He takes forever to get back to his best after injury, Matip and Keita just seen to be back up to speed straight away.
True. Heās been back for 2 and a half months and people are still saying itās just match fitness thatās thatās issue.
Maybe this is just his level.
To be fair he isnāt going to get back to the pace with roughly ten minutes every fortnight.
Iāve stopped think about him as an option for this season. Maybe if we have any meaningless games at the end of the season. But itās all about pre-season for him I think.
I feel he got the Sturridge Syndrome. He is now afraid, tentative, to push himself (fearing another injury).
With an injury depleted squad he mustnāt be doing anything on the pitch or in training to earn more. And Klopp clearly doesnāt feel like heāll get a better player by taking the hit of playing him a bit more like he seems to be doing with Kabak.
Itās not his fitness itās his sharpness and for that he hasnāt had enough minutes, he needs to start and play 60 mins imo.
Letās face it he is not the player we need to pull us through the situation we are in just hasnāt the mental or ability for that imo
However if he pulls his socks up he can help!
He got two starts against Southampton and Burnley and was dreadful in both. Heās looked terrible off the bench in every game apart from West Ham. Against Leipzig he did his best to let them back in the game.
He needs minutes to improve but heās not good enough to get those minutes. I think Joseph Heller coined a phrase for this scenario.
Beggars can not be choosers!
Please do tell.
EDIT: The ācatch 22ā guy.
Right ho
He doesnāt really have any choice with Kabak. He still has some options in midfield.
All players are different and I think Ox is one who need to play himself into form. Other donāt. Thatās why I think itās about pre-season for him, because I donāt think weāre going to be in a position to carry him through a few tipsy games.
He does, Henderson only JUST got injured but he had Davies to try, Phillips, Williams and Gini who has covered CB for him before. Not sure I 100% agree with them but many believe Phillips was the better of the two at this stage. But Kabak has clearly got the higher potential so Klopp has been playing him even though it could have arguably harmed us in the short term to do it. If Klopp had real belief Ox was just in a slump that required game time to get him through thatās what heād be doing to unleash the better player later on. Its not like our CM has been at stellar levels and all fit and fresh as a daisy and allergic to being rested. Klopp could have easily given Ox more playing time. Shaqiri has played more recently.
Great cameo when he came on against Wolves, looked pacy and up for it, especially compared to his recent performances
But thatās what Ox is, an explosive player. If heās normally fit, youāll get that from him and fans will immediately like him because of that particular aspect of his game. Plus, he went to the false #9 role and had a bit more freedom. The mission was and still remains if he can put in performances from the start that last longer than 60 minutes or so. His central midfield evolution and capability to keep it up for longer periods in the game and then a few games in a row hit a certain point.
I have two concerns about Alex
- Can he stay fit over long term.
- He seems to play in patches during games.
Looked up for the game on Monday night for a change.
Staying fit since December 2020
Been on the bench or picked up odd minutes in last 22 games. Needs games to get sharpness but canāt get games cause he doesnāt have sharpness.
In the good old days he would get games in the reserves shame they got rid of them.
He could still play for them if we wanted. The u23s can field 3 over age players.
Yeah itās usually how Man Utd stay at the top of it
Its a shame our fringe players donāt get game time some other way.