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Newsflash: Messi's still good

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rurikbird

Part of the Furniture
Honorary Member


Good luck to Chris Smalling and Phil Jones in stopping that... If they fail, we might yet see Messi give Van Dijk and co an ultimate examination – I would be fascinated to see that!
 
The 3rd goal is ludicrous, you have to watch it mutiple times to appreciate what a ridiculous strike it was. To beat a keeper from that position is unlikely, to chip him is just mental, he was only about 2 yards off his line. 5 goals in that game and each one of them was a stunner.
 
Bobby is on that chart (I know he's not a midfielder, but neither are a few of the others).
Yeah. Thinking more specifically about through passes though. We know that our forwards make constant runs behind the defence, wherever it is. And they're good runs. Right now we only have midfielders who can probably see the run but can't execute the pass. So they mostly go wide or pass to the other forward that's come back inside for the ball, in the hope that either the wide players or the forward checking back can put the final ball in. We really are missing that one midfielder that can transform us. Dare I say it, but it used to be Coutinho. We need someone of that mould. Doesn't have to be a freak of nature like Messi either.
 
Don't care what Klopp says in interviews. If we were after Fekir last summer (settling for Shaqiri as second choice, and he's not getting game time), we'll surely be in for him again or another midfielder of that mould.
 
Yeah. Thinking more specifically about through passes though. We know that our forwards make constant runs behind the defence, wherever it is. And they're good runs. Right now we only have midfielders who can probably see the run but can't execute the pass. So they mostly go wide or pass to the other forward that's come back inside for the ball, in the hope that either the wide players or the forward checking back can put the final ball in. We really are missing that one midfielder that can transform us. Dare I say it, but it used to be Coutinho. We need someone of that mould. Doesn't have to be a freak of nature like Messi either.

Wanna guess who was top at through balls per game in the Bundesliga last year? Naby Keita. The year before that he was joint 2nd in this category. Among the players currently in the Bundesliga I believe the best fit for the profile you're looking for is Julian Brandt. Joint 2nd for through balls and joint 3rd for key passes.
 
Wanna guess who was top at through balls per game in the Bundesliga last year? Naby Keita. The year before that he was joint 2nd in this category. Among the players currently in the Bundesliga I believe the best fit for the profile you're looking for is Julian Brandt. Joint 2nd for through balls and joint 3rd for key passes.
What’s the issue for him? Space/time on the ball?
The way he looks way more comfortable, picking out passes, when played behind the advanced midfielder suggests to me that that is the only position we can realistically play him. He’s been pretty horrible as an advanced midfielder. Just seems to panick and make the wrong decision most of the time when in attack.
I can see him becoming a good player for build up play but really can’t see him succeeding as the guy to provide the final ball.
 
What’s the issue for him? Space/time on the ball?
The way he looks way more comfortable, picking out passes, when played behind the advanced midfielder suggests to me that that is the only position we can realistically play him. He’s been pretty horrible as an advanced midfielder. Just seems to panick and make the wrong decision most of the time when in attack.
I can see him becoming a good player for build up play but really can’t see him succeeding as the guy to provide the final ball.
Most people (including me) couldn't see Chamberlain as that player either. Until he was.

If you watch Keita all his problems are either positional or confidence based (which are probably part of the same thing). I think it's too late to see him make a similar impact as Chamberlain cos due to the run in effectively making every game must win we can't take a chance in playing him into form, but his qualities & talent haven't just fucked off, so we'll see the player we expected next season, sadly, which is a real shame cos those qualities are exactly what we need now.
 
Most people (including me) couldn't see Chamberlain as that player either. Until he was.

If you watch Keita all his problems are either positional or confidence based (which are probably part of the same thing). I think it's too late to see him make a similar impact as Chamberlain cos due to the run in effectively making every game must win we can't take a chance in playing him into form, but his qualities & talent haven't just fucked off, so we'll see the player we expected next season, sadly, which is a real shame cos those qualities are exactly what we need now.
But through balls and final passes in crowded areas? Not so sure.
 
Most people (including me) couldn't see Chamberlain as that player either. Until he was.

If you watch Keita all his problems are either positional or confidence based (which are probably part of the same thing). I think it's too late to see him make a similar impact as Chamberlain cos due to the run in effectively making every game must win we can't take a chance in playing him into form, but his qualities & talent haven't just fucked off, so we'll see the player we expected next season, sadly, which is a real shame cos those qualities are exactly what we need now.

I’ll be very surprised if we do.
 
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