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Football: the winter break


Iskaral Pust

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I’m sorry but loaning Clyne out when fighting for a title seems dumb. I prefer him over Milner as backup rb and I’m not a fan of forcing Gomez to that position when he’s been clearly our 2nd best CB when fit. People have been saying “oh Fabinho can play RB in emergencies” that’s the last thing I want to see happen. Fabinho needs to be the first name on the team sheet in the midfield. 

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I’m also concerned about Clyne departing.  Klopp did this last year with Sturridge, which meant we had no viable replacement for Salah in the CL final. 

Klopp never wants to stop someone who thinks they need to leave, but sometimes you have to put the club ahead of the individual. 

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28 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Klopp never wants to stop someone who thinks they need to leave, but sometimes you have to put the club ahead of the individual. 

Yeah, but surely sometimtes that means not having a player in the dressing room who's unhappy at not getting games?

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1 hour ago, mormont said:

Yeah, but surely sometimtes that means not having a player in the dressing room who's unhappy at not getting games?

That’s the trade-off.  If there weren’t both positives and negatives then it would be pretty simple.

Liverpool are managing heavy rotation this season, especially with the club captain and vice-captain being rested a lot.  And that has been managed positively within the team.  Clyne is just now back to match fitness after more than a year of serious injuries, and just got some appearances — it’s not unreasonable for him to have to earn his way back into the team.  Or at least reward the club for their patience before seeking an exit.  I think Klopp should be firmer in these situations.  Telling someone that they are too valuable to lose mid-season during a title chase or CL campaign isn’t exactly crushing their dreams or destroying their career.

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1 hour ago, polishgenius said:

Solanke's off to Bournemouth as well, a permanent deal for £19mil.

After Jordan Ibe and Brad Smith, you’d think Bournemouth would be more wary of another Liverpool youngster at such a price. 

Best of luck to Solanke though.  He seems to have thrived at every junior level but needs a less pressured opportunity to build his experience in senior football.  He could not come close to the form of the front three last season, and there seems to be no margin for error this season.

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Bournemouth paying that much for Solanke surprises me a little bit, he's been nowhere near playing for Liverpool this season and he apparently wasn't fit enough to complete the loan deal with Palace. I suppose with it being a permanent deal and Bournemouth less threatened with relegation they're less concerned about immediate results.

Good deal from a Liverpool point of view though. They could have loaned him out but he doesn't look too likely to make the grade at Liverpool and they've got Rhian Brewster who they're apparently fairly keen on, Harry Wilson's having another good season in the Championship too.

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We had an interesting VAR moment when a goal was disallowed for offside only for a penalty to be given for a foul in the buildup, but that's nothing to what by the sounds of it was the absolute shambles at Burnley, where they were awarded a penalty only to see it rescinded literally as the player was running up on VAR's say so.

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Alexis Sanchez has once again been absolutely terrible but scored a good assist. I feel like this is going to be a repeated refrain. Though the commentators seem to be suggesting that Sanchez has been good so maybe I'm just biased?


I hope we see Tahith Chong in the second half. I'm not actually sure he's that good from the fragments I've seen of him but he's got great word from those who watch the youth and it'd be good to see him. Also Garner who I know nothing about but he's a midfielder and apart from Fred our midfield has been poor.

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33 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

Alexis Sanchez has once again been absolutely terrible but scored a good assist. I feel like this is going to be a repeated refrain. Though the commentators seem to be suggesting that Sanchez has been good so maybe I'm just biased?

Sanchez was decent. I think Lukaku has been poor. The goal doesn't cover up just how poor his hold up and link up play has been this game and also the season in general. If Garner progresses well over the next year, I could see him replacing McTominay in the squad. Based on the few games I've seen him play for the U18s, U23s and U19s in the UEFA Youth League, he possesses much more technical ability than McTominay. 

Re: Chong. He's a decent player. Still too early to tell whether he will be good enough for this level. I think the calls for him to play is partly down to him bringing something completely different to our right wing position. Lingard vacates the RW to take a position behind the striker; Mata vacates the RW to take up a position in midfield; Chong tends to hold a wider position. 

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5 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

Chong tends to hold a wider position. 



Definitely hasn't done that today. :P Okay, it's his debut and he's excited, so it's forgivable, but he's been chasing the ball infield a fair bit.

Decent first effort from him though.

Yeah, Lukaku has been bad, but I think it does extra-highlight how specifically he needs to be used. He's never gonna be a hold-up striker, but he's a danger when he's played in behind, even though he cocked up a couple times doing that today. Mind, Rashford is definitely a more rounded player and is liable to take that spot permanently if his confidence holds up.

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2 minutes ago, polishgenius said:


Definitely hasn't done that today. :P Okay, it's his debut and he's excited, so it's forgivable, but he's been chasing the ball infield a fair bit.

Decent first effort from him though.

 

He's an inverted winger (a left footer playing on the right) so I wouldn't expect him to be hugging the touchline but even today he tended to stay more towards the right than Mata - at least the heat maps show he was mostly keeping right whereas Mata mostly operated as a #10. 

It was a pretty ragged performance from us today especially when it came to controlling possession. Lots and lots of sloppy play. 

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One postive take-away of today is Darmian's match at CB. Always felt he was struggling at RB (never mind LB), but the few games he had with us at CB past seasons, he shew himself composed and accurate on the pass, just as he did today.

(I'm aware it was only Reading and that we are gonna sell him to Genoa anyway)

ETA: oh, and Jones seems to be in a good run of form, too. Rare enough to remark.

On the pessimistic side of things, I kinda feel that some players who once appeared to be exciting prospects, are now looking more lost than anything. Andreas Pereira is one of them. The guy seriously need to be played further up the pitch. Scott McTominay is another, maybe he's one of the very few who miss José? Not to mention Alexis, and Lukaku who seems to need a Belgium shirt to show he can be world class.

As for Fred, I'll let him time, I'm still convinced he can be efficient in a well-oiled midfield.

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Another brilliant performance from Callum Hudson-Odoi. He’s definitely good enough to get game time in the Premier League. He can actually cross the ball, which is something that might help get the best out of our strikers, as it did today with his two assists for Morata.

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3 hours ago, Ser Glendon Fireball said:

On the pessimistic side of things, I kinda feel that some players who once appeared to be exciting prospects, are now looking more lost than anything. Andreas Pereira is one of them. The guy seriously need to be played further up the pitch. Scott McTominay is another, maybe he's one of the very few who miss José? 

As for Fred, I'll let him time, I'm still convinced he can be efficient in a well-oiled midfield.

I don't think Pereira is quite good enough. The club has not yet offered him a new contract so he will be a free agent at the end of the season - apparently Valencia are keen on taking him back. McTominay is the very definition of basic - he has very little technical ability and that is something that cannot be coached. At best he could be a Fellaini level player if he can add more aggression to his game and use his height more effectively. Plus we have a couple of much more technically gifted midfielders in the academy who could take his place - Garner and Traore. Fred is taking longer to adapt than we all hoped but he is our only midfielder anywhere near Pogba when it comes to passing range and vision. 

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Oh Elliott List is so wonderful...

Cardiff were poor today even with five or six regular starters. First half we sat back and absorbed the pressure, yet they were barely able to create anything. Even then we had probably the best chance of the half on the counter. We opened up in the second half as they looked so vulnerable and could have a couple more than the goal with Parker missing an absolute sitter and Reilly hitting the bar. They had a few chances of their own in the second half, but you need a bit of luck to beat a PL side from League One.

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Was a strange game from us today. We started off well, and scored twice - easily - and the match looks like it will be a stroll.

Then we let in a goal from a free kick (well worked by Lincoln, by the way, but we should most definetely do better there!), and from then on and in it's always in doubt. Even if Lincoln don't quite manage to create much trouble. 

We need a shot of confidence. Urgently.

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