Just felt it worth adding - as it became apparent how serious the injury was, I was v impressed by James Milner’s response as the ‘elder statesman’ - he went round all the younger players, giving them at pat or a hug and few words.
Nick > On 13 Sep 2021, at 09:44, [email protected] wrote: > > Yeah, it was a big disappointment…the first half was even enough, although I > thought we were only just hanging onto their coattails. But in the end 0-3 > didn’t flatter them. > > I’ve not seen any replays, so I don’t know about the sending off. Live, it > looked like a clean challenge, but then we saw lots of the folk around lad > running away holding their hands to their mouths, and so knew it was a bad > injury. > > I think in time Bielsa might want to switch Raphinha inside into a no.10 > role, behind Bamford, with Harrison and James on the wings. But there has to > be better coherence between the full backs and the wingers. Ayling has > started the season at quite a low level, he seems to be struggling…a lot of > unforced errors. Cooper can’t be any more than a squad player. Llorente is > class, I hope the injury is not serious. Firpo, I actually think had his best > game for us yesterday…whether that is good enough long term is another thing. > > In midfield, I think Phillips was very good, but can’t do it alone. Dallas > was curiously absent - or the game passed him by. Oddly after an invisible > first half, Harrison was having a good 15 minutes when he was taken off. > > Don’t know what to do with Rodrigo, he has played a lot in that advanced > midfield role and is not a success there. He has done ok as a centre forward, > but he is not the same kind of forward as Bamford, and Bielsa sees that > Bamford brings more to his preferred style of play. > > We continue to be grateful for having Meslier in goal. He is a future star. > > What we need are a couple of wins, to settle the nerves. > > The atmosphere in the ground was bouncing. > > Sent from my iPad > >> On 13 Sep 2021, at 08:40, Richard Walker via Leedslist >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> 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! _______________________________________________ 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!
