That second goal was not simple to take. Great composure to set his feet and get his body behind the ball.
Salzburg Match
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...??? What are you worried about..? "It is just a friendly" 😗
I thought his most Fowler-esque moment was when he was on the floor and he tried to do a sneaky back heel past the keeper. It's such a shame he lost about a year with that injury, but he's really fast getting back to his best now.
Have we fired Klopp yet?
Not much to report.....he and Phillips (or the Greek lad) went for the same ball and offered up a half chance for Salzburg. He also played one poor pass out of defence. On the plus side he won every aerial ball, played a few decent passes and looked very mature and confident for his age.
Not bad at all. Definitely has a presence about him, and looked better than Phillips who was lumbering about like a 40 year old.
That said, I think it's way too early for him to start playing first team minutes. He's at least a year away if not longer.
That's because he's miffed he's getting the boot
Is Klopp still in a job?
He wasn't great that's for sure.
HAVE WE SIGNED ANYONE???
With Harvey Elliott, I think the club has an unusual duty of care, because - really unusually - they've been hyping the poor guy up like hell, especially with that lockdown video of Pep chatting to him like he was a superstar. And now every time he gets a few minutes he's trying WAY too hard to catch the eye rather than just pass and move and build up some fitness and form. I think they need to calm the hype around him a bit, and just let him go out to do the simple stuff. And if he gets a goal with a nice free kick or sets up a goal with some clever play, then great, he'll feel fantastic and we can all move on. But otherwise just put a pause on the puffery.
Really hope Brewster gets a proper crack this season.
Special player
Special player
Ditto. I see some people saying he needs to go out on loan. He's already proven himself in that regard and he looks exactly the type of player (a goal-scorer) we need to be bringing off the bench when goals are required. Surely, even if we are not selling Origi, there is still a place in the squad for him. Let them fight it out week by week and if there is an injury then we are covered for both the starting slot and bench.
Watched the replay, here are my thoughts on some of the individual player performances:
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Gomez – started the game half-asleep; badly at fault for the 2nd and gave the ball away constantly. Improved dramatically after that and was sharp the rest of the way. He knows he can't afford to slide down the pecking order.
Williams – one of the few players to come out of the first half with any credit. Good energy and his crossing isn't bad either.
Fabinho – awful, a waste of space. Not untypical of Brazilians to treat friendlies less than seriously.
Keita – like Williams, emerged from the half with credit. Seemed faster than most players on the pitch.
Mane – typically threatening, unlucky not to score.
Firmino – much like Fabs, an absolute non-entity in this game.
Salah – nothing worked for him at all. A bit concerned that he doesn't seem to trust his right foot.
SUBS:
Minamino – there was one episode when he was 2 on 1 against a Salzburg defender with Salah alongside and he made a complete mess of it, probably being caught in two minds (on rewatch it seems like he decided to play the ball to Salah first time, but at the last moment noticed that Mo strayed offside). Other than that, I thought he was excellent – don't know what game you were watching, @Modo. Super involved in the midfield build-up, maybe slightly overdoing it with the turns, but they were almost always effective, playing simply and quickly when needed. Unlike his games last season, I don't get the impression that he's trying too hard and his one-touch pass to Milner that set up the 2nd goal was a good illustration of that – there were so many other options when receiving the ball on the edge of the penalty area, but he chose the correct one without thinking. To me it shows he is starting to become a part of the team's mechanism.
Tsimikas – if there is one player who is trying too hard, it's definitely our new Greek. Understandably trying to impress Klopp in the limited playing time that he has, but he won't ever dislodge Robbo by overthinking and overplaying.
Phillips – OK, he looks like he's running through treacle, especially when compared to the fleet-footed Salzburg forwards, but in truth he did well after replacing Van Dijk and his decision-making was solid. This is a player who knows his strengths and weaknesses. Could be a good addition for a team that doesn't play with a high line and at the moment he is our 4th-choice CB on merit. Is he good enough to go into the season with as 4th-choice? Honestly not sure.
Koumetio – one bad giveaway that led to the YC and a few passes that could have been more crisp – but boy, what potential! Love the combination of calm demeanor and overpowering athleticism. He's reading the game well too, not just relying on physique. Early days, but I don't recall a more exciting CB prospect at LFC for quite some time.
Hoever – looks lost at RB, but not physically strong enough to compete at CB any time soon. Definitely a candidate for a loan.
Grujic – meh.
Jones – not one of his better games, but did contribute to the 2nd goal.
Elliott – I'm not seeing the tendency to overplay that @gkmacca was pointing out. I'm actually impressed that he chooses a simple, but effective option most of the time, it's just the execution that was a bit lacking today.
Brewster – barely touched the ball apart from the 2 goals. Klopp will try to teach him to "be more involved in games" as he said in the post-match interview, but that just could be his nature. A stealth assassin. It's strange how the ball seems to find him rather than the other way around.
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Overall, a good lesson and a wake-up call for a few players. Salzburg were sharper and quicker than us in the 1st half; we did manage to bring the game to them by the end of the 45, but couldn't score. In the 2nd half we again could have easily conceded the 3rd, but overall it was better despite several unconvincing performances from the substitutes. I think Minamino linked the play together, kind of replacing Keita in that regard, and Milner added energy and drive. Elliott could have won it in added time, but mis-hit the ball with the goal at his mercy.
================
Gomez – started the game half-asleep; badly at fault for the 2nd and gave the ball away constantly. Improved dramatically after that and was sharp the rest of the way. He knows he can't afford to slide down the pecking order.
Williams – one of the few players to come out of the first half with any credit. Good energy and his crossing isn't bad either.
Fabinho – awful, a waste of space. Not untypical of Brazilians to treat friendlies less than seriously.
Keita – like Williams, emerged from the half with credit. Seemed faster than most players on the pitch.
Mane – typically threatening, unlucky not to score.
Firmino – much like Fabs, an absolute non-entity in this game.
Salah – nothing worked for him at all. A bit concerned that he doesn't seem to trust his right foot.
SUBS:
Minamino – there was one episode when he was 2 on 1 against a Salzburg defender with Salah alongside and he made a complete mess of it, probably being caught in two minds (on rewatch it seems like he decided to play the ball to Salah first time, but at the last moment noticed that Mo strayed offside). Other than that, I thought he was excellent – don't know what game you were watching, @Modo. Super involved in the midfield build-up, maybe slightly overdoing it with the turns, but they were almost always effective, playing simply and quickly when needed. Unlike his games last season, I don't get the impression that he's trying too hard and his one-touch pass to Milner that set up the 2nd goal was a good illustration of that – there were so many other options when receiving the ball on the edge of the penalty area, but he chose the correct one without thinking. To me it shows he is starting to become a part of the team's mechanism.
Tsimikas – if there is one player who is trying too hard, it's definitely our new Greek. Understandably trying to impress Klopp in the limited playing time that he has, but he won't ever dislodge Robbo by overthinking and overplaying.
Phillips – OK, he looks like he's running through treacle, especially when compared to the fleet-footed Salzburg forwards, but in truth he did well after replacing Van Dijk and his decision-making was solid. This is a player who knows his strengths and weaknesses. Could be a good addition for a team that doesn't play with a high line and at the moment he is our 4th-choice CB on merit. Is he good enough to go into the season with as 4th-choice? Honestly not sure.
Koumetio – one bad giveaway that led to the YC and a few passes that could have been more crisp – but boy, what potential! Love the combination of calm demeanor and overpowering athleticism. He's reading the game well too, not just relying on physique. Early days, but I don't recall a more exciting CB prospect at LFC for quite some time.
Hoever – looks lost at RB, but not physically strong enough to compete at CB any time soon. Definitely a candidate for a loan.
Grujic – meh.
Jones – not one of his better games, but did contribute to the 2nd goal.
Elliott – I'm not seeing the tendency to overplay that @gkmacca was pointing out. I'm actually impressed that he chooses a simple, but effective option most of the time, it's just the execution that was a bit lacking today.
Brewster – barely touched the ball apart from the 2 goals. Klopp will try to teach him to "be more involved in games" as he said in the post-match interview, but that just could be his nature. A stealth assassin. It's strange how the ball seems to find him rather than the other way around.
==================
Overall, a good lesson and a wake-up call for a few players. Salzburg were sharper and quicker than us in the 1st half; we did manage to bring the game to them by the end of the 45, but couldn't score. In the 2nd half we again could have easily conceded the 3rd, but overall it was better despite several unconvincing performances from the substitutes. I think Minamino linked the play together, kind of replacing Keita in that regard, and Milner added energy and drive. Elliott could have won it in added time, but mis-hit the ball with the goal at his mercy.
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To be more specific, then - he's overplaying the simple but effective options. For example, at one point he got the ball near the halfway line, pretty much in front of the dug out, and went to play the ball down the line - a simple pass, the right pass, but he tried to put some curve and spin on it and knocked it straight out. Then a few minutes later, a similar thing - a simple pass which he tried to sprinkle some fairy dust on and again knocked it straight out of play. That's what happens when you're being over-hyped by some of your own coaching staff, you only get a few minutes on the field and you're desperate to impress.
He's NOT that limited. A player actually knows how to score goals inside the box, amongst other things, and almost immediately he's another David Nugent! Go and look at videos of him for the ressies and England. He plays all over the place. He does need to be more aggressively involved for us now, but, as with Minimino, it would help if he was passed the ball a bit more often.
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what the fuck is he sniffing every 2 seconds for?
Ha, I think it's a nervous tic he's picked up. He does it all the time - on TV the mics don't pick it up as much, but sadly if, like me, you've heard him often enough on headphones, you notice it all the bloody time! I could just about understand it if he'd only worked for one broadcaster and maybe the producer was too nervous or polite to have a word, but he's been on Radio City for ages, and LFCTV, and several Irish radio/TV stations, so you would have thought one of them would have said, 'Aldo, mate, can you stop the sniffing?'
No, I think he's going to be a CB long-term, but he's just not big enough to play that position at the top level yet. So I think he'll have to play RB for a more defensive team or a CB in a back 3. Trent-like attacking RB position is definitely not for him.
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