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The post match reaction from our manager Graeme Edwards following all league and cup games during the month of January -
Premier League Round One
Liverpool 1 Wolves 1
We started brightly against the anticipated counter attacking approach and got ourselves ahead after only 8 minutes.
We then changed tactic to a passing approach which handed them the bonus and it would be easy to say that's what allowed them back into the game but the truth is we pretty much dominated throughout and did more than enough to come away with the win other than the most important thing and that's sticking the ball in the back of the net. A solitary goal from 9 shots on target compared to Wolves one from 2 shots.
Frustrating and not good enough. If we want to be challenging for the title you simply have to win these games.
Played Ray, I'm sure you'll do well this season.
Premier League Round Two
Leicester City 0 Liverpool 1
After the disappointing home draw in our opening game this was all about getting the 3 points and we're pleased and relieved to have done so. Leicester thrashed us in the same fixture last season but we set up differently today and an early goal from Akanji was enough. We were never totally comfortable that's for sure but I think we just about deserved the win.
Next up a home game against a Sheffield United team we'll be favourites to beat but we showed at home to Wolves we are more than capable of screwing things up.
Both sides will be at full strength and we'll have to try and get things right tactically to break them down.
Premier League Round Three
Liverpool 1 Sheffield Utd 0
Again it wasn't great but we managed to get the job done. Both sides played a passing style but it wasn't until we made a late change to attacking that we managed to make the all important breakthrough. A passing approach just doesn't seem to work for us no matter what formation we try. Credit to the Blades though who came with three up top and had a good go of things, I don't think there's any doubt we deserved to win but they caused us problems and had us sweating right up until the final whistle.
Next up a trip to Burnley who haven't made a great start to the season and are still seeking their first point but we know what they are capable of and we will need to be at our best to get the win.
Unlucky Dave, best of luck this season.
Premier League Round Four
Burnley 3 Liverpool 2
No complaints at the defeat, Burnley merited the win. I said in my last PMR we'd need to be at our best in this one and we most definitely were not.
Both sides set up almost identically with passing styles and Burnley got themselves into an early lead. They extended their advantage after changing to counter attacking but we pulled one back just before half time to give ourselves a chance. It was quickly 3-1 at the beginning of the 2nd half but we again gave ourselves a lifeline after going all out attack but that was as good as it got and Burnley deservedly saw the game out from there.
We lost a lot of games last season despite finishing 2nd and it hasn't taken us long to chalk up our first one of this campaign. Really not good enough.
Premier League Round Five
Liverpool 3 Bristol City 0
This was a case of remaining patient and believing things would eventually fall into place if we persisted with what we were doing. Credit to Bristol for hanging in so long but we finally took control of things late on after Grealish opened the scoring in the 72nd minute. Bristol then opened up and we capitalised with another couple of goals to give the final score line a very flattering look.
The 3 points were merited though and much needed after the defeat at Burnley. 10 points from our opening 5 games is a little short of what we were hoping for in all honesty as we haven't faced any of the 'elite' sides as yet - although that changes on Friday when we visit reigning champions Spurs.
Before that though the small matter of a Champions League game against Man City, our first experience of this competition in a long time.
Champions League - Group Game One
Liverpool 1 Man City 0
Both sides started with fairly similar and conservative counter attacking approaches which led to a fairly dull encounter which is pretty much what we were aiming for - we aren't talented enough to open up against the better sides.
The hope was that we could keep things tight and maybe pinch a goal and that's pretty much how it played out with Grealish scoring just before the hour mark. We created very little and Nick will rightly feel hard done by at losing. That said it's a great result for us to kick off our first Champions League campaign in a long time. It really is only a good start though, there is still a long long way to go in a very tough group.
Paris Saint Germain next so it certainly doesn't get any easier especially as they will be desperate to get a result after losing to Milan.
Premier League Round Six
Spurs 2 Liverpool 0
Went with the ever unreliable E which, particularly away from home, probably wasn't the most sensible idea.
Spurs took the lead and switched to a counter attacking style but even with a 50 mins or so period of having the tactical bonus we didn't really create very much which is disappointing. We switched to all out attack mode later on and Spurs added a 2nd goal deep into injury time which in truth flatters them but ultimately we just weren't good enough and we've got to try and start finding the right solutions before we find ourselves falling completely off the pace.
Played Tim - Spurs proving to be a bit of a bogey side for us.
Premier League Round Seven
Liverpool 0 Aston Villa 1
Just not happening for us at the moment. Home and tactical bonus (mostly), more shots, possession, corners, passes but ultimately we couldn't score and it's becoming a familiar story once again. To compound matters we had Courtois go off injured after half an hour so it seemed inevitable Villa would eventually find a way past our back up and that they duly did.
In fairness to Drum he came with a very positive approach and I never criticise anyone that gets a result playing with that type of ambition so fair play to him.
Courtois will miss our next couple of games the first of which is PSG in the Champions League. Fucken great. We'll need to search for the old luck bus as by god we'll need it with a 21 in the sticks.
Played Drum, all the best mate.
Champions League - Group Game Two
Liverpool 4 Paris Saint Germain 4
An incredible 90 mins this one as the visitors stormed into a 3-0 lead within the first 18 mins and I have to say at that stage I feared the mother of all hammerings especially with our sub standard back up keeper between the sticks. We steadied the ship - if you can call it that - by keeping the score line at 0-3 until half time. With PSG now employing an attacking approach we pulled one back at the beginning of the 2nd half through Kudus but only a minute later the visitors scored again to take a 4-1 advantage. Mudryk quickly scored to reduce the arrears to 4-2 and after we made 3 substitutions from the hour mark onwards we scored in the 72nd (Niang) and 73rd (Mudryk) minutes to level things up at 4-4 and that's how the game finished.
Looking at the stats we were fortunate to come away with anything but PSG maybe paid the price for attacking throughout the 2nd half. We had the tactical advantage for the whole of the 2nd half and thankfully for us were able to make it count. I'm sure Ed will single out his GK's performance and generally feel hard done by but I feel we deserve a bit of credit for mounting such a stirring comeback from what looked like a lost cause.
In the circumstances we're delighted with the point and I'm sure I read Ed saying earlier this season that he'd rather draw 4-4 than win so hopefully he's just as pleased at the outcome as I am.
Milan got another extremely impressive win this time away to Man City and they lead the group with maximum points albeit there is still a long way to go.
Premier League Round Eight
Arsenal 2 Liverpool 1
Beaten by a 94th minute goal which is never a nice feeling but it stings even more when you deserve so much better as was the case for us in this one. Unfortunately we've found over the past 3 games that our back up GK just isn't up to the task and we'll have to hope that lady luck shines on us and Courtois doesn't get injured again. It's like last season all over again with our starting GK missing games galore so in that sense it's probably my own fault for not getting in a better back up.
Really poor run we've been on and in truth we can't put it all down to the absence of Courtois as we were stuttering before that. We need to bounce back on Monday which is another challenging game as a talented Southampton side come to Anfield.
Hoping for 3 points and a clean bill of health ahead of the start of our FA Cup defence - which takes on added significance given we already look out of the league race.
Played Darren, like the rest of us you take the 3 points any which way.
Premier League Round One
Liverpool 1 Wolves 1
We started brightly against the anticipated counter attacking approach and got ourselves ahead after only 8 minutes.
We then changed tactic to a passing approach which handed them the bonus and it would be easy to say that's what allowed them back into the game but the truth is we pretty much dominated throughout and did more than enough to come away with the win other than the most important thing and that's sticking the ball in the back of the net. A solitary goal from 9 shots on target compared to Wolves one from 2 shots.
Frustrating and not good enough. If we want to be challenging for the title you simply have to win these games.
Played Ray, I'm sure you'll do well this season.
Premier League Round Two
Leicester City 0 Liverpool 1
After the disappointing home draw in our opening game this was all about getting the 3 points and we're pleased and relieved to have done so. Leicester thrashed us in the same fixture last season but we set up differently today and an early goal from Akanji was enough. We were never totally comfortable that's for sure but I think we just about deserved the win.
Next up a home game against a Sheffield United team we'll be favourites to beat but we showed at home to Wolves we are more than capable of screwing things up.
Both sides will be at full strength and we'll have to try and get things right tactically to break them down.
Premier League Round Three
Liverpool 1 Sheffield Utd 0
Again it wasn't great but we managed to get the job done. Both sides played a passing style but it wasn't until we made a late change to attacking that we managed to make the all important breakthrough. A passing approach just doesn't seem to work for us no matter what formation we try. Credit to the Blades though who came with three up top and had a good go of things, I don't think there's any doubt we deserved to win but they caused us problems and had us sweating right up until the final whistle.
Next up a trip to Burnley who haven't made a great start to the season and are still seeking their first point but we know what they are capable of and we will need to be at our best to get the win.
Unlucky Dave, best of luck this season.
Premier League Round Four
Burnley 3 Liverpool 2
No complaints at the defeat, Burnley merited the win. I said in my last PMR we'd need to be at our best in this one and we most definitely were not.
Both sides set up almost identically with passing styles and Burnley got themselves into an early lead. They extended their advantage after changing to counter attacking but we pulled one back just before half time to give ourselves a chance. It was quickly 3-1 at the beginning of the 2nd half but we again gave ourselves a lifeline after going all out attack but that was as good as it got and Burnley deservedly saw the game out from there.
We lost a lot of games last season despite finishing 2nd and it hasn't taken us long to chalk up our first one of this campaign. Really not good enough.
Premier League Round Five
Liverpool 3 Bristol City 0
This was a case of remaining patient and believing things would eventually fall into place if we persisted with what we were doing. Credit to Bristol for hanging in so long but we finally took control of things late on after Grealish opened the scoring in the 72nd minute. Bristol then opened up and we capitalised with another couple of goals to give the final score line a very flattering look.
The 3 points were merited though and much needed after the defeat at Burnley. 10 points from our opening 5 games is a little short of what we were hoping for in all honesty as we haven't faced any of the 'elite' sides as yet - although that changes on Friday when we visit reigning champions Spurs.
Before that though the small matter of a Champions League game against Man City, our first experience of this competition in a long time.
Champions League - Group Game One
Liverpool 1 Man City 0
Both sides started with fairly similar and conservative counter attacking approaches which led to a fairly dull encounter which is pretty much what we were aiming for - we aren't talented enough to open up against the better sides.
The hope was that we could keep things tight and maybe pinch a goal and that's pretty much how it played out with Grealish scoring just before the hour mark. We created very little and Nick will rightly feel hard done by at losing. That said it's a great result for us to kick off our first Champions League campaign in a long time. It really is only a good start though, there is still a long long way to go in a very tough group.
Paris Saint Germain next so it certainly doesn't get any easier especially as they will be desperate to get a result after losing to Milan.
Premier League Round Six
Spurs 2 Liverpool 0
Went with the ever unreliable E which, particularly away from home, probably wasn't the most sensible idea.
Spurs took the lead and switched to a counter attacking style but even with a 50 mins or so period of having the tactical bonus we didn't really create very much which is disappointing. We switched to all out attack mode later on and Spurs added a 2nd goal deep into injury time which in truth flatters them but ultimately we just weren't good enough and we've got to try and start finding the right solutions before we find ourselves falling completely off the pace.
Played Tim - Spurs proving to be a bit of a bogey side for us.
Premier League Round Seven
Liverpool 0 Aston Villa 1
Just not happening for us at the moment. Home and tactical bonus (mostly), more shots, possession, corners, passes but ultimately we couldn't score and it's becoming a familiar story once again. To compound matters we had Courtois go off injured after half an hour so it seemed inevitable Villa would eventually find a way past our back up and that they duly did.
In fairness to Drum he came with a very positive approach and I never criticise anyone that gets a result playing with that type of ambition so fair play to him.
Courtois will miss our next couple of games the first of which is PSG in the Champions League. Fucken great. We'll need to search for the old luck bus as by god we'll need it with a 21 in the sticks.
Played Drum, all the best mate.
Champions League - Group Game Two
Liverpool 4 Paris Saint Germain 4
An incredible 90 mins this one as the visitors stormed into a 3-0 lead within the first 18 mins and I have to say at that stage I feared the mother of all hammerings especially with our sub standard back up keeper between the sticks. We steadied the ship - if you can call it that - by keeping the score line at 0-3 until half time. With PSG now employing an attacking approach we pulled one back at the beginning of the 2nd half through Kudus but only a minute later the visitors scored again to take a 4-1 advantage. Mudryk quickly scored to reduce the arrears to 4-2 and after we made 3 substitutions from the hour mark onwards we scored in the 72nd (Niang) and 73rd (Mudryk) minutes to level things up at 4-4 and that's how the game finished.
Looking at the stats we were fortunate to come away with anything but PSG maybe paid the price for attacking throughout the 2nd half. We had the tactical advantage for the whole of the 2nd half and thankfully for us were able to make it count. I'm sure Ed will single out his GK's performance and generally feel hard done by but I feel we deserve a bit of credit for mounting such a stirring comeback from what looked like a lost cause.
In the circumstances we're delighted with the point and I'm sure I read Ed saying earlier this season that he'd rather draw 4-4 than win so hopefully he's just as pleased at the outcome as I am.
Milan got another extremely impressive win this time away to Man City and they lead the group with maximum points albeit there is still a long way to go.
Premier League Round Eight
Arsenal 2 Liverpool 1
Beaten by a 94th minute goal which is never a nice feeling but it stings even more when you deserve so much better as was the case for us in this one. Unfortunately we've found over the past 3 games that our back up GK just isn't up to the task and we'll have to hope that lady luck shines on us and Courtois doesn't get injured again. It's like last season all over again with our starting GK missing games galore so in that sense it's probably my own fault for not getting in a better back up.
Really poor run we've been on and in truth we can't put it all down to the absence of Courtois as we were stuttering before that. We need to bounce back on Monday which is another challenging game as a talented Southampton side come to Anfield.
Hoping for 3 points and a clean bill of health ahead of the start of our FA Cup defence - which takes on added significance given we already look out of the league race.
Played Darren, like the rest of us you take the 3 points any which way.