Well fucking said as some talk shite with what they think a player does and what he actually does
my biggest issue with our midfield is they donāt show for the pass from the CB, I keep seeing a lack of options to pass the ball through them to advance up the field collectively. always seems to bypass them.
Thiago is always showing but it isnāt just the midfielders, without Bobby up front we have no one to pass the ball to feet to beat the midfield press. I did see Gakpo do it a few times against Brighton and then against Wolves he played on the left
I just see a bunch of players far too static in possession. I donāt see Salah cutting across the back line, nor so I see them dropping between the lines to cause mis-matches and create some passing angles.
Everything looking very pedestrian as of late. no trickery, no magic. Like theyāve forgotten how to play at that level.
I question the drive in some of the players now to see who is willing to bust their ass to win a game.
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I have posted several times regarding the old mantra of pass and move and like you say it is the movement part that is missing.
I do wonder what phases of play our team are working on in training because it isnāt working
I question why we donāt appear to be looking at a change in formation when itās pretty clear that after 6yrs of the 4-3-3 itās losing itās touch.
We have been baying for a 4231 for ages and we have the personnel for a double-pivot. Keita or Bobby would be decent as a #10 (carvalho?) But I keep seeing a weird version of a 442 instead.
But Iām not the gaffer. Heās the boss
Yes, I think the double pivot would work, I was also up for trying 3 at the back before the recent CB injuries as I thought it would release Trent & Robbo as well as provided numbers centrally whilst also having cover out wide.
Iām not sure how we can say conclusively that the formation is losing its touch, if we also say that the players are just too static.
It might well be that theyāre not implementing the instructions well enough, but also that the tactics are lacking, but until we can see that theyāve done it well and still struggle to win, itās quite hard to make that conclusion.
I think itās more the case of literally this:
Whenever weāve looked better itās as though they know a plan and theyāre going to execute it. When things are looking worse, it always seems as though theyāre all reacting half a second late, not just to the opponents, but to each other and the ball. Theyāre not anticipating correctly where the ball/teammates are going to go (also commonly described as not being on each otherās wavelengths), and sometimes when a long hopeful ball is sent their way they canāt reach it simply because they arenāt anticipating it like they would have in previous seasons, and react late to it.
Itās also why Iām convinced new bodies wonāt necessarily change things that much. If a long-term target were available this past transfer window Iām convinced we would have bought them, but only to integrate them early rather than hope that they would make an instant impact.
Itās the whole team going wrong in my eyes, and nothing but training and playing will fix that. Itās also why I think JĆ¼rgen bears a large part of the responsibility for this. No matter how much we might think the players are letting him down, itās also his responsibility to get something out of them. I think he feels that way too, given all that heās said, not just this season but also 2020-21. All those who think heās going to walk I think are very mistaken, heās not the type of person to walk away like this. Even with Dortmund he saw out the season with them, and helped them to recover.
Bringing it back to Thiago, I think part of this is the emotional need to find a direct single cause of our issues, whether itās the owners, particular players, JĆ¼rgen, or whatever. Itās a collective failure, and Thiago is more a symptom of it. Iām not saying heās completely blameless, but heās the kind of player who brings something extra to a good team, and helps them dominate. Heās not going to be the kind of player who will be able to rescue a struggling team. In fact, I personally think that no player is that, no matter how much the temptation to mythologise them is.
It will get better, but itās going to be a while until then, and we have to be prepared for that. There are no quick fixes, but we have JĆ¼rgen.
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It will get better.
But players like Salah and Thiago will be instrumental in getting better.
A few of our players being vilified for the wider decline of the team isnāt fair.
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if anything, Thiago is the one always moving. Iād guess that Bajceticās role as the #6 is to remain fairly central, but whomever is playing opposite to Thiago as the other ball-playing midfielder they have to show for the pass. I see a sedentary front line in possession often as well, thatās how I know the lads are disinterested.
Iāve thought the same thing. We seem to be stocking up on players who can play attacking mid in a 4231, and weāve brought in a lad who seems built to play the striking focus.
Go back to some of Kloppās first few weeks here and hear whatās his opinion on the #10 position. First thing he does here when he took over was moving Coutinho to the left side and playing Lallana there (then Bobby obviously slightly behind/alongside Sturridge/Origi more).
So we had Philippe Coutinho, someone most fans would immediately associate as being a shoe in to be a #10, yet Klopp actually never played him there (he did about half the time as the more offensive #10 at LCM in a midfield 3), as the single #10/second striker in what Klopp calls it the 4-4-2 (sometimes 4-4-1-1).
While Carvalho now struggles even in those half spaces off the sides, thereās no way I see Klopp playing him in what he calls the most difficult position in his teams. Elliott is doing better, but we want him facing the opponent more, either playing off the right or at RCM.
Back to Thiago, I agree he shouldnāt be playing that high up the pitch, as the high right sided #8, which he did a few times in his first season here. Thiago is either a left sided double pivot CM alongside a more physical/dynamic player or what he is now, the more controlling LCM in a midfield 3.
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I can see why people feel that, but given that JĆ¼rgen and the players have been talking quite a fair bit about confidence lately, do you not think itās likely that they might be thinking that if they make that run, itāll come to nothing anyway? Itās easy to withdraw back into a shell when everything is going wrong.
these guys are professionals, if theyāre gonna let a bad run of form influence their playing style then theyāre not at the right club anymore.
All of the resources at the club, Iām sorry but no excuses for not putting in maximum effort. If they want to down tools, then request a move.
Doesnāt stop them from being human. I donāt think thereās anything to suggest that this isnāt putting in maximum effort.
Just to be clear, while you may be suggesting a lack of desire, Iām suggesting a temporary lack of ability due to the mental fatigue.
professional footballers mate. maybe one or two have a slump, this is half the squad. not buying it.
63 game season, certainly reason to believe so. Weāre not the only team to be sufferingā¦
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that was 8 months ago. followed by summer break, and then another 5 week break for WC. nah, not buying it.
Thatās under the assumption that they have been able to recover, and that the shortened summer break didnāt actually compound the damage with the insufficient rest though.
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