The OFFICIAL Liverpool FC thread - #DankeJürgen

[J70]

0-0 FT

No complaints. Liverpool didn't do enough to win that. Looked dangerous early on, but after that only got behind down the wings a couple of times for the full backs to play in some dangerous balls, but mostly it was Salah stepping back in to his left out on the right wing.

No league this year if the two boys have to stay centre back. Too much of a knock-on effect on the team.

[From the Bunker]

At least we did not lose! The injuries have completely affected our shape, our tactics and our confidence. Our regular starting Midfield are playing Centre half.  Still all to play for.

[Boycey]

At least we did not lose! The injuries have completely affected our shape, our tactics and our confidence. Our regular starting Midfield are playing Centre half.  Still all to play for.

Forget about the league, City will walk it. United weren't in anyway impressive today, would have been a smash and grab if they won that.
Liverpool have a fight on for Top 4 imo.

Salty...

[From the Bunker]

At least we did not lose! The injuries have completely affected our shape, our tactics and our confidence. Our regular starting Midfield are playing Centre half.  Still all to play for.

Forget about the league, City will walk it. United weren't in anyway impressive today, would have been a smash and grab if they won that.
Liverpool have a fight on for Top 4 imo.

If we get over Man u in the FA Cup. Klopp may have a go at winning it this year.

After 2 insane years of League form, it was always going to be a big ask this year to be as consistent in year 3. Injuries has had us swimming against the tide since we lost Thiago and Virgil in the Everton game. That said Klopp teams always have a wobbly at this time of the year and normally get back to form. So who knows?

One last thing, Klopp feeds off of the fans. He has used the fans to drive on Liverpool teams/players. Todays game would have been totally different if the fans were there.

[GiveItToTheShooters]

United are pish, and so are we to be fair. We should be beating them handy even with half a team. City have it won now.

[JoG2]

United are pish, and so are we to be fair. We should be beating them handy even with half a team. City have it won now.

Yes!!!! The Internet has finally reached it's potential! 

[Armamike]

At least we did not lose! The injuries have completely affected our shape, our tactics and our confidence. Our regular starting Midfield are playing Centre half.  Still all to play for.

Forget about the league, City will walk it. United weren't in anyway impressive today, would have been a smash and grab if they won that.
Liverpool have a fight on for Top 4 imo.

Agree completely.  Wouldn't be the first time in recent years the defending champions struggled to make the top 4.  Perhaps Thiago getting fully match fit for 90 mins and Jota coming back will change things but it's looking like the team have hit the wall. All the setbacks this season have finally taken the sparkle out of them.

[laoislad]

At least we did not lose! The injuries have completely affected our shape, our tactics and our confidence. Our regular starting Midfield are playing Centre half.  Still all to play for.

Forget about the league, City will walk it. United weren't in anyway impressive today, would have been a smash and grab if they won that.
Liverpool have a fight on for Top 4 imo.

Agree completely.  Wouldn't be the first time in recent years the defending champions struggled to make the top 4.  Perhaps Thiago getting fully match fit for 90 mins and Jota coming back will change things but it's looking like the team have hit the wall. All the setbacks this season have finally taken the sparkle out of them.

They have a very tough run of fixtures coming up also. Spurs,West ham and Leicester all away and City and Everton at home all before the end of February. Throw in a Champions League game also.
Could be well out of it by then if they don't start scoring soon.
It's criminal also they aren't bringing in a centre back. I know Hendo and Fabinho did well today, though they weren't really tested, but it's not ideal they having to play there.

[Armamike]

If the owners don't get a recognised CB in during this window, the threat for me now is dropping out of the top 4, never mind talk of winning the league.  The financial risk of that possibility has to be recognised now.  We're robbing Peter to pay Paul now with our two main starting midfielders in defence.  The shape of the team is being badly affected.

[Boycey]

If the owners don't get a recognised CB in during this window, the threat for me now is dropping out of the top 4, never mind talk of winning the league.  The financial risk of that possibility has to be recognised now.  We're robbing Peter to pay Paul now with our two main starting midfielders in defence.  The shape of the team is being badly affected.

No clue on the quality of Liverpools back up centre backs but surely ya gotta pair one of them with Fabinho?

[TabClear]

If the owners don't get a recognised CB in during this window, the threat for me now is dropping out of the top 4, never mind talk of winning the league.  The financial risk of that possibility has to be recognised now.  We're robbing Peter to pay Paul now with our two main starting midfielders in defence.  The shape of the team is being badly affected.

No clue on the quality of Liverpools back up centre backs but surely ya gotta pair one of them with Fabinho?

I think Williams and Phillips are just too slow. Both are decent backups and probably good enough to start for about half the teams but they are not good enough for a team with title aspiration. Phillips is great in the air but not comfortable enough on the ball and unfortunately the way Liverpool play the high line the lack of pace is a problem.

Fabinho has been immense all year. The way he coped with Rashford/Martial yesterday was superb even though he is not the quickest himself but we are really missing him and the skipper in midfield. TAA has not been as far forward yesterday because of the lack of cover when he bombs on. People underestimate how good Fabinho is on the ball. He has an eye for a pass into the box, much more so than Hendo and we have missed that.

As for yesterday a point was a fair result. Liverpool probably the better team over the 90 minutes but United created the best chances. Firmino unfortunately looks to have reverted back to his early season "form" and missed a couple of really good chances but it took Allison to keep us in it. Good result for City.

As an aside, what was going on at the very end of the first half? There were about 5 seconds minimum left and Mane was through on goal but the ref blew it up?

[johnnycool]

If the owners don't get a recognised CB in during this window, the threat for me now is dropping out of the top 4, never mind talk of winning the league.  The financial risk of that possibility has to be recognised now.  We're robbing Peter to pay Paul now with our two main starting midfielders in defence.  The shape of the team is being badly affected.

No clue on the quality of Liverpools back up centre backs but surely ya gotta pair one of them with Fabinho?

One of them, can't remember his name is good when up against the likes of an Andy Carroll but slow as a wet week.  Klopp entirely right to put Henderson in there when up against teams with speed that hit on the break like Utd.

Not sure what is out in the market but unless gomez is back sooner rather than later Klopp will need to sweet talk someone into joining till the end of the season.

[Armamike]

Phillips and Williams are good defenders and would do well in a team that likes to sit deep and get bodies back.  The high line exposes their lack of pace badly when one on one. If we adapt our style to fit either in it has a ripple effect further up the pitch.  Gomez and Virgil would match and perhaps beat any striker for pace in a one on one.  I could understand the owners not pushing the boat out for a signing a few weeks back, but they would now need to factor in the risk of not finishing in the top 4. 

[yewtree]

Good enough result for us considering no natural centre backs .We dominated play and unlucky with Bobby's strike.
If The Mancs can't beat us with a makeshift defence they are living in Space.
With injuries cleared up and possible a centre half in the window plenty of time left for us to re-establish our top position.

[seafoid]

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/ken-early-liverpool-have-crumbled-without-virgil-van-dijk-1.4460742

In fact the game had showcased Liverpool's decline. After a sharp opening quarter-hour, they gradually sank into a familiar pattern of sterile domination and in the end needed Alisson to bail them out. They're now in their worst run of league form for almost four years, back in the days before Salah or Alisson or Van Dijk. Back then at least they knew they were a team on the up. Now they're in a different phase: mature champions, who now look overripe, or at best distinctly autumnal.
 

This was the first time they had failed to score in three successive league games under Klopp. Scoring was never a problem before: what's gone wrong? Since it's the forwards who usually score, it's logical that scrutiny should fall on Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah. Certainly neither emerged with much credit from yesterday.
Firmino had five shots, more than any other player in the game, but hit the target with only one of them, a weak left-footer straight at De Gea. He has now failed to score in 14 out of 18 league matches, and has provided just three assists. Klopp has always defended Firmino, going so far as to suggest anyone who questions him does not understand football, but his contributions have lately grown so subtle as to approach Emperors' New Clothes territory.

Salah had three shots and three misses. Just before Christmas he gave an interview to the Spanish sports paper AS, which featured the somewhat stagey reveal that he had supposedly been miffed to be passed over for the captaincy in a Champions League match in Midtjylland, with Jürgen Klopp giving the armband to the much younger Trent Alexander-Arnold. The interview sparked speculation that he might be lining up a summer move to Spain, but ever since Salah has been playing as though determined to quash all such speculation with his performances.
But Liverpool's attacking problems run deeper than a couple of misfiring forwards. The turning point came on October 17th, when Virgil van Dijk's knee crumpled under that challenge from Jordan Pickford. It might seem a strange moment to pinpoint – we're talking about Liverpool's attack not their defence. Why should the loss of their best central defender (and by Murphy's Law, their second-best and third-best central defenders) have sapped their goalscoring powers?
To understand why, just remember why Klopp was prepared to wait six months for van Dijk after his initial effort to sign him collapsed in a tapping-up scandal. It's because he understood that van Dijk was perfect for the system he wanted the team to play. Van Dijk offers the rare combination of recovery, pace and strength to defend against runners, and aerial power to cut out long counter-attacking passes that would give other defenders a problem. With van Dijk playing alongside Joe Gomez or Joel Matip, you can play one-on-one at the back.
High-tempo attacks
Without him, you have to be more cautious, and this is why Liverpool's system has started to break down. Even at their best in 2019 they were not a team that picked opponents apart, like the peak Barcelona or Manchester City sides. If those teams believed in quality over quantity, Liverpool's attitude was that quantity has a quality all of its own. Their strategy was to break teams down with relentless high-tempo attacks. They would put ball after ball into the opponent's box, always ready to risk losing possession because they were confident in their ability to defend the counter-attack.

Now Liverpool's best ball-winning midfielders are playing in defence, while the midfielders playing in midfield and the full-backs are more conscious of the need to protect rather than to attack. They have become palpably reluctant to lose possession because they fear every counter-attack could be fatal. The result is careful finicky football that is too slow and predictable to surprise defences – slow aimless moves that meander from side to side before breaking down on the 27th pass.
Some Liverpool fans hope that Thiago's elite playmaking skills can rediscover their lost creativity, but this is magical thinking. Thiago produced most of the flashes of individual quality in yesterday's game (a recent arrival, he has maybe not yet grasped what Liverpool v United games are supposed to be all about). But he was also usually the player who lost the ball for United's most dangerous counter-attacks. When so much play goes through one central node, it creates a point of vulnerability for the opponent to exploit.
Thiago can't replace or restore the winning system that has crumbled without van Dijk. Liverpool were creative not because they had a magical individual capable of sprinkling genius on their attacking moves, they were creative because they could attack for most of the game with eight outfield players out of 10. Without defensive security, they'll struggle to recapture their attacking abandon. But the most successful teams find they have the most impatient fans, so Firmino better have his hard hat handy.