Liverpool 1-0 Aston Villa post match thread

[brontebilly]

Battled hard without the ball but our efforts to keep it were risible until we made subs. We were far better when Luiz moved into the middle. Peno was soft enough but Mings allowed himself to be mugged by Salah. Unfortunately he was at fault for that Jota chance too, unable to clear the ball with his right foot. McGinn battled like a trooper and Konsa was outstanding. Encouraging cameo again from Sanson I thought.

Martinez 7, Cash 5, Konsa 9, Mings 6, Targett 7, Nakamba 4, Luiz 6, McGinn 8, Ramsey 5, Young 5, Watkins 5. Sanson 6, Buendia 6, Ings 5

why so low for Nkamba ?

Thought he was shite. He's the primary reason we can't keep possession when being pressed. Second touch a tackle a lot of the time, like his daft yellow. Fortunate not to give away a penalty.

I think part of the issue is that the players he is surronded with arent that much better a lot of the time.  The players seem to have been bought / set up for quick transitions etc, and as a result arent as adept at keep ball

That's true but Nakambas limitations are exposed badly in that critical pivot/6 role. It's easy to blame Mings for going long but if the alternative is short to Nakamba when he is under pressure then it's an easy decision. Thought Luiz improved our play hugely when he swapped in there.

A few of our attacking players badly need to improve their ability to retain protect the ball in possession aswell....Buendia, Ramsey and Watkins to mention three. Watkins first touch is bang average, seems to stand on the ball a lot. Ramsey and Buendia need to learn how to better position their body to protect the ball. Grealish was a master at that.

[pooligan]

As soon as i saw Atwell was the referee i feared it was going to be another of those games where we are the wrong end of game changing decisions Stevie G wants t know why neither penalty was checked by VAR  Its Anfield Stevie that is why

[LeonW]

If VARs mandate was to ensure equality and consistency in decision making/review it has been a complete failure.

[ROBBO]

Mings played well but there was no need to get that close to Salah just box him in, the difference in the two sides was glaring, Liverpools movement and ball retention was far superior to ours and clearly Klopp wasn't happy with their movement first half because they lifted the tempo after half time. Sanson looks a very tidy player and he improved us going forward, it will be interesting to see what changes Gerrard will make as he assesses the squad, he seems to be giving them all a chance to perform. I don't rember us having one shot on target all game, that part was disappointing.

[Meanwood Villa]

An OK performance. We weren't humiliated by one of the best teams in the world but I was a bit disappointed with our lack of going forward until we went behind. No shots on target is poor no matter who you are playing

[PaulTheVillan]

Jim Beglin can fuck off

[PaulWinch again]

Always going to be tough and could have been worse. The one area I do think we need to be better is control in the midfield.

[PaulTheVillan]

Always going to be tough and could have been worse. The one area I do think we need to be better is control in the midfield.

we do lack a cool head Gareth Barry type in the middle

[Sexual Ealing]

Always going to be tough and could have been worse. The one area I do think we need to be better is control in the midfield.

we do lack a cool head Gareth Barry type in the middle

Doug is nearly that player, but he's too wasteful with the ball.

[PaulTheVillan]

Always going to be tough and could have been worse. The one area I do think we need to be better is control in the midfield.

we do lack a cool head Gareth Barry type in the middle

Doug is nearly that player, but he's too wasteful with the ball.

I don’t think he’s got the composure. At times he has other times he too rash

[clash city rocker]

Think today will have really pissed Gerrard off and he will even be more driven.

[Chris Smith]

To have got anything today we needed either them to play poorly or us to get all the luck. Neither of those things happened. We showed plenty of fight and organisation but the ref took the easy options at the key moments.

[clash city rocker]

To have got anything today we needed either them to play poorly or us to get all the luck. Neither of those things happened. We showed plenty of fight and organisation but the ref took the easy options at the key moments.

As I saw it

[Clampy]

First half I thought we were ok without creating anything. Second  half, we looked better once we went behind. I thought taking Nakamba off was a bit odd, but it took a very very soft penalty to beat us.

[SoccerHQ]

Didn't they beat AC Milan in the week with half a reserve team?

Probably shows you how strong the top 3 actually are currently and one of them will likely win the CL so we're doing o.k.