We used to pull together when going a goal down and fall to pieces when we went a goal up, now we just fall to pieces.
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Not all squads are confirmed yet, some have qualifiers, some have friendlies. But out of the information available right now:
Alisson and Fabinho left out.
Keita and Nunez (preliminary, but hard to see him dropped) are in.
Is it possible to ask Uruguay to play Nunez as little as possible?
As for Keita, it will be great for him to play himself into the shop window…
Keita is free to go this summer, so it’s not that important. I’d rather have him fit, hopefully he’s back alright. Although it seems like he might not play much football in the last 13 games.
Konate and Tsimikas also called up by France and Greece.
Any idea how many/which players are going for NT duties?
I used to despise the NT breaks as they were mindless distractions. However, for players like Kelleher, Tsimikas, and Carvalho the NT games will be valuable. Even for the regulars the NT games will be a welcome distractions.
Hendo also called up by England.
Given he wasn’t used last night, I’d be surprised to see him in a red shirt again, but the Stefan injury might mean he does. Not bothered either to be honest with you.
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Was hoping he would be rested to be honest.
We don’t have our ace striker Wout Faes any more
What is the worst thing that can happen during international break …
Every player gets injured and even then with our season it’s probably not as big a blow as it would be in better seasons.
It seems that the issue of too many games appear to have crystallized and impacted LFC more than any other. In a way that at the same time is both understandable given the number of games last season, and perplexing given that no other club has been affected the same way…
Some have, but not to the level of LFC, like Madrid. Bayern wobbled a bit but have found their rhythm again…Chelsea is hard to analyze being an outlier of some sorts…City too has wobbled, but again not to the wholesale level of LFC…
Based on the above, I then look towards individual players to see who else has been impacted outside LFC players.
Players who have played the most games in the last 1yr+
#1 that comes to mind is Sadio Mane.
Then look the FF:
KDB
Richarlison (played in Olympics, WC, PL, etc)
Kane
Mount
Ngolo Kante
Kroos
Modric
Pedri
Di Maria
Pogba
Neymar
Mbappe
even Messi…
Then look at the teams that are flying this season, and none of them has had the same level of games as LFC and Madrid:
- Barca
- Arsenal
- Napoli
- United
I think the way LFC play is a major contributory factor in this. And without a proper pre-season and a WC midseason, it would seem that they were bound to be impacted the most.
The nearest comparison to LFC in terms of playing style would be Leipzig. But their model means that they are able to constantly refresh from RB Salzburg and even New York RB.
But then see what’s happened to Nkunku and Laimer…
I think one of the changes the team needs to make is to move much further on the tactical model that led to the signing of Thiago, by investing in a more technical (vs athletic) midfield…
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Injuries…wait…no, we’re covered on those
Chelsea were the only team to play close to our amount of games last season and they aren’t really in a much better position in fact if they had drawn Madrid and we drew Dortmund I think it would be the same.
Not to mention what they spent, Bayern are playing in a league that is pretty low quality after about 3-4 teams, same could be said of Madrid and both still haven’t played close to what we played last season.
Same goes for City who are 5-6 games less last season and those games were finals squeezed in.
The medical team is a concern for me and that pre season will never not concern me unless we turn up like the same team next year.
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Players on internationals so far from the info I have:
vDijk, Konate, Keita, Henderson, Jones (U21), Gakpo, Elliott (U21), Jota, Tsimikas, Kelleher.
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Mo Salah also.
No Robertson? That’s surprising. What about Alisson and Fabinho?
Yeah, Robbo is also in.
Alisson and Fabinho both left out, like I said a few posts above.
Three times at home and four times away, thank God we are better when we play away this season …
