Rousseau

I reckon he's been smoking something...

Only if you're playing zonal. The Aberdeen FB's were following our wingers everywhere. I don't think he was way out of line -- I would need to see it again, though. Middleton has shown several times that he lacks that defensive side of his game.

Yes, or a central midfielder covers across -- which I did mention. Ostensibly, it's still Middleton's man, IMO.

Ach... these group stage games were always a bonus, for me. I didn't expect us to get past Maribor -- I did expect us to give Ufa a good go, but thought it would be very tough. It's just desperately disappointing because we positioned ourselves wonderfully with some brilliant results.

The defending was criminal at times, but outwith individual mistakes / poor decision-making (Goldson going with the outside of the foot) or pure flukes (deflection), I felt like it was more down to the wide midfielders, or even central midfielders that cost us defensively. Flanagan was exposed time and time again, because Middleton didn't track his man. It was the Full-back that was getting in behind; that's Middleton's job, not Flanagan, who's covering the winger. For the 1st, Tavernier was caught inside, but there was an overload of 3 against 1. Where's Candeias or a central midfielder to cover? For the third, again Tavernier is caught under the ball, but again it's the Full-back, so it's not strictly his man. 4th was a pure fluke, starting from the ball squirming out from Arfield's (?) tackle in the build-up.

I'm gutted.

If only Goldson had used his left foot to clear, and the linesman had his contacts in, that would've been a stupendous half-time score.

Aye, but it was onside, for me. Beautiful goal too.

That was a stunning (offside) goal. Edit: Which, wasn't offside, for me.

This is mental. The defending is abysmal.

Yes, everyone was calling for Katic to return for Worral, but for me, Worral has been fine and it should be Goldson that gets dropped.

Both teams look really poor defensively. Goldson was at fault ultimately for the 2nd, and although Flanagan shouldn't be getting caught in the outside like that, isn't it Middleton's man?

There's so much preparation that goes into a game's tactical plan that it can be very difficult to change it within a match when it's not quite working. If it's a one-off match, then it's just a case of the plan being wrong; move on. If it's a pattern, it means the plan is being worked out, not working or the coach is not able to pass on his ideas -- or the players are no longer concentrating at 100%. Gary Neville made a point on MNF that Man Utd played possession, played defensively, played on the counter-attack whenever it was required; a mix of plans for whatever the game needed in the moment. That's OK when every team is doing the same, but teams/coaches specialise now in one philosophy. A team that is dipping into a variety of plans will always be inferior to a team that specialises in one plan. I don't think it makes the game sterile; quite the opposite. I think the contest of varying 'philosophies' makes it a very exciting time. I'd much rather see a team go all-out to specialise in one philosophy, becoming the best they can possibly be, rather than a team play a variety of half-baked styles, specialists in nothing.

I thought Arsenal were the better side, but Liverpool had the better chances. Unspectacular progress it may be, but it is progress, IMO. They usually get slaughtered against the 'big teams', so this was an improvement; they were solid.

First half was brutal. Second half was a lot better, but we still weren't clicking. But, we got the job done.

And Walker is gutted...

Clinical from Morelos. 0-2.

3 minutes extra time...

Really? Maybe. It looked like a cross, with the shape of it. I'm not complaining either way.

To be fair to @BlackSocksRedTops, it was a cross, so he's not wrong...

CANDEIAS WITH A BEAUTY!!! It's a cross isn't it?

What is happening with Tavernier at the moment? Gerrard is disgusted.

Yes, but we've only got 3 subs. He'd be the first to come off, for me.

How the f*ck does that not go in?! That sums us up.