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Post Match Newcastle (A) Aug 26th 2 fucking 3

The team isn't quite gelling at the moment, but it feels like it's going to be awesome when it does. If we can keep grinding out results in the meantime then we're all good.
And whisper it quietly, but one of the things I think we're missing at the moment is those switch balls that find the man in space on the wing. The ones that almost look like hit and hope but you know they're not because we used to do it so often. Virgil plays them, and Trent and Robbo used to, and it's the one aspect of their games that I think we're missing.
Our play was so ponderous last night. It's getting on the end of those balls that we miss Lucho, whilst on the other side I sense Mo is missing receiving those balls, standing in space all night and the ball not coming to him. Again last night the average positions sees Mo as the furthest player forward, out on the right, 20-30 yards from his nearest team-mate, the same as in the Community Shield, although there was less congestion on the left last night.
And yeah, I think Mo should drift inside and get more involved rather than hugging the touchline waiting for a pass that isn't coming, but if he's being instructed to stay wide then his team-mates need to be told to find him more often.
 
While we're talking about assists, it's fair to say that Cody got a couple of "soft" ones last night, little nudges to team mates who then scored great goals.
But with the Ekitike goal, he could have taken another shot, and would likely have ballooned it into the stands or hit it straight at a defender. In that sense, I think that the easy assist is a reward for not being selfish. So whilst we tend to think of assists as being a mark of creativity, they're also a mark of selflessness. And that's why Thierry Henry was right that Szobo should have got some kind of special credit for that dummy last night. Although I'd probably have called him a coward for not shooting if Rio had missed.
 
While we're talking about assists, it's fair to say that Cody got a couple of "soft" ones last night, little nudges to team mates who then scored great goals.
But with the Ekitike goal, he could have taken another shot, and would likely have ballooned it into the stands or hit it straight at a defender. In that sense, I think that the easy assist is a reward for not being selfish. So whilst we tend to think of assists as being a mark of creativity, they're also a mark of selflessness. And that's why Thierry Henry was right that Szobo should have got some kind of special credit for that dummy last night. Although I'd probably have called him a coward for not shooting if Rio had missed.
Szobo isn't slow to shoot (even when he shouldn't oughta!) so it really was an elite appraisal of the situation in that split second. There's a good chance the defender blocks a shot by him or gets something on it. It gets better every time I see it!
 
Moreno didnt play for another team in the PL and was a top performer before his move either.

The Moreno - Kerkez comparisons are as bad as the Darwin - Ekitike.
well you did say he’d learn at 21, i’m just pointing out a 22 year old that didn’t learn a thing so learning is not a certainty
 
I understand the frustration with Kerkez.

We spent most of last season longing for a new LB as it was clear that Robbo's decline was accelerating and it was getting costly.
Kerkez was the best LB in the league, and seemingly ticked all the boxes we remember for a Klopp full back - basically looking like a peak Robbo.
Most of us probably thought he'd slot straight in and be solid, but he's been somewhat erratic both in his actual defending, and looks lost with what his role is. He seems to be being asked to invert, which is bonkers.

I am willing to keep giving him time, as he hasn't yet played with our settled DM double of Macca & Gravy ahead of them, and the whole team is getting overwhelmed in transition and in defence with the addition of Wirtz to our CM.

I think we need to have his role better defined, as we aren't utilising his strengths and he is getting somewhat exposed through lack of support from the DM on his side.

Important to remember he's a year younger than Elliot.
 
Benching MacAllister would be madness. We missed him badly last night. He's our best midfielder & should be starting every game except when he needs a break or it's a not an important game.

When our midfield plays well he's always at the center of it.

Agreed, but right now he is only a bit-part player at the moment and has looked off it in pre-season. He needs easing back in until he finds fitness and form over the next few weeks. If he can't make the bench against Newcastle he's very unlikely to be starting against Arsenal.
 
Agreed, but right now he is only a bit-part player at the moment and has looked off it in pre-season. He needs easing back in until he finds fitness and form over the next few weeks. If he can't make the bench against Newcastle he's very unlikely to be starting against Arsenal.
He didn't travel because his wife was having a baby.
 
Tsimikas isnt good enough and is about to be sold/loaned out. Gomez can't stay fit and isnt very good at left back.
Better as a RB/CB option.

Robbo can be trusted to play in certain league games, cup games and come on late if needed.
But we're 100% playing our new left back as the main starter.

If our defence is gonna get better and more settled we need the back 5 to play as many games together as possible.

Gomez is fine at LB. It's actually where he got his earliest games in the first team, he did well then and he's not let us down there since.
 
I'll also add here that the obsession with the attack 'not functioning' is very weird considering the number of goals we are scoring every match!

Goals conceded worries me far more. We seem ridiculously easy to pry open from set pieces (a major worry for Arsenal). Szobo was great at RB and Frimpong has been very good too and with Bradley returning it just gets stronger.

But shockingly Ibou is our weak link. Either he hits form or we need Guehi in ASAP to settle that back line.

Once we get Gravy and Mac back together we should start to see more solidity.
 
I understand the frustration with Kerkez.

We spent most of last season longing for a new LB as it was clear that Robbo's decline was accelerating and it was getting costly.
Kerkez was the best LB in the league, and seemingly ticked all the boxes we remember for a Klopp full back - basically looking like a peak Robbo.
Most of us probably thought he'd slot straight in and be solid, but he's been somewhat erratic both in his actual defending, and looks lost with what his role is. He seems to be being asked to invert, which is bonkers.

I am willing to keep giving him time, as he hasn't yet played with our settled DM double of Macca & Gravy ahead of them, and the whole team is getting overwhelmed in transition and in defence with the addition of Wirtz to our CM.

I think we need to have his role better defined, as we aren't utilising his strengths and he is getting somewhat exposed through lack of support from the DM on his side.

Important to remember he's a year younger than Elliot.

I'm surprised people didnt think he needed a period to settle in, regardless. New back four, teammates, tactics and not at least pressure.
It was pretty clear from his team of the season performances for Bournemouth that he's a fantastic signing and suits our team to a t. Just need to give him a bit of time.
 
I'll also add here that the obsession with the attack 'not functioning' is very weird considering the number of goals we are scoring every match!

Goals conceded worries me far more. We seem ridiculously easy to pry open from set pieces (a major worry for Arsenal). Szobo was great at RB and Frimpong has been very good too and with Bradley returning it just gets stronger.

But shockingly Ibou is our weak link. Either he hits form or we need Guehi in ASAP to settle that back line.

Once we get Gravy and Mac back together we should start to see more solodity.

Thankfully its easier to fix the defensive issues than the attacking ones. Just look at Arsenal.
 
I'll also add here that the obsession with the attack 'not functioning' is very weird considering the number of goals we are scoring every match!

Goals conceded worries me far more. We seem ridiculously easy to pry open from set pieces (a major worry for Arsenal). Szobo was great at RB and Frimpong has been very good too and with Bradley returning it just gets stronger.

But shockingly Ibou is our weak link. Either he hits form or we need Guehi in ASAP to settle that back line.

Once we get Gravy and Mac back together we should start to see more solodity.

Not sure I like the look of that "solodity"....
 
This "control" football of ours the last 12 months has been largely non-existent let's be real. We saw it for the first few months of last season then it totally vanished, the "control" was superseded with complacency and lack of bravery in moving the ball forward and quickly.....something you have to do in order to look the part and break teams down.

How long did our back 4, Jones and Ali spend daydreaming on the ball yesterday? It's fucking shite. You have poor Wirtz moving from side to side looking for a single pass that never came. Grow some fucking balls and tell these players to move the ball quickly.
This is it 100%

The start of last season was so beautiful. Control but with menace too, even with Darwin in the side. We were so good it almost got a bit boring, no one could touch us.

Where has it gone? Its hard to fathom but this stand still with the ball at VVDs feet with literally no-one except Wirtz offering to receive actually seems to be a tactic we're trying, i think borrowed from fucking Woy. Even against 10.

Im not worried about any of the signings. We've won both games despite playing turgid football for most of them.

When push comes to shove (no irony intended) We've stepped it up and scored some great goals. We moved, we offered options and our class shone through.

Slot and his coaching team need to remember how good we were, and why. He also needs to think back to his team in Feyenoord because im sure as hell they played better footy than we are currently. There's no way we hired him on the basis of the style of play we are currently subjected to.
 
I'll also add here that the obsession with the attack 'not functioning' is very weird considering the number of goals we are scoring every match!

Goals conceded worries me far more. We seem ridiculously easy to pry open from set pieces (a major worry for Arsenal). Szobo was great at RB and Frimpong has been very good too and with Bradley returning it just gets stronger.

But shockingly Ibou is our weak link. Either he hits form or we need Guehi in ASAP to settle that back line.

Once we get Gravy and Mac back together we should start to see more solodity.
I think my concern with the attack is that it all seems so disjointed. It's to be expected with the changes in personnel and systems, and also with the intense and aggressive pressing teams we've faced so far. We've scored goals from a low volume and low quality of chances (4 of 5 shots on target last night, against 10 men for most of the game). Without wishing to give too much credence to xG, I do think it's one of the more helpful stats, if a little subjective. The bigger the sample is, the more meaningful it becomes, for individual chances it just feels like a load of made-up nonsense.
We've scored 7 goals from 3.19 xG in our two league games (yes I know it's a very small sample). Props to the forwards for being so clinical, but we should be generating a better level of opportunities than that. And that's where I think we are lacking. We're just not putting together smooth and incisive attacks and creating a good volume of reasonable chances. Our forwards are simply making the most of what little is on offer, and attacks are breaking up behind them with misplaced passes or players playing the wrong ball.
Longer-term, the forwards need to be creating / getting on the end of more chances because the current outperformance of xG isn't sustainable. Only 3 teams (Wolves, Brighton and Forest) out-performed xG across the season last year.
And defensively it's 4 conceded from 2.39 xGA, which isn't much better.
 
I'm surprised people didnt think he needed a period to settle in, regardless. New back four, teammates, tactics and not at least pressure.
It was pretty clear from his team of the season performances for Bournemouth that he's a fantastic signing and suits our team to a t. Just need to give him a bit of time.

Everyone needs a scapegoat, and he fits the bill.
 
Everyone needs a scapegoat, and he fits the bill.
I mean Ibou has been pretty dreadful so far this season, Wirtz has been a passenger, and the 'Gak is shit' / 'Salah is a waste of space' lobbies are gathering momentum, so there will always be competition on this forum. Exciting times!
 
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It was a quite a relief to have won the match, however, Slot's players conceded two goals down to basis football whereas, LFC couldn't cope with at all! Slot and his team will have a very tough season ahead, the squad is very weak, and LFC has become a selling club! We had a light weight and useless in the king Salah, now we have another expensive overpriced lightweight in Wirtz useless too! Bad investment for sure. I thought Szobo played very well ( I don't normally rated him). I can't see the current team will keep a clean sheet this season, the defence quite weak. We need at least three quality players by this week. Rio was the team saver, and he should be used more often. Good luck for next week game.
At least this bot has dropped the exclamation marks from it's posts this season.
 
At least

This bot has dropped the exclamation marks from it's posts this season.
Sammy is not a bot. Do you really think AI generated posts will be full of simple linguistic error? Sammy has a consistent personality, and isn't spamming or doing anything you'd expect of a bot. This bot paranoia on the site is wild!
 
I've dissed Szob quite a bit lately but he was the difference last night. Played a blinder, won us the match.

I think the problems we're having aren't that big of a deal. We've got six points. Be nice not to concede twice a game but we can't really kick off about our attack when we've scored seven and are looking to buy the best striker in the world.
 
It was a quite a relief to have won the match, however, Slot's players conceded two goals down to basis football whereas, LFC couldn't cope with at all! Slot and his team will have a very tough season ahead, the squad is very weak, and LFC has become a selling club! We had a light weight and useless in the king Salah, now we have another expensive overpriced lightweight in Wirtz useless too! Bad investment for sure. I thought Szobo played very well ( I don't normally rated him). I can't see the current team will keep a clean sheet this season, the defence quite weak. We need at least three quality players by this week. Rio was the team saver, and he should be used more often. Good luck for next week game.

BOT ALERT!!!!
 
Sammy is not a bot. Do you really think AI generated posts will be full of simple linguistic error? Sammy has a consistent personality, and isn't spamming or doing anything you'd expect of a bot. This bot paranoia on the site is wild!

I don't even need my 100% ultra reliable bot detector to know this is false.

It's programmed to enter the every post match thread between a certain time period and post more or less the same number of words.....WITHOUT USING PARAGRAPHS.
 
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