Liverpool put in one of, if not their worst performance of the season at Toulouse and the need to show improvements is not lost on fans with what we all know to be on the horizon.
Positives were hard to find from the 3-2 defeat, with the Reds well below their best against a team battling relegation in their own domestic league.
That Jurgen Klopp had to turn to some of the players he ought to be resting spoke volumes, let’s not forget the Reds beat this same team 5-1 at Anfield merely two weeks ago.
Incredibly, Liverpool did manage to score an equaliser through Jarell Quansah but it was brought back by VAR after what they deemed a handball by Alexis Mac Allister about a year before it went in the back of the net.
The Reds did not deserve to take anything away from the match, and that was lost on no one, but few could quite believe the third goal being ruled out – thought we weren’t to re-referee games?
What was worse, VAR or Liverpool’s performance…
I mean that's not the handball law unless it's the goal scorer. hilarious.
— nate (@natefc) November 9, 2023
Well done boys. Good process.
— Karl (@__karl__) November 9, 2023
We where absolutely shite, but absolutely robbed of that goal at the end
— Ste (@LFC92) November 9, 2023
On one hand they explicitly changed the rule for what counts as a handball in the buildup to a goal to include the word immediate so that goals like that wouldn't be disallowed. On the other hand Liverpool shouldn't need a 97th minute goal to tie the 14th best side in Ligue 1 ????
— The Liverpool Offside (@LFCOffside) November 9, 2023
As in, they Maradona it past the keeper.
— Sam McGuire (@SamMcGuire90) November 9, 2023
I’m not saying they went far back in play for MacAllister’s handball but he had a Brighton top on and he was singling Johnny B Goode at the Enchantment Under The Sea dance
— Martin Fitzgerald (@4hundredblows) November 9, 2023
How far back does a phase of play roll for that type of none scorer handball. If the ball was in the same phase of play for ten mins since an alleged handball and then another player scored, would they go back 10 mins to rule out the goal? pic.twitter.com/2Bc7KXLayH
— Kenny ?? (@redkenneth77) November 9, 2023
Handball has to have a direct influence in the goal. There were 6 or 7 passes after, Toulouse player touched the ball. Incredible decision, the rules were not followed by the VAR official and the ref shit out overruling him.
— L21_JFT97_* (@_K_e_v__) November 9, 2023
It's hard to differentiate, which was worse, the Liverpool performance or that VAR decision.
— Jonathan Higgins (@Jhiggins3) November 9, 2023
But there were no excuses for what was on show…
Anyway, there are some defeats you just have to get over quickly and that is one of them. Liverpool made nine changes and looked like it up against disciplined opposition in a raucous atmosphere. Reminded me a lot of that trip to Red Star en route to winning the CL in 2019.
— David Lynch (@dmlynchlfc) November 9, 2023
Talk will next about the disallowed goal but ultimately the performance wasn’t good enough. Bullied at times and so similar to the issues of last season
— keith costigan (@KeithCostigan) November 9, 2023
We got what we deserved for a lazy, lacklustre performance. Too many players not up to speed and well off the pace. However, VAR on 3rd goal is a farce.
— Big Tosh 10 ????????? (@BigTosh10) November 9, 2023
We didn’t deserve anything there but that decision at the end there is absolutely shocking.
We need to be 10x better come Sunday, no questions asked.
— Mick Moran (@Mick_Moran_) November 9, 2023
Will certainly be interesting to see who starts at DM for Liverpool on Sunday.
Had assumed that Endo coming off early tonight would mean it's him, but after that showing it seems unlikely.
— Matt Ladson (@mattladson) November 9, 2023
Not too worried about the result because we’ll still qualify. The performance was awful. First bad game I’ve seen Kelleher have. A lot of ineffective performances. Gakpo is ambiguous in the 9 role. Tsimikas needs selling and a decent left back buying in January #LFC
— Tom Bayliss (@bayliss4) November 9, 2023
“Wow, that was bad. Not sure if there was just no desire to put effort into that game, but that was one of the worst performances I’ve seen from this team. I actually would’ve felt bad for Toulouse if they didn’t win that game. They definitely deserved it more than us today.” – Yasmin in TIA comments.
“Hope they take it like a wake-up call, even if it should have been so after the Luton game.” – skizofreniktamer in TIA comments.
Liverpool didn’t deserve anything out of that game. Really poor against the 14th placed team in France. So many errors, so little intensity. But that finale was bizarre. Referee all over the place.
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) November 9, 2023
Well, the Reds were far from worthy of walking away from the match with any points but the VAR situation is highly bemusing and surely not in the spirit VAR is meant to be for – but I suppose that boat has long sailed.
This is another performance the Reds have to learn from and shake off before meeting Brentford, they need a good result there as their return after the international break takes them straight to Man City.
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