OneMoSalah

Not big wages? His agent is notorious for getting his clients big money and he was at PSG, coming through the ranks and now on loan to Real Madrid. I refuse to believe hes would be on less than 100k a week at PSG considering he has been there since he was a youth player and they will have renewed him a few times....suppose not the biggest wage but again, its hardly as if its minimal. Edit: ok few websites reckon 80-90k currently but again, when these players move they very rarely take a wage drop, they usually want more money. I would expect the same. Saying that, he really isnt that great a GK either, not the worst, not the best. There is a reason as to why he is still behind Mandanda in the NT back up GK role. I suppose if there weren’t any better options and the fee wasn’t extravagant, yeah sure take him but he wouldnt even make the top 10 candidates for me. Reason why we bought Kepa before him too. also @King Kante just because the players only been contacted 2 weeks or a month or whatever before a transfer it doesn’t mean he is not vetted by the club for some time. Or what would be the point in having a scouting system? Plus for 71m your going to want to be doubly and triply sure that the guy will be worth the outlay so its not as if they panicked and picked his name out a hat... Chelsea had been watching Pulisic long before we made our interest clear, same with Kevin de Bruyne, the Dutch scouting fella was quoted saying he had been following him since he was 15 and also Andre Schurrle. So I would severely doubt that any shortcuts were taken with Kepa who the club knew was more than likely going to cost his buyout clause. It would be idiotic if they hadnt been aware of him or watched him live or on video as well as looking through all the various modern day data they can use to help analyse players as well as take into account their characters, their behaviours etc. I mean, cmon, this is professional football, not soccer aid. Plus the club had known for months Tibo wanted to leave because they tried to renew his contract a few times and then he put it off to the summer so I would imagine the club will have had contingencies for that, which makes that statement even more baffling. plus when his buyout was lower or whatever, he was essentially 90% ready to go to Madrid which would of pointed towards us having a better chance of keeping Tibo. But their president pulled the plug despite Zidane wanting Kepa because he wanted Courtois. Then Bilbao offered him a new deal with a higher buyout because his contract was set to expire IIRC.

Yeah hasnt been great. I think from the off Sarri was in a difficult job because the age of that Juventus squad is very high and he is very intense about playing one way which demands a lot of pressing and emphasis on only playing the one style. Think any manager trying to radically overhaul a playing style like that with say 3/4s of their best footballers 30 and over was always going to be a difficult task. Sarri is more of a 433 manager and you can see he has tinkered with resorting to a 4312 to accommodate Dybala as well, despite only really using it earlier in his career at Empoli, he has always been more preferable of 433. Plus on recruitment: Aaron Ramsey was a really odd addition, dont get me wrong good player, can get goals but don’t see what he would of brought to Allegri’s Juventus side when they announced it in January never mind Sarri’s. I dont think he is at that level or even if he was, he needs to be built around more and afforded a bit of freedom to thrive, he is never going to get that at Juve with CR7 and to a lesser extent Dybala. I can understand the signings of Rabiot and de Ligt, Rabiot is a good player, left footed, play on the left side in that 3, was very consistent for PSG over the years, capable of keeping the ball, winning the ball and breaking the lines and then hes in his peak years where as Matiudi, Khedira, Pjanic are all 30 or over. But even now hes being mentioned as a potential sale. De Ligt was a great addition for an aging backline obviously and Demiral is another promising player who can grow into a really good CB. The sale of Cancelo and signing of Danilo as well, odd. I dont think they’ve helped themselves in the transfers either as they are normally very shrewd. Arthur is a clever signing, proper talented player and will be a huge asset for them. Personally think Allegri did similar to what Zizou did at Real, just let the players have a bit more free reign and play a bit more freely as they pleased as opposed to following a hugely stricter approach with huge emphasis on playing the ball out every time, pressing without it, to that way which managers like Sarri, Pep, Bielsa etc like to use. Honestly with the recent links, I do think Pochettino would be the man best suited for rebuilding Juventus’ squad. He did a very good job at Spurs in that regard IMO as well as giving them a clear identity despite a lack of trophies. Juventus is all about winning though but they took Sarri who isnt a huge winner in regards to trophy’s, just the one here, so I think Poch would be their first choice if they do get rid of him. Weird sacking a manager after winning a league and buying him a 70m player to be the figurehead of a vital part of his team though. Do think he will maybe have the luxury of another season though I dont think it would look good on Juve if they did sack him after winning a league despite some ups and downs but they might not be able to wait to sign Poch.

I think it will take for him to play for a Juventus or a City with great players in those attacking areas to actually appreciate him. And before people are gonna tell me Rodri at City does anything better or different then I implore them to actually watch the games because 9 times out of 10 he passes the ball 5-10 yards to either a CB, FB, De Bruyne or David Silva. He had a tough spell last season and a wee bit of a difficult time in games this season but all in all hes hardly been as bad as the usuals make out. The constant chopping and changing in MF hasnt helped either and when it was Jorgi-Kovacic and Mount we were playing some great stuff but suppose nobody cares to mention that? The fact we have managed to get our wingbacks so far up and involved in the last 2 games as well is partly done to Jorginho playing it to them at almost every possible opportunity he could.

Most possession orientated teams do this anyway when playing 433 or 4231 anyway. The deepest midfielder sits infront and the fullbacks push on. They drop in if they lose possession. I tend to remember Mikel doing it here. And Romeu. When Ramires played in MF with Mikel in a 4231 and we had possession he would push further up and it would be more of a 4123/433 whatever. Or 343 when we were really pushing the fullbacks up. All of Pep’s team have done this since Barcelona.

Wont happen. City want him but don’t want to pay his 100m+ release clause and I sincerely doubt we will pay anything near that either. Top player though.

Most amateur thing I have ever seen. He didnt even play 50 games yet alone 600-700+ which is when they normally retire numbers for certain players ie. Maldini, Baresi, probably Messi’s 10 when he retires etc. who have had that continuity and been successful. Tinpot club.

Yeah even with VAR it was pathetic. Like seriously. I seen it on the tele first time and thought nah no foul. And Im sitting floating about on a shitheap in the middle of the sea with dodgy tv signal so if I can see it from here first time with the signal dodgy as fuck and freezing up, how can somebody who is paid to referee the game and is basically 3-5m away not? And even then they have VAR and a room of 4 or 5 people reviewing shit on monitors, how can they not get it right? Its not as if they’ve got Stevie Wonder in there, maybe Steven Gerrard but No mention of it bar from Frank and Klopp I think, typical. That 2nd goal really killed our positive start and it was undeserved for Liverpool. Changed the whole momentum of the match imo.

Yeah. Was hoping covid would maybe reduce the fees a bit but dont think it will, probably drive prices up even more. It is going to be ridiculous to see what someone 20 or 21 y/o, highly regarded, goes for in 5 years time though. I wish players would just sign 2 or 3 year deals and do the contract then go for free more often, I mean surely the likes of Sancho and even that Jude Bellingham now must be thinking okay 2 or 3 seasons, do well, then go back to the PL. Fuck this paying over 120m for someone who signed a 5 or 6 year deal the previous summer.... only to want to leave regardless. Talking of Harry Maguire in that previous post, scary fact purely because of this premium English 30-40m+ price on players, he cost more than Zidane or Luis Figo when they signed for Real and the worst part, about 12 times more than what they paid for Fabio Cannavaro. Makes me fucking sick 😂 decent player at times but not even got 10% of the talent those guys had.

He has been managed incredibly poorly this season. Said it early doors it was no coincidence Emerson, Rudiger and Kante came back from injuries only to end up injured again the following week or so. Or even Tammy being pushes through that Arsenal game he was out for a few weeks after IIRC. Hopefully a summer off and bit of time to recharge will do him the world of good. God knows we need him as an option to try balance out this top heavy team.

In a more realistic market its probably a correct price. Who would have thought United not wanting to overpay for someone? Plus they must be looking at Maguire and going 80m.... not making that mistake again.

I agree but again Willian and Mount just come off the back of a very good performance and maybe he thought not to alter a winning team? Plus Willian has alongside Puli and Giroud been one of our best players since the restart. Although we all thought it was a mistake but he is stubborn as weve seen this season with the back 3. When it works one game he tends to keep it next, which ok to keep continuity and consistently picking the team maybe but then he changes again and it contradicts that potential reason. I dont think this game would have suited Loftus-Cheek he would of probably came on in the MF 2 and I dont think you can account for him definitely putting the hard hards in the other way. Well thats my opinion. Although if it were 4231 he could have come on in the 10 position aye or even in a 433 being the more advanced player in MF but I think the 343 definitely let Alonso and James get into better positions, as they had more security (well not really the best way to put it haha) with the 3 behind them. Plus for all the Jorginho bashing last night and today he kept finding Alonso out on the left with ease and also James received the ball a lot in their half. I think the plan was again try get it wide and get it in to the box as weve seen a lot recently.

I think the final ball was better with those 3 undoubtedly and thats what made the difference but Mount had a very good chance early on as well as being in a few half decent positions and Willian as well but poor touches/decision making/end product let them down. Maybe he persisted with them thinking the next one will be better. Who knows? I do think Frank got his selection wrong with the team shape and some personnel but if Pulisic wasnt fully fit to play the 90 or close to fair enough but if he didnt want to risk him incase he missed out for the Wolves game and FA cup, you can also see his reasoning. There would of been a meltdown if he statted only to come off with a knock/injury. Plus the game was a bit mote stretched when he came on and it helped him and Callum in a way as well although they put in very good individual performances undoubtedly. Felt despite Oli getting his goal and winning some battles with their backline his link up play was a bit off at times, although he did do a lot well also, picking the wrong option but he was obviously confident enough to take the risk with how hes played recently. Ran himself into the ground though and deservedly got a goal. I would of liked to have seen 4231 with our midfield matching them up, Mount in and around Fabinho and Kovacic/Jorginho up against Keita and Wjinaldum. Too many times Fabinho was a free man when they had the ball.

Maybe but when you consider that the boys in the first half had showed a bit of a threat but poor final pass you can see maybe why he didnt want to make the swap at HT. If he was 75% fit he probably would of started I think. Has to v Wolves was best player on the park when he came on, done Gomez an absolute belter and showed remarkable composure and awareness for his goal and assist. Least Frank made earlish subs for once but I think at 3-1 it was still a tough ask and would say that the game was basically set up for Liverpool from there.

The ricochet for third goal was a bit unlucky and not taking Robertson down was naive but felt he didnt play too badly when we had the ball on the front foot and his raking passes out to Alonso and James were a feature throughout that showed the strengths of using this 343 system offensively. The good and bad of Jorginho. Again OTT reactions perhaps but can see the frustration from his role in those 2 goals - 3rd and 5th. Why was he defending front post for that corner?

an issue through this season especially early doors, him, Mount and Tammy played a lot of minutes in the early stages and even now since the restart. If its down to a lack of trust in the others okay but it was something I mentioned a lot before and feel it has played a part when they dipped at points.

Was it not like the 62nd minute? Pretty early compared to his usual subs.

Perhaps but again, it was basically unsaveable if you ask me. The wall was unlucky because it goes between two players on the end I think, the GK is standing a bit to the other side so he can see past the wall and obviously the wall is there to challenge TAA to get it up and over it as well as on target. Kepa didnt make an effort but even then I doubt hes making the save if he does anyway, I think the pace on the ball and his wrist strength as weve seen is perhaps not helping us much there. If he reaches it. Which again there would be huge uproar if he did dive and didn’t save it anyway althoufh I do agree maybe he should try but still think it goes in regardless 99/100 times. I think out of all the goals the first two you cannot neccessarily say there were any huge mistakes from the GK. Nobody is saving Keita’s goal and maybe a taller GK gets closer to the FK maybe not but any other GK would have the wall in the same position, likely have same starting position and it was just typical when they jumped its gone sort of between the last two on the end. I think the third/fourth goal (Wijnaldums?) and the fifth absolutely he has to do better, has to be stronger with the 5th especially. The first goal was a poor turnover, Willian running into traffic and nobody out to close the space before Keita shot, which was a cracker. Second never a foul. Third ball ricochetted off Jorginho a bit unfortunate after the initial contact (IIRC but why is he defending front post area and not someone else? he is 5 ft 7 or something although I would also think Giroud, Zouma, Rudiger, Alonso are probably picking up central areas for the bigger guys coming in on their end) and Reece doesn't know where Wjinaldum is or anticipate it dropping where it does and its lashed in. Then Kepa maybe should do better again. Fifth Kepa gets onto it and is too weak imo despite how well Ox hits through it. Few other mistakes throughout the goals though bar the FK which wasnt a foul. Its typical though 2 other set pieces we concede directly then a break away from one of ours. Naive.

Still wouldn’t have saved it IMO. It went round a bit of the wall, which was perfectly placed so it was hard luck that on the day the ref gave a foul and TAA got it in. I suppose it will be back to the KDB FK analysis soon enough. ‘£71m GK rooted for 2nd top class FK in same season’ All in all while the other goals theres more debate for (3rd and 5th goals) how he should of done better, its pretty much pointless with the FK. Also does it matter how much closer Alisson was to Messi’s FK? At the end of the day he didnt stop it either.... its like saying you were 1 team off a winning coupon, you still lost. Guessing the guy running the account is a bin dipper? Surprised the caption isnt ‘Look this is how close top GKs get to saving FKs!!!! #YNWA #kingkenny #hendolad’ dont have twitter anymore and wifi onboard isnt loading the page so forgive me If I am wrong (if its one of our fans then I apologise in advance) but even then as I said its a pointless comparison it was still a goal 😂 if it was saved ok it would make sense. Plus if you want to get technical about it Alisson is 5cm taller than Kepa which gives him a higher reach in all I would imagine. Obviously positioning etc height isnt essential but you could have stuck the BFG in the net for that Messi FK and he wouldnt of got it. It was perfect. Trents not as good but still good enough.

True but he was just rash all game. Got far too close to Salah and he just would knock it by him or do a one two and run behind. Or rush in and miss the ball completely. Happened far too much. Needs to know when to be a bit more clever anticipating these sort of movements and drop off a bit sooner and when to engage, especially when playing as the left sided centre back in a back 3. Salah wasnt necessarily at his best tonight but he still had Rudiger every time.

100%. Willian and Kovacic closest competitors but not at the same level.

Pretty poor performance tonight. Go as far as saying he was the worst outfield player on the park. 100%. infuriating because he played great v Man United.

Another decent performance from the young man. Few eeky moments early on but grew into the game. Looked comfortable with dealing with Mane and on both sides wouldn’t say that Mane or Salah really had great games when youd think Liverpool would of overloaded us out wide as we used a 343. Good final ball as well could have had 2 assists.

Henderson, I doubt will be Uniteds number 1 next season and their Gk has had a poor 2 years. Nick Pope? I could see him as a back up and while hes had some great games, I feel hes overhyped and will likely be to the same sort of level Fraser Forster was at Southampton, which again wouldnt say is a huge improvement or the level you want at a top 4 club as your number 1 GK.

I think if there was a huge list of outstanding GKs yes go for it but I still dont think Henderson, Onana and Donnarumma are vastly superior. Oblak and ter Stegen? 99% Unattainable but outstanding GKs. I still think United wont even replace De Gea with Henderson and you could say hes had a worse 2 years than Kepa has for mistakes.

True. I do think he could have saved 5 or 6 of the goals hes conceded and would say theres a deeper issue with him than Courtois when he his dodgy spell. Is it coaching? Is it confidence? Is it ability? I think its more likely one of the first two. I mean I seen enough of him last season and in some games this season to think that he isnt a bad GK.