Paris Saint-Germain v Liverpool Match Thread CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

[Brizzle]

We are shite when we don't have a ball carrier in the middle, we also didn't press enough in their DM area. The whole game reminded me of last season when we'd defend a 2-1 lead by taking off Coutinho/Ox and bring on Matip thus going deep and becoming timid, rather than continuing to press and agitate them. Awful from start to finish.

 

[6TimesaRed]

We are shite when we don't have a ball carrier in the middle, we also didn't press enough in their DM area. The whole game reminded me of last season when we'd defend a 2-1 lead by taking off Coutinho/Ox and bring on Matip thus going deep and becoming timid, rather than continuing to press and agitate them. Awful from start to finish.

We do.. His name is Keita..

If injuries are gone, we reallyneed to start playing him... He is exactly that a ball carrier.. That game last night was made for him.. You saw glimpses of what he can do, when he came on..

 

[Piedro]

I haven't told anyone else about it either. Oh no. What have I done?

Me and you meeting in the Monro for bevvies at 4pm is Champions League routine innit.

I'll have to find a new mate for the Napoli game.

 

[mark1975]

Keita looked fit and in much better football shape then earlier this season.
I expect him to soon be a regular in the starting eleven.

I'm completely in the "flat midfield isn't working" camp, but in much better shape? Really? He looked typically lightweight, prone to giving the ball away in dangerous areas and generally like he'd pierced a fucking big hole in an already Titanic like midfield.

I too expect him to be starting soon, because we can't carry on looking so fucking uninspired, but if anyone deserves a go, it's Shaqiri. Keita has loads to prove, regardless of fee or pedigree in a different league. Plenty have come here from Germany and struggled, despite the apparent similarly styled leagues. Look at Klavan, Karius and Matip, just from our own side. And then there's players like Hargreaves, Ozil (via Spain), Reidle, etc. Keita looks well short of the industry and intelligence we needed to compliment our already frantic style. Someone tried to tell me a while back that he was defensively great and would solidify us. It's going to take him a long time to get to that level in this league.

The least we could have hoped for when dropping the pace and urgency this season, was two players who could control the play and tempo in the engine room. As it is, we've bought a rabbit in the headlights and a player who has the turning capacity of a steam train. One made a brilliant turn against Crystal Palace three months ago and the other had a good game once against one of the dregs of the league. It comes to something when "away day" Gini and a desperately declining Henderson are barely sweating it about whether they're getting a game. And our best midfielder is James Milner, still.

As someone said earlier in the thread, after spending so much on those two, to think that we are reaching the Xmas period with neither of them generating any excitement by actually getting a game (or minutes), is probably symptomatic of our hugely underwhelming performances so far. Second in the league and we look one step away from a mighty fall from grace.

 

[rurikbird]

Nice tactical analysis. Some of PSG's build-up play was out of this world:

 

[moron]

There is nothing new in any of this..against quality midfield opposition ... when we play our static 3 ... we are dependent on errors by the opposition. The fact that in some instance we looked good in patches will only be when they decided not to venture forward. The decision making and limited ability of Henderson just fucks us up...that article in the Guardian got it spot on 100%...I have no idea why Klopp persists with that midfield line up.