DJS

Yeah but i'm not ars*d about the mancs or chelsea.

Possibly. I wouldnt be surprised if we dropped further than 5 points off it between now and any new signings coming in, though. And goalkeeper. And defenders. And centre mids. And creative attacking mid. They are better than Watford's or Newcastle's though, no?

What do you base that on Wayne? Could do with a bit of cheering up.

That's the point. Our biggest issue is one of attitude.

We certainly have a good few who arent as good as the prices we paid for them. But f*ck me, theyre still better than Watford & Newcastle. I genuinely had never heard of four of Watford's starting eleven today. We've got far more quality than sides like that. The players are just not even giving 60%. Go to places like that working hard & fighting for everything - and 9 times out of 10, we beat sides like that.

Of course that's football and yes, it happens. But when it happens twice in a row, with away games at sides who really shouldnt be troubling us in terms of talent/quality, then it's highly alarming. I thought the Newcastle shambles would've served as a lesson, but the same cowardly & gutless bullsh*t struck again today. To be beaten because we're getting outfought & not wanting it enough, twice in a fortnight, takes it beyond the normal "that's football" mantra, for me. Normally, when 'it happens', you learn from it and see a reaction. The fact that today was even worse than Newcastle in terms of desire & effort, suggests to me that they're not really that f*cked about it.

I dont disagree generally about the quality of some of our players. But we still have more quality than Newcastle & Watford. If our players matched the fight and desire of both of their's, we'd have won both games. The fact is though, they dont look a*sed. Watford & Newcastle both wanted it more than us, which is unacceptable in the extreme. If it was feasible, I reckon Klopp would happily boot out anything between 6 and 10 of this squad.

When discussing the money Klopp has to spend in January, Ben Smith (formerly from the BBC) described it as 'plenty'. It fecking needs to be.

Not sure teams park the bus when they're the home side against us. Even at Anfield, it's only the 'lesser' sides who do. Although, that's about half the league, I suppose. I was thinking more about his work rate, pressing & committing of defenders. Bags of pace & tempo, things we badly lack in our attacking play. At home especially.

I'd put Origi in but instead of Firmino. More of a goal threat in Origi, methinks. Hopefully that'll mocker Firmino into scoring 5 or something.

Yeah, that's all great. But back in the real world, it kind of matters.

With what they spent, Van Gaal should be doing better than what he is. Re Mourinho, he doesn't develop young players or play attractive football, which are things the Mancs are meant to want in a coach. That said, he generally does very well for 2 years when given shed loads of cash to spend. Given that the Mancs have shown they're willing to spend big during LVG's tenure, I'd rather not see what Mourinho could potentially do for them with £250m worth of transfer backing.

We desperately need a striker who can fit into the style of play AND score goals. I think something like 12 teams have scored more goals than us in the Pl. If we don't remedy that, we haven't a hope in hell of finishing in the top four. Ironically (as I don't think he's that amazing & he's also too old for the fee he'd command, plus is a bit of a kn*bhead too), I think Vardy would suit our style of play really well. Doubt he'll be good for that far beyond this season though.

Yep, looks like the worst kept secret in football, that one. Will be interesting, he's only ever managed clubs where he's either had Messi, or the by-far biggest, richest & best club in a league that lacks competitiveness. Working over here will be a different story. Chance to prove he's really that great. Or just an overhyped myth.

Mancs have been in touch with Mourinho's people, apparently. Also heard a whisper that LVG offered his resignation last weekend but the board rejected it.

Bogdan, Clyne, Skrtel, Sakho, Moreno, Lucas, Can, Henderson, Firmino, Lallana, Coutinho

True, as long as we win. Shouldnt be nervy about a newly promoted side really, but it is what it is.

Feels like we've been here before. Nervy about tomorrow.

Leicester are beginning to worry me now. I expected them to drop points today & had previously written off their chances of top four but they're 14 ahead of us now. There's no margin for error, we have to win tomorrow and beat Leicester on Boxing Day. Their next few games include Anfield, playing Man City and going to Spurs. If they come out of those with more than 4 points, catching them will begin to look like a tall order. Spurs are being a bit of a pain in the backside too.

Mignolet's touch and go for this, has a hamstring issue.

Our home form is poor against bus parkers. Most of the home games we have left are against the top sides. Most won't be parking the bus.

If Everton beat them at Goodison & we beat them at Anfield, we'll be 5pts behind them with 20 games to play.

I think they're throwing their toys out of the pram because they know that they've been riding their luck immensely and that the chickens were soon coming home to roost. 5 points dropped in their last 2 league games. Cluck cluck...

Just been given the team - Benteke is starting. No Lucas. EDIT Ha...and so has Hodgson too, it seems.

We've had games when Coutinho was out, where we've struggled to create. Tomorrow, we'll hopefully be able to create, but we wont have an out-and-out goalscorer/finisher on the pitch, to convert chances. Dropping Benteke is a mistake. Especially in favour of Firmino, who has looked ineffective aside from at City, where he had space to work with. West Brom will park 3 buses. There wont be that space for him tomorrow.