Benteke Bye Bye?

[Glen C]

I don't think his pace is that bad (he's not Hyppia slow for starters, that's an exaggeration), but he's not particularly "fast" or agile.

Klopp (and Rodgers for that matter) seem to have systems where the attack interchange with fluidity and movement. Ideally with goals AND creativity among the three or four players. Benteke seems to slow that down a touch at times. He's a great finisher inside the box, but his approach play isn't quite as subtle and intelligent as we'd ideally like. He's slow to react to alot of build up play and he doesn't make the runs that the likes of Sturridge would make (sorry to paraphrase that Welsh Muppet).

He seems an instinctive finisher. If he has time to think he fucks it up as he has shown on a few occasions. I'm not saying he's a shit player, just shit for how we play. I think he would be great at Chelsea.

I would just love to know what Rodgers was thinking when he thought benteke was a good idea.

 

[redhorizon2]

He has the pace and movement of hyypia and his alleged strength isn't that impressive.

watch some of his runs, he is quick enough to outrun a large chunk of prem CBs

 

[mom]

Good Ridance

If Benteke were reading that, he'd probably glean some amusement ftom the missing 'd'.

 

[Red Bird]

watch some of his runs, he is quick enough to outrun a large chunk of prem CBs

Some players don't just fit. Ask the chavs about Torres. Or Liverpool about Carroll. Or Benteke (at the moment, at least) , come to think of it.

 

[gkmacca]

What I don't get is why he can't adopt to Klopps way of play? He has pace and strength and demonstrated those skill sets at villa. He just needs to focus and concentrate.

I said it a few days ago, it's a two-way dynamic - he can't just stand about waiting for the team to adapt to him without trying to adapt to them. If Balotelli returned and was as immobile, lethargic and unimaginative as Benteke's been (although even that would be an improvement on how Mario performed for us!), there's be an explosion of criticism. It's what bothered me when I saw Benteke in the cup final - he seemed to shut down if he didn't get any success from how the team was set up. The great strikers don't settle for that, they don't tolerate it, they improvise, they fight, they try anything to get into the game.

 

[RedStar]

watch some of his runs, he is quick enough to outrun a large chunk of prem CBs

Hes reasonably quick in a sprint but with the ball at his feet hes ponderously slow

 

[redhorizon2]

Hes reasonably quick in a sprint but with the ball at his feet hes ponderously slow

He can play the quick one-two and get in a dangerous position. When he's on his game he is unplayable.

 

[moron]

If there is any truth in this - I think it could have something to do with Klopp losing his patience on Saturday because I have no doubt he would have blamed Benteke for that 4th goal that Norwich scored. It was him straying off-side that led to the free kick which gave them the chance to launch that ball into our area and score. Klopp's reaction if you did not see it - was quite frightening - he was mega pissed. If that is the reason - then I could understand - you have been put on to hold the ball up and be with that last defender. Instead you stroll around like a lazy fucker showing no awareness of you position and give them the chance to get into the game again. When the best strikers are put into that position they will always be ready and try to anticipate that next chance they are going to get - he just waits and strolls around - unfortunately he probably thinks that it's worked for him so far in his career but in teams where there is movement all over the front - being static just does not work.

Hence why for 75-80 minutes we have normal Klopp style and then the last 15-10 minutes are dedicated Benteke time. I think Klopp is now fed up with Benteke time.

 

[redhorizon2]

If there is any truth in this - I think it could have something to do with Klopp losing his patience on Saturday because I have no doubt he would have blamed Benteke for that 4th goal that Norwich scored. It was him straying off-side that led to the free kick which gave them the chance to launch that ball into our area and score. Klopp's reaction if you did not see it - was quite frightening - he was mega pissed. If that is the reason - then I could understand - you have been put on to hold the ball up and be with that last defender. Instead you stroll around like a lazy fucker showing no awareness of you position and give them the chance to get into the game again. When the best strikers are put into that position they will always be ready and try to anticipate that next chance they are going to get - he just waits and strolls around - unfortunately he probably thinks that it's worked for him so far in his career but in teams where there is movement all over the front - being static just does not work.

Hence why for 75-80 minutes we have normal Klopp style and then the last 15-10 minutes are dedicated Benteke time. I think Klopp is now fed up with Benteke time.

I just think you make shit up as you go along!

 

[Markeh]

serious Rodgers / Carroll deja vu with this one, I thought that was a good call from Brendan and this is probably a decent one from Jurgen

sick of watching Christian the lamppost

 

[ctlovesred]

I don't think his pace is that bad (he's not Hyppia slow for starters, that's an exaggeration), but he's not particularly "fast" or agile.

Klopp (and Rodgers for that matter) seem to have systems where the attack interchange with fluidity and movement. Ideally with goals AND creativity among the three or four players. Benteke seems to slow that down a touch at times. He's a great finisher inside the box, but his approach play isn't quite as subtle and intelligent as we'd ideally like. He's slow to react to alot of build up play and he doesn't make the runs that the likes of Sturridge would make (sorry to paraphrase that Welsh Muppet).

I guess this is true, but really he just doesn't run very much. Put aside the tactics and the nuances, if a professional player can't figure out what the manager means when he says "run a lot in this way" maybe he's not cut out for that manager.

I mean, how hard is it to run hard? I get my 8 year old team to press harder than he does.

 

[Dreambeliever]

I was surprised we bought him, then surprised he started well and I would be surprised if he was sold considering we have at least 18 games left this season with only one fit striker and no plan b bar a CB up top.

I guess I could summarize Bentekes time here as surprising

 

[doctor_mac]

I guess this is true, but really he just doesn't run very much. Put aside the tactics and the nuances, if a professional player can't figure out what the manager means when he says "run a lot in this way" maybe he's not cut out for that manager.

I mean, how hard is it to run hard? I get my 8 year old team to press harder than he does.

It would be interesting to see his stats to compare his running with more obviously mobile strikers on our books.

 

[Markeh]

It would be interesting to see his stats to compare his running with more obviously mobile strikers on our books.

not current but:

Liverpool's strikers in the Barclays Premier League

[xtable=border:1|cellpadding:1|cellspacing:0]
{tbody}
{tr}
{td}Player{/td}
{td}Season{/td}
{td}Mins{/td}
{td}Km
/90{/td}
{td}Sprints
/90{/td}
{td}Aerials
/90{/td}
{td}Aerials
won/90{/td}
{td}Aerial
win rate{/td}
{/tr}
{tr}
{td}Borini{/td}
{td}14/15{/td}
{td}392{/td}
{td}12.6{/td}
{td}75.1{/td}
{td}5.51{/td}
{td}0.92{/td}
{td}17%{/td}
{/tr}
{tr}
{td}Lambert{/td}
{td}14/15{/td}
{td}824{/td}
{td}11.3{/td}
{td}50.8{/td}
{td}9.50{/td}
{td}4.15{/td}
{td}44%{/td}
{/tr}
{tr}
{td}Sturridge{/td}
{td}14/15{/td}
{td}750{/td}
{td}10.4{/td}
{td}64.3{/td}
{td}2.04{/td}
{td}0.60{/td}
{td}29%{/td}
{/tr}
{tr}
{td}Balotelli{/td}
{td}14/15{/td}
{td}940{/td}
{td}9.3{/td}
{td}55.8{/td}
{td}3.64{/td}
{td}0.86{/td}
{td}24%{/td}
{/tr}
{tr}
{td}Benteke{/td}
{td}15/16{/td}
{td}180{/td}
{td}9.0{/td}
{td}32.5{/td}
{td}13.50{/td}
{td}9{/td}
{td}67%{/td}
{/tr}
{/tbody}
[/xtable]

Lower than Mario, is that possible?

 

[ctlovesred]

Amazingly, it seems so.

 

[RedStar]

Fractionally less mobile than Mario, though its also worth noting that Borini covered alot of ground and he was a dreadful striker so maybe its not that good a stat to judge a player on

 

[ctlovesred]

Fractionally less mobile than Mario, though its also worth noting that Borini covered alot of ground and he was a dreadful striker so maybe its not that good a stat to judge a player on

True, running on its own isn't everything. But surely it's the easiest of attacking skills to master?

 

[rurikbird]

not current but:

Liverpool's strikers in the Barclays Premier League

[xtable=skin1|border:1|cellpadding:1|cellspacing:0]
{tbody}
{tr}
{td}Player{/td}
{td}Season{/td}
{td}Mins{/td}
{td}Km
/90{/td}
{td}Sprints
/90{/td}
{td}Aerials
/90{/td}
{td}Aerials
won/90{/td}
{td}Aerial
win rate{/td}
{/tr}
{tr}
{td}Borini{/td}
{td}14/15{/td}
{td}392{/td}
{td}12.6{/td}
{td}75.1{/td}
{td}5.51{/td}
{td}0.92{/td}
{td}17%{/td}
{/tr}
{tr}
{td}Lambert{/td}
{td}14/15{/td}
{td}824{/td}
{td}11.3{/td}
{td}50.8{/td}
{td}9.50{/td}
{td}4.15{/td}
{td}44%{/td}
{/tr}
{tr}
{td}Sturridge{/td}
{td}14/15{/td}
{td}750{/td}
{td}10.4{/td}
{td}64.3{/td}
{td}2.04{/td}
{td}0.60{/td}
{td}29%{/td}
{/tr}
{tr}
{td}Balotelli{/td}
{td}14/15{/td}
{td}940{/td}
{td}9.3{/td}
{td}55.8{/td}
{td}3.64{/td}
{td}0.86{/td}
{td}24%{/td}
{/tr}
{tr}
{td}Benteke{/td}
{td}15/16{/td}
{td}180{/td}
{td}9.0{/td}
{td}32.5{/td}
{td}13.50{/td}
{td}9{/td}
{td}67%{/td}
{/tr}
{/tbody}
[/xtable]
Lower than Mario, is that possible?

Wow, this is worse than I thought. Any way to compare him to Carroll or Giroud? Or Lewandowski?

32 sprints per 90 minutes... That one number is pretty much all you need to know to understand why Benteke can't get a game under Klopp.

 

[moron]

I just think you make shit up as you go along!

Not as much as you. He fucked up big time on saturday with his lazy one man show and Klopps had enough.

 

[KopRed]

I don't think his pace is that bad (he's not Hyppia slow for starters, that's an exaggeration), but he's not particularly "fast" or agile.

Klopp (and Rodgers for that matter) seem to have systems where the attack interchange with fluidity and movement. Ideally with goals AND creativity among the three or four players. Benteke seems to slow that down a touch at times. He's a great finisher inside the box, but his approach play isn't quite as subtle and intelligent as we'd ideally like. He's slow to react to alot of build up play and he doesn't make the runs that the likes of Sturridge would make (sorry to paraphrase that Welsh Muppet).

He is slow, both in his first touch to control the ball and his thinking process of what to do with the ball next. Usually by the time he decides a defender is onto him.

As a result playing him in a role to influence play is useless. The ball just bounces off him when he tries to do anything. Give him the ball to finish and he should do a good job. No coincidence those instinctive strikes found the mark while anything that needed him to use some of his average pace, strength and touch doesn't.

 

[RedStar]

A couple of things that seem obvious watching his highlight reel is that hes at his best when he strikes the ball first time rather than having to take a touch, the other thing is that he very very rarely tries to beat a player with the ball. In order to get the best out of him he needs to be attacking an early cross somewhere between the penalty spot and the 6 yard box or running onto a lay off around the edge of the box. Players who strike ball first time require confidence and right now he doesnt have much of that, but hes not the first striker who has lacked confidence after a big money move. If we ask him to drop deep and carry the ball or cut in from wide he just isnt very effective. Whether thats going to be a tactic Klopp wants to build his team around Im not so sure, hes too expensive to keep as a plan B for the last 15 minutes. I think he will last until the summer but Id be surprised if he sticks around much longer than that unless he rediscovers his mojo in the next 3 months.

 

[redhorizon2]

Brendan Rodgers says Luis Suarez could return to Liverpool - 'He absolutely loved it at Anfield'
11:59, 27 JAN 2016 UPDATED 12:09, 27 JAN 2016
BY JOE RIMMER
Plus, the former Reds boss says Jurgen Klopp must have patience with Benteke

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Luis Suarez and Brendan RodgersLuis Suarez and Brendan Rodgers
Brendan Rodgers believes Luis Suarez could eventually return to Anfield, saying the Uruguayan forward "absolutely loved" his time at Liverpool FC .
Suarez left the Reds for Barcelona in a £75m deal in 2014 after scoring 82 goals in 133 games for the club. He's since found the net 54 times in 73 games, winning the Champions League with Luis Enrique's team.
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Rodgers, speaking to TalkSport, admits that the 28-year-old is happy at the Camp Nou, but says he could one day be tempted back to Anfield .
The former Reds boss said: “You never know. I think he certainly misses the passion of the Liverpool supporters and he loved the competition of the Premier League.
“Luis is enjoying it out there at Barcelona, but I think if he did ever come back there would certainly be only one club he’d want to play for.
“He absolutely loved it at Liverpool, the supporters adored him and he gave absolutely everything.
“Barcelona was an incredible move for Luis, and it’s such a great credit to him that his move made an already world class team even better.
"It’s a joy to watch him score goals and work as hard as he does for one of the best teams in the world…but you never know.”

Meanwhile, Rodgers has told current Reds boss Jurgen Klopp to have patience with striker Christian Benteke.
Rodgers signed the Belgian forward for £32m last summer, and he says that Klopp also tried to sign Benteke from Aston Villa.
"With Christian, I think Jurgen will take his time with him," he said.
"In this country, now, everything is very 'short-termism', isn't it? People look at it like, you've got to come in, get 20 goals in your first season or you might be deemed a failure.
“I don't think Jurgen's looking at it as that. He tried to sign him for Dortmund. He knows he's a good player. He met the boy, he met the agent, he met them in Germany, so he knows he's a good player.
“[Klopp] Coming in to Liverpool, he'll know that he wants to use him. It's going to take Christian a bit of time.”

 

[Best Believe It]

Brendan Rodgers for DoF