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Rating vs Liverpool

MOM

  • Lloris

    Votes: 23 10.8%
  • Rose

    Votes: 17 8.0%
  • Vertonghen

    Votes: 5 2.4%
  • Kaboul

    Votes: 1 0.5%
  • Dier

    Votes: 10 4.7%
  • Capoue

    Votes: 17 8.0%
  • Bentaleb

    Votes: 10 4.7%
  • Lamela

    Votes: 46 21.7%
  • Eriksen

    Votes: 4 1.9%
  • Chadli

    Votes: 32 15.1%
  • Adebayor

    Votes: 23 10.8%
  • Dembele

    Votes: 7 3.3%
  • Townsend

    Votes: 6 2.8%
  • Davies

    Votes: 13 6.1%

  • Total voters
    212

stonecolddeanaustin

Well-Known Member
Aug 27, 2011
1,623
2,598
He was right in front of me when he made the mistake and was getting abuse through the whole match. I felt sorry for him. He needs to go, its hard to change the opinion of a WHL crowd.

When his very first touch is to give the ball away that leads to the game sealing goal you'd have to say it was almost warranted. I'd love the kid to do well but I just don't think he's got it in him (not that I'd slag him off at the match). Reminds me of darren bent in a way. Physical attributes to be a great player but no football intelligence or technique to go with it.
 

trevo

(ex?)EU Member
Oct 23, 2007
3,025
3,439
Lloris -6
Dier - 5
Kaboul - 4

Vertonghen 5
Rose .5

Capoue - 6

Bentaleb - 4.

Lamela - 6.5.

Eriksen - 4.

Chadli - 4.
Adebayor -6

Townsend - Was better before he came on

Dembele - 4
Davies N/A
 

markdadude

Well-Known Member
Oct 25, 2007
445
470
Fans are shit for giving him abuse, I felt terrible for Townsend. He looked mortified after that mistake, like that pitch was the last place on earth he'd want to be. Kaboul and Capoue had to do alot better and he would have got away with it. It took him a good 10-20 minutes to want the ball afterwards, in front of Roy too who he so badly wanted to impress.

Needs to pick himself up. He will get plenty more chances.
 

beats1

Well-Known Member
Feb 22, 2010
30,006
29,551
When his very first touch is to give the ball away that leads to the game sealing goal you'd have to say it was almost warranted. I'd love the kid to do well but I just don't think he's got it in him (not that I'd slag him off at the match). Reminds me of darren bent in a way. Physical attributes to be a great player but no football intelligence or technique to go with it.
Im not defending the shocking performance but he was getting abuse before he touched the ball and people are judging him over performances since he got injured. Before he got injured he was one of our best players.

The stats maybe terrible but who had shown footballing intelligence under AVB? Who good stats under AVB? Answer is no one.

Same with Chiriches, got written off as a result of Sherwoods ineptitude. Capoue lucky Sherwood didnt get to sell him. Eriksen didnt look great in the first half of the season last year and people at one point said Paulinho was our best buy when he was getting Motm.

I cant remember a time in my spurs supporting history where players have been labelled shit and then great or the opposite so quickly.

Now the Kaboul situation is different because he doesnt look like he knows how to run with his new knee but he isn't a risk either so worth keeping around
 

theShiznit

Well-Known Member
Jul 26, 2004
17,800
23,813
Fans are shit for giving him abuse, I felt terrible for Townsend. He looked mortified after that mistake, like that pitch was the last place on earth he'd want to be. Kaboul and Capoue had to do alot better and he would have got away with it. It took him a good 10-20 minutes to want the ball afterwards, in front of Roy too who he so badly wanted to impress.

Needs to pick himself up. He will get plenty more chances.
Didn't see any of second half. What was the Townsend incident?​
 

theShiznit

Well-Known Member
Jul 26, 2004
17,800
23,813
He was right in front of me when he made the mistake and was getting abuse through the whole match. I felt sorry for him. He needs to go, its hard to change the opinion of a WHL crowd.

Unfortunately agree with this.

sometimes best for all parties to move on.

AVB played Jenas first game or two and he was getting dogs abuse, and AVB realised he had to drop/sell as that atmosphere is simply not conducive to free flowing (fear free) football (as it turned out so were AVB's Spurs for one reason or another)

Shame that an English youngster with love for the club and some ability can be marginalized so quickly but modern fans are dicks.

You can count the amount of players that have turned opinion at the Lane on one hand, you can count those that have fallen under the abuse on more hands.
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
39,837
50,713
No body's died.

I can just imagine all the blood letting that's going on above. Everyone will be getting 2's, the end will be nearing nigh, Inquests will be going on, spleens will be venting. And I'm equally sure those same spleens last week were probably insisting the revolution had arrived, fully formed, burping and wailing just because we happened to slab a very very shit QPR.

Here's the truth. That performance was not as bad as the score line suggests. Just as last weeks wasn't the miracle that some suggested.

And if Rodgers is claiming that performance was as good as Liverpool's last season he's lying through his teeth, and he knows it. That performance wasn't even as good as the 1-2 defeat he suffered here in his first season.

There were far more positives to take out of this game than West Ham for example. Yes Balotelli missed a great chance early on, and Little Richard scuffed his chance after a jinky run after the game was gone, but after settling down after their first goal it was a very even game, with us edging the ball and making two very good chances that if we'd buried could have made for a very different game.

Our approach play was very decent at times (we made almost twice as many passes Liverpool did) , we moved the ball well at times and created situations that floundered on the rocks of carelessness. We had twice as much ball in their third of the pitch. We also had 60% of the ball and completed 467 passes to their 280. Had 60% of the territory. Lots of approach, but just as we saw with previous regimes, lots of carelessness.

Adebayor had another one of those games where it looks like there is no signals being exchanged between his hard and legs. Eriksen was bitterly disappointing and his inability to impact these big games is a little worrying, Chadli was peripheral and Lamela never quite hit any rhythm. We need all of these guys firing in games like this, none of them really did. And that was the fundamental difference, even though Liverpool weren't at their best, their players were slicker in the moments that mattered. Their attackers were slicker and their defenders were slicker.

At least our midfielders and attacking midfielders aren't invisible or hiding. Even Eriksen and Chadli on a bad day were three times as involved as Lennon is on one of his bad ones.

Liverpool aren't at the embryonic stage we are. They are now into their third season of Rodgers, and their attacking players are a talented bunch who have now been playing together for a while and Balotelli has form in the league. They have also bought some very good defenders (Moreno looks the bollocks to me). Even fucking Lovren looked decent today, unlike his last two run outs against us. But most of all they just look like what they are, a team two years more evolved than we are. They worked much more cohesively off the ball, and were better organised defensively as a group. That is hardly surprising.

I spent all week discussing with @sloth my fear that we would lose this game in midfield. The truth was we lost everywhere but midfield, where Capoue (93/105) and Bentaleb were excellent in possession (not so out of possession but more about that later) with some very silly defending and some very careless play with the ball in the final third.

Despite scoring 4 goals, we failed to capitalise on several situations against a tragic QPR through stupid carelessness with the ball. This is a theme that has been endemic in this team for a long time, it won't be eradicated in a couple of weeks. LIverpool by contrast look much better drilled and the last thing you want is to concede first to this team.

First Bentaleb, then Capoue don't track Henderson's run past them, it was good quick football but we could and should have defended it better, I was even a bit disappointed with Lloris.

The second goal was a pure schoolboy error. I am very impressed with Dier, and believe he will be a very good CB, I would even consider throwing him in ahead of Kaboul right now, but he's 20, and will have plenty of learning to do. Today was a steep part of that curve. It was a terrible time to concede after fighting our way back into that game.

The third was a catastrophe. Townsend's started it by fucking around, Kaboul compounds it by not taking decisive action and coming across.

Liverpool thereafter just sat back and made it very difficult for us the penetrate them, the game petered out with a whimper. But for some really poor individual mistakes, I think it would have been a much closer game and we had enough of it to suggest that.

Individual stuff:

Lloris - A couple of good saves, but I was a little disappointed with the first and third goals.

Dier - Poor game. He's not a RB, and he's only 20 and both showed against a team as strong as Liverpool.

Kaboul - Poor game.

Vertonghen - Didn't really notice him in a good or bad way.

Rose - OK.

Capoue - Let Henderson run past him for the first, but contributed a hell of a lot in terms of his passing, seeing the ball nearly as much as Liverpool's entire 3 man midfield.

Bentaleb - He also lets Henderson run past him for the first but apart from that I though he was our best player in the first half. Played a lovely ball to put Adebayor clean through.He faded second half though.

Lamela - Saw plenty of the ball (38/49), just wasn't happening though. More composure needed at times.

Eriksen - Disappointing game, really didn't influence it enough.

Chadli - Wasted a great chance and din't really produce much quality end product. Most be more careful with the ball.

Adebayor - Very frustrating today. Wasted a great chance, and his general play was clumsy at times. Made poor decisions and was careless.
 
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C0YS

Just another member
Jul 9, 2007
12,780
13,817
Lloris -6.5 could of done better on the first and got caught in no mans land a few times, distribution was poor under pressure. But did pull of some great saves

Dier - 5 unlucky with the penalty but will learn from it.

Kaboul - 4 A shadow of his former self

Vertonghen 5.5 not his best

Rose .5 struggled against pace

Capoue - 5 failed time and time again to track his marker

Bentaleb - 6 acceptable

Lamela - 6 worked hard

Eriksen - 6 tried

Chadli - 6 good movement, unlucky not to score

Adebayor -5.5 needs to hold the ball better

Townsend - 3.5 dreadful, couldn't pass and went for a suicide run that led to the 3rd

Dembele - 5 one very good run but generally looked uncomfortable in the system

Generally the game showed that we are still very much a work in progress while liverpool are a team that know what they are doing. Having said that I believe this isn't a cause to panic. Particularly as the teams we are competing against, apart from liverpool, had pretty poor showings this week as well. Rather we should take this as a reminder just how much work we have to truly be competitive again.

It, also, was not that comparable to the games last season. We clearly had a plan and stuck to it without completely collapsing it is just we lacked the cohesiveness and the assuredness that liverpool had. The way we are set up means we will always leave ourselves open, the hope is that we are able to control the game in this open style but when teams as well drilled in a system as liverpool were we can easily struggle. But we can go back to the training ground and use this game as motivation to improve.
 

C0YS

Just another member
Jul 9, 2007
12,780
13,817
Also another point on Townsend. The play that resulted in him giving the ball away was stupid and he has been lucky to get away with it in the past. But to put a positive spin on it, maybe now he has learnt a lesson from it and can develop from that mistake.
 

danielneeds

Kick-Ass
May 5, 2004
24,179
48,764
Lloris - couldn't do much with the goals, but his kicking was pretty disgraceful, and spread even more panic in the defence. He needs to practice putting his laces through the ball.
Dier - Looked uncomfortable against Sterling, but a lot of good defenders are going to get that said about them over the years. Impetuous with the foul on Allen.
Vertonghen - Not enough leadership and stamping himself on the match. Maybe it's hard playing with Kaboul, and predicting what he's going to do.
Kaboul - Not good enough again at this level. Looks ponderous. And concentration problems continue.
Rose - Usual good and bad from him. When it comes down to it I don't think he'll ever be a really good defender, he just doesn't have the will to put everything on the line to stop the opposition.
Capoue - Generally did well, apart from switching off for the opener.
Bentaleb - Glorious ball for Adebayor, passing was generally beat and tidy, but couldn't quite stamp his authority on the game.
Eriksen - A ghost, whether there was movement ahead of him to work with or not, he had zero impact on the game, apart from his poor set pieces.
Chadli - Should have buried his chance, although the bounce just got a little high on him. Generally tidy, but couldn't turn the Pool defence.
Lamela - Mixed bag, worked hard off the ball, but started to look nervous and make poor decisions as the game went away from us. Someone's got to tell him that doing lollipops at standing pace isn't going to work in this league, it's got to be done at speed.
Adebayor - Poor composure when through. Generally doing his thing of coming wide dropping deep, when we needed him stretching the defence. Worked hard though.
Dembele - Did OK
Townsend - Embarrassing first touch, and Moreno had him in his pocket.
 
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Mr Pink

SC Supporter
Aug 25, 2010
54,776
99,340
Doing ratings this morning after calming down, prefer to leave it later so I can reflect with less emotion.

It was disappointing compared to last week, it really was. Liverpool are a far better side than QPR and the pattern of the game was never going to go a similar way given Liverpool are infinitely stronger and press/scrap a lot harder but still, we looked nervous and indecisive in possession and that played into Liverpool's hands - it meant they could get close to us and apply pressure relatively easily. If you're zipping the ball about quicker with plenty of sharp movement this becomes more difficult for the opposition. Not always easy but there was very little of this sort of play yesterday. The move were Rose ends up in the number ten position and shanks it over was the best it got in this regard.

Said it in the match day thread, how you go about starting the game is critical. Look at how we started against QPR, came flying out of the traps pressing from the front. Where did that go yesterday? I didn't see it at all. How you start a game sets the tone and your forward players pressing set the tone for the rest of the team. I didn't see it all yesterday.

I thought we looked timid, nervous and mentally fragile - not surprising after the beatings we took last season and that affected how we implemented our style/game plan.

We were creeping back into the game before half time and Chadli's chance, had he taken it - and he should of, would of gave us real belief I'd say - possibly allowing us to impose our game on them much more effectively. It wasn't to be and the soft penalty was the final shot in the arm in terms of our belief being pretty much destroyed.

I don't even think Liverpool were that good, nowhere near the level they played at last season here, but they worked hard and put in a disciplined performance in midfield but like I said, I think our timid approach to the game made this easier for them. They out scrapped us, not exactly difficult when we're doing so many things in slow motion - but they're good at this under Rodgers and well ahead of us in terms of implementing effectively what's being asked of them.

It disappoints me because everyone will see the scoreline and think they just battered us. The truth is they were for the taking IMO, a good side yes, but they were. Had we played with more belief, urgency and tempo like we saw last week it would of been a very different game - and I believe we would of been in with a great shout of winning it had we done so.

I just think it was a mental thing yesterday, we just didn't seem to have the belief or confidence. QPR were terrible last week but you could the see confidence was flowing through us when in possession and the appetite to get the ball back in the first half. We should of been confident coming into this game but for some reason it felt like we had lost the game before a ball was kicked.

Anyway, its only one game and its still been a bright enough start to this season. Pochettino should have all the time in the world to impose his style and above all we need to show patience this season - its very early days and anyone expecting perfection straight away is in for a serious wake up call. I have every confidence that Pochettino will be a fantastic manager for us if we afford him time, and get behind him and the team.

Yesterday hurt because I can't stand Liverpool but hopefully it wasn't completely meaningless and it was a useful learning exercise for Poch.

6 points from 9 is still a good start if we can put this behind us quickly.

Lloris 5.5 Not sure if he could of done better for the first? His kicking was poor to. A sweeping mistake nearly cost us another goal as well. Not a great day in truth. Smart stop from the Balotteli header though.

Dier 5.5 penalty was soft but you're always giving the ref a decision to make - and it was a vital stage of the game, cost us the game really. Looked uncomfortable with Liverpool's attack, but not surprising really. Great tackle on Balotelli though.

Vertonghen 6 nothing sticks out to my mind but I'm not sure I like that - we need our experienced players to lead more when the chips are down. At least be seen to be more vocal and encouraging. Captain material? Not sure about that.

Kaboul 4.5 several mistakes, and giving the ball away led to the penalty. I thought Cole completely dominated him at West Ham - Matty Phillips embarrassed him last week and yesterday just capped it all off. I think he's done at this level - in terms of being a regular starter anyway. Sneaking in for a cup appearance here and there maybe, but there is no way he can continue in the first team week in week out.

Rose 6 thought he was alright, bit sloppy like the rest at times but was involved in a lovely move, our best of the game, that saw him shank it over.

Capoue 6 might of seen a hell of a lot of ball but letting Henderson go with no attempt to track him when the danger was unfolding right in front of him was massively disappointing.

Bentaleb 6 set up Adebayor very well in the first half but it wasn't the tenacious performance we saw in the first half last week - and he faded more and more as the game went on.

Lamela 6 nothing really come off but he was trying, worked harder than most.

Eriksen 5 really poor, his lack of pace was exposed to on a few occasions. Didn't work hard, no closing down/pressing, just an anonymous performance really. Worrying.

Chadli 6 should of scored, no doubt about it. If he just slides it to the left instead of trying to break the net who knows how this game would of panned out. Ok apart from that, needs to get more involved though for me. We need more to take responsibility and make things happen at times.

Adebayor 5.5 put himself about but he looked very clumsy and generally his decision making was poor. Should of scored as well but the front four as a unit, on and off the ball, were just poor.
 
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Xeeleeyid

Well-Known Member
Aug 4, 2012
1,693
3,186
No body's died.

I can just imagine all the blood letting that's going on above. Everyone will be getting 2's, the end will be nearing nigh, Inquests will be going on, spleens will be venting. And I'm equally sure those same spleens last week were probably insisting the revolution had arrived, fully formed, burping and wailing just because we happened to slab a very very shit QPR.

Here's the truth. That performance was not as bad as the score line suggests. Just as last weeks wasn't the miracle that some suggested.

And if Rodgers is claiming that performance was as good as Liverpool's last season he's lying through his teeth, and he knows it. That performance wasn't even as good as the 1-2 defeat he suffered here in his first season.

There were far more positives to take out of this game than West Ham for example. Yes Balotelli missed a great chance early on, and Little Richard scuffed his chance after a jinky run after the game was gone, but after settling down after their first goal it was a very even game, with us edging the ball and making two very good chances that if we'd buried could have made for a very different game.

Our approach play was very decent at times (we made almost twice as many passes Liverpool did) , we moved the ball well at times and created situations that floundered on the rocks of carelessness. We had twice as much ball in their third of the pitch. We also had 60% of the ball and completed 467 passes to their 280. Had 60% of the territory. Lots of approach, but just as we saw with previous regimes, lots of carelessness.

Adebayor had another one of those games where it looks like there is no signals being exchanged between his hard and legs. Eriksen was bitterly disappointing and his inability to impact these big games is a little worrying, Chadli was peripheral and Lamela never quite hit any rhythm. We need all of these guys firing in games like this, none of them really did. And that was the fundamental difference, even though Liverpool weren't at their best, their players were slicker in the moments that mattered. Their attackers were slicker and their defenders were slicker.

At least our midfielders and attacking midfielders aren't invisible or hiding. Even Eriksen and Chadli on a bad day were three times as involved as Lennon is on one of his bad ones.

Liverpool aren't at the embryonic stage we are. They are now into their third season of Rodgers, and their attacking players are a talented bunch who have now been playing together for a while and Balotelli has form in the league. They have also bought some very good defenders (Moreno looks the bollocks to me). Even fucking Lovren looked decent today, unlike his last two run outs against us. But most of all they just look like what they are, a team two years more evolved than we are. They worked much more cohesively off the ball, and were better organised defensively as a group. That is hardly surprising.

I spent all week discussing with @sloth my fear that we would lose this game in midfield. The truth was we lost everywhere but midfield, where Capoue (93/105) and Bentaleb were excellent in possession (not so out of possession but more about that later) with some very silly defending and some very careless play with the ball in the final third.

Despite scoring 4 goals, we failed to capitalise on several situations against a tragic QPR through stupid carelessness with the ball. This is a theme that has been endemic in this team for a long time, it won't be eradicated in a couple of weeks. LIverpool by contrast look much better drilled and the last thing you want is to concede first to this team.

First Bentaleb, then Capoue don't track Henderson's run past them, it was good quick football but we could and should have defended it better, I was even a bit disappointed with Lloris.

The second goal was a pure schoolboy error. I am very impressed with Dier, and believe he will be a very good CB, I would even consider throwing him in ahead of Kaboul right now, but he's 20, and will have plenty of learning to do. Today was a steep part of that curve. It was a terrible time to concede after fighting our way back into that game.

The third was a catastrophe. Townsend's started it by fucking around, Kaboul compounds it by not taking decisive action and coming across.

Liverpool thereafter just sat back and made it very difficult for us the penetrate them, the game petered out with a whimper. But for some really poor individual mistakes, I think it would have been a much closer game and we had enough of it to suggest that.

Individual stuff:

Lloris - A couple of good saves, but I was a little disappointed with the first and third goals.

Dier - Poor game. He's not a RB, and he's only 20 and both showed against a team as strong as Liverpool.

Kaboul - Poor game.

Vertonghen - Didn't really notice him in a good or bad way.

Rose - OK.

Capoue - Let Henderson run past him for the first, but contributed a hell of a lot in terms of his passing, seeing the ball nearly as much as Liverpool's entire 3 man midfield.

Bentaleb - He also lets Henderson run past him for the first but apart from that I though he was our best player in the first half. Played a lovely ball to put Adebayor clean through.He faded second half though.

Lamela - Saw plenty of the ball (38/49), just wasn't happening though. More composure needed at times.

Eriksen - Disappointing game, really didn't influence it enough.

Chadli - Wasted a great chance and din't really produce much quality end product. Most be more careful with the ball.

Adebayor - Very frustrating today. Wasted a great chance, and his general play was clumsy at times. Made poor decisions and was careless.

Spot on. The score-line was made worse by a soft pen and a stupid mistake from Townsend. I'm not saying Liverpool didn't deserve to win, but on another day that game finishes 0-1 in a tight, mostly even contest where it would have been said Liverpool showed slightly more finese and cutting edge (as they would do, 3 years into Rodger's philosophy).

Ultimately, we KNEW our defence wasn't good enough. Fazio will bring much needed leadership and intelligence. We knew our midfield don't get the ball forward quick enough and are also lacking leadership. From what i've read of Strambouli he should help rectify this.

A wide forward with pace, work-rate and aggression would help a lot. Wellbeck would fit the bill nicely in this respect.
 

sparx100

Well-Known Member
Jan 8, 2007
4,612
6,646
Such a disappointing performance.

My views

Lloris 6/10 Smart stops from Balotelli and Sturridge. Moment of madness in first half which Balotelli should have done punished us on and his kicking is awful not just in this match, but just generally.

Dier 5.5/10 Not particularly good going forward and caught in possession a couple of times. Enjoyed his tackle on Balotelli in the first half but the penalty was a mistake I hope he learns from regardless of how much Allen made of it.

Rose 6/10 Not great, but wanted to attack.

Vertonghen 6/10 Did nothing of note in my opinion. Would like him to Marshall the defence a bit more to be honest.

Kaboul 3/10 Bad day at the office. Slow on the turn, no leadership, caught out of position, bada passing, too many hoof balls. The worrying thing is a bit like Chiriches, I don't feel comfortable with him at the back, he is always liable to make a mistake.

Bentaleb 6/10 I don't think that he has done anything wrong in the game, but he didn't influence the game in any way. Retained possession and kept it tidy, but nothing more.

Capoue 5/10 I don't like Jamie Redknapp that much but he got it bang on with Capoue. He played the game at his pace and subsequently reacted rather than proactively did things. I just felt he was going through the motions after an excellent start to the season.

Eriksen 3/10 Awful game from him. Has not started the season yet in my opinion and it worries me that he goes missing in big games regularly.

Lamela 5/10 I have a soft spot for him, but yesterday was poor. Didn't go hiding, but his dribbling did not pay off at all. In fairness Moreno was excellent, but expect more from him.

Chadli 5.5/10 Quiet game for him. Think he should have dominated his fullback, but he didn't. Should have probably done better for his chance in the first half.

Adebayor 5.5/10 I think he should have scored in the first half. Worked fairly hard, but not a vintage performance.

Dembele 6/10 kept the ball moving. In my opinion should be starting in these games ahead of Bentaleb or part of a central 3.

Davies 6/10 thought he did well defensively but not so much going forward. I would have started with him in this game.

Thoughts

I think that we should have changed our formation for this game.
Davies for Rose and potentially Naughton for Dier. I would have played Kaboul but I would have had a midfield three for this. Capoue, Dembele and Sandro. Sandro sitting deep with Capoue playing the Bentaleb role and Dembele playing a bit further ahead. Lamela and Eriksen supporting Adebayor.

Kaboul was awful. I don't like it as he was the real deal, but I don't think he will be the same player. Fazio to come in immediately.

Our front 4 were atrocious. This was down to good defending by Liverpool. Lovren was good and Moreno was excellent, however we highlighted with a couple of simple long balls that they are still a work in progress.

Our collective press was not there. Again a work in progress but Liverpool buzzed around us and caused us a lot of issues. They showed the example that we need to look towards.

Our tempo was really slow. No zip of last week, but the quality of the opposition was a lot different.

I am not over worried as I do think that we still just three games into our new strategy and vision under our new manager, but I do think that the gulf between the two clubs was demonstrated by a score line which I think was fair. There was no pint in the game where I thought that we were in it.
 
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lennon4england

Active Member
Mar 2, 2006
428
67
No body's died.

I can just imagine all the blood letting that's going on above. Everyone will be getting 2's, the end will be nearing nigh, Inquests will be going on, spleens will be venting. And I'm equally sure those same spleens last week were probably insisting the revolution had arrived, fully formed, burping and wailing just because we happened to slab a very very shit QPR.

Here's the truth. That performance was not as bad as the score line suggests. Just as last weeks wasn't the miracle that some suggested.

And if Rodgers is claiming that performance was as good as Liverpool's last season he's lying through his teeth, and he knows it. That performance wasn't even as good as the 1-2 defeat he suffered here in his first season.

There were far more positives to take out of this game than West Ham for example. Yes Balotelli missed a great chance early on, and Little Richard scuffed his chance after a jinky run after the game was gone, but after settling down after their first goal it was a very even game, with us edging the ball and making two very good chances that if we'd buried could have made for a very different game.

Our approach play was very decent at times (we made almost twice as many passes Liverpool did) , we moved the ball well at times and created situations that floundered on the rocks of carelessness. We had twice as much ball in their third of the pitch. We also had 60% of the ball and completed 467 passes to their 280. Had 60% of the territory. Lots of approach, but just as we saw with previous regimes, lots of carelessness.

Adebayor had another one of those games where it looks like there is no signals being exchanged between his hard and legs. Eriksen was bitterly disappointing and his inability to impact these big games is a little worrying, Chadli was peripheral and Lamela never quite hit any rhythm. We need all of these guys firing in games like this, none of them really did. And that was the fundamental difference, even though Liverpool weren't at their best, their players were slicker in the moments that mattered. Their attackers were slicker and their defenders were slicker.

At least our midfielders and attacking midfielders aren't invisible or hiding. Even Eriksen and Chadli on a bad day were three times as involved as Lennon is on one of his bad ones.

Liverpool aren't at the embryonic stage we are. They are now into their third season of Rodgers, and their attacking players are a talented bunch who have now been playing together for a while and Balotelli has form in the league. They have also bought some very good defenders (Moreno looks the bollocks to me). Even fucking Lovren looked decent today, unlike his last two run outs against us. But most of all they just look like what they are, a team two years more evolved than we are. They worked much more cohesively off the ball, and were better organised defensively as a group. That is hardly surprising.

I spent all week discussing with @sloth my fear that we would lose this game in midfield. The truth was we lost everywhere but midfield, where Capoue (93/105) and Bentaleb were excellent in possession (not so out of possession but more about that later) with some very silly defending and some very careless play with the ball in the final third.

Despite scoring 4 goals, we failed to capitalise on several situations against a tragic QPR through stupid carelessness with the ball. This is a theme that has been endemic in this team for a long time, it won't be eradicated in a couple of weeks. LIverpool by contrast look much better drilled and the last thing you want is to concede first to this team.

First Bentaleb, then Capoue don't track Henderson's run past them, it was good quick football but we could and should have defended it better, I was even a bit disappointed with Lloris.

The second goal was a pure schoolboy error. I am very impressed with Dier, and believe he will be a very good CB, I would even consider throwing him in ahead of Kaboul right now, but he's 20, and will have plenty of learning to do. Today was a steep part of that curve. It was a terrible time to concede after fighting our way back into that game.

The third was a catastrophe. Townsend's started it by fucking around, Kaboul compounds it by not taking decisive action and coming across.

Liverpool thereafter just sat back and made it very difficult for us the penetrate them, the game petered out with a whimper. But for some really poor individual mistakes, I think it would have been a much closer game and we had enough of it to suggest that.

Individual stuff:

Lloris - A couple of good saves, but I was a little disappointed with the first and third goals.

Dier - Poor game. He's not a RB, and he's only 20 and both showed against a team as strong as Liverpool.

Kaboul - Poor game.

Vertonghen - Didn't really notice him in a good or bad way.

Rose - OK.

Capoue - Let Henderson run past him for the first, but contributed a hell of a lot in terms of his passing, seeing the ball nearly as much as Liverpool's entire 3 man midfield.

Bentaleb - He also lets Henderson run past him for the first but apart from that I though he was our best player in the first half. Played a lovely ball to put Adebayor clean through.He faded second half though.

Lamela - Saw plenty of the ball (38/49), just wasn't happening though. More composure needed at times.

Eriksen - Disappointing game, really didn't influence it enough.

Chadli - Wasted a great chance and din't really produce much quality end product. Most be more careful with the ball.

Adebayor - Very frustrating today. Wasted a great chance, and his general play was clumsy at times. Made poor decisions and was careless.

Disagree.

Liverpool weren't as strong as last year but they had a clear game plan and executed it very well. Yes we won the possession, but that counts for nothing when Liverpool counter attacked so quickly and created the majority of the chances.

If this game was played 10 times with both teams the same and the same tactics employed I suspect we would lose significantly more than we would get anything out of the game.

This reminds me of your analysis of our defeat to Arsenal last season, and our performance was similar in many ways (although let down more yesterday by individual performances).
 

TaoistMonkey

Welcome! Everything is fine.
Staff
Oct 25, 2005
32,629
33,577
I don't know why everyone is so upset. We won the passing...

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Eat that Brendon
 

SonicSarr

Well-Known Member
Jun 7, 2012
2,944
5,053
Not enough movement and not enough pressure on the ball. They were all bound to look pretty poor as a result. I've not been a fan of Chadli but I thought he did pretty well yesterday. Also not a fan of Townsend but the opposite applies. I hope he goes this window whilst we might still get a couple of bob for his 'potential'.
 
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