My first PL game for donkeys and what a disappointment it was. Totally outclassed and outplayed for most of the game. If anything we showed some spirit second half with only 10 men and could / should have got 1 back. For me, there's a big question as to whether we can play with 2 wingers and Rodrigo against opposition like this. Phillips and Dallas didn't stand a chance and Liverpool took total control in midfield which meant Raphinha and Harrison never really had a kick. Rodrigo had an early chance which he could have done better with but apart from that he was totally ineffective as the no 10 and was hauled off for Roberts at half-time which is now becoming a regular change. We've seen what Rodrigo can do as a striker but as a midfielder he hasn't the legs to do what Hernandez did. It was a good atmosphere but all around me agreed that going in 1-0 down at half-time was a real result for us because it should have been more - a lot more. Time and time again the Liverpool midfielders and attackers seemed to have all the space in the world as they passed it around our box. Occassionally we would get a last ditch tackle in but we really struggled to contain them and struggled to get out of our half. Second half, Liverpool continued to control the park and were soon 2 up from a corner. The ball just seemed to be on the floor for an age until Fabinho, unmarked, poked it home. Poor defending again. Then Struijk got sent off and from the stands it looked like a great tackle and having seen it afterwards I still think Strujik is unlucky and was sent off for the injury not the tackle. The incident caused a bit of upset between the South stand and the away fans which then spiralled into a tit for tat sing song. "Always the victim, never your fault' to which the scousers replied "Yorkshire Police - murderers". A few scousers got really upset and ended up bein dragged away. We did show some heart with 10 men and Dan James came on and looked ok without really threatening. Liverpool scored a deserved 3rd late on and we all went home thinking that this is going to be a tough season and any thoughts of Europe and bettering our 9th place from last season need to be reassessed. Yes we've played 2 of the top 4 teams but I think it's clear that there's something missing and we are not playing with the fluidity and movement that we know we can. Bielsa's response to the first half debacle was to put Roberts on for Rodrigo. That was it. We were getting the run around in midfield but he just replaced like for like and carried on. He knows no different to his system and that is definitely a limitation. There was an argument to put Klich and Shack in a 4 man midfield with Raph on his own up front. At least we would have competed and seen some of the ball. We definitely needed another body in the middle. Scores:
Meslier - 7. Made some great saves to keep the score down. It could have been far worse. Ayling - 3. I thought he was really poor and if you look at his performances this season I think he's not started well. He did have our best chance first half but couldn't decide whether to volley or head it and I think it just ended up cannoning off him into the South Stand Cooper - 3. Let's face facts, he's not up to the job and against the better team this is really obvious. He was booked early on when he was turned and just pulled his man back and from then on he really struggled. Llorente - 4. Llorente also struggled it has to be said and then got injured. The lad has been unfortunate with injuries and looks like he might be out for a few weeks now. Firpo - 4. The general opinion on the P2 back was that Firpo isn't up to it. He's no Allioski going forward, in fact he rarely does get forward and that means Harrison sees little of the ball. His defending is also suspect. He did manage a few last dith challenges against Salah but he looks really dodgy. Dallas - 4. His worst game for a long time and that was mainly because he didn't see much of the ball and was just chasing shadows most of the afternoon. We keep buying wingers but surely central midfield is where we are really light for options. Phillips - 7. I thought he was our best player. Never gave up, tackled well and got around the park. He can't do it on his own though Harrison - 4. Ineffective Raphinha - 4. Ineffective Bamford - 3. Ineffective - had one speculative effort well saved but just didn't get in the game at all. Rodrigo - 2. Worrying performances from our record signing. Subs: Strujik - unlucky Roberts - one or two moments but didn't really influence the game. Maybe his running and ability to cover more ground than Rod was a factor in our improvement 2nd half. Newcastle will be another test. _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ Rest in Peace Guy, and wear your hat!
