Tiago Ilori Progressing Nicely on loan at Bordeaux

http://anfieldindex.com/13716/tiago-ilori-progressing-nicely-loan-bordeaux.html

Liverpool’s highly rated central defender, Tiago Ilori, is now beginning to blossom at Bordeaux after a tough start to life on loan in Ligue 1.

A hamstring injury back in October against Reims, that consequently saw him miss around two months, curtailed what had been a decent start to his loan spell.

Since his return from injury, however, the Portuguese’s performances have been rather encouraging, as he continues to justify why Liverpool were so keen to acquire him, and paid £7 million to do so.

While he’s been partnered with multiple central defenders for a variety of reasons since coming back, including fellow Liverpool target Lamine Sane, Nicolas Pallois and Cedric Yambere, it’s been important to note Ilori has been a constant. His form has been solid too, something that’s obviously been greatly helped by the fact that he’s remained fit.

Obtaining playing continuity is vital for any footballer’s development, and in Ilori’s case, it’s fantastic to see him reaping the benefits of getting vital top flight minutes.

Playing against the likes of PSG, Saint Etienne, Guingamp and Toulouse this season will act as a terrific stepping stone for him in his quest to be a mainstay for Liverpool in the future.

Lining up in his now-customary position on the right side of central defence against Lens on the weekend, the 22-year-old produced another very positive display.

Up against Lens’ physically imposing forward Adamo Coulibaly, who really is a brute of a man, Illori stuck to his role nicely, successfully limiting his impact.

On many occasions, the former Sporting prodigy beat Coulibaly in the air and even held up well in battles of strength, but the area in which Ilori absolutely dominated related to sheer pace.

He made certain that Lens had little joy playing balls in behind Bordeaux’s defence. Despite their relatively high line, the unbelievable covering speed and anticipation of the youngster almost completely nullified this avenue of attack for the away side.

Even on the odd occasion where a ball went over his defensive partner Yambere, by using his speed, Ilori would ofen motor across and kill the move. On 40 minutes a perfect example of this arose. Here, after Pablo Chavarria had broken through in behind Yambare, it looked as though the Argentine was clean in. It wasn’t to be. Thankfully for Bordeaux, Ilori charged across the field to execute a precise sliding tackle to knock the ball out for a throw in and save his team.

It was a magnificent piece of action, and one that illustrated just how good he is physically. He can leap, he’s fast and even quite strong despite his slender frame, and when combined with the fact he’s 190cm tall and only 22 years of age, he undoubtedly ticks almost all the boxes required in a modern day centre back.

Intriguingly, and on a side note, he unsurprisingly still holds the record for the fastest 30-metre sprint at Sporting.

The youngster, also, showcased his ability to take up excellent positions and make good decisions – with and without the ball.

Hardly ever caught out in this contest was Illori, for he positioned himself intelligently enough to cope with any situation. He stayed goalside when tracking markers and didn’t step up and lunge into tackles overzealously. The maturity he showed when addressing the problems ahead of him, and in dealing with them in a calm and composed manner, was a real highlight.

Seeing as Lens often looked to move the ball down the flanks and whip crosses in for Coulibaly, it was impressive to note just how well Ilori dealt with these situations. As mentioned above, his concentration and awareness to remain goal side and keep track of his man was wonderful. This, in turn, meant that the languid figure was so often perfectly situated to clear and cut out crosses. The whopping 11 successful clearances he made depicted his effectiveness aptly here.

Whenever Bordeaux look to facilitate their attacks, their fullbacks Diego Contento and Mariano always have a key role in providing width for Les Girondins. So with this prerequisite in place, the covering work Ilori undertook was crucial in allowing his right fullback, the marauding Mariano, to motor upfield freely. It also gave the Brazilian peace of mind knowing that Ilori would cover his man, Lens left-winger Baptiste Guillaume, if a turnover occurred.

On the ball, the elegant stopper exhibited that fine passing range he possesses. While he often opted to play simple passes into Bordeaux’s deep-lying midfielder Gregory Sertic, his accurate long balls, horizontal and vertical, illustrated delightfully his quality in possession. This facet of his game should mean that Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has little hesitation when integrating him in next season – if he chooses to use him.

“The technical quality of Tiago hit us,” mused Bordeaux manager Sagnol on this.

Statistically, his numbers are rather impressive for Bordeaux too, and consist of him averaging 2.2 tackles per game, 2.7 interceptions pg and a colossal 6.1 clearances per game.

The former Granada man recently commented on his desire to return to England and to have an impact. “My long term plan is to play and win titles for Liverpool Football Club. The team they are building can be huge, and I want to be a part of that.”

All things considered, this wildly talented Liverpool loanee really does look to have a bright future ahead of him. The idea of a future central defensive pairing of Mamadou Sakho and Ilori is something that’s gaining traction, and could well become a reality sooner rather than later. We’ll just have to wait and see what Rodgers’ plans are for this very gifted defender.

 

Good stuff he could be a very good plaster for us.

 

I'll state the obvious before anyone else does. Doing it in France is one thing....glad the lads progressing well but he hasnt got anywhere near a place in our ****ty defence since he's been here (or rather not been here much) so time will tell. As for forming a long term partnership with Sakho the less I say about that the better. Scary, scary thought.

Interesting read though JS

 

I was on my phone, predictive text can be a ****er.

 

Well our defence needs more than a plaster Unfortunately it will need more than Ilori as well. Hopefully the lad comes back and is a star but it's impossible to say from a half decent season in France that he'll suit a defence in the Prem. It's a totally different kettle of fish.

 

Encouraging. If he lives up to his potential, him and Sakho could form a good solid CB pairing for a while.

As as has been said, one thing doing it in France under less pressure but hope he's given a fair crack in the pre season games. He can't be any worse than Toure and Lovren have been.

If he can make it it'll be a huge plus with his pace. He's froghtenibgly quiz for a tall CB and that's one thing that's missing in from our CB's. Will allow us to play a higher line without the constant threat of being caught by balls in behind.

One to keep an eye on for sure

 

He's got back in after a formation change there and he has done pretty decent

I think it's positive for him that he's managed to get a bit of a run of games so hopefully lfc can look at him in preseason this year and see where he is at

The thing is he prob suits both a 3 and a 4 at the back so retained if he can look the part when he comes back in preseason great

We'll see.

I hope he stays fit through preseason. That's hurdle 1

 

I think the least he can do is add decent back up. Both he and Wisdom should be the back ups - not having Kolo or Lovren on the bench.

 

You say its only the French league, but the French league is fast and physical and can make a good stepping stone to the EPL. A lot of top quality defensive players have moved very successfully from France to England over the years. The French league also has a lot of very talented attacking players who will provide a good challenge for Illori.

His time in France will make a good in between step between the less physical but more skillful Portuguese and Spanish leagues and the fast and physical English league.

I remember the game where he kept Messi quiet. The guy has real talent.

 

I remember Phil Babb keeping Baggio quiet in the World Cup....

The point is it might be a great stepping stone but it means nothing. The physicality and speed of French football is so far removed from regular Prem football it's untrue FF. Anyone remember us being assured how good Markovic would be after performing very well in Serbia and Portugal? Technically talented leagues but the guy looks lost when presented with the next step up.

Basically I'll believe the hype after he's played well in 50 Prem games not a couple of seasons on loan abroad (in any league).

 

Youre a hard man to please billy... Did you not get the memo about bugging up players yet to play for us and pinning all out hopes on them?!

#nextyearisouryear

 

WTF was wrong with Phil Babb...?

 

Hed put his bollocks on the line for LFC... Quite literally. In fact they might still even be there.

 

You and Gerrez of all people should know I don't read my PMs properly

 

Not sure why I'd know #onemanteam