Agreed it was good to see him do a little more defensively but, good corner aside, he was still so wasteful with the ball. Thought he might do more of a goodbye at the end so perhaps there’s some chance he may return after AFCON?
Wirtz, Jones and Ekitike were great; still not convinced by Macca but with 5 midfielders it’s hard to leave him out. Hopefully we’ll see more of Alex over the Christmas period.
That doesn’t make sense, if I’m the they, why would I warn you?…unless I’m actually trying to lure you into A.
Quite pointed hearing Xabi Alonso chants at the backend of the game.
I am lost with this I thought it was the other way round, I thought we controlled the game far more after the 1st 5/6 minutes.
Must have been watching different games.
He was at Stamford Bridge
In his defence, he was suffering from exhaustion, altitude sickness, drunkenness and Delhi belly when he watched the match.
But that’s normal for him!
Jones could always produce this kind of performances. Staying fit has been the issue with him. He would get in the groove, get an injury and lose all rhythm.
Agree. There is a difference between not playing him at all, and then playing most of the minutes in the space of several quick games in succession.
More so when we first started the losing run. Isolated wingers with inverted full backs. Conceding set peice goals. Hang on. Isn’t there a lesser spotted Joe on the bench with the ideal profile of an inverted and more defensive minded full back?
When Joe got in the team, we finally moved tactics to start getting width from the full backs again. The pragmatism in the last few games has given us a base to build on.
Bradley unfortunately is another who misses games after 4 or 5 starts. Frimpong could just have been unlucky, but when a pacey player starts getting pulls it’s a worry. Then to compund matter, Dom gets his ankle injury.
Still, we have a week till the next game.
As for the game, finally a good start. Meant that Brighton couldn’t sit back and frustrate. We still get caught cold by more quick direct balls, but the pressing desire was there, as was the recovery sprints.
Sometimes we cause our own issues. Like when both VVD and Konate stayed up after a set piece. A congested box, and Konate smartly goes wide right to offer width as space is tehre. The ball was on the left touchline, just asking for it to be swung in. Instead, we faff about, lose the ball trying short passes, and present Brighton with a counter.
In fairness, Bradley was suspended on this occasion (another worry given how often he picks up cards) Frimpong is more of a mystery as his injury record had been near perfect over the last few seasons.
The other laughable thing is Joe has been playing full back which involves in a lot more running and sprints than CB
I think you’ve got to trust Slot if he says he has concerns about a players fitness. It’s not as if it’s him making that assessment and none of us really know what the medical guys could be telling him.
And then when he does play him he gets told he’s playing him wrong. Simple fact of the matter is it you can’t trust a players body you’re going to be reluctant to start them. Doesn’t matter if it’s full back or centre back, you don’t want to be putting a player out there worrying about them going down 25 minutes in and forcing you into a change.
Just another light being shone on how badly the Guehi debacle has impacted us.
I dont think I can ever remember a period before Klopp up till now where our transfer business has been so good yet we leave a gaping hole in the squad and end up paying for it because of injuries or whatever. How many times is it in the last 10 years now?
Still cant complain about yesterdays result. I was a bit nervous of this one. Brighton are decent at times.
Joe was reportedly to be on pain killing injections in November and I might be mistaken about some problem being reported in October as well.
It is likely we don’t have the full picture about fitness but Joe isn’t quite in the same situation as others who have just not played.
I couldn’t have described it better if I tried. Absolutely spot-on.
Curtis applying his shoulder to the wheel is what we have been waiting for in what seems like an age… He has talent to burn, just seemed his spark always petered out before full ignition.
Maybe watching the way Harvey’s career has taken a nose-dive has finally sunk in with him. He will only have one chance to play at Anfield and become part of folklore, and therefore, he needs to side step the AS trap door. Good to see him playing well though
Kerkez getting some critism as always but i thought he had a good game and looks better without gakpo in the team.
From what I read it was his best game so far.
Five games unbeaten and a full week for preparing the next game. 
Curtis has done all that and shined regularly for ages now. Hard to get into a midfield three but right now he has to be ahead of Alexis and if Dom and Flo are playing elsewhere he’s a cert.