Tomo

Maybe, but if he is getting made to look silly by average Championship wingers regularly that would overrule his previous history in the players eyes, can you really guide people on how to do their jobs if your struggling at your own? Regardless of the players history.

I'm a bit surprised by this one. He will get eaten alive with the high pressing tactics Lampard plays.

We will never get the very best out of Kante in this or any attacking/possesion based system but i will fancy him to eventually master his current position over sitting CDM,that Ozil goal against us under Conte demonstrates all the pitfalls of him playing that position in 30 seconds.

That he will frustrate any manager that tries to convert him into a shoot on site player because that isn't the way he plays.

He always had a Matic/Drinkwater to sweep up whenever his proactive nature got him wiped out of the game, he won't have that protection playing CDM in a 433.

Kante isn't and never has been a CDM.

I can't recall the last time you made a positive post about the club, and now you start going after me because i point out a clear contradiction to your agenda (praising Liverpool for stuff you bash us for) .

You seem to have problems with anyone who doesn't sing to your "we are shit and it's doomsday" narrative. Even when results and performances were good all would go on about was how shit everyone associated to Chelsea is.

Fair enough, were shit and do everything wrong while our rivals are amazing and do everything right, better?

Im sorry but had we sold Hazard and spent half the money on a Southampton CB this place would be in a riot and Marina would have had to have left the country for her own safety. Shaqiri aswell, when he was linked with us this place lost it's shit.The figures of what we are spending for Sarri compared to what Liverpool spent for Klopp in his first two summer windows is night and day,for example Klopp had to suffer with the chuckle brothers for three years before being handed a top class keeper by his heirachy, Sarri got one within weeks. Klopp done very well with recruitment and youth promotion but he hasn't done it with a blank cheque, he's been very much doing it with the much malinged sell to buy policy until this summer that no manager like a Jose/Conte would have accepted in a million years. If Sarri's gets sacked, lack of backing will be the last excuse he can use.

Hazard i agree with but Kante's best position doesn't exist in this system and CDM restricts him even more. He is unfortunate in the same way Ash would have been if he encountered Conte while he was here as he would have been less effective as a LWB or LCB but also too good to leave out, so it's about finding his best position within and i think this is it and he's getting better, probably has been the one plus amoungst this current rut. I think the issue is the midfield as a whole, i think all three are just the right type of profile to have us challenging again but lack the balance a bit like a CM version of the Hazard/Mata/Oscar trio, if we could somehow pull off a Coutinho esque signing in Kova's position we would be a totally different proposition.

Klopp took over a team that finished outside the top 4 six seasons out of seven they looked even worse than they did even under Roy in Rodgers last days. For his first three years he had to sell to buy, he was only able to sort his defensive issues by selling his best player to fund it, it's only really this summer he was given a chance to spend (NET). His first years he had to either sell valuable assets to make funds or scrape for cheap deals (no more than £30m bracket) for Klavan, Karius, Salah, Mane etc and lucky for Liverpool he got the latter two very right. To say Klopp took over a club on the rise with a board that backed him simply isn't true, Liverpool would still be in the same shit they were in had Klopp rejected them, his management and that alone has elevated Liverpool to these heights.

I never said he wasn't, but this constant "our players and managers are shit while our rivals are amazing" cliches are ridiculous.

When? He's almost exclusively been 4-3-3 and rock and roll football during his whole time in England, even during bad spells he stayed true to his style.

Ummmm. Lovren, Mignolet, Moreno, Henderson got about 2 years worth of chances before Klopp stopped starting them all the time.

So you use the one of i think two games he was picked over a fully fit Pedro as evidence?

He's third choice behind Pedro, he always goes off before him if they play together and the period Hazard and Pedro were fit and Sarri still had faith in the strikers he was usually on the bench. Willian has been starting games due to fortunate (for him) coincidences, first Hazard coming back late then Pedro going down then Sarri losing patience in the attackers. Barring injury to Haz, Pedro or Higuain i would bet anything he's back on the bench.

Willian won't be starting once Higuain is in.

If this was the Arsenal of the late 00's i would agree as that side struggled against physical players but coped well against nimble players, this Arsenal team is the opposite, i reckon Pedro, Willy and Hazard could have them tripping over themselves.

We have won more games there than we have lost.

Does it? I can't recall it happening often to us and certainly no more than any other team.

Milan took him on loan but it took us to the end of his contract.

Arsenal and United can't defend, we would have to implode spectacularly to finish below either let alone both.

We are? We are still clear favorites to get that position depsite United's resurgence.

That's eased my worries a bit, usually when Merson makes a prediction the opposite happens.