If Slot needs to call on the likes of Barcola and Kvaratskhelia on top of the talent he has at his disposal, Liverpool isn’t the club for him.
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This thread has gone weird. Much like the season.
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This is just some random comment I stumbled across earlier. I’ve highlighted the line in Bold, but boy does this guy nail what might be the problem with the side at the moment…!
Can someone tell me what game slot watches to say this about
Gakpo. Gakpo is like a video stuck on repeat. Get the ball dribble cut inside shoot. Get the ball cut inside cross but can’t get passed the 1st man. Every now and then he will score a cracker but they are few and far between. Just makes you wonder if Slot knows talent and is he holding any other youngster back. It was only last week Slot called Gakpo the best left winger in the world. Is it just me that thinks Gakpo is awful
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did slot really call Gakpo the best left winger in the world though?
im not all over everything the club releases, but im close enough to assume i would have heard that ripper get belted out
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Actually, Benteke who was completely unsuited for what Klopp wanted to do, got significantly more time in the few months that he played for him than Chiesa has in almost two seasons.
Benteke had 1520 PL minutes from 29 appearances in 15/16 under Klopp. Chiesa has 357 PL minutes in total under Slot.
Benteke got a fair chance, even though that didn’t stop him from complaining. Chiesa, Elliott, Endo, Quansah? Not really.
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He also wouldn’t be the last to be overplayed at 17 and a career finished at 24, e.g. Michael Owen
And unless your name is Messi or Ronaldo, not that many prodigies u-18 come in and keep it going into their 30’s. That is the nature of the beast. Holding someone back is all well and good but who’s to say the promise will be fulfilled at 22? Who’s to say an ACL won’t keep him out at 19 and not the same player he was or could be. Just because he has the highest number of minutes in that age group this season doesn’t mean it’s so wonderfully fantastic. That’s like giving an accolade to the smartest person in the Trump administration.
I get that players health is more of a priority as you can’t utilise a player when injured. But … are we to believe that a young player runs any slower in training sessions or during reserve/academy matches?
He has ferocious speed and would scare defenders when going up against them as they know they would be tracking backwards and probably losing out in the duel. Could get at least 5 seasons playing at his best attacking years.
I would give him minimum 20 premier league starts next season and really give the hamstrings a test.
Between playing 10 minutes whenever we are losing and starting every game there’s surely a happy medium.
Right now, Ngumoha’s usage is at the one end of the spectrum.
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Sorry Arne, that one of our Irish fans are at the darts and are offering you some advice…
But i think they were trying to say that Gakpo must go into every game.
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We might want to ignore it, as many clubs and managers do, but there are really some guidelines on how much young athletes (who are growing) should train and Rio probably exceeds it already if he is in even half the training sessions.
Because bone and cartilege and tendons (and perhaps muscle as well) grow at different speeds, they always advise parents to limit training time. And game time even more due to the intensity and adrenaline because injuries at this stage can really have long lasting effects.
I would guess it is especially the case when Rio is going up against physical rough PL players. It is probably not advised and we are probably rolling the dice a bit every time we do it.
Bajcetic’s injury problems reportedly have a lot to do with the intensity of his gametime / training while he was still growing. Just saying that a lot of medical experts would probably say… limit it until he stops growing.
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As our set pieces became better after our set piece coach left (Arne obviously got more involved with them) and Brentford extended the contract with their now head coach and former set piece coach, we probably should have switched roles between our former set piece coach and Arne 
Messi had less minutes as a 17 year old that Rio has had (according to Mo Stewart on the Anfield Wrap)
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When he came on at the beginning of the season, my wife asked, “Is he 12 or something?” Just because a player looks youthful doesn’t mean that they aren’t physically mature (I mean Manuel Neuer is 40 now) but he doesn’t look fully grown.
Without wanting to completely wrap him in cotton wool, I think his minutes need managing for the next year or so. He’s obviously a huge talent. I don’t want to see him fail to reach his potential through early injuries.
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Thought this was a good take on the game, how we are are playing and is what many of us think.
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I think what he might have missed was the effect of the crowd on the performance
Yrs the crowd was nervous, as like me saw that even though we were 3 up our total performance was flawed, especially defensive wise.
Exactly why he’s a journalist and not in Richard Hughes’ role. That’s how.
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The team fed off the nervousness of the crowd. I remember Klopp once complaining about this.
For all the occasional times they broke through our midfield, they rarely seriously threatened us in open play.
It wasn’t so much this game they were reacting to, but the season…
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