Sunday 28 January 2018

FOOTBALL: Liverpool FA Cup Defeat By West Brom (YB)

As a huge Liverpool fan, I'm sure along with fellow fans, words can't really express how I feel about us getting knocked out at the 4th round of the FA Cup by West Brom!

Klopp has done some great work with the team, but clearly not well enough. We should be much improved, but we're not...



Van Dijk is a a great addition to our defense, but as a collective, our defense is a shambles! The defensive responsibility can't rest on one play, but the blame can't rest on a single player either, it's the defense as a whole. Their lack of communication, their lack of co-ordination and their inability to quickly close down danger. Van Dijk has been a welcome addition, but the defenders need to work as an in-tune team to make vital challenges and clearances.

And don't even get me started on goalkeepers! I cannot fathom why we have yet to bring in a decent one. Both Mignolet and Karius just don't cut it for me. Mignolet could let a goal in if it landed in his hands, whereas Karius might get there but just hit it back to the opposition so they can have another try as he doesn't seem capable of holding the ball! His answer is to hit it with his hands and hope it gets the job done! We definitely need a reliable keeper 👐

Alexander-Arnold... I think, one day, he could be a great player for us, but he shouldn't be in the first team yet. I feel he's too immature. While he clearly has great skills and is a very versatile player, for me, he's just not first team material yet.

Today, on Twitter, I saw everyone having a go at Moreno. Now, I know before this season, he really was up to much, but until he got injured, I thought he was doing amazing, I've been really impressed with him this season. He never gives up, makes important challenges, makes well structured passes and creates chances. He was clearly off his game tonight, but can we not give him the benefit of the doubt that he is still recovering from injury and maybe shouldn't have been back yet? I actually read that he himself had said he didn't think he'd be playing this match as he wasn't quite right yet ⚽

Mane... What happened to the Mane of last season? He holds up the ball too long, cowers away from shooting opportunities and makes stupid judgement calls.

Salah... He can be amazing, but he doesn't have the natural prowess of a striker. He's fast, he scores, but is that enough? He never has much power behind shots, so fails to score in situations where someone like Firmino has the power to convert. His passing accuracy isn't amazing either and he often loses the ball when challenged. I'm not disputing the fact that he has put away a load of goals for us, but more that he has also failed to put away a load too. He scored a decent goal tonight at least.



Back to tonight's game. Firmino... He shouldn't have been missing a penalty. Maybe he wasn't the right person for the job? He also seemed off his game tonight even if he did score the opening goal.

The team tonight were all over the shop. The last 10 minutes or so we were doing well, but it was too little, too late.

VAR saved us from an even more humiliating 5-2 defeat. Because Mignolet was sleeping as all 5 goals passed by him 😴

We should have won this match There can be no excuses, no ifs, no buts...