Yep - no coincidence that Gruda had his best game for us when Liverpool let him have it in pockets of space. Not lumps kicking him. We need to find the balance between slight, technical players and bruisers who make space for the others.
The reason isn't rocket science though, is it? We struggle against teams who sit back with a low block. We excel against teams that lets us play and try and out-football us. It is hardly a unique problem to have. And some of those results should have been wins but for stupid lapses. We lost...