Quote Originally Posted by I am invisible View Post
It might not feel like it, but we are gradually improving in these games. The panicky, PTSD moments are gone and we no longer go from 1 to 5 down in the blink of an eye. We matched them for about 40 minutes at anfield earlier in the season - yesterday we lasted about 60 minutes before we cracked (and even then we still had a couple of decent chances). It’s gradual, but it’s going the right way.

The fact is they’re just a better, more rounded side than us right now. They already have the exact players they want in every position whereas our best XI is still short a striker and a left 6-8. They have strength in depth where our squad is thin - losing someone like Tomiyasu hurts us, whereas they can casually bring Jota on for Firminio, Diaz on for Salah, etc, and have more options from the bench. They have an average of 3-4 years more experience than us per player.

(Plus it feels like there’s a ‘bogey team’ element at play here - I don’t know whether it’s a fundamental mismatch in styles that disadvantages us, or a just psychological / belief thing that we need to get over, but it always feels like we’re battling an extra… ‘something’ against liverpool?)

We’ll get there, but don’t forget we’re not even 1 year into this rebuild yet - we’ll need at least another couple of good windows and 2-3 years more experience before we’re at their level.
Who died and made you Letters? This is the sort of level headed post I'd have made back in the day.
I'm actually annoyed and disappointed about last night. I agree with everything you've said but I've been worn down by years of performances and results like this where we basically play well but get beaten anyway. But yeah, Liverpool are a level or two above us - above pretty much everyone really. Sure they'll have off days but in big games like this you can be pretty sure they'll do the job like we used to back in the day. I do believe we are heading in the right direction but the Villa game is key now. We could afford to lose last night but we don't have much room for error now. All the contenders for top 4 will drop points but we have to get going again at the weekend. If we do then I'll start to believe we have a very good chance of top 4. If we mess that one up then I fear another collapse.