Football: Remain in Europe

[Iskaral Pust]

So it seems that the crisis butterfly has now flitted over to Spurs, with United and Arsenal having both won a few games.  I guess it gets clicks/eyeballs and that’s all that matters now in the world. 

Predictions for the weekend?  City to trounce Cardiff?  Arsenal and Everton to have the worst and therefore most entertaining defensive showing?  Chelsea to beat West Ham at a canter, especially with Hazard rested midweek and Arnautovic probably out?  One of the European competitors to drop some unexpected points from fatigue? (I hope it’s not ‘Pool).

[Jeor]

6 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Arsenal and Everton to have the worst and therefore most entertaining defensive showing?

Given we haven't kept a clean sheet yet and Cech is being asked to play out from the back, it's only a matter of time until he concedes some hilarious blooper-style goal. I can sense one coming.

[Iskaral Pust]

Liverpool started with Matip and Shaqiri to rest Milner and Gomez (both in amazing form), and have cruised to 3-0 at half time.  It was a good call to give some squad players match practice too.  Shaqiri is having fun as an attacking midfielder. 

Now we probably need some subs to rest a few more legs and give some minutes to Fabinho, Sturridge and/or Keita.  Or even rest Robertson or TAA, who both cover a lot of ground. 

 

[polishgenius]

I'm terrified that Traore's gonna come on and tear strips off us.


See Liverpool have been fluking their way around the pitch again.

[Iskaral Pust]

Shaqiri off early after playing well. I hope we’re saving him for a midweek appearance rather than a minor injury. 

VVD then cme off with a rib injury.  I hope that’s not bad with Chelsea and City games coming up. 

Now Keita on for Gini.  A bit ragged in the second half.  The front three still aren’t quite at it.  Firmino’s passing is off today. 

 

[polishgenius]

That is filthy.


You know what, I've got nothing against Fred, he's not bad, but I think Pereira's going to turn out better than him. The difference in the amount of control we've had since he came on is incredible.

[Iskaral Pust]

Burnley are back in business.  4-0 after struggling for any attacking play for several weeks. 

Utd were the European competitor to surprisingly drop points, even if Wolves are tricky opponents.  Home game, lots of fresh legs back into the team, got an early lead...couldn’t hold on. 

[Mme Erzulie]

53 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Shaqiri off early after playing well. I hope we’re saving him for a midweek appearance rather than a minor injury. 

VVD then cme off with a rib injury.  I hope that’s not bad with Chelsea and City games coming up. 

Now Keita on for Gini.  A bit ragged in the second half.  The front three still aren’t quite at it.  Firmino’s passing is off today. 

 

While Shaqiri contributed offensively, the team looked slightly imbalanced in the first half, and the scoreline was a bit flattering. Saints kept finding 2-on-1s and a lot of joy in midfield and down the right-hand side.

Klopp saw it, put on Milner, changed back to 4-3-3, and we completely shut up shop, even after Virgil had to go off (please don't miss any games, big Virg).

Matip scored, and that's good, but he's often too tentative and almost lackadaisical. He had at least two horrible giveaways and a couple of incidents where he looked indecisive and almost gave away chances to Saints. Hopefully it's mainly being rusty, but these are weaknesses he's displayed before as well. Gomez came on and did brilliantly. He looked (positionally) uncomfortable at times playing right back last season, but he looks incredibly comfortable, confident and composed at CB. Long may it continue.

We're still not firing on all cylinders offensively, which is good news. When the front three starts clicking, we could end up with some cricket score routs.

Great to see Gini get a standing ovation. The Anfield crowd understand football.

[Iskaral Pust]

Agreed that it was a bit open with Shaqiri in MF.  It was a weird formation with Mane right, Firmino left and Salah central (where he looked very good) and Shaqiri as an attacking inside right.  Shaqiri lost possession plenty of times as he tried through balls.  Perhaps it was a deliberate overload to score early, which certainly worked as second gear was enough for the second half. 

Matip was really positive in possession but did give up a terrible of misplaced passes.  His teammates bailed him out on those.

Saints missed Ings today.  They look a bit like a Pulis team, with giant CBs and physical MFs, so they rely on pace from FBs and forwards in the channels (Redmond, Long, Ings) to attack. 

[Mme Erzulie]

Klopp clearly plays Gini ahead of Fabinho and Keita because he smiles easily 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

37 minutes ago, Mme Erzulie said:

Klopp clearly plays Gini ahead of Fabinho and Keita because he smiles easily 

Yep, just imagine the footballing career you could'Ve had, if you had just smiled more.

[Iskaral Pust]

Gini was only OK today but he has been very solid so far this season, except a quiet game against Leicester, and has deserved a starting spot. 

The first half today was an experimental 4-2-3-1 with Gini alongside Hendo to allow Shaqiri to roam free.  He played that unglamorous position with good discipline.  He only played half of the second half as we reverted to the usual 4-3-3, where he was still solid but looked like his energy was dropping.  Good time for a sub. 

For a player who was expected to lose his spot after Fabinho and Keita arrived, he has been very good in our MF dominance in this winning start to the season.  He and Milner have been the mainstays so far. 

[Iskaral Pust]

Liverpool now half way through a very tough run of fixtures:

PL Leicester City (A)
PL Tottenham Hotspur (A)
CL Paris Saint-Germain (H)
PL Southampton (H)
CC Chelsea (H)
PL Chelsea (A)
CL Napoli (A)
PL Manchester City (H)

Four wins out of four so far, although Chelsea (away) and City in the PL games are probably the toughest of all.  Beforehand I would have said Spurs (away) and City were the toughest. 

I expect lots of rotation in the LC/CC match midweek so it might actually be our most vulnerable point, but if we win the other seven I’d still be delighted. 

[lmanion]

After seeing Matip a few times he seems like more of a defensive midfielder than a centre back at times. I think he could be better suited to an eric dier type role where he drops to almost a back 3 when we have the ball and then becomes part of the midfield 3 when the back 4 is back in shape to defend. Could be useful like that in games where Klopp wants to play an extra attacker like against Southampton, he doesnt look the most composed at the back and he is probably behind Gomez and Lovren as the best fit for the 2nd central defender.

I think the best 3 in midfield for Liverpool once everyone is up to speed and fit again will be Keita, Fabinho, Ox. At the moment though the guys that have been there for a while a really stepping up there game thanks to the added competition, its something that is obviously lacking at Tottenham

[Consigliere]

20 hours ago, polishgenius said:

 

You know what, I've got nothing against Fred, he's not bad, but I think Pereira's going to turn out better than him. The difference in the amount of control we've had since he came on is incredible.

Pereira should have started ahead of Fellaini. Fellaini can be useful in certain situations as he showed against Burnley and Watford but against more mobile opposition he's about as useful as having a tree on the pitch. 

 

Lukaku hasn't started the season well. Probably needs a little break - he's played a lot of games last season and the vast majority for the full 90 minutes. Sanchez has been fucking terrible - Martial deserves a run of games in that position as Sanchez has been a liability. 

 

19 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Utd were the European competitor to surprisingly drop points, even if Wolves are tricky opponents.  Home game, lots of fresh legs back into the team, got an early lead...couldn’t hold on. 

I'd say we were lucky to pick up the one point. Wolves created the better chances and were overall the better side. 

[Mark Antony]

So is Alexis just past it or what

[Consigliere]

He's been a one trick pony. He doesn't even cut in and take shots like he used to. All he does is drop way too deep, play useless chipped balls to no-one, is constantly losing possession and clogging up the space for Pogba. I'd like to see us shift him to the right where he might actually be forced to stay higher and wider as he will not keep cutting in on his left foot. Either that or drop him. The man has been an absolute liability. Every time the ball gets to him, you can put money on the move breaking down. Unfortunately, he's a Mourinho favourite (because he runs around a lot usually chasing after balls he has lost) so it doesn't matter how shit he plays unlike certain other players who have a bad game and are banished to the bench for a month. 

[Mark Antony]

Antonio could have had a couple, Arnautovic would’ve bagged one of those chances I bet. 

I think Liverpool could have some joy against Chelsea on the counter. Cant wait for the league game. 

[Consigliere]

7 minutes ago, Mark Antony said:

Antonio could have had a couple, Arnautovic would’ve bagged one of those chances I bet. 

I think Liverpool could have some joy against Chelsea on the counter. Cant wait for the league game. 

I think Liverpool will have plenty of joy against Chelsea. Liverpool do not allow any team to just play around in midfield and I expect Liverpool's midfield to force lots of turnovers - Liverpool should win since they are currently the better side. Sarri has done a decent job so far implementing his playing style but Chelsea do leave gaps at the back and aren't as defensively solid in midfield especially with Kante now playing a more advanced role and Jorginho being weak defensively. City played them off the park and Arsenal missed a number of sitters as well in the 1st half.

 

[Iskaral Pust]

I was wrong.  I predicted Chelsea to win if Arnautovic was missing.  WH did miss him but Chelsea missed their chances so it evened out.  Considering the limitations of Morata, and Giroud as a pivot #9 rather than free-scoring #9, they’re scoring so far was better than expected as Alonso, Hazard, Pedro and Wilian all scored from the secondary attack, but that eventually might struggle against an opponent who sits their defense and MF quite deep.

I wonder if the Jorginho-Kante positions will persist.  I know Jorginho’s possession is crucial to Sarri but he doesn’t provide great defensive cover, while Kante looks less effective further forward.  Could Jorginho not be a play-maker as a withdrawn #10 closer to Hazard, Willian and Giroud, with Kante behind him?

Milner plays a role similar to Kante’s current position but it works for Liverpool because we focus on a high press more than sustained possession, and because Milner can make dangerous crosses.