Y.N.W.A Thread III: Enter 'The Normal One'

[saint.nick]

Too much sideways passing, not enough brains in the midfield and a timid defence. We've gotten exactly what we deserved today.

Wijnaldum has been so disappointing yet again.

80% possession and haven't looked like scoring, think it took an hour to get a shot on target.

Sides just pack the centre of the park against us and we still try playing through the middle of them. Game has really shown how much we miss genuine pace on the flanks with Manè being away.

It is infuriating how repetitive the nature of our losses are. Every one looks like a carbon copy of each other. Honestly, Klopp has lost the plot. Where the f**k is the change and adaptation? Why the f**k are we so clueless against every single team that parks the bus, no matter how good they are?! Even f**king Plymouth successfully used it against us!

 

[thorson1987]

Chance for counter attack, lets pass around in a triangle at our 18 yard box or just hold the ball up and allow them to get men behind the ball.

f**king disgraceful

 

[umina panther]

The Klopp system which works but has now been found out and ignores our best player (Sturridge)

 

[saint.nick]

The good teams figure out a way to score against stubborn defences, but we're just utterly incapable.

 

[Haffa]

This team is officially in crisis.

Just in time for your defence to turn into peak Milan & Jordan Henderson to turn into Zidane before Tuesday. I expect us to lose this one now.

 

[Lemon Squash]

Oh no we suck again!

 

[thorson1987]

Senegal knocked out of AFCON.

Hopefully Mane is back for Chelsea game.

 

[cb4]

Klopp hasn't lost the plot, it's just his stubbornness is finally peaking its head out.

He didn't buy a WC Keeper, he brought in a project. Unfortunately, we didn't have time for that. He needed to move Mignolet on, buy a worldy and also sign Karius. Instead, he re-signed Migs and just added to the problem of him still being our best Keeper.

He didn't sign a class left back when Jonas Hector was practically hand wrapped and delivered to us. Instead, he moved a 31-year-old central midfielder there and hoped for the best. Milner has been solid but is getting caught out now like Moreno was. Moreno had the pace to make it up, Milner doesn't.

He didn't sell Mamadou Sakho and sign a replacement. He didn't upgrade our best defender after they fell out. That is inexcusable. Joel Matip is not better thank Sakho.
He moved Lucas into a full-time backup CB. We have had games where 50% of our defensive line have been made up by midfielders. Yes, the most important line on the field made up with slow, old plodders.

He didn't sign a DM. Instead, he moved Henderson there and he is being exposed. I like Henderson, I am not bashing him as it is not his fault, but his natural instinct is to play forward and therefore our already fragile defensive line is left exposed. We had the same issue with Gerrard, we have now done the same thing with Hendo.

He signed 1 pacey winger who was going to be away for a month and didn't add any more speed to the team.
He didn't sign a striker that can score goals.

What he did, was get a team to gel for a period and now they have fallen off.
His lack of activity this window is also concerning.
He has stated that teams won't sell, that is not the case, he just won't stump up the cash. He wants Brandt, pay the 41 million. He wants Promes, pay the 25 Million.
He can't get away with cheap skating people when they know he is desperate.

Not signing a CB, a DM and a winger this window is criminal. At the moment, he is nothing more than a charismatic Brendan Rodgers.

BTW, I am not Klopp out by any means, he is a fantastic coach. I am more on the Klopp Change bandwagon.

 

[Foz]

I get frustrated with a number of things our players do but Moreno's inability to use his right foot is right up there in the frustration stakes.
There are times he should be crossing the ball,times he should be stretching defences to set up guys inside him but you can bet he will take the wrong option and then probably lose the ball as well.
As a defender you'd just know to let him cut back on you as there is an absolute zero chance of him causing any damage with a right foot shot.
It's rather odd I'm actually blaming a defender for some breakdowns in attack but that's how it is.
Now I'm not blaming him for the FA Cup loss.
Plenty of others contributed to that.
Another game we totally dominate possession and we offer next to nothing in attack and looked more likely our defence would be picked off on the counter.
One positive is there's no excuses now.
Leagues the only thing to worry about.

 

[cb4]

That is the best way to beat us, let us have the ball.

 

[saint.nick]

Klopp hasn't lost the plot, it's just his stubbornness is finally peaking its head out.

He didn't buy a WC Keeper, he brought in a project. Unfortunately, we didn't have time for that. He needed to move Mignolet on, buy a worldy and also sign Karius. Instead, he re-signed Migs and just added to the problem of him still being our best Keeper.

Here's the thing, I don't think Karius was expected to struggle as much as he did in his initial run. He was very solid in Germany I can't blame the staff for believing that he could kick on from there and put in at least a solid season for Liverpool. Mignolet IMO is a decent enough bench goalkeeper. I don't think there was much too wrong with this goalkeeper strategy. At least Karius has improved the last few games.

He didn't sign a class left back when Jonas Hector was practically hand wrapped and delivered to us. Instead, he moved a 31-year-old central midfielder there and hoped for the best. Milner has been solid but is getting caught out now like Moreno was. Moreno had the pace to make it up, Milner doesn't.

I think the idea was that Hector was not a good stylistic fit for Liverpool. It'd be like if Zlatan was hand-wrapped and delivered to us. Great player Zlatan may be, but do you think he'd play well in a Klopp team? I doubt it. The fact he went for Chilwell instead just confirms the huge talent deficit of fullbacks (and particularly left backs since most people are right-footed) in the game right now.

He didn't sell Mamadou Sakho and sign a replacement. He didn't upgrade our best defender after they fell out. That is inexcusable. Joel Matip is not better thank Sakho.
He moved Lucas into a full-time backup CB. We have had games where 50% of our defensive line have been made up by midfielders. Yes, the most important line on the field made up with slow, old plodders.

To be honest, from what I've seen so far, Matip is a better player than Sakho. Sakho can put in a very good shift but lacks that killer consistency which I believe Matip has. Matip seems to exude far more composure. But I agree, Klopp has made a mistake by relying on Lovren to effectively be Sakho's replacement. Lovren just doesn't cut it, his standard is just a rung below the top 6 teams.

He didn't sign a DM. Instead, he moved Henderson there and he is being exposed. I like Henderson, I am not bashing him as it is not his fault, but his natural instinct is to play forward and therefore our already fragile defensive line is left exposed. We had the same issue with Gerrard, we have now done the same thing with Hendo.

Agree and disagree here. When the full first choice team is playing, Hendo doesn't have many problems in that position. But when players like Mane are missing, and things are switched around, he finds it harder. So I agree that for the purposes of having a DM when need be, we should have bought one, as it does enable Liverpool to adapt better. But I really have not been disappointed with the trio of Hendo, Gini and Lallana.

He signed 1 pacey winger who was going to be away for a month and didn't add any more speed to the team.
He didn't sign a striker that can score goals.

The striker argument just depends on how much you rate Origi. I think he's put his faith in Origi to step up to the plate. For a good period he was, but is now in a form slump. But I agree with the Mane argument, it seems that Klopp severely underestimated how much this team would miss Mane, even only for a few games. They look lost without him and in the time Mane was gone Klopp didn't have any answers for it. That's why I said he lost the plot, he just expected the team to go out there and know how to break these teams down without even the mere presences of Mane distracting defenders out wide.

What he did, was get a team to gel for a period and now they have fallen off.
His lack of activity this window is also concerning.
He has stated that teams won't sell, that is not the case, he just won't stump up the cash. He wants Brandt, pay the 41 million. He wants Promes, pay the 25 Million.
He can't get away with cheap skating people when they know he is desperate.

Klopp doesn't control the purse strings so that stuff isn't entirely up to him. Remember, we have a sporting director now who casts a lot of judgment over this stuff. It's Edwards' responsibility just as much as Klopp's to shape the make-up of this team, and Klopp needs to trust Edwards since his job requires far more insight into the transfer market.

 

[Lemon Squash]

That is the best way to beat us, let us have the ball.

This..

Nothing more frustrating then watching us dominate possession and do SFA with it...

Then get stung on the counter

Happens far to often

 

[saint.nick]

Yep, because with the ball, we can't press, and that seems to be our greatest weapon.

 

[Jack_Napier]

Klopp hasn't lost the plot, it's just his stubbornness is finally peaking its head out.

He didn't buy a WC Keeper, he brought in a project. Unfortunately, we didn't have time for that. He needed to move Mignolet on, buy a worldy and also sign Karius. Instead, he re-signed Migs and just added to the problem of him still being our best Keeper.

He didn't sign a class left back when Jonas Hector was practically hand wrapped and delivered to us. Instead, he moved a 31-year-old central midfielder there and hoped for the best. Milner has been solid but is getting caught out now like Moreno was. Moreno had the pace to make it up, Milner doesn't.

He didn't sell Mamadou Sakho and sign a replacement. He didn't upgrade our best defender after they fell out. That is inexcusable. Joel Matip is not better thank Sakho.
He moved Lucas into a full-time backup CB. We have had games where 50% of our defensive line have been made up by midfielders. Yes, the most important line on the field made up with slow, old plodders.

He didn't sign a DM. Instead, he moved Henderson there and he is being exposed. I like Henderson, I am not bashing him as it is not his fault, but his natural instinct is to play forward and therefore our already fragile defensive line is left exposed. We had the same issue with Gerrard, we have now done the same thing with Hendo.

He signed 1 pacey winger who was going to be away for a month and didn't add any more speed to the team.
He didn't sign a striker that can score goals.

What he did, was get a team to gel for a period and now they have fallen off.
His lack of activity this window is also concerning.
He has stated that teams won't sell, that is not the case, he just won't stump up the cash. He wants Brandt, pay the 41 million. He wants Promes, pay the 25 Million.
He can't get away with cheap skating people when they know he is desperate.

Not signing a CB, a DM and a winger this window is criminal. At the moment, he is nothing more than a charismatic Brendan Rodgers.

BTW, I am not Klopp out by any means, he is a fantastic coach. I am more on the Klopp Change bandwagon.

I think you've hit the nail on the head in the last paragraph, Klopp needs to adapt and change a whole lot more.

We know how good he can be man managing and playing his geggen press style, now he needs to show he can change it up when sides have worked us out.

More brains and general intelligence is needed in our midfield. We have tradesman like work horses sprinkled with little bits of creativity and flair but no one to take hold of the game when we need it.

Someone like Xabi Alonso back in the day would be absolutely perfect.

Hendo is still growing into trying to be that type of player, he'll obviously never be as good as Alonso but IMO he has the drive and passing range to do it. He just needs to hopefully develop the game intelligence.

 

[saint.nick]

I think you've hit the nail on the head in the last paragraph, Klopp needs to adapt and change a whole lot more.

We know how good he can be man managing and playing his geggen press style, now he needs to show he can change it up when sides have worked us out.

More brains and general intelligence is needed in our midfield. We have tradesman like work horses sprinkled with little bits of creativity and flair but no one to take hold of the game when we need it.

Someone like Xabi Alonso back in the day would be absolutely perfect.

Hendo is still growing into trying to be that type of player, he'll obviously never be as good as Alonso but IMO he has the drive and passing range to do it. He just needs to hopefully develop the game intelligence.

Agree, because one frustrating thing to watch with our midfielders recently is that they're so f**king close together. When Liverpool camp themselves in the opp. half, the three midfielders are standing almost side-by-side passing it to each other.

With Mane, Liverpool can still win without the counterpress, but Klopp needs to figure out how they can do it without Mane, he hasn't seemed to have given them a proper game plan for that.

 

[saint.nick]

I've seen a good idea that Coutinho be dropped back into the midfield 3 with Hendo and Lallana, and Wilson be given a chance on the left wing. With Mane stretching players right and Wilson stretching players left, it'd leave a lot of room for Coutinho and etc to create.

 

[Captain Apollo]

Considering the issue we mere mortals have identified with this squad before the season even started, it is very poor from management (and it mean it in the broad sense of the club's administration) that they have not signed 1 player in this transfer window so far. I know January is rarely a good time to buy but what is gonna happen, for example, if say Mane get a season ending injury. There are some areas (e.g. wingers, fullbacks, central defenders) where there is not a lot of depth and you would think they would have looked to brought in at least one player who could provide extra cover in one of those positions.

 

[Jack_Napier]

I've seen a good idea that Coutinho be dropped back into the midfield 3 with Hendo and Lallana, and Wilson be given a chance on the left wing. With Mane stretching players right and Wilson stretching players left, it'd leave a lot of room for Coutinho and etc to create.

Couts was pretty good in that role back in the 13/14 season and he is a better developed player now a few years later.

Also like the idea of giving Wilson a go, he is really playing well in he U23's scoring goals and assisting.

 

[cb4]

I get frustrated with a number of things our players do but Moreno's inability to use his right foot is right up there in the frustration stakes.
There are times he should be crossing the ball,times he should be stretching defences to set up guys inside him but you can bet he will take the wrong option and then probably lose the ball as well.
As a defender you'd just know to let him cut back on you as there is an absolute zero chance of him causing any damage with a right foot shot.

Sorry I missed this, but this is my thoughts on Milner with his left foot. Don't let him cut back on his right because his left is f**king useless.

 

[saint.nick]

Why the f**k did it take Klopp so f**king long to put Mane on? Wouldn't you put him on straight after the Gini goal and take advantage of the momentum?