04 Jan 2019 06:32:20
Hi Ed001, not sure if you will be doing a review, but if i can get your quick thoughts on these?

1. Kompany tackle - studs up and didn't get the ball; are there any mitigating circumstances that made it just a yellow?

2. Sane's goal - saw a few mentioned that Dejan should have played him off, but City were on a break so shouldn't the main priority be getting bodies back?

Thanks for your time. It was just a game with fine margins that could have turned out differently but heck, we are still 4 points top.

{Ed001's Note - I won't have time to do a review, but things will be back to normal soon.

1. None whatsoever, it was a red all day long and the ref is an arse for not giving it, or any of the multiple cards Fernandinho should have got. But what do you expect when you put a Mancunian in charge of a game involving a Manchester side? Even if he is not biased, he is under pressure he doesn't need and so his likelihood of making mistakes is increased. He is an incompetent buffoon at the best of times, the last thing he needs is his job made harder for him.

2. I thought Trent was badly at fault, he constantly allowed himself to be drawn inside too far or too far forward. In that instance though, Lovren was drawn inside and Trent came too far over on the cover. I just think Trent needs more help coaching defensively.

As for the game, it was clear our players were just playing not to lose, no matter how much Klopp screamed at them to take the game to Citeh, they only really stepped up when behind. It was similar to the 89 final game against Arsenal, when the players knew they only had to avoid defeat. It was a mentality issue, something that catches even the best teams out at times. The hardest situation to be in is going into a game only having to avoid defeat.}

1.) 04 Jan 2019
04 Jan 2019 08:20:09
Everything will be alright but I feel Lovren is another Karius who tends to bottle it when it comes to big games.

2.) 04 Jan 2019
04 Jan 2019 08:30:52
I was actually disappointed yesterday. If the players had given their all and lost, it would've been easier to take. But I'm sure we'll go back to our fluid form when we face Brighton. Still four points ahead, and we only have Man Utd away. Destiny still in our hands.

{Ed025's Note - i disagree realtofel, liverpool did give their all and played well against a very good opponent, your being over-critical imo mate..

3.) 04 Jan 2019
04 Jan 2019 08:40:15
I posted last night about how I hoped the ref would have a good game. Then posted after the Kompany challenge. Am with you all the way about the ref eds1.
Why why why give him the game last night I just don’t understand it. And clearly he doesn’t understand the rules Of the game!

{Ed025's Note - yeah your right longthing, liverpool should pick the refs for all games, he should be a liverpool supporter and send off anyone who dares to make a tackle on a liverpool player, all throw in,s and free kicks should only be awarded to the reds and opposing players sent off if they disagree...come on mate get a grip..

4.) 04 Jan 2019
04 Jan 2019 09:03:32
Thanks Ed. Yeah I cannot believe the kind of things Fernandinho got away with yesterday. I know that has been mentioned before but still it beggars belief. Anyhow we just need to refocus now.

{Ed001's Note - it happens every game with him as well, the guy could decapitate someone on the pitch and not even get spoken to.}

5.) 04 Jan 2019
04 Jan 2019 09:00:13
Think its just common sense Ed025, he is literally from the Manchester area, don't we have other Ref's, you know not from the area of one of the teams. seems fairly simple! Michael Oliver for example?!

{Ed025's Note - where a ref hails from is immaterial dean, these are professionals who do not have an agenda against liverpool like you all think, every team gets poor decisions against them at times and also some that go in their favour, but reds fans take everything personally and think the world is conspiring against them which is not true, its embarrassing at times and this persecution complex you have is making you look very silly mate, liverpool are doing extremely well and you should be enjoying the ride instead of looking for excuses as to why you should win every game...my advice would be to suck it up..act like men..and then more neutrals might actually start liking your team rather than seeing them as moaning little tarts who think the footballing world owes them something..

6.) 04 Jan 2019
04 Jan 2019 10:20:51
ed025 not all Liverpool fans are whinging about last night, i for one love the position we are in and will see where it takes us.

But if rival fans want us to win or not I don't mind, all we should be thinking about is ourselves. Last night we were unlucky but i can probably count at least five other instances where we were lucky, its swings and roundabouts for me. The winner of the title is the best overall not the winner of one off games.

{Ed025's Note - i could not agree more WYred, i think city just about shaded it yesterday but liverpool played well. i just cant fathom where the moaning from some is coming from though you are still in pole position mate, i wish the supporters would concentrate on the positives and enjoy the great season you are having instead of having a dig at the managers tactics or the commitment of the players...or worse still the ref who apparently is from manchester and wanted city to win, thats just a bit desperate for me..

7.) 04 Jan 2019
04 Jan 2019 10:38:06
It's a bad day when you need the ref to help you get a win by either a penalty or a card.

Trent should of slide against sane, why he stood on his feet I do not know.

But forget all of that. Sturridge vs Chelsea, Shaq vs United. We have had that luck and it went the other way last night. Stones cleared the ball some 1 cm before it went in and if you watch trents foot against sane he is literally a cm from deflecting the ball.

It was a game of fine fine margins and they just didn't go for us. No harm. We move on.

Ed is right though we played not to lose. I was sick all day and during the game so there is no way that pressure didn't effect them and you could see it did, every pass was second guessed, even in some of the build up it was like they didn't want to be the player to lose the ball.

They and klopp learned a valuable lesson last night though, more than they would of if they had won.

Last night would of felt like losing the title until this morning when they realised it's very much there's to lose, and they hopefully won't want that feeling again. Well they certainly won't.

8.) 04 Jan 2019
04 Jan 2019 10:28:37
Ed25, I agree that where a ref hails from should not matter really nor stop him from doing his job. The issue many of us are having is that why would the FA do such a thing to begin hence, making a tense situation worse cos the ref (Taylor) was under more pressure should he make a mistake and he made a HUGE one for not sending Kompany off? It was a red, end of story.

Why? We have all seen players get sent off for that. Shoot, we have seen players sent off for less than that so I' ain't buying any of the other defences for such a reckless challenge. Taylor should not have reffed that game based MAINLY on the Manchester connections cos this is the reaction you get and can you really blame people for doing that? The FA did not help him here and this mistake had a huge effect on the game cos at 10 men, City don't win. That much we know.

To be clear, This non-call is not the reason we lost (that is just nonsense) as there are things we could have done better and City got lucky in critical situations. That can happen. The footballing world does not owe me a damn thing, either. Having said that, we should also not just gloss over Taylor's blatant mistake either that influenced the game. Multiple things can be correct at the same time. Cheers, man.

{Ed025's Note - for me redwolf it was a yellow but thats subjective so i wont argue about that, but what i will say is that this is just another example of the persecution complex i have highlighted, the ref could well be a utd supporter who knows but it makes no difference, you still want preferential treatment for liverpool, where he hails from does not matter one jot and its just another example of the "nobody likes us , everybody hates us" mentality of a lot of your supporters...which obviously includes you my mate...suck it up..grow a set..and move on..

9.) 04 Jan 2019
04 Jan 2019 11:08:45
Just to add Ed, would you agree that City focussed their attack on the Lovren-TAA side? I know you mentioned Lovren was susceptible to pace; coupled with VVD being on the other side, maybe that’s why Agüero veered to our right and joined up with Sané instead? Not bashing at our players, but maybe that’s something Pep picked up (or he read your match reviews mate)?

{Ed001's Note - yes mate, they targeted the weaker link.}

10.) 04 Jan 2019
04 Jan 2019 12:24:01
Ed25, your response proves that you prolly did not read my post. I suggest you read it again and then we can discuss. Cheers, man.

{Ed025's Note - i have re-read it brover and i think my response was correct, you still seem to think that taylor should not have reffed the game and im saying it was fine for him to do so...no preferential treatment for anyone, that includes liverpool mate..

11.) 04 Jan 2019
04 Jan 2019 13:13:58
Ed25, I did not ask for preferential treatment. As I mentioned in my post, where a ref is from should not matter provided he can do his job. Anthony Taylor for the most part, had a decent game. I had no issue for him reffing the game. The issue here is that the mistake he made on the non red card, was only bound to conjure up this type of reaction. That was my fear and it came to pass, IMO.

I am more than certain that Taylor did his best w/ o bias BUT the FA should not allow any perception of conflict of interest in such games towards fans. I mean, there is a reason why Mike Dean does not ref LFC or Everton games as he is from the Wirral. The FA should have known better so as to prevent this type of backlash should he IMO, make such a mistake.

For the upteenth time, I don't want any preferential treatment. I want what is perceived to be fair at least on the outside and it seems the FA (not Taylor) bottled it from jump cos expecting a ref in such a big game not to make a mistake is like saying water should no longer be wet. This is where we disagree. 'Hope this clears it up for you. Cheers, mate.

{Ed025's Note - your under the impression that his decision was wrong though brover, imo it was a bit reckless but he got the ball and it would have been very harsh to send him off, i thought a yellow was correct...but of course i dont wear red tinted glasses mate, if that tackle was made by say lovren on sterling..i would still be saying the same thing..

12.) 04 Jan 2019
04 Jan 2019 12:53:06
Hopefully this defeat shakes up the players a little given that the margin for error has narrowed. Now they have to approach each game with a clear goal of winning.

Personally thought the performance wasn’t as bad as some made it out to be. But we did fall short in crucial moments and was unlucky with the bounce of the ball.

I actually thought we would win at 1-1.

13.) 04 Jan 2019
04 Jan 2019 13:00:21
Like, we can put a shift in but not produce the goods. I think sometimes we too easily confuse performance, effort and outcome. They're all related, but its jist too easy to say "the boys didn't try" after a loss. Maybe they did, but the execution was off. I'm sure we have played far worse games this season and not lost the game.

Regards their 2nd, I think Mane has let TAA down in that case by not tracking back. Probably the one team he hasn't all season, but we got punished. Fine margins eh!? For their 1st goal was watching Sane ghost past TAA and thought 'oh sh*t' TAA has let him go. And then sure enough bearing in goal and a dew seconds later, bang, goal. Thought TAA had a really bad game and in some moments looked like his confidence was shot. Sure he'll learn from it.

14.) 04 Jan 2019
04 Jan 2019 13:01:51
Taylor is from Manchester shouldn't be getting the game. Kompany's tackle on Salah a red not the same as lovren's.

15.) 04 Jan 2019
04 Jan 2019 15:19:16
No qualms, Ed25. Agreeing to disagree is part of a healthy debate.

{Ed025's Note - absolutely mate, this is real life not the stepford wives.. :)