{"id":296,"date":"2015-10-30T08:20:10","date_gmt":"2015-10-30T08:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/?p=296"},"modified":"2015-10-30T08:20:10","modified_gmt":"2015-10-30T08:20:10","slug":"liverpool-1-bournemouth-0-an-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/liverpool-1-bournemouth-0-an-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool 1 – Bournemouth 0: An Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"
Lately when Liverpool have taken a 1-0 lead in a game there\u2019s never any guarantee that things will end as the Anfield faithful want them to. In their last five 1-1 home draws against Norwich, FC Sion, Carlisle, Rubin Kazan and Southampton Liverpool have had an incredible 150 shots on goal. That they have only scored 5 is a damning indictment of both the lack of fit striking options and the team\u2019s inability to \u2018stay cool\u2019 in the crucial moments, as the new manager might say.<\/p>\n
With Manchester United crashing out at home to Middlesborough and the holders Chelsea keeping everyone except their own fans amused by completely imploding, culminating most recently with the loss to Stoke in the League Cup on penalties, there\u2019s a real chance for one of the other top teams to take home the trophy. Manchester City will remain favourites after their 5-1 win over Crystal Palace, but Liverpool should be taking this competition seriously after being drawn against Southampton in the next round.<\/p>\n
Here we have a look at some of the talking points from Liverpool\u2019s game against Bournemouth in the fourth round. As always we want to know your thoughts, so if you disagree with something we\u2019ve said or think there\u2019s a talking points we\u2019ve missed then do let us know. You can leave us a comment or send us a tweet and we\u2019ll let we know whether or not we agree with you!<\/p>\n
Jurgen Klopp made the point in the aftermath of Liverpool\u2019s 1-1 draw with Southampton that when the Reds conceded Sadio Mane\u2019s equaliser towards the end of the game the players reacted like it was the end of the world. He said it was difficult to persuade the players that there was still plenty of time for them to score a winner and that this sense of disappointment and doom and gloom is one of the most important things he needs to change at Anfield.<\/p>\n
For a club the size of Liverpool to be playing an out of form Bournemouth at home seems the ideal thing given their current mental fragility. For some of the Anfield faithful it remains a sign of how far the mighty have fallen that holding on to a 1-0 lead at home against a newly promoted team in a competition that the Reds used to win for fun has become a tricky thing to do. After more than a year or so of uncertainty, however, and arguably 5 or more years of defensive fragility under numerous different managers it\u2019s to be expected that turning around the mental weakness in the Liverpool team will be like slowing a runaway juggernaut.<\/p>\n
In the build-up to the arrival of Jurgen Klopp on Merseyside it was easy to get swept along in the excitement and to believe that it wouldn\u2019t take much for the Reds to turn things around and become title contenders in the German\u2019s first season in the Anfield hot seat. The 0-0 draw with Spurs featured plenty of encouragement, with Liverpool\u2019s gegenpressing – the key aspect of the German manager\u2019s tactical masterplan at Borussia Dortmund – evident despite the fact that Klopp had only had a few days to work with his new players.<\/p>\n