The Liverpool Thread

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I shouldn’t be like, but mooching round the net just now staggers me as regards tomorrow evening’s mamouth tie of the round game against Munich.

I fully appreciate the aching for the league after nigh on three dcades, but people seriously aren’t bothered about going through/ want a weakened side et al? Against Bayern Munich no less in one of the biggest match-ups of European elites you could ever wish to have. SERIOUSLY?!!!!!

If you guaranteed me now a loss against Utd, but progression in Europe verses a win at Utd but being out of Europe, I’m taking European progression ALL day long.

Bayern’s the most important game of the next 6 days and its not even open to debate. Aside from it being the next one, that automatically makes it so by default, we have 12 league games left. Lose to Utd and we’re level on points with City witn 33 still on the table. Lose to Bayern, on the highest football stage of all, we’re done. No second chances. DONE!

NO bigger stage/ prize in football than the Champions League/ being the single best club in Europe. NOT just England. It’s why our standing across the Continent is still up there with anyones. THAT’S what a history does for you. THAT’S what being one of the all time great sides in UEFA competition history does for you.

Don’t get me wrong, I want the league as much as the next man. But ANYONE that would sack off the European Cup, not least in such a tie with a very serious chance of going all the way to Madrid in June; truly neither understands this football club, this magnificant, European BEHEMOTH of a football club, nor Scousers in general. We LIVE for these nights under the European lights and trips abroad.


Europe and Liverpool FC just go together.


Europe and Liverpol FC. It’s what we DO!


Up the European F Royalty Reds!
 
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Tonights proggy cover.

Just in case anyone needed reminding of the marquee tie tonight between two of European football’s bona fied Royalty clubs.

View attachment 19272

That’s a lot of those big silvery things. (H)
 
Nil nil isnt ideal but ill take it. MOTM was the captain for me disrupted their play and kept us ticking over. Shoutout to Matip who somehow resembled a footballer for once tonight.
 
Very happy with that. Without winning the game. Not conceading was the key there. I like our chances massively of scoring in Munich.

Thought Bayern were superb for 65/ 70 mins or so. Could have done without the time waisiting when they madly settled for 0-0 against our makeshift defence the last 20 but that is what it is. But overal super impressed by them. They worked so hard to close down passing lanes and space. Just no room to play at all, And the pressing first half was ridiculous. Great possesion playing through midfield. Just fell down the top end where we shackled the WC Lewandowski superbly.

Been saying it for a while that many Reds have been too easily dismissing Bayern. You can’t do that with that experience. They’re a still a top team and this was always fixmg to be two real tight games.

Our whole midfield was superb in turn. The more confidence Naby gets, to try things and not worry when they don’t come off, the more the top drawer player in Leipzig we bought is coming through. His secomd season he’ll be untouchable this league. The captain was immense. My clear MOTM. Gini was Gini. His level just never drops. The makeshift CH pairing did superb. Bobby was all over as Bobby always is before the virus caught up with him. Trent had a poor game but he’s still real raw at the very level of CL football so thats sound as he grows.

Just a really enjoyable, fascinating tactical chess match with two top, top teams cancelling each other out and cagely reapecting the threat of each other.

Very good position to be in going out there. Munich either have to win or settle for another 0-0 to take it to penalty’s. We score and that optiongoes and they have to score twice.


Set up for another titanic struggle that will probably go to the wire.


Shout out to the Munich fans for the message about ticket prices. The shared solidarity there aecond half was brilliant. Top respect boys. Can’t wait to experience your brilliant City again three weeks and your equally brilliant looking ground for the first time.


Up the still WELL in the CL Reds!
 
Tyton said:
That 1970s Bayern team was something else.
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Absolutely.

When you think back you had Ajax win it three years in a row, followed by Bayern’s three straight, then L’pool two straight, and 4 in 8 years, followed by Forest with 2 straight (who put L’pool out the first round to stop them becoming the third straight side to win 3 in a row)..... Amazingly stupendous consistency made even more remarkable in an era when it was straight knock-out, Champions against Champions European football from the get go. One mistske, one bad/ bribed officiating crew and you were done. No second/ third/ fourth chances like the groups today.

Ajax (for their magnificent three straight), Bayern, L’pool, Madrid and Milan are the only clubs to actually own an original European Cup right? Believe they stopped doing that by the time Barcelona won their 5th?
 
One thing that was frustrating me last night. A lot of the crowd were getting antsy with Alisson again. I honestly thought we’d got past the panicking stage.

He’s gonna F up from time to time. That just is what it is. But as long as the manager wants the goalie and defenders playing out from the back at all times, you just have to accept the risks. We chose him over Oblak for a reason. His better ability with a ball at his feet.

Like Brucie Grobbelaar, you just have to learn to accept they’ll be crazy moments. Even costly ones at times. But also like Brucie Grobbelaar, the trade off with his WC brilliance and conpletely new dimension it’s added to our game FAR outweighs the errors.

But he kept the most important thing of last night through it all. A clean-sheet.

Fixing to be like the ‘81 semi this.

That was a very cagey home first leg 0-0 too between two top European sides with the utmost respect for each other.

Who’ll be our Howie Gayle and have a Ray Kennedy moment this time in Munich remains to be seen?

Proper old school European Cup tie this one.
 
I think you're gonna comfortably go through. Bayern losing Kimmich is massive and so is VVD coming back on your side.

And the ridiculous 2-match ban for Mueller seals the deal for me - he may not be player he was, but his ability to create space for Lewandowski is always critical in these tight European ties. James is a definition of a luxury player for me - he'll shine when surrounded by brilliant players in a team that dominates every game from start to finish, but in a game of chess like this you want a reliable workhorse over the bling bling.
 
Thought he was lucky to just get the 2 games personally after he tried to decapitate the Ajax lad. But regardless, a real privilage to watch Lewandowski up close last night. I mean Matip and Fabinho (what another superb signing he’s proved to be now he’s up to speed BTW after the mad early criticism. Twice he’s filled in a CH recently and been faultless both games) boxed Robert off magnificantly. But just watching his constant movement and football intelligence, the way he drops back on corners then arcs his run actoss the box to find the space in a crowded area etc ..... Absolutely WC #9 and still one of the best around anywhere.

Like Bufon, it’ll be an absolute travesty if he ends his career without winning the European Cup.
 
Yeah, they kept him quiet the whole game, he had nothing. And I still mantain that Guardiola has royally screwed Bayern. He took over a side that was running teams over with physical power football and made them play his tippy-tappy hipster nonsense because he can't do anything else.

It worked for a while because of quality of talent he had available, but with Robben/Ribbery declining and no replacements it's very much a one-man show these days. Shut down Lewandowski and you shut down Bayern.
 
Pep might have had a part to play with removing some of their Bavarian identity, but if we're being real, they were always going to decline along with Robben and Ribery because they simply have **** all financial power compared to the other elite clubs and have planned the transitional period pretty poorly imo. Heck, Everton/West Ham could probably challenge them in terms of fees.

They better hope Coman's body holds out past these constant injury issues, otherwise, they're stuck with Serge ****** Gnabry (with all due respect) and potentially, if they're lucky, an 18 year old from Wandsworth, who has more fingers than senior games, to replace 2 of the best wingers of the century. Diabolical planning.
 
I don’t see that there’s gong to be much of a drop of with Bayern as they get younger personally. Either domestically or in Europe.

Just as a block list of young signings the last few years, they’ve got a haul of:

RB. Kimmich- 24 Years Old.
CH/ FB. Pavard- 23. (Next season.)..
CH. Sule- 23.
RW. Gnabry- 23.
LW. Coman- 22.
LW. Davies- 18.
M. Goretzka- 24.
M. Sanches- 21.
M. Tolisso- 24.
CF. Arp- 20. (Either next season or the following one dependent on whether they leave him ar Hamburg forexperience.).
CF. Woo-Yeng- 19.

Add Alaba at 26 and Thiago at 27/28, thats a pretty strong group of under 28’s to build from.
 
RhQQ said:
Pep might have had a part to play with removing some of their Bavarian identity, but if we're being real, they were always going to decline along with Robben and Ribery because they simply have **** all financial power compared to the other elite clubs and have planned the transitional period pretty poorly imo. Heck, Everton/West Ham could probably challenge them in terms of fees.
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Only United has Bayern significantly beaten in revenue, their wage spending is half of Barcelona's and their debt is at zero. They've reported profit for 25 years straight and play on almost brand-new stadium which they own. Financially they're the healthiest elite club by a mile. It's just that they massively ****** up by not investing before PL's new TV deal and Barca's shopping spree basically tripled the prices overnight.
 
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Tyton said:
Only United has Bayern significantly beaten in revenue, their wage spending is half of Barcelona's and their debt is at zero. Financially they're the healthiest elite club by a mile. It's just that they massively ****** up by not investing before PL's new TV deal and Barca's shopping spree basically tripled the prices overnight.
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Difference between being financially healthy & financially powerful. Simply can't flex with the big boys. Doesn't help the Bundelsiga's rapidly turning into the Eredivisie (and probably has been a hint of that always; most signings struggle in the PL, and it's literally where we're starting to send our 'not ready/good enough to start for us' players, and they shine over there as one of the best players in the league almost, but that narrative's for another time...)
 
Scouseinthehouse said:
I don’t see that there’s gong to be much of a drop of with Bayern as they get younger personally. Either domestically or in Europe.

Just as a block list of young signings the last few years, they’ve got a haul of:

RB. Kimmich- 24 Years Old.
CH/ FB. Pavard- 23. (Next season.)..
CH. Sule- 23.
RW. Gnabry- 23.
LW. Coman- 22.
LW. Davies- 18.
M. Goretzka- 24.
M. Sanches- 21.
M. Tolisso- 24.
CF. Arp- 20. (Either next season or the following one dependent on whether they leave him ar Hamburg forexperience.).
CF. Woo-Yeng- 19.

Add Alaba at 26 and Thiago at 27/28, thats a pretty strong group of under 28’s to build from.
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Pretty nice but not one world class u28. That's crazy for a top 4 club in the world.

And like I said, if Coman does break down like many expect him to, their 'Robbery' replacements are questionable/borderline laughable, especially when you consider that wingers/wide forwards who have moved for £50M or less in recent years incl.

Salah
Mané
Martial
Son
Sané
Richarlison (x2)
Malcolm

etc.

are a few off the top of my head, who weren't obscene ~100M transfers, are all world class/destined to be world class well before 28, and most importantly, all suitable Robben and/or Ribery replacements in their own right... both stylistically & quantitatively
 
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6 times straight times German Champions. In all likelehood this will be a 7th.

6 straight CL semi-finals. We should have played them thw final last year as they destroyed Madrid over two legs. Travesty they never won that.

I take the point on the bad recruitment in Munich.
 
RhQQ said:
Pretty nice but not one world class u28. That's crazy for a top 4 club in the world.

And like I said, if Coman does break down like many expect him to, their 'Robbery' replacements are questionable/borderline laughable, especially when you consider that wingers/wide forwards who have moved for £50M or less in recent years incl.

Salah
Mané
Martial
Son
Sané
Richarlison (x2)
Malcolm

etc.

are a few off the top of my head, who weren't obscene ~100M transfers, are all world class/destined to be world class well before 28, and most importantly, all suitable Robben and/or Ribery replacements in their own right... both stylistically & quantitatively
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Yeah, they seem to have missed the ball. But it's Bayern, you expect them to raid the Bundesliga for talent, anyhow. Expecting either Brandt or Bailey to move to Bayern in the next couple of years. Even Isco (if RM don't change their coach) as a replacement for James. They have an excellent base for the future, and expect to dominate the Bundesliga 9 times out of 10 anyhow (half the times, if only because most other Bundesliga teams tend to get dismantled by Bayern.
 
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