Liverpool FC 2013-14: Pride Restored
- Thread starter SoxFanInCali
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I'm at work and unable to watch. Friend has been sending me updates. About ready to just leave work for the rest of the day. Sick to my stomach.
And now it's a foregone conclusion that City draw one of Villa/West Ham on route to the title
It looks like we will fall short now but I'm so proud of what this team has achieved this season. If you're gonna go down then go down in flames playing attractive football rather than the styles employed by certain other teams.
I expect some smack talk in the next few days but quite frankly, I don't care because we've overachieved this season and at least have shown what can happen...it's given us hope where none existed before.
Talk that we've missed a chance because other teams will reload in the summer is nonsense...so will we and this experience, though extremely painful at the moment, will stand us in good stead in the future.
This is LFC's 2003...remember that.
I expect some smack talk in the next few days but quite frankly, I don't care because we've overachieved this season and at least have shown what can happen...it's given us hope where none existed before.
Talk that we've missed a chance because other teams will reload in the summer is nonsense...so will we and this experience, though extremely painful at the moment, will stand us in good stead in the future.
This is LFC's 2003...remember that.
Wow. Stunning. Astonishing. Gutted. Brilliant game, but not the outcome I wanted to see. They came unravelled at an alarming pace.
Liverpool overachieved this year and they came so close to promised land that it feels such a letdown. But that's the way the cookie crumbles. We got a ton of breaks to go on top and then after a point breaks go the other way.
Having said that, next summer, we need more quality on defense and more depth on the bench and let's see what happens.
Having said that, next summer, we need more quality on defense and more depth on the bench and let's see what happens.
Gerrard must be wondering who he pissed off in a former life. He really thought he was gonna grab a title late in his career and then the last two games happened. Just brutal.
I'm more disappointed for Stevie than anyone. Anything can happen now, City can lose because they think they only need a draw now. Keep your heads up, we thought Istanbul was gone, we thought the 2004 ALCS was over, it isn't over till it is impossible.
Well put. Any smack talk from other fans is a joke. The turnaround at Liverpool has been incredible. This heartbreak is so much better than 7th place. And if there's one thing we know as Liverpool fans, it's that you never, ever give up.cjdmadcow said:
#WeGoAgain
Apparently whoever runs Spurs' Twitter feed decided to have some fun. They took it down pretty quickly, but as we all know, nothing ever disappears from the internet.
A positive thought for you guys: Villa's clinched staying up already and Lambert said it's an enormous relief, so perhaps they won't be so tight at City and will actually make a game of it.
SoxFanInCali said:Apparently whoever runs Spurs' Twitter feed decided to have some fun. They took it down pretty quickly, but as we all know, nothing ever disappears from the internet.
From a club we battered 9-0 on aggregate this season. Good to see all the money they spent may not even get them in Europa. The joke is on them.
cjdmadcow said:
Look, I like you personally and I like this thread more than any of the others excepting Newcastle (which really is a roller coaster of emotion, so long as that roller coaster and emotion is constantly DOWN) but you have got to be fucking kidding me with this bullshit.
Liverpool had a great season; they overachieved, they worked their asses off, they played their hearts out and they played attractive, attacking football. BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T DO ANYTHING ELSE.
I love DLew too but Martin Skrtel is a clown on rollerskates and perpetrates unforgivable brain fart once per game. Agger has fallen off and been injured. Sahko has been inconsistent. John Flanagan seems like a heck of a nice kid with a nice local story who shouldn't be playing FB for a team that qualified for the CL. Glen Johnson is still very good but trending downward. The midfielders tasked with helping the defense are better offensive minds than defensive minds. Liverpool's defense has, all year, been its Achilles Heel.
So it is no surprise at all to this neutral that Liverpool was undone by a defensive collapse. Not a bunch of noble "go down playing attractive football" bullshit. Had Liverpool been equipped with the players to actually play defense, they surely would have. They didn't choose to eschew the "styles played by other clubs" (*cough*), they couldn't hope to match the ability to play multiple styles of football. Liverpool would be in the last 5 teams in the EPL this year I would choose if I had to try and defend a 1-0 lead for 45 minutes. Liverpool just isn't a versatile, talented enough team to play good defensive football.
That said, I do get the desire to yank Chelsea's chain...except for the fact that Chelsea (and their ability to play either attacking or park-the-bus football) is finishing third. Liverpool will finish behind the other team in the EPL that can score in bunches...and can defend, a little, at home. That's the difference in the title race - Man City & Liverpool both have scary attacking football teams. Man City can defend a 1-0 lead, for a while, at home. They are just a bit more versatile and able to "play a style" that enables defense.
I loved watching Liverpool games this season; always entertaining, always something happening. The Stoke classico was, IMO, match of the year in the EPL. Both because Liverpool's strength was on dazzling display...and because their inability to "play a style" resulted in STOKE making it a heart attack special.
121, you are missing the point.
Do Liverpool have enough talent in the squad to win the Premier League? At the beginning of the season, you would have had a tough time finding anyone that would say yes, especially compared to the 2 ridiculously expensive squads we are fighting it out with. We lost out on many transfer targets due to clubs with deeper pockets that could offer Champions League football. We had to do it with most of the same squad that came in 7th last season. The style that Liverpool have played, for all the catastrophic defensive moments that have happened this year, has us still with a chance to win the league with 1 game remaining. It has also made for the most exciting full season I've ever watched. What we are proud of is the fact we took a shot, even realizing that our defense was flawed, and tried to win games. We could have tried to mask the defensive problems by playing with the fullbacks behind the ball and 2 defensive midfielders, and probably would have finished in the Europa League places thanks to a bunch of 1-1 draws. I watched Liverpool play that style under Benitez, and we even won a couple of cups thanks to Gerrard willing the team to victory, but we never got this close to the league. Win or lose, this has been my favorite season watching Liverpool (yes, even more than 2005).
And yes, Chelsea and Man City have the ability to vary their styles more than Liverpool. A few hundred million pounds can buy that sort of flexibility. The Chelsea "B Team" that they played last weekend was more expensively assembled than Liverpool's starting 11, and that didn't even include the 50 million pound striker on the bench. Say what you want about Liverpool blowing it the last 2 weeks, but Chelsea, their deep, expensive squad, and Special manager, are going to lose out on the league by a few points thanks to recent losses to Villa, Palace, Sunderland, and a draw with all-but-relegated Norwich. Which squad "choked" more?
Next season we have Champions League football, and the revenue that comes with it. Maybe we can use that to improve the defense and add squad depth. Maybe we will struggle on both the league and Europe. But we've got a shot, and that's all due to what they've done this year, warts and all.
Do Liverpool have enough talent in the squad to win the Premier League? At the beginning of the season, you would have had a tough time finding anyone that would say yes, especially compared to the 2 ridiculously expensive squads we are fighting it out with. We lost out on many transfer targets due to clubs with deeper pockets that could offer Champions League football. We had to do it with most of the same squad that came in 7th last season. The style that Liverpool have played, for all the catastrophic defensive moments that have happened this year, has us still with a chance to win the league with 1 game remaining. It has also made for the most exciting full season I've ever watched. What we are proud of is the fact we took a shot, even realizing that our defense was flawed, and tried to win games. We could have tried to mask the defensive problems by playing with the fullbacks behind the ball and 2 defensive midfielders, and probably would have finished in the Europa League places thanks to a bunch of 1-1 draws. I watched Liverpool play that style under Benitez, and we even won a couple of cups thanks to Gerrard willing the team to victory, but we never got this close to the league. Win or lose, this has been my favorite season watching Liverpool (yes, even more than 2005).
And yes, Chelsea and Man City have the ability to vary their styles more than Liverpool. A few hundred million pounds can buy that sort of flexibility. The Chelsea "B Team" that they played last weekend was more expensively assembled than Liverpool's starting 11, and that didn't even include the 50 million pound striker on the bench. Say what you want about Liverpool blowing it the last 2 weeks, but Chelsea, their deep, expensive squad, and Special manager, are going to lose out on the league by a few points thanks to recent losses to Villa, Palace, Sunderland, and a draw with all-but-relegated Norwich. Which squad "choked" more?
Next season we have Champions League football, and the revenue that comes with it. Maybe we can use that to improve the defense and add squad depth. Maybe we will struggle on both the league and Europe. But we've got a shot, and that's all due to what they've done this year, warts and all.
SoxFanInCali said:
Yours is a good post and nothing I will quibble with but I was quite clear about what I was responding to (the quoted sentence) and why is it is balderdash.
I mean, I get that international football fans like to believe in some romantic notions about "playing the right way" and "I'd rather go down playing attractive football" but my response to such nonsense is "the right way is a win" and "you're full of shit".
I'm a late-in-life convert to football and have literally watched every game NBCSN broadcast this year (working from home is wonderful) and I am NOT interested in the fan-trolling bullshit that seems to come with the colors of a team rooting interest. So, fuck Chelsea...this is about Liverpool.
And there's no fucking way any Liverpool fan would rather play "stylish" football as opposed to winning. If y'all had played this style and not been good enough at it, there'd be no trumpeting about "going down with style". I've read this thread for years - y'all would be pissed off. That Liverpool did succeed playing one way is good - like I said, y'all are also very entertaining to follow.
But spare me the "I'd rather go down in flames while attacking than parking-the-bus" because A.) it's not true and B.) it is insulting to anyone not wearing Red-colored glasses. Winning, in whatever form it takes, is the goal and aim of fans. Leave the 'moral superiority through football righteousness' with Barcelona and Arsenal's fans.
This is just false. Liverpool finished 2nd in 2009, four points behind Man Utd on 86 points, which is more points than they will have this year, and were in the thick of the title race until the 4-4 draw with Arsenal. They also lead the division in goals scored that year by a pretty significant margin (Liverpool had 77 in a significantly more defensive league, no one else had more than 68).SoxFanInCali said:
coremiller said:
Not once did Liverpool actually have control of the race. We took 31 of the last 33 available points, and still finished 4 back. The 4-1 at Old Trafford gave us a shot, but the Mancs weren't giving that title up.
The crazy thing is that Liverpool only lost 2 games that entire season. The reason they didn't win the title? 11 draws, because they couldn't score the big goal against lesser sides when they needed it.
Valid points all around from CJD/SF121/SFiC. I guess I fall somewhere in the middle.
I'm beyond proud of a team that (as SFIC said) was given half a chance to qualify for the CL before the campaign began, and ended up challenging (and still being on the fringes of contention for) the league. They did this with their two primary weapons out respectively for some periods, their captain adopting a new role and eventually excelling in it, and youth products contributing a massive part in the team's success.
Today's result was not completely unexpected. Many, myself included, thought Palace away in their current form would be a formidable opponent with a very real possibility of dropping points. Palace boast attackers that show flashes at times like Bolasie and Gayle, solid midfield players like Jedinak (as well as one of my favorite recent Hoops in Ledley), strong defensive structure, and an exceptional home atmosphere at Selhurst.
What kills me, as I'm sure it does many others, is that Liverpool had overcome all of that by the 55' mark through 75'. They were in cruise control 3 points in the bag, and had seemingly a half dozen chances of putting the match to bed and closing the GD on City already up 3-0 with another marker. And as an aside, considering the chances they've created in the past 2 weeks, Suarez, Sturridge, and Sterling's finishing has been pretty poor overall.
Regardless, to come undone in the manner they did showed not only an unwillingness to play the "park the bus" 6-4-0 Mourinho special or even play defensively - it highlighted a glaring inability to prevent goals against that's gone back to just after the beginning of the season, right around Suarez's return from his ban. This is Rodgers's only real shortcoming in my book - yes, he had two exhausted fullbacks in Johnson and Flanagan who'd spent the majority of the game bombing up the wings and cutting inside, but he also did not ready any substitutes to come on and preserve the most important lead of the season.
I don't know if Rodgers got too tunnel-visioned on goal differential even as the lead slipped away to bring on one or both of Touré/Cissokho as a set of fresh legs, but the abject lack of urgency from the fullback (eventually wingback) positions preceded and ultimately coerced Škrtel's brain-dead lunge to the top of the box and left Gayle unattended for a second time in a matter of minutes. This falls on the players primarily, but they've got to have proper instruction and wherewithal to recognize the importance of maintaining any lead in this situation by any means necessary. That fell short today, and disappointment doesn't begin to describe that shortcoming.
Above all IMO, Liverpool need an overhaul at the fullback position and the return of Borini, Suso, and Assaidi very, very badly. Flanagan can grow into a starting role, but he should be sheltered this coming season as Sterling has been. Maybe Robinson coming back from loan will help, but with Enrique's inability to stay healthy/competent and Johnson gassed after 60-70' each match, there is a need for two CL-caliber starting FBs. I couldn't complain about Ashley Cole potentially as one of them, and maybe someone like Martin Montoya or Ahmed Elmohamady as the other.
But yeah, that sucked.
edit: just saw the Moses vine, holy hell
I'm beyond proud of a team that (as SFIC said) was given half a chance to qualify for the CL before the campaign began, and ended up challenging (and still being on the fringes of contention for) the league. They did this with their two primary weapons out respectively for some periods, their captain adopting a new role and eventually excelling in it, and youth products contributing a massive part in the team's success.
Today's result was not completely unexpected. Many, myself included, thought Palace away in their current form would be a formidable opponent with a very real possibility of dropping points. Palace boast attackers that show flashes at times like Bolasie and Gayle, solid midfield players like Jedinak (as well as one of my favorite recent Hoops in Ledley), strong defensive structure, and an exceptional home atmosphere at Selhurst.
What kills me, as I'm sure it does many others, is that Liverpool had overcome all of that by the 55' mark through 75'. They were in cruise control 3 points in the bag, and had seemingly a half dozen chances of putting the match to bed and closing the GD on City already up 3-0 with another marker. And as an aside, considering the chances they've created in the past 2 weeks, Suarez, Sturridge, and Sterling's finishing has been pretty poor overall.
Regardless, to come undone in the manner they did showed not only an unwillingness to play the "park the bus" 6-4-0 Mourinho special or even play defensively - it highlighted a glaring inability to prevent goals against that's gone back to just after the beginning of the season, right around Suarez's return from his ban. This is Rodgers's only real shortcoming in my book - yes, he had two exhausted fullbacks in Johnson and Flanagan who'd spent the majority of the game bombing up the wings and cutting inside, but he also did not ready any substitutes to come on and preserve the most important lead of the season.
I don't know if Rodgers got too tunnel-visioned on goal differential even as the lead slipped away to bring on one or both of Touré/Cissokho as a set of fresh legs, but the abject lack of urgency from the fullback (eventually wingback) positions preceded and ultimately coerced Škrtel's brain-dead lunge to the top of the box and left Gayle unattended for a second time in a matter of minutes. This falls on the players primarily, but they've got to have proper instruction and wherewithal to recognize the importance of maintaining any lead in this situation by any means necessary. That fell short today, and disappointment doesn't begin to describe that shortcoming.
Above all IMO, Liverpool need an overhaul at the fullback position and the return of Borini, Suso, and Assaidi very, very badly. Flanagan can grow into a starting role, but he should be sheltered this coming season as Sterling has been. Maybe Robinson coming back from loan will help, but with Enrique's inability to stay healthy/competent and Johnson gassed after 60-70' each match, there is a need for two CL-caliber starting FBs. I couldn't complain about Ashley Cole potentially as one of them, and maybe someone like Martin Montoya or Ahmed Elmohamady as the other.
But yeah, that sucked.
edit: just saw the Moses vine, holy hell
soxfan121 said:
You seem to be reading his comment to mean we would rather lose pretty than win ugly. That's not really it, as it's a dig at Chelsea, who are also coming up short. He's really saying that if both Liverpool and Chelsea lose out, at least Liverpool did it in an attacking, entertaining manner.
If he said that about Chelsea and we finished behind them, I would agree more with the point you are making..
Chelsea were also busy trying to keep up England's status in European competition(while the other three teams did their usual disappointment act). I'll take the season we had and the 6 points off you guys.SoxFanInCali said:
It's boggles my mind how quickly fans of a team that so recently played even more defensive football on a regular basis than Chelsea do now, get all preachy about playing the game the right way. It reminds me of when Arsenal transitioned from the 1-0 days to Wengers style and became the beacons of all that is holy over night
With the results of the last month, if your manager was anyone but The Special One you and the rest of the plastic flag waving brigade would be calling for him to be fired.
I wasn't getting preachy, just explaining why I thought SF121 mis-read CJD's post. I want to win, and wish we would have dropped into your 6-4-0 once we gave up the first goal, but I'm not going to totally rip apart the strategy that has us alive for the title going into Matchday 38.
I wasn't getting preachy, just explaining why I thought SF121 mis-read CJD's post. I want to win, and wish we would have dropped into your 6-4-0 once we gave up the first goal, but I'm not going to totally rip apart the strategy that has us alive for the title going into Matchday 38.
Fire him for what? Not many of us expected to finish first, and none of us thought we'd come close to winning the CL. Liverpool fans are like 12 year old kids who never learn new insults: Russian blood money, plastic flag brigade.....is this stuff supposed to bother me? Or make you feel better about your season being drowned in Suarez's tears?SoxFanInCali said:
For not winning anything. That's all it has taken for your last 5 or 6 managers. Some even got fired when they did win something.Snakebauer007 said:
EVERY preview I saw at the beginning of the season had Chelsea and City fighting it out for the title. Many gave you the edge when Jose returned. If you want to tell me that most Chelsea fans had no expectations, then you weren't paying much attention to the beginning of the season.Snakebauer007 said:
I don't give a flying fuck whether it bothers you or not. I do know you are all extremely sensitive about it, so there must be a kernel of truth in there somewhere.Snakebauer007 said:
I will be disappointed if we don't win the title, as any fan in this situation would be, but if you think I need to feel better about this season, you haven't read too many of the other 1,200+ posts in this thread. The fact that Suarez clearly was as crushed as we are makes me happy that he's on our side.Snakebauer007 said:
I'm sorry who is being sensitive? This is how it goes though, all of you can come into the Chelsea thread and take potshots when ever you feel like it, and I do my best to take it in stride or respond to anyone actually making a point but the second I respond to anything in here it gets all angry and defensive. if you don't give a flying fuck(is it possible to say that and not look so obviously like you do give a lot of fucks?), you could have responded to my initial point without the unnecessary insults or not responded at all.SoxFanInCali said:
I can't speak for others, but I generally avoid other team threads the day they lose a game, especially after a brutal one. i think after the loss to Sunderland, the only thing I said was that it ended Jose's (legitimately) incredible home winning streak.
Every fan base is hypocritical, ripping on strategies that go against you while praising them when they work for you. I even pointed out when talking about the attack vs. defense strategy that I loved it when we scratched out 1-0 wins in the CL under Rafa. I also said that insulting Chelsea for their strategy would have been sour grapes had you won the title. My only point is that if Liverpool don't win (and I'm not conceding yet, too many weird things have happened to say that City can't lose one of these games), it's more fun to watch a team that scores 100 goals than one that specializes in 1-0 wins that also comes up short. I did find it ridiculous that Chelsea's Twitter feed complained about Norwich going into a shell, though, and your rush to defend it made me shake my head a bit.
Today sucked. I killed a few beers when I got home. I got wound up, but I really would buy you a beer if we watched a game together.
(I can't promise that I wouldn't hit you with a chair later, though).
Every fan base is hypocritical, ripping on strategies that go against you while praising them when they work for you. I even pointed out when talking about the attack vs. defense strategy that I loved it when we scratched out 1-0 wins in the CL under Rafa. I also said that insulting Chelsea for their strategy would have been sour grapes had you won the title. My only point is that if Liverpool don't win (and I'm not conceding yet, too many weird things have happened to say that City can't lose one of these games), it's more fun to watch a team that scores 100 goals than one that specializes in 1-0 wins that also comes up short. I did find it ridiculous that Chelsea's Twitter feed complained about Norwich going into a shell, though, and your rush to defend it made me shake my head a bit.
Today sucked. I killed a few beers when I got home. I got wound up, but I really would buy you a beer if we watched a game together.
(I can't promise that I wouldn't hit you with a chair later, though).
Fair points all around. I usually avoid this thread at all times but it seems like the Chelsea thread has become completely fair game so I Figured wtf. In any event, the last thing I would like is another pissing contest, and glad we avoided thatSoxFanInCali said:
Cheers
Also, an account called Chelsea PR Bot started following me on Twitter, and the avatar is the same as yours here. That made it fun to read your posts as some automated Chelsea online defense force.
Diego Costa has always dreamed of being a Chelsea player.
— Chelsea PR Bot (@ChelseaPRbot) May 2, 2014
— Chelsea PR Bot (@ChelseaPRbot) May 2, 2014
Soxfan121, your account of the defensive shortcomings of this team are accurate and i have no issue with them but it was a question of Rodgers having to make do with the squad he had at the beginning of the season. With no CL money, or even EL money for that matter, there was no way he could make the massive adjustments we all knew were needed in defence.
Last season Rodgers was starting to get criticism for his emphasis on possession football but with little cutting edge. He obviously looked at the tools available to him this year and thought that given the attacking talent, why not try and blow teams away instead. We simply don't have the personnel to play a defensive game, so why bother trying and losing by the odd goal here and there, or maybe scratching out the odd draw now and then, as SFiC says?
Shortcomings, naivety, inexperience, mistakes, all of this is true but as I said upthread, rather this than with a whimper. It's been a fun season and that's something we've not been able to say for some time. Changes will have to be made, and they probably will be, but that's for the future.
I've smiled more than I've cried (metaphorically) this season.
Last season Rodgers was starting to get criticism for his emphasis on possession football but with little cutting edge. He obviously looked at the tools available to him this year and thought that given the attacking talent, why not try and blow teams away instead. We simply don't have the personnel to play a defensive game, so why bother trying and losing by the odd goal here and there, or maybe scratching out the odd draw now and then, as SFiC says?
Shortcomings, naivety, inexperience, mistakes, all of this is true but as I said upthread, rather this than with a whimper. It's been a fun season and that's something we've not been able to say for some time. Changes will have to be made, and they probably will be, but that's for the future.
I've smiled more than I've cried (metaphorically) this season.
Snakebauer007 said:
On this miserable, drizzley Tuesday morning at least this made me smile. The suggestion that Chelsea were playing for anyone other than themselves is laughable. Thanks for cheering me up, Snake, beers are on me if I ever get the chance of making it over the Atlantic.
Too many eulogies being written today. Yesterday's result gave City a little room, but it didn't fundamentally change much. City still need to win 2, for the most part. Yes, they can now slip a draw, but this City team hasn't always answered the bell either and if City can beat Villa (which we failed at earlier this season, amazingly) then that last match will be full of pressure. Not intended to be a pep talk, but I don't really think the reaction to the draw is a bit over the top, similar to how City were written off after the draw versus Sunderland.
For all the talk about the defense not being up to snuff for a while (which it has been), I'm surprised Mr. Rodgers didn't manage to sign a defender with the money that was seemingly being used on Yevhen Konoplyanka. Goals were not the problem, defense was. Rodgers should've played for the draw against Chelsea, but-much like last night-he thought he had to show everyone who had more balls. Ego got in the way of this one, it started at Sunderland with the guard of honor and parading and has culminated in this, something I would only wish on Liverpool. They still may win the title but at this point it would be a City collapse that gives it to them.
Snake has a point about Chelsea also having to manage the CL. Sure they weren't playing for England but it's still a strain on a rather large squad, one Liverpool have not had to deal with this season. It will be impressive if both Merseyside clubs stay where they are in the table next season with the added weight of European play.
Snake has a point about Chelsea also having to manage the CL. Sure they weren't playing for England but it's still a strain on a rather large squad, one Liverpool have not had to deal with this season. It will be impressive if both Merseyside clubs stay where they are in the table next season with the added weight of European play.
One of the underappreciated aspects of soccer is how fans are always trying to talk themselves into ways their club can fuck it up. Too much belief when we've seen it all got to hell too any times is asking for it.teddykgb said:
To be fair, Rodgers did play for a draw against Chelsea. Pool had the majority of possession because that's their style and Chelsea sat so deep, but the fullbacks were much less involved going forward than normal. The goal didn't come from some tactical miscalculation, Gerard just fell over at the worst possible time.mgoblue2 said:
The three 0-0 draws at home to weaker sides (plus the Arsenal 4-4) cost them the title, but I don't think it was a failure of style or lack of attacking intent. They were after all the highest scoring team in the league with the best striker, and they thoroughly dominated all of those games. Perhaps they were a little one-dimensional and overly reliant on Gerrard/Torres for goals, but that's a different problem. Sometimes the ball just doesn't go in.SoxFanInCali said:
Dear God, just saw the replay on the last goal again and I can't believe how much space Palace was given, nor how firmly Skrtel's head was lodged up his ass.
I mean, once it's 3-2, you kinda have to chuck away the "playing for the most goals" strategy and defend like hell to get the 3 points, right? I have no idea how Liverpool managed to leave the middle of the field wide open in front of the box like that. Skrtel was left with two men to defend, chose the wrong one, and then didn't even get to the ball. Brutal.
I mean, once it's 3-2, you kinda have to chuck away the "playing for the most goals" strategy and defend like hell to get the 3 points, right? I have no idea how Liverpool managed to leave the middle of the field wide open in front of the box like that. Skrtel was left with two men to defend, chose the wrong one, and then didn't even get to the ball. Brutal.
A big part of those acres of space was, once Coutinho was subbed on for Sterling, there was no tracking back from the highest attacking midfielder - despite Coutinho not having tired legs, he's not sprinting back to defend there. Not that that's his game anyhow, but even filling space could have altered that Palace attack.
Poor tactics and even worse execution.
edit: now this hurts to watch
Poor tactics and even worse execution.
edit: now this hurts to watch
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