29 Jan 2018 12:29:56
It’s natural to be disappointed about Saturday’s result, the FA Cup was our best chance of silverware this season, we were at home, we played almost the strongest team we could have and we lost against a team that’s struggling. There’s been a lot of blame placed, Klopp, the owners, the defence, the midfield, Mignolet and the truth is that a whole bunch of factors combined that resulted in us crashing out of the cup.

What’s really disappointing is the high hopes we had for the season, not just back in August but just 10 days ago, we really thought that Klopp’s plan was coming together. Klopp came into the 15/ 16 season after it started, that season was about consolidation and adaption to his philosophy. 16/ 17 was Klopp’s first full season, it was about progress, about his shaping his squad, both in personnel and application. 17/ 18 was when the team was really supposed to kick on, the title was a hope rather than a target but we wanted to be competing and if Klopp could get a piece of silverware then that would have been brilliant.

Just 10 days ago we considered ourselves the second best team in the country and maybe much closer to City than the league table suggested. Today we’re out of our second domestic cup and we have a precarious hold on the top four, things change really fast in football.

What’s gone wrong? Well the good news is its quite clear. The biggest problem is our midfield but the truth is that we’re playing second stringers at the moment. Can and Wijnaldum are not, and I don’t think ever where, supposed to be regular starters and AOC is a project that wasn’t meant to be a leading player this year. This season Klopp wanted Henderson, Coutinho and Lallana as his midfield, a brilliant combination of discipline, creativity and tenacity. Sadly Henderson and Lallana have struggled with injuries and Coutinho left, any team would have problems if it lost its first choice midfield.

There is still plenty to fight for this season, Henderson and Lallana will hopefully return to the forefront, we’re in a battle for the top four but it’s a battle we can win and I’m looking forward to some epic nights of European football. I don’t want to talk about winning the Champion’s League, we’re not amongst the favourites and it would be as extraordinary as 2005 if we did win, but there isn’t a single match I’m scared of. Klopp’s brand of football is built for this stage, Messi, Neymar and Ronaldo will not have experienced anything like the pressure we’ll put them under and Anfield will once again be the greatest stage in Europe. We’ll take each match as it comes and enjoy the ride because it’s going to be great, and if we’re still involved come May then that’s just a bonus.

I get why people are upset, I get why the lack of midfield reinforcements seems like an oversight on the clubs part, but we’ve been here before. After the Spurs game things looked bad, I was one of the ones openly questioning Klopp but I learnt a lesson then, we are moving forward but we’ll face bumps along the route, we have to ride those out. Don’t get down, don’t give up, because our team won’t. There are no guarantees in football but it’s about giving yourself the best possible chance of succeeding and that’s what we’re currently doing, keep the faith.

1.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 12:41:52
Very good post that mate.

2.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 13:04:06
Although I agree with some of the general sentiments, I have to disagree on some of the player assessments. Can was inherited so it's slightly different but Chamberlin and Wiji were the marquee midfielder signings of their summers and really of Klopps reign. If you disregard them as players never (or not immediately) meant to be in a regular starting XI, that would mean that in nearly 3 years Klopp has chosen not to buy a single starting midfielder. Sadly I think we just have to accept that Wiji isn't as good or useful as Klopp hoped and has his early promise showed, and Chamberlin is better than we feared but is letting himself down slightly with what looks to me like over-eagerness to be the hero. However, I still firmly believe these players have more to give then they have done over the past 10 days (they've proved it many times) and Klopp either needs to get them proving it or justify why players like Grujic are going out on loan and Woodburn isn't even getting onto the bench because whether they are ready or its too soon or whatever, they will not be doing worse than the ones that played the last two games have done. Maybe not better, but certainly not worse.

3.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 12:41:52
Very good post that mate.

4.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 13:06:40
Great post, hope you typed that on a laptop/ pc rather then a phone 😀.

5.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 13:13:11
Putney, I may have missed it BUT the owners don't play neither are they responsible for the lack of drive and desire shown by the team in general so why you are including them in your otherwise fair/ solid assessment of the situation, is beyond me. Care to explain?

6.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 14:01:20
Lack of drive and desire? What match were you watching?
Is this the stage where you start slagging the team instead of individual players?

7.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 14:07:56
Out of all the midfielders we have, they are all attacking . Only hendo and can I’d consider as central midfielders, and they are both too similar to play together

I’d only be playing 3 of Llalana, aoc, winji, Bobby, mane and salah

To me on Saturday we lined up with a 4-1-5 :-/


Kieta will help sure, but we still need a mascherano figure and a striker infront of the attacking midfielders otherwise we will carry on conceding and passing teams to death without scoring.

8.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 14:30:57
good post Putney, but, Klopp picked wrong Keeper and wrong full backs,
what I can't believe is that when Klopp took over, we were conceding way too many goals, and many were placed on the heads of Migs and Moreno,
after getting beat by Swansea, he decided to play both these players, you could almost predict that we would be letting in a couple of goals, but three goals conceded into the Kop goal was a game killer,
what does this mean, well, no silverware is what,
yes, good to read that we have some big Champions League games to come,
but, to be honest, without a decent Keeper, and a couple of dodgy and injured defenders, how far will we go,
and just to finish, Klopp will get some backlash if we finish this season badly .

9.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 14:40:23
Ultimately we lack the ability to adapt to situations within a game. I had hoped that the hard fought wins against Leicester and Burnley were an indication of increased maturity but it seems like there's some way to go. Whilst many may say that it is down to player mentality, some has to be down to the recruitment and some down to the coaching. It's a shame we can't transplant the attitude of Henderson and Lallana into Emre and Gini. Instead for various reasons it looks like we need to replace all four of them. Keita being the first step.

10.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 15:05:42
"Plenty to fight for this season"? I think against better sides than Porto we will likely get dumped out the Champions League and since there is now a blueprint on how to play us, pretty much everyone is going to try that. If you stop Mane, Salah and Firmino, you stop us and since we can't defend or keep a lead then we are a soft touch. Can easily see this season fizzling out with an early champions league exit and a finish well outside of the top four. Last season we were able to stiffen the midfield and defence with Lucas Leiva, but we don't have the luxury of a player with his intelligence or defensive nous.

11.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 16:04:47
Enjoyed your post Putney, nice one mate.