Premier League

[RevidgeBlue]

7 minutes ago, den said:

That was as bad as I remember seeing Liverpool play for a long time.

It said to me from just a couple of minutes in that they weren’t playing for Slot. He must be at risk.

I've mentioned it before but I think they're pretty fortunate to be as high as they are in the table. Without all those late goals earlier on in the season they'd be in a right predicament.

[RevidgeBlue]

1 hour ago, riverholmes said:

I find the claims about wingers lacking end product often to be lazy analysis. Even worse, sometimes, it seems to me a resentment against wingers and other such 'Fancy Dans'.

A winger that runs at players and tries to make crosses whilst going at full pelt is going to lose the ball more than other players. Theirs is a high risk, high reward style of play. The alternatives are the Grealish at Man City winger that acts as a wall to keep possession or the winger that only passes/crosses.

That said, there's no doubt that there are some 'dribbler wingers' that are wasteful. But Doku has always struck me as a player who makes things happen and unlocks defences. Is he at the Mahrez level - maybe not yet - but I think if he plays regularly, he will be.

Why is it lazy analysis?

You can be as tricky, exciting, or fast as you want as a winger but at the end of the day unless you're either creating chances for others or scoring them yourself it's all for nowt.

Incidentally I thought Grealish turned into an absolute parody of himself at Citeh. Everytime anyone gave him the ball he just gave it straight back. Anyone could do that and take zero risk.

Pep got most of the flak for that for instructing him to play in a certain way but even he must have got sick of him eventually as he initially left him out then moved him out of the Club.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

2 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

How long did Salah get a new deal for? With the benefit of hindsight that looks like it could have been one of the most expensive mistakes ever. I'd be trying to shunt him off to Saudi pronto in January.

Salah has lost his edge of pace - and IMO is the one player that needs to be dropped at the moment.

It is amazing how much they miss Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Diaz. But at the moment teams have figured how to play against Liverpool - as they seem unable to play past a high press - and after passing it around the defence mostly end up playing long ball.. For all the money they spent - losing out on Guehi is really hurting them.

 

[DE.]

There were warning signs last season with Salah, but he still scored 29 goals and had 18 assists (PL only, a few more in other comps) so you can understand the logic in giving him an extension. Players in their early 30s can decline pretty fast, though, so always a bit of a risk. 

Edited 1 hour ago by DE.

[chaddyrovers]

Slot won't be sack at this stage. 

But I do question why they need 2 big money striker signings or why they didn't replace Luiz Daiz. Or why they left Guehi's bid to the late minute

[roversfan99]

Theyve signed big money signings that need to work out, and in Isak and Wirtz, they are top players, hardly gambles who had scored loads in a lesser league or anything like that. The team you would think sooner rather than later needs to be built around them.

It feels with the latter like they are trying to squeeze him in to a similar iteration of their previous template for a team. Theyve for a while been 433, had a hard working, selfless and energetic midfield and central striker with the 2 wide men providing the goal threat, which was pretty much all Salah once Mane left. As a result, he was excused from defending.

Last season they pretty much played the same team every week, getting fortunate with injuries. To fully charge forward with a reset, I do wonder if Salah's role needs to reduce, hard while he is at the club, and/or they need a new manager to see it as a total change. They cant give Salah a responsibility free role on the right and give Wirtz time in his best position, I dont think. Leaves them too open.