Liverpool v Maribor Match Thread CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

[mark1975]

It did occur to me last night how much better we'd be with Mane, Lallana and Coutinho in the side.

I'm sure we'd have turned at least one of those draws into a win.

Yep. It will definitely help take the pressure off and make games less tight. We still need to sort the defense mind, but it'll go a long way to curing some of our current woes. We're more or less solely dependent on Salah.

 

[keniget]

Yep. It will definitely help take the pressure off and make games less tight. We still need to sort the defense mind, but it'll go a long way to curing some of our current woes. We're more or less solely dependent on Salah.

We find ourselves in this position far too often for one reason or another.

Doesn't say much for the team and it's very hard on the player carrying us.

 

[Jack D Rips]

fucking hell mate !!! - just turned the tv off after watching the highlights from todays game and listening to roy keane - "Liverpool going nowhere..." - kind of feels like it this season doesn't it ? - still - part of me is thinking we are gearing up to go all guns blazing mid-december or start of Jan. I have some hope in me despite it being most likely miss-guided hope.

Oh yeah just in case I never mentioned it before. Roy Keane you're a traitorous cunt and I have exactly zero fucks to give about your opinion!

 

[mark1975]

We find ourselves in this position far too often for one reason or another.

Doesn't say much for the team and it's very hard on the player carrying us.

I think if we had a dominant, creative midfielder (Kieta?) then that might change. Because you've then got Salah, Mane, Coutinho and another, assuming Coutinho might stay. I still feel we could do with a central attacker who scores quite a few goals. Sturridge and/or Solanke might be that, but I don't see it for varying reasons.

 

[Frogfish]

We find ourselves in this position far too often for one reason or another.

Doesn't say much for the team and it's very hard on the player carrying us.

Actually it says quite a bit. Last season we totally floundered without Mane & Coutinho. This season without Mane, Coutinho, Lallana, Clyne (and last night we can also count Wijnaldum since he only got 15 mins) we still totally dominated and won 3-0. Yes, of course it was only Maribor, however it's been pretty much the case no matter who we've faced, as in no longer totally impotent.

 

[keniget]

I think if we had a dominant, creative midfielder (Kieta?) then that might change. Because you've then got Salah, Mane, Coutinho and another, assuming Coutinho might stay. I still feel we could do with a central attacker who scores quite a few goals. Sturridge and/or Solanke might be that, but I don't see it for varying reasons.

Actually it says quite a bit. Last season we totally floundered without Mane & Coutinho. This season with Mane, Coutinho, Lallana, Clyne (and last night we can also count Wijnaldum since he only got 15 mins) we still totally dominated and won 3-0. Yes, of course it was only Maribor, however it's been pretty much the case no matter who we've faced, as in no longer totally impotent.

We have more options these days (read: Salah who has made a huge impact) but teams are also becoming more effective at playing against and we end up in a situation where quite often we need to be at our tippy tappy best to guarantee a win.

This is why I think it'd be great to have a top class striker who can turn some of those half chances into goals and just relieve the pressure on the whole team. I like Firmino but with him we are more reliant on the overall system functioning at a high level. Take a couple cogs out and it's just not up to scratch.

 

[mark1975]

Actually it says quite a bit. Last season we totally floundered without Mane & Coutinho. This season without Mane, Coutinho, Lallana, Clyne (and last night we can also count Wijnaldum since he only got 15 mins) we still totally dominated and won 3-0. Yes, of course it was only Maribor, however it's been pretty much the case no matter who we've faced, as in no longer totally impotent.

Totally dominating Maribor doesn't tell us anything though. The problems were still there. A team that was one of the least talented in the competition broke beyond us several times and caused our defense problems, at home. We struggled completely for the first 45 minutes to get a significant shot on goal. The problems were there.

I'm not being down on a win, it was job done, but a team even without those players you listed, should be putting sides like Maribor to the sword. The fact the game highlighted our two main weaknesses (still poor defensively, struggling to break down a side that puts player behind the ball), makes the win a fairly empty victory really. It's 3pts and more chance of progression, but the way the game panned out showed us it's still easy to exploit and frustrate us in equal measure.

 

[Insignificance]

Totally dominating Maribor doesn't tell us anything though. The problems were still there. A team that was one of the least talented in the competition broke beyond us several times and caused our defense problems, at home. We struggled completely for the first 45 minutes to get a significant shot on goal. The problems were there.

I'm not being down on a win, it was job done, but a team even without those players you listed, should be putting sides like Maribor to the sword. The fact the game highlighted our two main weaknesses (still poor defensively, struggling to break down a side that puts player behind the ball), makes the win a fairly empty victory really. It's 3pts and more chance of progression, but the way the game panned out showed us it's still easy to exploit and frustrate us in equal measure.

I am not sure what kind of problems defensively you saw against Maribor. We all know we have defensive worries, but at home we rarely see them. In the last Three home games I Guess the opposition has been allowed two shots on target..... hardly had a sniff outside their own half. And until we were 1 up yesterday Maribor wasn't interested, just as Man U and Huddersfield (just the last Three as the ones before has been quite Equal).

Maribor has qualified for the CL. Lot's of teams didn't. Milan, Ajax, Valencia etc. They are not the strongest side, but we can't expect that teams playing in the CL should not be able to attack one or two times during 90 mins?

And Yeah we struggled to get good shots on goal. We need to up the tempo and take even more risk in the play. But whent eams come and just lay deep deep deep and is not interested in nothing but laying deep it is a struggle. And managers doing that is called tactical geniouses. Even Mourinho With the worlds most expensive Squad is applauded for his tactical nouse when all they want to achieve is to kick the ball as high up in the stands that it takes two extra Seconds to get it back into play. At least give us credit for trying to play football against this shower of defensive shite. And when we manage to break it Down we just conclude With job done....

 

[doctor_mac]

Totally dominating Maribor doesn't tell us anything though. The problems were still there. A team that was one of the least talented in the competition broke beyond us several times and caused our defense problems, at home. We struggled completely for the first 45 minutes to get a significant shot on goal. The problems were there.

I'm not being down on a win, it was job done, but a team even without those players you listed, should be putting sides like Maribor to the sword. The fact the game highlighted our two main weaknesses (still poor defensively, struggling to break down a side that puts player behind the ball), makes the win a fairly empty victory really. It's 3pts and more chance of progression, but the way the game panned out showed us it's still easy to exploit and frustrate us in equal measure.

Maribor didn't really ever cause us problems did they? They had 1 shot on target the whole night, and 5 in total. For comparison they had approximately twice as many chances away to Sevilla (9).

Also, we missed a penalty and still scored 3 goals and conceded none. Over 2 games against them we scored 10 and conceded none. That is pretty much putting them to the sword, isn't it?

I don't think it is an empty victory either. If we had drawn that game it would have put us in a very sticky position in terms of qualification. There was significant pressure on us in the last 45 minutes yet we remained calm, and eased to victory. Don't get me wrong, that was by no means scintillating footy, but we should be very happy nonetheless.

 

[Glen C]

I think if we had a dominant, creative midfielder (Kieta?) then that might change. Because you've then got Salah, Mane, Coutinho and another, assuming Coutinho might stay. I still feel we could do with a central attacker who scores quite a few goals. Sturridge and/or Solanke might be that, but I don't see it for varying reasons.

Nothing is going to change until we have a spine to our team.