Although we’re a side who like to enjoy possession, Liverpool do too. And when we’ve played them under Klopp in the past, we’ve actually struggled to keep the ball at all. Therefore it’s going to be extremely difficult to play our game against them. IMO if we try this again, and take our game to them at Anfield with a high line, we are asking for trouble. If we sit deeper and don’t allow their forwards any space to run in behind, we’ll have much more chance of success. They didn’t know what to do against Swansea, and we’re far more dangerous in attack.
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We have struggled to keep the ball because they basically outpressed us. So you think that sitting back will work? Remember when United played City? They sat back, they lost. Remember when when Liverpool played City they pressed and they won. These tactics vary because of different teams. We have some of the best defenders in the league and that's why our forwards can relax and play their game, if we play like Stoke we will get Stoke results IMO. It will be interesting to see which tactic Poch favours but whatever he does to me the team that presses most effectively will win this game.
It depends what you think their achilles is. I think it's their defence, that is their weakness as it is with City so lets sit back and allow them to develop their strongest features , their attack. Makes no sense to me. Liverpool showed us how to beat a strong attacking side. ATTACK. Man U have shown how to lose against us and against City DEFEND.
If they are going to outpress us, which they will, we do not want to be playing our usual high line with their attacking pace. 30 yards in behind our defenders for salah and Mane to run into? No thanks. That’s suicide. If they are better at pressing us, they’re gonna have the ball more. Nothing we can do about that. So if we let them have it (to a certain extent) and sit tighter, deeper and more compact compact whilst preventing any central shots, they’ll struggle. Through balls will be extremely difficult, as there’ll be so space in behind, likely resulting in goal kicks. And Liverpool also have no height up front so they won’t result to crossing the ball when theyre faced with our strong defence (as you say) of Dier, Vertonghen and Sanchez etc. It’ll be highly frustrating for them, and they’ve lost their best player in terms of “moments or magic” in coutinho.
Very true Spurf...they will have the crowd behind them and I think they will be fired up, they are 100% coming at us. If we lose the ball cheaply too much then our defence will be on the back foot a lot. Our problem is going to be converting our chances, we will get them..it's wether we are our usual wasteful selves or not.
This is the worry I’ve got. I’d rather they came at us with a tightly packed unit behind the ball, negating the qualities they have. Not a defence that’s got tonnes of space in behind them for their forwards to have a field day in.
Despite this being arguably the hardest game we have left, I think we’ve got a good chance of getting at least a point, but we have to set up with the right players and be disciplined. If we don’t, they could do a city on us.
So we have to dominate midfield and use the whole pitch and that we can do. I just wish Wanjama had more games under his belt and Dembele was fresh. We could win this game and it will be a huge statement if we do but my money is on a draw which would still be very decent at Anfield.
Agree with the line up barring the full backs. Think playing Rose would be suicidal. He's been absolute dog **** when he's not been injured and to come back after a few weeks off and play against a potent attack like Pool's would be a terrible choice in my opinion mate. I don't think Ben has had an out an out bad game this season, whether he's played against speed or technical players, he's come out on top for the most part, for me he's solidified himself as our first choice LB and shouldn't lose that (or even be rotated unless neccessary) until his form drops or he himself gets injured, Rose should wait for chances against maybe the likes of Newport. I think Aurier may be a risk too, he's missed a few games so likely won't be his sharpest and we've seen him caught out of position more than any FB this season as he likes to get forward a lot, that's probably his biggest weak point at the moment and so if he's caught out by either Mane or Salah, while he's no slouch, he has no chance of catching either of those two. Plus, after the way Tripps played against Utd, I think it'd be silly to drop him, ironically enough, Tripps has performed superbly against much faster oppenents - done excellent against Ronaldo, excellent againt Coutinho, excellent against Sanchez and Lingard - and so I think it actually may suit him against Sane, I think it's because he only ventures forward at the opportune times, he doesn't bomb it back and forth like Aurier/ Walker/ Rose and so he knows that if his opponent is likely to receive the ball anytime soon, he positions himself to either intecept them or to try and defend against them one-on-one, rather than have to chase back and perform a last ditch tackle which Walker was so good at (and what Aurier will be once he's more accustomed). Really hope Moura makes it onto the bench, Poch said he's unsure if he'll be involved but I want Poch to stop playing it safe, Laporte made his debut for City 24 hours after signing, think Sturridge did for WBA too, so I don't see why Moura shouldn't make the squad.
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Even that isn’t a straightforward argument, although I know that Ben was caught out by Mane previously (although that had as much to do with the rest of the selection and set up on the day) Rose is faster for sure, but he’s not as consistent defensively and the combination of Davies and Vertonghen (with cover ahead of them) would be potentially stronger. And Roses lack of game time also has to be factored in. Mane, for whatever reason, hasn’t been the force of last season, although no doubt he will strike form tomorrow - however, as long as they are defensively compact I reckon either Aurier or the Trippier of midweek will be ok. A win would be great, but a point - followed by 3 against the Scum - would be a good return.
And that’s the question. Will we dominate the midfield? Sadly, I don’t think we will, hence my previous comments. I agree, a draw will be a very decent result.
I don’t disagree regarding rose, as Davies has been brilliant and certainly doesn’t deserve to be “dropped”. I was just thinking along the lines of stopping Salah. With Coutinho gone, and Salah potentially up against a player who is also extremely quick, it would just fill me with more confidence of getting a result. Best of luck to Trippier if he plays. He was back to his old self against United, but those performances have been few and far between for me. Another united performance, brilliant. A “Leroy sane” performance against Mane, and we’re in trouble.
Rose fills me with fear at the moment to be honest, confidence is the last word I'd associate with him right now. Either side of his injury he seems to have lost half a yard of pace, too - which I suppose is natural for someone that's been out for so long and therefore he needs a run of games to back in the swing of things but Davies for me has been our second best player this season after Harry, dropping/ rotating him at the moment for a below-par Rose in such a big game wouldn't be a good move. Of course whoever starts I hope plays a blinder but I gotta be honest, if I see Rose in the XI, I'll likely be cacking myself for the whole game. As for Tripps, the Sane performance was disastrous and he rightfully got slated but name one player that played well that day, it'd be unfair to solely single him out when City made a mockery of us. So far this season, Aurier has had more poorer performances and made more mistakes than what Tripps has, though naturally we're more forgiving towards that as he's a new signing (plus he's shown glimpses of how good he can be) but Tripps really hasn't done much wrong this season, he may not always be a MOTM contender but he's not actually had many bad games, nor has he made many mistakes.
The crucial decision is whether we play 2 or 3 central defenders. If we play 3 then the outside 2 CB's should cover their side if we get caught out: so Verts should cover a potentially slower Davies and Davinson should cover the slower Trippier. This is where we are truly missing Toby. However this system then concedes midfield which on Wednesday won the game for us. So this brings the decision to the midfield. Maybe play with 2 CB's and don't play a high line but don't allow them to control the mid.
To me down the wings is where it could be won or lost our full backs need protection from their pace which is where ericksen and son come in.son has been superb this season and doesn't deserve to be dropped but I have a feeling poch may go with either Lamela or bloody sissoko to give us protection. Hope I'm wrong with sissoko though.Lamela works hard for the team so could see why poch may go for him ahead of son.
The midfield battle will be key. Can, Gini and Chamberpot are hardly world class opponents. And the less said about Henderson the better! But I fear for our presence there. Can Dembele roll back the years for a second time in 4 days? Do we prefer 3 at the back, drop Dier to CB and bring Wanyama in at DM? If we win the midfield battle we'll win the game, to my mind. Probably the only two occasions we've had our arses handed to us - City and Arsenal - were characterised by fielding a powder puff midfield that the pace and skill of our opponents' attackers simply bypassed and overran. This was key against United too. Dier and Mousa bossed the central areas and made Pogba and Matic look atrocious. At the back, I wouldn't trust Rose to just waltz back into the side. As others have said he has looked ****e since returning and doesn't even look that quick anymore. Davies learned a lot last season from this fixture and i feel like his awareness and judgement have been improving since. He has also built a superb relationship with Rolls Vertonghen on that flank. Makes no sense dismantling that for our hardest remaining fixture of the season. I'd go with: Hugo Aurier Dave Jan Davies Dier Dembele Alli Eriksen Son Kane For once we have plenty of options on the bench. Moura won't feature but we can expect Toby and Winks to join (probably) Trippier, Rose, Lamela and Wanyama. If Llorente was in form I'd consider starting him. He's the type of striker Pool hate playing against. Ho hum. And as others have said, with so many players back from injury, Sissoko should be nowhere near the matchday squad.
