Liverpool Football Club - It is time to end the 30 year wait

[Cauldron]

EPL :19 pts lead and  wins over the 19 teams. Getting routine and boring.

CL Watch: Joao Felix suffered muscle injury on Sunday. Cavani still unable to conclude transfer.

FA Cup :Shewburry lost to Gillingham away today and have another away to Rochdale before coming to Anfield in midweek.  

Elliot scored a beauty bicycle in U23 match against Wolves

 

 

 

[Fooblack]

this win was by no means a leisure walk in the park. Pool were still made to work hard to get the win as West Ham showed little to no ambition to play football. They merely wanted to park the bus and squeeze out the draw.  

The penalty in a fortunate circumstances was crucial.  Origi was bundled over clumsily by a couple of desperate defenders in the box. Salah's pen was as good a pen as it can be.  7 out of his last spot kicks for Pool.  

The game opened out slightly the goal as David Moyes' game plan went out of the window. Pool was still cruising in 2nd gear and despite so, the 2nd goal came in customary fashion.  West Ham had a corner to attack and in the next minute, Ox had the ball in the net in the opposite goal.  Classical counter attack by Pool. Salah's pass to Ox was inch perfect. Ox didn't have to break stride and used his momentum passed the helpless Lanzini. GK had no chance for this 1 on  1. 

After the goal, Pool took the foot off the pedal a bit and was tat sloppy. Gini gave the ball away in the defensive third and WH should have scored if not for Alisson's assured hands.  

Salah's goal and assist makes him the stand out player for the game.  His form is steadily rising. 15th goal in the EPL and UCL.    

Pool's 23rd win in 24 games brings them to 70 pts. 14 games to go, 8 win in these remaining games will do it. Ironically, the 8th game after today is the visit at the Etihad! This already sounds like a cup final.   

 

[Akula]

3 hours ago, Jamesc said:

Just need 24 more points.

Somehow, I think it will be lesser..... 

[Fooblack]

45 minutes ago, Akula said:

Somehow, I think it will be lesser..... 

City lost at home to Utd in the mickey mouse cup. the result is a shock in itself showcasing City's erratic form this season. However, the single goal win wasn't enough ultimately for Utd to go thru. 

The 24 pts is on the basis that both Pool and City win all remaining games.  To put things in perspectives, City has not won 4 EPL games in a row this season yet.  At this rate whereby City win 3 lose 1 game sort of form, Pool may need about 5-6 wins more to clinch the title. If they can do it before the visit to the Etihad, then the game in itself would be nothing more than playing for pride.   

 

[209752648026519]

All good with the 3 points away win and clean sheet though the match was a let down. Our Reds wasn't at their mesmerizing best but the game plan of West Ham also contributed to this. Before the penalty, our Reds didn't even register a shot on goal due to West Ham's water tight defense. Was waiting for the first goal so that the game can be open up and the rest shall follow. 

After the break, West Ham tried to be more aggressive as they are chasing a goal to get even. This opens up the game and counter attack is what we do best. That's how Ox got the second goal following clearance of a West Ham's corner. 

After Ox scored, I agreed that Liverpool relaxed a bit and took its foot off the gas. However, as the team is more experienced these days, they manage to close the game. 

All in all, I can only agreed with Ox for his comments after the game, it was a professional performance, not great, only professional.

[Hamburger]

Ox might had scored the 2nd goal, his performance then was not impressive to say the least with all the misplaced passes and contributions.

[Lala81]

1 hour ago, Fooblack said:

this win was by no means a leisure walk in the park. Pool were still made to work hard to get the win as West Ham showed little to no ambition to play football. They merely wanted to park the bus and squeeze out the draw.  

The penalty in a fortunate circumstances was crucial.  Origi was bundled over clumsily by a couple of desperate defenders in the box. Salah's pen was as good a pen as it can be.  7 out of his last spot kicks for Pool.  

The game opened out slightly the goal as David Moyes' game plan went out of the window. Pool was still cruising in 2nd gear and despite so, the 2nd goal came in customary fashion.  West Ham had a corner to attack and in the next minute, Ox had the ball in the net in the opposite goal.  Classical counter attack by Pool. Salah's pass to Ox was inch perfect. Ox didn't have to break stride and used his momentum passed the helpless Lanzini. GK had no chance for this 1 on  1. 

After the goal, Pool took the foot off the pedal a bit and was tat sloppy. Gini gave the ball away in the defensive third and WH should have scored if not for Alisson's assured hands.  

Salah's goal and assist makes him the stand out player for the game.  His form is steadily rising. 15th goal in the EPL and UCL.    

Pool's 23rd win in 24 games brings them to 70 pts. 14 games to go, 8 win in these remaining games will do it. Ironically, the 8th game after today is the visit at the Etihad! This already sounds like a cup final.   

 

he struck the post also. Was bit unlucky to score with that curler

[Jamesc]

1 hour ago, Akula said:

Somehow, I think it will be lesser..... 

Yeah if City lose then its 3 points less.

If they draw it's 2 points less.

[Spring]

13 hours ago, cashcow said:

It is clear that Klopp must have discussed this with the top LFC management before the Shrewsbury game regarding the possible replay outcome.

It is a case of prioritization of the various competitions at hand and the FA cup is least ranked for sure. Believed Neil Critchley's under 23 youth team has a high chance of prevailing over the Shrews at Anfield home turf.

If so, Klopp will be vindicated; if lose at least we played and allowed youth players development, unlike Man Utd who forfeited b4 by not even  playing at all.

Klopp is definately focussed on both winning EPL and defending the UCL title - that's where the real moneypots lie. No brainer absolutely. 

I would aim for a treble (EPL, UCL, FA Cup) if I were Pool Mgmt. It's the trophies that count, not records so doesn't matter if Pool doesn't go thru the season unbeaten although it would be nice to do so. So it's not a no brainer in my opinion and afterall UCL has no re started yet so focus shld be on going to next round of FA Cup and continuing momentum in the pursuit for the title.

The regulars could be excused but those fringe 1st teamers shld play in the Cup like Origi, Shaqiri, Lallana, Lovren, Matip, Milner, Ox, Adrian etc and gives them much needed match practice. Just my 2 cents......

Talking about priority, it's better to equal Man United 1999 treble winning achievements than equalling Arsenal's 49 match unbeaten run n being invincibles.

[Jamesc]

Moyes thought he still at Man Utd and park the double decker.

All the fan left before the final whistle because they wanted to see blowing bubbles.

Clash of  style.

[Jamesc]

Klopp’s response in regards to setting a points tally was spot on. There is no need to set those type of goals.

The only objective Liverpool should have is to claim the Premier League title.

If Klopp’s side happen to break any records along the way, then that is simply a bonus.

[209752648026519]

51 minutes ago, Jamesc said:

Moyes thought he still at Man Utd and park the double decker.

All the fan left before the final whistle because they wanted to see blowing bubbles.

Clash of  style.

In all honesty, I thought he did the right game being defensive. If West Ham starts offensive, they would lose by a much bigger margin which will not be good for the games ahead, confidence wise. The Hammers upcoming fixtures are important as they are in the fight for survival. Worst is that they lose the match by big margins and some key players injured during the game or red carded for one reason or another. 

Looking at the teams in the Premier League, other than Manchester City, I do not see other teams going on the offensive against us right from the start. Even Man City started cautiously against us at Anfield. 

 

[Jamesc]

1 hour ago, 209752648026519 said:

In all honesty, I thought he did the right game being defensive. If West Ham starts offensive, they would lose by a much bigger margin which will not be good for the games ahead, confidence wise. The Hammers upcoming fixtures are important as they are in the fight for survival. Worst is that they lose the match by big margins and some key players injured during the game or red carded for one reason or another. 

Looking at the teams in the Premier League, other than Manchester City, I do not see other teams going on the offensive against us right from the start. Even Man City started cautiously against us at Anfield. 

 

Yeah only wolves and Shrewsbury take the game to us.

This means Wolves and Shrewsbury managers more attacking football than Pep?

What happen to Pep philosophy?

Whack the smaller clubs and park the bus against Liverpool?

This is just hypocrisy by Pep.

What happened to better lose playing our way than win playing defensive?

I see thru Pep. He is all front foot when he wins.

When lose we cannot afford players like VVD too expensive for us.

Spend one billion and claim Liverpool only win because we are big spenders.

Pep has feet of clay.

He is no football genius.

[Jamesc]

What club Pep manage?

Barca expected to win. Won many La Liga before Pep became manager and win many after he left.

Bayern expected to win. Won many Bundesligas before Pep and win many after him.

Man City also won PL before Pep and with 1.3 billion spending I am sure will win after Pep is gone.

Pep win with Norwich or Huddersfield lah and I will take my hat off to him.

At the moment Raneri winning with Leicester is a bigger achievement than anything Pep has done.

[Jamesc]

West Ham repeated a Man United failure against Liverpool and suffered the same fate

The Reds faced a similar lineup to what they faced at Anfield recently, and it seems no opposition lessons were learnt.

By rights, David Moyes should only have found himself out of contract as Manchester United manager last June. The Scot was relieved before the end of his catastrophic reign at Old Trafford, but it seems he's still keeping a close eye on the goings on at his former club, if his approach in last night's 2-0 defeat to Liverpool is anything to go by.

Jürgen Klopp didn't have to look far to see where Moyes had got his inspiration for his lopsided 4-5-1/5-4-1 setup against the Reds.

Indeed, Klopp and his team faced the exact same thing against United only a couple of weeks prior, with two left-backs in Aaron Cresswell and Arthur Masuaku being employed in the same way Luke Shaw and Brandon Williams were.

Same tactics same results.

[Xers007]

3 hours ago, 209752648026519 said:

In all honesty, I thought he did the right game being defensive. If West Ham starts offensive, they would lose by a much bigger margin which will not be good for the games ahead, confidence wise. The Hammers upcoming fixtures are important as they are in the fight for survival. Worst is that they lose the match by big margins and some key players injured during the game or red carded for one reason or another. 

Looking at the teams in the Premier League, other than Manchester City, I do not see other teams going on the offensive against us right from the start. Even Man City started cautiously against us at Anfield. 

 

Yah, hammer is off the relegation zone by only goal diff. Even much better team started by def and as usual go more offensive in 2nd half where pool is usually not as good (and they still is).

[Xers007]

1 hour ago, Jamesc said:

Yeah only wolves and Shrewsbury take the game to us.

This means Wolves and Shrewsbury managers more attacking football than Pep?

What happen to Pep philosophy?

Whack the smaller clubs and park the bus against Liverpool?

This is just hypocrisy by Pep.

What happened to better lose playing our way than win playing defensive?

I see thru Pep. He is all front foot when he wins.

When lose we cannot afford players like VVD too expensive for us.

Spend one billion and claim Liverpool only win because we are big spenders.

Pep has feet of clay.

He is no football genius.

Exactly... This fellow is all about lip service... He should just be a salesman...

[Jamesc]

Pep Guardiola appeared to aim a dig at Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp after Manchester City booked their place in the Carabao Cup final.

City have now reached the final of the competition for three consecutive campaigns while Liverpool went out at the quarter-final stage stage as Klopp sent an under-23 side to take on Aston Villa.

The German has confirmed he will do the same for the FA Cup replay against Shrewsbury Town and Guardiola pointed to the fact he continues to name strong teams in domestic cup clashes after victory over Manchester United on Wednesday.

“People say we are complacent about what we have won,” he said.

“You don’t try to diss the humble competition of the season, if you are not able to do [win the Premier League] three times in a row with big games in the Premier League and Champions League and everyone there.

“When you win a lot, they say this competition does not matter, but with me this does not happen. It doesn’t matter, we try to do it.

I treat Liverpool and Man United the same - Guardiola

“Being at Wembley with a historic team like Villa, we are happy to be there.”