Yeah I think Gomez will go back to FB now, which is where he belongs, so LB wouldn’t be a shock since Robertson is playing so poorly.
I think we will see Gomez at left-back instead of centre-back only out of a need to rest Robertson. I don’t know if that game will have ended Arne’s use of him at centre-back.
It should.
But as I said he has trusted Endo in several games by bringing him on in tight games to help solidify the team and control the game and the occasions he has done it, it has worked.
That is why I was surprised and mentioned in game, ny saying Endo for Macca, replace tired legs.
I do somewhat agree with Sweeting in that it was down to poor refereeing and goalie error why we drew the game, but I still think we were too open and our spacing was off the whole game defensively.
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Sorry, to be clear, I was indirectly agreeing with you.
I think trying to read too much into what his decisions are and thinking about whether he trusts someone or not is stretching quite a lot. My criticism is more about how those who think his selection and substitutions are about who he “trusts” are rather misguided. In this game it was probably just the case that he didn’t think he needed to make a change in personnel.
And if not for the cheap free kick, he would have been vindicated too.
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Bringing Endo to close the game down has its merits, but last nights game in the latter stages, our attacks were free flowing. Yes it might have shored it up at the back, but there was never a guarantee Endo would have achieved that, but it may have blunted our prowess in front of goal.
If that game had lasted another 5mins, I feel we would have scored once more. Conceding in the 92nd minute, prevented us from coming back at them again
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I think there are some legitimate concerns about the game that we can, and should address. But I also feel that we need to widen the lens a little, to get better context, so as to not overreact on one game.
For me I am widening the view to just the week in which we played the barcodes. It also included great wins against Real Madrid - we put a lot into the game; and Man City - we put a lot into the game.
Now fast forward to Newcastle. We are top of the league and top of the CL standings too. At that point in 20 games we had won 17, drawn one and lost one. Not bad at all.
While we hoped otherwise, it was inevitable that the performance level would suffer a bit. We were out of sorts for most of the game, and even then, we almost found a way to win, and Salah in particular deserves a lot of praise for his sheer desire to wrestle the three points away from St James Park.
Something that was out of our control was the officiating. It was terrible. Cards all night long for our boys. They committed lots of fouls that went unpunished, and they were diving around all night.
One of the dives led to the free kick at the end from which they equalized, and yes, gutted as I am for the fella because he has been brilliant for us, Kelleher made a big mistake there. It was an easy catch to make and that’s what he should have done. I’m sure he knows that more than anyone else, as he reflects. It’s a very harsh world for a goalie, as mistakes are usually consequential.
Anyway, I am still filled with hope for the season ahead.
We have a cracking side, and Slot is learning more about them as we go, and more about the league, the other teams, the refs, the whole set up. There’s a lot to navigate but he will get better and better himself, even if I think we should have made another sub a few mins before their equalizer.
January is coming and hopefully we add a couple of players to help us, not just for now, but also for the long term.
Zubimendi and Kerkez for me, then let’s see what happens with the renewals and see what business we need to do in summer.
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Yes I agree our attacks were free flowing but as I said earlier our distances/compactness was poor defensively throughout the game and at 3 - 2, we needed to control the game not push for a 4th.
By pushing we became last years team.
And it was too end to end for me. In
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I was chatting to one of Conor Bradley’s family today. They were saying that all the players are absolutely loving Slot and the other new coaching staff. They obv loved Jurgen too but are glad of the change.
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Did they tell you that we’re signing Simao?
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I have been struck by how many of them have commented on how the clarity of what is expected of them is helping them perform. None of them have said it as a contrast of last season, but it is hard not hear it be a consistent theme and not think that maybe half our problem last year with the slow starts was that we’d (Pep) over complicated what we were trying to do.
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It could also be that Arne’s a much better communicator…
I think it was more the constant intensity under Klopp. The style and him as a person. Slot is more relaxed. They were also saying that Slot is personable and close to players also. Interested in their lives beyond football etc.
Not the more detached, aloof character that some of the media have made him out to be
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Weren’t some of the fans saying the same thing.
Even though at that time it showed him signing a kids shirt.
Hilarious moment in the press conference where he was asked about having been the former PSV manager.
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LFC v Fulham
Brilliant way of getting a time-wasting message across to the numpty in the middle, who allowed it to go on for entire game
BTW… Goalkeeper is allowed 6secs
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But it didn’t work, did it?