Opinion: Another game lost, another nail in the coffin

I don’t care whether we gave an excellent performance or not, we lost another game, another nail in our coffin. Pochettino is becoming the “tinker man,” always bloody tinkering with the team, he can’t let go and put out an unchanged side. Hasn’t he learnt by now? Others have told him, but he and his team are stubborn and will only do it their way. Don’t they realise that the team’s failure is their failure?

We are without a win in our last 11 Premier League away games (D2 L9), and last endured a longer run between May 2000-January 2001 under George Graham (14 games). So; Pochettino is being compared to an Arsenal man who once managed us, not a flattering comparison. At least Graham won us a trophy (1999, League Cup).

There have been 23 penalties in Premier League fixtures between Liverpool and Tottenham, two more than any other fixture in the competition.

Some good news amongst a load of smelly dung; Gazzaniga made 12 saves in the Anfield defeat, the most by a goalkeeper in the Premier League since David de Gea versus Arsenal in December 2017 (14). It is a pity he didn’t go that one (or two) inches further and had saved the ones that helped put a nail in our coffin.

That man Serge Aurier again. He has conceded four penalties in 48 games in all competitions since his Tottenham debut on September 2017; no Premier League player has given away more. And Pochettino keeps picking him, am I sensing a conspiracy here or is the management blind to his blunders? As for Kane, his first-minute opener for us was his 150th goal involvement in the Premier League in his 191st appearance in the competition (131 goals, 19 assists).

So, to the match: the Reds finished the first half a goal down despite having had 10 shots on target and 76% of possession. This was mostly down to Gazzaniga’s excellent display for us – he made 12 saves. Some good coming out of a day of blackness. And I am not talking about the clocks going back either (sadly, we went back with them). His first big save came after 20 minutes when Salah’s half-volley was hit straight at him before the Egyptian struck another shot which he palmed away. Gazzaniga got back to his feet to block the rebound from Roberto Firmino and then tipped Virgil van Dijk’s header over the crossbar – all in the first 30 minutes.

Trent Alexander-Arnold joined in on the action, again being denied by Gazzaniga before Mane missed the biggest chance of the half – skewing a header wide from just a few yards.

But our keeper, filling in for the injured Hugo Lloris, could do nothing about Henderson’s equaliser or Salah’s penalty which flew past his outstretched left leg.

It’s a massive victory for Liverpool, over us, having dropped their first points of the season at Old Trafford against rivals Manchester United last weekend. It was something we shouldn’t have gifted them. Pochettino has a lot to answer for.

Another humiliation for us, we drop out of the top 10 with just three wins in our opening 10 games and sit 16 points behind the league leaders. We are now 4 points of third from bottom Southampton. Another couple of defeats and we won’t be looking for a top-four spot, but fighting off relegation. It is no joke.

We are now winless in our last nine away games against Liverpool in the league and have not won at Anfield since May 2011.

Pochettino; sort it out. Individual players shouldn’t be playing because their heart isn’t in it (or they are hapless, mentioning no names; Aurier!). He’ll get only so many cracks at the whip before the Wolves are at the door wanting sweet fresh meat to chew on to sustain them through the winter. Carcasses only job is to help push up the daisies.

Sorry, I am still annoyed after our horrific defeats at the hands of Premier tiddlers. And let us not talk about Colchester or Greece.

Maybe I’ll wake up and think this was all just a bad dream… maybe!