Liverpool (4) 4-0 (3) Barcelona - Tuesday 7th May, 2019 (SF 2nd Leg)

[Guest]

Just now, Panna King said:

Barcelona have no one in midfield that can keep the ball anymore, that is why Messi has to come so deep to pick the ball up at times when they come against good teams.   Frenkie de Jong will make a huge difference but again its a high price to pay when they should be producing their own players like de Jong. 

Yes, only ball winners like Busquets. Vidal played well today but he's always been overrated to me. Rakitic is good, but he's never convinced me at least not when compared to Modric.

They miss Xavi.

[Inverted]

Barcelona are at the moment just one more team sitting deep and trying to counterattack their way to Champions League glory. They think they are something special because they have Messi, but they aren't. 

They aren't the club of Cruyff anymore. They aren't even the club of Guardiola. They might have an iron grip on a drastically deteriorated league in Spain, but that is all they have. They aren't satisfied with their results, and they play a style and pursue a transfer strategy they believed was worth enduring to bring in results.

Win or lose, they have nothing to be proud of. 

[Azeem]

After Messi retires Barca will have a big gap to the world elite. They could end up like other Big Clubs f.e. Man U, Milan or Inter. 

The midfield were way too slow to cope with Liverpool. Rakitic, Busquets and Vidal are way too slow. They need more energy in the team. 

Messi did his part, he created three one on ones for his teammates and they all fluffed their lines. They didn't even make Allison work hard for those saves!

[Panna King]

6 hours ago, Inverted said:

Barcelona are at the moment just one more team sitting deep and trying to counterattack their way to Champions League glory. They think they are something special because they have Messi, but they aren't. 

They aren't the club of Cruyff anymore. They aren't even the club of Guardiola. They might have an iron grip on a drastically deteriorated league in Spain, but that is all they have. They aren't satisfied with their results, and they play a style and pursue a transfer strategy they believed was worth enduring to bring in results.

Win or lose, they have nothing to be proud of. 

This Barca team does not have the players to play a high press and hunt down players to win back the ball like you see now with Ajax.  They have high energy players who are so fit and hungry that they can last for 90 minutes with this style, like the Barcelona of old.  Now a lot of current players are old, they have no youth in that team what so ever to play this kind of game. Barcelona are allowed to have the ball by a lot of teams because of their reputation. 

[Azeem]

Not starting Samedo who is one of the few players other than Messi that has speed was a big mistake imo 

[Devil-Dick Willie]

1 hour ago, Grizzly21 said:

So much for me making this "a thing" @Devil-Dick Willie

 

The lad's allowed an opinion. What's your point, My point was you are a silly little wanker and there was no need for you to draw attention to yourself from a member you supposedly blocked. 

 

Admit it. You love that he picks on you because you love the drama.

[MUFC]

Remember a a few years back towards the end of Fergies time. We took a cheeky corner vs Chelsea, but the ref disallowed it.

 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Devil-Dick Willie said:

 

The lad's allowed an opinion. What's your point, My point was you are a silly little wanker and there was no need for you to draw attention to yourself from a member you supposedly blocked. 

 

Admit it. You love that he picks on you because you love the drama.

He's doing it on purpose to start drama. Hardly a viable opinion.

I had him blocked but I took him off once he got banned. And no, I hate it. There has been so much less drama on my side of things without him. Me as a member and this whole forum is healthier without him. Stop sucking his cock. He's a fucking cretin.

[Devil-Dick Willie]

3 minutes ago, Grizzly21 said:

He's doing it on purpose to start drama. Hardly a viable opinion.

I had him blocked but I took him off once he got banned. And no, I hate it. There has been so much less drama on my side of things without him. Me as a member and this whole forum is healthier without him. Stop sucking his cock. He's a fucking cretin.

 

His opinion, that he is stating very aggressively and bluntly, is that TAA is overrated because he is vulnerable defensively. 

Do you recognise that opinion? You should. Because it's an opinion you share. 

 

Inverted responded to him in an even handed manner and was given an even handed response. The liverpool lads (understandably) have jumped him because TAA just put in a hell of a shift and I'm sure last years CL is still a sore spot. Relax. It's none of your fucking business and there's no need for you to call him a 'cretin' when he hasn't even mentioned you or anything to do with you yet. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Devil-Dick Willie said:

 

His opinion, that he is stating very aggressively and bluntly, is that TAA is overrated because he is vulnerable defensively. 

Do you recognise that opinion? You should. Because it's an opinion you share. 

 

Inverted responded to him in an even handed manner and was given an even handed response. The liverpool lads (understandably) have jumped him because TAA just put in a hell of a shift and I'm sure last years CL is still a sore spot. Relax. It's none of your fucking business and there's no need for you to call him a 'cretin' when he hasn't even mentioned you or anything to do with you yet. 

You're right, I share my opinion with him.

The difference is mine is an opinion and not an agenda against Liverpool because he's a United fan. 

[El Profesor]

160 million euros for Coutinho. Not only he didn´t make Barcelona a better team, this fee was used by a direct european rival to strengthen its squad. 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting read on Klopp´s evaluation of Coutinho: 

 

Quote

In Liverpool's offices people were not surprised to see that the bosses embracing as if they had won a title when on 6th January they closed the transfer of Coutinho to Barca for 160 million euros, a record just below Neymar and Mbappé. Never the sale of the third most expensive football player in history meant less sacrifice and more benefit for a major club.

Influenced by the traditional German doctrine, Klopp starts from a basic principle: before gifted, to be competitive at the highest level players must be constant. Regularity, according to his philosophy, is linked to the biological element. It is of little importance that the players handle concepts and are skilled if they are not reliable in the execution of the pressing system when they don't have the ball and not constant in detach from their marking opponents when they have it. Klopp's experiments in the 2016-17 season focused on testing how the players adapted to the physical demands imposed on them by the division of tasks in the different spaces assigned in a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-3- 3.

Explosive and decisive in short spaces, Coutinho lacked the heart and lungs to perform consistently in the great spaces of the midfield. In the physical tests that simulated situations of the game, after two sprints of 60 meters Coutinho could not recover without remaining half a minute completely stopped. Too much, given the tactical demands. With the emphasis on permanent dynamism, Klopp discarded Coutinho to integrate the midfield in 4-3-3. Even when he placed it as a winger, he found that he disengaged in the fallbacks. During several matches he tried a 4-2-3-1 to place him behind the forward, with a smaller radius of action to avoid him suffering. If he played as an attacking midfielder he could stay off the withdrawal without generating serious imbalances, while the rest of the team ordered 20 meters back. But the 4-2-3-1, in Klopp's opinion, didn’t allow the team to exploit the spaces in the most efficient way possible.

Original: https://elpais.com/deportes/2018/04/22/actualidad/1524420154_423331.html

[Viva la FCB+]

13 minutes ago, José said:

Knocking out PSG, Juventus, Bayern, and Liverpool(final ) is nothing special?

Napoli, Bayern, atletico, and Juventus?

 

Welcome back mate, I see you havent missed a beat

 

You've got to feel good about Pool's chances now regardless of who they play. Great performance from them take nothing away from that but how does Barca keep shitting the bed. Anyways likeable lot, Klopp always has been and his teams definitely entertain, this has got to be their time.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Jose Mourinho disagrees with your take there @José 

 

[True Blue]

Incredible performance without two important first team players. It is incredible how a forgotten sub like Origi kept the league dream alive, plus secured a historic comeback in the se 2nd leg to make it to a back to back Champions League final.

LFC boys from TF enjoy it

[Scousermum]

That was incredible. I can’t believe what I actually watched.

i am so proud of this Liverpool team.

[Stan]

Really surprised nothing more is being said about Alba last night. I know there were many underperformers and it was just one match but he really wasn't at the races yesterday. Weak positioning, bad passing, bad decision-making and it was as if he was overawed by the occasion which is 1) surprising for a Barca player and 2) surprising for a player of his experience. 

Not saying they have to replace him or anything but at no point in the game did he look composed or comfortable up against whoever he was facing. 

[Stan]

 

 

[Mel81x+]

46 minutes ago, Stan said:

Really surprised nothing more is being said about Alba last night. I know there were many underperformers and it was just one match but he really wasn't at the races yesterday. Weak positioning, bad passing, bad decision-making and it was as if he was overawed by the occasion which is 1) surprising for a Barca player and 2) surprising for a player of his experience. 

Not saying they have to replace him or anything but at no point in the game did he look composed or comfortable up against whoever he was facing. 

I was very surprised that they had so many misplaced passes. The other culprit here is Biscuits, he is generally the one you look to when it comes to offering calmness and outward play but he just looked out of his element last night. I don't know if it was the occasion (surely cant be) or the high pressing but something took him by surprise. When Arthur came on I felt like they might have restored some sense of order but by then I think it was too late. When it comes to Alba I think he underestimated Trent because of how the first leg went, he figured he'd get more room to operate but once the pressure came on he just crumbled too.

It's a bit similar to Spain at the WC too where they weren't able to get into their rhythm as easily once opponents applied pressure. I suppose the difference between this team and the Barca team that won the treble is that this team doesn't have a Xavi to control that space when its needed and nullify any kind of pressure.

[nudge+]

8 hours ago, Panna King said:

4! he went on strike at Groningen and also bought the club to court to release him from his contract so he could go to Ajax lost the court case but Gronigen still sold him, really shitty thing he did. Also reminds when we Arsenal wanted him the fuss he made at Liverpool.  A really dislikable person. 

Yeah I was living in Groningen at about the same time it happened and went to a few of their matches; the local fans were fuming haha.

Did he bite anyone while in Groningen too?  

[SirBalon]

7 hours ago, Spike said:

Your Barcelona; as I said earlier have a horrendously assembled squad. If you look at the individual talent of Barcelona, it is a very wealthy club, but comparing it to Liverpool’s; how many a actuslly deserve or fit in the team? I could axe at least twelve players from the twenty-five squad.

Many mistakes have been made in the confectioning of this present Barcelona squad. Even Dembélé who is very good and has tons of potential was the wrong player. Then the fact that sonce the departure of Dani Alves (how long ago was that?), they've never managed to replace him. Arturo Vidal has absolutely nothing to do with how Barcelona traditionally want to reproduce the game on the field.

but in between there are amazing signings by this board like Ter Stegen himself, Arthur, Lenglet, Umtiti and Frenkie de Jong who will join next season, that one is very very exciting for the future.

According to many the biggest sin has been ignoring La Masia for 5 years.

[Honey Honey]

It will be a shame if Klopp doesn't win the Champions League. It will also be madness if Barcelona don't look back on Liverpool's recent games and put in a €30m bid for Christian Atsu to try and close the gap between themselves and Liverpool.

[SchalkeUK]

Quote:

The midfield were way too slow to cope with Liverpool. Rakitic, Busquets and Vidal are way too slow. They need more energy in the team. 

Liverpool were only as good as Kloppy wanted them to be - the drive, workrate and pressing is his mantra and they did what he wanted.  The Barca midfield were instructed to stay in midfield - not to lose the ball and not to go into the area reserved for the front men.  The fact that it appeared slow was simply due to two reasons

1) in comparison with the Liverpool effort it was pedantic and

2) the guys did what they were told.

Don't blame the workers, blame the politicians!

[Harry]

On 07/05/2019 at 06:57, Rick said:

Our season really has fizzled out to fuck all hasn't it. 

With Salah and Firmino I believed we still had a chance. If it's Sturridge and Origi starting up there then we are fucked. 

What a truly depressing end to the season it's been.

15 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Alright, the odds are well against us - so it's basically asking the lads to do the impossible... but I've got 90 minutes of hope left in me just about and maybe if they pull the impossible off, I'll have a hell of a lot more hope.

I just want us to give Barca the toughest game they've had this season and get a solid win. I don't necessarily want it to go to extra time... because I still want us to beat Wolves on the off chance that Citeh somehow manage to fuck up... but that wouldn't be the worst problem for us to have in the world if it keeps us in the hunt for silverware.

Having said that, I fully expect we'll look a bit lost up front with only one member of the starting front 3. But at very least, we know Origi will run his arse off. But it's asking the lads to do the impossible, so really I just hope they play well. If we go through, cool. If not... well that's what I was expecting so oh well. 

Well fucking done mate for keeping the faith. Puts me to shame

15 hours ago, Rick said:

We had a chance with Firmino and Salah. I even put a tenner on it happening. That tenner is like a mars bar wrapper in the wind now. No chance that Origi, Sturridge, Shaqiri, Lallana or whoever the fuck starts tonight, does enough. 

Like Slipknot once said, all hope is gone. 

15 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

We have a chance, it's just a terrible chance 

It would probably be our second greatest comeback in Europe ever. Especially with those two out. It's unlikely as fuck, but who knows.

So good.

12 hours ago, Rick said:

Suarez is horrible. No respect at all for this club or these players. Rat.

I don't know where you did on Suarez when at LFC but he's done exactly what I expected he would. Suarez is the most determined, competitive footballer I've ever seen. He'd land a crunching tackle on his wife in a friendly 5a side game if it would get him the win. He was a cunt for us and now he's a cunt for them. I can only Marvel at it.

12 hours ago, Inverted said:

I didn't mind Barca cheating when they at least played nice football.

There's just nothing about them anymore. Just a negative, counterattacking side, that plays in a big empty, crumbling stadium, against shite sides, and has an enormous nasty streak and inferiority complex, despite having every advantage they could ask for (including the best player in history). 

This is beyond harsh for one of the greatest sides in European football. It's a marvelous stadium, sized on as different philosophy to English ones, against very good sides in a league which has won nearly all Champions and Europa leagues for the last half decade. I don't love them at all and I hate the way they have taken players from us but I don't think they are any nastier than we are.

Definitely though I was not impressed by them overall in either let of this tie.

11 hours ago, Inverted said:

Suarez is a dog and he's got the Anfield send off he deserves. 

 

11 hours ago, Panna King said:

Barca were piss poor today, no leaders in their team.

I agree. I think they've been lacking since Puyol left tbh. They miss the vocal presence willing the team on when the chips are down.

11 hours ago, Stan said:

Handball is literally against the rules though, whereas taking a corner quickly isn't?

Barca have themselves to blame for not being switched on. They knew a corner was given and they just weren't focussed or concentrated enough. Against a Liverpool side like this, that's criminal.

Liverpool can have praise heaped on them, in my eyes, for just thinking quickly and being smarter at that moment, primarily Alexander-Arnold.

Totally totally agree. The fourth goal was my match highlight. Absolute genius imo. I didn't think I could love Trent any more than I did already. 

10 hours ago, The Käiser said:

He should be gone. 

4:1 and 3:0 first leg leads and lose both without even pk. 

There always is a scapegoat and it's always the coach.

(messi should shoulder same blame) everyone blows his horn when he scores but when he's invisible no one says anything. 

I think the issue with Messi is that he's being criticized for not being the leader that Barca need. It's not who he is. He's the quiet crazy genius. He produced some great moments tonight but they missed an on pitch leader.

10 hours ago, Burning Gold said:

I'm absolutely baffled by the controversy over the fourth goal. 

Same here. I was watching on the train and screamed out loud. Absolutely brilliant!

9 hours ago, Inverted said:

Messi created a goal at home, scored a world class free kick, and then made several chances to score an away goal.

It isn't his fault that he's stuck at a club with an insane inferiority complex around the CL, a cowardly manager whose tactics are essentially a budget rip-off of Mourinho, and a bunch of weak-minded teammates who lack the mentality to produce under pressure. 

I've always had a view that Barca's goal was to be the best players rather than the winners. But under Vlverde they don't seem to be either. I'd be looking for a fresh face in charge after this if I was Barcelona.

The squad also seems to lack chemistry compared to the Barca of old. It still exists with some players but seems like not everybody fits together as well as we did

9 hours ago, El Profesor said:

Thereis a lot of criticism to Messi, but he was great in the 1st match and even today he created a lot. There are at least 5 high danger chances in this video, plus at least dangerous shots that went very near the post.  

Barcelona should sell Coutinho and bring some competition for Dembélé. 

Who would pay the asking price for Coutinho? His corners still seem to be hitting the first man, and spraying his shots. Would PSG, UTD or Juve have an interest.

I wouldn't even swap him back for Shaqiri.

[Bluewolf]

Just seen the corner from TAA... 

 

[LFCMadLad]

Firmino - "This is what I live for. I love this club"

 

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1125874322080452608