10 Jan 2018 04:25:10
No one has won anything with a defense that's a liability. Liverpool has had some of the best attacking players ( Suarez, Coutinho, now Salah, Mane etc) but never good defenders or goal keepers. We have won nothing from I don't know how many years now. We drop too many points due to defensive issues.

Everytime we come close our defense let's us down. BR didn't fix and Klopp is now starting to realise this after 3 years. What a waste of time😞

Still Klopp is adamant in his ways but we will continue to loose players.

{Ed001's Note - are you being serious? Barca and Real Madrid have had a weak defence for as long as I can remember. Man City are top of the league with a defence that is shambolic and relies on the opposition never being able to get at it due to teams sitting deep and pragmatic fouls at key moments. Man Utd's final title was won with Smalling and Jones at the heart of the defence. I could go through many more but there is no point, you are simply wrong.}

1.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 04:54:56
Ed look at the past couple of seasons, how many wins have turned to draws and losses due to defensive errors. We could have won the Europa final and the league when Suarez was there.

Last season we scraped to get top 4 with the season littered with mistakes. This season before Coutinho left, I believe that we had the best attackers after City but look at our League position. I mean look at the Arsenal match we were winning and then almost lost.

Take a step back and look at the last 10 years, we have paid the price for never strengthening our Defense.

Klopp continues to play with fire by starting Mignolet! We will be remembered as a team that played some of the most entertaining football but never win anything.

PS. I am sorry if this is a very negative or whiny post. Had to get this off my chest.

{Ed001's Note - I never said it hasn't cost us have I? I was simply pointing out that your bald statement was wrong. Flat out wrong. You can win everything with a crap defence and many, many teams have done so.}

2.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 05:32:44
If you think the past 3 years have been a waste of time then you clearly don’t enjoy watching football. Do you remember the last season of drudgery under Rodgers? Klopp’s team plays some of the best football I’ve seen a Liverpool team play, admittedly some of our defending has been questionable but we have just spent £75 million on a new defender. Perhaps you’d be happier if we sacked Klopp and appointed someone like Pulis, I’m sure he’d fix the defence and make you happy.

3.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 06:03:36
As Ed has demonstrated, it seems that in modern football, a good midfield is far more important than a good backline. A good midfield will prevent the opposition getting at the back four. We couldn't get away with a crappy back four (and goalkeeper) in 13/ 14 because the midfield did not sufficiently protect them, the task was primarily handed to Gerrard and he didn't have the legs to properly do it.

{Ed001's Note - spot on SG, the midfield is the most important position in all eras, but it has become even more important in recent years.}

4.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 06:05:57
So is it simply not possible for a team to be defensively and attackingly sound at once?

{Ed001's Note - it is possible to have balance, yes. Difficult though, as it is very difficult to attack with enough numbers to keep a solid defence or defend with enough numbers to have a strong attack as well.}

5.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 06:13:17
Smeg you are misunderstanding me. I love the we play and Klopp but I equally hate the way our defense has repeatedly cost us.

If Klopp is here for 7-8 years then cool, take your time and build the team but if this is like a 4-5 years deal then he needs to be ruthless.

Every other season we loose our good players or we come close to winning something. I am not saying it's a waste of time but this is a vicious cycle.

It is hubris to not see what we have been doing wrong for well part of a decade now.

6.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 05:46:57
Bottom line is that we really need to win something this year. Obviously the FA cup is our best bet and Klopp knows that.

I just hope we can wrap up fourth place sooner rather than later aswell to concentrate on the cups.

7.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 06:40:29
I will add that it's more important for some teams to have strong back fours than it is for other teams. It is important for Liverpool because they attack with a lot of numbers, and leaving error-prone defenders at the back like Lovren is a recipe for disaster. It is not as important for City because they play a more possession-based game, and because they are now so good at it, oppositions rarely get a chance to pressure their back line.

At the moment I am pretty confused about why people are rating Ederson so highly, he has not had that much to do.

{Ed001's Note - it is more that City's midfield is more adept at fouling the opposition and getting away with it, so breaking up play when they lose the ball and allowing numbers to get back. That is why their defence rarely gets exposed, not because they have possession.}

8.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 06:58:10
To be honest Ed I haven't watched many City games this season as I know they'll win anyway, so I'll take your word, I just assumed with Guardiola there they'd be really good at the possession game.

{Ed001's Note - they are, but it is the cynical fouls that is giving them an edge, more so than the possession. They overcommit like Liverpool but are much better at stopping the break, unlike when we were caught for Everton's equaliser. If that had been City, Lallana would have cut down Bolasie and killed the break right there and then. When it is us, Lallana does nothing and the break ends up in a goal as the only player who attempts a foul is Matip and he is so weak he ends up getting thrown to the ground instead.}

9.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 07:25:51
Why the obsession with winning cups this season?
We need to consistently qualify for the CL to improve our squad.
This should be a long term project, it takes 3 to 4 years to build a great squad, maybe longer - have patience mate.

10.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 07:27:09
It is something you need to be really good at because otherwise, you will get a red card every second or third game.

They do seem to have more physical players in their midfield, I agree. Keita has a lot of venom and he will potentially help us 'improve' our fouling, as cynical as that sounds.

11.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 07:41:54
Because ultimately we play to win, OIrish. That being said, I hate the "trophy is a trophy" rhetoric when it's used to argue, for example, that finishing 6th and winning the Europa League is better than finishing 4th and winning nothing. Any rational person would say that in most years 4th place is harder to achieve than the Europa League.

We also need to win the FA Cup because it builds a winning culture. It will help the players believe in themselves when they are in future title fights.

12.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 07:57:44
Winning the champions league is our best bet. It’s the only tournament the lads won’t treat lightly from here on in and any team in the world with Firmino Salah and mane in form can beat anyone else. As a side note, it’s also the only tournament without mignolet. #Believe.

13.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 08:04:41
SG, I understand where you're coming from of course, but in my eyes, realistically, we have to aim for CL places for a couple of seasons in a row at least to get in the right quality to take us to the top of the league, which is the ultimate win, is it not?

There's no perfect way to do it obviously, just have to look at Leicester's win - but if we start pressuring human beings to win cups as well as expecting them to move up the league with limited resources in comparison to Untied, City, Chelsea etc, we'll never hit the ultimate goal of winning that evasive league title.
Aas a fan of nearly 35 years, I feel genuinely, we're very close, just need to keep patient.

14.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 08:17:16
Kev I think that aiming for an FA Cup win and a CL place is very achievable this season. While its significance has declined, IMO the FA Cup is still one of the top trophies.

15.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 09:13:43
Ed1 we could do with some timely / professional / cynical fouls sometimes. Lallana on bolasie springs to mind.

{Ed001's Note - exactly.}

16.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 11:01:09
SG, It's not that I think it's not achievable, I just think it's not realistic.
I hope you're right and I'm wrong, believe me.
I would just prefer us to have a couple of seasons in a row like last season and then we'll be able to get more quality in.
Salah for example would never have given up Roma for us if we weren't in the CL in my opinion.
If you aim too high, you can fall harder, but then again if you aim too low, you hit the trees :)
I think next season (if we get CL this season), we will see a huge improvement in our league form again once we get that quality in the summer i. e. Mignolet's replacement (this has to be the top target or second behind a top CM) and a top CM, plus a backup Striker if Solanke doesn't reach his potential.