Taff to take for Liverpool at Swansea as they ended their unbeaten run in South Wales. Was it a bad approach from Klopp and his players or more likely just “one of them”? Did anyone play well? Is it too easy to forget that Liverpool had chances at 0-0 to open the scoring?
In general though these have been the games Liverpool have been struggling in. Is there something underlying in that?
Neil Atkinson hosts as Ian Salmon, Andy Heaton and Rob Gutmann chat through the game and this show is in association with Redsbet. To open an account click here.
I knew you would get ‘raff in some where. Well in lads.
And by raff I mean Taff
Love it.
Two very different podcasts over 24 hours about the same game.
The first like a Shakespeare tragedy, the betrayal, the hurt! Each player shrunk down to the worst version of themselves.
This one a bit more reflective. The final question from Neil a masterstroke, cutting right through to the heart of the matter – what would you have done differently?
Hahahaha.
I love football and I love LFC and I love the Anfield Wrap. It’s all become intertwined.
What he said. Exactly!
Completely agree no one played well last night. I think the highest rating I could give any player is probably a 6. It’s very unusual that all 11 players play so poorly.
Unfortunately we didn’t have much on the bench to improve our fortunes.
The entire bench have scored 2 league goals all season. None of our attacking players scored these 2 goals.
This is a problem.
It’s a fair point that we have not conceded THAT goal for 4 months, but we must have conceded it on scores of occasions over the last 10 years. We have just been on a bit of a good run and this has inevitably come to an end. A couple of worrying things spring to mind…
1. We essentially spent 75 million on VVD to stop THAT goal happening.
2. We made Lovren the most expensive defensive signing in our history, also to stop THAT goal happening. We even lined the pockets of the same club, in doing so. He immediately looked a shadow of the player we had seen playing for Southampton, the crowd lost all confidence in him within a few weeks and he ironically became the focus of our frailties at the back – largely, because THAT goal kept happening. We were dreadful before he arrived, as well and that is often forgotten.
Reina (when in his prime) is the only genuine top-class goalkeeper we have had since Grobbelaar and good defensive set-piece coaching has rarely been in evidence for decades now. At some point, we have to look beyond the centre-backs we have recruited. Most of the ones we have bought had been very impressive at their previous clubs, but they lost confidence and form alarmingly quickly. I’m already concerned this could happen, with VVD.
@Peter
I think the replays of last night’s match highlights your points.
Virgil went up to head the ball, and the momentum of two or three other LFC players, and two Swansea players forced him to head down. It fell to a Swansea player and that guy took a chance and scored.
Virgil also missed a couple of headers that could have gone in, but was nothing compared to the blinders that Salah, Mane, Firmino and Lallana missed.
I think the match last night highlights Klopp’s tactics which were not followed by the players, for whatever reason. Then Klopp not having some sort of answer from the bench for this.
Virgil might also go down with Dejan, because the problem with the defense has always been there to see for a long time, and it is because of several players, the manager’s approach to the game and individual quality (intelligence, natural ability, etc) that is causing issues where lack of communication has contributed to a breakdown in efficient and consistent defending.
What I would have done differently in last night’s game, is maybe not go into “swashbuckling mode” against Swansea once you have seen their stance for 15 minutes. Be patient, let them come out, maybe even go 3 at the back, and to tempt them out that way.
Mane, I think, made some good runs for a while and then it seemed to stop for some reason. There is no one really running through those channels or off the shoulder.
I would have maybe tried Firmino through the center to be the creative spark. He has the intelligence, strength (more than Coutinho), speed and vision to do this. He is not direct replacement for Coutinho, but I would have tried this. I have said this since Coutinho expressed his desire to leave.
And finally I would not have played Gini Winaldum. That guy goes missing every away game, and it’s become a running joke now.
So instead of blaming him, etc, I would have tried a different player, and maybe him from the bench at a later time in the game or something.
@Sash
I’m less fussed about the missed chances. We score plenty of goals and few teams shut us out.
However, it seems optimistic to talk about 2nd place when Man Utd (who are clear of us anyway) have signed Sanchez in the same window that we lost Coutinho. I know they have let a decent attacker go the other way to Arsenal but as things stand they have gained a huge march over us in this window – at least in an attacking sense.
I am quite surprised that Richarlison has not been linked with us. He seems to fit the business model very well and he was doing the business in the Summer and Autumn. I’m not surprised he has fallen away in recent weeks. It’s his first exposure to an elite league, he has been overplayed and I doubt he’s ever experienced such cold weather in his life!
I imagine he is beginning to realise what a dump Watford is and as a young man he is probably miserable and a bit lonely there. If he speaks any English, I bet it is only a few words.
He looks potentially a real beast of a player though. A few weeks of rest and a bit of Bobby’s cooking might well have him fully rejuvenated for the Spring! He cost Watford 11m and he’s probably worth more like 30-40m now. A bargain, I reckon still and we could offer a hefty pay increase as Watford won’t be paying him a lot.
Richarlison is still a rough diamond, but looks to be one with more carats than a pool of sick outside the Grafton!
@Peter
Hahaha If Bobby’s cooking is anything like his work rate then Richarlison shouldn’t hesitate. Good shout out though on this guy.
What about Wilfred Zaha as well? Do you see him in this LFC team?
You might be right about the 2nd place. Really pisses me off to see how we can just throw away a game like this after 8 days of rest.
Re Sanchez he may or may not fit. Right now he and Mikhi via the exchange have announced their intent from the club, but still a few games to go and wondering if either player suits their respective managers’ philosophy over the span of the next stretch of games (plus injuries).
Anyways I hope this was a one-off game. Just need to work on having a great game against West Brom.
Unsure how anyone could think Sanchez won’t fit or won’t be brilliant for at least the next season and a half. He’s exactly what they needed alongside or just behind Lukaku, more flair and pace and guaranteed quality to go along with the most defensively solid set up in the league. It’s depressing they got him.
Any chance of getting second probably went with the Sanchez and Coutinho deals. Monday night made it that bit more improbable. We’re in a scrap for 4th unless we buy, and we won’t.
With the subs, I’d have changed Gini for Lallana, Trent for Joe and put Trent on the dead balls. Thought AOC showed enough to stay on, felt bad for him when he got hooked. There were far more deserving.
Fergie sides always beat the bottom teams.This side are Spice Boys 2.Fourth at best.Klopp said that he would win Pl in 3 yrs. No chance
I think the term used in the show was “guile” and I think that hit the nail on the head, the “pick the lock” approach rather than “kick the door down” analogy. You just feel that its a hard ask for the team to be set up with one style and be successful against City one week and then to change approach and play another style against the “low block”. Or should they be able to do that because they are professional footballers?
You’ve got to think that a bit of recruitment goes someway to resolving this.
There’s the argument that we need 2 players for each position, with this sort of midfield three against teams like City with the kind of midfield City deploy as the alternative against the “low block”.
The striker depth situation is also a delicate matter due in part to the fact that we only play one striker. How do you keep a second top quality striker happy? If you can’t, then do you rely on youth or a veteran looking for a pay day? Or do you look at another wide forward who can play across the front three? And who’s world class who can do that who is also in a position where the business might be done? That’s a tough ask and you’re probably looking at a player in their breakout or second season because Sanchez would have been perfect really in terms of positional fit, but not at that price.
A week ago we were going to win the CL.
This week we are poor, with no depth.
One positive – nobody…NOBODY!!! leaves or turns off a Liverpool match early。
My son reckons Anfield is the goalkeeping graveyard. Reina was superb until we got a new goalkeeping coach. Since then, nobody’s been any good, seemingly.
Gulacsi went off and seems to be doing well. I think Pepe would be worth another try. He ran things at the back.
Enjoyable show, as ever, however:
‘It’s just one of them’ isn’t analysis.
We know our best midfield: Henderson, Gini and Lallana, we saw the drop off when one or more were injured last season. It’s what we do then, that matters. I agree with Neil, one more attacking option against bus parkers.
Subs/team selection: Trent should have started, with a brief to get forward. He didn’t, but given Joe’s use of the ball in the 1st half, he should have been brought on at half time.
When you tried out sponsors for the free shows before, you made sure the messages were not heard on those free shows that appeared for subscribers, if I remember correctly. Can you do the same again please. It’s not right that I am paying you a subscription fee for you to manipulate me into a gambling addiction, however you try to explain it. It’s doubly dangerous when the messages come from trusted voices on your shows, and especially problematic for those of us whose minds are wired to be susceptible to obsessions, compulsions, and addictions.
On a business level, it’s amazing how a misplaced/miscalculated sponsorship can quickly cheapen the perceived quality of what is otherwise a very good product. It’s too bad you’ve agreed to a whole year of this.
Amy, I don’t think that’s fair or realistic. Neil makes clear that they only recommend it as a switch option, for those who are already having a punt (which is most of us, to be fair, lol). Nobody is going to cancel their Sky Sports subscription, just because Ray Winstone’s giant head pops-up at half-time telling us to ‘Bet In-Play… Nairrr’.
There is very little money in podcast subscriptions, certainly not when so many people are working on them at TAW. Affiliate deals are vital and only betting companies can offer significant commissions to sports broadcasters.
I’m sure you are old enough to know whether gambling is a good idea or not. If you aren’t then that’s obviously a problem, as anybody reading sports pages is going to glimpse hundreds of ads every week. At least some good causes do well out of this arrangement.
Would you chastise the lads for advocating a night on the ale after a 5-0 win, as alcohol arguably does a lot more harm than gambling to those who cannot control themselves? This is football and thankfully it still hasn’t been fully sanitised, despite how the mainstream media like to present it as some kind of Disneyland excursion. A drink, a flutter, a row and sometimes even a fight may well still take place between consenting adults who must all take responsibility for their own decisions.
Long may it continue, in an otherwise grey Britain with its ridiculous safe spaces and trigger warnings.
I don’t work for TAW or know anybody involved, by the way.
Oh my goodness. I don’t even know where to start with this comment. I gave feedback on this new sponsorship that TAW (not you) may or may not find useful. This is how business works. Weird that your response is long may the £13bn people lose on gambling every year continue. Long may the millions who struggle with addiction keep struggling. Long may it all continue. Safe spaces and trigger warnings are what make you uncomfortable though you poor thing? What utter nonsense.
How should they make money? What do you suggest?
And why would it be acceptable to you for TAW podcasts to only protect paying subscribers from betting ads? How come those who don’t pay are fair game?