YugoB

It should be but it will be hard work.

Of course, it was more to say that a captain can only do so much, the rest is all down to individuals and their ability to perform their tasks, that make the whole team function. Its baffling to question his captaincy, when not that long ago everyone was showering him with praises having led one of the youngest teams we've put out, in a cup final, to victory, and he deserved all the praises. If the manager couldnt change things at half-time and following it, then Virgil sure as hell wont be able to.

Virgil is not responsible for tactically adjusting the team during the game. Not only is he not responsible, its also impossible, he can talk to his defenders or players defending him near him, but everything else is out of his reach and capability. The whole team was a mess tactically, Jurgen summarized himself best yesterday. If you are longing for a previous captain, then look at last years performance and how Hendersons screaming and shouting did [it changed nothing]

Address what during the game? Does he need to go on about shouting at every player on the pitch like Henderson? See how much that helped last year. He isn't responsible for the team collectively playing like absolute crap, and for us being tactically all over the place.

I agree about the recent United game, but the defending in the FA cup game, was mental and similar to last night, Sheffield wasn't impressive either

True, we also need to do the basics defending wise. No amount of goals is going to help if we're making mistakes and defending like we did last night or have been in recent weeks.

Bradley has been playing a lot and he's lost some of his freshness in the process. Trent couldn't start, Klopp said the only reason he was on the bench is because they could have as many subs as we did.

I get what you're saying, but the issue is this is the type of game that we'll have the ball 65% of the time, and Endo is useless [in this form and in this type of game]. If they are going to press him like they did at their place, then Id rather have Macca there who is more comfortable on the ball and in tight situations. His ball recovery and defensive stats have been good since he adjusted to the position. Either that or we go to a double pivot, I'd persist with Jones because he's a very important player in terms of the pressing and maintaining possession, I'd give him at least the first 45-50 minutes of the game. The other problem as you said is that Grav cant be trusted unfortunately

Danns isnt going to play up top, Darwin is not in the form but an 18 year old kid isn't going to be starting, when Jota is back especially.

Trent who hasn't played in two months, was never going to start immediately. bradley has played in pretty much every game as of late and has looked less and less energetic as of late. You can't run the players into the ground, I mean this is not a new age thing. Even if you play them, there were good enough players on the pitch to play better. Starting Trent/Bradley and Robertson doesnt change the fact that Van Dijk,Konate,Endo,Dom,Macca,etc played their worse football of the season. You're not playing the same XI in 3/4 competitions in every match. It's not happening. Especially when you've had injuries all year long to begin with.

They haven't had injuries as we have, and they don't play the same style of football. We've also played more games than they have. It's multiple factors.

We dont have much of a choice, we cant play the same midfield in every game with our schedule,we have to give him minutes.

Have to start like the house is on fire. From the get go, we have to take the initiative and be quick about it, while being switched on defensively. They have players who can hurt us on the break [Eze and Olise]. If Ali has a training session in between then and now, I'd start him. Bradley and Robbo as the fullbacks is a must. In midfield, I don't think we need Endo in this game, and he's not playing well as of late. Macca as the 6 is good enough, with Jones getting more minutes, I just dont know who is the 3rd midfielder as Dom has looked well off and Harvey is better coming from the bench. I'd start Jota and give him at least 50 minutes, with Diaz and Mo up top. A win will do, a win and a clean sheet would be utopia.

I feel the same because he's had a very very good season in various positions, but jesus Christ when he has a bad game, it's really bad.

Whatever happens, if I see Gomez shoot one more god damn time, 30,40,50, or even 20 yards out, I will seriously lose my s***. I don't know what the f*** is going through his head, but tonight was the ultimate piss take.

HIs last good performance was against Chelsea before his injury. He's stinking the place, up and down in games.

16 players played tonight one way or another, whether starting or coming on from the bench, 13 were piss poor, if not 14. When that happens, [and I dont know if that has ever happened or will happen again], nothing good can come out from the game. Bad performances tonight were like a virus, everyone who touched the ball, was comprehensively belowtheir best. The decision making, the lack of decision making, movement, passing, everything was all over the place, Klopp best said it, we lost the plot. So this game against Palace, is the biggest game of the season, it will either make or break us for the duration of whats left for us. There isn't really much time to make changes systematically due to the nature of the schedule, but our concentration levels in the opening 5/10 minutes of the last few matches, have been abysmal. In almost every single one, the opposition either scored immediately or had a very good chance to do so. Out of the 50 games we've played, we've gone behind in 20 plus games. And while its a great trait to be able to fight back and get back into the game and win, it can also be very exhausting in accumulation, because at this point it feels like we're always chasing the game, from a losing position. In actuality, for about two years, and 3 seasons we've had this problem, conceding first. It started at some point in 21/22, during our last mental run for 4 trophies, and we all know how it carried over last year. A lot of that to me is down to the midfield [or the lack of it, physically and mentally]. We've made adjustments and have been pretty impressive in a short period of time, following last year. Macca has done well as a 6 this year, once he's adjusted to it, and Endo went on a solid run of performances as a 6 eventually, but ultimately when the midfield isn't working well, and we aren't pressing cohesively as a unit, the balance is non existent and we become so open and vulnurable to every single attack at any given moment. Endo has been below average now for a few games, and Macca has been the most impressive midfielder for a while now, but the problem now is that forms have dropped of a cliff [Endo] or a combination of injuries and returning from injuries that have impacted that [Szobo has been irrelevant compared to his earlier form in the season], Jones being out, and just now returning. For the most part we have been able to combat going from behind, but we've lost our clinical ability as of late, and it's put more pressure on us defensively, we're now making massive mistakes individually all over the place. Darwin has looked like Darwin of last year since his injury in the last month. He was really impressive while Mo was out, as were the other forwards who stepped up, but he's now making all kind of decisions and only a few are the right ones. We've done remarkably well given all of the injuries and set backs this year, but things may be catching up to us, looking at the last several performances since the FA cup game. Having Trent,Jota and Ali back really helps, and they need a bit more time to get integrated, time that we may not have, but come Sunday, we have to get it together one way or another. We cannot afford to start tentatively, and chase the game from the get go again.

Oh I know, I get what you meant, they all just made it worse collectively

and Tsimikas,and Konate,and Van Dijk,and Endo,and Eliott, and most players who came on. You cant get away playing badly by that many players.

We couldnt start our best 11 tonight. Its not possible with our schedule, we're already played 45/46 games this season. You have to rotate, but rotating isnt the problem,. playing that poorly from top to bottom is.

They're not that good, we were that bad. You cant halfarse performances as a team and not get punished.

Worst performance by a Klopp team, from top to bottom.

Kelleher has picked the wrong night to be awful. As has the entire side.

Capitulation

I wouldnt play gomez for the rest of the season, that's how stupid his decision making has been tonight.