But he was offside imo but that counts for f all as I'm not the ref, and I'm more than happy the goal counted. Think we deserved the draw
On this forum, some poor f***er always has to be held accountable for the team's betrayal. I think it was a crap back pass from Gueds in the Hull game last season that led to Liverpool's third.
My thoughts on the match: Overall, a really entertaining day at our home ground and a real notable difference to the dirge and the drivel that we served up in front of a 20000+ crowd at the back end of last season. The ground was rocking, the atmosphere was intimate and exciting, and the players seemed generally to be rearly up for it. So that was encouraging. Games had a disappointing game - his brainless decision to topple Salah gave them a perfect pathway back into the game. However, we must not forget that he made two very important saves in the second half when we were 3-2 down to prevent Liverpool being out of sight by the time a chance for us came along. I felt Britos had some positive moments, some negative. He definitely won the ball well at times and scored the all important equaliser, but did occasionally get caught out of position and allowed them to walk through. Kaboul was similar. However, on both occasions I feel the positives outweigh the negatives. Holebas overall I thought had a very good game - he made some important tackles and always looked to make something happen. A good start for the Greek. Janmatt was of course very frustrating but Femenìa stepped in well and did the job to the best of his abilities. Chalobah looks very promising in the middle. He linked up very well with Doucouré and showed desire and relevant aggression when needed. He could be the key to unlocking stubborn defences this season with his work ethic and drive. A decent proper debut. Doucouré was absolutely fantastic. He can do so much with such little space and support. Others have pretty much hit the nail on the head so I won't go into too much detail, but he and Chalobah could forge a great partnership this season. Top marks. His goal wasn't bad, either! Amrabat, in my opinion, is being very harshly criticised. He did his best down the wing and was constantly trying to make things happen. He didn't set the world alight but I felt he had a fair game, and didn't flop like some have implied. Cleverley wasn't bad. He had some good play and fought well. Okaka was exquisite. He battled really hard, did excellently to score his goal and generally had a brilliant performance. I look forward to seeing what he will bring to the table this season. In what little he did, Gray looked menacing. Pereyra could be a big loss if he isn't fit. Never mind. Well done Silva - a really good substitution and some excellent tactics! Nice start!
Yeah, we were pony and just lucky that the ref was so poor! Can I just be the first to say Silva OUT! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
My overall impression after the game, was this season should be miles better than the previous. We have a lot of exciting elements to the side, and when it clicks it could be very good to watch. A sunny afternoon, opening game against a big side, then the feel good factor is easy to find, but there are genuine things to be enthused about. Ok, there's some clear vulnerabilities. We need something else on the attacking right hand side and the defence is very poor. The defence is a big concern for me, as the full backs often switch off and don't track the runners. Kaboul often gets caught out by not reacting to runs. Liverpool are a clever side going forward, but I don't think we'd need too much to improve. A commanding central defender and a lot of good coaching should be enough. Obviously a "defensive" left back and I wouldn't mind a "defensive" right back either. Overall I think our signings have been excellent, and have made a big difference. Midfield very good, Richalison and Gray will improve us a lot. A lot of hope for the season, but we're not perfect yet. Btw did anyone else bump into Billions star Damian Lewis?
Nice to see Knockaert doing his usual dive in the penalty area......strangely Michael Oliver didn't give it this time......must be because it's Man City not little Watford
Report on the official fa fb page that the result is being overturned and Liverpool given a win! I'm fumin! Anyone know how to screenshot a Facebook announcement?
I see Gomes getting some stick but I will stick up for him. He had no chance for the first goal. That was good play from Liverpool, although Femenia should have done better tracking Maine. The penalty was again a good move by Liverpool. A lovely flick by Firmino and Salah was through. Gomes makes big calls and is an assertive, positive keeper. It ended up being the wrong call, but only by fractions. He's made many great saves by being brave and dealing with situations like this. This time it didn't pay off. The last goal was a big **** up by the Watford defence. A basic forward pass by Loveren and Firmino was completely on his own. Both Femenia and Kaboul were at fault as neither tracked the forward's run. Gomes did all he could, by trying to put off the striker, which he was actually successful in doing. Firmino rushed the lob and it was off target, unfortunately they had Salah following up. Gomes made two or three great saves as well. He was badly exposed too often and this is down to our defensive vulnerabilities.
Looking back at the penalty, it sure what people expect from Gomes. He dives in and is a whisker away from smashing the ball away from his feet, thanks to some clever footwork from salad. If he hadn't gone for it, it's a goal anyway.
Today was very enjoyable to watch; Nice football being played within periods, midfield linking up with the wingers very nicely. Doucoure again a class above, easily are most comfortable player on the ball and just oozes class. Love it how from building from the back the two centre halves split to allow him to get the ball and drive forwards with it. Think we've found someone who is cooler than Cassetti! Gomes made some good saves today but as usual made the fans nervy with his decision making. Wouldn't mind seeing another keeper coming in but also wouldn't be the end of the world if he is number one by the end of the window. Thought the two fullbacks were very promising and work very well in this system. Kiko offers so much going forwards regarding his pace and crossing but got caught one too many times defensively. Holebas on the other hand, didn't put a foot wrong in my opinion. Marked Salah very well and seemed pretty rapid compared to Salah who is considered a pace merchant. Centre halves were okay; Kaboul played better than Britos but both were very solid. However they were both caught on the ball a bit (Kaboul more than Britos) and Britos' passing was a bit off. Pr*dl needed against Muff. Chalobah held his own ground. Didn't do anything game changing but didn't do anything majorly wrong. A few wayward/ underhit passes. Cleverley had an alright game, did a lot of running but again nothing overly special. Today's Amrabat was like the Amrabat at the start of last year, looked eager to get at Moreno but didn't do it as much as he should've feel like we would've created a lot more chances he did as he could bully him. Him and Kiko looked very good together. Was good to see Pereyra again. Looked very good on the ball and has come on as a player regarding his awareness especially in situations where he knows he can draw fouls. Played some very nice switching balls to Kiko/Amrabat. A bit worrying about his injury but reports say nothing major. Okaka looked like a man possessed to start off with. Was decent against Lovren and Matip in the air, both of which who are taller than him. Brought the ball down incredibly well and at times he shows that the ball is surgically attached to his foot. Took his goal very well and could've had a second before Doucoure but I've heard his 30 inch **** blocked the ball as it was heading towards the top corner... Richarlison looked exciting when he came on. Looked to run at TAA when he was brought on and also seemed very unselfish conflicting reports about him. The quality is undoubtedly there as showed by his control from the corner aswell as the cross he drilled in with he left on the volley. Exciting times ahead! Andre Gray also looked good when he came on; chasing down the centre halves and getting himself into good attacking positions. His pace is an absolute asset to the team, a rapid striker we have lacked in Vydra falls in the shape of a PL experienced, home grown forward. Didn't get an opportunity to take a shot at goal but again a very good investment by the Pozzo's. Ratings: Gomes - 6.5 Janmaat - N/A (played well but not enough) Britos - 7 Kaboul - 7 Holebas - 7.5 Doucoure - 9 + MOTM Chalobah - 7.5 Amrabat - 8 Cleverley - 7 Pereyra - 7.5 Okaka - 8 Subs: Kiko - 7 Richarlison - 7.5 Gray - 7
This. I still think Gomes is just that little bit too old now when it comes to stuff like running to get the ball or scampering across the line, but people blaming Gomes for those two goals need to realise how fast Salah actually is. If he lost a foot race to someone like Gestede, then I'd really worry. However Salah is incredibly fast and I'd go as far as to say one of the fastest in this league. It was bound to happen, I'm not gonna nail him to the cross for that
If he can bully defenders when that tired then good. We looked markedly less penetrating when he went off. Gray didn't do much, but then the ball over the top was poor and he had little to go on.
Brighton are really good defensively. Offer absolutely nothing going forward though. I don't think I saw them string three consecutive passes together.
My criticism of Gomes today: From the angle Mane was in on goal, there was only one place he was going to put it, he opened up his body. HG diving to his right just opened up the goal completely, he may not have saved it, but he would have had a better chance had he read Mane. The penalty, split second late, however maybe could have pulled out of the challenge or just stood Salah up as he was going away from goal - but I'm not going to be too harsh on him as he was left exposed by the defence, along with the 3rd goal as he was caught in no man's land.
This ^ I liked Silva's positive Andre sub with still a third of the game left. Another injury could've badly exposed us. Doucoure - what an engine, what a player. What didn't Mazzari see in him? I am a defender of Amrabat but today nothing went right. But if Silva picks him, he's in a Watford shirt and I'll support him. Booing won't help his confidence or the team. Hope that's Gomes' 1 in 10 games f up out the way. It's going to be a good season, I feel it in my bones.
Also, can't express enough how nice it is to be losing and NOT feel like you're out the game. Too many times last season if the opposition scored first, you just didn't feel like we'd equalise. I don't know if the stats back that up but that's what it felt. Heck, too often it felt like we could play the game 5 times over and not score. It was so so refreshing to not have that feeling anymore. At 3-2 down I said to those around me that it looks like we could actually equalise! That in itself is bloody brilliant!
Amrabat would do better not to think too much once he receives the ball, he always seems to be two seconds late in his decision making!
He does this annoying thing which I'll do my best to describe in words. It's like, the ball is there at his feet but he'll engage in a duel with the defender for no reason even though he's in front of the defender and could just take the ball and do something with it? So then they both end up jostling and the defender clocks on and just takes the ball away because Amrabat isn't even guarding it he's just leaning into the defender!? It's so so so baffling, it's like he needs to clear everything out his way before he can dribble? Anyone know what I'm on about?
Much better considering the quality we were up against. Of course, the Liverpool defence wasn't great, but we had players that could worry their defenders, harass them, with positivity, pace and mobility and we forced errors. Then, when we brought on Rich and Grey, it forced them further back and they hardly put an attack together in the last 20 minutes. This is a marked contrast to last season where I am pretty sure teams felt they could almost attack at will, knowing that we were toothless up front. Sometimes, you don't need the best players, you just need the right attitude and although it is a cliche, protecting a shakey defence is best achieved by attacking them, forcing them to think, to make mistakes. As a slight aside, I think that Doucoure may well develop into a world class player. If we can hold on to him, he will be our most valuable asset.
I was interested in Silva's first team selection and he did make some surprising choices. The biggest being dropping Prodl, and I do think he got that wrong. We were much weaker without him in the side. But the performance overall was much better than I thought it would be, with that side. There was no room for Hughes nor Success. Obviously Deeney injured with Capoue and Prodl on the bench. The biggest thing was the shape of the side and how we played going forward. It was a pleasure to watch and even though Liverpool's was probably one of the worst we'll face this season (until we play Arsenal of course), the signs are very encouraging. Very happy with Silva so far, but I have to admit that last minute goal has made a big difference to my overall feeling towards the match.
Amrabat doesn't think. He's an idiot. He has his head down and can't control the ball. He's the ******* worst.
On Doucoure it really is incredible to think that Mazzari marginalised him for 6 months and tried to get rid of him. Incredibly poor player judgement. Reminds me of when John Sheridan joined Forest and Clough decided he didn't like the look of him.
The entire game was pretty much attack vs defence. Brighton had to defend in numbers for 90 minutes & it worked pretty well apart from the 2 goals, but I doubt they'll be so solid against us when they have to go forward occasionally (assuming they actually want to try & win). I suspect we'll end up with more chances than City managed. We just need to make sure we take some of them.
I think that's a bit harsh. He wasn't brilliant today but he wasn't terrible either. We're gonna need a better winger obviously, but I think we all know that.
I think Kaboul was in the side today because of his pace. I suspect we all think Kaboul is old & slow but we were up against 3 fast attackers and although he may have been caught flat footed once or twice but in the main he and the rest of the defence equited themselves well. Over the season we shall see but today he looked pretty quick when needed.
The strange thing is that several of us who had followed his games (after he was signed) in Granada playing box to box were discussing on here about how we couldn't understand why Doucoure wasn't anywhere the team for the first part of last season. It seemed so obvious to us that he had what was required, but Walter was making quite disparaging remarks about him. If I remember correctly, one comment was how he didn't work hard enough! Then, when Walter was forced to play him through injuries, he played him almost on his own as a striker against (who was it) Arsenal or Spurs? Mind you, many on here wrote him off after that game too. Then Walter almost sold him. What a bonehead! Quite honestly, Walter just does not have a clue. I struggle to think of anything he was good at.
