I just think we've been blowing out of our arses since the first game against Fulham. I put this down to:
- Aging profile of our midfield (where energy is more important than quality in Klopp's system)
- A long, and ultimately deflating season last year
- A short summer break (albeit without an international tournament)
- A shortened pre-season
- An unnecessary trip to the Far East during that shortened pre-season (WTAF?)
- Over-working last season of key players in the spine (van Dijk played a huge amount of minutes on the back of missing virtually all of the previous season with injury and Fabinho played a lot of minutes because the players around him were constantly injured, meaning he was often rushed back quickly from his own injury absences)
Klopp's football relies on 3 guys in the middle who work their bollocks off and a forward line that leads the press. We don't have that this year.
Whisper it quietly, we're also missing Mane's direct and aggressive running.
City, meanwhile, with their pass pass pass pass, snooze, wake up, pass a bit more football can keep it going. We can't.
Arsenal have done fuck all for a decade and have finally woken up as their "promising youngsters" have started to deliver more end product.
It's OK for us to have the odd 30-year old in a key position, but only if they have fresh and energetic players around them. At the moment we're often putting out a midfield 3 with a combined average of 90+, or else the younger guys out there don't play with the energy and aggression required (e.g. Elliot, who I really like as a player, but he's just not that type of player).
This is no criticism of the players being used, Klopp essentially broke both Can and Wijnaldum in their final seasons with us by working them into the ground. We can't expect the aging players we have to endure that kind of stress, week-in, week-out, especially when many of them have poor injury records to being with (and again, there's something of the chicken and egg about that).
We just need to patch up between now and the World Cup break, then make best use of the guys who get a rest while the tournament is on and allow those who've taken the most strain recently to recover (which Mo and Sadie didn't get last year after AFCON). This is going to be a weird, almost unique season, and a lot will hinge on who plans best for the second half after the World Cup.
- Aging profile of our midfield (where energy is more important than quality in Klopp's system)
- A long, and ultimately deflating season last year
- A short summer break (albeit without an international tournament)
- A shortened pre-season
- An unnecessary trip to the Far East during that shortened pre-season (WTAF?)
- Over-working last season of key players in the spine (van Dijk played a huge amount of minutes on the back of missing virtually all of the previous season with injury and Fabinho played a lot of minutes because the players around him were constantly injured, meaning he was often rushed back quickly from his own injury absences)
Klopp's football relies on 3 guys in the middle who work their bollocks off and a forward line that leads the press. We don't have that this year.
Whisper it quietly, we're also missing Mane's direct and aggressive running.
City, meanwhile, with their pass pass pass pass, snooze, wake up, pass a bit more football can keep it going. We can't.
Arsenal have done fuck all for a decade and have finally woken up as their "promising youngsters" have started to deliver more end product.
It's OK for us to have the odd 30-year old in a key position, but only if they have fresh and energetic players around them. At the moment we're often putting out a midfield 3 with a combined average of 90+, or else the younger guys out there don't play with the energy and aggression required (e.g. Elliot, who I really like as a player, but he's just not that type of player).
This is no criticism of the players being used, Klopp essentially broke both Can and Wijnaldum in their final seasons with us by working them into the ground. We can't expect the aging players we have to endure that kind of stress, week-in, week-out, especially when many of them have poor injury records to being with (and again, there's something of the chicken and egg about that).
We just need to patch up between now and the World Cup break, then make best use of the guys who get a rest while the tournament is on and allow those who've taken the most strain recently to recover (which Mo and Sadie didn't get last year after AFCON). This is going to be a weird, almost unique season, and a lot will hinge on who plans best for the second half after the World Cup.