KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum The Ides of Novermber ?

By fault or fatigue, from the champions league,
We may be about to depart,
And this fate we could see, if yonder PSG,
Put a stake in our slumbering heart!
But perhaps instead, like the walking dead,
We'lll stumble to the knockout stage,
And there to compete, with zombie like feet,
Like we did with RedStar Belgrade!

Imo allison gomez/lovren vvd robertson is the best defence lfc have had for years...the likes of moreno arnold like to get forward but leave the defence open hence the way it was often 4...3 or 3..3 etc.
Midfield is still weak due to injury and klopps rotation.

Salah and firminho no longer look so hot...
for me the issue is midfield.

I don't think Gomez is a good option at RB, he is better in the centre. Pity that Clyne is no longer at his best

Could we try with a back 3 of Joe, VvD and Lovren?

And with Robbo and Fab as wingbacks?

Red Star did well and took their chances, it was their night, we should have defended better on both goals (why Wij didn't just block the attacker or take him down I will never know).

I think the problem Klopp has had is that he has had excellent results upto now, without us playing particularly well, we have stopped conceding goals and have nicked wins without playing well, that breads a mentality where the style of play sets in, so changing that is not easy, especially when key players like Keita & Ox are out, even Henderson gets the ball moving at pace, so we are left with 2 MF who are not the most mobile or creative (Milner & Wij) and Lallana who is off the pace and doubtful if he will make it back the levels of 3 years ago.

The other thing not many people have mentioned is Shaq, he played really well against Red Star at Anfield, he had the pace, movement and skill our MF lacked. Their players must have been over the moon when we said we wouldn't bring him for none football reasons, it was ridiculous.... whats next, we might not take black players to Eastern European games for fear of monkey chants? players should be picked for their ability and whats best for the team, the day this doesn't happen and their race/religion/heritage decides if they play is a sad one for sport.

The problem here was more that Shaq and Xhaka had been involved in political issues with the Swiss team against Serbia. Shaq played with the Kosovo flag on his shoes and celebrated with a gesture called the Albanian Eagle.

That was apparently like a red light for the Serbs.

As a consequence of this situation Klopp obviously decided to pull him out of yesterdays game.

I agree it was plain wrong. We needed the result and didn't get anything!

Imo the best way would instead have been to tell Shaq to stay out of trouble and get on with his game!

Leave him home for non footballing issues? Just wtf?

And why didn't Klopp play him against Arsenal in the first place if it was so important to rotate players, now that Shaq was sat at home to rest yesterday!?

Exactly. I've never heard players left out for non footballing reasons, in any case their fans would not have been much more hostile than what we saw, else they would have been banned. And if Shaqiri was not to play, why wasn't he played on Saturday against Arsenal, Milner was completely jaded against Red Star. I don't understand wtf Klopp is doing with Shaq, he has argueably been our best player every time he played.

Yes it's confusing. Almost as if Klopp is trying to find a reason to play Lallana.

Hope that was the last time we saw him in that bad form by the way.

We are a club - not a facility for Lallana's ego.

Just play with the best players available now that we clearly aren't in our best form. Play the best team until everything clicks. Then it might be time for rotation - not before!

I don't know but sometimes I feel that Shaq was not a player Klopp wanted to sign, however, he has proved his worth compared to both Keita and Fabinho.

I was thinking the same thing. Klopp is all too happy to not include Shaq in the starting lineup. WTF?