01 Apr 2023 17:24:59
Needed some time to digest that performance today! Was on the live chat page for the match and there were lots of talk about FSG out and talk about the midfield needing a complete rebuild (which I agree with if we are to return to title contenders) however there a simple fact that is being overlooked, our tactics and set up are stale and limp! Come rain or shine no matter the opposition we play the same way and don’t seem to target weak areas of our opponents. For months we have seen how our tiring midfield are offering our defence no protection however time and again we line up the same way. How do we persist in a set up that the players clearly can’t implement? Klopp has come out and spoke about pressing and pushing up the pitch and yet has Henderson and Fabinho in midfield. Teams are hell bent on targeting down Trent’s side and yet Klopp directs Trent to push up very high on the wing or inside right leaving an ocean of space in behind for him to have to chase back into, Trent is no world class defender but I feel for him because in my opinion Klopp is hanging him out to dry each week with these tactics. Don’t get me wrong the players have been awful and should shoulder a large portion of the criticism but we have seen time and again this season that our set up is wrong and yet there is no change? Why not go 3 at the back? Why not sacrifice a forward player and flood the midfield leaving less distance for our midfielders to cover? Why not use wing backs which Trent and robbo would actually excel in? Why not park the bus on occasions or set out not to be beaten? Admittedly our squad is not at the level of city or even Arsenal at present but there is well enough in this squad to be making top four and the failing to achieve that outcome is undoubtedly management. I believe that Klopp will have learned a lot from this season on who he can rely on and do a job for him in the future I just hope he has the conviction to be ruthless and make the necessary changes to make us challengers again because a slow start next season will see klopp out by November if he is backed in the summer and doesn’t turn this around.

1.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 17:35:03
This for me is not far away from I think (all of it?) except Koop out in November. You have to give him the season with the new signings plus who’s out there to replace him.

2.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 17:36:12
Great post I’ve been saying the same for months now, it was briefly changed to a 4-2-3-1 and it was a improvement but ditched after a few games, also 3 at the back makes sense to me it would help VVD, TAA and give a extra man in midfield.

3.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 17:32:26
You don't need live chat to see what's wrong.

4.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 17:42:55
Problem is we don't have three centre backs. Matip and Gomez are always injured, nat Phillips isn't good enough.

5.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 17:53:04
Phillips is plenty good enough, especially in a three! He has more tactical nous than any of the current back 4 because he is slow, he has to play clever. Also has heart, the polar opposite of the VVD reboot!

6.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 17:55:39
We had both Matip and Gomez fit today and god forbid a youngster would be given a chance.

7.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 17:55:39
We had both Matip and Gomez fit today and god forbid a youngster would be given a chance.

8.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 17:58:49
And who do you want instead of Fabinho and Henderson?

Thiago - out
Arthur - a pack of chips
Keita - utter garbage (out)
AOC - a sprinter
Bajcetic - Out with injury
Jones - Not good enough and never ever will be
Milner - A walking yellow / Red card


Please explain who do you wish to play today instead?

9.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 18:22:53
Read the post Capital it’s not just about personnel it’s about set up, your comment literally makes my point! We don’t have the squad to play different players INSTEAD so we need to set up differently, play 3 at the back, push robbo and Trent into a mid 5 (wingbacks) and play 2 up top… that kinda thing rather than whinge that every player that crosses the white line is crap and should be sold. As Klopp says everything can’t be solved in the transfer market.

10.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 18:42:20
No it doesn’t “Dow-Ne”. And you think these players somehow miraculously would improve in another set up? Like how?
Sitting deep and inviting pressure! Like seriously. ??. Did you all not cried for bringing back the press! We simply can’t press. That’s the thing!
We can’t play the press
We can’t play the possession football
What do you want Klopp to do exactly?

11.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 18:49:58
Will never see what anyone sees in Phillips the lad had 5 or 6 good games about 3 years ago. He isn’t premier league standard.

12.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 19:03:08
Klopp is trotting out the same tactics that have not worked out all season Capital, coming across like a one trick pony with no other thoughts about how to play a football match. No plan B at all. You don't think a change of tactics is worth a try?

13.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 19:20:12
Defo worth a try War Machine. Iv always liked the idea of us playing 3 at the back with Wingbacks. I certainly think we have the players for it.

14.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 19:21:04
@Warmachine

Did he not move away from possession football (Trent cutting in and Salah going wide) to pressing football?
Unfortunately both flopped. Both flopped because we don’t have the players.
What do you want him to do? Sit back and hit?
I mean do you really think we have the balls and guts to sit back, soak the pressure and hit on counter?
It’s not a one day job mate! It needs months to get it right!?

No matter what set up you play. Your DM should play blinder week in week out and we have Fabinho who has the mobility of an oil tanker in roundabout.
Then we have Henderson who is supposed to be a B2B, the guy is slower than an ant today.

These players are not good for any set up!

15.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 19:26:08
Capital. So this group of players who almost won’t the quadruple last season are now so terrible that they are incapable of adapting to a new set up? Nobody on here from what I have seen is calling for Klopp to bring back the press infact far from it, people are saying that we shouldn’t be playing the high press and a high line if the players in mid field no longer have the legs for it because it simply gives the opposition an eternity on the ball and opportunity to play a pass right at our back line.

You asked what I would like Klopp to do and luckily it’s simple, play to our current strengths and our current squad capabilities and stop playing the same set up that has been plaguing us all season.

16.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 19:26:41
Agree with a lot of that post OP. The players don’t look like they believe in why they are being asked to do.

Aside from showing some urgency and actually pressing the ball, the first thing i’d do is ditch this inverted full back stepping into midfield garbage. It is crap and doesn’t work.

17.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 19:27:10
The problem is right back bad attitude lack of will to win can't defend ball watches and only wants to run forward and not get back.

18.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 19:42:38
For me we are currently stuck on the way Klopp would like us to play but don’t have the players to enact it. So what are the options continue with a system that we aren’t currently suited to or change. I agree that fab and hendo are not at the level required and should be replaced in the summer but until then we still have games to play.

For me we should become hard to beat, add players to the midfield by going 3-5-2, or 3-4-3 opposition dependant. With the squad available today we could play in defence Virg, Konate, Matip in midfield play hendo, fab and Elliot flanked by robbo and Trent giving us the bodies in midfield to put pressure on the opposition and close down passing channels ( leaves our defence less exposed) and up top play any combination of Nunez, salah, Gakpo, Jota or Bobby who are all capable of playing as a front 2.

19.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 19:47:23
Can’t carry players at this level and we are. Our squad compared to theirs is the difference in league position. I’d also argue that pep’s tinkering is the difference in finding the way to stay at the top year in year out. Plus the 500 million in transfers has helped.

20.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 19:55:02
@Dow ney

Klopp is not going to change the set up and play a deep defensive football for just one season. I am sorry that won’t happen.
We were okay when we had an 18 year old kid in that midfield playing the same press. Didn’t we?

21.) 01 Apr 2023
01 Apr 2023 20:10:48
Age doesn’t matter it’s what he brought to the pitch that mattered and that was fresh legs and mobility. Also 3-5-2 doesn’t have to be deep defensive in fact it can be quiet attack based, if you look at city and the way they play they often slip into a similar make up where a defender steps out into midfield giving them an extra man, watch stones in todays games, difference being they keep a solid 3 block at the back. There are different variations and ways of playing a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 and not all look like spurs.