Post Match EPL - Burnley (A) 0-1 Sunday 14th Sept 14:00

[Sammy LFC]

It was a luck win, however, 3 points were most welcomed, in a very awful team's selection and performance against a very poor team! We have a most two expensive lightweight useless players in Wirtz and king Salah in respect of creation and scoring outcome = 0, LFC did very bad business in the summer, thrown away huge money. Salah won't be missed when goes to play for his country!! Slot is not a strong manager, he hasn't got a gut to drop Salah nor change him during a match! The team will be tested in the next to games, therefore urgent improvement is needed to avoid bad shows. Good Luck.

 

[binomial]

We're shit.

I don't even get excited for our games anymore because it's so predictable the puke we'll serve up. Slow, laboured, ponderous, clueless football.....our football kinda resembles our manager's personality, too relaxed, too bland, lack of character and lack of intensity. Could you imagine Klopp on the touchline reacting to every bit of play from yesterday? He'd have lost his marbles.

 

[LMG]

It was a luck win, however, 3 points were most welcomed, in a very awful team's selection and performance against a very poor team! We have a most two expensive lightweight useless players in Wirtz and king Salah in respect of creation and scoring outcome = 0, LFC did very bad business in the summer, thrown away huge money. Salah won't be missed when goes to play for his country!! Slot is not a strong manager, he hasn't got a gut to drop Salah nor change him during a match! The team will be tested in the next to games, therefore urgent improvement is needed to avoid bad shows. Good Luck.

Is this a joke? If not its the shittest hot take I've ever fucking read.

 

[Brizzle]

It was an awful game but in many ways expected post internationals with a still dysfunctional team looking to bed in new players. We were slow, ponderous and largely lacking in ideas and invention. I don't think the keeper had much to do other than that save from Szobo from distance?

Robertson was an immediate improvement when he came out. Like others, I thought Kerkez would hit the ground running and whilst he had a very good game against Arsenal defensively, he has been a total non-entity in attack thus far. This needs to be a big area of focus for Arne.

I thought Wirtz was better in the second half, more on the ball and more involved, which is what we need from him but any #10 is going to be hamstrung by an attack that doesn't quite know what it's doing.

There are numerous areas of focus for Arne but #1 has to be the right flank. We need Bradley or Frimpong to get a run of games and find a way to balance out the play between the RW and LW in the hope that Salah gets more of a feel for the game and stops stinking the place out.

Yep. I was saying to some mates that the chemistry between Gakpo and Kerkez is the worst i've seen in a long time between wings & full back. They ignore each other when they have the ball, and a lot of the moments when there is space for a full back to be running in behind he is on the half way line as he's been told to invert. I don't know what needs to change there but I think its a set up & tactical issue.

 

[peterhague]

It was an awful game but in many ways expected post internationals with a still dysfunctional team looking to bed in new players. We were slow, ponderous and largely lacking in ideas and invention. I don't think the keeper had much to do other than that save from Szobo from distance?

Robertson was an immediate improvement when he came out. Like others, I thought Kerkez would hit the ground running and whilst he had a very good game against Arsenal defensively, he has been a total non-entity in attack thus far. This needs to be a big area of focus for Arne.

I thought Wirtz was better in the second half, more on the ball and more involved, which is what we need from him but any #10 is going to be hamstrung by an attack that doesn't quite know what it's doing.

There are numerous areas of focus for Arne but #1 has to be the right flank. We need Bradley or Frimpong to get a run of games and find a way to balance out the play between the RW and LW in the hope that Salah gets more of a feel for the game and stops stinking the place out.

Kerkez might not have made any mistakes against Arsenal but he was still run absolutely ragged by Madueke. I don't think you can be stretched that badly and still have a very good performance. If one of those last ditch tackles or blocks hadn't come off they'd have scored.

 

[keniget]

Kerkez might not have made any mistakes against Arsenal but he was still run absolutely ragged by Madueke. I don't think you can be stretched that badly and still have a very good performance. If one of those last ditch tackles or blocks hadn't come off they'd have scored.

I don't think run ragged is fair. Kerkez generally did pretty well in his one on ones in that game. I think from memory Madueke's most dangerous moments came on the break when he was running into space.

 

[LMG]

Kerkez might not have made any mistakes against Arsenal but he was still run absolutely ragged by Madueke. I don't think you can be stretched that badly and still have a very good performance. If one of those last ditch tackles or blocks hadn't come off they'd have scored.

But they did come off, so he did his job?

I also thought that Wirtz second half was his best display so far. This place is mad 😀

 

[Frogfish]

I thought there were plenty of things we did well in this game. Don’t think Scott Parker planned for a home game with 19% possession and being outshot 27 to 3 without providing any threat on the break and no opportunities on set pieces. The reason we pushed Burnley so deep is because the defensive axis of Virgil, Konate and Gravenberch performed at absolutely world class level. Do you remember how in the first few games of the season the newcomers were outshining the old guard and we were all worried about defensive solidity? Well, it looks like the spine of the team is pretty solid again - sure, there will be harder tests, but the way they absolutely ate the Burnley attackers alive and snuffed out any hind of danger reminded me of the best days of Virge and Fabinho.

In less positive news, everyone can see is that our attack has not remotely clicked yet. We have added quality attackers, but all together they have not molded themselves into a quality attacking unit just yet. On the day, Gakpo was the best of the lot (especially in the 2nd half when he remembered you can beat Walker on the outside too), but he always plays a bit like a one-man attack. I thought Ekitike came too deep and overall there were not enough runs in behind. Wirtz is a whole separate conversation (more on him in the ratings below) and Salah was frankly atrocious. I really hope Isak can prove to be a catalyst to for this group of attackers to start meshing together because right now there is almost no chemistry between any of the forwards, except for some early sparks of understanding between Wirtz and Ekitike.

RATINGS:

Alisson 6 - should have brought his lawn chair and a pair of binoculars to watch all the action on the other side of the pitch.

Kerkez 5 - apart from a poorly executed dive, I thought he didn’t catch the flow of the game with some of his early crosses catching his teammates unprepared. Needs to take a chill pill, but maybe he’s just young. With good coaching and guidance he should mature and settle in time.

We saw what an excellent FB he can be at Bournemouth, an attacking team, so he should suit us and clearly he has the ability. He's young, maybe he is trying too hard to impress, maybe he has yet to adapt to the new technical instructions or to his team-mates (or them to him). Robbo immediately slotted in perfectly which makes sense and he is also more vocal and demanding (Gakpo will do as Robbo tells him to do).

Virgil 7.5 MOTM - imperious and calm as you like.

I just love watching him play. The greatest CB of all time for me.

Konate 7 - targeted by Burnley and came through superbly, winning all his duels of note. Wish his forward passing was just a tad sharper and faster.
Szoboszlai 6.5 - a typical Szobo performance; full of confidence and energy, but not always clean technically.

Gravenberch 7 - running Virgil close for MOTM shout, superb control and strength in midfield. I honestly would not trade him for any DM in the world. Where is that new contract?
Alexis 5.5 - not fully fit and the bad tackle 20 minutes in didn’t help. To his credit did try a couple of runs in behind which we needed more of.

Gakpo 6.5 - our most in-form attacker at the moment, needs to vary his game more.
Wirtz 5.5 - it’s interesting watching his movement; he is making more sprints and sharp movements than anyone, but you get a feeling that it requires corresponding movement from teammates for these runs to make any sense, otherwise he looks like a rogue wheel in a broken watch mechanism that moves twice as fast as other wheels for no reason. I wonder if he’s getting frustrated, because his passing has also been uncharacteristically sloppy at times.

Not on the same wavelength yet is clear. He is making some great runs but not being fed - frustrating all round. His technical skills are hugely impressive. Not sure what his passing stats in the BL were like but here I get the impression is is trying high value passes at times to try to get Mo. (for example) in and again not being on the same wavelength some are going astray.

Ekitike 6 - a couple of sparks, but overall a forgettable game for Hugo. Needs to ask less for the ball to feet and instead make more inside-out or outside-in runs to stretch the defensive line. It’s too easy to settle for tippy-tappy bollocks when playing against a low block; a striker should do things that pose real questions for the defence and make them uncomfortable.
Salah 5 - I should have probably added a 0.5 for the penalty, but it’s more important to face up to the reality of a performance which was really bad. We’re quite used to Mo being anonymous for large periods of games, but providing a bit of class at the key moments. In this game, every such potential moment in open play resulted in a bad touch, a wayward cross, a dribble into a blind alley. I think his face at the end said it all - the penalty was an undeserved cherry on top of a shit cake of a performance. I’m starting to be concerned...

He gets a 5 for that ?! You said "and Salah was frankly atrocious". Atrocious is worth a 5? Even with the penalty he only gets a 2 or 3 at best from me. I am hugely worried he's dropped off a cliff 'a la Mane'. However his anonymity is down to his lack of communication and interaction with his team-mates. When Bradley came on he perked up but for most of the game he isolated himself, failing to make runs or indeed make any attempt to get involved except when Gravy or Konate played into him.

SUBS:
Robbo 7 - what a pleasant surprise because I thought he was genuinely superb. Created more goal-scoring chances than anyone on the pitch despite playing for only an hour; some of his crossing was like the Robbo of 5 years ago and he was even driving into the penalty box. Slot will now have to seriously consider whether Robbo deserves to win his spot back; he could have hardly done more to stake his claim.

I thought he was excellent when he came on - driving into the box and putting one superb cross onto Chiesa's head that maybe he should have scored from.

@Bradley 6.5 - like his attacking endeavor and surprising runs into the box, he made our game more dynamic in the 2nd half.

Game changer : which is why so many rated him highly in the MotM thread. His attacking drive, taking on and beating players, driving us forward, was exactly what was required and missing from the first half. It raised our game a couple of levels.

Chiesa 6 - had one chance with his first touch, shame he couldn’t direct the header
Rio 6 - great pass to find Frimpong at the back post
Frimpong 6.5 - yet another match-winning contribution from a late sub.

Slot - explained Isak’s absence by saying he was not ready to play twice within a week; disappointing for fans and could have cost us today, but I guess you have to give him credit for thinking about the player’s welfare long-term. Not convinced by his starting lineup decisions, but showed his ruthless nature to make quick corrections for the 2nd half where we looked more threatening and moved the ball faster. In the end, the win was perhaps lucky, but not undeserved.

I do like that Slot makes such good technical changes and that he's not scared of going early (Kerkez) instead of leaving it to chance.

 

[Frogfish]

Kerkez might not have made any mistakes against Arsenal but he was still run absolutely ragged by Madueke. I don't think you can be stretched that badly and still have a very good performance. If one of those last ditch tackles or blocks hadn't come off they'd have scored.

I read the other day that despite being ran at (and how many times have we seen this vs Trent or Robbo) he was only beaten once by Madueke. I'd take that in most matches (if it was true).

 

[peterhague]

I read the other day that despite being ran at (and how many times have we seen this vs Trent or Robbo) he was only beaten once by Madueke. I'd take that in most matches (if it was true).

All just felt fairly desperate to me.

 

[binomial]

Ali 5 - Can't give higher, virtually a spectator.

Szobo 7
Ibou 7
Virg 7
Kerkez 5 - minus 1 for the dive.

Grav 8 - Clear MOTM
Mac 3
Wirtz 5

Salah 1 - + 1 for the pen, Fuck off Mo
Hugo 4
Gakpo 6

Robbo 7
Rio 6.5
Frim 6.5
Fede 5

 

[darkstarexodus]

I read the other day that despite being ran at (and how many times have we seen this vs Trent or Robbo) he was only beaten once by Madueke. I'd take that in most matches (if it was true).

I thought Kerkez was outstanding against Arsenal. Madueke gave him a tough time but ultimately got nothing out of him.

Think the duel really showed that Madueke is underrated more than that Kerkez struggled. The Hungarian was dialed in all match.

 

[Modo]

Not sure if it's been mentioned here, but before yesterday, the last time a Parker led team played Us, they lost 9-0.
So it kinda explains why Burnley were so defensive.