Defensive Pairing

[carlv]

I appreciate that Philips & Williams don't have much experience at playing first team football but they are centre backs, and they haven't done to badly. What was the point therefore in playing both Henderson & Fabinho as a pair.

Playing these at the back together weakens us they are obviously out of their best and preferred position particularly Henderson and the whole dynamic of the team changes.

We all joked about Guardiola for trying to reinvent players and being to clever for his own good as he did with Fernandinho last season but surely Klopp is now doing exactly the same. Klopp has to play either Philips & Williams and stick with them as a partner to Fabinho and I would also suggest with Matip when he plays so Fabs can play in his best position

 

[HC]

The most baffling thing about Hendo at CB is that when you consider his best attributes - passsing and pressing/coverage of the pitch - none of those things come into play against a side where you'll have the lions share of the ball and will be playing a high line, his lack of acceleration and his height and lack of aerial prowess however do count against him when playing as a CB.

It made no sense against Southampton and I can't see it making much more sense in any other match, home/away irrespective of the quality of the opposition,especially when Philips and Williams have been absolutely fine, just play them for fuck sake, atleast then Ox doesn't have to be on the pitch in place of Henderson!

 

[refugee]

The most baffling thing about Hendo at CB is that when you consider his best attributes - passsing and pressing/coverage of the pitch - none of those things come into play against a side where you'll have the lions share of the ball and will be playing a high line, his lack of acceleration and his height and lack of aerial prowess however do count against him when playing as a CB.

It made no sense against Southampton and I can't see it making much more sense in any other match, home/away irrespective of the quality of the opposition,especially when Philips and Williams have been absolutely fine, just play them for fuck sake, atleast then Ox doesn't have to be on the pitch in place of Henderson!

I imagine the thinking is to use his passing to retain the ball more, and therefore prevent the opposition from attacking as much. However the team is midfield to still to sit deeper to protect the defense, and the full back are having to play a bit narrower at times so it's hindering our attack

 

[gkmacca]

Using Hendo was obviously in part a reaction to the ongoing injury problems and the need to keep rotating, and to the fact that Phillips had a poor game last time and Williams is probably being readied for the FA Cup. It might even have been a Rafa-style message to the board. But I suspect it was also an attempt to introduce more discipline at the back, with Hendo barking orders at the others in a bid to restore a bit of coherence. Anyway, it worked last time, it didn't this time. We move on.

 

[HC]

Ball retention is never an issue in this side, hasn't been for years so I don't buy that as a valid reason from Klopp - we dominate the ball, passing statistics, all the useless bs stats which never relate to goals scored.

 

[rurikbird]

Yeah, I think it was just a way to shoehorn Ox into the side, while keeping Hendo on the pitch, which in hindsight made the team weaker compared to Hendo in midfield and Rhys or Phillips at the back.

 

[Grjt2]

Does Williams lack the pace to make it with us, or even fill in at CB in the shorter term given our high defensive line? Maybe he’s just come up against some speed merchants so far, but I think it’s fair to say he has looked a bit pedestrian. Obviously there’s a host of caveats here - as you mature you read the game better and don’t have to rely on pure pace, and also we are used to Virg and Gomez who are two of the most rapid players on the entire squad.

I know he’s young, and this maybe harsh, but I see lots of key ingredients that could make him an excellent player, but some fundamental flaws too...