Liverpool v Leicester City Post Match Thoughts
- Thread starter Piedro
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Status
Bobby was shite when he joined..
He will be fine..
He will be fine..
Like fuck he was. He played alright when lumbered next to benteke
Looking at that performance yesterday and that midfield and thinking, you know what's gone wrong there, it's naby keita, is just not accurate. That's the agenda, the need to boil shit performances down to one player. And I agree his performances are nowhere near they need to be, including yesterday.
!) the conditions were very difficult.
2) Leicester are a pretty good side, no obvious weaknesses. It bears repeating, they won at Chelsea and City.
3) I though Naby was ok 1st half, and just getting into his stride when hooked. Thought this was a poor decision. To bring on Fabs for Shaq should have been enough.
4) Ref was totally useless.
5) points ahead ! 🙂 🙂
2) Leicester are a pretty good side, no obvious weaknesses. It bears repeating, they won at Chelsea and City.
3) I though Naby was ok 1st half, and just getting into his stride when hooked. Thought this was a poor decision. To bring on Fabs for Shaq should have been enough.
4) Ref was totally useless.
5) points ahead ! 🙂 🙂
Our midfield was completely off yesterday, but out of the 3 I'd say keita takes the brunt because hes meant to be the one linking defence and attack. Gini we know isn't that player, but is excellent at ball retention, and Shaq is the tip and attacking
Shaq was shite. He's a brilliant impact sub
Keita is meant to be the one to make the midfield click
Fabinho, Gini, hendo/milner
You've got pressing, passing, mobility
Keita should be replacing hendo, but so far I just don't see it
We're stuck with pedestrian, because Keita should not be starting ahead of Wijnaldum, Milner, Fabinho or Henderson.
Ok so who's better ?
Keita or Salif Diao ?
Keita or Salif Diao ?
Keita is the worst player in a bunch of players that includes Henderson. I thought I had an agenda against Henderson, but when people are playing ok I haven't got a problem. It's not misplaced passes that are the problem, it's his lack of being in the right place ever, his movement off the ball either doesn't happen or its shit. I don't want him to be shit, but he is.
Ok, hear me out, what we need is two Hendersons. One plays football, the other has a free role, where they do that other Henderson thing, you know, where he stands right next to a player so that he himself is not in the right position, and then gesticulates wildly and barks orders in that O-Captain, my captainy-y way. That way the other Henderson will know exactly where to be, and he'll have tons of time. They could chase each other all over the park. Oh, the adventures they'd have together.
So he's dubbed in some of the interviews he's given then? Hope its Alan Partridge who has done the dubbing.
It's even more exasperating because he himself (back in September) made such a thing about 'studying' the team:
Naby Keïta would settle down in front of the television, lie back and think of England. It was a routine he would adopt at least once a week, sometimes more.
Training at RB Leipzig had concluded for the day and, while his club-mates set about relaxing, the midfielder headed straight home to forensically dissect another 90 minutes of footage from the Premier League, just as a scout pores over an upcoming opponent to pinpoint their strengths and expose their weaknesses.
Except Keïta was doing it over the team he would be joining.
A move to Anfield had been agreed in August 2017 for the following summer and, as he played out time in the Bundesliga, he was determined to ensure his adaptation to new surroundings would be seamless.
Keïta always had the potential to be a star for Liverpool. But, first, he had to be a student.
“I watched every match. It was going to be important for me,” he says. “The way they played, the tactics, everything. Obviously, I still had the contract with Leipzig and I was focused 100 per cent on helping them but I was watching every game.
“You are fulfilling a dream of coming to a massive club like Liverpool — it is normal you do as much as you can to prepare to be ready from the moment you arrive. I suppose the people I concentrated on the most being a midfielder, and looking at things offensively, was Bobby [Roberto Firmino], Sadio [Mané] and Mo [Salah]. I knew Sadio from Red Bull Salzburg, but I would look at their movements.
“They are all fast, skilful, comfortable on the ball; the speed of the two guys out wide means they want the ball in front of them quite often so they can get in behind.
“Bobby likes to come a little deeper and join in, so he wants it to feet. I knew all this before I came, then, of course, you have to assimilate the manager’s ideas, but I had an idea of how I could help to get the team playing and join in with moves.”
Painstaking research
So just blarney, then.
That's what my missus does, but as she's Irish and I'm English it normally leads to her kicking me off, muttering about 800 years of penetration or something ...
The problem last night seemed to be that Keita, Shaq and Firmino all want to play in the same space and end up nullifying each other. It also meant Gini was left isolated in the middle. I think Klopp was aware Leicester would sit deep and so he wanted to overload the no10 position to drag their central defenders out and create space for Mo and Mane. It didnt work. From now on I think its 1 out 2 for Keita and Shaq as they and only when we play 4-2-3-1
The other obvious issues were Hendo at RB got more ragged as the game went on and Virgil was basically in survival mode for 90 mins.
Was Mane the only one who went to bed early on the Dubai trip? He looked properly fired up, hopefully he can go on a tear now like he did this time last season
The other obvious issues were Hendo at RB got more ragged as the game went on and Virgil was basically in survival mode for 90 mins.
Was Mane the only one who went to bed early on the Dubai trip? He looked properly fired up, hopefully he can go on a tear now like he did this time last season
Shaq seemed totally useless yesterday and joined the sideways passing brigade last night. To be honest - I was kind of shocked that we started both Shaq and Keita in the same team, really could have done with Milner in that midfield last night. For those of you having a go at us for having a go at Keita - I think people have every right on this matter - for the price we paid - honestly we expected a lot more and we can also say that his fitting in period is now over. He has had enough time in training to ensure he starts games but Klopp obviously sees something missing in him to not start him as the central MF player of the three. it's bollox and just as Barca are finding that Coutinho ain't the right sort - I think we are suffering the same with him. Last night was a game where between Shaq, and Keita there should have been enough invention to break down the oppositions deep lying defence and they both failed. So whatever happens this summer - a creative midfielder is a definite requirement.
With all the negative shit I have written above - can I just add that the overall criticism aimed at most of the players maybe completely unjustified because of the conditions. There were times - where I thought they were all trying to avoid an injury which was very possible in that game. So maybe not playing at your best and risking an injury maybe better for us in the long term - many more games to play.
With all the negative shit I have written above - can I just add that the overall criticism aimed at most of the players maybe completely unjustified because of the conditions. There were times - where I thought they were all trying to avoid an injury which was very possible in that game. So maybe not playing at your best and risking an injury maybe better for us in the long term - many more games to play.
I thought you were old Tom, but that really is some long time lovin’.
Apparently I bear the sins of my forefathers ... actually dont go there
My view on Keita was that in the opening 20-25 he seemed very very nervous and it looked like at times he was occupying positions where he knew he wouldn't get the ball. He grew into the game though, and I thought was one of our better hopes of making something happen in the second half. He needs to start like that though otherwise he is too much of a passenger.
You can see him get the ball and his body instinct looks like he wants to run at a player but he is overriding that instinct and playing it safe. Maybe he needs to be in a team that is 2 or 3-0 up to really feel like he can play risk free?
You can see him get the ball and his body instinct looks like he wants to run at a player but he is overriding that instinct and playing it safe. Maybe he needs to be in a team that is 2 or 3-0 up to really feel like he can play risk free?
The Brighton game showed that nervousness, he got clattered and totally hid from the ball for the rest of the game
You know, I hope he gets his confidence and swag back. I expected a lot from him. But if he can’t get his head straight right now, and the odd nasty challenge deflated him, will he be someone who can be relied on? Or will he just turn up for the odd easy game? Or maybe I don’t get psychology and confidence like that is something that sticks once you get it? Don’t know. But a little worried.
There's a lot of truth in that - it happened to Cisse a bit, too - but really, forget next season: for a player of his ability and reputation, he should still be showing SOME progress by this stage.
- Status
