The Liverpool captain was disappointed with the result last night
The default reaction to a game such as Liverpool had last night was to be underwhelmed. After having Sturridge, Coutinho and Firmino together at the weekend, and watching them tear Villa apart, it’s fair to say a few fans got a little ahead of themselves.
Sure, it’s within our rights to expect certain levels of peformance but, at times, watching this Liverpool side it’s clear that Jurgen Klopp is still attempting to purge the inconsistencies of the Reds’ previous regime. Such was the case last night.
Thankfully, the players also appreciate that the overall display wasn’t up to scratch and the result was not quite what was hoped for.
Our captain and number two both spoke after the game last night about the result and declared themselves disappointed. But both have vowed that the return leg will produce a much better showing.
Speaking to Liverpoolfc.com, Henderson said: “We’re obviously a little bit disappointed, we didn’t play as well as we could have. We created a few chances where we should be be scoring, so overall we’re a little bit disappointed but we’ve got another game to put it right.
“They hit the post and we had a few chances so it was pretty even in that sense. Like I said, I think we can play a lot better than that, especially in the final third keeping the ball a little bit better and moving it too slow at times. We need to make sure that we put that right in the next game.
“In the first half we played too slow from the back, weren’t playing behind their line enough so we tried that a little bit more second half and it worked, we had good moments but that’s not enough.
“We need to do it more consistently throughout the game and if we do that then we’ll win the game.”
The Reds matched Augsburg blow for blow on the night, with both sides having good chances and, on paper, Liverpool edged it in most of the important stats. But considering the German’s current League position and the fact they’re probably one of the weakest teams left in the competition, it’s fair to say more was expected of Liverpool’s players.
Likewise, James Milner expressed his disappointment at the result, but chose to see positives in the draw.
He said: “We had plenty of chances but it didn’t go for us tonight.
“We probably didn’t play well enough tonight.
“0-0 is not a terrible result, we’ll take it home and hopefully get the result there. The desire was there, I think you can see that. Hopefully we can improve next week.
“We just have to make sure we keep the ball moving and keep creating the chances like we did and hopefully one of them will go in.
“When we’re attacking we’ve got to make sure that we’re sound at the back and don’t give away too many counter-attacks.
“It’s a tough tournament to win, we’ve played a lot of games to get here and there’s a lot more games to go, but you’re in it and you want to go and win it. It’s a good test for us and it would be a great thing for us to go and win.”
Can the team get the result next Thursday and make sure the tie is put to bed early on? Let us know your thoughts below.
