At one point didn’t City want him? Wow what a drop!
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I think only me and @AnfieldRdDreamer are onboard with this, but I’d look at seeing if we can get Tah on loan. Not getting his game, an eye on the Euro’s in the summer, covers us for a bit before we have a think about it in the summer. Still think there might be a player there that Klopp can work with.
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@Mascot is on the booze.
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It’s apparently not as illogical a suggestion as some make out as it’s the suggestion an AI came up with after matching skills and attributes we need too.
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That’s why you need to watch players as well as looking at a few stats.
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But it’s no good just to watch how a player plays and functions for a manager who sets up and uses players in a different way to how Klopp would use them as well.
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Who would I buy…a hypnotist, to sit near the away team dugout …but he has to be good…
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Wouldn’t that also have an effect on the stats?
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Well it depends what you’re looking at and for. A player can be doing something very well that matters for one team and the way they play but doesn’t for the team they are currently at and how that team is set up by it’s manager. Klopp and the recruitment team, in my opinion, don’t look at how a current manager is using a player, that players form or that teams form. They look at the players skills, attributes and characteristics looking for matches to how they need players to perform if they are with us. Some people think Tah is ridiculous because he’s out of form, his development has stagnated and he is out of favour with his current manager/team. To me they are the reasons why he may actually be available and at a reasonable price whilst what matters are his attributes. He’s fast, he’s solidly physical, he’s got a decent injury record, he’s accurate with his passing, fluently English, seems to be quite clued up/switched on, wins a decent percentage of his ground duels and (something I think matters due to our playing style) wins a decent percentage of his aerial duels too. I know he isn’t the perfect CB but I also don’t think there is a perfect CB out there. There’s no “next VvD” exploding onto the scene brilliant at all the things we need our CBs to be good at. So next best thing in my opinion is to get a competent player who is good at all the things they need to be good at and let the system/style of play make them look better than they really are. I think that’s better than getting a highly rated CB like Upamecano (who will first of all cost a lot more) who is great at some things we need but will struggle at other things. But apparently I’m an absolute idiot who doesn’t understand football for thinking this way.
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I just watch Tah and see an often clumsy player that gets caught out of position far too often.
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I said awhile ago that those are the aspects I think our coaching team can fix. Klopp and Pep can work on his tactical instruction and therefore help him understand how to be in the right places more often to win those ground and aerial duels that he’s ok at winning. He does ok when he’s there it’s just about making sure he’s in the right place more often. With him physically our fitness guys have worked with a lot of our fast, athletic players building up their strength, bulking them up, without losing that athleticism and speed. Tah is a player who is fast but not very athletic right now, his physical conditioning definitely needs improving but that’s something I believe our fitness guys could achieve. Maybe I’m overconfident on fixing these negatives in his game. But as I said I don’t think there’s such a thing as a perfect CB target out there right now.
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I hear what you are saying but it sounds like he may need some time to work on improving his positioning. We really need someone able to hit the ground running; especially if they are short term signing.
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I actually don’t believe there is such a thing as a 100% perfect CB for the way we play. So we either get a good match to our style that will take some work to make them a good player or an imperfect match to our system despite being a good player. Just my thought that the system is what matters the most.
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It’s not like the coaching staff at Leverkusen are phoning it in.
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I think we’ve got much better here. Klopp and Pep are quite possibly the best in the world for tactical instruction and we’ve (expensively?) assembled a real fantastic fitness team. And besides Tah may Just be a poor fit to how they set up whereas he has the right qualities to be ok in our set up if not better than that.
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The problem with this theory is Edmond Tapsoba - a kid with no experience who is built similarly to Tah and looks twice the player in the same team.
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Is Jonathan gonna fit in Tahtically or is buying him a Tahrrible idea??
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Except (and sorry to keep banging on this drum) he’s nowhere near as good at winning aerial duels. This might not matter as much there with how they set up and play but I think it matters a lot more here.
https://twitter.com/Kop__News/status/1323564692711837697?s=09
https://twitter.com/kristiyanevt/status/1323365358623928323?s=09
https://twitter.com/DistanceCovered/status/1323234813952827394?s=09
https://twitter.com/FootyThreads_/status/1323034837465419776?s=09
It is something opposition will target more and more and try to exploit as a weakness as we have so few weaker spots in our set up.
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The only reason you’d go Tah over Upamecano is price. Upamecano is the superior defender, he’s the one on the up and plays in a system more similar to ours.
If we can coach Tah to improve his positioning then we can coach Upamecano to win more aerial duels. What we can’t coach is the recovery pace needed to play the high line we like to and whilst Tah isn’t John Terry slow, he’s not beating Upamecano in a foot race.
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