Match Day Thread Liverpool v NUFC

I like how he swears randomly then says ‘oh ****’ sorry for swearing. He also has nice teeth.

 

Most take the piss out of his teeth

 

His teeth don't suit him. He looks like a tramp, his teeth should be manky. Just looks weird

 

He does too. He said Firminho looked pissed off when he realised Klopp has the whitest teeth at the club now.

 

I don't really follow any of this logic. Spurs aside, are we really doing "very well"? I don't quite understand how we are. Haven't Arsenal been very average? That's just on the results. As for the playing side, what makes a player 'good enough' to chase, harry, close down, pass to their own players? Schar, Almiron, Joelinton and others are surely reasonably good? Are they so much worse than Pukki, Cantwell, and others?

I think another home draw and an away defeat beckons; not only that, I think we'll continue surrendering possession. My main big concern is that you could guarantee a strong final third of the season under Rafa. With Bruce, it's almost always the opposite.

 

Despite the injuries to some key players, old and new, there have been numerous examples of change on the pitch, mostly positive.
We shall see, come February/March what system(s) Bruce plays, I think I've seen enough to absolutely rule out relegation and have enjoyed the odd signs that players will be allowed to play with more freedom. I still think Bruce will end up playing 4-1-3-2, if only because the back three weaknesses have been glaringly obvious in the games do far. Dummett and Yeldin in the side, Ritchie back to inverted winger in front of Yeldin and hey ho away we go.
Meanwhile Perez has a reserved seat on the Leicester bench and Rafa just played 7 at the back and lost 1-0 after a month of prep time.

 

Dear me indeed - you were obviously to het up to read it - I clearly stated who and why and even suggested putting Manquillo back in!

We can not be setting up to try and nick a 1-0 at home to Brighton for me, rather get 2 up top.

If you think Atsu has been our best player I'd suggest you have 6 fingers and enjoy cheesy chips while violating your sister...

 

there's so many reasons

1. we don't have the players the play two up front
2. we played 2 up front and lost to arsenal and norwich
3. we have 2 decent results in already because only a moron would rate Watford on 5 games and not the last 4 years
4. it takes time to change a system a sides accustomed to and this is not a panic situation at all weve got a good chance of winning games

I could go on but that's the key points

atsu has been outstanding and has 2 assists in 3 games and should have more is krafth took his chances. There's an argument for joelinton, dummet and others but he is without a doubt one of our best performers. If you cannot see that I cannot help you. I'll even go further on this because it needs saying … atsu was outstanding once he came in to replace alimiron for around 8 games last season too.

As for manq the same applies hes been solid for quite some time, but the idiots that have been up his arse either failed to realise it or feel they have something to prove. I've seen those morons on Newcastle fans tv saying kratfth makes you appreciate manq !!!! it drives me crazy they've been up his arse for 12 months.

if you toss pots really think you know better than rafa and now steve bruce then pipe the **** down. steve bruce actually already tried to change it and we got hammered , so he had the brains to revert back...

this system won us more points than any other side below 6th place in the league after January last season including wins home vs man city and away at Leicester and now you want to change things 5 games in with two winnable games coming up and the possibility to be sitting around 8th if we do ???? **** that

is it something id like the club change over time ? yes but not now it would be madness

 

I think we are doing ok. However starting with the Brighton game we need to put away some of the teams around our level. Otherwise the old "we've had a tough start" is a bit meaningless.

Have to say though Bruce has been better than I thought he'd be. And certainly better than his comical early effort.

 

I agree with the last sentence. I really thought the Willems situation was going to be the marker. I think a victory over Brighton would see us doing "ok", but anything less and we're underperforming, at best.

 

Fair points, apart from the various slurs such as moron, or toss-pot. Little unnecessary.

I didn't mean 2 up top, personally. I'd like to see four at the back and a deep lying DM, preferably Schar, to fill in a back five if necessary. I would keep Atsu, Almiron and Joelinton, but I'd actually swap Atsu/Almiron over as I want to see more taking on the full back and crossing with stronger foot. I'd have Longstaff and Hayden as both do like to get forward and I think would suit a midfield partnership, with Schar's job very much to sit and only advance now and again. Effectively 4-3-3, but comfortable going 4-5-1 and more suited to playing wide and making space in the middle for runners. We're too narrow and there's too big a gap between Joelinton and the rest of the team. I'd go with a back four of Willems, Dummett/Lejeune, Lascelles, Krafth. The latter's been poor, but I think would understand being RB better than RWB.

Small changes, that wouldn't upset balance of the team, expectancy of playing a certain way, etc.

 

I think we have to be careful about making tactical changes or personnel changes already. Unless they are absolutely necessary because the system is a disaster or the certain players are, then its pretty foolhardy because we have a new manager, new players and we need to give it 10-15 games to bed in.

 

Sure, just at the moment we're playing the same system implemented by Rafa and I think we could do with tweaking it slightly to close the gap between striker and midfield. We're just TOO deep, for too much of the game. Like I say, maybe push Schar up a touch, let the CM's work a balance between attack or hold, but offer a couple of options a bit further forward. When I watch better clubs play - and I accept we're restricted - they seem to focus on having between 6 and 8 attacking players. We are really stuck with between 2 & 4 or 5 and subsequently look outnumbered. As we also don't have a lot of guile, we're not going to score enough.

When Liverpool attack us it's not just their front three. It's both full backs, plus two or three midfielders pressing up the pitch. They tend to leave Matip/van Dijk back, with someone like Henderson hovering near to support. Their full backs and other midfielders are mobile enough to track back. Conversely, when we attack, it's 1 or 2 at the front, no midfielders in support and maybe one full back. The opposition matches up easily with one or two to spare. When we're defending against Liverpool it's 9 defenders vs 8 attackers. When we attack it's 3 or 4 attackers vs 6 defenders, even on the counter. Simple numbers and we're going to struggle to pick up points unless we change the dynamic and mentality.

This is the mystical front foot average managers tend to bleat on about - the problem is they seem ill-equipped to do anything about it. I don't think it's right to blame the players. Schar, Joelinton, Almiron, even Atsu, Longstaff, Willems, Hayden have played well over 2019. They are good enough, I think there's either psychological or tactical issues that isn't seeing them reach their potential and means we struggle a little too much in games. Last game of last season showed what can be done with effective attacking, but we don't quite see it often enough.

Like I say, not sweeping changes, I just think we need some tweaks to get the midfield further up the pitch and make better use of the wider players. They're doing well, but are so isolated there's just never an out-ball, so somethings do need to change.

 

I think the mentality of the players were partly the problem against Liverpool, but also the quality of the opposition. By mentality I mean the manager is largely blameless if after a good positive start, you get one up and then everyone decides its immediately backs to the wall defending? I always find it strange when the opposition doesn't have to force you to do that. I suppose its one of the many differences between very good and just good players.

 

Indeed. I wasn't trying to lay the blame at Bruce's door. In fact, if anyone's to blame it's Benitez. I think Bruce wants more dominance, perhaps we'll start to see some changes - Brighton will be a really good marker, because if Bruce wasn't happy about the backs-to-the-wall approach, you would expect an immediate bounce against lesser opposition. This weekend will tell us quite a lot about the direction of the club.

 

Its a big game despite it being fairly early in proceedings. It could have a significant impact on the season ahead.