Was it a terrible second half? Were we worrying unnecessarily? Title chases bring anxiety - if Liverpool were eighth, that exact same game wouldn't feel bad at all, because who would really care? Onto Villa....
Andrew, I think that for some time now LFC form is not good. Even when we win it is not convincing. Such slump is to be expected. The question now is what is on the other end of the slump - a decline or reversal to the good form shown earlier.
How did you like Aït-Nouri‘s performance in this game?
Really came alive second half, but did not make a single pass attempt into the box, no successful open play crosses and had no shots. And that even though he was mainly deployed as LM/LW.
I think Wednesday will tell us a lot. Villa didn’t play last midweek, but they have had a lot of games this season, and do have a bit of an injury crisis currently.
On paper, I don’t think they should have any more energy (the new signings maybe excepted, as they haven’t played a lot, but have the issue of needing to settle in) than we have.
We have looked a bit lethargic in the last couple of games, but maybe that’s just Slot managing the workload so we don’t crash and burn. It’s hard to know what is lethargy and what is planned, in terms of what happened yesterday at least. We rarely play well at Goodison, so I see that one as a freebie.
Irrespective of the result, if we again look lacklustre at Villa then it will be a cause for concern IMO, but unlike last season where we were never really in control of winning the league, this time we are.
We can afford some duff games. We can afford to drop some points, so if we do then a bit of perspective is needed.
Hopefully we will see a strong performance at Villa, and if that is accompanied with a win then concerns from Sunday will be well forgotten.
It’s only 11 days ago we had one of our best displays of the season in the 2nd leg against Spurs, so I don’t buy any ‘playing badly for a while’ nonsense.
I think it's important to maintain perspective. Liverpool have played 40 games this season - two years ago, their 40th game occurred on March 15. In 2017, it was on April 5th! The price of success, especially in this new Champions League era, is a degree of fatigue, lethargy etc at some points.
And while they've been on a slightly rough run of late, they've yet to lose the xG by more than 0.4 this season. Their base level is 'very much in games', which is a very good starting point.
It's likely they don't win all of the next three games; equally, they should pick up several points as a bare minimum. After that, it's seven at home and four away to win the league. I'm confident they'll be fine.
Dear Simon, I believe you are right regarding Villa. It might prove to be an important milestone.
Your last paragraph. The game vs Spurs was entertaining but half of the league had their best game against Tottenham. Spurs are just that tired and unlucky this season.
You can’t just ignore a good performance because it doesn’t fit your argument.
The 4-0 was the only time Spurs had lost by more than 1 goal since the 6-3 we beat them by in December, the only two games all season they lost by more than 1 goal.
It was an excellent performance and was only 11 days ago. Don’t pretend otherwise.
Was it a terrible second half? Were we worrying unnecessarily? Title chases bring anxiety - if Liverpool were eighth, that exact same game wouldn't feel bad at all, because who would really care? Onto Villa....
Andrew, I think that for some time now LFC form is not good. Even when we win it is not convincing. Such slump is to be expected. The question now is what is on the other end of the slump - a decline or reversal to the good form shown earlier.
How did you like Aït-Nouri‘s performance in this game?
Really came alive second half, but did not make a single pass attempt into the box, no successful open play crosses and had no shots. And that even though he was mainly deployed as LM/LW.
I thought he was pretty good, though hadn't picked up on those stats you mention.
Josh Williams (Distance Covered) is a big fan... I think I'd prefer the manic energy of Milos Kerkez! Both very good options though.
I think Wednesday will tell us a lot. Villa didn’t play last midweek, but they have had a lot of games this season, and do have a bit of an injury crisis currently.
On paper, I don’t think they should have any more energy (the new signings maybe excepted, as they haven’t played a lot, but have the issue of needing to settle in) than we have.
We have looked a bit lethargic in the last couple of games, but maybe that’s just Slot managing the workload so we don’t crash and burn. It’s hard to know what is lethargy and what is planned, in terms of what happened yesterday at least. We rarely play well at Goodison, so I see that one as a freebie.
Irrespective of the result, if we again look lacklustre at Villa then it will be a cause for concern IMO, but unlike last season where we were never really in control of winning the league, this time we are.
We can afford some duff games. We can afford to drop some points, so if we do then a bit of perspective is needed.
Hopefully we will see a strong performance at Villa, and if that is accompanied with a win then concerns from Sunday will be well forgotten.
It’s only 11 days ago we had one of our best displays of the season in the 2nd leg against Spurs, so I don’t buy any ‘playing badly for a while’ nonsense.
Simon, Yassen
I think it's important to maintain perspective. Liverpool have played 40 games this season - two years ago, their 40th game occurred on March 15. In 2017, it was on April 5th! The price of success, especially in this new Champions League era, is a degree of fatigue, lethargy etc at some points.
And while they've been on a slightly rough run of late, they've yet to lose the xG by more than 0.4 this season. Their base level is 'very much in games', which is a very good starting point.
It's likely they don't win all of the next three games; equally, they should pick up several points as a bare minimum. After that, it's seven at home and four away to win the league. I'm confident they'll be fine.
Dear Simon, I believe you are right regarding Villa. It might prove to be an important milestone.
Your last paragraph. The game vs Spurs was entertaining but half of the league had their best game against Tottenham. Spurs are just that tired and unlucky this season.
You can’t just ignore a good performance because it doesn’t fit your argument.
The 4-0 was the only time Spurs had lost by more than 1 goal since the 6-3 we beat them by in December, the only two games all season they lost by more than 1 goal.
It was an excellent performance and was only 11 days ago. Don’t pretend otherwise.