Not much to add to the other reports. I was looking forward to the game, as much for seeing live football in person as any real hope we’d get much out of the game. I thought we started ok and Rodrigo should have taken his chance (or at least hit in somewhere other than straight at Alisson). The more the game went on though, the more we looked second best (by a distance). I was talking to someone about the Rodrigo at 10 issue before the game. I can see the logic in a game against a lesser team where we are expecting to dominate the ball and will be trying to break down a packed defence but against a top four side it’s suicide. We are far too open through the middle and we saw Matip carry the ball 40 yards unchallenged for their first goal. I think Bielsa rates Roberts but it’s a like for like change when he replaces Rodrigo. I thought the red card was a nonsense and Klopp has no business running into the field of play. Thought Firpo did ok against Salah (who is a whining cheat) - he won’t face many better than him. Phillips I thought looked head and shoulders our best player - he’s gone up another level. It was kind of Klopp to bring on Henderson to even up the numbers a bit after the red card. He is absolutely garbage. I don’t think you can read too much into defeats against the scum and the scousers, as much as it hurts they are in a different league to us. I was quite pleased with the draw against Everton. I think Benitez will get them to top six this year. The only game I was disappointed with was the Burnley game, we just didn’t look that threatening but they were trying to kick us off the park and I still don’t understand how they didn’t get at least one red. I think Newcastle isn’t necessarily a must win, just a mustn’t lose. Hopefully we find some rhythm in the upcoming games. I also think that this will the final season for some of our championship players. Cooper is fourth choice cb for me and shouldn’t be anywhere near the first team, I’m worried that Ayling looks to be struggling and I’m not convinced Roberts offers much.
On and on! Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef> ________________________________ From: Leedslist <[email protected]> on behalf of John Lee via Leedslist <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, September 13, 2021 6:09:19 PM To: Tim Whelan <[email protected]> Cc: leeds list ([email protected]) <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [LU] Liverpool Sent from my iPad > On 13 Sep 2021, at 12:29, Tim Whelan <[email protected]> wrote: > > Unfortunately, it was correct that Liverpool's first goal did stand. As it > was pointed out to me while I was baying for a VAR intervention, Salah was > behind the ball when it was played across the face of the goal, therefore not > in an offside position. Yep, true, but when the ball was played out to the right both Mane and Salah were off - given that was in the build up to the goal then they clearly gained advantage from it. It is, clearly, a Liverpool tactic to leave men in the goal-hanger position in the hope that they can either sprint onside at the last minute, or that the lino will miss it? All that said, it was a bit embarrassing when Sky flashed up the no of chances - Leeds had 9, Mane alone had 10! Goal hanging pays off :-( > > As far as Roberts is concerned, his main contribution was to screw a shot > well wide from a decent position on the edge of the area. Normally he sends > the ball over the bar from that distance. Whenever he comes on for Rodrigo it > feels like a change for the sake of making a change, as he's not good enough > to offer anything different at this level. > > > > > ------ Original Message ------ > From: "John Lee via Leedslist" <[email protected]> > To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > Cc: "leeds list ([email protected])" <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, 13 Sep, 21 At 10:31 > Subject: Re: [LU] Liverpool > > Re Rich’s big question and can we play with 2 wingers and Rodrigo - the > answer is no! I like Rodrigo, good player, but he has neither the tactical or > defensive nouse to play that role, and I don’t think he’s fit enough either. > I too would have definitely had Shackleton on in his place, and Klich too, > although Llorente’s injury scuppered likely substitutions. > > > > I’m not going to talk much about Cooper, because we all know he gives it all > he’s got, but realistically he’s an ageing Championship-level defender who > keeps getting found out! The only real question is why does Bielsa keep > picking him knowing that in all probability the same thing will happen? My > main gripe, re the defence, is Ayling - I thought he was heading downhill > towards the end of last season - his positional sense is poor, his blocking > is patchy (another through his legs yesterday), but it’s his passing from > right-back which are constantly wayward that put us under immediate pressure > time and again, usually half way into our own half. This needs to change. I > would have Cody Drameh in at right-back now. As for Aylings ‘chance’ - why > didn’t he head it? > > > > Hopefully the club will appeal Stuijk’s red card - terrible injury, but it > wasn’t a bad tackle, just really unlucky. I watched to frame by frame - he > won the ball, but when he turned to stand he did bring his full body-weight > down on Elliot’s ankle - totally accidental. The ref clearly saw nothing > wrong in it initially, but Klopp’s histrionics and the severity of the injury > got Struijk a red, which seems all wrong. > > > > I thought Firpo did ok - he was up against Salah after all. I’m still > convinced their first goal shouldn’t have stood - both Salah and Mane were > offside when the ball came forward, gaining a clear advantage, then Mane was > off as Salah scored. Liverpools tactic of leaving forwards goal-hanging and > then playing the linesman really bugs me. > > > > Finally, will Bielsa learn? He knows we cannot compete with the top 6, yet > sends the same tactics out on to the pitch whoever we’re playing. We could, > and probably should have lost by 6/7 goals - bollocks to playing our own > game, we need some pragmatism against world-class players! > > > > Second finally - if Struijk and Llorente are out on Friday, I hope Cresswell > is used, and not Ayling at CB - that would be a big error! > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On 13 Sep 2021, at 09:44, "[email protected]" <[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! > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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! _______________________________________________ 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!
