No, I just think its funny that the example you gave is of someone who has given the ball away in really bad positions recently.
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If only we had the owners who sold Coutinho and reinvested it into the squad. Oh well.
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Absolutely. He’s still learning. What I said wasn’t an attack on TAA or Gerrard despite some taking it that way.
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We disagree on Thiago, obviously.
But I think that we agree on relating everything to the owners is a bit tedious.
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Since Trent has switched position he’s been the best outfield player in the squad, imo, and by a distance too.
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While the general point is sound, if you’re applying it to Stevie G possiblly LFC’s best ever player or 2nd best, then I don’t know what to say.
Of course, if you like just passing the ball around aimlessly, pass after pass, just recycling, then good for you too.
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You don’t need to say anything further, you’ve said enough.
If you want to continue making stuff up that I didn’t say then good for you.
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Wonder what started it all? Oh yes.
But I’ll refine my previous reply. You believe playing the killer pass is what made them great, I don’t. It can force things and led to the team being put under pressure if it doesn’t work. Gerrard’s most productive season for us was when he was moved from centre midfield. Why do you think he was moved?
City have two excellent examples of players who keep possession and who usually only go for the killer pass at the right moment, KDB and Silva.
Please don’t interpret this as disparaging against our current or past players or making those passes, a defence splitting pass is one of the best sights in football. But if you’re attempting this pass too often, you’re just cheaply giving away possession.
The best exponent of the killer pass vs keeping possession at the moment is Thiago.
He turns back inside or looks for Robbo if the percentage isn’t in his favour going forward.
And yes, I know injuries/age/all the arguments go against him with some people. That is a seperate argument.
But there are few can argue against his quality
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Thiago is not like the others!
Mo, world class, great player.
Allison, same.
Thiago? I can sort of see it, but not for me. Age, injuries, availability. It’s all against him. Definitely excellent on the ball, but even then, there’s a sense in which in the hustle of the Prem he gets his pocket picked and doesn’t have the time he thinks. I see him get brushed off the ball too.
If we keep him, fine. He will likely do better, when called upon, with some additions to the midfield.
But Thiago’s world class days are behind him now.
Disagree!
But fair enough
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I’m hoping TAA and Bajcetic can learn from him. Though experience is the better teacher. Knowing when to make that pass and when to keep possession ticking over are best learnt through playing.
Yeah he’s firmly in the same bracket as VVD if those are the levels
(Unless ‘past the mark’ meant VVD is even better than world class?)
Trent is a better passer of the ball than Thiago, especially the final pass. Thiago doesn’t have the accuracy or range of passing that Trent does.
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Kevin De Bruyne’s pass completion, 72%, is among the lowest in the league. It just doesn’t matter because when he does connect on one of his 3.57 key passes per game then it is a devastating offensive weapon.
Trent’s passing % is similar, 75%, and completes 2.21 key passes (this is a down year for him until the last few weeks). One thing that TAA does do is makes about twice as many successful passes into the final third as De Bruyne, more crosses and more passes into the penalty area.
Anyway, long story short playmakers will lose possession at a higher rate than other players. That’s fine and expected because it is their jobs to play difficult high reward passes. Trent is one of the best in the game at it.
Thiago is a poor comparison I think because although his pass completion is very high the trade off is that he doesn’t create chances. Just 1.3 key passes per game and 0.13 expected assists compared to Alexander-Arnold’s 2.21 key passes and 0.28 expected assists - more than double the number of chances Thiago creates (and I’ll repeat this, until recently, has been a really bad year for Trent in terms of chance creation - last season he was on 0.41 expected assists).
I think there are clearly defined roles within our system that Thiago and Alexander-Arnold would play and that is shown that the man who has taken Thiago’s place in the team, Curtis Jones, has almost identical stats to Thiago (1.08 key passes, 0.12 expected assists). Thiago is a metronome but his main role is to recycle possession and maintain an attack - Jones also. Trent’s role is to force the issue and create chances.
Both roles are important but different. Maybe Trent can still learn about the right time to play a pass, continuous improvement and all that, but frankly he is one of the best playmakers in world football and the rest of the team just need to take the chances he creates to prove why it’s worth him turning over possession 1/4 times he gets the ball. Just like how Man City find it worthwhile for De Bruyne to lose it even more than that.
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Apart from availability.
Thiago is not available a lot, and if we sign two new midfielders, coupled with the emergence of our young players, he will likely only be a supplemental player for us.
VVD is available more, and even though past his best, I’m sure he will play more than Thiago.
Obviously in time both will be finished, as they all are!
Trent is the best passer of the ball I’ve ever seen. Only KDB comes close
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There’s life in van Dijk yet. He was brilliant against Fulham - hope to see more of that in the final few games.
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