An early thunderbolt from Jetro Willems had us wondering if another away upset was on the cards, but a few avoidable errors and some slick Liverpool finishing gave the Reds yet another home win.
The first-half was a tale of two halves. Willems’ sensational strike left Anfield stunned just 7 minutes in, and we continued to frustrate them over the next 20 minutes, defending as a unit and protecting Martin Dubravka’s goal brilliantly. We not only posed a threat on the counter, seeing Atsu, Joelinton and Almiron link up well, but were keeping their key men as quiet as I’ve seen them all season.
Sadly, some poor defending by Emil Krafth – who overcommitted and lost out in a key 50/50 with Andy Robertson – left a gap in our previously organised back five, allowing Mane to get a rare sight of goal – and he finished emphatically.
From that point on we were camped in our own half and they had their tails up, although their killer second goal was completely self inflicted, with Atsu losing the ball in a bad area and Dubravka failing to gather a through ball, allowing Mane to tap into an empty net.
We had a go in the early stages of the second half, but Liverpool had control of the game at this point, with Roberto Firmino on and pulling the strings.
Krafth had a huge chance to make it 2-2 but blazed over, and it didn’t take long for Liverpool to punish us, with Firmino’s incredible flick into Mo Salah killing the game off at 3-1.
It’s always frustrating to lose a game when you take the lead, but there were a few positives to take from this one, with us looking well drilled for the most part, competing well against Champions League winners and carrying a threat in attack at times.
Atsu looked very sharp once again and would’ve bagged 2 assists if Krafth could finish, Joelinton held up the ball well once again and showed glimpses of class, Shelvey worked hard, Hayden was strong in the tackle, Willems showed his quality with a stunning strike and a good range of passing. The three centre-backs defended well in the main, making some key interceptions and blocks, although Emil Krafth had a bit of a stinker at both ends, struggling to cope with Robertson all afternoon and missing a big chance to make it 2-2 early in the second half.
Defeats like today won’t define our season, and there’s a few promising signs to take into next weekend’s crucial home game against Brighton.
HWTL!
I think this was 14 PL wins in a row at Anfield. They haven’t lost there since April 2017. Beat Barcelona 4-0. Took 97 points last year which was 3rd in PL history. European Champions.
I might be stating the obvious, but this is a very good Liverpool team.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
There’s not much unexpected happening. Maybe Wolves, and I hope they slump because there is something dodgy there with that Portuguese Agent. Palace come crashing back to earth but I still think Spurs are vulnerable with the sheer number of contracts running out/up for renewal.
The rest is business as usual, including us. Another Man U penalty.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
You spoke to soon, Eric. It really is very unsual for City to be losing 2-0 against Norwich.
Stuart79(Quote)
Although City have just pulled one back. I fancy they should be able to score 2 in the second half.
On today’s game it wasn’t as bad as it coyuld have been but again, where are the goals going to come from? I know it was against Liverpool but we still got in decent situations but just looked toothless. It’s also happended against Watford and Leicester. Big concern…
Stuart79(Quote)
3-1 Norwich and it’s not a freak scoreline either. Norwich have exposed all of City’s weaknesses today. The amount of money that club has spent and Stones and Otamendi are bang average at best.
Really impressed with Norwich decision making up front and the selflessness of their goals.
Mind you, I’m sure the pundits will chalk it up as City not playing well rather than credit Norwich for an outstanding display.
Sharpy17(Quote)
who’dve thought it, I would have been better off with Dubravka in my FFT rather than Ederson
PremAndUp(Quote)
Sharpy, I have seen enough in Norwich to think they’ll stay up.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – it’s whether they can keep it going through the whole season. If they can, I agree, and comfortably stay up. But if Pukki gets injured, they’ll struggle I reckon.
Brilliant today though, thoroughly deserved & a great attitude from the manager and players.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Well who would’ve predicted that score line… Norwich did really well. What I really liked though was that the commentator kept saying… city haven’t lost since they lost to Newcastle in January… ???
Dubai Toon(Quote)
yeah that was cool, maybe they need to avoid teams starting with N . 😆
Fair play to Norwich, great display . Pool fans will be very happy too.
KIMTOON(Quote)
I thought we did alright today against world class opposition , we just lack the killer instinct up top.
You know, you watch the likes of Jetro and Schar score great goals and it seems to me that they don’t really think about it just aim and shoot. In contrast our front guys are all missing easy -ish shots or rushing it and getting off side , but hey, today was always a tough ask.
Well done Jetro on a lovely goal, hope to see many more.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Norwich/City was probably a blip but get ready for the tabloids to be writing them off and anointing Liverpool Champions. It is too early and City will roll over almost all of the other teams. They wont win the Champions League with that defense where teams are more inclined to get at them. Their defenders can’t defend if you ask them questions. I was also glad to see Bernardo Silva get booked for the cynical foul which has been a Pep trademark since he got there. The pundits see it now and maybe even the Refs do. However, I doubt the Refs have the balls to enforce it every week and especially early in a game or for a red. They will probably continue to turn a blind eye to something that is definitely a tactic.
I don’t think the Norwich game changes anything. City will still finish 1st or 2nd but it will be seen as a failure because they are going to need a lot of luck with that defense to win the CL.
Do Liverpool have the better team because they have better defenders?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Kimtoon and DT: the problem with Liverpool having this good of a team is that their fan’s become unbearable on social media. I don’t have twitter but there are sometimes links. I also read the comments in the Guardian where there is a running feud with Man U fans. Another website is Football365 who do a readers letters page twice a day and about 80% of it is red bindippers bickering with Mancs. I usually skip most of that stuff and read the e-mails on the other 18 teams!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric, Pool and the Manc teams will always bicker, they hate each other.
I thought Pool would win the league last season as i think they have the better attack and defense , and they are my choice for this season .
As many pundits are saying City look dodgy defending set pieces but i do expect Pep to address that before it becomes a habit.
Pukki is some player for Norwich, totally fearless and instinctive finisher. I said after they played us that he’d shock a lot of teams.
KIMTOON(Quote)
I thought we did quite well yesterday. Apart from the obvious mistakes of course, Christian and Martin. Won’t discuss Krafth other than to say he’s not very good.
We’re an odd team though. Joelinton is not a striker and he’s not quite clever enough to be a No 10. I like the guy and he shows nice touches but you expect a lot more for £40m. That leaves a pair of crocks as our only strikers but with one of them back in we have Atsu, Almiron, Joe and ASM vying for 2 spots. And none of them seem to have goals in them.
That front 3 of Liverpool are the best I can remember seeing. Amazing.
georgio(Quote)
I’m with Kim in that the offsides frustrate the **** out of me.
I thought me made some good passes yesterday to look to get in behind, only for the attacking player – usually Almiron or Muto to be offside. That broke down so many counter attacks and gives back possession so easily. No way it should be happening as often as it is.
I think Atsu has been brilliant since he’s came in though – other than that stupid play that lead to Manes 2nd yesterday. Almiron looks better on the ball, but Atsu has far more end product imo.
I wish we had a forward to run in behind though – like a Bellamy type forward. I suppose Gayle is the closest to that in our current squad. But I think that’s the type of player our forward line is missing. One that will sit on the shoulder of the last defender and get behind.
I think all our attack is in front of the opposition defence, which makes it easier to defend imo.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Well I know it’s only one weekend of a long season – but Everton, Leicester and Wolves have all looked the great pretenders for top 6.
Wolves look like the curse of European football will hit them hard this season.
I agree with those saying Lpool for the league this season. It’s beyond me how mega rich City can be left with Stones and Otamendi as their CBs. Laporte is out for a while as well so he’s going to have to look at his options – Fernandinho at CB would be a better option than those 2 clowns imo.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Bringing it back to us though, I like Jetro at LWB – but what about Ritchie?
Do we bench him, or do we play him further up the field again?
Is he a better option than Atsu or Almiron?. I love Almirons workrate, but Ritchie would do the same but would he have more of an end product?. Would Almiron be better coming on later in the game against tired defenders?.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy, i’m really worried about Almiron, i really like him and he has amazing energy but it’s just not happening for him is it. He needs to get his head up a bit more, stop running like a lunatic and getting caught offside.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Oh and Firmino yesterday, *** he is something special .
KIMTOON(Quote)
Arsenal let Watford back into this game cheaply and look to be on the back foot here now.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Kim, I think he needs more attacking players to play with. When I see him he’s so fast, he gets away from players but often there’s not many options he has once he’s looking forward. I also think he has to play quite deep in this team that really doesn’t help him. He’s probably be a superstar in a top six side.
Stuart79(Quote)
Kim – he has the ability and his workrate and commitment is outstanding- but he looks like a kid who is playing with desperation at the mo. The longer he goes without a goal the more desperate he seems to get – and that affects his decision making and timing of runs.
I think he needs managing well just now, and maybe it’s wrong to start him every game & let him run himself into the ground by 60/70 mins.
It might make more sense to bring him on 50/60 mins in and let him run at tired defenders.
I think our scouts got it right – he’s defo no dud or anything like that imo. He just needs to get off the mark.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Good points lads, i’m so desperate for him to score .
KIMTOON(Quote)
Kim – I think everyone is, and the lad senses that. I don’t think anyone has turned on him yet, which is a good thing, but can happen with certain sections of our fans.
But I do think there’s a lot of pressure on him, and he plays that way at time. I think sometimes it needs the manager to control that and not keep throwing him in from the start.
I do get the feeling the roof will come off when he gets his first and apparently he’s really popular with the players so they’ll go daft for him as well – soon hopefully
Sharpy17(Quote)
Arsenal were hopeless today!!
All those fans shouting for Wengers head – I wonder what they make of it all now.
The Luiz signing is the strangest buy to me. Yes they needed a CB – but they needed the totally opposite type to Luiz. They’d have been better with Cahill on a free.
They were awful today.
Sharpy17(Quote)
They were terrible Sharpy, a shambles second half.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Kim – how long has it been known that Arsenal are weak at the back – probably since Adams and Keown.
Both CBs were at fault for their goals again today.
I really don’t see what Emery gives them at all?!. Was it £70m for that Pepe lad? – good player, but they’d have been better off spending that on a couple of quality CBs imo.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Can we congratulate ourselves on playing OK, but still suffering a 3-1 loss at Anfield? I think it shows we are not as bad as some people think because Liverpool are the best team in England and probably Europe at the moment. The usual super-powers like Madrid and Bayern are in transition and Messi seems to be picking up a lot more niggles. Obviously, we need to score some goals to stay up and we will be in a relegation battle, that’s for sure.
Most Liverpool games are shown on US TV and they usually overrun everyone. I was just thinking back to a couple of CL performances in the past couple of years. They absolutely battered Man City at Anfield 2 years ago and last year slaughtered Barca 4-0.
I don’t think even Paisley’s teams went on the runs that Klopp’s Liverpool have. 1 defeat in the PL in the whole of last year.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Even at this early stage the bottom half is exactly the teams you would expect – not the finishing order, but the teams are mostly correct. There is always a team that underachieves and that could be any of the 3 below us. Villa could be this year’s Fulham, Wolves were overhyped and Watford just need a couple of injuries to be in real trouble.
Above us, Sheffield, Palace and Bright are obviously relegation candidates.
BTW: I saw pundits refer to the Norwich win over Citeh as “the most shocking result in Premier League history”. Is that really true?
Norwich on very limited viewings seem like they will be OK but there have been many teams that come out of the blocks fast playing attacking football and then go on a death spiral. Remember Ian Holloway’s Blackpool.
We really do need to beat Brighton though.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I see Jermaine Jenas was mouthing off again. He said Dubravka was responsible for the Mane goal because of fear of being hurt. I watched it again about 20 times and don’t see that. I see him being a little bit slow to react and misjudging it a bit. And also a bit of luck for Liverpool. Dubravka was covering the ball and 9 times out of 10 that would have broken his way. Maybe Dubravka was responsible but to say it was fear of being hurt was Jenas trying to court controversy.
I never saw what Bobby Robson saw in Jenas. He was Mr 4 and a half in my view. That’s the grade I would have given him in every game I watched. I watched him closely to try to see what he actually did and concluded a whole lot of fck-all. He managed to pull the wool over a lot of peoples’ eyes including the great Sir Bobby. I even saw him live at an England friendly in Chicago. He was the worst player on the pitch. He must have been great in training.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
WTF is BJs negotiating position on Brexit? EU, if you don’t offer me a deal I will not accept the deal you didn’t offer me?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – when I watched it back it seemed to me like Dubravka was more looking not to give a penalty away by catching Mané than focusing on taking the ball more cleanly. I don’t think he bottled it at all, just got caught in to minds I think.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I thought he was just too slow coming out for it. Not for the first time. It really should have been his ball.
Looks like the curse of the Euro League is now hitting Wolves. Last season it was Burnley and once it was us (Pardew). Is it worth getting into the top six?
georgio(Quote)
georgio: it should have been his ball but he didn’t bottle it for fear of injury like Jenas was saying. Courting controversy like a lot of these mediocre players.
If you listen to Jenas, what he says is absolute **** but he has a way of delivering it that makes you think it makes sense. That is a very useful skill and he should be selling double glazing or time shares in Marbella rather than polluted TV with his useless football views.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Dubravka should have collected the ball. It hit his knees so he completely misjudged the direction of the ball. It was pretty average at best.
Stuart79(Quote)
Different thing to what Jenas is saying. Jenas is saying he bottled it for fear of injury.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Stuart, mate. I really don’t like Jenas. I think he was a 4 and a 1/2 at best player and should be selling double glazing (as I already said). I am predisposed to tell him to f-off.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I know the point is that Jenas accused Dub of bottling it – but Atsus stupidity in midfield that lead to that goal shouldn’t be overlooked either.
It’s those kind of silly mistakes that have been costing us goals so far this season.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy: Atsu was closed down by 2 Liverpool players who were right on top of him. He had nowhere to go and tried a bit of skill close to the half way line.
I wouldn’t kill him for that. There was nowhere else to go.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
ACTUALLY: WHAT ATSU SHOULD HAVE DONE IS USE PEP GUARDIOLA TACTICS AND SCYTHE BOTH PLAYERS DOWN AND NOT EVEN GET A YELLOW CARD FOR IT.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Both to blame, Atsu and Dubs imo but Dubs did not bottle it .
JJ should be ashamed of himself insinuating that.
KIMTOON(Quote)
I was thinking the same at the time and dallying in the middle of the pitch isn’t a good idea but do you ever wonder why our players seem to have no options but when I watched Norwich against City they always had an option and never panicked and actually passed the ball to each other in much tighter areas than Atsu was in.
Stuart79(Quote)
Jenas was wrong with his analysis. I don’t think he bottled it just mis judged it. Which may have happened because he saw Mane coming?
Stuart79(Quote)
I looked up Jenas’s record at NUFC.
110 games and 9 goals.
That is Shelvey-esque. And I think Jonjo contributes more to the team. Big-heed-Jenas passed sideways and backwards most of the time. As I said before, I have no Idea what Bobby Robson saw in him.
He has 21 England caps as well.
Joe Cole has 56 England caps FFS. Do you believe that?!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Alan Shearer England 1st team caps = 63
Joe Cole England 1st team caps = 56
I just looked it up because I couldn’t believe Joe Cole had 56 caps and thought that he was the most overrated player along with Jenas. They are both on BT now!!!!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Now I got myself interested in useless players who have a lot of England caps.
Jack “slow as molasses” Wilshere has 36.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Atsu mis-controls the ball initially which is why the 2 Liverpool players jump on him. He had safe passes but they were back passes and instead he tried to beat them with a dribble that didn’t come off.
I’m not slaughtering the kid coz it was nearer the halfway line than his box, but it was still a big contributing factor to them scoring coz they broke very quickly after it.
Sharpy17(Quote)
So, the BT pundits on Saturday have the following England caps:
Jenas 21
Joe Cole 56
CRIMINAL. And now they are also stealing a living as pundits.
Compare to:
le Tiss = 8 Caps
SuperMac 14
Alan Kennedy 2
Steve Bruce 0
Len Shackleton 8
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I know people on Eds and The Chronic give Bruce a hard time but he is widely considered one of the best players never to play for England. I know playing and managing are different. He seems very respected within the game and even with his stupid crime novels has the endorsement of Shearer.
When will Shearer or or Lineker be knighted BTW or is that just for cricketers now?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
And since I am on about the honors list now.
LEWIS HAMILTON you racist fcks!!!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Not until he retires, you say? Brad “rides a bike fast” Wiggins didn’t retire before he was knighted. Sir Andy Murray is still playing.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Or David Gower? Not only for service to cricket but to broadcasting. Sky have sacked him because I think they think he is the wrong demographic now and want a younger audience. Morons. The man is pure class.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I know I am rambling, but I got pissed off with that nobody Jenas and I heard Sky had sacked Gower today (not renewed).
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Lots of injury updates coming – gets me thinking – who of our injured players do we most need back?.
Would Lejeune shift any of the back 3 at the moment?.
Is Yedlin gonna force his way in ahead of Kraft – and is he better than Manquillo?.
Would Ritchie get in ahead of Williems? – or should he be moved further up field?.
Should we drop an in form Atsu to put ASM back in the team?.
Then there’s the forwards – Carroll and Gayle?.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy i’d rather Manquillo over Yeddy and Krafth .
A fully fit Carroll is always a best option up front .
I would not drop Atsu at the moment .
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim – I agree, though I think we miss Yedlin offensively down the right I think. But defensively I think Manquillo is the better RB we have.
I know it’s still early for him, but I don’t think Krafth is any better than young Sterry from what I’ve seen of both of them.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Thank God Van Djik made an error against Napoli. I thought the Red Bindippers were about to anoint him Pope, GOAT and the answer to global warming the way they go on about him.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Hard to judge Krafth against Robertson and Mane. They have made a lot of right backs look silly over the past couple of years.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I made an unfortunate error in judgement and clicked on a “The Mag” article on newsnow. There were 81 comments on it – all negative. What is the fcking point of “supporting” NUFC if you have nothing good to say about it? EVER. All of the players are **** and Ashley is the devil. OK, I get it. But “support” another team if all you can do is moan.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I know there is a certain irony in me moaning about people moaning. I am just getting a bit sick of the wallowing in misery crowd. The ones that want us relegated because it will rid us of Ashley – IT WON’T.
It reminds me of the wife of an ex-boss of mine worked in our office. First week on the job I had a meeting with their lawyer and she described him to me beforehand as “looking like an Auschwitz victim”. She could have said he was incredibly smart and funny but this was her glass half empty attitude. I hated her. And some of the boycotters have this type of attitude.
And yes, he is Jewish and I think he might have been offended if he knew that’s the way she described him.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
That was 30 years ago and it has stuck with me all of this time. I know I am a cynical bstard sometimes but I try not to be nasty. And fail sometimes, especially where Lee Ryder is concerned.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
So, I reckon we will beat Brighton, despite the doom mongers wanting us to fail and calling for yet another self-defeating boycott. It is also on at a decent hour in the US – 11.30am – so I will pop down the pub and have a few early pints.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I see the club have taken a loan off Barclays to cover “the peaks and troughs” of cashflow through the season. what’s the point in having a billionaire owner again?
Stuart79(Quote)
Sharpy – I know it’s still early for him, but I don’t think Krafth is any better than young Sterry from what I’ve seen of both of them.
I agree mate. We waste so much money in the transfer market. Once we used to only sign very good players (Ferdinand, Ginola, Batty, Shearer, Albert etc) now it seems every signing is some kind of punt like Joselu, Muto, Krafth etc and that still might include ASM and Joelinton. We’ll see.
georgio(Quote)
Stu – we cant have it both ways mate. We want shot of the fat pr*ck – so we don’t want to be beholden to him with more loans.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Georgio – yeah the Krafth signing in particular confused me coz we have Yedlin and Manquillo at RB – and I actually think Sterry was decent enough back up behind them.
If we sold Manquillo or Yedlin then I could get the Krafth signing – but as it is I think it’s probably £5m wasted as he’s no better than Yed or Manq.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I am more making the point that he should be gone because he is actually doing nothing for NUFC. He offers absolutely nothing positive in any way whatsoever.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – I agree mate, but it’s worrying when you hear those that could buy or invest in us saying it doesn’t make financial sense.
But, if the club own the bank the debt rather than Ashley – that may bring his asking price down. I know that may be wishful thinking, but that’s the only way I see him bringing that asking price down, without taking the money he’s owed back out of the club.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I know this may be an opinion not shared by many but Ashley is now doing what I had wanted. He is actually spending what the club earn on players. They are tying down players such as Hayden and Dubravka on new contracts. They have set up an overdraft facility to leverage future PL payments and not have to ask Ashley for money.
There are many other questions such as have we bought the right players, is Bruce the right manager and who is Steve Nickson anyway and what qualifies him to de the transfer guru? However, on the finance side they seem to be moving in the right direction – for once.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I think people are forgetting how hard a fixture list we have been handed. Rafa was given a free pass last year in his first 10 games where he only got 3 points.
In the 1st 10 games this year we will only face 1 team who finished below us last season – Brighton.
We will face 6 of last season’s top seven. Plus Leicester 9th and Watford 11th.
Only 1 promoted team.
On paper, I think we have the hardest start of any team in the league. But go ahead, p!ss and moan and boycott and make it worse (I am not referring to anybody on here).
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I will start to get worried if we don’t beat Brighton, but I think we will. I also think that par will be 10 points from the 1st 10 games. Actually that might be better than par and certainly better than the 3 points we got last year. I will have to wait and see but anything less and the knives will be out even more than they are now.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
You know, I shouldn’t read the comments in The Mag. It just gets me upset. That so called supporters are just so negative all of the time.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric, to be fair, Rafa signing aside, we haven’t had much to be optimistic about for over 10 years really. One freak 5th finish where we didn’t enhance squad and push on and in fact went backwards even.
Not saying The mag guys are right like but i do understand a lot of the negativity.
KIMTOON(Quote)
In those ten years have we signed one good player? Schar definitely, Legeune too, Dubravka, but in ten whole years, twenty transfer windows it’s all just been so disappointing.
georgio(Quote)