I think there are parallels with the start of last season where Webber said

they were not that worried after the first 5 or 6 games because the stats showed we were not far off performing very well.

I think the other stat about us being only the third side (after Spurs and Man City) to restrict them to under 500 passes in a game at Anfield since 2017 is also encouraging.

The stats (and indeed the evidence of our own eyes watching the game) tell us that we are performing pretty well in terms of the majority of performance measures. Except one and that one is obviously defending and that is pretty crucial.

I find it funny how Liverpool fans and the pundits are convinced they were "cruising" and how they strolled to a 4-0 lead because in my view we created the better chances of the first half and if Hanley clears the ball properly and we defend even vaguely competently for the rest of the half that game would be in the balance at half time. Its not like they carved us open with a display of irresistible football and then eased off. we just gifted them goals at regular intervals. And if we continue to defend like that then we will lose every single game this season.

So we all know what we need to do and what we need to address. If we can start to defend properly and cut out the unnecessary errors then we will stay up. If we can't then we will go down despite how good our attacking play is. Having Klose or Zimmerman back will be a start but then we made regular errors at the back last season and in pre-season even with one of them playing.

Posted By: Jim on August 12th 2019 at 09:30:25

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