04 Dec 2018 09:16:26
Just to ask a question based on some things Ed001 has said in the past.

1 pep teams run out of steam towards the end of the season.

2 klopp is holding us back just enough so we can finish the 2nd half of the season strong.

Based on this and the fact we are still unbeaten and 2 points behind city, I really consider us favourites for the league. I can't see city winning many 1-0 games when they are fatigued in the second half of the season like we win them 1st half of the season. We know how devastating we can be when we turn it up a notch.

City will drop more points after Xmas than we will in my opinion.

Does anyone else feel the same?

{Ed001's Note - the problem is that no one is making even an attempt to give City a game, so they are not likely to run out of steam the way they usually do.}

1.) 04 Dec 2018
04 Dec 2018 09:37:19
I do feel the same but Ed1 is right, we seem to be the only team willing to give it to them and that's the biggest problem right now, I hope Chelsea give them a good go on Saturday.

If it's the same situation as it is now, us being 2 points behind them come the new year then on the 3rd we'll be top WHEN we beat them ;) .

I do believe they're going to bugger up somewhere though, we can only hope right now but I'm confident about this season and I fully believe we're going to win it.

2.) 04 Dec 2018
04 Dec 2018 10:36:47
Its so frustrating the negative approaches of teams towards city. Lyon have had a go twice, won one and drew one, wolves had a go and drew, we had a go and drew, hoffenheim had a go and were narrowly beaten late on. I appreciate nobody wants to get spanked and goal difference can be important but I'm surprised teams don't see playing City as a free hit. The sitting back approach does not appear to work so teams may as well have a go. Sitting back on the whole doesn't even seem to keep the score down. Will be interesting to see the Chelsea and everton approach in the next couple of weeks.

Cheers.

{Ed001's Note - Bournemouth, to be fair, had a go and were robbed at 2-1 when they should have had a blatant penalty. If they had sat back City would have stomped all over them.}

3.) 04 Dec 2018
04 Dec 2018 11:06:29
Chelsea should in theory give it a good go in trying to beat City, which may encourage other teams if they see Chelsea get a point or 3.
It is concerning if teams turn up to play City thinking only of damage limitation.
Surely it is better to at least have a go rather than sit back just waiting to lose.
Maybe managers are fearful of their teams getting beaten by 8 or 9 goals and them being sacked, hence just trying to keep the score respectable.
If it carries on Man City will know they have won before the game even starts.

4.) 04 Dec 2018
04 Dec 2018 11:28:34
As the season goes on teams will have to have a go at city, teams desperate for points and others chasing top 4 or top 6. City will probably look to prioritise champions league as well and although they have brilliant squad depth in every department this could hurt them in the league.
They are still well ahead of us and so can’t say that we are favourites for the league but so far we are doing everything right and I’m still confident we will win the league.

5.) 04 Dec 2018
04 Dec 2018 12:18:27
Eds1 hit it on the spot, same as last year, teams just let city walk over them. Wigan got the 1-0 last year. So the other prem teams should really have a go and get some backbone, I think was it just us and Utd last year who beat them in the League?

6.) 04 Dec 2018
04 Dec 2018 12:28:01
I think City have a lot to do with the way teams play against them. If you are being attacked for 90 minutes then you have played a defensive game.

I think it's us this year though. Little bits of magic like origi scoring late against the blues.

Let's say us and City win every game (which of course we won't) we beat them and it's ours.

7.) 04 Dec 2018
04 Dec 2018 13:06:56
Can't really believe people think we are favourites to win the league!

8.) 04 Dec 2018
04 Dec 2018 13:41:59
from a recent Klopp interview;

The quest for perfection is driving them on and explains why Klopp has made changes on and off the pitch in a bid to improve. In part, it was born of necessity. He sensed that opponents had adapted to his team's counter-pressing and he would need another way.

"A lot of teams saw that we were good at that and realised they were overplaying, " says Klopp. "If the team gives us the opportunity to do it we will still be there with the counter-press. But very often it is not possible. "A lot of teams also play counter-attack against us. They don't have the same respect for us that they have for Man City, for example. Against City, you watch it and wonder what they are doing. A week later they play us and they are thinking, right, let's try. City deserve that but it makes a big difference because we have to be 100 per cent concentrated all the time. It means that now we have to control more games. We have to keep the ball, especially against counter-attacking sides. That may change in the second part of the season when opponents who are down the table need the points and so they will need to open up a bit more. But at this moment we have to control games and be patient but in a very lively way. This was a big part of our thinking in pre-season as well. We really said that. It's like we were so lively in the past that the moment we couldn't be lively because there was no space for that it was like there was immediately this drop in concentration. That is not allowed. I like it more now actually. It is more mature. That was the next step for us. So far so good. ’

So far, so good indeed. It is not simply that they are playing poorly, because that would go against the evidence, but playing differently. Maybe that helps explains the differences between him and Buvac.

{Ed001's Note - I have been saying this all season! I don't make it up you know, Klopp and Buvac fell out in large part over Klopp's desire to change away from the high press.}

9.) 04 Dec 2018
04 Dec 2018 14:07:26
Now if only everyone would read this slowly (99% of those daft TV commentators/ analysts included), we could stop pondering over Liverpool "under-performing" and not being as good as last year (a comparison shows you the exact opposite, statistically) . Tells you also that Klopp has matured as a manager, in the EPL.

10.) 04 Dec 2018
04 Dec 2018 15:16:48
You’re all 100% right, this is the new way of playing and it is not a flaw, it is a step in the right direction. However, there are definitely some things that are negative that the change does not entirely explain:

1) The front three have not been at their best. We may not be pressing in the way that suited them so well, but there has been a lot of evidence to suggest they can do better. Whether it was Salah and Firmino initially struggling with their change in position, the general disruption caused by the need to accomodate Shaqiri, the chances missed and the huge amount of wasted chances from poor passing and decision making, it is quite clear that they generally have not been at their best.

2) Midfield imbalance. Again, although we have been playing more conservatively, this does not explain why the midfield has been poor as they have been, or been managed in the wrong way by Klopp. We miss Ox, and yet in so many games Shaqiri and Keita are being left on the side lines in favour of playing almost 3 number 6’s. That worked a bit better when we pressed so highly, but the change in tactics requires klopp to tweak the midfield so it does not leave the strikers isolated. I actually thought that while our midfield was overrun against Everton, the inclusion of Shaqiri in a big game certainly helped our performance and we should have taken our chances.

3) Sometimes we do need the press. While its all well and good changing tactics to suit the team better in the long run, i do still think there are times when we should go all out, at least in the first half of big games. The press worked best in big matches in blitzing the teams in the first half, leaving us in the second to defend and counter attack. Its a fantastic blueprint to beating the best, and i feel it could have been better utilised against City, Arsenal, and in all of the European games. In these games, being passive does not work well for us, we need to switch it up and go for the soft underbelly of the likes of PSG and Arsenal, but instead we allow the game to slip away. There is no point conserving energy when you have nothing left to play for come May, and i feel that in these games we should of switched up the tactics to suit the occasion. Hopefully we will still do that against Napoli.

{Ed001's Note - erm Keita has been missing through injury, so point 2 is just wasted.}

11.) 04 Dec 2018
04 Dec 2018 15:37:25
But he was out of the team before his injury and hasn’t been giving a chance since he was declared fit. The manager obviously knows far more than i but its frustrating, the boy can play and i want to see it!

{Ed001's Note - he was being eased in after a slow start, just give it time.}

12.) 04 Dec 2018
04 Dec 2018 19:34:52
This is by far the most intelligent thread I have read in a while. Ed01 has said that Klopp changed the system to keep us more concentrated and fresh. Many said he lost his way w/ o Buvac. Well, we all know what happened now with the interview transcript provided BUT I'm sure this will be white noise to the moaners out there.

I remember people saying "Klopp has only one way of playing". Well, he just proved them wrong BUT yet, they still moan that "we should be playing like we did before". Yeah, the same "one way of playing" they moaned about. Go figure. Memo to all fans: This is the way we play now and and you can either get with it or go support Buvac at his next job cos after all he's The Brain, right?

As for Keita, people need to chill out and let the guy settle in with his team mates. Keita is a beast of a player and anyone saying otherwise or slating him w/ o w/ o having watched him at RBL last season (like I did) is just embarrassing him. Melissa Reddy calls him "two players in one" at his best and that is a fact. he is immense. He just needs to be supported now as he beds in.

13.) 05 Dec 2018
04 Dec 2018 21:23:35
oh Ed001; you always remember your first. First ever post, first ever reply. You know how to make a grown man feel special ;)

I was wanted to reinforce what you have been saying from the man himself to since his tactics are constantly raised/ questioned on here.

Keep up the good work!

{Ed001's Note - well thank you mate, as I hadn't seen your name before I wasn't sure if you knew what I had said, so I was just pointing it out in case. At least I know I am not just ignorant and forgotten your name now. One question though, is there such a thing as a grown man? We are all still little boys at heart aren't we, which is why we still all love to watch and play this game?}