Football - dawn of optimism

[ljkeane]

Good first half for Liverpool. I'm not entirely convinced Lamela didn't foul Firmino just outside the box but it should have been a penalty for the earlier foul on Matip anyway and Coutinho really should have scored as well.

Matip clearly fancies himself as a bit of a ball playing centre back, I have to say I'm not too sure but we'll see how it goes.

[Consigliere]

Liverpool just look so much sharper than Spurs who are struggling to keep up with Liverpool's tempo and quickness of the passing. Spurs have barely offered any threat in attack. The most surprising thing is Liverpool being only one goal up. Could easily be 3-0 and probably should be.

[Mark Antony]

Super disappointing not to get 3 points but that's what happens when you fail to convert all of your chances. 

[Consigliere]

On the balance of play and quality of chances created, Liverpool should have won comfortably but failed to make the most of their opportunities and ended up being sucker punched. Spurs have been pretty lacklustre thus far but then again they did start slowly last season and struggled in front of goal at the beginning as well.

[polishgenius]

Klopp needs to start putting a little more faith in Sturridge because no-one else in that team is a consistent finisher. When does Ings come back?

 

Poccetino just needs to rest Kane for two weeks or so.

[polishgenius]

I've been watching the Saints/Sunderland game, which has been pretty good despite the lack of goals, but I see Arsenal are giving Watford a proper hiding in the London Colney Derby. Away as well.

[Mark Antony]

Hazard has been a joy to watch today. 

[Rorshach]

We are looking sluggish in attack, and the players aren't in sync yet. So today we saw a lot of people starting their runs early or late, passing where a run wasn't made, or too late, and players not really being sure where other players was. We also created a couple of good opportunities, but squandered them through bad desicions. 

We did get a slightly fortunate penalty, however, which Baines adroitly put at the tips of Given's fingers, making the ball hit the post, the back of Given's head, and then the net. Lucky goal, but it counts.

Defensively we were generally very solid, however. Very pleased to see that. Williams and Jags seem to partner each other well, and Holgate was very good at right back. 

We still lack a bit of fitness. Bolasie and Barkley, in particular, were running on empty after 80 minutes. Hope that improves in the coming weeks. 

[Iskaral Pust]

That Liverpool-Spurs game was like a Tasmanian Devil.  Too frenetic to be enjoyable.  Liverpool should have won but they should have taken their chances.  I think we should try Mane, Firmino (left) and Sturridge as the front three.  Coutinho looks more miss than hit at the moment.

Mignolet did ok but could have saved the goal -- his proportion of shots conceded is still very poor.  Only made one save of any difficulty.  

Clyne was solid but out of position for the goal.  Shows good judgment on when to defend or attack.  Perhaps he could coach Moreno. 

Milner took a good penalty but didn't do much else and was caught out of position to lead to their goal. 

Matip looked very good, defended comfortably, should have won a penalty and hit the crossbar too.  I'm not sure if the Spurs attack made him look good or he made them look bad. 

Lovren was ok, still conceding too many fouls when he doesn't need to and getting a yellow card for no reason. 

Henderson at least was not caught in possession again several times (surprising against a pressing team; sign of hope?) but still didn't do very much.  Looks like a passenger in this role. 

Lallana still loses possession easily as he attempts Cruyff turns, but his early pressing did help set up a great chance for Coutinho and he crossed for Mane's disallowed goal (a bit unlucky to be called offside).  

Wijnaldum still gets lost in the bustle of midfield but was a bit better today.  Almost scored and helped create Mane's disallowed goal.  Overall the three midfielders don't control the game but can help an explosive counter-attack  

Coutinho was poor.  Missed a great chance and didn't seem comfortable with the frenetic pace.  But he did almost put Mane through a couple of times; just needs a little less weight on the pass. 

Firmino was pretty good as a false 9 roving creator.  Set up a great chance for Coutinho, won the penalty, had some good interchanges and pressed really well.  Only problem is he offers insufficient goal threat.  If only we could combine his general play with Sturridge's finishing. 

Mane was very good again although needs to rein in those late lunges for the ball.  His goal probably could have stood and won the game.  

I think we still have room to improve with Can reaching full fitness, LB getting resolved (hopefully), and some better finishing. 

[Consigliere]

Not many chances to speak of in that 1st half. Hull are sitting deep, their defence is compact and they are working extremely hard. We will need to be patient here and try to move the ball more quickly in the final third while taking care not to make any mistakes at the back.

[polishgenius]

Rashford really is the dog's bollocks.

[Consigliere]

We cut it close but a deserved win. Rashford always seems to be able to make something happen. Martial is not quite playing to the level of last season and seems to be lacking confidence as well as aggression in his game. Credit to Hull though, they defended well and worked incredibly hard. The last 10-15 minutes was always going to be difficult for them given their very limited squad.

ETA. We were fortunate not to concede a penalty just before we scored. A very reckless challenge by Bailly on Diomande.

[Mexal]

Hate last minute winners when it's not Arsenal. Could have used United dropping points.

[AncalagonTheBlack]

Someone please explain to me why we signed Wijnaldum? I just don't get it.

[Iskaral Pust]

The three favorites - Utd, City, Chelsea - have started strongly in the league, but they all had a pretty soft opening schedule.  Liverpool, Spurs and Everton all look like they're still looking for the right balance in the team and not yet clinical in attack, and Arsenal were held back by players returning late but should be pretty much at a normal level (there's always some injuries for any team) after the break. 

If Liverpool had beaten Burnley I would be pretty happy with our start.  After that calamitous fuck-up, not taking the deserved win today feels worse.  But we continue to look inconsistent and unpredictable. 

Sturridge looks really unhappy lately but is lacking any self-awareness or self-examination about why he is on the bench.  He just seems clueless about his impact on the team.  

[Mark Antony]

1 hour ago, polishgenius said:

Rashford really is the dog's bollocks.

He changed the game when he came on. Thought Miki looked good as well. Still surprised he hasn't been starting over Mata. 

49 minutes ago, Mexal said:

Hate last minute winners when it's not Arsenal. Could have used United dropping points.

Yeah that was a huge bummer. United haven't looked great yet this season but still have 9 pts from 3 games. 

[Spockydog]

5 hours ago, Mexal said:

Hate last minute winners when it's not Arsenal. Could have used United dropping points.

They really are a bunch of spawny bastards.   

I thought we looked good today. The players seemed much happier, and it showed in our performance. Ozil, Holding and Sanchez were outstanding, and even Theo managed to have a good game.

I'm not too worried about the points deficit. The top six teams will be taking points off each other all season.

[Rorshach]

10 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Sturridge looks really unhappy lately but is lacking any self-awareness or self-examination about why he is on the bench.  He just seems clueless about his impact on the team.  

After seeing the pictures of him yesterday, when Origi was subbed on, I started wondering how long he'll stay in the team. He is the best finisher in that side, bar none, and by a comfortable margin.

On the other hand, he doesn't seem to be a fit for Klopp's high pressing game. Add to that that he seems a bit unhappy at being just a cog in a wheel, and that Klopp's teams generally are - well, teams, rather than a collection of individuals - I can see him getting limited playing time. And I can see him making noises about that. Not sure how it would end, but not on a high note is my guess.

[polishgenius]

Sturridge is going to Stoke or West Ham in the January transfer window.


I was happy, overall, with our performance. No, not the most fluid yet still, but getting there (especially when the subs came on), and the way we cranked up the pressure as it went on was old-school. It wasn't a coincidence that we got so many late goals under Fergie and it wasn't a coincidence here. If we see more of that sort of thing I'll be happy.

Mourinho needs to find a starting spot for Rashford though.

[Mexal]

10 hours ago, Spockydog said:

They really are a bunch of spawny bastards.   

I thought we looked good today. The players seemed much happier, and it showed in our performance. Ozil, Holding and Sanchez were outstanding, and even Theo managed to have a good game.

I'm not too worried about the points deficit. The top six teams will be taking points off each other all season.

Yea, I agree. Think all 4 players you mentioned were good to really good. Also thought Xhaka looked great. Chamberlain was a waste though. Still makes poor decisions on the ball. I also think we'd be a much better counter attacking team if we stopped trying to chip the keeper and just made that extra pass. Lots of selfish players when on the counter. Opportunities are there. 

Ultimately, it was Watford so not getting my hopes up. Still have zero expectations for the season.