Since defence is once again in relegation form, we'd all really profit from some luck once in a while.
But of course that's not happening. The refs have been atrocious in most games we've played this season (bar perhaps Roger East in our game against Burnley) and yesterday's officiating was absolutely criminal.
Mignolet is clearly being fouled at Leicester's first goal (MOTD commentator claimed our players were appealing for offside there, laughable), not to mention the whole thing started over Vardy's signature dive. Then the ref pulled 5 minutes of injury time out of his I'm-trying-to-create-a-media-narrative-rather-than-control-this-game ass, and thankfully for once in our miserable lives, the back four held on.
I really dislike this style of play, because every game looks like it could go wrong for us at any given moment, and there's always going to be something that will go wrong in a humiliating fashion.
But I'm not one of those people who think that with good defence we'd be right up there with Manchesters, because I seriously doubt Klopp's system is designed to have a decent defence.
Zonal defending is garbage, and you can see it every game we play, how the opposition uses it to pull our players out of position to score the goals our fans think are boring and predictable, yet at the same time scratch their heads over how the hell they've managed to score them.
I think there's no point buying a defender, because nobody can improve a defence that's been sacrificed in the name of attacking prowess.
Yes, Lovren is incredibly bad, in fact he could be the worst first-team defender that played for us in quite a while (I've thought about
Sotirios Kyrgiakos, but I think he was a far better defender overall), but at the same time he is not exactly playing in front of a solid defensive midfield unit, and fans also completely overlook the sheer amount of balls him and Matip clear on regular.
The attackers keep giving away the ball, and every minute or so one of those two has to come forward to head it away. Watch the games again and you'll see, it's a constant struggle for that central defence, and it really shouldn't be expected of them to deal with so many instances of lost possession. Midfield is weak as well. Henderson is good at passes and crosses, but that's about it. He's not a DM, neither are the other two. They're bullied by some of these other teams, yet fans always jump at the defence like it's their problem there's so many situations in which the opposition can suddenly attack us from deep. It's really not, and while they must improve, it's not just them that's in the wrong here, it's the midfield, it's attackers losing the 1v1s, and it's just our system in general that's making us struggle.
But of course that's not happening. The refs have been atrocious in most games we've played this season (bar perhaps Roger East in our game against Burnley) and yesterday's officiating was absolutely criminal.
Mignolet is clearly being fouled at Leicester's first goal (MOTD commentator claimed our players were appealing for offside there, laughable), not to mention the whole thing started over Vardy's signature dive. Then the ref pulled 5 minutes of injury time out of his I'm-trying-to-create-a-media-narrative-rather-than-control-this-game ass, and thankfully for once in our miserable lives, the back four held on.
I really dislike this style of play, because every game looks like it could go wrong for us at any given moment, and there's always going to be something that will go wrong in a humiliating fashion.
But I'm not one of those people who think that with good defence we'd be right up there with Manchesters, because I seriously doubt Klopp's system is designed to have a decent defence.
Zonal defending is garbage, and you can see it every game we play, how the opposition uses it to pull our players out of position to score the goals our fans think are boring and predictable, yet at the same time scratch their heads over how the hell they've managed to score them.
I think there's no point buying a defender, because nobody can improve a defence that's been sacrificed in the name of attacking prowess.
Yes, Lovren is incredibly bad, in fact he could be the worst first-team defender that played for us in quite a while (I've thought about
Sotirios Kyrgiakos, but I think he was a far better defender overall), but at the same time he is not exactly playing in front of a solid defensive midfield unit, and fans also completely overlook the sheer amount of balls him and Matip clear on regular.
The attackers keep giving away the ball, and every minute or so one of those two has to come forward to head it away. Watch the games again and you'll see, it's a constant struggle for that central defence, and it really shouldn't be expected of them to deal with so many instances of lost possession. Midfield is weak as well. Henderson is good at passes and crosses, but that's about it. He's not a DM, neither are the other two. They're bullied by some of these other teams, yet fans always jump at the defence like it's their problem there's so many situations in which the opposition can suddenly attack us from deep. It's really not, and while they must improve, it's not just them that's in the wrong here, it's the midfield, it's attackers losing the 1v1s, and it's just our system in general that's making us struggle.
I don't think you need any nous to trouble Liverpool on a set piece. Just put the ball in the box with some height and Lovren and Co. shall see to the rest.