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The post match reactions from our manager Graeme Edwards following all Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League games during the month of April - with the club looking to build on an impressive March during which they have managed to progress in both cup competitions and climb further back up the league table.
Champions League Quarter Finals 2nd Leg
Liverpool 1 Atletico 2 (3-4 on agg)
Disappointed to go out after two pretty evenly contested legs but I think if anyone deserved to progress it was Atletico so we certainly aren't feeling that we were unlucky or harshly dealt with. There were times over the 2 legs where we conceded whilst having the tactical bonus and vice versa so it is what it is really.
I do wonder if playing our young 18 rater hampers us in these bigger games, it probably does. I'm not convinced he's going to be good enough when all is said and done so probably look to move him on at the end of the season I think although it appears so is everyone else so there might not be much of a market for him.
With a league challenge out of our reach it really just leaves the FA Cup again for us. Would be nice to retain it and we'll really need to now to salvage the season.
Anyway good luck to all 4 semi finalists.
Premier League Round Twenty Three
Liverpool 1 Burnley 2
Add Burnley to the list of clubs that would be challenging for the title if they played us every week! Think they'd lost 4 on the spin prior to rocking up at Anfield so as always we were only too happy to get them back on track.
To be honest it's another game where we can feel hard done by. Their GK was credited with making 13 saves which was almost double the total that ours made. Just another of those days where we were the better side but still come away with zilch.
Premier League Round Twenty Four
Bristol City 1 Liverpool 4
I'm not really one for playing attacking (George Graham approach to football) but I saw that Bristol were missing their only decent striker so even allowing for giving away the tactical bonus etc we still felt confident we would outscore them.
The final score line flatters us but we'll happily take it. A small boost to our goal difference and some good minutes for a couple of our squaddies makes it a rare good day for us.
FA Cup up next against a very good Southampton side with both sides at full strength.
FA Cup Quarter Final
Liverpool 2 Southampton 0
We were fairly sure we'd face a counter attacking approach so rolled out the long ball approach and within 18 minutes we were 2-0 up. Saints switched to all out attack and we persisted with just hoofing it anywhere and that was that scoring wise, delighted to progress to the semis and keep our season going for at least another week.
Talking of which we've just discovered that we've drawn Crystal Palace in the semi final. On the face of it the most favourable draw for them and us to be honest as the Manchester clubs are both far stronger. Rob is already working his magic at his beloved Selhurst Park though so we are under no illusions as to how difficult a task lies in wait.
Premier League Round Twenty Five
Liverpool 4 Tottenham 2
Our league record against Spurs has been lousy since I arrived at Anfield and just 3 minutes into this one I thought here we go again as the visitors led through my old mucker Frenkie de Jong. We were awarded a pen shortly afterwards which de Tomas stuck away and we then took the lead approaching the half hour mark through Kudus. However Spurs quickly levelled in what was becoming a cracker of a game.
The turning point appears to have come early in the 2nd half when Spurs went down to 10 men and Akanji soon put us ahead. Then in the 70th minute we were awarded another penalty which de Tomas again converted and that was that. To concede 2 pens and have a player sent off there is no doubt the luck wasn't with Tim today and we are only too happy to benefit from that.
We got more good minutes for the back ups and de Tomas also rated up to a 25 striker so all in all a very good day for us.
Premier League Round Twenty Six
Aston Villa 4 Liverpool 1
Classic ESMS, we have a big cup semi final on Wednesday and it's almost as if the programme knows to royally fuck us over ahead of it.
Red cards to our star striker and a key defender as well as a yellow to another starting defender will see us head to Wembley (or wherever it's played) down 3 vital players and to say that's a body blow is an understatement. We have a bit of depth but the drop off in quality from these 3 is significant so it already feels that it'll be too much to overcome.
As for this game, Villa were absolutely worth their win with a dominant performance and fair play to them they are going really well. However for us it was just one of those games where absolutely everything went against us. 2-1 down at HT we are still right in the game but we're then hit with the freak own goal treatment, then the 2 red cards and a penalty given to Villa late on - the only surprise was that Courtois only saw yellow. I think if it had been another red I'd have just awarded the semi to Palace!
We'll bandage the team up and bring in a few lower raters and hope they can get the job done. We already had a plan in place as to what tactic we'd play etc so just have to decide if I stick with it given the absentees
FA Cup Semi Final
Crystal Palace 4 Liverpool 3
No excuses from us - Palace started like an express train and blew us away and there was no way back despite our best efforts. Disappointing for us as it was our last chance to try and salvage something from the season but I'm pleased for Rob who is a top bloke/manager and deserves his place in the final and a chance to grab some silverware.
Two good guys in the final - may the best man win.
Premier League Round Twenty Seven
Liverpool 2 Arsenal 2
After our appalling start in the cup game a couple of days ago I warned the players pre match that we couldn't afford a repetition in this one against an excellent Arsenal side - lo and behold after 13 minutes we were 2 down and staring down the barrel again. In fairness to the lads they had us level within 3 minutes after a couple of quickfire goals of our own and incredibly that was it with no further goals in the remaining 74 minutes.
A draw looks a fair result on the balance of play but from our point of view it's a point that doesn't really do us much good. It really is so tight in the race for the Champions League spots with 6th position to 12th spot only separated by 5 points.
Next up for us a trip to Southampton who currently occupy 6th place. A tough game but it would be a good time for us to get back on the winning trail after a really poor week.
Played Darren mate.
Premier League Round Twenty Eight
Southampton 3 Liverpool 1
I wouldn't do anything different to this if we played the game another 100 times - and I have absolutely no doubt that we'd win the vast majority.
Unfortunately for us it's just another case of the game engine rewarding the poorer of the two teams on the day - welcome to FFO 2025.
Anyway no point saying any more really - nothing at all against Jamie he's a good bloke from my dealings with him and he's built a very nice team who are going well but there's no way he deserved anything in this one far less the 3 points.
Or looking at the season as a whole maybe it's just the Hamza curse coming back to haunt the Reds
Premier League Round Twenty Nine
Newcastle 2 Liverpool 2
Dearie me, totally shafted once more.
Again wouldn't have changed anything, when you dominate the game in the manner that we did you are perfectly entitled to feel hard done by when you don't come away with the 3 points. Story of our season in the league unfortunately.
Looked like we had deservedly scored a winner through the departing Grealish in the 73rd minute but 4 minutes into stoppage time our star striker, having spurned chance after chance after chance up the other end of the park, finds himself conceding a penalty in our own box and inevitably they tucked it away.
We really are due a heavy dose of good fortune in our remaining fixtures I have to say.
Premier League Round Thirty
Liverpool 5 West Ham 1
Finally our dominance in a game was properly rewarded with a changed approach to 5203N coming up trumps. Not a style that I would ever have thought of but noticed Johnboy having some success with it at Inter so thought we’d give it a whirl.
Certainly a much needed win but with those around us winning too it doesn’t really change much. 8 games to go and we have to try and find this kind of level more often if we want to have a chance of gate crashing the top 8.
Not going to be easy as we still have 3 of the title challengers to play. Shambolic season to be honest and we can’t have any complaints if we do eventually miss out.
Overall summary of the month's results from the manager
"Well unquestionably it's been a disaster of a month for us on all fronts. Out of the Champions League albeit to a very capable Atletico Madrid side was disappointing but to then be blown away in the FA Cup semi final was pretty devastating given that we were looking to retain the cup and with all due respect to Crystal Palace whilst they have a top class manager they are not one of the elite sides.
Add to that our inability to win many games in the league it's fair to say that April has turned out to be a major disappointment especially on the back of our performances in March where we had gone undefeated and given ourselves a chance of success. We've got 8 league games remaining to try and salvage something by at least ensuring Champions League qualification for next season"
Champions League Quarter Finals 2nd Leg
Liverpool 1 Atletico 2 (3-4 on agg)
Disappointed to go out after two pretty evenly contested legs but I think if anyone deserved to progress it was Atletico so we certainly aren't feeling that we were unlucky or harshly dealt with. There were times over the 2 legs where we conceded whilst having the tactical bonus and vice versa so it is what it is really.
I do wonder if playing our young 18 rater hampers us in these bigger games, it probably does. I'm not convinced he's going to be good enough when all is said and done so probably look to move him on at the end of the season I think although it appears so is everyone else so there might not be much of a market for him.
With a league challenge out of our reach it really just leaves the FA Cup again for us. Would be nice to retain it and we'll really need to now to salvage the season.
Anyway good luck to all 4 semi finalists.
Premier League Round Twenty Three
Liverpool 1 Burnley 2
Add Burnley to the list of clubs that would be challenging for the title if they played us every week! Think they'd lost 4 on the spin prior to rocking up at Anfield so as always we were only too happy to get them back on track.
To be honest it's another game where we can feel hard done by. Their GK was credited with making 13 saves which was almost double the total that ours made. Just another of those days where we were the better side but still come away with zilch.
Premier League Round Twenty Four
Bristol City 1 Liverpool 4
I'm not really one for playing attacking (George Graham approach to football) but I saw that Bristol were missing their only decent striker so even allowing for giving away the tactical bonus etc we still felt confident we would outscore them.
The final score line flatters us but we'll happily take it. A small boost to our goal difference and some good minutes for a couple of our squaddies makes it a rare good day for us.
FA Cup up next against a very good Southampton side with both sides at full strength.
FA Cup Quarter Final
Liverpool 2 Southampton 0
We were fairly sure we'd face a counter attacking approach so rolled out the long ball approach and within 18 minutes we were 2-0 up. Saints switched to all out attack and we persisted with just hoofing it anywhere and that was that scoring wise, delighted to progress to the semis and keep our season going for at least another week.
Talking of which we've just discovered that we've drawn Crystal Palace in the semi final. On the face of it the most favourable draw for them and us to be honest as the Manchester clubs are both far stronger. Rob is already working his magic at his beloved Selhurst Park though so we are under no illusions as to how difficult a task lies in wait.
Premier League Round Twenty Five
Liverpool 4 Tottenham 2
Our league record against Spurs has been lousy since I arrived at Anfield and just 3 minutes into this one I thought here we go again as the visitors led through my old mucker Frenkie de Jong. We were awarded a pen shortly afterwards which de Tomas stuck away and we then took the lead approaching the half hour mark through Kudus. However Spurs quickly levelled in what was becoming a cracker of a game.
The turning point appears to have come early in the 2nd half when Spurs went down to 10 men and Akanji soon put us ahead. Then in the 70th minute we were awarded another penalty which de Tomas again converted and that was that. To concede 2 pens and have a player sent off there is no doubt the luck wasn't with Tim today and we are only too happy to benefit from that.
We got more good minutes for the back ups and de Tomas also rated up to a 25 striker so all in all a very good day for us.
Premier League Round Twenty Six
Aston Villa 4 Liverpool 1
Classic ESMS, we have a big cup semi final on Wednesday and it's almost as if the programme knows to royally fuck us over ahead of it.
Red cards to our star striker and a key defender as well as a yellow to another starting defender will see us head to Wembley (or wherever it's played) down 3 vital players and to say that's a body blow is an understatement. We have a bit of depth but the drop off in quality from these 3 is significant so it already feels that it'll be too much to overcome.
As for this game, Villa were absolutely worth their win with a dominant performance and fair play to them they are going really well. However for us it was just one of those games where absolutely everything went against us. 2-1 down at HT we are still right in the game but we're then hit with the freak own goal treatment, then the 2 red cards and a penalty given to Villa late on - the only surprise was that Courtois only saw yellow. I think if it had been another red I'd have just awarded the semi to Palace!
We'll bandage the team up and bring in a few lower raters and hope they can get the job done. We already had a plan in place as to what tactic we'd play etc so just have to decide if I stick with it given the absentees
FA Cup Semi Final
Crystal Palace 4 Liverpool 3
No excuses from us - Palace started like an express train and blew us away and there was no way back despite our best efforts. Disappointing for us as it was our last chance to try and salvage something from the season but I'm pleased for Rob who is a top bloke/manager and deserves his place in the final and a chance to grab some silverware.
Two good guys in the final - may the best man win.
Premier League Round Twenty Seven
Liverpool 2 Arsenal 2
After our appalling start in the cup game a couple of days ago I warned the players pre match that we couldn't afford a repetition in this one against an excellent Arsenal side - lo and behold after 13 minutes we were 2 down and staring down the barrel again. In fairness to the lads they had us level within 3 minutes after a couple of quickfire goals of our own and incredibly that was it with no further goals in the remaining 74 minutes.
A draw looks a fair result on the balance of play but from our point of view it's a point that doesn't really do us much good. It really is so tight in the race for the Champions League spots with 6th position to 12th spot only separated by 5 points.
Next up for us a trip to Southampton who currently occupy 6th place. A tough game but it would be a good time for us to get back on the winning trail after a really poor week.
Played Darren mate.
Premier League Round Twenty Eight
Southampton 3 Liverpool 1
I wouldn't do anything different to this if we played the game another 100 times - and I have absolutely no doubt that we'd win the vast majority.
Unfortunately for us it's just another case of the game engine rewarding the poorer of the two teams on the day - welcome to FFO 2025.
Anyway no point saying any more really - nothing at all against Jamie he's a good bloke from my dealings with him and he's built a very nice team who are going well but there's no way he deserved anything in this one far less the 3 points.
Or looking at the season as a whole maybe it's just the Hamza curse coming back to haunt the Reds
Premier League Round Twenty Nine
Newcastle 2 Liverpool 2
Dearie me, totally shafted once more.
Again wouldn't have changed anything, when you dominate the game in the manner that we did you are perfectly entitled to feel hard done by when you don't come away with the 3 points. Story of our season in the league unfortunately.
Looked like we had deservedly scored a winner through the departing Grealish in the 73rd minute but 4 minutes into stoppage time our star striker, having spurned chance after chance after chance up the other end of the park, finds himself conceding a penalty in our own box and inevitably they tucked it away.
We really are due a heavy dose of good fortune in our remaining fixtures I have to say.
Premier League Round Thirty
Liverpool 5 West Ham 1
Finally our dominance in a game was properly rewarded with a changed approach to 5203N coming up trumps. Not a style that I would ever have thought of but noticed Johnboy having some success with it at Inter so thought we’d give it a whirl.
Certainly a much needed win but with those around us winning too it doesn’t really change much. 8 games to go and we have to try and find this kind of level more often if we want to have a chance of gate crashing the top 8.
Not going to be easy as we still have 3 of the title challengers to play. Shambolic season to be honest and we can’t have any complaints if we do eventually miss out.
Overall summary of the month's results from the manager
"Well unquestionably it's been a disaster of a month for us on all fronts. Out of the Champions League albeit to a very capable Atletico Madrid side was disappointing but to then be blown away in the FA Cup semi final was pretty devastating given that we were looking to retain the cup and with all due respect to Crystal Palace whilst they have a top class manager they are not one of the elite sides.
Add to that our inability to win many games in the league it's fair to say that April has turned out to be a major disappointment especially on the back of our performances in March where we had gone undefeated and given ourselves a chance of success. We've got 8 league games remaining to try and salvage something by at least ensuring Champions League qualification for next season"