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Liverpool won 17 and drew two of their 19 home games in the league last season. They battered West Ham 4-0 at Anfield in their opening match- an established Premier League side who ended up finishing tenth. They also walloped Barcelona 4-0 at home.

We looked decent going forward, and if we play like this against Newcastle next week, we should get a result. Buendia looks like he'll cause problems for anyone. 

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Hard to be too unhappy with the overall performance - in all honesty we were always unlikely to get anything from the game but we caused them difficulties and created decent chances...the downside was that we looked naive in defence so there’s plenty to work on.

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All anyone has to do is the look at the stats from the game. The only thing Liverpool crushed us in was corners.

I think this was an excellent test to the Premier League. We were never expected to seriously win this game, but we held our own and my feeling is the players will make the adjustments.

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2 minutes ago, CirclePoint said:

All anyone has to do is the look at the stats from the game. The only thing Liverpool crushed us in was corners.

I think this was an excellent test to the Premier League. We were never expected to seriously win this game, but we held our own and my feeling is the players will make the adjustments.

or just look at the game

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I saw a lot of positives. 

Tim Krul. Not to blame for the goals and pulled off a lot of confidence building saves. He's much better than this time last year. 

Godfrey, Aarons and Lewis. You could see them learning and improving as the game went on. Pacy and definitely up to the task. 

Hanley. It was a ricket but he couldn't hide and didn't. I thought he had a good 2nd half with some brave interceptions. He doesn't need people on his back. Bear in mind Liverpool press high and we didn't have a controlled out until Leitner came on. The ball kept coming back with multiple runners and the full back were committed upfield. 

Trybull and McClean. Worked hard but won't be first choices if others are fit. There was no midfield link and when Leitner came on we found one and became a unit. I hope Amadou is the player we wish for. 

Stiepermann is a player I expected to step up. I'll reserve judgement. 

Cantwell continued his form and looked unfazed. His turn on two Liverpool players was a highlight. 

Buendia is still coming back to form and got scant service 1st half but his assist was class. 

Pukki. Off the mark with a neat finish. Electric movement throughout. 

Farke. Showed leadership and management. He will stick to his guns. I remember Neil panicking after a loss at Newcastle and changing our game to our detriment. 

I remember us parking the bus at Man City and feeling embarrassed. I don't want us to be gallant losers (neither does Farke). I didn't feel embarrassed tonight and we got a lot of plaudits from Gary Neville. 

 

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2 minutes ago, Ramrod said:

I saw a lot of positives. 

Tim Krul. Not to blame for the goals and pulled off a lot of confidence building saves. He's much better than this time last year. 

Godfrey, Aarons and Lewis. You could see them learning and improving as the game went on. Pacy and definitely up to the task. 

Hanley. It was a ricket but he couldn't hide and didn't. I thought he had a good 2nd half with some brave interceptions. He doesn't need people on his back. Bear in mind Liverpool press high and we didn't have a controlled out until Leitner came on. The ball kept coming back with multiple runners and the full back were committed upfield. 

Trybull and McClean. Worked hard but won't be first choices if others are fit. There was no midfield link and when Leitner came on we found one and became a unit. I hope Amadou is the player we wish for. 

Stiepermann is a player I expected to step up. I'll reserve judgement. 

Cantwell continued his form and looked unfazed. His turn on two Liverpool players was a highlight. 

Buendia is still coming back to form and got scant service 1st half but his assist was class. 

Pukki. Off the mark with a neat finish. Electric movement throughout. 

Farke. Showed leadership and management. He will stick to his guns. I remember Neil panicking after a loss at Newcastle and changing our game to our detriment. 

I remember us parking the bus at Man City and feeling embarrassed. I don't want us to be gallant losers (neither does Farke). I didn't feel embarrassed tonight and we got a lot of plaudits from Gary Neville. 

 

Odd to be positive after a 4-1 defeat, but it does seem encouraging. If Pukki is going to score goals in the PL then that answers one important question.

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2 minutes ago, PurpleCanary said:

Odd to be positive after a 4-1 defeat, but it does seem encouraging. If Pukki is going to score goals in the PL then that answers one important question.

This game was a free shot. Enjoy the occasion and learn. Show positives. Stick to principles. Our rivals will all lose there too. 

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8 minutes ago, Ramrod said:

This game was a free shot. Enjoy the occasion and learn. Show positives. Stick to principles. Our rivals will all lose there too. 

Yep

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Having been 4-0 down at half time despite putting in a pretty decent performance it really wasn’t a disgraceful result. 

It gets arguably one of the hardest games of the season out of the way early, the players kept their heads up and kept fighting for the whole 90 minutes and we caused one of the top teams in Europe problems throughout the game. 

The main thing is not letting our heads drop, learning quickly and cutting out the silly mistakes as much as possible, at least with Klose and Zimmermann to return there will be more defensive options available. 

At the end of the day, if we can play like that against most of the sides outside the Top 6 we should have enough to make a good go of it. 

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If Amadou is what we’re hoping for, bring him in for TT and with one of Klose/Zimbo back for Hanley, I think that’ll be a good starting XI with a bit more steel added.  That leaves Onel, Leitner, Mario and Roberts still to come in (seems a bit harsh not starting with them but their chances will come).

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Before tonight I felt that we would have done well if we were not rock bottom after the first five games, but after tonight I will actually feel hard done by if we ARE bottom. Being 4-0 down at half-time it would have been all too easy for the team to completely capitulate, particularly with so many young players. Instead of this, they came out and won the second half, learning and growing throughout the game. 

To me this says as much about the manager as it does about the players... whatever was said in the break was obviously spot-on. Despite the loss, I am feeling more confident about our chances in the Prem than our last outing there.

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57 minutes ago, Ramrod said:

This game was a free shot. Enjoy the occasion and learn. Show positives. Stick to principles. Our rivals will all lose there too. 

I agree... let’s look at it as a good preseason game and a good test. We will learn from this and gain some good knowledge from it.  Many other teams will come to Anfield and get hammered. We have now got this one out of our way and now we can press on from here...

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40 minutes ago, Branston Pickle said:

If Amadou is what we’re hoping for, bring him in for TT and with one of Klose/Zimbo back for Hanley, I think that’ll be a good starting XI with a bit more steel added.  That leaves Onel, Leitner, Mario and Roberts still to come in (seems a bit harsh not starting with them but their chances will come).

Completely agree with this. Hanley will lose his place when Zimmermann and/or Klose are fit, and Amadou will take Trybull's place. I also expect Leitner to take over from McLean and one of Hernandez or Roberts will play instead of Cantwell long-term. 

Hanley is no more than a backup at this level. Trybull, McLean and Cantwell have something to offer but I just feel their replacements offer more.

I can see all four of these changes happening next week. As I said, this is nothing against those four, but the others coming in are all better players.

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Apparently, we were only the 2nd team in EPL history to give debuts to 4 British players 21 or younger. 

There's some perspective. 

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51 minutes ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

Completely agree with this. Hanley will lose his place when Zimmermann and/or Klose are fit, and Amadou will take Trybull's place. I also expect Leitner to take over from McLean and one of Hernandez or Roberts will play instead of Cantwell long-term. 

Hanley is no more than a backup at this level. Trybull, McLean and Cantwell have something to offer but I just feel their replacements offer more.

I can see all four of these changes happening next week. As I said, this is nothing against those four, but the others coming in are all better players.

Exactly how I see it to be fair. Good post.

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We didn't get off to a flyer last season, and the Team evolved as the season progressed, I see no reason why it should be any different this time around. 

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5 hours ago, Ramrod said:

This game was a free shot. Enjoy the occasion and learn. Show positives. Stick to principles. Our rivals will all lose there too. 

Absolutely agree, Liverpool will beat most teams at Anfield, including those competing with us for that last Champions League slot 😉

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6 hours ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

Completely agree with this. Hanley will lose his place when Zimmermann and/or Klose are fit, and Amadou will take Trybull's place. I also expect Leitner to take over from McLean and one of Hernandez or Roberts will play instead of Cantwell long-term. 

Hanley is no more than a backup at this level. Trybull, McLean and Cantwell have something to offer but I just feel their replacements offer more.

I can see all four of these changes happening next week. As I said, this is nothing against those four, but the others coming in are all better players.

This.

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9 hours ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

Completely agree with this. Hanley will lose his place when Zimmermann and/or Klose are fit, and Amadou will take Trybull's place. I also expect Leitner to take over from McLean and one of Hernandez or Roberts will play instead of Cantwell long-term. 

Hanley is no more than a backup at this level. Trybull, McLean and Cantwell have something to offer but I just feel their replacements offer more.

I can see all four of these changes happening next week. As I said, this is nothing against those four, but the others coming in are all better players.

Almost this; everything apart from Cantwell. I wouldn't have started him last night but he looked vey good and our most creative player, particularly in the first half. He should keep his place for the next game.

I think Stiepermann will have to consider himself lucky if he isn't dropped and I would certainly drop him ahead of Cantwell.

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The youngsters all seemed to learn from their mistakes in the first half, pretty much faultless in the 2nd.  That I think says the most about this team.  Was that the equivalent of the 3-0 home loss to Leeds last season?  I think it could be and we've got it out the way now.

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