Earlier we spoke about the inability Tottenham players suffered from when seeking to pass to to each other. It was, in that respect, the worst performance of the season.
After a dig in to the post match statistics, it took approximately 20-seconds to identify two huge areas of concern. Indeed, an unkind person could make a case for Liverpool playing with two extra men last night. At least one pair of Spurs players managed to continuously passing the ball to players in red shirts.
Eric Dier was dreadful. A 65% passing accuracy is poor enough, but his Total actions / successful actions ratio was 51%, which to put it very mildly, was embarrassing.
Ben Davies made Eric Dier look like Franz Beckenbauer. Ben’s passing accuracy was 37% and his Total actions / successful actions ratio was 43%.
Both of these players stayed on for the entire 100-minutes, proving that Joe Rodon is viewed by Mourinho as being only fit to be used in the event of an emergency.
Klopp’s boys pressed us out of existence.
Yup
Terrible finishing but 1 of those 3 chances = a draw / 2 = a win
Bergwijn needs to practice his finishing
His position is our biggest problem.
Very impressed with Wijnaldum last night. Class. Lo Celso and the front 2 aside we are far from a technically gifted side which is why Jose’s system is so important.
100% agree
Agree with the majority. Was shocked when Davies was
picked also Bergwijn. We needed Moura’s tenacity and speed to negate the press. Our passing was terrible , as noted, and this has to improve if we are to beat the stronger teams. True that Liverpool were very fortunate
not to concede three. Harry will not miss that chance again. Midfield need to be faster as again, we were second best to the ball, same as Man City game. Reggie should have started as sorely needed his speed and tenacity. Not sure Mourinho’s tactics will work, long term as teams will catch on.
Oh and hi, its been a while.
Bergwijn is and was the weak link. Mourinho continues to start him over the last few weeks, I think for his fitness and tracking back, but the boy doesn’t defend particularly well, doesn’t link play and create chances well and wastes chances in front of goal. Other players struggled last night as well but my issue is w Mourinho continuing to play this waste of a spot.
Liverpool overwhelmed us with their possession and passing, our game was not about that , but we were never allowed to retain possession anyway, so I doubt anyone had decent stats. The tactics stopped us getting a mauling, and should have got us something from the game, stats can tell you whatever you want them to.
I make you right, (Davies and Dier) they’re not good enough
I make you right
agreed..
I was worried about Davies pre-game, as I remember at least one Anfield game where he got pressed to shreds and we lost 2-0, as he just couldn’t keep up. Yesterday was another such game.
He completely failed to track Salah’s inside run to the edge of the box in the first half, which could easily have been a goal.
Not making him the one responsible for the loss but he is probably not the best option for such quick, high-pressure games where you can’t afford to make mistakes.
Ben Davies is at best Championship quality…dont know why Jose rates him…would never play him.. Sess at least offers a bit of pace
Yup, a lot of hoofing last night
You say Klopps boys pressed us out of existence & that Dier & Davies had poor passing stats but that means absolutely nothing if you consider we should have won that match if Kane & Bergwijn took their relatively easy chances. I actually like the type of tactics we are playing because you have to be very clinical with the little possession you have. In the end Liverpool had to resort to dirty tactics to win but no-one is talking about it. Watch closely & you will clearly see henderson fouling Dier as he tries to deal with the corner before firmino scores.
We need a few players who are comfortable taking possession in tight spots and can keep the ball and dictate tempo even when they’re being pressed hard. Hojbjerg can do it a bit and Ndombele is close to being it but we really miss a Modric or Dembele (in his prime) type midfielder. Too many in our side can’t handle being pressed hard and fast. As soon as they are put under pressure they either lose the ball or hoof it. I know some will say this is Jose’s style but it isn’t. We just need to add some players who like receiving the ball even under pressure. Think Modric, prime Dembele, Wijnaldum (last night at least), Iniesta, Xavi, David Silva etc. We need that before we can be real challengers.
Obviously passing stats from the back will be down as the game plan is clearly to smash it up field if there’s no obvious and ‘high success percentage’ pass available.