I feel quite bad now, I don’t want a Ben Foster pile-on or anything. He’s just not my kind of person, and he has been spoken about an absolute ton since the last match so felt I had to mention him in this. But yeah, I don’t quite understand him. Very possibly a really great person, I just wouldn’t know because I don’t get him.
Mate he's a completely disrespectful berk. His behaviour and actions would not be tolerated at most professional football clubs. The manager would sit him down and ask him to explain himself. And then told in no uncertain terms to put a stop to it. I suppose our hierarchy think any publicity is good publicity. Great write up as well. Feel free to do some more.
I feel like, to have any chance of staying up whatsoever, we need an absolute minimum of 15 points before the clock ticks us into COVID: Year 3, followed by the best January window we've ever had under the Pozzo, and an emergence and continued improvement of a very defined and successful playing style under Claudio, coupled with a total sea-change in the attitude and application of the majority of our players. What's funny is that I didn't expect anything from Liverpool, and I'm not sure anyone else did - I posted as much to random strangers on the Soccer subreddit. And yet, even though exactly what I thought would happen happened, everything feels quite a lot worse in its wake. What I did say is that as long as we saw any evidence of Ranieri's approach and the players actually having been coached for the preceding two weeks, I'd take it as a positive, and in the end we actually saw the opposite - possibly the worst performance of the season to date (from what I did see, and everything else I've subsequently read). I guess what I'm rambling on about is that, I have no idea what this game is going to be like. We don't currently seem capable of operating on the pitch like a serious professional Premier League club (nor, indeed, in the stands or on Youtube, when it comes to the biggest berk in the squad at present). We're still in the mire of a serious injury/fitness problem with our already seriously understrength defence, and even the few bonuses we should have seem to be determined not to act as such - Danny Rose inexplicably seems to be embarking on a reverse 'Stephen King's Thinner', whilst Sarr seems to have decided that he likes it here so much he's going to play at a level that means no one ever comes in and makes an offer for him. I'm really not one of the strong 'I feel disconnected from this team/club/set of players' posters, as it goes, because my expectations of modern footballers have always been fairly low/permissive, and if they're scoring goals on our behalf and stopping others scoring them, I don't care that much what their Watford general knowledge is like. That being said, I'm not sure I've ever felt more disconnected from a Watford team than this one right now - more than that, even, what is this team? What is the team? Do we know? Do they? We've had eight games with a raft of new players, and they've mostly played collectively abysmally and displayed an astonishingly poor attitude and weak mentality. Meanwhile, the players who aren't new are largely the ones who we never knew that well to begin with, or whose main hobby in life is to take the piss out of the club's fans. I don't have any confidence in any of the players to do anything that would give us hope, as it stands, and I don't think it will be possible to until we see some evidence on the pitch of a presumably Ranieri-inspired correction. We've have several weeks in a row, stretching out over a month or more now, of being in freefall, performance-wise, so who could possibly predict anything different? I hope I'm strongly disabused of that notion by 5pm on Saturday evening, and this campaign starts to look a little less bleak, but Everton are a better team than us with better players, and I think the reaction here to news of fairly major injuries amongst their camp and how little that has affected the average prognosis really speaks to the mood and the lack of faith in this team right now. I'm honestly not even sure what the point of me rambling on for 18 pages front and back here was, other than to say that yeah - I'm still feeling pretty hopeless as we look forward to the weekend. I have no idea where our next performance is coming from. Would be lovely to get an answer to that, or at least a hint of one, or it's going to get genuinely bleak fast.
At this stage I’d take an encouraging energetic performance in a defeat so we have something to build on for the Saints game. And foster being dropped of course.
Well, we can’t approach it like Liverpool that’s for sure. Even though Everton are a better team and we’re away, we can’t start the game from minute one looking like it’s damage limitation. We need to get it in our minds that we’re capable of getting a result and have earned the right to be on the same pitch for a start. Let’s try and attack and create some actual chances, what is the worst that could happen, we might even get a shot on target. Hoping our defence can just hold out for 90 minutes is a hilarious strategy, it won’t and it can’t so don’t bother.
I was at the '84 Cup Final, but I've always quite liked Everton too. I think it's because they're not Liverpool.
Before we got humiliated by Liverpool, Claudio promised the players Pizza if we didn't lose. I wonder what he offers them if we can get at least a point on Saturday?
Loads of cannoli from Riccardo’s in the north docks or from Carlisi on Duke Street I reckon. (Yes, these are very discreet recommendations of fine local establishments for those visiting at the weekend.)
If it was at home I'd be a bit hopeful we could scrape some kind of a result. But we're not and I'm not and we won't.
I suspect the result would have been the same but it will just seem a tad more respectable on Saturday as it's away from home.
Presuming this is not a wind up as the only thing I can say about this is that I'm incredibly grateful you don't have anything to do with selection
Still think 4-3-3 is our best formation. Not sure the new defender will be ready yet. Is The Bloke from Chile fit for this? Josh King? If fit I would go Bachmann Kiko WTE TBFC Rose Sissoko Clevs Tufan Sarr King Dennis Tempted to go for Pedro as he has showed a little more than others. Tufan needs to play as he can actually create something. Clevs for some much needed energy. I know he has his critics on here that all he does is run around but his pressure creates mistakes. On Saturday we didn't have that at all
Mrs Willis and I were up in Liverpool for the last Everton/Watford game and we ate that evening at Heritage on Castle Street. It was small and quirky with really interesting food - excellent.
Even without taking into account the vast disparity in quality between the two sides (Leeds were missing Bamford and haven’t won any of their other games), it wasn’t as bad as Leeds, I think many are letting the result and the facts that it is the latest in a series of very poor performances (include Brighton and the first half against Newcastle in that) and it was Ranieri’s first game and many were expecting a far better response (and I imagine some, like myself, didn’t realise just how good Liverpool can be this season) affect their judgement. Against Leeds as you saw we were outplayed from start to finish, never creating a chance of note (the “goal” came from a farcical combination of incidents with the goalie’s dropped ball following a mix-up between two opposing players). Against Liverpool we did create some chances and looked more competitive after Ngakia and Pedro came on, but only when 4-0 down. We actually had as many shots in relation to possession as Liverpool did, but the problem was us having so little possession to begin with, especially in a home game.
Heritage is decent! I should have done this in the first post but here are some recommendations for food and drink. Coffee Mother on Wood Street does great coffee, as does Red Berry Club on Jamaica Street. If you fancy a schlep up the north docks, Riccardo's is incredible and he's lovely. Breakfast Leaf on Bold Street is easy, good value, big, etc. Would say go there if you're not wanting to look around for ages, they should have space and you'll find something you like. Moose Coffee is also excellent if you're very hungry - they have two locations in town, one on Hope Street and the other in the Commercial District. Dinner Maray (three locations) is so good. They're probably fully booked by now though. Damas on Renshaw Street is an underappreciated gem for those that like Lebanese/Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food. If you're staying anywhere near it Little Furnace on Smithdown Road does the best pizza in town. Buyers Club on Hardman Street is excellent for dinner, but also just for a drink too. Fresh pasta and pizza. Ale Widest selection of beers: The Ship and Mitre on Dale Street. Dale Street in general is full of great places for a pint, actually. Lady of Mann has a good courtyard if the weather's alright. The Vernon Arms is excellent also. Best outdoor drinking: Black Lodge Brewery. It's a bit of a faff to get to even though it is very central but well worth it. And even if the weather's bad there's undercover stuff and nextdoor Sub Rosa has plenty of dry outdoor seating. You're also not far from the Baltic Fleet, which is another fantastic pub. Best pubby pub: Peter Kavanagh's on Egerton Street is probably my favourite. It's small, very old, usually kind of quiet as it's not in the centre of town. Worth a trip if you want this kind of thing. The Caledonia on Catharine Street is an old style pub but with a vegan fast food kitchen and usually some good live music. There's also the Crack ("Ye Cracke") on Rice Street off Hope Street. And if you're round this side of town and you've not been before, The Philharmonic is really quite something. A grand old pub, massive and ornate. If you're the other side of town though, there's the aforementioned Dale Street, full of older, good pubs. Best pub close to Lime Street that you might not know about: Doctor Duncan's. A beautiful and big space (like most of the big pubs near the station tbh, all built as celebrations of socialising really, some of the pubs up here are something else), but crucially slightly further from the platforms (like a 4min walk rather than 2), so you are more likely to find a bit of peace. Great boozer. Obviously depending on what you're into you might not like these recommendations but basically there's so much in Liverpool, we're really spoilt for choice on pubs and restaurants to be honest. Genuinely open to questions if you fancy a steer on a particular kind of food or bar or whatever, just send me your questions.
Of course I shouldn’t tell you how to feel and that’s not something done by choice anyway, but surely you didn’t feel this way during the post-Coventry run to promotion, even during the odd insipid/dodgy performance (Bournemouth and Luton away)? Have things changed that drastically after just eight games (ten if you count the League Cup)? Maybe the problem is the players who contributed to the much-improved team spirit and camaraderie are either gone, for whatever reason have not featured as much as they should (Sierralta, Pedro) or are just not good enough (although it seems the jury is still out on all of our regulars from last season in that category, with the exception of Masina).
2nd on Dr Duncan's. Is the Dispensary still there? There's a lot of cracking pubs there. The only downside to Liverpool is the incessant Beatles music everywhere you go.
Yes, that's literally what I said in the second part of that paragraph. I will also add that whilst I was pleased and happy that we had achieved promotion, it wasn't like I suddenly felt alive with the joys of the team during last season, either - there were still plenty of players who had been here too long and weren't performing at the required level mixed with the new and the not-good-enough passing through, and it was pretty clear what a decent amount of those stalwarts would do this season. Let's not forget, also, that someone like Femenia was one of the least reliable and identifiable players before last season, when a lot of people were very happy to draw the wool over their own eyes and pretend he would be anything other than the player he literally is at Premier League level at 30 years of age. Most of the players we 'recognise' here are well past their sell by date, and those who aren't are barely into double figure appearances for the club and we have no idea whether they'll be in the team from one game to the next, between the tactics, line-ups and already-somewhat-weighty injury absences. There's no consistency whatsoever, and that's a basic cornerstone of even recognising a 'team', let alone identifying with it.
I think it is telling that Hughes can't get a start at Palace, Chalobah and Quina plus Gray and Deeney can't get in the starting line-ups at Championship sides. I think this shows how bad our squad was/is and that our players are generally not good enough with only a couple of exceptions. Compared to the likes of Brentford our recruitment has been woeful.
Tbh last time I saw him playing in a two was against Norway and he was hopeless and got subbed around the 60 minute mark. He looks like he naturally moves into an advanced role but they had Calhanoglu playing that role so he was getting caught out of position. I'd prefer to see him in the advanced role of a three or in behind the forward. There is absolutely no doubt he is the best passer of the ball and showed glimpses of what he's about against Newcastle when finding space to play in. All I reckon he needs in gametime and some time to find his way in a new country and league. He certainly doesn't mind having a crack from distance which will be sorely needed.
The Dispensary is still there, yep! Great place too. And just round the corner from there I reckon you'd like the Roscoe Head. Very small though. Beatles music everywhere you go? Never noticed that before. Maybe you're going to the wrong places. Loads of the pubs on Lime St/Renshaw St have karaoke on 24/7, so maybe you've just been unlucky on that walk from the station to the Dispensary and everyone's been doing a Beatles number when you've been heading past.
OK, that clears things up, but your sentence “We've had eight games with a raft of new players, and they've mostly played collectively abysmally and displayed an astonishingly poor attitude and weak mentality” is a bit ambiguous - are you referring to just the new players, or the whole team? Because sadly that’s not something some of the promotion-winning regulars are innocent of either, the inexplicable nature of which I’ve commented on twice already. My theory on the performance against Liverpool though, is that it wasn’t so much a poor attitude or lack of effort, it was fear and lack of confidence to do anything positive. I think this can be attributed to what happened at Leeds, where even against an already average side missing one of their key players, we couldn’t cope with their aggressive press, which was on Xisco, as he should have prepared the players for it. Therefore we they played Liverpool, a far superior side and arguably the first really good one we’ve faced this season, from the outset when they pushed us back we were afraid to get close and do anything to stop the onslaught, whether win the ball, man-mark, tackle, win 50-50s etc. This is something Ranieri needs to coach out and time isn’t on his side.
No, I'm referring to the whole team - it's meant to go hand in hand with the sentence before it, when I asked '...what is this team? What is the team? Do we know? Do they?'. I did also address the promotion regulars in the ensuing sentence, although the entire paragraph was generally intended to be broader than just that tight distinction of 'here last year' or 'not'. In terms of the performance, whether it's fear or a poor attitude is all a bit elementary, in reality - you could say that fear is the result of a poor attitude, frankly, and the end result is the same, and just as damaging. As you say, time is not on Claudio's side, and if he's not capable of effecting change at ALL straight off the bat, it's a worrying remark on these players. As I said, I'm hoping for some evidence of that this weekend, because it was disappointing but we can write off one free hit against one of the better teams in world football with a questionable squad, but not if we see literally nothing again against a far inferior team that's also ravaged by injury.
Then you missed the enjoyment many had of having to man the doors on various coaches and buses as hordes of them tried to storm them in the car park before the game....if we'd have won I think the aftermath would've been pretty bloody.
