Pre Match Pre Match - Palace - (Anfield South) - Sunday - 15:00
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i have some concerns over how slot is setting up the team given the signings he has made / is after. but today is not the day to make any judgements on that, especially given the state of alexis and gravy missing.
today it seems we fielded too many attack minded players, but we’ll see how things progress.
today it seems we fielded too many attack minded players, but we’ll see how things progress.
We all knew we were shaky at the back before this game, and today proved it again. Palace haven’t lost their core players this window, and they’re a proper, well-drilled side. No one’s going to have an easy time against them this season.
Van Dijk had a shocker, and I’m hoping Salah’s off-day is just a blip. Once the season gets going, they’ll be fine I hope, but we have to sort the defense. We need depth, and we need it fast. One or two CBs in the next two weeks, please, the sooner - the better. Balance will improve with Grav in the side.
On the bright side, I liked what I saw from Ekitike and, to a slightly lesser extent, Wirtz. Give him a couple of proper competitive games to settle in and gel with the team, and he’ll fully show his quality.
Van Dijk had a shocker, and I’m hoping Salah’s off-day is just a blip. Once the season gets going, they’ll be fine I hope, but we have to sort the defense. We need depth, and we need it fast. One or two CBs in the next two weeks, please, the sooner - the better. Balance will improve with Grav in the side.
On the bright side, I liked what I saw from Ekitike and, to a slightly lesser extent, Wirtz. Give him a couple of proper competitive games to settle in and gel with the team, and he’ll fully show his quality.
without doubt it has given his age but he’s that much better than other defenders it hasn’t mattered. the weird thing with robbo last year was the most obvious sign of his decline being mistakes and lapses in concentration. i hope it’s not the same with virgil because we can work around him slowing down, we can’t work around him fucking up.
way too early to be this negative though
No.
He was superb last season and it’s one game today.
Of course it has. I was hoping it would be a slow gradual decline however.
Something like that yeah
The average positions for the game are quite telling, with most of the team being in the left side of the field and Salah isolated on the right (no-one within 30-40 yards of him).
We need to work on the tendency of Wirtz and Szobo to drift left, and possibly also to get Cody to stay out wide - all three of them were basically playing in the same position and we didn't make use of Mo as an outlet ball, hence his sporadic involvement.
Basically the right to left balance was all wrong, leaving our best player from last season isolated while his team-mates got in each other's way.
We need to work on the tendency of Wirtz and Szobo to drift left, and possibly also to get Cody to stay out wide - all three of them were basically playing in the same position and we didn't make use of Mo as an outlet ball, hence his sporadic involvement.
Basically the right to left balance was all wrong, leaving our best player from last season isolated while his team-mates got in each other's way.
No
Yeah but its something about him, I thought it was nonchalance at first, but it just looks like he's reacting to certain situations slower than before.
He's far from that. He doesn't get in our first choice midfield now.
He also has only played 100 mins in pre season and missed training/game last week due to illness.
Even he can be rusty.
We are doing a pretty significant rebuild and talking about it.
I think this is where I feel Frimpong could be key for us on that right hand side high up
I wouldn’t have passed to Salah today. He was managed to be outmuscled and outpaced by Will fucking Hughes.
i know exactly what you mean, there’s a hesitancy that comes across almost like arrogance. where you feel like he expects nothing to happen and usually nothing does but when it does there’s an anguished look and sometimes a bit of moaning at others.
I think he was moaning because our back line was all over the place today.
like a mum calling kerkez in for his dinner
Don’t know what the protocol is for glorified pre-season friendly post match discussion threads - so I’m not going to mess with the jinxy gods this early in the season.
Now that the dust has settled and it seams the world is not ending and people have had a chance to vent and have a loan about their favourite moany-ass shit (Mo’s shit, Hughes is a cunt for signing good players, we should never have sold whoever it is and all our players are shit and too old… blah blah blah… let’s get into it a bit more.
The main take away - good in bits, not so good in other bits. I don’t think anyone was truly awful - a few not quite up to speed yet, but also, quite a few changes to the team that will take a few more games.
Clearly we’re light in CBs, we really need another option there - and not an 18yo kid despite his potential.
We’re also short at least 1 forward - whether it’s just Isak with Ekitike playing on the left or not - but we’ve lost/sold 3 players who could play left and centre and replaced them with 1 - given Wirtz is going to play deeper. We saw this the minute we started bringing on subs - no-one to fill the gap upfront in the centre.
Unlike UK politics we saw a drift to the left - Gakpo, Ekitike, Kerkez and Wirtz all drifted out wide, and although Wirtz did make it over to the right, we did leave Mo and Frimpong isolated (the latter sometimes in lots of space.
This is something I feel gets sorted on the training ground, if Frimnus going to hold out wide, then Mo has to come into the centre, but someone needs to drop back.
Kerkez had a weird game - he didn’t play badly, but there were times I thought he’d popped off to the toilet or to put the kettle on, because, fucked if I know where he was.
Net effect was to amplify Mo’s isolation, congest the left ridiculously and also leave the left side defensively exposed.
There’s been much made about how Kerkez & Frim are very similar and will leave us exposed if they both play high and wide - there’s much to be said about Robbo or Bradley playing (or even Gomez) if one side pushes up and the other holds back so that the defence can shift over and maybe go more into a 3.
It’s either that or the DM drops back to plug the gap - and that’s not CJ.
It was always going to take time for Kerkez to get up to speed, so that’s not a massive concern.
Dom was another one who had a weird game - good in parts, doing what he does well - run, press, keep the ball moving, but he also gave it away cheaply at times - still not a concern, Gravy, Mac & Wirtz will be fine for most teams.
The main worry was the left drift and Mo isolation - maybe Isak will be more likely to stay centrally or drop deep. Ekitike was impressive, I thought and already an upgrade on Darwin in that he has a better touch and wasn’t constantly offside, but he is going to drift out left a lot and that’s something he’s going to have to be careful about. Cody was his normal self, on the fringes, then burst into life in little spurts - but he can’t be the only option from the left. As great as his preseason was, I feel Rio’s not ready for this level yet.
Hopefully Virgil has gotten this season’s lapses in concentration out of the early - not a cause for concern this stage.
Disappointing result, work to be done on integrating new players and getting everyone on the same wavelength and also how we tighten up in midfield.
The rumour is, we want Wharton replacing Endo and playing a more active role, but that’s next season’s main transfer.
In the meantime - Isak & Guehi, plus Mac & Bradley fit, Gravy back and a bit more time to get match sharpness and player integration nailed and we’ll be fine.
Now that the dust has settled and it seams the world is not ending and people have had a chance to vent and have a loan about their favourite moany-ass shit (Mo’s shit, Hughes is a cunt for signing good players, we should never have sold whoever it is and all our players are shit and too old… blah blah blah… let’s get into it a bit more.
The main take away - good in bits, not so good in other bits. I don’t think anyone was truly awful - a few not quite up to speed yet, but also, quite a few changes to the team that will take a few more games.
Clearly we’re light in CBs, we really need another option there - and not an 18yo kid despite his potential.
We’re also short at least 1 forward - whether it’s just Isak with Ekitike playing on the left or not - but we’ve lost/sold 3 players who could play left and centre and replaced them with 1 - given Wirtz is going to play deeper. We saw this the minute we started bringing on subs - no-one to fill the gap upfront in the centre.
Unlike UK politics we saw a drift to the left - Gakpo, Ekitike, Kerkez and Wirtz all drifted out wide, and although Wirtz did make it over to the right, we did leave Mo and Frimpong isolated (the latter sometimes in lots of space.
This is something I feel gets sorted on the training ground, if Frimnus going to hold out wide, then Mo has to come into the centre, but someone needs to drop back.
Kerkez had a weird game - he didn’t play badly, but there were times I thought he’d popped off to the toilet or to put the kettle on, because, fucked if I know where he was.
Net effect was to amplify Mo’s isolation, congest the left ridiculously and also leave the left side defensively exposed.
There’s been much made about how Kerkez & Frim are very similar and will leave us exposed if they both play high and wide - there’s much to be said about Robbo or Bradley playing (or even Gomez) if one side pushes up and the other holds back so that the defence can shift over and maybe go more into a 3.
It’s either that or the DM drops back to plug the gap - and that’s not CJ.
It was always going to take time for Kerkez to get up to speed, so that’s not a massive concern.
Dom was another one who had a weird game - good in parts, doing what he does well - run, press, keep the ball moving, but he also gave it away cheaply at times - still not a concern, Gravy, Mac & Wirtz will be fine for most teams.
The main worry was the left drift and Mo isolation - maybe Isak will be more likely to stay centrally or drop deep. Ekitike was impressive, I thought and already an upgrade on Darwin in that he has a better touch and wasn’t constantly offside, but he is going to drift out left a lot and that’s something he’s going to have to be careful about. Cody was his normal self, on the fringes, then burst into life in little spurts - but he can’t be the only option from the left. As great as his preseason was, I feel Rio’s not ready for this level yet.
Hopefully Virgil has gotten this season’s lapses in concentration out of the early - not a cause for concern this stage.
Disappointing result, work to be done on integrating new players and getting everyone on the same wavelength and also how we tighten up in midfield.
The rumour is, we want Wharton replacing Endo and playing a more active role, but that’s next season’s main transfer.
In the meantime - Isak & Guehi, plus Mac & Bradley fit, Gravy back and a bit more time to get match sharpness and player integration nailed and we’ll be fine.
We don't have just the one "first choice midfield" and I don't see that changing. I also think you and those who agree with you underestimate the importance Slot will continue to place on Szobo's incredible engine. Let's see how things go.
I think everything has it place and time. Yesterday at 2-2 wasn't it imho for a 16 year old to come on.
I read a couple of rumours now that the reason the Jota/Silva silence wasn't observed by Palace fans, was due to our booing of the national anthem.
Not sure how true it is. Only thing I will say is, we've done numerous silences now. Although you can't tell people how to grieve, I do think we should draw a line under silences for them now.
Not sure how true it is. Only thing I will say is, we've done numerous silences now. Although you can't tell people how to grieve, I do think we should draw a line under silences for them now.
If'n he cuts out the loose passes, yes, else we’d always be in trouble; he kept giving away the ball under very little pressure yesterday.
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