OneMoSalah

Hopefully but I think as earlier in the season this playing two RBs shit isnt helping the team. Azpi and a left back has to start. This is Jose Mourinho-esque from Frank just to accommodate a player who he favourites, who has been poor since the restart. Lets be honest he done it earlier in the season with James again, under similar circumstances, playing 2 right fullbacks. I have no doubt he will come good but he needs time, as do the others but this just shows he has a long way to come. Many were saying he was going to immediately replace Azpilicueta after 1 season in the championship. Many also said he was a better fullback than Aaron Wan Bissaka as well who has been hugely impressive since playing in the PL. It was hugely unrealistic expectations and now he is in a bad spell which as you've said is to be expected with the step up and him being young. On a positive note, Mason Mount has really picked up well since the restart and has had the best season out of our younger players from the academy, as Tammy has faded a lot. Mason can still improve his G + A but he has rounded his game and is adding more to the team.

Has to be starting every game to the end of the season now please. If not something terribly wrong. Losing control in games is an issue and we all seen the difference he made tonight, always wanting the ball, always making space to receive it, always making the right pass. If FL didnt notice the difference tonight then he never will.

Him and Willian have been carrying us for a few games now. Rest need to take a leaf out their books.

Yeah if Jorginho and one of Alonso/Emerson don't come in to replace James and Billy (maybe harsh hut seen the immediate difference when subbed off in terms of control), there is going be obvious question marks. Reece James hasnt impressed me since the restart and while Billy wasnt that poor tonight, Jorginho showed his class and what he can bring when he came on. FL has no excuse now.

Bit gutted that Frank hasnt gone with Ruben instead of Barkley for this one although I suppose he has had to make 1 change to the MF from the last match.

Your forgetting Boga only got a chance due to injuries/suspensions in that game and the club was always looking to move him on regardless. He was never ever going to be a member of the squad because Conte had wanted Kyle Walker who he didnt get and ended up getting Zappacosta eventually to give him options at RWB. Plus if that red card never happened Andreas would probably never have gotten the opportunity to play as soon, where he eventually ended up cementing himself as a first team regular for the first half of the season putting in very good performances. Also anyone who expected Sarri to play CHO regularly at the start had to be out of their minds. He was only playing so much in pre season because Eden and Willian both weren't there as they were at the WC then got an extended break. He even used Piazon and Moses in pre season as we were short of wide options.

Jorginho is gone. Ridiculous if you ask me. Hopefully get a good result tonight regardless. Set pieces will be an issue though.

I don’t know if its been mentioned but I think its fair to say this guy has to be one of the unluckiest top international level players of the last 6 or 7 years. Can play any position in defence basically but has had to contend with some of the very best of those positions of that time period. Carjaval at RB, Pique/Ramos at CB, Alba at Lb... if he wasnt Spanish and was another nationality he would probably be closer to 100 international caps and not only have 25.

True but I think it would depend which top 6 side. I think if he was at a club like Spurs or Arsenal and they let him rebuild it would be a good appointment. There is pressure there but not to win titles, more to close the gap. That is why I feel Jose will eventually get sick of it there unless they make big moves to prompt themselves up into a position where they can be winners which after the job Pochettino did is the next logical step. Arsenal already have a young coach in Arteta so they will probably be after making that step eventually too. He isnt young, true but as we seen with Sarri, it doesnt really matter what age you are if you can work yourself into a position to have success of some kind, be it winning a league title with Juventus after winning a Europa League with Chelsea. The progression could be there at the right club. Id be surprised if Bayern, Dortmund or even Germany haven't thought about him in the longrun as an alternative to say Julian Nagglesman at some point in the next 2 or 3 years, I mean he has shown qualities at Leipzig and at Southampton. He has the potential, maybe not as much as those but there is a difference between getting Nagglesman who will be hugely in demand as we all know Real, Bayern, Germany, City even Barca etc have been rumoured to be keen on him in the past or someone who has slowly been building his reputation at a club which is used more for progressing, as we've seen with players and managers at Southampton. Plus if he does well next year again his stock will rise and the top clubs are more and more open to trying to get managers who can progress within them as opposed to being the finished article now a days. I mean look at Real with Zizou when he went in, Juventus with Sarri to an extent, us with Lampard, Arsenal with Arteta, Barca with Seiten, United with OGS. The top top managers currently out there are very picky and make more demands than these guys who are maybe more open to having the chance to work within a framework in these unique opportunities that wouldn't have necessarily been available to coaches of their stature or experience 10 years ago so they are becoming increasingly appealing to clubs. Pep really broke that mould when Barca appointed him over Jose.

Would really give them what Naby Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain hasn’t managed to do regularly. A real creative and controlling player in the middle of the park as well as being able to contribute in the defensive side of things. Think the previous season he was averaging most tackles and recoveries per game in that Bayern team (may be wrong but his stats in that end were hugely impressive still) which is a real bonus when you consider he is renowned more for the offensive/creative side of his game. Has really flourished during his time in Bayern, Barcelona must be kicking themselves they couldn’t accommodate him more before selling him as he was the natural heir to one of Xavi or Iniesta. He has a bit of both about him as well as a underrated defensive side to his game. Whoever gets him even at 29 or however old he is will be getting a phenomenal midfield player, if the figure is 32m as theyve reported throughout Europe, it is a real steal. I think Bayern will still do everything in their power to get him to stay. If Klopp wants to give Pool real staying power he has to get something else in midfield and another attacker of a huge quality because I have no doubt City, United, us, Spurs and even Arsenal will strengthen in key areas to close the gap. City especially having lost Sane and Silva (even if Foden is going to be more regular) will be stronger again next season. Plus Aguero is the wrong side of 30.

I think us getting Werner and potentially Havertz (or Bayern/United/Madrid) will end up a huge blow for Lpool. Both would give them more quality and depth in areas that are good for them already. Souness mentioned it about the drop off between Firmino and Origi. They get Thiago for 32m though and that will elevate their MF a lot. He is top class. Really rounded in all aspects and his technique is a joke. Still gutted we never got him under AVB.

He has done well to turn the tide after their start to the season. He is a very promising manager and I think with a few signings, Southampton can build on their turnaround this year. Who knows a good season next year and he could get a bigger job. Similarly to Poch or even Koeman in a way. He has a clear defined style and has shown he is interested in developing players as you can see with Che Adams (getting better after having a tough season), Danny Ings, Stuart Armstrong (didnt get going when he first arrived from Celtic although someone who has always been very talented since Ronny Deila signed him from Dundee Utd for Celtic), Jack Stephens, Jan Bednaker, James Ward-Prowse who have all improved under him. Plus his time at Leipzig, he had a big influence on the likes of Werner, Forsberg, Keita etc who all played with him.

Tbf I dont think their necessarily wrong to mention that about Alonso but the fact we were going for a winner, pushing bodies forward when taking a draw wouldn't of been the worst result (based on our performance and how easily WHU were breaking on us) was a bigger issue. In all fairness as well I think Gary Neville is just as likely to mention this if it were Luke Shaw or Aaron Wan Bissaka and not Marcos Alonso. Him and especially Roy Keane are very quick to call out players mistakes. Keane’s opinions on football are so clear and always have been, theres no sitting on the fence and its refreshing to listen to. Neville maybe not as clear cut but again always seems to be honest and not hold any real bias. Plus Keane putting Carragher in his place when he made that Luis Suarez signing comment and also the team where he put Mane in instead of Giggs were arguably the best things to come off sky sports this season. Also while we are on the topic of Neville, someone told me his dads name is Neville Neville so googled it and I cannot believe someone would do that to their child 😂 Also it is good that Frank has come out to defend Marcos and not criticise him for it as such as others may have done.

I dont get why. It will take a lot more than people with higher IQs to make such a huge difference all around the world when you consider all the shit such as poverty, racism, disease, addiction, crime, lack of clean water etc that plague different parts of the world. I mean lets be honest these problems are not going to be lessened or solved by one or twenty highly intelligent persons. These problems are only going to be lessened or solved if they are tackled by a large number of people, regardless of high IQ or average IQ. Even then, it is not as straight forward as that.

But they also added Wayne Rooney, who has had a huge huge impact as well not only performing well himself but making the others around him look better as well as the fact Philip Cocu’s made wee tweaks that have helped their team. As I said last season finishing 6th with Derby wasnt a huge achievement but if he got them up through the playoffs, it would of been. The strong finish for Derby this season will be pointless unless they have something to show for it.

I know but still Paredes was always going to be a backup. Which is different. Plus I think its fair to say Arthur is a better player than Jorginho. Or so I would say. I know there is the fact Arthurs played with Busquets in a more advanced position with Barcelona which is possible but I think Sarri wants him to play at the base of midfield. He is a replacement for Pjanic who played there. Plus they have got plenty of depth in MF and Bentancur is a very exciting prospect who has shown he can compete at the top level so I doubt theyd want to stifle his development.

Juventus and Sarri in particular wanted Arthur to play him in that position Jorginho plays, even if they didnt go and sell Pjanic to Barcelona. I doubt Jorginho will be a option for Juventus now. Even then, Rabiot is a different player entirely. I do think if Juventus were able to keep him and give him more games he would be a very good player for them. Even more so when you consider Khedira and Matuidi are in their 30s, Pjanic was as well. Juventus also have Bentancur. That left sided role in a 433 would be very ideal for Rabiot with Arthur and Bentancur. Ideally they could have one of either Khedira, Bentancur or Ramsey to the right of Arthur and Matuidi or Rabiot to the left of him. I think theres a higher chance Ramsey leaves Turin than Rabiot. Due to his 400k a week wages. Still absolutely mystified Barca sold Arthur, he has real ability and would have been the heart of their side for another 10 years.

Its not like it has to be Kante or one of those in that one role. Kante can play with those guys in a 2 or a 3. Its more FLs persistent of using Kante as a holder and not having someone in that mould in the MF. Particularly against the likes of West Ham, Watford etc. these teams where we are going to have to move the ball quicker through midfield. While Kante isnt limited with the ball by any stretch of the imagination, he has tended to play a bit more reserved or slower in that role with the ball. He also isnt as demanding in terms of getting the ball from the CBs or FBs so we can get it forward. Even at the start of the season the MF of Kovacic, Mount and Jorginho was undoubtedly our best bet for playing those smaller teams.

Great post. At the start I was skeptical about his exclusion but FL introduced him back in and that paid off as he got a chance to play without that immediate pressure of being one: a direct replacement for Eden and two: being fully rested as he featured in the Gold Cup for the US NT after a season where he was in and out and injured at Dortmund. I do feel the lack of end product thing at Dortmund is a bit over the top though. Considering his age when he broke into their squad and the seasons that followed, the fact he was involved in 45 goals (19 G 26 A) in 127 games (which imo is still a decent contribution for a winger of that age playing in one of the top 5 leagues and European competitions such as the CL and EL), I think it was always obvious he had something but the consistency needed to come a bit more frequently to bring him on more. Its not only the same with Pulisic, I think if you look a but closer say at Raheem Sterling prior to his move to City there was similar concerns, had shown in streaks and spells he had talent but the consistency or the end product wasnt always perfect but it was there at times. Not to say FL hasnt had a hand in improving Christian, I think he has obviously and you can see that this season he has more goals and assists this season than he has had in a single campaign at Dortmund so the signs are promising but I think they were always there that he could do this regularly be it here or at a Dortmund with a little bit of fine tuning. Obviously there are the freaks of nature such as Mbappe etc who have amazing stats from 18 onwards too but not everyone can be them or end up that good. He has got everything to be a top top player though. Undoubtedly. Cant believe there were huge concerns at the start.

Interesting. If you come across these let me know, quite intrigued, didn't think he would be anywhere near it. Particularly successful tackle rate. Can maybe understand the high key passes as he started the season well and was always quite high up when we had the ball.

Courtois had a offseason when Jose got sacked (probably similarly to what Kepa is having this year) though and not the best start at Real prompting a majority of the people on this forum to say shit like they thought he was finished or never would be as good as he was before. It just shows how fickle football can be. I would say as good as Alisson is, Courtois is on his level. 100%. He is and always has been undoubtedly one of the best GKs in Europe since he started making real headway at Atletico playing every week. That is why I am also going to keep saying regarding Kepa that this season is a one off imo. We have to give the guy a chance, he will be better next season and if we can improve our defensive approach in phases of games and set plays, everyone in the back 5 will look better not just him. Its no secret that I keep banging on about the organisation and that helps a lot. As weve seen in various games this season and in the past with other managers. Maybe Kepa will never be world class or achieve anything near what Courtois and Cech did before him but he is still a good GK. The price tag will always bring scrutiny and he has been inconsistent this season, although Cech and Courtois also had similar moments in their spells here but I don't think he is a second rate GK. I mean our consistency all over the pitch has been really bad. Bar Kovacic perhaps. He is the only one who has done consistency well over the course of the season. Although again, his goals and assists can still go up because he should be very capable of getting a total of 10 goals a season at least through scoring and assisting imo. I mean Matic (okay different players) got what 8 or 9 assists under Conte the year we won the league and he has half the natural ability and skillset Kovacic does imo.

What stats are those? Because I doubt they exist. He hasnt had a good season in terms of consistency or stats since the year before he did his ACL. In Serie A.

I know Frank said Jorginho in his plans but he has to feature a bit more prominently now to the seasons finished. Kante injured so higher % chance but who knows.

Tbf for all the talk of the Bundelisga being one sided, dont forget Dortmund were at the top for ages and blew the lead, the one real chance they had to win the title for years.

Why would that matter? If thats Franks thinking its even fucking stupider. Even if he wants to leave, which I doubt, he should still play as he os one of our best players. Eden had made it clear he wanted to leave us when he came back from the 2018 WC last season but did we bench him or exclude him? No. Willian hasnt committed past the end of this season either but he also plays.