Madrid Away Match Thread
- Thread starter Bradley
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Status
I mean a 2-0 win at Anfield wins us the tie so it's not too shabby but I can't see us not conceding
Yes. And..?
He was a brutal defender then, and he remains a brutal defender now. The only difference is that then, we swept all before us without him getting fully found out. Now, every bugger knows he can't defend.
His attacking prowess was a huge part of our success these past two seasons.
His defensive ability contributed approx. sweet fuck all towards that same success. And you know it.
Nah, you can’t win the league with a defender that can’t defend.
Well I did suggest not starting Jota as he’s more impactful off the bench.
What happened to Curtis anyway?
As long as someone starts it reasonably early
Would love to see him start the home leg
C) Breathing
Klopp seems to have gotten into the habit a few of his predecessors have, in making head-scratchingly bad decisions and looking short of any idea when it comes to subs. Thiago should have played instead of Keita. You don't throw a player in who hasn't played for months for your biggest game of the season.
This looked a game beyond Kabak, where is inexperience and defensive frailties stuck out like a sore thumb, while Trent made too many unforced errors and one heavily costly one.
I'm loathed to side with the critics, but there's a fraction of truth in that he's not a very good defender. Everything always comes down his side. He doesn't get much protection from Mo, but besides that he gets shown up too many times against good sides. He's a great player but an average defender. Someone needs to decide how to get the best from him and keep him in the team, which probably involves the obvious.
The sad thing is, Bobby and Mane are both past it and it'll probably be Mo that goes, so we have a big rebuild to think about.
This looked a game beyond Kabak, where is inexperience and defensive frailties stuck out like a sore thumb, while Trent made too many unforced errors and one heavily costly one.
I'm loathed to side with the critics, but there's a fraction of truth in that he's not a very good defender. Everything always comes down his side. He doesn't get much protection from Mo, but besides that he gets shown up too many times against good sides. He's a great player but an average defender. Someone needs to decide how to get the best from him and keep him in the team, which probably involves the obvious.
The sad thing is, Bobby and Mane are both past it and it'll probably be Mo that goes, so we have a big rebuild to think about.
I like him but man, it's hard to continue to be supportive.
Nonsense. We did. Mostly because we didn't need to do much defending that entire season.
Quick post-match thoughts:
- Kabak and Phillips passed the test. Yes, Nate was done for pace and positioning a bit on the first goal, but he notably grew in confidence in the 2nd half and made some crucial stops. Kabak has been our best player in the 1st half by far and generally good. For your first game against Real Madrid away, this is as much as you can ask for.
- Jekyll-and-Hyde from Trent; the 1st half he was playing through a fog, but he woke up in the 2nd and his some of his passes were actually sublime. Let's hope the first half was a low point he will learn and grow from.
- We missed the playmakers. Keita's selection instead of Thiago was a gamble that did not work; we started recovering our patterns of play once Thiago was on. Maybe if Firmino was brought on earlier we would have found more cohesion in attack as well.
- Mane well off-form. Madrid players knew he was going to run forward with the ball at every opportunity and were ready for it; nothing he tried worked and I don't really know how this problem can be solved. Mane's poor form has been as big of a factor as Van Dijk's absence – our system relies on him dominating and creating consistently, but at the moment he isn't.
- Madrid are flawed, but their individual quality in depth is still high and that was enough to beat us on a poor day. We couldn't trouble Modric and Kroos in midfield and have to say their make-shift CBs did very well. I would give us maybe 20% chance of going through – if we can produce a vintage performance and not get sucker-punched on a counter at Anfield.
Last edited:
And you need firmino to work back and harass kroos
Move him on for what though? Nobody is picking up this mess for any transfer fee and theyre certainly not paying him anywhere near what we’ve got him on. He’s a complete bust
Mane could do with a rest, let Jota take his place in the home leg. I know Bobby hasn't done much lately but he can open a game up. He also leads the press and we really need to out them under extreme pressure from the word go.
TAA has the hardest job of any full back in the league. He doesn’t just stand next to his centre half and get forward if the opportunity comes along. He doesn’t support the attack, he is the attack on our right.
I’m not going to argue that he’s the best defender but he’s good enough for a team that wants to be challenging and winning things.
You have right backs to not lose games. We have Trent to win games.
That’s not true. We lacked a leader. VVD, Henderson, Milner and even Jones would’ve made a huge difference to our team. They were a quiet bunch of fannies for most of the game.
There's alot of truth in that, unfortunately he reminded us tonight that he's also capable of making unforced errors too.
I concur re: Natbak - solid showing overall.
TAA - very very upset with his 1st half performance. To be so 'on' against Arsenal, and so 'off' here, and how badly he passed? Maybe it's best he doesn't go to the Euros just so he can recharge his batteries.
Keita wasn't _that_ bad - the whole team weren't passing well, or pressing, which made him a passenger like our whole midfield. I think we were passing better to Madrid than to each other.
Mane is well off-form but he also gets no help whatsoever from officials. That shove in the back is a yellow at worst - and he gets nothing. He's clearly knackered - but it doesn't help when you get 0 protection from refs.
I'm very surprised at how good we made Madrid look. They made us look as bad as we made Arsenal look ... and I think they took the foot of the pedal to start the 2nd half, which gave us a chance which we took.
I think this team needs to learn 'dark arts' - we're too nice, and that allows refs to be conned non-stop. Everyone does this now, and signs players who actively do it, and we have to still be 'nice guys'? Fuck that - be like everyone else.
Jota - Keni said it I think, but he has more of an impact as a sub than as a starter imo.
Robbo - Still gives 100%, still solid as fuck ... but you can tell he's mentally exhausted too. He's a second off on crossing most times, which hurts him.
Lastly, if Anfield was packed, I think we'd have a chance to win 4-1 or something. But an empty stadium will be hard - and we'll likely go out with a scoring draw.
Oh, and thanks to Pat for that wonderful pre-match thread ... !
Do we have any Austrians with basements?
Yep, he’s made more unforced errors this season than all his other seasons combined. He’s not had a good season overall.
I think when Henderson plays he covers the space left by Trent way better than any of other midfielders and him missing exposes that side of the pitch much more that it normally would. The other thing is we need Trent to bomb on as there's not much creativity in midfield as Wijnaldum doesn't play forward balls and neither does Thiago. You don't get incisive defence splitting passes from either of them. Fabinho can do that but was quite negative tonight.
Our other creative outlet Robertson has been poor for months now, in part because Mane has also been poor and their partnership on the left hand side has been non productive all season.
Kabak and Phillips were exposed tonight because Madrid had all the time in the world to play their passes and collectively the team didn't press or close them down effectively enough. You can't give good players time and space to play.
Playing Keita was bizarre considering how little game time he's had recently especially after Thiago's been playing much better alongside Fabinho lately.
- Status
