31 Mar 2018 22:08:45
Hi all

Missed the game today. Im well happy we got the 3 points ut anyone got an overall summary of events please?

1.) 31 Mar 2018
31 Mar 2018 22:53:55
Scrappy game, Karius made a great save after Zaha handled the ball to create a huge chance one on one, couple of minutes later Zaha got behind Arnold and Matip from a Benteke header to finish then collide with Karius in a 50/ 50 challenge, a very harsh penalty in my opinion.

We didn't create much, Salah had a decent long shot, and a couple of decent corners finding van Dijk with the first, van dijk's header was on target but Mane headed it away from goal, then another decent corner this time finding Mane who forced a decent save from Hennessey with his header.

Mane then gets clipped but delays the fall a flash of a second which results in a totally wrong yellow for play acting, 100 % penalty not given.

The 2nd half started well from Liverpool creating a couple of decent situations, Salah finds Milner with a long pass who plays a one two with firmino, fakes a cross and crosses with his left for Mane to tap in. Decent assist from Milner.

Then a 10 minute period where Liverpool totally tried to hand Palace the lead. First Milner passes a terrible pass across field which gets intercepted to Townsend who heads it with one touch to benteke who finished wide on the half volley, a semi chip type of finish, Matip did well to put some sort of pressure on him before finishing. Then van Dijk miss controls a pass and passes it straight into Townsend's path who cuts inside and passes a bad pass to Benteke who shoots over. Then Saido Mane gets fouled and catches the ball thinking he will get the foul, he didn't get a yellow card and i don't think he should've either, the same situation has happened 100's of times without the player thinking he should get a foul ever getting booked. The free kick was in a very dangerous area and van Aanholt had a decent try but Karius had a decent save.

Then the game was just going back and forth without a clear pattern, Lallana came on as a sub and lasted 5 minutes. We had some decent situations but the decision making was very poor from particularly Trent who crossed when he shouldn't and shot when he should've passed. An over hit cross from Chamberlain finds Robertson on the other side who crosses it in the 6 yard box first time, Sakho's anticipation is terrible which gives Salah a huge chance which he bangs in with his right foot. Lovren came on for the injured Lallana which worked later in the game as Palace didn't create anything from hoofing the ball up field time and time again for the last 9-10 minutes.

If i had to rate the team i'd go.

Karius (7.5) (Unlucky with the penalty, made 2 very good saves particularly the one on one vs Zaha, fantastic save)
Arnold (5) (Struggled with Zaha all game, and should learn from the same mistakes he did vs Man Utd)
Matip (6.5) (Actually the better of the 2 today, lost a couple of duels but overall made no big mistakes and his passing was very good)
van Dijk (6) (Ok, but made a huge mistake that could have easily cost us the came, i feel there is a fantastic defender in there, concentration levels need to go up)
Robertson (6.5) (Decent game, not his best but an ok cross for the winner, and decent enough defensively compared to Arnold)
Henderson (6) (I felt he could have done more in the 10-15 minute period in the 2nd half when the team was all over the place)
Wijnaldum (6.5) (His usual safe self when in position, works really hard off the ball, and was taken off once he actually started playing some really good passes forward for once, strange sub)
Milner (6) (Incredible work-rate, sadly he could have gotten so much more out of it, has a fantastic assist for the equalizer but could've easily cost us the game with a stupid pass, is more on the left and right wing more than centrally)
Mane (7) (Weird game from Mane, was playing more as a number 10, didn't create much, could've had a penalty and a goal but could have easily been sent off if the ref's incompetence continued in the 2nd half, dangerous player)
Salah (7.5) (A decent game overall, was very happy with his corners and didn't understand why Milner kept on taking them despite the 3 times Salah took them today we created big chances, scores the winner as usual and continues to equal records left right and center, knock on wood)
Firmino (6) (One of his quiter games, had new boots today, didn't find his mojo in them! But he worked hard as usual, but his touch was a bit off and he took a lot more shots than he usually does)

2.) 31 Mar 2018
31 Mar 2018 22:59:29
Just have to add, Matip had a couple of terrible passes in the first half, posting to disagree with my self but i forgot those 2 crappy forward passes to no one in particular!

3.) 31 Mar 2018
31 Mar 2018 23:45:37
I thought Robertson and Karius were our best players. Midfield 3 are lucky to get a 6 or above. Wijnaldum was subbed for a reason. Palace penalty was controversial and could have gone either way similar to the Mane one (no way was it 100% a pen) . Overall it was one of the worst performances under Klopp and Palace could have wrapped the game up had it been for better finishing from Benteke or Zaha. Bad performance but a massive 3 points and it's the points that matter.

4.) 01 Apr 2018
01 Apr 2018 00:05:04
Best performers -

Karius
Robbo
Salah

Worst -

Wijnaldum, he was to be quite frank, useless!
Matip, always terrible, should never get a game imo. Id much prefer Klaven or Lovren.

5.) 01 Apr 2018
01 Apr 2018 00:20:55
Agree Nostradamus. That was a harsh penalty. Karius had a good game.

6.) 01 Apr 2018
01 Apr 2018 00:26:35
Decent appraisal of the game, Nostrodamus, but highly red-tinted. Mane dived. it was embarrassing and theatrical and deserved a red. He then handballed intentionally - an automatic yellow. He should have been sent off.
Their penalty had to be given as Karius took Saha down after missing the ball. Not intentional clash but a penalty all the same hence a yellow not a red.

7.) 01 Apr 2018
01 Apr 2018 00:29:43
Can't believe people are saying it's not a dive! Love mane but it was poor from him.

8.) 01 Apr 2018
01 Apr 2018 00:33:07
TAA gave another first half masterclass on how NOT to defend. just in case we missed the first half against Utd.

9.) 01 Apr 2018
01 Apr 2018 00:51:24
rekon it was one of our better wins, up there with the win at burnley when ragnar got the winner in injury time. we had just to survive and scrap our way to a victory, so well done the lads for getting it!

10.) 01 Apr 2018
01 Apr 2018 01:13:39
If virgils tackle on lamela was a pen then the tackle on mane was stone wall. The only reason it wasn't given is theatrics he clearly made considerable contact.

I think your review is very fair. It was a very scrappy game and at times it looked like an spl fixture.

What excites me is that fact we were so under par we went behind but still ground a result out. Forget the ifs and maybes the result is all that matters and even when going behind I was still confident our players could turn it around.

When was the last time I had that feeling as a Liverpool fan. it was a long time ago I'll tell you that.

11.) 01 Apr 2018
01 Apr 2018 01:40:55
The problem with the mane dive is that there was contact. Maybe not enough for a pen. But playes know if they don't go down then refs don't call it. Even if it is a foul. If could were called regardless of whether players go down. It would reduce incidents like today.

12.) 01 Apr 2018
01 Apr 2018 02:01:21
When Mane went down for his dive, he went down holding his left leg. The tackle on him was on his right. Clearly shows that it was a dive. Sure, there was contact, but Mane was trying to play act to make the most of it. Would you not have felt hard done by if Zaha / Rashford has won a penalty by doing that? I think a yellow was justified, and I was surprised Mane stayed on the pitch after his handball in the second half.

13.) 01 Apr 2018
01 Apr 2018 03:51:01
I initially thought he was holding the wrong ankle as well. However, after seeing the replay again I saw this wasn’t the case.

I think refs are a big massive factor in how some players will theatrically go down these days. Think about how many times you’ve seen pens not given because a player stays on his feet and try’s to keep playing (one with Coutinho comes to mind but I can’t recall the opposition) .

Until players aren’t forced the ‘play act’ to get decisions this will continue to happen. (I am not condoning theatrics - it’s simply why I think some players do it in some situations)

In this instance did I think it was a pen? I think you could argue it either way until your face turn blue. Had Mane not acted like he’d been shot I wonder what people would’ve said it should be.

In general I thought the ref didn’t have a great day at the office. Felt like an example of why there will be no English refs at the WC this summer.

14.) 01 Apr 2018
01 Apr 2018 01:44:40
I think everyone is being too harsh on Trent : he's very younf for a defender and his main objective today was to provide width and attack at every opportunity. His 2 crosses in the 2nd half deserved to be in the back of the net (Salah and Firmino need to learn to anticipate those type of crosses especially against park the bus teams) .

As for Matip : the best I can say abt him is that he was the worse player on the pitch (apart from Sakho may be) . The penalty incident he didn't cover Trent enough even though there were early warnings. Not only this match, every other matches he NEVER covers the full back in his side.

Wijnaldum should never start again for us unless he starts to unleash his hidden talents. It's so frustating like knowing the answers during an exam but not answering coz of fear of failure. It's so weird as he started his career as a right side winger with pace and tricks (watch on youtube when he was at Feyenoord) . Any reason Ed1 of his cautius approach? Is it coz of the instructions from the coaching staff or lack of confidence from himself?

Can't wait for Wednesday but already feel that it won't be good for our hearts during those 90 mins.

{Ed001's Note - Wijnaldum always plays within himself, it must be a mental thing because it has been the same throughout his career.}

15.) 01 Apr 2018
01 Apr 2018 08:43:34
I don't get why people say just because there was contact it has to be a pen. Mane wasnt impeded in any way, after the contact which had no effect on what he was doing, he decided to throw himself to the ground. Surely its not illegal just to touch another player in the box?

16.) 01 Apr 2018
01 Apr 2018 12:12:42
I agree with most of it but it was not a 50/50 with Zaha, it was a clear penalty.

17.) 01 Apr 2018
01 Apr 2018 19:02:56
Mane dived, it wasn’t a penalty.

However, because there was contact I don’t think he should have been booked.

{Ed025's Note - niasse got banned for 2 games for the same thing ron..