Wolves (A) Post Match Meanderings
- Thread starter rurikbird
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I won't go into a full play by play critique it's suffice to say that was a very very good win against what was a very tough opponent away from home. The table makes wonderful viewing.
One point I posted in the match thread : Obviously it's very important we don't lose the ball when we get into the opposition's half / final third and, Mane aside yesterday, we have the players with the technical ability to hold onto it and play it around, until they attempt the final pass. Players such as Fabinho, Keita, Salah, Mane (on form) and especially Bobby.
I do think we are trying to be too intricate in the opposition's penalty box, too many short, tight, passes which rarely result in space and a goal. City tend to play it around the box (which creates a little more space) and then thread through a killer pass and/or cut back from a runner to the line, I wish we did more of that as Fabinho & Salah showed with our first goal it's slamost impossible to defend against when played at pace.
Anyway let's hope this awesome Xmas continues ! Hope you all have a wonderful time with your loved ones this festive season *blows kisses*.
One point I posted in the match thread : Obviously it's very important we don't lose the ball when we get into the opposition's half / final third and, Mane aside yesterday, we have the players with the technical ability to hold onto it and play it around, until they attempt the final pass. Players such as Fabinho, Keita, Salah, Mane (on form) and especially Bobby.
I do think we are trying to be too intricate in the opposition's penalty box, too many short, tight, passes which rarely result in space and a goal. City tend to play it around the box (which creates a little more space) and then thread through a killer pass and/or cut back from a runner to the line, I wish we did more of that as Fabinho & Salah showed with our first goal it's slamost impossible to defend against when played at pace.
Anyway let's hope this awesome Xmas continues ! Hope you all have a wonderful time with your loved ones this festive season *blows kisses*.
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Ratings :
Alisson : 7.5 - no more Cruyf turns please. Otherwise another excellent perforamnce (especially distribution) hightlighting how he has become the extra man in our backline.
Robbo : 6.5 - some uncharicteristic lapses today. Crossing poor again. Rest of his game typical Robbo.
VvD : 7.5 - Had the dangerous Traore in his pocket, never going to ground to keep him away from the goal. One minor lapse aside he was now what we have come to expect. Superb. So happy he broke his goal drought too - great awareness to make that run ! I bet he'd be a great goalie too if AB ever needs a rest.
Lovren : 6.5 - a typical Lovren performance. The imperious and the calamatous. We got away with the later.
Milner : 7 - obviusly RB doesn't seem him at his very best but at times I thought he was more RM than RB he spent so much of the game high up the pitch. Winger got passed him a few times which lead to potentially dangerous crosses.
Henderson : 7.5 - Our midfield domination and the support of Fabinho meant we got to see a much more adventous Hendo. He did well occasionally distribute longish passes into dangerous areas and looked far less of the restricted, defensive, Hendo we've come to assume. Another positive from having Fabinho on the pitch.
Fabinho : 8.5 MotM (again) - Surely an automatic starter now. Another highly impressive perforamnce of blocks, tackles, passing and possession. Superb run and cross for Salah's goal.
Keita : 6.5 - He was nowhere near as bad as some are slating him (someone mentioned we need to have a player to hate and the haters seem to have identified him since he's not reached the levels he's capable of yet). Retains possession well and has lovely technique (witness the calm pull the ball out of the air-chip over oppo player-collect just before he was injured) but isn't yet having the influence I expected in attack. I do feel this has a lot to do with getting on the same wavelength and will greatly improve over time.
Firmino : 8 - a lot of his work in midfield was the reason we were able to retain so much possession, lots of lovely turns and sliderule passes. He is never going to score as many goals as last season in the far deeper role Klopp has him playing but it greatly assists our ball retention and distribution creating dangerous attacks for Mane & Salah.
Mane : 5 - Frustrated the hell out of me. The amount of times he gave the ball away was in double figures. Whenever he was in possession I was just waiting for the turnover. One great block in defence, one very good run in attack.
Salah : 8 - This was a very fine demonstration of attacking play. Wolves simply could not keep him quiet and most of our dangerous moves originated / ended at his feet. Really could have had more as he had 3 half chances that went awry.
Subs
Gini 6.5 : awful miss in the final second. Shown have at least been on target and I was sure he was going to score. Showed his usual strength and technical ability on the ball. He's having a great season but wasn't influential in this game.
Clyne : 6 - no time to impress.
Lallana : 6 - didn't really have any major influence on the game, positively or negatively. The epitome of a 6/10.
Alisson : 7.5 - no more Cruyf turns please. Otherwise another excellent perforamnce (especially distribution) hightlighting how he has become the extra man in our backline.
Robbo : 6.5 - some uncharicteristic lapses today. Crossing poor again. Rest of his game typical Robbo.
VvD : 7.5 - Had the dangerous Traore in his pocket, never going to ground to keep him away from the goal. One minor lapse aside he was now what we have come to expect. Superb. So happy he broke his goal drought too - great awareness to make that run ! I bet he'd be a great goalie too if AB ever needs a rest.
Lovren : 6.5 - a typical Lovren performance. The imperious and the calamatous. We got away with the later.
Milner : 7 - obviusly RB doesn't seem him at his very best but at times I thought he was more RM than RB he spent so much of the game high up the pitch. Winger got passed him a few times which lead to potentially dangerous crosses.
Henderson : 7.5 - Our midfield domination and the support of Fabinho meant we got to see a much more adventous Hendo. He did well occasionally distribute longish passes into dangerous areas and looked far less of the restricted, defensive, Hendo we've come to assume. Another positive from having Fabinho on the pitch.
Fabinho : 8.5 MotM (again) - Surely an automatic starter now. Another highly impressive perforamnce of blocks, tackles, passing and possession. Superb run and cross for Salah's goal.
Keita : 6.5 - He was nowhere near as bad as some are slating him (someone mentioned we need to have a player to hate and the haters seem to have identified him since he's not reached the levels he's capable of yet). Retains possession well and has lovely technique (witness the calm pull the ball out of the air-chip over oppo player-collect just before he was injured) but isn't yet having the influence I expected in attack. I do feel this has a lot to do with getting on the same wavelength and will greatly improve over time.
Firmino : 8 - a lot of his work in midfield was the reason we were able to retain so much possession, lots of lovely turns and sliderule passes. He is never going to score as many goals as last season in the far deeper role Klopp has him playing but it greatly assists our ball retention and distribution creating dangerous attacks for Mane & Salah.
Mane : 5 - Frustrated the hell out of me. The amount of times he gave the ball away was in double figures. Whenever he was in possession I was just waiting for the turnover. One great block in defence, one very good run in attack.
Salah : 8 - This was a very fine demonstration of attacking play. Wolves simply could not keep him quiet and most of our dangerous moves originated / ended at his feet. Really could have had more as he had 3 half chances that went awry.
Subs
Gini 6.5 : awful miss in the final second. Shown have at least been on target and I was sure he was going to score. Showed his usual strength and technical ability on the ball. He's having a great season but wasn't influential in this game.
Clyne : 6 - no time to impress.
Lallana : 6 - didn't really have any major influence on the game, positively or negatively. The epitome of a 6/10.
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Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 Liverpool 2: The Match Ratings
by Ben Johnson | Dec 21, 2018 | 4 comments
Alisson: 8
Makes a good save that looked like a shite save first 15 there, sneaky little deflection. Makes everything look a piece of piss. That chance where Robbo back heeled their lad in with five to go; he doesn’t save it, doesn’t need to, closed him down like a fucking massive big dust storm. Fucking score now, shit head.
James Milner: 7
Took loads of time out of the game when it was needed first half. Kept it well.
Degsi: 7
First 10 minutes. Chasing their lad down the line. Three men in the boozer at the same time say “stand up, Degsi”. Degsi fell over, somehow. Fancies himself as a reverse Nostradamus there based on that first-half performance. Crying it in. Better second half.
Virgil: 9
Their fast lad tried getting after him for a bit, and then fucked him off for the easier prey of Degsi. We had a conversation there at 1-0 about him being better than any of our best ever centre halves put together, but come to the conclusion he needs to score more. Then he bangs like fucking Aldo. Sublime.
Andy Robbo: 6
Unusually gave it away every time he touched it in the first 10 minutes. Struggled first half. The only Scottish fella who doesn’t like the rain. Them fuckers dry their fucking clobber in it. Give their lad a back heel for a laugh in the last minute to keep our goalie on his toes. The Albie Moreno run-out clock has about three days left on it.
Fabinho: 8
Still in the changies in the first minute when he played their sprinter in. Then looks front foot for fun, fancies overlapping and getting The Reds on the march with a belter ball to Mo for the first. Mad the way he is better than Souness, Gerrard, Alonso and Didi Hamann put together, and I was calling him a crab a month ago. Drifted out of it a bit second half but then so fucking what.
Henderson: 7
Played well in tandem with Fabinho. Does well second half breaking it up. Played Mo in a few times down the channel really well.
Naby: 7
Bright at times. Got wellied all over the place at times. Is going to be amazing at some stage, probably for the last month of the season to win us the treble. Had a mad patch on his stomach there when he was going off. Could be a nicotine patch. Ciggies are boss. Vapes are the pits — end of the world. Think of all the bad shit going on in the world. Coincides with ciggies going out of fashion. Get them down your neck, la. World peace.
Mo Salah: 9
Movement for his goal was fucking ridiculously good. Then for a laugh, just flicked it over there defender. Yer, I’ll just flick this over there. Like Subbuteo. Such a threat. Legged them second half, could have scored 15. Our mate had him first goal and 3-0, made up he never scored again. Well in, lad.
Firmino: 8
Was excellent there, first half. Link play, touch, vision, workfare, muzzy. Not in it as much second half.
Sadio: 7
Looked like he was doing that Mickey Finn thing, where he pretends he can’t be arsed but then legs someone, except he didn’t really leg anyone.
SUBS
Lallana:
Forgot about him there, you know. Did alright.
Gini: 9
Cost our mate £300 with that miss last minute. Tremendous
by Ben Johnson | Dec 21, 2018 | 4 comments
Alisson: 8
Makes a good save that looked like a shite save first 15 there, sneaky little deflection. Makes everything look a piece of piss. That chance where Robbo back heeled their lad in with five to go; he doesn’t save it, doesn’t need to, closed him down like a fucking massive big dust storm. Fucking score now, shit head.
James Milner: 7
Took loads of time out of the game when it was needed first half. Kept it well.
Degsi: 7
First 10 minutes. Chasing their lad down the line. Three men in the boozer at the same time say “stand up, Degsi”. Degsi fell over, somehow. Fancies himself as a reverse Nostradamus there based on that first-half performance. Crying it in. Better second half.
Virgil: 9
Their fast lad tried getting after him for a bit, and then fucked him off for the easier prey of Degsi. We had a conversation there at 1-0 about him being better than any of our best ever centre halves put together, but come to the conclusion he needs to score more. Then he bangs like fucking Aldo. Sublime.
Andy Robbo: 6
Unusually gave it away every time he touched it in the first 10 minutes. Struggled first half. The only Scottish fella who doesn’t like the rain. Them fuckers dry their fucking clobber in it. Give their lad a back heel for a laugh in the last minute to keep our goalie on his toes. The Albie Moreno run-out clock has about three days left on it.
Fabinho: 8
Still in the changies in the first minute when he played their sprinter in. Then looks front foot for fun, fancies overlapping and getting The Reds on the march with a belter ball to Mo for the first. Mad the way he is better than Souness, Gerrard, Alonso and Didi Hamann put together, and I was calling him a crab a month ago. Drifted out of it a bit second half but then so fucking what.
Henderson: 7
Played well in tandem with Fabinho. Does well second half breaking it up. Played Mo in a few times down the channel really well.
Naby: 7
Bright at times. Got wellied all over the place at times. Is going to be amazing at some stage, probably for the last month of the season to win us the treble. Had a mad patch on his stomach there when he was going off. Could be a nicotine patch. Ciggies are boss. Vapes are the pits — end of the world. Think of all the bad shit going on in the world. Coincides with ciggies going out of fashion. Get them down your neck, la. World peace.
Mo Salah: 9
Movement for his goal was fucking ridiculously good. Then for a laugh, just flicked it over there defender. Yer, I’ll just flick this over there. Like Subbuteo. Such a threat. Legged them second half, could have scored 15. Our mate had him first goal and 3-0, made up he never scored again. Well in, lad.
Firmino: 8
Was excellent there, first half. Link play, touch, vision, workfare, muzzy. Not in it as much second half.
Sadio: 7
Looked like he was doing that Mickey Finn thing, where he pretends he can’t be arsed but then legs someone, except he didn’t really leg anyone.
SUBS
Lallana:
Forgot about him there, you know. Did alright.
Gini: 9
Cost our mate £300 with that miss last minute. Tremendous
Lallana froggy?
Some post match thoughts:
- Klopp said that Henderson and Fabinho played together because "Gini needed a rest," but it actually looked like a very balanced midfield combo. Hendo in particular seemed a bit liberated by a presence of a DM alongside him and could drive forward a bit like he did earlier in his career. And Fabinho's tendency to get sucked into challenges and not having the speed to get back in position was pretty well mitigated by Hendo's diligence. Their styles of passing seem to complement each other too, although I need to watch more games to be sure.
- Keita – he is obviously been struggling a bit after his MOTM performance against Burnley, but in his defense he's been mostly playing out of position. When stationed in a midfield 2 at Leipzig, he could use his skill to glide past players, like he always does, carry the ball from the centre circle until the vicinity of the penalty area, then lay it off to one of the actual attackers. Now he is the one receiving the ball near the penalty area and expected to create a goal and while he does have skills for that, it's just not his comfort zone. There is a difference between a midfielder who occasionally drives into the box with great effect or a full-time winger/AM who has to try to beat the same defender 10-15 times per game. It's a different skill-set and by the way when deployed further forward in his last season at Leipzig, Keita was also not as convincing as when he was at CM the season before. I don't blame Klopp for doing this, because I think he doesn't trust Keita defensively quite yet to play him in the midfield 2 (and the competition there is fierce), whereas we don't have as many options on the LW, so that happens to be Keita's route into the team for now.
- It's interesting to note that the same front 6 could have easily lined up as 4-3-3 – one of Hendo or Fabs at #6, Keita and the other on each side and the usual front 3. But I guess there was a tactical reason why Klopp went for 4-2-3-1 or 4-2-2-2 in most recent games. I'm thinking of our 4-3-3 as a more "total football" approach with high pressing and high-speed full-intensity attacking combinations, whereas 4-2-3-1 has a bit more division of roles between the attacking 4 and the rest and thus lends itself better for a patient approach. Earlier in the season Klopp tried to modify his 4-3-3 for use in a "controlled" way (e.g. Napoli away) and it didn't work too well, so now he mostly uses 4-2-3-1 for "control" and 4-3-3 for "let's fucking twat them" (Napoli home and United).
- This was the 2nd game in a row Mane started on the right wing. We have a bit of an unbalanced situation in the squad in that 3 of our 4 best attacking players – Salah, Mane and Shaqiri – all either prefer to play or are most effective on the RW. It's a testament to Klopp's tactical and man-management mastery that this doesn't even register as a problem. In this game, Salah and Mane kept switching between CF and RW while Shaq remained on the bench precisely because Salah in particular was very effective playing on that RW and there was no need to change things. Klopp is keeping everyone happy and involved for the time being, but I'm sure he would love to have at least one naturally left-sided attacking player to give his squad balance. This is why he was so keenly interested in Lemar one-and-a-half years ago and that also probably counts against Pulisic, who once again is more comfortable on the RW.
- I think the main reason Milner played instead of Clyne was because we needed him for set pieces. As it happened, both goals were scored after set plays (albeit 2nd phase of attack) and generally the set-piece quality was a huge improvement on United game. We need Trent back as soon as possible just for his delivery.
- We lost a bit of control in the last 15 minutes of the first half, but the way we controlled the game in the 2nd half was very good to see. At 2:0 the game felt like it was over as a contest – and it's not because Wolves players are so easily discouraged (they came back from behind to beat Chelsea just a coupe of weeks ago). Lots of little things contributed to that: Van Dijk's general awesomeness (seeing Traore beaten for pace by a CB must be pretty discouraging for teammates), Milner's experience at slowing the game down, Gini coming on and earning a foul or keeping the ball, the solid base provided by Hendo and Fabinho in the middle, Salah's threat on the counter... There was an episode near the end that I particularly liked: we seemed to have a nice positional attack going, but instead of more players joining the attack just because they could, we smartly played the ball all the way back to Van Dijk, who then pinged a beautiful cross-field pass into Salah who was waiting on Boly's shoulder, beat him for pace and almost scored. So we managed to create a dangerous attack, while keeping everyone except Salah back in the defensive shape – a perfect way to play while protecting the lead.
- Klopp said that Henderson and Fabinho played together because "Gini needed a rest," but it actually looked like a very balanced midfield combo. Hendo in particular seemed a bit liberated by a presence of a DM alongside him and could drive forward a bit like he did earlier in his career. And Fabinho's tendency to get sucked into challenges and not having the speed to get back in position was pretty well mitigated by Hendo's diligence. Their styles of passing seem to complement each other too, although I need to watch more games to be sure.
- Keita – he is obviously been struggling a bit after his MOTM performance against Burnley, but in his defense he's been mostly playing out of position. When stationed in a midfield 2 at Leipzig, he could use his skill to glide past players, like he always does, carry the ball from the centre circle until the vicinity of the penalty area, then lay it off to one of the actual attackers. Now he is the one receiving the ball near the penalty area and expected to create a goal and while he does have skills for that, it's just not his comfort zone. There is a difference between a midfielder who occasionally drives into the box with great effect or a full-time winger/AM who has to try to beat the same defender 10-15 times per game. It's a different skill-set and by the way when deployed further forward in his last season at Leipzig, Keita was also not as convincing as when he was at CM the season before. I don't blame Klopp for doing this, because I think he doesn't trust Keita defensively quite yet to play him in the midfield 2 (and the competition there is fierce), whereas we don't have as many options on the LW, so that happens to be Keita's route into the team for now.
- It's interesting to note that the same front 6 could have easily lined up as 4-3-3 – one of Hendo or Fabs at #6, Keita and the other on each side and the usual front 3. But I guess there was a tactical reason why Klopp went for 4-2-3-1 or 4-2-2-2 in most recent games. I'm thinking of our 4-3-3 as a more "total football" approach with high pressing and high-speed full-intensity attacking combinations, whereas 4-2-3-1 has a bit more division of roles between the attacking 4 and the rest and thus lends itself better for a patient approach. Earlier in the season Klopp tried to modify his 4-3-3 for use in a "controlled" way (e.g. Napoli away) and it didn't work too well, so now he mostly uses 4-2-3-1 for "control" and 4-3-3 for "let's fucking twat them" (Napoli home and United).
- This was the 2nd game in a row Mane started on the right wing. We have a bit of an unbalanced situation in the squad in that 3 of our 4 best attacking players – Salah, Mane and Shaqiri – all either prefer to play or are most effective on the RW. It's a testament to Klopp's tactical and man-management mastery that this doesn't even register as a problem. In this game, Salah and Mane kept switching between CF and RW while Shaq remained on the bench precisely because Salah in particular was very effective playing on that RW and there was no need to change things. Klopp is keeping everyone happy and involved for the time being, but I'm sure he would love to have at least one naturally left-sided attacking player to give his squad balance. This is why he was so keenly interested in Lemar one-and-a-half years ago and that also probably counts against Pulisic, who once again is more comfortable on the RW.
- I think the main reason Milner played instead of Clyne was because we needed him for set pieces. As it happened, both goals were scored after set plays (albeit 2nd phase of attack) and generally the set-piece quality was a huge improvement on United game. We need Trent back as soon as possible just for his delivery.
- We lost a bit of control in the last 15 minutes of the first half, but the way we controlled the game in the 2nd half was very good to see. At 2:0 the game felt like it was over as a contest – and it's not because Wolves players are so easily discouraged (they came back from behind to beat Chelsea just a coupe of weeks ago). Lots of little things contributed to that: Van Dijk's general awesomeness (seeing Traore beaten for pace by a CB must be pretty discouraging for teammates), Milner's experience at slowing the game down, Gini coming on and earning a foul or keeping the ball, the solid base provided by Hendo and Fabinho in the middle, Salah's threat on the counter... There was an episode near the end that I particularly liked: we seemed to have a nice positional attack going, but instead of more players joining the attack just because they could, we smartly played the ball all the way back to Van Dijk, who then pinged a beautiful cross-field pass into Salah who was waiting on Boly's shoulder, beat him for pace and almost scored. So we managed to create a dangerous attack, while keeping everyone except Salah back in the defensive shape – a perfect way to play while protecting the lead.
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Popcorn time
You need to move this in a better direction Froggy. You loose ground on Rurik lad!!!
In other, somewhat related news, Bex is getting really pissed off after a couple of weeks of me waking up, saying 'Alexa, good morning', & her/it switching the lamp on, & then telling me who's top of the Premier league.
Yes, I added a routine to do just that. Cheers me up no end in the morning.
Yes, I added a routine to do just that. Cheers me up no end in the morning.
It'd not be worth the struggle to get back up onto your feet at that age.
We'll just hug him & hand him a jaeger from the many trays full in front of us, cos we'll all be there with him! The most epic drinkies EVER.
Keep going, by all means, if you want that future to vanish and be replaced by the one with nurses standing over you with a tray of meds.
Same.
Haha ! Sorry I didn't realise Rurik had also started a Post Wolves thread. I posted it then ran out to finish Xmas shopping for our guests arriving tomorrow (our daughter is here already though, arrived a few days early so we can do some shoots which would bore everyone else).
Mods - please merge with Rurik's thread. I believe his is better / more informative but I can't view it yet as my VPN is down AGAIN 🙁
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A couple of things stood out for me from todays game
Salah is back, its taken a while but its great to see him at his michevious scampering best. The bloke is a proper legend. When hes on form he changes the dynamic of our attack which is a good thing as Mane had one of his amateur days.
VvD is a fucking monster, I cant think of a flaw in his game. You see opposing forwards playing against him and the belief just drains out of them after a couple of times being embarrassingly brushed aside with ease. A cardboad cut out of Djimi Traore would get a 6 out of 10 playing next to him.
Keita still hasnt settled, hes a very good player but hes not up to speed and he needs to get there quickly
Milners wasted at RB, Clyne should start against Newcastle assuming TAA has recovered from the session hes out on with the boys after the match
We got away with some risky/sloppy passing close to our own goal. Wolves were really good at times, pressed us well and increased the tempo when they sensed we were flagging. Fortunately they have almost zero goal threat but Arsenal and City wont be as forgiving
Salah is back, its taken a while but its great to see him at his michevious scampering best. The bloke is a proper legend. When hes on form he changes the dynamic of our attack which is a good thing as Mane had one of his amateur days.
VvD is a fucking monster, I cant think of a flaw in his game. You see opposing forwards playing against him and the belief just drains out of them after a couple of times being embarrassingly brushed aside with ease. A cardboad cut out of Djimi Traore would get a 6 out of 10 playing next to him.
Keita still hasnt settled, hes a very good player but hes not up to speed and he needs to get there quickly
Milners wasted at RB, Clyne should start against Newcastle assuming TAA has recovered from the session hes out on with the boys after the match
We got away with some risky/sloppy passing close to our own goal. Wolves were really good at times, pressed us well and increased the tempo when they sensed we were flagging. Fortunately they have almost zero goal threat but Arsenal and City wont be as forgiving
Nice to see TAA at the match .. not in the VIP section or with the team but with the boys in the crowd !
Threads merged. Sorry it took a while, was busy.
That Wolves team was impressive overall. We did a good job of containing them and a very professional win - but lots of talent and well organized on the other side there
Yep, you can see how & why they've taken points of citeh & Chelsea at their place.
The rain was fucking torrential at times too, to get a win there under those conditions was a very big marker imo.
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