Liverpool 4-3 Leeds - Saturday 12th September, 2020

[Honey Honey]

[DeadLinesman]

1 hour ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

If the second pen was shady it’s only because Rodrigo bet against Leeds. It was a mental to do what he did.

When we get a Daniel James blatant dive given by VAR, that’s when I’ll start to think we’re benefitting from corrupt officials 

All those years of Stevey Starfish. Sit yo ass down.

[DeadLinesman]

7 minutes ago, Lucas said:

Fuck.

Gutted.

Played well mate, should be proud of that. 

[Spike]

21 minutes ago, Lucas said:

Fuck.

Gutted.

You shouldn't be too upset given that the champions had to cheat to defeat a promoted team.

[LFCMadLad]

1 hour ago, Spike said:

You shouldn't be too upset given that the champions had to cheat to defeat a promoted team.

Cheat 

[Devil-Dick Willie]

Salah with a 2-0 start over Penandez. The heat is on. 

[Rick]

These jokes would make some sense if either penalty call was contentious. 🥴

[Mel81x+]

I was looking at highlights and I think Klich's goal is the goal of the match. Salah's swing at the top corner is superb too but the skill on that Klich goal is much harder to execute.

[Stan]

Salah's 2nd goal was brilliant. A lot of space and time to pick the spot but so many times that shot from other players goes sky high. 

As @Mel81x says though, Klich's is that good because of the movement and precision of the play.

Don't get what the fuss is about the penalties. Both were rightly given in my opinion. First one possibly has more debate about it but his arm is out of the 'natural silhouette' and blocks the shot. 

[Dan+]

I saw only the first half an hour before going out but fair fucking play to Leeds for that. Thought their attitude in that game was superb. They were always likely to lose but when you look at what most sides do at Anfield that's some effort.

Actually really lived up to the hype. The bit I saw was genuinely top class entertainment. I think if games were like that more often I'd have no doubts about this league being the worlds best.

[Smiley Culture]

Leeds remind me of Norwich on the opening day last year, though, they’re better attacking wise, they’re as open at the back as Norwich were. 

[DeadLinesman]

Thought I’d go through the thread as I hadn’t read the earlier pages. I thought to myself “bet VVD doesn’t get one ounce of shit thrown at him by anyone for that horrible defensive error”. Gonzo and Rik aside, completely glossed over. Imagine had that been Maguire? The whole forum would have been all over it. 

[Rick]

3 minutes ago, DeadLinesman said:

Thought I’d go through the thread as I hadn’t read the earlier pages. I thought to myself “bet VVD doesn’t get once out of shit thrown at him by anyone for that horrible defensive error”. Gonzo aside (although he didn’t mention him), completely glossed over. Imagine had that been Maguire? The whole forum would have been all over it. 

Huh? Numerous people, including myself, said how atrocious the defending was? 
 

And if we didn’t ‘gang up’ on Van Dijk, it’s because it was a rare mistake. Maguire has made plenty. 

[DeadLinesman]

25 minutes ago, Rick said:

Huh? Numerous people, including myself, said how atrocious the defending was? 
 

And if we didn’t ‘gang up’ on Van Dijk, it’s because it was a rare mistake. Maguire has made plenty. 

Edited it mate as I’d saw you mentioned it. Wasn’t numerous people at all though. VVD makes numerous errors, but he scored a few and generally looks solid so they’re glossed over. Happens regularly. He gets mentioned in the ‘defending’ but rarely singled out. Honestly, just my perception. He gets off the hook far too much. Think it was 6666 who said “ah, he didn’t see the attacker”. Literally his job.

[Batard]

Personally, I think the leaky nature of Liverpool's defence is due to the midfield being far too open, the defence not expecting to be pressed and have time on the ball ... but also because I think van Dijk is trying to do TOO much. Matip is solid but has no pace. Gomez is fast but as shown in the England game, needs experience in decision making and positioning.

I do remember Rio being prone to some serious gaffes during his Utd career (the Pompey scoop pass was a classic) but he had an absolute mountain next to him in Vidic later on who brought the best out of him. Liverpool need a far more robust defender next to van Dijk, a shit kicker, no frills lumper. 

 

[LFCMike]

13 hours ago, Gunnersauraus said:

I did say a while ago that I thought liverpool may burn out this season a possibly finish outside the top 4. Long way to go but this is an early sign 

You can definitely make a case for Liverpool not posting 90+ points because no team has ever done that three seasons in a row. And you can make a case for Man City finishing ahead of them. Finishing outside the top four is just a mental shout though.

[LFCMadLad]

38 minutes ago, DeadLinesman said:

Edited it mate as I’d saw you mentioned it. Wasn’t numerous people at all though. VVD makes numerous errors, but he scored a few and generally looks solid so they’re glossed over. Happens regularly. He gets mentioned in the ‘defending’ but rarely singled out. Honestly, just my perception. He gets off the hook far too much. Think it was 6666 who said “ah, he didn’t see the attacker”. Literally his job.

Yesterday he had a stinker, but even the best players in the world have off days. He's the best CB in the world by a country mile but yeah, yesterday wasn't one of his best.

[LFCMike]

I've only seen the highlights this morning on Match of the Day. Defending didn't look great from our perspective but I think you also have to give credit to Leeds for how clinical they were.

No idea why there's any questions over the two penalties. Both clear.

Salah is incredible, that second goal is just brilliant

[Stan]

6 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said:

Yesterday he had a stinker, but even the best players in the world have off days. He's the best CB in the world by a country mile but yeah, yesterday wasn't one of his best.

Not sure it's by a country mile but I do agree that players can have their off days. 

It was a clumsy mistake. Bit amateurish and lazy. 

Maguire makes a lot more mistakes probably why they're noticed more. Van Dijk not so much however he should have done better. 

[Dave]

Half an hour in i thought we were on for the game of the season.

Thought Bielsa got one over Klopp tactically regardless of the score line. I can't remember a Liverpool defence looking so out of place since prime Bolasie destroyed them at Anfield. I've never seen why @Lucas and a couple of other Leeds fans I speak have been so, so sure over the ability of Harrison but I saw it yesterday, he looks like an absolute baller.

My only concern going forwards (and I'm not sure it's a criticism) is the intensity will make it very difficult for the technically gifted signings to adapt for a long time. You saw that with Koch and Rodrigo looking out of place at times yesterday. Hopefully its not as intense as Blackpool were under Ollie that time when from February there form fell off a cliff.

[Lucas]

I expected defeat and we got it. But I just didn't expect to come so close to a point, that's what actually stung. We have a lot of plaudits for the performance but we still won't get points for that, just a pat on the back. But having slept on it, it's easier to reflect now.

I have no explanation to what Rodrigo did for the last pen. Fucking plant pot. Typical forwards 'pussy' challenge. What a way to throw it away, no complaints.

The first pen is harsh. It has hit Koch's leg and deflected up to his hand. Unnatural position or not, that shouldn't be a penalty. I can't wait to see that happen somewhere down the line and it not be awarded. Anyway, that's the two pens cleared up on my side.

Apart from that, I thought we deserved a point. Liverpool did have more chances but to go there and have more possession than them was impressive. I know they weren't at their best but I also think that was down to us. We really shocked them yesterday with the press and relentlessness.

I know a lot of people will mention the defence of ours and yes, the two centre backs were a shambles. We have conceded 4 goals from set pieces which is poor, but please remember the context.

Last year, we had Cooper and White. They were exceptional and settled. White has gone back to Brighton and Cooper was injured yesterday. So we had a new signing in Koch who has only had 2 days training at the club and a youngster in Struijk, paired together for the first time against the Champions on Thursday and it showed. I can't be too harsh on them given the circumstances.

Thought Ayling was supurb keeping Mane quiet. Harrison and Costa were threats out wide and Klich ran himself into the ground. As for Phillips, he showed why he got an England call up by playing decent in his natural position. Take note Southgate.

Hopefully we will be ok anyway. It's nice to be back and showing some pride. We might be a little naive in some games but Bielsa is going to do it his way and its going to be interesting how many teams look at that and decided to play a little less expansive against us.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, LFCMike said:

You can definitely make a case for Liverpool not posting 90+ points because no team has ever done that three seasons in a row. And you can make a case for Man City finishing ahead of them. Finishing outside the top four is just a mental shout though.

Well we'll see won't we. Chelsea went from champions to tenth place. Burn out happened at Dortmund under klopp before. Like I said I didn't say I thought it would happen  I just said it wouldn't surprise me if it did

[Mel81x+]

3 hours ago, DeadLinesman said:

Thought I’d go through the thread as I hadn’t read the earlier pages. I thought to myself “bet VVD doesn’t get one ounce of shit thrown at him by anyone for that horrible defensive error”. Gonzo and Rik aside, completely glossed over. Imagine had that been Maguire? The whole forum would have been all over it. 

Not just VVD they were all off it yesterday. You could point to specifics for both CBs and maybe out of the whole lot Robertson comes off the only person with the least amount of flack thrown at him. Klopp alluded to this in the post match interview too and you could see how Leeds had their midfield pulling two defenders together and creating open spaces.

[Lucas]

19 minutes ago, The Palace Fan said:

Half an hour in i thought we were on for the game of the season.

Thought Bielsa got one over Klopp tactically regardless of the score line. I can't remember a Liverpool defence looking so out of place since prime Bolasie destroyed them at Anfield. I've never seen why @Lucas and a couple of other Leeds fans I speak have been so, so sure over the ability of Harrison but I saw it yesterday, he looks like an absolute baller.

My only concern going forwards (and I'm not sure it's a criticism) is the intensity will make it very difficult for the technically gifted signings to adapt for a long time. You saw that with Koch and Rodrigo looking out of place at times yesterday. Hopefully its not as intense as Blackpool were under Ollie that time when from February there form fell off a cliff.

Yeah, they have had three days at the club and to come in to a game of that magnitude is a brutal start.

Bielsa normally would stick to the well drilled players but we were forced into starting Koch with the lack of defensive cover. Rodrigo never got into it in the 20mins he came on and it showed what great work off the ball Bamford did for us up there. Rodrigo had his eyes opened yesterday but he'll 'get it' in time.

The internationals was a terrible inconvenience but it was the same for everyone I guess.

[Stan]

Just now, Lucas said:

The internationals was a terrible inconvenience but it was the same for everyone I guess.

Makes it even more of a mockery that they had to be played at this time. 

Not sure when they could have postponed it to, but for every club experiencing a shorter pre-season as it was, it was illogical to have those internationals played.