidence and swatting these cu*ts aside.

But f**k it. It's a game of footy at the end of the day so let's not spend too much time worrying what should of been and let's look forward to what might be in the future. We can't change today's result so getting pissed off isn't going to help, it's only gonna make us feel worse. On to Madrid on Wednesday and another famous night for Liverpool in the European Cup.

Why has VVD regressed so much though? Is it all because of that injury?
I have very little confidence in him right now. Players seem to run past him and bully him at will.

Talk about chalk and cheese, after the contrast to last weekend !!

Quite unbelievable, we looked so off it today after being so on it last Sunday, not good 

Last week was an exception. They reverted to the normal today. Lazy, spineless and gutless.

Van dijk reverted to type ... lazy and half arsed. And then acting like it was others fault
... f*cking laughable.

Last week was an exception. They reverted to the normal today. Lazy, spineless and gutless.

Van dijk reverted to type ... lazy and half arsed. And then acting like it was others fault
... f*cking laughable.

Same formation same stagnated style of play. No plan B from Klopp.

Time for him to go.

Doesn’t matter who we buy in the summer we still be playing the same ridiculous high line.
You could put Zidane, Pirlo and Gerrard in their prime in the midfield and we still get done by the ball over the top.

Why has VVD regressed so much though? Is it all because of that injury?
I have very little confidence in him right now. Players seem to run past him and bully him at will.

Some of it will be the injury but also the game before he got injured was the 7-2 humbling from Villa when Watkins made him and Gomez look as bad as they ever have. And even before that, from the restart following covid to his injury - we only kept four clean sheets in the League in fourteen games.

So the injury will of played it's part but I also think there's no longer that fear factor from the opposition. They know he can be got at it now and also know that we as a team can be got at. The injuries and indifferent form of those beside him and in front of him can't of helped either.

And then there's just basic overhyping him so when his form does dip it becomes more of a problem rather than maybe this is more a true reflection of him rather than the outstanding year and a half to two years he had when he first arrived. Maybe he was just playing way above his level for 12-18 months rather than now playing below it. I don't remember too many clamouring for us to get him when he was at Southampton.

All in all there's a number of reasons why his form hasn't been as good post-covid as it was before.

Time for him to go.

It's time for someone to go lad and it certainly isn't Jürgen Klopp.

It's time for someone to go lad and it certainly isn't Jürgen Klopp.

Yep.

I didn’t see the game only highlights but shocked to see the team lose to the bottom club after the thrashing of the Mancs last weekend . This was very much the same team that played so well only 6 days ago and we shouldn’t be losing like this to the bottom club. I genuinely feel sorry for klopp because some of our players appear to have the attitude of can’t be arsed against the lower teams which is just not acceptable.

I didn’t see the game only highlights but shocked to see the team lose to the bottom club after the thrashing of the Mancs last weekend . This was very much the same team that played so well only 6 days ago and we shouldn’t be losing like this to the bottom club. I genuinely feel sorry for klopp because some of our players appear to have the attitude of can’t be arsed against the lower teams which is just not acceptable.

Last sentence is very true. And you won't win a thing with players like that.

It seemed quite obvious which team wanted this win more ,Bournemouth have nothing to lose because they are sitting at the bottom of the league ,we are looking for a top 4 finish ,gonna be a tough job based on that performance ,when we do go into the transfer market I hope we buy a couple of midfielders with a touch of Alonso creativity and a Souness attitude ,good job MOTD won't have any 'experts' on

Bad defeat yes but not on the scale of the Brighton Brentford ones.

Salah scores that pen and we go on to win it. He missed we didn't. Seen much worse this season so not going to spend too much time worried about it.

Addition of midfielders in the summer still required nothing changed there, hopefully some with goals in their bag like almost every top team in the world has.

I didn’t see the game only highlights but shocked to see the team lose to the bottom club after the thrashing of the Mancs last weekend . This was very much the same team that played so well only 6 days ago and we shouldn’t be losing like this to the bottom club. I genuinely feel sorry for klopp because some of our players appear to have the attitude of can’t be arsed against the lower teams which is just not acceptable.

To be fair, Bournemouth played like their season was on the line and we didn’t. They didn’t back down and they got their just desserts. They harassed the sh*t out of us and for some reason our boys didn’t stand up. Really think it might have been different had Milner and/or Hendo started in midfield. The kids just got passed by today.

Bad defeat yes but not on the scale of the Brighton Brentford ones.

Salah scores that pen and we go on to win it. He missed we didn't. Seen much worse this season so not going to spend too much time worried about it.

Addition of midfielders in the summer still required nothing changed there, hopefully some with goals in their bag like almost every top team in the world has.

Brighton and Brentford have decent players at least.
This Bournemouth team has the lousiest defensive record in the league and is pretty much ready made for the championship.
Yet they continued to create chances against us and deserved their win.

Reds, I’m still so ffnn angry with the result today!
What a horrible letdown.
I truly believed we turned the corner after last Sunday!

The longer these sh*t results against small clubs at their grounds go on, the more obvious it becomes that it is a mentality issue. We are complacent as F**k defensively, we think we just have to show up and they will capitulate. Their goal was a classic example - Virgil just stopping, Fabinho jogging back as Solanke sprinted away from him, none of our other midfielders chasing Billing as he sprinted from deep. Just players not being up for it enough. We need to get some serious competition in midfield and defence, cos we've got players there coasting at the minute.

Well I'm still effin well pissed off...Spurs won and Everton. I'd been worried all week about this happening then sure enough.....we'll probably go through against Madrid  the way this season has gone

Bad defeat yes but not on the scale of the Brighton Brentford ones.

Salah scores that pen and we go on to win it. He missed we didn't. Seen much worse this season so not going to spend too much time worried about it.

Addition of midfielders in the summer still required nothing changed there, hopefully some with goals in their bag like almost every top team in the world has.

yep bajcetic n elliott should be coming on at 70 80 not milner.kids have no consistency until mid 20s unless your bellingham whos a one off.still a player in curtis jones ,he just needs to grow up.

Yep.
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Awful result against Bournemouth yesterday, simply must bounce back against Real Madrid in midweek. Although easier said than done !

Awful result against Bournemouth yesterday, simply must bounce back against Real Madrid in midweek. Although easier said than done !

What do you mean with bounce back? You think this team will score 3 or 4 against Real without conceding a single goal at the Bernabéu?

The target should be to not get humiliated like United did against us. I have no joy looking at this game. Instead of playing this game I would rather like to skip it and save the pain and suffering.