Just as it looked like we were pulling clear in the race for top four, Crystal Palace rear their ugly heads again. It was so inevitable, wasn’t it? Well, maybe not if you’ve got some optimism, something I’m certainly lacking after that performance. Can Sadio Mane have my leg? I didn’t observe him, but here’s what was on offer at Anfield…
Top four gets that bit trickier
Oh dear. If Manchester United win the derby and their games in hand, they’re three ahead of the Reds. If City loses the derby but wins their other game in hand, they’re ahead of us. Uh oh, I hear you say, indeed. There’s still football to be played and United’s fixtures show that they can drop points, but it all felt more of the same. Liverpool must beat Watford to bounce back with momentum. We’ll hear lots of talk this week about being unlucky, a disappointing loss etc. The players need to show that at Vicarage Road. United and City will have both played twice by the time Liverpool rock up at Watford, they must keep themselves in contention.
Set-piece issues rear their head again
Ah yes. Just as it looked like Liverpool had got rid of their set-piece sickness, they were back at it. In truth, it was shocking. Milner had to make an excellent tackle to force the corner after Liverpool left themselves open again, and what came next was horrific. Firmino misses the clearance, Matip misses the ball, Lovren misses Benteke. After all the hard work on corners in the past weeks, it was a kick in the teeth for the Liverpool coaching team.
Coutinho has fire back in his belly
Regardless of a disappointing result, it was pleasing to see Philippe Coutinho back to what looked like near his best. Lighting up the game by winning, and scoring, a fantastic free-kick in the first-half, he was the man who tested Palace’s defence most in the second 45, right from the off. He arguably should have gone down when he danced through Palace’s box and was clipped by Tomkins, the Brazilian admirably rushing back to his feet and seeing a shot blocked.
Some are simply making up the numbers
I didn’t want to bang on about squad depth and buying players here, so I’ll try not to even though those issues came up again today. However, it does seem like Klopp’s faith in the reserves he does have is diminishing, with Liverpool reaching the 70th minute at 1-1 with still no substitutions made. Alberto Moreno’s pace could have been utilised, Marko Grujic would have offered some fresh legs in midfield, Ben Woodburn could have given Palace another headache going forward. Klopp did eventually opt to make changes, but it was a little too late.
Lucas’ role in such fixtures must be questioned
I like Lucas, I’m aware that many people *really* like Lucas so I don’t want to offend them, but his role in these sort of fixtures must be questioned. Yes, there was a lack of options, yes he played well against West Brom, but a different sort of quality was needed today. Alexander-Arnold, Grujic and Coutinho would have all offered a better attacking skills-set going forward, but Lucas remained.
this is our crazy take on the business of football ( In Italy, calciomercato.com report that Liverpool have given the green light for Lucas Leiva to join Inter Milan in January, but not on a basic loan deal.
CM suggest that a “dry-loan” was Inter’s preference, but that the Reds want assurances the Serie A club will sign him on a permenant deal at the end of the season.
Considering Lucas will be out of contact in June, it seems strange the Reds would make such demands) WTF! arer we serious or just great jokers don’t be surprise when we end up in Europa with no one wanting to sign for us
Origi is just bullshit..Liverpool going forward fail because of Origi incapable of doing anything,the attack is not fluid when Origi play..he even help the opposition with crucial intervention and block when Liverpool player attempt
Incredibly poor display, but honestly I think we were all expecting it sooner or later. If we make Champions League now, we’ll be incredibly lucky. Crystal Palace have been in good form but if we can’t break down a Sakho-less Crystal Palace defence & SIMPLY DEFENCE SET PIECES PROPERLY WITH MAN MARKING, we haven’t got a prayer.
Once again, an ex-Liverpool big man comes back & takes care of us.
I don’t know what we’ve done to Sturridge or perhaps he’s just injured again, but we don’t have another world class forward. Firmino isn’t a centre forward, anyone can see that. He’s a good player in, let’s say a ‘wing forward’ type role but he’s not a huge threat like Sturridge can be.
I might just start copying & pasting this, but Lovren is a squad player. Klavan shouldn’t be anywhere near Liverpool. We MUST upgrade the squad at the minimum of a left back, central defender & perhaps even a striker, unless we start playing Sturridge again regularly. We don’t even need to ‘sign’ one of these, if Klopp can swallow his pride – he’s out on loan showing his quality. I like Milner but in midfield, as a squad player. Even Flanagan can do a job at left back, & he’s out on loan. Who the hell makes these decisions??