It will be a bit unfortunate for him not starting against Everton. He has been steadily gaining sharpness over the last few games and it’s clear that he needs minutes to keep progressing.
One the other hand, there’s lots of games coming thick and fast and it’s important to keep him fresh as well as sharp.
We can sometimes get too hung up on who’s first choice, fourth choice, etc when it comes to the midfield. It’s the most heavily rotated area of the team, sometimes out of necessity i.e. injuries but often just to keep players fresh. If Ox stays fit then he’ll get plenty of game time. We’re playing once every 3/4 days for weeks ahead.
Another good game, and my oh my, that shot had sting. Gradually returning to his best, only thing lacking is the goals and they will come too in due time.
Most people on here think Ox had a poor game last night, but the BBC pundits are of the opinion his contribution was vital to us winning the game last night. It’s a funny old game.
He was poor although Thiago had much more of a mare tbh. Not sure what the pundits were seeing, wouldn’t be the first time mind. Could be the midfield combo that played but neither of them looked particularly comfortable at any time and even though we had the lead, it wasn’t until Keita came on that the midfield clicked. I quite enjoyed Keita and Thiago on the pitch together, for a short time at least. With Fabinho behind them could be really tasty on certain occasions.
He did OK. Should have had an assist in the first half for Salah and a penalty in the second. He didn’t particularly stand out as either good or bad, but you could say that about the entire midfield and attack.
His pass for Salah was lovely, the rest of his game was shite.
Had absolutely no idea what to do against the low block. Constantly taking up poor positions, not taking the ball on the half turn, seldom a threat in the box when we create overloads on either side for the cut back. Struggles to play combinations in tight spaces.
The difference when Keita came on couldn’t have been more stark, the link between the midfield and attack improved tenfold.
He was also cyncially scythed down twice, once in each half after doing what he does best, sucking in a defender and then blowing past him and getting inbetween the lines with the ball. Its a game that under slightly different circumstances he gets a MotD edit that makes him out to be a key player in an a hard fought and key win.
There was a period in the second half where the game got sloppy but other than that I thought the midfield was good. For long periods there was that characteristic look of the ball always popping up to Henderson 20 yards outside their box whenever they tried to release pressure, and so while hendo is the most obvious reason for that, it doesnt happen without the 5 players ahead of him doing their jobs well.
I was also surprised to hear the journo ask Klopp today about Ox, praising his performance last night. He had much better games lately than that one, perhaps that was the general reflection to his past period. Last night I wondered after half an hour or so is he even on the pitch. I think he was also well aware that it wasn’t his best game when he went off. But lately, it’s been positive.
that’s a rust thing. he’s still not got a lot of minutes under his belt in last 12 months, and shooting is a tempo thing. I saw at least one he couldn’t get his footwork right and blazed it over the bar aka “snatched at it”
More of the same please Ox. Looking sharper week by week. Love his energy driving through midfield with the ball at his feet. Head down a tad too much at times.