Sneaked it on a fine first half performance. It gives us a good start for the second leg. Impressed with Toure, Allen and thought Lallana did OK as well.

Worried hire many defenders we will have left for next week's games against arsenal and utd.

Great result and hopefully a trip to Wembley this season.Got to ask where the composure and passion we saw tonight are in away league matches.

Lucas & Toure were excellent. Lucas deserving of his man of the match award. Asked to move to CB to cover injuries and along with the team of course helps keep first skilful players and then tall strikers quiet. As they said most tackles and interceptions on the whole pitch.

Chalk & cheese with the West Ham game, so disappointing then to very proud of them now.

Now please let's complete the job and get to Wembley this year.

It would be lovely for us to make it to Wembley and for Flanagan and Allen to make the matchday squad - underneath the, er, arch...

Ask your parents/grandparents!

Allen and Lallana superb tonight, Lucas and Toure heroic and Firmino tireless. A great team performance and astute tactics by Klopp to strangle their attack in the first half by frustrating Amautovic.

After WH I said that even if we played poorly again this season there would also be some good displays and we will need to enjoy them when they happen - well that was one of them - so get celebrating lads and lasses - and it also takes us one step nearer Wembley and the chance of a trophy so happy days all round - but please no complacency as the job is only half done but we are definitely in poll position

In recent games even the win V Sunderland it has been hard to pick out a motm for us as the whole team have mainly been average at best or poor at worst. Tonight I honestly felt every single player did well and it was a team win above all so I will not name a motm.

Lets hope we can take that kind of effort and team mentality into the important up and coming games - partic V AFC and MUFC next week.

Only you mate - only you!

From someone on FB:


His hand's kinda being forced, to be honest.

Can ilori be called back from Villa? He's not in their plans as far as I'm aware, or does he have a hamstring injury

I don't know the situation with him. The fact that he's not getting any game time in that Villa side doesn't sound promising, though.

Don't know if Andre Wisdom could be called back, either.

Emre Can's played a lot this season, so we don't want to over-use him but at a push he can cover at CB.

I also seen a picture on Facebook of Jose Enrique with them suggesting he's the solution. Well we might as well give him something to do!

We might have to dip into the youth team for someone. Could be a good opportunity.

There's also the Subotic link I've mentioned recently. Klopp might not have intended to buy anyone in January but now it's certainly possible. Only real problem is that eventually injured players come back, so then you're given a bit of a problem.

Klopp said his got no fit defenders and will look to get someone in.

Is iiori good enough. Never played a game for villa and look at the state they are in.

I read villa are looking to send him back early.

Probably not but at the very least he's a fit CB if nothing else!

Hopefully Toure, Lovren & Coutinho are not serious just little strains, wishing thinking perhaps though!

We still have Enrique

Missed the game as I was working, My son told me the result as he said he didn't know I recorded will watch the highlights tomorrow now

Very good performance. Mind-boggling how we can produce that in stark contrast to our recent trips to Watford and West Ham.

The defence played well (Lucas included) but Kolo was an absolute rock. Can ran the midfield and Allen did OK too. Ibe was good and took his goal brilliantly. And dare I say it, Lallana played alright.

Firmino's so frustrating because at times he's very good technically and works himself into some great positions but then fluffs it. Surely it's got to be a confidence thing.

Quite worrying now with the injury situation. I think that's 13 players out now, 3 more than Newcastle who have 10 and everyone else has 7 or less. Perhaps we'll have to dip into the market, if only for a loan or something.

I thought we played very average, I'm shocked at the posts.

Result is great mind

We played better than recently but it was another one of these done just enough results which we seem good at getting. Goals are an issue and now so is our defence. Firmino I am very much undecided on, he reminds me on Sterling, as mentioned above gets into some good positions and then buggers up the end result.

Firmino was very poor with the ball, again

I thought we played well. Started really good and pretty much stayed in control of the game.

With a bit more care in the final third we could of scored more. The pressing was really good last night and we didn’t allow Stoke to start from the back.

Played well in the first half, Stoke had the better 2nd.

Unbelievable the injurys, were just dropping like flies

It's that pressing style of play that is the undoing of many of the players. I read today that doing that for an hour is possible - if you're super fit, doing it for 70 minutes is feasible, but doing it for 90 is really tough and nigh on impossible, the body won't take it.

It's like Klopp said, he has had no pre-season with these players, no time to settle them into a different form of playing and training. Add to that we are playing maybe twice as many games in December/January than he had in Germany, and there are bound to be injuries. It's too hectic a schedule to keep at that pressing form of play, it's why the teams are seemingly able to only do that on alternate matches.

What Klopp needs, desperately, is time, time to spend with the squad and build them up to being able to cope with this style of play. He isn't going to get that until the end of season, so we have to just stop pressing him for results and lower expectations. You can tell by his whole demeanour that he is trying the very best he can with what he currently has. I thought he was going to cry when Kolo was spotted limping last night - I know how he felt.

Really? No, not for me, compared to the West Ham debacle we where 100% better.

I wanted a reaction after the drivel they served up v WHU and I think we got it. At the very least they showed a desire and I thought 1st half we could have scored a couple had Firmino in particular been a bit sharper. 2nd half was more backs to the wall but considering we had to play Lucas at CB for sixty plus mins alongside a hardly ever used Toure I thought we restricted them to not much really. Loved the Lucas crunching tackle on edge of area on Bojan that led to the ball going flat! Loved Kolo carrying on despite being in some pain.

I was happy with the performance, less so the injuries, but others have to step up when given their chance.

Still hoping for some consistency though, more than just a couple of wins before the next loss would be good, esp considering our next league fixtures.

I think a change of training schedule mid season has no doubt had an effect.


Kolo deserves a lot of credit. Not only for his own performance but also he talked Lucas through the game. Kolo cant do many consecutive games but always shocks me when people say he offers nothing. The guy can still play when needed and as well as being a good defender has good leadership skills.

Grujic official

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/firs...ko-grujic-deal

While I am always wary about new signings in recent years, this one is Klopp's first for us so hope he will turn out a goodun.

Welcome to Anfield Marko Grujic

This year's Hillsborough memorial will be the last one held at Anfield.


http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footba...ICID=mirror_MF


Well as usual I'll be going. The 15th of April falls on a Friday this year, so I might have to get an authorised absence from uni. We're finally getting justice so it seems fitting to end it after the inquests are concluded.