His offensive press is very good, his defensive press is not so good. I wonder if he will play against MU, three games in eight days!!!
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To be honest our entire team just looked fucked from the 20th minute, considering Naby used to play 45mins and get injured heās just played 4 times in 11 daysā¦ So I will give him a bit of leeway. Milner/Hendo also both playing 3 games in a short spaceā¦ All vās Atletico who had a full 7 days or so to prepare after Internationals.
The main thing he should have done better is taken the yellow on the 2nd goal.
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As I mentioned in the match thread the context of the game is key, anyhow Iām off to watch it in full alongside my data entry day 
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For me, itās also pluses and minuses of him (or Thiago or Jones) playing at RCM. I understand that in our dynamic in possession when Salah plays almost as striker, we need our RCM to be more active and play a little bit wider than our LCM. But the minus of that when weāre pushed back (and Atletico are physically one of the most intense sides out there), itās not great protection with the likes of Mo, Trent and generally our āweakerā CB of the two. I know that Robbo pushes up more than Trent and our LCM on the day needs to watch out for that. But I always wondered why we canāt flip those #8ās more, especially in bigger games. To have Millie last night protecting that area between Trent and Salah.
Millie wasnāt fairing much better that side either. Heās lost some acceleration imo and misses those shoulder to shoulder barges he was so good at. Heās often to late to chance a yellow and he knows it.
Heād still do a better job there defensively (not in pressing, but when weāre pushed back more) than Keita. Actually, my biggest problem is when we play Thiago there. Because heās more of the playmaking type, the likes of Jones and Keita can cope a little bit better with their dribbling skills. I donāt know how do you bring a left sided playmaking double pivot from Bayern (entering the final part of his career) and want him to play that Liverpool RCM dynamic role between Trent and Salah. We know thatās a little bit of a sensitive area for us and a lot of top teams are either extra protecting on Salah and then also focusing a lot on attacking around Trent and most often in the channel between him and whoever our RCB is.
Last night Atletico had Carrasco at LWB (with a more defensive RWB on the opposite side), Lemar at LCM and Felix playing the left sided second striker role. Thatās basically 3 highly offensive players when Atletico are in possession. I know Keita has certain issues, especially after playing a lot of football in last days, but what did we expect? That he covers that area as well as the likes of Hendo/Millie and Gini before? Sure, certain standard should be maintained. But weāre talking about naturally different skills. And of course, itās not all about individuals, there were more issues than Keitaās or Matipās or whoevers defending. Ultimately, in possession, we lost our way being 0-2 up, that was the main issue. And against Atletico, you canāt give them any presents.
Weād probably have the same issues last night if Elliott was the RCM. Ideally of course, in a game like last night, you go for Fabinho, Hendo is back at this RCM role and itās all fine, we just decide who is in the best moment to play LCM. That is then a better balance for Keita and also for us to get the best out of him.
Weāll see how this season evolves. Klopp had a little experiment against Chelsea at home when he played Hendo for the first time as LCM, to go straight up against Kante. It was because we were so used to have Gini at LCM and Klopp in a high profile game didnāt want that to change. It didnāt look great though.
We have basically 2 CM almost automatic starters in Fabinho and Hendo. The 3rdā¦ itās really up for grabs. And it will change sometimes from period to period, game to game, during a game, etc. Elliott got it at the start, then we had a little bit of Jones, we still have to see more games with Thiago in that trio.
Itās the part of the pitch where there are still some little question marks what do we do (along with our defending, it shouldnāt be surprising that with our CBās back fit, we still need a bit of time to get back to our best defending), who merits the most playing time and what is the ceiling of that midfield in our team.
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I suspect the substitution was probably in part planned so he might get a bit of rest in before Sunday (although obviously not planned for right after half-time), but also crucially for me at least, in a situation where in previous situations youād have looked to have Fabinho, Wijnaldum, and Henderson on to better control the midfield, the Fabinho, Milner, Henderson midfield is probably the closest fit right now.
So, not so much because KeĆÆta was terrible. In my opinion though, I didnāt think he was that bad, nor do I think he was to blame for both goals. He could have done better, but these goals are just what to expect when youāre playing against another top side, and the rest of our defence wasnāt doing anything to mitigate these issues eitherā¦
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Iād say that just the fact that heās playing and not lying on the treatment table is a sign of progress when it comes to Keita.
Notwithstaning the above, his quality on the ball is undeniable and he generally makes the team more threatening. Other aspects of his game that are lacking, such as defending, should come along at some point as long as he stays fit.
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Well said he over commits which is better in the offensive press as he has players behind him, whereas in a defensive press you have to have a more patient approach and to have the attitude, you shall not pass 
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Think he was fouled 5 times today.
Nothing to do with his injury proneness.
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I just hope he hasnāt suffered a break, from that shithouse tackle by Pogba.
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Very happy for him. Showed his class yet again. I thought he was injured after initial tackles, but he continued. It needed absolute Richarlison level of thugness to injure him today. So gutted because it seemed weāll finally see a run of games with him running the show. in midfield. Hope heās back soon and continues where he left off.
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Shocking tackle. He got hooked in midweek but heās really come through as an attacking threat and linking midfield and attack this season and his fitness has looked there as well and thenā¦ this. Fucking thuggery, nothing else.
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United fans chanting āmurdererā at him as he was stretchered off.
Not wrong either, he killed them today.
Hope it isnāt serious.
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Hope he is ok but maybe start wearing proper shinpads!
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With his record it wouldnāt surprise me if heās out until new year.
His foot wasnāt planted so I think heāll be fine, just a whack.
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Klopp seems to be positive on it, as said he played well today and against Watford
I watched the replay so many times and Iām still not sure if it was planted or not, Iām glad you wrote this. Thatās two Liverpool players, and midfielders of all, who got stretchered off because of shithouse tackles this season alone. Last season it happened against Everton, this one against Leeds and Man United. Iām seeing a pattern here.
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