Pre Match - Southampton (H) - Sat 15:00

[the count]

Thiago is an absolute baller as he showed yesterday but he can also sometimes dawdle on the ball and be somewhat lackadaisical which he also demonstrated yesterday. This did lead to a really good chance for Southampton which he should be thankful to Allisson for bailing him out.
It seems to happen more in theses "lesser" games where he seems to glide through the game.
But when he is on, he is absolutely on and if he continues to demonstrate the top levels of his ability the debate over the merits of his transfer will be redundant.

 

[mark1975]

Is Firmino done now?

It's looking difficult. And if the longterm aim was for Jota to overtake him, then it's job done. I wouldn't say he's done though, it's not that clear cut. He still has something to offer and we definitely can't complain about 4 top forwards, but Bobby is definitely on a bit of a decline on the evidence of the last year or so.

 

[mark1975]

Haha yeah right. Go get yourself (and Redkop should join you) his match performance reel (lots of highlights on YT already) - because what you will see is a player pulling the strings for virtually all of the time he was on the pitch.

Yeah he lost the ball a couple of times (seriously? you want to include Ali blasting the ball at him on the edge of the box when he was already under pressure?) but neither came to anything (the other was in a dangerous position but Ali saved the day - and I gave him credit for that in the same post above).

Nothing came of the errors made by TAA, Konate, Fabs and Hendo but because they aren't Thiago neither you nor Redkop uttered a word (actually week in week out you barely say a word in any match thread - except to have a moan at someone else's' comments).

Ditto Hendo. The comment was more than a little tongue in cheek because of his goal involvement and I thought most would pick up on that - obviously way over your head though. So if we are really dissecting his first half (and most of the second) then yes, he gave the ball away often and overplayed poor passes (same in the second half around the 50th minute mark with a crap cross from a wonderful position in the box). His pass to Mo was a quality, intrinsic, part of the move leading to Jota's 2nd, but of course made by Mo's run which was impossible to ignore.

What really pisses me off on here is the inane criticism of generally small errors (that all players make - as most did in this game because we certainly weren't at our best) whilst those same posters totally ignore the 90% of top quality play being demonstrated in their haste to condemn. And that starts with those who seem to want to lambast Thiago at every (small) opportunity.

This is Thiago under pressure after having the ball "blasted at him". Clearly in full control of the ball, turning with the awareness the player is there and he had enough time before the player got to him to clear the ball or make a pass, he shimmied with the ball before the player got near him. You're talking shite. He's looking at their approaching player and he has Robbo directly in front of him, open.

As for your Henderson backtrack. What a load of bollocks, you rated the players in order of quality, with Henderson under the "crap" section, "despite having a hand in two goals". Usual exaggerating bollocks. No one can score a goal without them being the best player in the World and none of your lesser favourite players can have a bad game without them being the worst in the World. It's like the whole crap the other year where you insisted Firmino and Origi would score X amount of goals a season, based on both having obvious purple patches in otherwise fairly inconsistent goalscoring careers. There's no in between, it's all blind spots, over-championing or over-criticising, depending one what side your bread's buttered.

 

[Donavan Ried]

It's looking difficult. And if the longterm aim was for Jota to overtake him, then it's job done. I wouldn't say he's done though, it's not that clear cut. He still has something to offer and we definitely can't complain about 4 top forwards, but Bobby is definitely on a bit of a decline on the evidence of the last year or so.

Bobby has never been a prolific goal scorer for us, but rather the one how makes those def touches that set up Mane and Salah to score those goal, and a player that chips in with goals himself. If you look at our top goal scorers in pervious season it has been such

2017/18 Salah 44 Mane 20 Firmino 27
2018/19 Salah 27 Mane 26 Firmino 16
2019/20 Salah 23 Mane 22 Firmino 12

This season thus far:
2020/21 Salah 17 Mane 9 Firmino 6 (Jota) 8

Stats for Firmino VS Jota this season
[xtable=skin1]
{thead}
{tr}
{th}Rank{/th}
{th}Name{/th}
{th}GoalsGL{/th}
{th}AssistsA{/th}
{th}PlayedP{/th}
{th}Goals per 90{/th}
{th}Mins per GoalMPG{/th}
{th}Total Shots{/th}
{th}Goal Conversion{/th}
{th}Shot Accuracy{/th}
{/tr}
{/thead}
{tbody}
{tr}
{td} {/td}
{td}

{/td}
{td} {/td}
{td} {/td}
{td} {/td}
{td} {/td}
{td} {/td}
{td} {/td}
{td} {/td}
{td} {/td}
{/tr}
{tr}
{td} {/td}
{td}

{/td}
{td} {/td}
{td} {/td}
{td} {/td}
{td} {/td}
{td} {/td}
{td} {/td}
{td} {/td}
{td} {/td}
{/tr}
{tr}
{td}3{/td}
{td}
Diogo JotaJota
{/td}
{td}8{/td}
{td}1{/td}
{td}16{/td}
{td}0.64{/td}
{td}140{/td}
{td}30{/td}
{td}27%{/td}
{td}60%{/td}
{/tr}
{tr}
{td}4{/td}
{td}
Roberto FirminoFirmino
{/td}
{td}6{/td}
{td}1{/td}
{td}11{/td}
{td}1.05{/td}
{td}86{/td}
{td}13{/td}
{td}46%{/td}
{td}62%{/td}
{/tr}
{/tbody}
[/xtable]

 

[Frogfish]

This is Thiago under pressure after having the ball "blasted at him". Clearly in full control of the ball, turning with the awareness the player is there and he had enough time before the player got to him to clear the ball or make a pass, he shimmied with the ball before the player got near him. You're talking shite. He's looking at their approaching player and he has Robbo directly in front of him, open.

As for your Henderson backtrack. What a load of bollocks, you rated the players in order of quality, with Henderson under the "crap" section, "despite having a hand in two goals". Usual exaggerating bollocks. No one can score a goal without them being the best player in the World and none of your lesser favourite players can have a bad game without them being the worst in the World. It's like the whole crap the other year where you insisted Firmino and Origi would score X amount of goals a season, based on both having obvious purple patches in otherwise fairly inconsistent goalscoring careers. There's no in between, it's all blind spots, over-championing or over-criticising, depending one what side your bread's buttered.

View attachment 2055

Clearly you didn't read my ratings post at all - because I didn't rate players under any headings (which I usually do but not this week) so now who's talking utter bollocks. And as I said you totally missed the flippancy of my remark and now you're just trying to cover your arse by doubling down. You are wrong.

Oh and your graphic ? That isn't the one where Ali blasted it at him - it's the one where I said he fucked up and Ali covered his arse. You are literally all over the place in your efforts to try and prove me wrong - and failing pitifully.

As for your 'appraisal' of his performance I suggest you go and check match reviews, match commentators, players, managers and studio guests etc. etc. where most comments are from people far more qualified than you or I : Thiago is being universally lauded for his performance (and by most posters on here too). The only exceptions are you and one or maybe two others on this forum. So it seems I am not the one with an opinion that's out of step ... you are. your efforts are embarrassing if I'm honest.

 

[Red Bird]

our goal difference is the same as our total points.
We have scored more goals than Man City and Tottenham combined.

We’ve conceded too many, though. A bit more than both City and Chelsea combined.

We conceded many chances in the first half. He was a big part of it with his loose passes. It would not have mattered that much if he was one of the forwards but he was playing in a crucial position where a stray pass, and the opponents will be all over us. If it was the CL knockout stages we would have conceded for sure.

If you think that he has had a great half then be it. I'm just pointing out it's not the first time he has had brain fart moments like today.

Far too many loose passes, I agree. It’s exactly why we dropped points to Brentford, Brighton, West Ham and Man City, sometimes from winning positions. Klopp himself said as much at the post match press conference.

 

[localny]

We’ve conceded too many, though. A more than both City and Chelsea combined.

Far too many loose passes, I agree. It’s exactly why we dropped points to Brentford, Brighton, West Ham and Man City, sometimes from winning positions. Klopp himself said as much at the post match press conference.

And those Brent and Bright games are currently the diff between league leaders and us

 

[Brizzle]

Thiago is finally performing how we all expected him too.

Presume you didn't watch the last 10-12 games of last season?

 

[Brizzle]

Is Firmino done now?

Even if we get 18 more months of Firmino trying to prove his worth or being a useful substitute then I am happy with that. He's been here for a long time, won the lot and been pivotal to the system that has been so successful. I hope he stays around the squad to keep the level of competition up and only sell if we are going to replace with an attacker we believe is capable of starting in big games.

 

[dantes]

Even if we get 18 more months of Firmino trying to prove his worth or being a useful substitute then I am happy with that. He's been here for a long time, won the lot and been pivotal to the system that has been so successful. I hope he stays around the squad to keep the level of competition up and only sell if we are going to replace with an attacker we believe is capable of starting in big games.

Alternatively, his hamstring "injury" might just be cover for an emergency mid-season doping programme, and he will come back looking better than ever, which will be highly "convenient" for us just before the afcon.

 

[Brizzle]

Alternatively, his hamstring "injury" might just be cover for an emergency mid-season doping programme, and he will come back looking better than ever, which will be highly "convenient" for us just before the afcon.

Ideal if this is the case

 

[HC]

Presume you didn't watch the last 10-12 games of last season?

Fair point , even if we take last season's matches though we're sampling less than half a season where he's been good.

I'd still argue his most impressive performances to date for Liverpool have been this season