Agreed - nowhere near being fully sharp and was too slow on the ball. But he was involved in some of our best moments in the game. We really missed Gini's constant runs in the box.
Think people look into that performance a bit too much. We will lose playing better, we will win playing worse. That's football. Usually hyped up games bring out the worst in players as neither team wants to lose more than they want to win, makes it an edgy affair where both sides don't take risks and nerves can take longer to settle. First half United kept the pace of the game as slow as possible so we couldn't bed in. The gegenpressing was non existent but United didn't really give our players a cause for concern, are unstable defence found it easy to defend. Sturridge doesn't do much off the ball, this showed when he came off we looked lively up front and the pressing returned. United were hard to break down throughout, often having a straight back line of 7...never looked like we were going to score. End of the day it was a clash of styles. United came out of the game with the better success in the way they play (to defend). Having said that, we didn't concede so that's one positive, but it isn't as satisfying when you don't have much to defend.
The position needs somebody with alot of authority, i think can may grow into this player, maybe. hendersons never going to be it. Dahoud, from all reports looks like he could be a good fit.
I do not think Jordan Henderson is a bad player, maybe he's being played out of position. I think Klopp rates him.
Mourinho is trying to take lessons from whoever Burnley's manager is, nick a goal in the first 10 then everyone behind the ball. Since he wasn't good enough to nick the goal he accepted 0-0 as his best outcome once his unfit players couldn't keep up the press.
I think it made more sense to swap Can and Hendo around. Can more natural defensively and Hendo more natural as B2B. But credit to united - they put our makeshift midfield under a lot of pressure.
Davey Moyes and LVG got slagged to **** by yoonited fans for a better style of play than Maureen served up last night yet they kiss his anti-football Portuguese arse. And the majority of the media are hailing him as a tactical genius for parking the bus.....yet again.
Being able to defend is a real skill. Doing that against the likes of Barca, Bayern etc should definitely be praised. But doing it against Liverpool and with a team he's already spent 100's of millions isn't all that impressive.
He's done it many times in the Prem with Chelsea, the days of man u being playing all out counter attacking football will never return under Maureen's management. Long may it continue.
This Thread is/was more entertaining than that! Best thing I heard.. on TalkShite.. two United Fans disagreeing with The Special Ones tactics.. - One was a sheep and loved it.. - The other, had a bit of a footballing brain and called it for what it was, not a master class in tactics, a simple, we'll pack the defence and midfield and do our best not to lose, not my words. the words of a Utd fan.. Same fan said we (they) slagged off LvG for boring football games that they won, why are they hyping this up, esp. when Jose "only" spent 150m to an already expensive squad... But, will add that we (Klopp) knew this was the type of game they'd play and for most of the first half, we couldn't adapt to it, we are a bit one dimensional at times. We slagged him off (well, I don't think I did), but this game was tailor made for a Benteke type player, he'd have won more ariel duels than Studge (less said about him the better) and would have held the ball up better and bought Firmino and Mane into the game. Can, fair enough, was his first PL start, so was rusty was way off the pace, slow and ponderous on the ball, Gini's stock went up even when not playing.. Lallana, made a massive difference as soon as he came on, passing between the midfield and front 3 was better, the movement off the ball, the press by Firmino, all of it better than when Studge was on the pitch.. Pains me to say this, big fan of the lad, but Studge's days at Liverpool, under Klopp could be limited if he doesn't buck up, you can live with someone that may not suit the system if they're banging in the goals, but he's not even doing that! Positive note, we kept a clean sheet! the CB pairing looks better after each game Karius sill scares me a bit, West Brom will have seen him flapping and will pump the ball in the box, they'll also defend like United too, with 6 players in front of their goal. Don't think they have the quality in midfield to play the way United did at times, so we'll have more of the ball again and again will have to be tight at the back and patient up front.. Got a decent run of games in the league now, now is the time to capitalise on that given the tough start we were given and stay there or there abouts with the rest of the big boys!
Moureen has been doing it since he's been known. He sucks the life out of the rival teams, cuts off their creativity. Credit where it's due, he's very good at it and it's won him plenty of trophies. Simeone's Atletico are renowned for their defensive play, but are somehow magnificent to watch...unlike Jose's teams. I think the manager with the best mix is Pochettino, he has a good mix of good defensive and attacking play.
Rarely tested but flapped at one and passed straight to Zlatan. Not a good performance. Hopefully he can shake the nerves.
I'm with everyone where I feel unsettled by his flapping. But I think he will bed in, get used to playing behind his defenders on match days. Only time will tell. I think his mistake last night (the misplaced pass) was not entirely his fault, it was a bad situation to pass back to the goalkeeper.
Can is too slow to be our DM.. he also likes to take 3 touches when one will do.. Hendo may not be everyones cup of tea, but he keeps it simple and moves it quick, got a better engine and is being groomed by Klopp to play the 6 position, Klopp rates him and believes he can turn his fortunes around like he did Lallana's, also, this if Hendo's first season with Klopp given most of last year was a right off! Even if we get Dahoud, who isn't a 6, Hendo's isn't getting dropped and rightfully so, been one of our better players this year. If anything, once Gini and Lallana are fit, Can gets dropped, until he's fully fit and sharper on the ball. If Gini is fit for the weekend, then I expect Can's next start to be against Spurs next week.
There will be plenty of times when he finds the ball at his feet under less than ideal circumstances - he has to deal with it properly. Punt it up the pitch, or into touch if necessary, but passing to an opposition player on the edge of the box needs to be a bit lower down his list of options.
Hence the not "entirely" his fault. The pass was his mistake, it was the defenders mistake to pass to him. I agree with you, he will face tough challenges.
From what I hear, he (Gini) maybe available for the Weekend.. Milner picked up a slight knock but should be OK for West Brom game. Can see one change for the West Brom game, with Lallana coming in for Studge, assuming Lallana doesn't have a bad reaction to last nights 30min excursion.
