Your team v Arsenal

[Insidious]

If he is - then it proves that we are utterly dependent on him. That would be the biggest indicator yet (were one needed) that we have totally dropped more than just one bollock on the midfield especially.

FYI

I am ramping up the negativity deliberately Sid. Since becoming more optimistic and daring to dance in the light, we have gone to the dogs.

Superstitious nonsense I hear you all cry… and probably the truth..but I am getting desperate. A loss to Arsenal will make my week intolerable. Drastic measures are needed.

Oh we have dropped a bollock with midfield succession-planning, no question. The most annoying thing about that being that the adjustment to Núñez THIS season and adjustment to whatever midfielder comes in for NEXT season means potentially two big transitional seasons, as opposed to one. A real shame.

If you feel the superstitious stuff works for you and you want to be particularly negative, do what feels right for you. I always look for positives in situations as I find them to be the first step on the path towards solutions, but can't force that on everyone and it would be boring if the forum was a bunch of Sid clones.

Arsenal....that match really can go either way. Their best result in terms of goals scored in relation to difficulty of opposition is probably the Spurs one - Tottenham are a decent outfit and a 3-1 was a good result. They've had their 1-goal margin games too though - 2-1 against Fulham, 2-1 against Aston Villa. The 4-2 against Leicester is a good scoreline, but Leicester started the season like a dumpster fire so it's hard to get a read on. 3-0 against Bournemouth you'd expect as Bournemouth are dreadful.

Also, it's not losses that are killing us just now thankfully - it's draws. Of our League matches played, the only loss was against the Mancs - but 2 wins and 4 draws from the other 6 isn't enough. Still - regular draws are a better platform for fixing things than regular losses.

With two difficult games ahead, things may get worse in the League before they get better. Taking all emotion out of it I'd rather beat one of Arsenal and Man City than draw both games - 3 points being better than 2 and all that. One point or less will admittedly be very, very deflating.

I'm hoping for a by-hook-or-by-crook win against the Gunners followed by a win at Ibrox. We'd still be within reasonable distance of the Champion's League spots (4 points off 4th at the moment I think) and would be close to qualification to the knock-out stages. Things would look a little better.

[Steveo]

Yep - we surely beat the Gers in Glasgow, but the Arse will pose a real challenge for our midfield and defence. More so than Brighton did I suspect.

They dominated United and lost - that’s the hope I cling to. But no - we will get beat.

[jozza800]

Not sure I'd be playing 4-2-4 against the Arse but I have a feeling Jurgen will.

Whatever the formation, Bobby should be starting. He's the forward in form at the moment.

So if we are playing 4-2-4 then -

Ali
TTA - Matip - VVD - Tsimi
Hendo - Thiago
Salah - Frimino - Jota - Diaz

But I would go back to the 4-3-3

Ali
TTA - Matip - VVD - Tsimi
Hendo - Fab - Thiago
Salah - Firmino - Diaz

Either way, the next week is massive. If we can somehow scrape a win on Sunday, then we should beat Rangers at Ibrox, which all but qualifies us for the KO stages of the CL which then sets us up for a home game against City.

[Kev0909]

In the interest of accuracy, I've remembered an off-target shot in the second half. So not all of his shots were on-target, though most were.

Also unlucky not to get an assist - Diaz's blocked effort that goes just wide off a Rangers player. Plus won us the free-kick that Trent converts.

I'm not trying to say he had a brilliant game. But he certainly didn't have a shocker.

It's not hard, firmino has been scoring and doing well in a underperforming team, Nunez can't finish at all at the moment, why would anyone drop firmino for him? when chances will be at a premium against a team that's on fire at the moment?? because he got some shots on target against rangers and had loads of chances and couldn't convert 1?

No way does he start, Klopp won't start him either

Daft, really daft. Nunez is here to score goals which he isn't doing at the moment, firmino has a lot more to his game and is even scoring goals of late, we need this v Arsenal

Much better to give nunez another go in the away leg v rangers and hopefully he'll score then, good option off the bench too arsenal are x3 the team rangers are

[Nineteenx]

Thiago wasn’t great either but still ahead of Hendo for me. On all player ratings I can find he is ahead too. Kept the ball moving quickly, changing the angles - and with one touch into feet - instead of taking 2 touches to pass it 2 yards back to the player who passed him the ball.

Yet Henderson released Diaz to win the penalty and Thiago failed to release him with poor attempts at the ball Henderson played to do so, no less than 3 times, when it simply required him to play the same ball to connect the same run, Henderson released Nunez with an excellent ball which he should have scored from, you knocked that pass, but it's awesome, so quickly up and down, hit with a shit load of backspin, that it completely takes the defender out of the game and makes it easy to control, but carry on

As ever Thiago failed to release players when it was on to do so, played safe tidy enough nothing passes, tried one of his famous switches to Jota the entire game, putting it over Jota straight out of touch, but I suppose that was Jota's fault eh? Should have run backwards to the ball played behind him AGAIN and grown 6 inches in the process to jump and somehow keep it in play?

Hendo as ever played passes that found players in isolation, opened the game up for us and created most of our attacks, as he always does

This is what I mean about the bias, I want Thiago to be good, but he isn't, he doesn't release players, he doesn't find players astutely in isolation with other players in good support of them who collectively are best positioned to form a meaningful attack as Hendo constantly does

I'm not sure how to break it to you Steveo, that's what making the play is mate, simply being neat and tidy and hitting the odd really sexy looking pass that doesn't find a player in isolation or supported with players around him to turn that into a meaningful attack or if it does find a player in isolation without support, it's in the air too long so the player has to go backwards after controlling it doesn't cut it - And that isn't about technique, it's about vision, the snapshot in your mind that quickly recognises the right pass Thiago doesn't play the right passes for our team, never has and likely never will

The extended highlights tell the story, Thiago features once, with another badly mishit pass, again behind our player rather than into their path, Mo has to wrestle off a Rangers players just to get hold of it or they're in, then he drives forward 30 yards and plays in Nunez, I suppose you'd like to credit Thiago for releasing Salah with his miss hit pass for that - Whereas Henderson is in the thick of everything and features frequently in everything good we did - Did they alter the footage somehow to make Hendo look like our creative midfielder and Thiago not?

Oh Fab features once too while we're on the subject of supporting Trent, being miles off the players he should have been and then failing to block the line to the pass for their lad to be released wide before eventually forcing Tsimikas into a brilliant clearance off the line

And please don't turn round and blame me for saying what actually happened that the footage backs up because it doesn't suit how you think the game went and who was doing what, let me tell you, had

Thiago kept the ball moving quickly, changing the angles - and with one touch into feet

to any meaningful effect, the change of angle to find a player against such abysmal opposition by your own account, would have surely fashioned at least one instance of him doing so to release a player to create something meaningful, but whoever put together the highlights was unable to find a single one

[Steveo]

I think you are missing the point. Thiago’s role is becoming more defensive and his main midfield play is almost exclusively to keep the game evolving. It’s not what I would have him do either BUT that is Klopp’s system. He is the only player with that quality.

With respect to Hendo, he has never had the quality to take a ball hit at him with pace, first time and put it 10 yards and 45 degrees into the path of another who doesn’t have to even break stride. This is technique. He just doesn’t have that in his locker. He takes 2 touches to take control of a 3 yard ball.

He has always had a decent forward pass in him - no doubt - but these - as anyone who has played the game knows - are not the hardest passes to master. So much relies on the ability, pace and bravery of the player that has to chase it down.

The footage backs up what I and all player ratings I have seen suggest.

Thiago, despite having a very ordinary game was again our best rated Mid.

[Steveo]

I continue to believe that the overwhelming majority of English football fans, coaches and pundits - have little to no understanding of the finer details of football technique. Probably why there are so few English coaches at the top level. Bellingham will be a huge waste of dosh for whoever buys him.

[ianlfc]

I continue to believe that the overwhelming majority of English football fans, coaches and pundits - have little to no understanding of the finer details of football technique. Probably why there are so few English coaches at the top level. Bellingham will be a huge waste of dosh for whoever buys him.

On Bellingham,That goal he scored last night had a touch of class about it.

[Steveo]

He’s a very decent player no doubt BUT isn’t worth what he will go for. Not for us anyway. I should have made that clear. Fine for City or United, Chelsea l, but IF we buy him or another club like us - outside that heavy hitting bracket, he will likely be the only player bought and others will make way to facilitate.


He’s a very good young player, but English - so cost will be extortionate AND he won’t be that great

[Steveo]

Ze Germans will sell him for a packet and replace him with twice the player for half the fee.