The Liverpool FC Thread XIV

I never said I didnt.

You started off your post with "nah", thereby refuting that I had said the things which I evidenced above.
You're really grasping here mate. It's embarrassing...

Arsenal lost to West Brom & Wednesday
Man Utd lost to Swansea & 'Boro
City lost to Stoke & West Ham

Can't beat every team you consider beneath you. You'll be reyt.

I think it's because we'd won 4 on the bounce and Newcastle were in terrible form so looked there for the taking.

TAW
#LFC record in all competitions under Jürgen Klopp still reads P12 W7 D3 L2 F21 A1.

We've conceded more than one goal? Haha.

Anyway, you always have to be wary of a team under pressure. Newcastle is a typically spiky place, anyway. They were bound to have their tails up.

Poor copy & paste skills.. corrected to 10.

I think the question is more - can we beat teams who sit back and try to make it into a difficult game? Because that's what our next 4 league games will be like.

I knew you'd missed out a digit! Just wondering which it was.

Well, that's exactly the issue. We need to find a way to break down teams, because we've seen how destructive we can be on the counter-attack. Arguably, only Leicester have done that more effectively than us this season.

I really don't see us as being able to with Benteke playing like yesterday. Firmino and he only completed ONE pass all game. One.

Poor copy & paste skills.. corrected to 10.

I think the question is more - can we beat teams who sit back and try to make it into a difficult game? Because that's what our next 4 league games will be like.

Which means if we get an early goal, we can play on the counter and be great. It's why we did so well in our title challenge a few years ago, someone used to score in the first half or first 20 mins and then we controlled the games.

That's an awful stat. Was just listening to TAW - a couple of guys suggesting we go as weak as we can with no first team squad players going. Others saying we should send Benteke and Firmino and see if they can sort out playing together in a competitive but no pressure game since it looks unlikely they would start next weekend anyway.

I don't think we just sat back yesterday in fairness. We worked hard and pressed you but it wasn't a ten men behind the ball job by any stretch. I was there yesterday and we all had our head in our hands at one point at 1-0 because we kept pushing our defence out and keeping a relatively high line which allowed you to run in behind a few times.

I just think you were off form which is going to happen occasionally. Plus with Benteke you didn't have the movement up front that could have torn us apart.

I'd go with the latter. After this weekend, it's vital Benteke is on the pitch as soon as possible in my view. That way, his disappointment at his non-impacting performance won't fester. He can prove he can be proactive, rather than reactive, in midweek.

Guess it depends on how fit Sturridge is? We could send Benteke + Origi + Henderson for match fitness/playing time?

Not sure about sending Firmino since we could do with him next Sunday even if it's from the bench.

I've got no interest in seeing Firmino and Benteke on the same pitch again any time soon, to be honest. I think the former needs to be deployed alongside Lallana or Coutinho at all times. He needs another creative presence next to him.

I think it's underestimated how good Coutinho and Lallana are at taking the ball and turning in one movement. Opens up the field to do something next. A lot of our other players have to go sideways because they can't do this.

Was surprised we didn't start with Lallana. His match fitness/stamina isn't great considering he rarely finishes 90 minutes. Don't think we'd ever get 40+ games a season either.

Don't think it was a matter of form tbh, we just wern't set up properly and the lack of quality in our CM's was evident once they were pressured and unable to retain and distribute the ball further up the field. Didn't help that there was zero chemistry between Benteke and Firmino either.

I think the key thing with Lallana is his ability to play on the half-turn. Yesterday, we were almost like two five-a-side teams at points. We were too fragmented, disjointed and lacked fluidity.

We had nobody linking us from defence to attack, as Milner seemed too deep and inconsequential. I think Lallana would have been crucial to any success we had yesterday.

Of course, it was up to Klopp. He sees the players every day on the training pitch, and judged he was perhaps too tired or not ready for another start. He played so well against Southampton, though, and that was great to see. He sucked up the hatred and it seemed to fuel him on, bar one or two overhit corner kicks.

Still, I don't want to overanalyse it too much. Just as we shouldn't be getting worked up over a couple of wins, we can't read too much into a defeat against a side which needed a victory.

These things happen, and it's early days for Klopp. Football gives you a wide range of emotions, and we've experienced all of them within one week it seems.

Yeah. Fully fit Sturridge and Coutinho would have torn us to shreds tbh.

I think an early first goal and Newcastle would've crumbled like a deck of cards.

As I said, it was a first goal type of game. Any suggestion that it would have been easy to claw back after going behind was ill-judged, I think. They may not be good at holding leads, but given the context of the game and the narrative surrounding it, they were always going to defend for their lives should they take the lead. And they duly did.

I was really enjoying football under Klopp, and yesterday's match was probably the only time since Rodgers departed that I've hated watching us. Even in the Southampton draw at Anfield, and the Palace defeat, I enjoyed our brand of football and the style we exhibited.