The Burnley match thread (Frogfish Free)
- Thread starter Rosco
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Yeah Mané is starting to be a worry, he just seems like he's constantly 5% off his best form. His split second decision making has been poor for a while, but we don't have alot of options such is the nature of our squad. He will almost certainly start v Chelsea. If he has another game where he's got two left feet it might be time for a rethink over the international break.
Yeah it feels like we are playing in 3rd gear, we have a few players feeling their way back and just not quite at 100% but there is definitely more to come from this side.
I mentioned that the other day. Robbo of course puts in some beauties but Tsimikas seems more consistent - and can play off either foot. Defensively Robbo is better though. Great to have an excellent backup.
TBH we really don't have many options though and if we bench him for a few games I'm not sure he'd be able to (or want to) come back from that. If he's off form we can always play Jota - Bobby - Salah but we can't afford to have two of them off form at the same time (both repeating last season).
The kind of player you really appreciate when he is in your own team, only if he was a better footballer.
ECHO RATINGS
TBH the only one I really disagree with is Mane's because he had an horrendous first half and missed three other good chances to score. So a 6 there for me. TAA was a 9 and MotM.
Alisson Becker 9 (8 for me)
Smart saves from Wood and McNeil first half and handled Burnley’s aerial threat with great composure. Late stop from Barnes ensured clean sheet bonus.
Trent Alexander-Arnold 8. (9 + MotM for me)
Incisive passing and deliveries from the right caused danger. Defensively tested by the lively McNeil first half but few worries after that, and great assist for second goal.
Joel Matip 8
Hands full with the physical presence of Wood and Barnes but the duo soon became disheartened. Impressive distribution when stepping upfield.
Virgil van Dijk 7. (8 for me)
Burnley kept the game away from the Dutchman for much of the first half. One good tackle prompted cheers, and began to enjoy himself after break.
Kostas Tsimikas 8
Left Gudmundsson on the floor early on and fine cross for the opener. Another encouraging outing and deserved standing ovation on his late substitution.
Jordan Henderson 8
Metronomic on his first Reds outing since February and required to plug some gaps defensively. Soon found his passing range and set the tempo.
Naby Keita 8
Played a part in the opening goal, showed great energy and physicality, pressed like a demon and used ball cleverly. Subbed.
Harvey Elliott 9 (8 for me)
Clobbered twice early but undeterred on outstanding first Premier League start. Fine touch and pass in build-up to second and excellent use of possession throughout.
Mohamed Salah 8
Had well-taken strike chalked off for narrow offside, forced decent save from Pope and one effort blocked. Some of his footwork was exceptionally tasty.
Diogo Jota 7
Excellent header for the opener, and became more involved second half with more assured touch. Subbed.
Sadio Mane 8 (6 for me)
Not everything the Senegalese tried first half came off but loved the physical battle with Lowton, and improved after break especially when finishing superbly for Liverpool’s second.
Thiago Alcantara (for Keita 81)
One outrageous turn had the home crowd purring.
Roberto Firmino (for Jota 81)
Classy cameo from the Brazilian.
Joe Gomez (for Tsimikas 90+2)
The centre-back’s first competitive action since November.
TBH the only one I really disagree with is Mane's because he had an horrendous first half and missed three other good chances to score. So a 6 there for me. TAA was a 9 and MotM.
Alisson Becker 9 (8 for me)
Smart saves from Wood and McNeil first half and handled Burnley’s aerial threat with great composure. Late stop from Barnes ensured clean sheet bonus.
Trent Alexander-Arnold 8. (9 + MotM for me)
Incisive passing and deliveries from the right caused danger. Defensively tested by the lively McNeil first half but few worries after that, and great assist for second goal.
Joel Matip 8
Hands full with the physical presence of Wood and Barnes but the duo soon became disheartened. Impressive distribution when stepping upfield.
Virgil van Dijk 7. (8 for me)
Burnley kept the game away from the Dutchman for much of the first half. One good tackle prompted cheers, and began to enjoy himself after break.
Kostas Tsimikas 8
Left Gudmundsson on the floor early on and fine cross for the opener. Another encouraging outing and deserved standing ovation on his late substitution.
Jordan Henderson 8
Metronomic on his first Reds outing since February and required to plug some gaps defensively. Soon found his passing range and set the tempo.
Naby Keita 8
Played a part in the opening goal, showed great energy and physicality, pressed like a demon and used ball cleverly. Subbed.
Harvey Elliott 9 (8 for me)
Clobbered twice early but undeterred on outstanding first Premier League start. Fine touch and pass in build-up to second and excellent use of possession throughout.
Mohamed Salah 8
Had well-taken strike chalked off for narrow offside, forced decent save from Pope and one effort blocked. Some of his footwork was exceptionally tasty.
Diogo Jota 7
Excellent header for the opener, and became more involved second half with more assured touch. Subbed.
Sadio Mane 8 (6 for me)
Not everything the Senegalese tried first half came off but loved the physical battle with Lowton, and improved after break especially when finishing superbly for Liverpool’s second.
Thiago Alcantara (for Keita 81)
One outrageous turn had the home crowd purring.
Roberto Firmino (for Jota 81)
Classy cameo from the Brazilian.
Joe Gomez (for Tsimikas 90+2)
The centre-back’s first competitive action since November.
Another professional victory. It's a difficult game to pick MOTM; everyone had a job to do and mostly delivered, even though we allowed Burnley too much joy in patches.
Alisson 7.5 – aerially dominant, except that one chance that somehow wasn't called a foul. But otherwise his calmness and control of the penalty area and beyond didn't give Burnely any flicker of a hope and when they did shoot on goal he saved excellently. He looks sharp and determined at the start of this season.
Trent 7.5 MOTM – made several important defensive interventions and his lovely dink for Mane was the standout moment of joga bonito of the afternoon.
Matip 7.5 – looked as elegant and in control as ever, hoovering up loose balls and through balls in Fabinho-esque fashion. As long as he's fit, he will start all the important games alongside Van Dijk, methinks.
Van Dijk 7 – probably still some way off 100%, but already showing how much we've missed him. There would be no 2nd goal without his trademark cross-field pass and won all the key headers.
Tsimikas 7 – untroubled defensively, peach of an assist for Jota and proved his fighting spirit to the fans after winning that ridiculous physical tussle seconds after injuring his shoulder. I'm genuinely looking forward to see him play more this season, well done Kostas!
Henderson 6.5 – kept things ticking over in midfield, but no stand-out moments.
Keita 6.5 – pretty much same as Hendo, only a bit further up field. He seems to be well on the way to transforming into a Gini clone in the way he plays; let's hope his fitness follows suit. Got a big hug from Klopp after the substitution.
Elliott 7 – lively and sharp with a few misplaced passes and a few really nice ones, such as the "assist" for the disallowed goal. It's interesting to think about how he compares to Shaq, Curtis or Ox in that advanced 3rd midfielder role; so far it's too early to tell, but starting, playing well and playing the full 90 is a big milestone for him.
Salah 7 – very unlucky not to get on the scoresheet, denied by a tiny offside and a stupendous goal-line block by McNeal. Sharp and switched-on throughout, started to get a bit greedy by the end.
Jota 7 – His predatory instincts and shithousery make defenders' lives uncomfortable and he seems to do a better job in being a focal point and bringing Salah and Mane in compared to last season. It will be interesting to see if Klopp continues to use him in that role once everyone gets fully up to speed, but at least for now having 2 forwards in Jota and Salah with real cutting edge about them is really, really helpful: this game and the Norwich game might have panned out completely differently without his early goals that were against the run of play.
Mane 6 – Super wasteful with his chances today and didn't create anything for others; that's not the Mane we need and love. Still getting on the end of plenty of chances, so it seems like only a small adjustment or a sudden burst of confidence and he'll be back; let's hope this goal will do that.
Subs:
Firmino 6 – for a playmaker, his passing wasn't great. For now, deservedly on the bench behind Jota.
Thiago 6 – lost concentration for one moment, otherwise OK
Gomez n/a
Klopp 7.5 – I like how he changed his mind on the subs and held Firmino and Thiago back for 15 minutes as we just started building momentum around 60 minutes and the subs would have disrupted the flow.
Alisson 7.5 – aerially dominant, except that one chance that somehow wasn't called a foul. But otherwise his calmness and control of the penalty area and beyond didn't give Burnely any flicker of a hope and when they did shoot on goal he saved excellently. He looks sharp and determined at the start of this season.
Trent 7.5 MOTM – made several important defensive interventions and his lovely dink for Mane was the standout moment of joga bonito of the afternoon.
Matip 7.5 – looked as elegant and in control as ever, hoovering up loose balls and through balls in Fabinho-esque fashion. As long as he's fit, he will start all the important games alongside Van Dijk, methinks.
Van Dijk 7 – probably still some way off 100%, but already showing how much we've missed him. There would be no 2nd goal without his trademark cross-field pass and won all the key headers.
Tsimikas 7 – untroubled defensively, peach of an assist for Jota and proved his fighting spirit to the fans after winning that ridiculous physical tussle seconds after injuring his shoulder. I'm genuinely looking forward to see him play more this season, well done Kostas!
Henderson 6.5 – kept things ticking over in midfield, but no stand-out moments.
Keita 6.5 – pretty much same as Hendo, only a bit further up field. He seems to be well on the way to transforming into a Gini clone in the way he plays; let's hope his fitness follows suit. Got a big hug from Klopp after the substitution.
Elliott 7 – lively and sharp with a few misplaced passes and a few really nice ones, such as the "assist" for the disallowed goal. It's interesting to think about how he compares to Shaq, Curtis or Ox in that advanced 3rd midfielder role; so far it's too early to tell, but starting, playing well and playing the full 90 is a big milestone for him.
Salah 7 – very unlucky not to get on the scoresheet, denied by a tiny offside and a stupendous goal-line block by McNeal. Sharp and switched-on throughout, started to get a bit greedy by the end.
Jota 7 – His predatory instincts and shithousery make defenders' lives uncomfortable and he seems to do a better job in being a focal point and bringing Salah and Mane in compared to last season. It will be interesting to see if Klopp continues to use him in that role once everyone gets fully up to speed, but at least for now having 2 forwards in Jota and Salah with real cutting edge about them is really, really helpful: this game and the Norwich game might have panned out completely differently without his early goals that were against the run of play.
Mane 6 – Super wasteful with his chances today and didn't create anything for others; that's not the Mane we need and love. Still getting on the end of plenty of chances, so it seems like only a small adjustment or a sudden burst of confidence and he'll be back; let's hope this goal will do that.
Subs:
Firmino 6 – for a playmaker, his passing wasn't great. For now, deservedly on the bench behind Jota.
Thiago 6 – lost concentration for one moment, otherwise OK
Gomez n/a
Klopp 7.5 – I like how he changed his mind on the subs and held Firmino and Thiago back for 15 minutes as we just started building momentum around 60 minutes and the subs would have disrupted the flow.
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Tsimikas was excellent today. But fuck me he looks like he drank 10 beers and smoked two packets of fags the night before.
Imagine what he could do without a hangover!
Took his goal well, but I think his legs have kinda fell off. He seems to have lost that burst of pace to get away from players.
If I look like him when I'm 75 I'll be devastated.
Slight injury.
I didn't watch the match, @Woland was saying Kieta was a passive observer
Woland's a great guy but he's got a hard on for Keita. Echo and Guardian both gave him an 8. It's funny Rurik said it was a Gini like performance. That's what I thought too but with a little more about him, more vision. Worth a 7.
The last thing we need is a Wijnaldum clone, FFS.
Gini like as we hardly seen him the shithouse ghost.
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