Greenlizard0 Weekend Football Thread ** spoilers ** [1st - 3rd January 2019]

Don
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Didn't we try that against Napoli and PSG away from home? Trying not to lose doesn't seem to suit the way Klopp wants us to play and that midfield three offer absolutely nothing going forward which essentially makes our three attackers easy to defend against.

I've got nothing against any of them as individuals, I've always supported Henderson, Gini's been immense the last few weeks playing a deeper role and Milner's been an absolute sensation since he joined but together they don't work imo.

Edit: I'll never support Lovren though, worst defender we've had since the days of Babb and Scales.

We played that way at home to PSG and City too. And it's not simply a case of playing not to lose but when you're playing a side like City you have to recognise the threat they possess and adjust your game plan accordingly. Had we gone with a 4-2-3-1 or played Keita instead of one of the 3 in a 3 man midfield then maybe we'd have been better in possession and posed City more of a threat but we'd have also been more open and given City more space to play in two. You have to find the right balance depending on who you're playing and if you look back at our success against City in previous seasons it's always been on the basis of being very organised and disciplined in midfield and then springing from there. Had Ox been fit I wouldn't have been surprised had he started in midfield but, right now at least, Klopp's not going to start either Fabinho or Keita in a 3 vs City.

As for Lovren, he had a mad spell at the end of the game but the criticism for their first goal is bonkers. There's a bit of a scramble in our box and Aguero's capitialised on that with an incredible bit of movement. You'll see half a dozen examples of defenders losing their men for a split second in that situation but unfortunately for us the ball fell to Aguero in that split second and he's scored an incredible goal.
 
Caporegime
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All over the world...
Nicely done City, as much as I loathe City as a whole but I’ve always admired Pep and how he gets results when they count.

Hopefully will be a good title run in, let’s see how Liverpool react after this loss.
 
Caporegime
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We played that way at home to PSG and City too. And it's not simply a case of playing not to lose but when you're playing a side like City you have to recognise the threat they possess and adjust your game plan accordingly. Had we gone with a 4-2-3-1 or played Keita instead of one of the 3 in a 3 man midfield then maybe we'd have been better in possession and posed City more of a threat but we'd have also been more open and given City more space to play in two. You have to find the right balance depending on who you're playing and if you look back at our success against City in previous seasons it's always been on the basis of being very organised and disciplined in midfield and then springing from there. Had Ox been fit I wouldn't have been surprised had he started in midfield but, right now at least, Klopp's not going to start either Fabinho or Keita in a 3 vs City.

As for Lovren, he had a mad spell at the end of the game but the criticism for their first goal is bonkers. There's a bit of a scramble in our box and Aguero's capitialised on that with an incredible bit of movement. You'll see half a dozen examples of defenders losing their men for a split second in that situation but unfortunately for us the ball fell to Aguero in that split second and he's scored an incredible goal.
I'll leave it there because we'll never agree, Fabinho stood out when he came on though :p

What we should be able to agree on is we're 4 points ahead, we've played all of the top 10 away from home bar Man United and we're in the best postion to go for the title in 2019.

Hopefully Wolves do a Wolves and do us a favour in a few weeks time.
 
Don
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Would rather not have Poch than Liverpool win the league tbh...

Glad to know that we take priority over Utd in your mind :p
I'll leave it there because we'll never agree, Fabinho stood out when he came on though :p

What we should be able to agree on is we're 4 points ahead, we've played all of the top 10 away from home bar Man United and we're in the best postion to go for the title in 2019.

Hopefully Wolves do us a favour in a few weeks time.
As I said to Mark, I'm not having a pop at Fabinho but the system we played. As soon as we change to a 4-2-3-1 we're more of a threat but we're also more open.

And it's hugely important that everybody at the club recognises the position we're in. Our biggest danger isn't the teams we've got left to play because as you say, our fixtures are favourable, but ourselves. We can't get all hysterical after this result - we lost an incredibly tight game against our biggest rival by a single goal and are still 4 points clear. I mentioned pre-game, pretty much exactly 1 month ago we looked almost certain to fall 4 points behind City.
 
Soldato
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Glad to know that we take priority over Utd in your mind :p

Season is a write off.

Just got rid of a manager that plays turgid football.

OGS in and 4 on the bounce while playing some nice stuff. Not really bothered about getting another "proven" big name in for it to all go to **** again.

Damn right I don't want Liverpool to win the league, or City. Only way that would be acceptable would be if Utd win the Champions League as compensation :D
 
Don
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Season is a write off.

Just got rid of a manager that plays turgid football.

OGS in and 4 on the bounce while playing some nice stuff. Not really bothered about getting another "proven" big name in for it to all go to **** again.

Damn right I don't want Liverpool to win the league, or City. Only way that would be acceptable would be if Utd win the Champions League as compensation :D
Ok, you make sure Utd beat City and I'll make sure we beat Spurs & Chelsea. You can scrape 4th a distant 20 points off top spot and we'll take the title with a record breaking 101 points. Both happy ;)
 
Soldato
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This game might have taken a bit of a toll on both teams. Fingers crossed for a bit of a lapse and a three way title race with Tottenham that goes down to the wire.

I thought we looked leggy to be honest but I fully expect the majority to have the FA cup game off which should help.

I think you missing Son might kill yours off tbh
 
Soldato
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@BaZ87

I don't get how you can defend lovren, forget the first goal as I agree he couldn't do much or anything about that.

Everything else he did was still his usual consistent **** self, miss place passes, lack of focus.

Our defence has been great his season but its mostly nothing to do with him.

He is only in the team due to Gomez injury

In regards to other discussion agree to disagree too :)
 
Caporegime
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I thought we looked leggy to be honest but I fully expect the majority to have the FA cup game off which should help.

I think you missing Son might kill yours off tbh

Getting a bit annoyed with the Son situation and all the stupid tournaments he has to play in, barely got a break from the World Cup before the Asian Games then SK very kindly left him out of the November internationals but now it's January and we're losing him again. Wish we'd do what Fergie would do, and have players pick up little 'niggles' just at the right time.
 
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