Defensive mistakes cost us however despite having a lot of possession we didn't do much with it. It's a very difficult game to go to when you are playing two new defenders. It will take time but saying Lovren did not trust Skrtel is a bit silly.

Lovren didn't look comfortable next to Skrtel imo.

I think people are taking the LALers too seriously. If being beaten 3-1 against the reining champions in their own back yard is worth a LAL they must be desperate.

First half we were the better side but we just blinked first and didn't have the cutting edge to break their sturdy defence. Second half they were on top but just took their chances when we made individual mistakes.

Personally I don't like the look of 4-3-3, relies too much on crossing and a target man, with Balotelli we'll go back to 4-1-2-1-2 and be looking a lot better I think.

I think Lovren's problems were more down to him than having Skrtel as a partner. Probably down to a new relationship with Moreno which will take time to develop.

You didn't really create clear chances until City got incredibly shaky at 3-0 up. Attack huffed and puffed a lot with no cutting-edge. Your energy and intensity though was good. City didn't get into a free-flowing rhythm.

Lovren was brought in because he's an aggressive, front-foot defender. At the moment, he's being partnered with Skrtel, a defender who lacks awareness and composure, something he attempts to compensate for by sitting deep at all costs.

The 2nd goal last night encapsulated all of our defensive problems in one fell swoop; Gerrard needlessly presses out of his position, the aggressive Lovren and Moreno press up, but Johnson and Skrtel both stay still and play everyone offside.

I think there is merit in signing Lovren (even if he's overpriced), but Rodgers seems to have a bit of a blind spot as regards Skrtel, which he showed last season when he singled Agger out for criticism when Skrtel was playing at least as poorly. Unless we tell Lovren to stop doing what he was signed for, or unless Skrtel looks good in a high line for the first time in his career, this will continue to happen until Skrtel is dropped.

We were shading the game over the first 40 minutes.

However, once the first goal went in City were so efficient. Defensively they were excellent and blunted our attacks quite easily.

Moreno, bar his error, looked decent to me. However, positionally the defence wasn't compact enough and City exposed the spaces ruthlessly in the second half.

It was a disappointing result, but I can't see City dropping many points at home. Some aspects of the Liverpool performance pleased me, but as a unit defensively we have to tighten up.

With a new back 4 it will take a little time to get things right. The only nagging doubt I have is that Rodgers isn't known for the defensively solidity of his teams. Hopefully on the training pitch, the faults, individual mistakes and positional errors, can be ironed out.

I personally prefer the 4-1-2-1-2 formation but the only problem, is that it leaves Sterling/Lallana/Coutinho/Markovic all fighting it out for the one position.

Why are Lovren's lapses being blamed on Skrtel? Are you afraid to criticize the new boy?

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City didn't create that much chances either. Jovetic's 2nd was probably the only they created all match. Aguero s goal was just horrific defending..

With a new back 4 it will take a little time to get things right. The only nagging doubt I have is that Rodgers isn't known for the defensively solidity of his teams. Hopefully on the training pitch, the faults, individual mistakes and positional errors, can be ironed out.


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Completely agree. Seems odd/worrying that Rodgers still considers Skrtel a nailed on starter. Skrtel's had a couple of months of passable form in Rodgers' two-and-a-bit years. Him being rated over Sakho is a serious concern IMO.

Obviously time will tell, but Rodgers seems to have struggled to get the best out of defenders so far.

Mig still worries me. Arguably little he could do with the first two goals - particularly the first which was just sheer pace and power, but the third was weak.
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A lot of keepers would have saved the first goal. The shot was more or less straight at him with decent power but he seemed to jump over it.

The 3rd goal he was all over the place.

comment by {honestlivpool~five~times} 👽 🐎 #worldpeace (U1661)
posted 4 minutes ago
City didn't create that much chances either. Jovetic's 2nd was probably the only they created all match. Aguero s goal was just horrific defending..
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I wouldn't say horrific defending, it was an excellent pass and a great run. Lovren should've perhaps been a bit shrewder to make sure he always has a few extra yards in a race between him an Aguero. My main criticism in that goal was Mig. Why was he struggling to get to his near post when the ball was quite clearly coming down the left hand side?

You missed Suarez, he creates space other players with his presence and trickery.

And if you think Lazybonesotelli will bring you that your in for a shock.

Thought we played way too narrow, before Lambert came on. With all the possession we had we didn’t create many goal scoring\clear cut chances.
Allot of times we had a crowd of players on the edge of the area, with very little space to get through. Once Lambert cam on, we stretched their defence a little, and created 2 scoring chances, 1 being the goal, the other when Lambert passed it across trying to find Sturridge.
We still need to work on a plan B. Their defence just played narrow, suffocating any attack we created, forcing us to take pop shots from far or tight angles.
No, we were not “outplayed” as such, we had plenty of possession, but we just didn’t do enough with it.

We made some of the same mistakes vs southampton bt they didnt have the firepower to take the chances, very poor.

Exactly. Mignolet's decision making is poor sometimes and last night was one of them. The set pieces píssed me off as well last night. Wasteful

Yeah suarez would have helped us while hes in the stands watching? Idiots.

Midifield was okay, comical defending and toothless up front.

Mascherano would be an ideal signing right now (or that type of player)

Gerrard is not getting dropped, wont happen.

just having any forward up woth stydge even lazybones balotteli will give studge and coutinho space to exploit. mig worries me and i think could be replaced next season.

We re much better with 2 up front. Bringing on Lambert enabled Sturridge to have freedom to move around and he eventually created the chance for the goal.

I'm still trying to work out Allen and what he brings to the side other than hard work and closing players down.

Does he score goals? No
Does he get assists? No
Play key passes that lead to chances? No
Good at tackling? No

I thought Can looked promising and tried to get involved much more than Allen. That dive was shocking though.