Match Thread : Toulouse v Liverpool

[ianlfc]

Even when VvD plays, we lack leadership. There’s not one single player dishing out the occasional bollocking or words of encouragement.

A good point. Both Hendo and Milly give it out and now both are away, Plus Robbo is injured .

[Steveo]

A good point. Both Hendo and Milly give it out and now both are away, Plus Robbo is injured .

All 3 were here last season. And age cannot be any barrier to authority surely? We had an excuse last season too.

A 68 game marathon culminating in us JUST missing out on the biggest single trophy haul in history the season prior - and an early season injury crisis to our front line..

Hopefully it does not - BUT IF our form dips even close to those levels - without any similar issues - well - we will be in clear decline - despite having the best manager on the planet.

F$G are getting away with murder

[jozza800]

All 3 were here last season. And age cannot be any barrier to authority surely? We had an excuse last season too.

A 68 game marathon culminating in us JUST missing out on the biggest single trophy haul in history the season prior - and an early season injury crisis to our front line..

Hopefully it does not - BUT IF our form dips even close to those levels - without any similar issues - well - we will be in clear decline - despite having the best manager on the planet.

F$G are getting away with murder

Maybe let's see where we are at the end of the season, rather the bemoan the state of the side after the 'reserves' were beaten away from home in Europe.

[Bredred]

BOBPAISLEYFAN , My apologies, in my frustration I needed to name someone who consistently sees the problems we have.
I too was around Bob and Bill time. Unfortunately I believe Jurgen is a great inspirational leader , strong character and leading manager. But also he is not a football coach in the truest sense.
Universally eleven top players should beat eleven poor players and most supporters are blinded by this obvious (statistic ? )
But any team can be coached to frustrate and occasionally beat a better team. Brilliant off the cuff Jurgen style is exciting and entertaining to watch , and I love it.
When it does not work you have to see what is not working and ADAPT to suit.
This is too consistently seen with us. We do not play to suit the resistance but persist in trying the fabulous.
We fail mostly because we do the basics poorly (in a fantastic way).

[Steveo]

Maybe let's see where we are at the end of the season, rather the bemoan the state of the side after the 'reserves' were beaten away from home in Europe.

Not really. And saying that was the reserves is stretching a point to the limits. Also it comes off the back of the game at Luton.
Not sure if you are deliberately missing the point or dare I say it.. (heaven forbid) maybe even trying to look like a superfan.


I was responding directly to the thinking that our latest sketchy form is due to us missing a British Isles born - so called leader in our ranks. Which seems to me just a shallow a description as some who - just a few weeks ago - saying the opposite while the form was looking great. The narrative then being - see - now that Hendo and Fab are gone we are a force again. It's all far too knee jerk. I am actually railing against that yet having the accusation aimed in my direction.

This was why I cited the fact that last season all 3 were here while we dropped so many points.. I was however also suggesting that last season there was more of an excuse than this. 2 things can be true.

We will naturally wait until the end of the season but, as I was alluding to - last season we would have finished far higher had the circumstances been different. We had that crisis which for some reason went under the radar of most. Perhaps the media realy can manipulate the thing of the majority..

IF you need it spelling out:

What cannot be refuted is that since the break up of Klopp's all conquering front 3 - we have been a different team with different problems. Last season we started off shattered after playing almost 70 games! We had just lost Mané - an absolutely crucial part of the front 3/4 for years..

From the off we were missing Jota..So minus 2 of the 4 while trying to integrate new lad Darwin. Then went on to suffer an injury crisis - with Jota out almost entirely bar the Arsenal 3:2 and 1:0 home win v City...until mid February 2023... Diaz then went down IN that very Arsenal game.. And wasn't seen again until Mid April 2023..!

The front line was so thread bare in the winter of 2022 - Gakpo was brought in out of the blue.. Extremely doubtful he arrives - at that time at least - but for that. In light of these clear difficulties and specific issues we saw this type of game time after time.. The midfield was always going to become the focus and its rather pedestrian nature was examined ruthlessly by fans and media alike. BUT until the latter part of the season for so long - we couldn't field a consistent front line at all. It ruined the season as had a similar crisis in the title defence.


FROM TIA
'The problem has been that only one ‘seasoned’ striker, Salah, has been consistently fit. Gakpo has only recently arrived and Nunez has unsurprisingly taken a while to acclimatise, while Bobby, Diaz and Jota have each been medium to long-term absentees.'


I was trying to point this out at the time while everyone was lamenting our midfield in isolation. The midfield issue was a clear issue BUT it was a glaring problem being pushed down the road…the season of the near miss quad - so it spilled into last season too - BUT once Mane had gone - with Jota and Diaz injured and an ageing Bobby - we were gonna struggle.

Here we are another season later and a major transfer window - where we were supposed to go big - and we didn’t. We intimated that we might - but we didn’t.. Frankly - unless Szobozlai wants to emulate Gerrard - we will see more of these results and performances than most would have expected a few weeks ago - when we had transformed our midfield into a beast..

Lack of investment across the entire club IS going to be F$G’s legacy. Klopp mitigates just how awful these owners are. Most of you might not see it yet.. but that’s to be expected - most people DON’T see what comes next until it has happened.

________________

Whatever happens in the near future - whether we beat City by 7 goals or lose - whether the squad manage to will and mentality their way into another title race or not.. Some of us can see what is going on.

[justincredible]

So wait, are we back to being shit again?

[Steveo]

Absolutely..


Or - should I say....at least as "shite" as this lot featuring in Southern France...equates with a "reserves" side

Trent
Jota
Nunez
Salah
Matip
Gakpo
Szobozlai
Elliot
MacAllister
Diaz
Gomez
Tsimikas
Endo (NEW number 6 )

[teesred]

So wait, are we back to being shit again?

I think there's a possibility were levelling out a bit, or on a plateau. Last few games have been poor.
We're not as good as some thought, some of the players aren't that's for sure.
We robbed points a bit and it's given a false impression and whilst we'll challenge around the two to four spots we'll ultimately be nowhere near City but neither will anyone else. IMO anyway.
We've played well in spells but not consistently and we concede easily and that's been a theme from the off. Much better than last season though and if three points off top after the games we've had was offered at the start I think all of us would have chomped at it.

[BOBPAISLEYFAN]

BOBPAISLEYFAN , My apologies, in my frustration I needed to name someone who consistently sees the problems we have.
I too was around Bob and Bill time. Unfortunately I believe Jurgen is a great inspirational leader , strong character and leading manager. But also he is not a football coach in the truest sense.
Universally eleven top players should beat eleven poor players and most supporters are blinded by this obvious (statistic ? )
But any team can be coached to frustrate and occasionally beat a better team. Brilliant off the cuff Jurgen style is exciting and entertaining to watch , and I love it.
When it does not work you have to see what is not working and ADAPT to suit.
This is too consistently seen with us. We do not play to suit the resistance but persist in trying the fabulous.
We fail mostly because we do the basics poorly (in a fantastic way).

Bredred, no apologies required as I totally realise it was a tongue in cheek comment…

However, whilst I totally agree with your effusive praise of Klopp, I do have to question your statement that in your opinion Klopp is not a football coach in the truest sense of the word….

Does Klopp have to run every coaching session to be considered as you say a football coach in the truest sense of the word, imho I have to say no …

Klopp himself is very modest and has admitted on lots of occasions that he accepts he cannot possibly be the best at everything and as a result he is very generous in giving credit to others who he believes can offer more than himself in particular aspects of the game, be that the day to day coaching, tactics or style of play.

Hence why his long term relationships with his current and previous coaches are always generously lauded by Klopp as being his back-up eyes ears and brain. His genius is how he pools all that talent and delivers a cohesive style and identity.

Which in many ways this whole approach mirrors the whole ethos of the famous Anfield boot room, that we are both so familiar with, so in many ways I can understand why many compare Klopp to Blll Shankly.

Personally I think Klopp must be the love child of both Shankly and Paisley because I believe we have and are currently enjoying the best attributes of both of these coaches in the form of Jurgen Klopp….

Tbh, I just love everything about this guy, he just makes people happy on and off the pitch..

Long may that continue…

[jozza800]

Absolutely..


Or - should I say....at least as "shite" as this lot featuring in Southern France...equates with a "reserves" side

Trent
Jota
Nunez
Salah
Matip
Gakpo
Szobozlai
Elliot
MacAllister
Diaz
Gomez
Tsimikas
Endo (NEW number 6 )

As ever with 'half a story'...

Mac and Diaz aside, the other 9 players would not be in the first 11. It's a reserve side, however you want to paint it.