Match thread: LFC vs man chest-hair, shitty

[Red Bird]

Hendo may be no Steven Gerrard, but I feel we are missing him badly.

Nah, Firmino and Lallana missed badly.

 

[manwithnoname]

Brendan you hate on firmino but aguero should've had an easy hat trick today so pack it the Fuck in

Yep. And he scored today. His 25th goal of the season

Firmino...didn't score today. As usual.

 

[Red Astaire]

Just my two pence worth but I thought that was a great great game. As good a game as I have seen in a long time. I'll watch it again later but I'm proud of the Reds going toe to toe. 🙂

 

[HC]

Yep. And he scored today. His 25th goal of the season

Firmino...didn't score today. As usual.

right but you acknowledge that Aguero should've scored more than one and been a match winner right ?

there's no debating that firmino isn't the goal scorer we need , there's a separate argument hat he offers something different but yeah.

 

[Hansern]

Thought we played well and deserved a hard fought point. Loads of chances to both teams and probably a great game for the neutrals.
We can live with a draw. A point at the Ethiad is a good result.

Can was excellent but Clyne and Gini were also great.

 

[beejay]

Could be a huge point come the end of the season. We now have to win the games against the mid table sides which won't be easy but we should not fear any other team. All our rivals have to play each other so will drop points

 

[Mystic]

I thought both Can and Matip were outstanding today.

 

[moron]

This game could have gone either way - that much I think everyone has to agree on. We had some really good chances today and so did they - but luckily for us they failed as much as we did. Now the worry for me is that have we now fucked up 4th spot ? - It really is my mind a race between United and us for 4th spot.

 

[Ryan]

I thought both Can and Matip were outstanding today.

Yep, and Milner, Wijnaldum, Mane, Firmino, and Clyne.

 

[HC]

can was ace. His ability to extend in the tackle was amazing ,he broke up play countless times making tackles' that frankly should have been possible.

 

[Hansern]

Yep, and Milner, Wijnaldum, Mane, Firmino, and Clyne.

Agreed. You could see at the start that Firmino had been out injured, but as the game went on he was excellent.
That passage of play before Lallana's miss was outstanding.

 

[Aidan O' Neill]

Is he supposed to run BEFORE Aguero then ? Because Aguero is small, powerful and built for a fast start - which is what he got, the extra yard he needed. Even if there was a starter's gun Klavan couldn't keep up with him over 5m, however when waiting for Aguero to react first ? Not a chance.

He looked and half pointed at Auburn behind him then went ball watching. When the ball is wide he should be between Ageuro and the goal.

 

[Hansern]

His positioning could be better but that cross from De Bruyne is top class. Difficult to defend against, and Aguero is probably one of the better strikers the World when it comes to movement in the box.

 

[Portly]

Rather than looking around for a defender to blame, you sometimes just have to say "great goal!"

 

[Frogfish]

Rather than looking around for a defender to blame, you sometimes just have to say "great goal!"

Indeed.

 

[mark1975]

Not really. For a split second Klavan was slow to react and he let Aguero not only get the yard, but allowed him to get in a position where it was impossible to cut off the cross. It was obvious as soon as the ball was played to De Bruyne, that he would fizz it in, it's what he does, he plays the ball early and is precise. Klavan should have anticipated it and got the right side of Aguero as soon as the ball was played wide, he's slack and makes mistakes, which is why people are picking up on it. No defender is perfect and sometimes you do have to hold your hands up to a bit of quality from the opposition. When a defender makes regular mistakes, it makes it more and more difficult to do that. As said last week, hes ok, but when you buy in a 30yr old who's had a fairly uneventful career, you generally get what you pay for. Our defense isn't the easiest to play in, but we repeatedly buy defenders who are full of individual errors.

 

[mark1975]

Milner wasn't good either for the goal, despite having a good game, the amount of space left wide was ridiculous, but we were playing tight to avoid getting stretched by their width, it's why they got so many dangerous crosses in. He was playing against 2 players for alot of the game and needed more protection in front of him.

 

[Insignificance]

I don't see their goal as an individual error. I saw De Bruyne out wide alone early and thought maybe Coutinho should have moved deeper to cut that route. When he didn't then credit to the accuracy and movement in their play for the goal.

 

[Mystic]

Not really. For a split second Klavan was slow to react and he let Aguero not only get the yard, but allowed him to get in a position where it was impossible to cut off the cross. It was obvious as soon as the ball was played to De Bruyne, that he would fizz it in, it's what he does, he plays the ball early and is precise. Klavan should have anticipated it and got the right side of Aguero as soon as the ball was played wide, he's slack and makes mistakes, which is why people are picking up on it. No defender is perfect and sometimes you do have to hold your hands up to a bit of quality from the opposition. When a defender makes regular mistakes, it makes it more and more difficult to do that. As said last week, hes ok, but when you buy in a 30yr old who's had a fairly uneventful career, you generally get what you pay for. Our defense isn't the easiest to play in, but we repeatedly buy defenders who are full of individual errors.

You are being way to harsh on Klavan here, it wasn't a mistake, he just got bettered by Aguero, something thats happened to most defenders he's played again.

 

[mark1975]

It's not harsh at all, Clyne got turned too easy against Sane in the first half, it should have resulted in a goal and would have been on him, it's no different. If someone produces a moment of exquisite quality, it happens. You can point out with a few of their chances how we could have dealt with it better. All in all it was a good result, but it only served to highlight that we need extra quality at the back and upfront, which is what I've said all season.

 

[keniget]

Our players got caught wrong-side all game but City players are very quick and technical and we're hardly a team of Maldini's so it's no great surprise.

 

[Mystic]

You're looking for blame where there isn't any, Klavan galloping out in the first half completely missing the ball and letting Aguero through was where he showed his weaknesses and why we need better, not his actions for the goal.

 

[mark1975]

You're looking for blame where there isn't any, Klavan galloping out in the first half completely missing the ball and letting Aguero through was where he showed his weaknesses and why we need better, not his actions for the goal.

Ok, it was completely unavoidable then. Except it wasn't.

 

[Gerry_A_Trick]

All goals are avoidable, but on a scale of avoidable to unavoidable, this was about as close to unavoidable as you can get.

 

[Mystic]

Ok, it was completely unavoidable then. Except it wasn't.

Likewise we could have avoided the draw if Can was a better player and smashed one in from 40 yards.

 

[Red Astaire]

Huh I fail to see how Klavan was to blame for their goal. It was just a bloody good goal. Quick movement and a clinical finish from a master finisher. Generally I thought he had a good game. So did Matip.

 

[doctor_mac]

It doesn't get much more testing for a defence than facing the raw pace of Sterling and Sane combined with the movement and downright excellence of Aguero. And when thats backed up by Silva between the lines and De Bruyne popping in to join the party there are going to be times you ride your luck defensively. I must say though, I think De Bruyne is wasted in that deeper role.