robsblubot

He did have a strong game against st Liverpool, and even when he wasn’t so hot in other games, you can say it’s about the defending and bodies that’d be limiting the angles he has to deal with. however, some here, including myself here, have a personal preference for taller goalies who can dominate crosses and help with set pieces, for example. Don’t think kepa has the build to ever do that, but he has other interesting traits that make up for it, like distribution.

He was very good defensively and even made a good couple of runs, but his passing was still very poor. got lucky a couple of times when he gave the ball away in very dangerous areas. considering 2 of our 3 senior cms are completely about passing and keeping the ball, zouma will always be an awkward fit imo.

Kinda weird message there buddy. you emphatically start by saying we were good, I agree in part, because we lost the game playing very poorly in the first 30min or so. but then you start with excuses as to why... we played poorly? when you just stated, emphatically, that we played well? then you say it’s ok because we only conceded from set pieces, really? Those 2 free kicks were in extremely dangerous areas of the pitch especially against a team who knows how to exploit them with very tall and powerful players. finally, perhaps our lack of composure in front of the goal is more about lack of quality than anything else? I mean on my tv firmino and aguero don’t seem to miss those very often.

Yeah I had a chronic groin injury once. Took me a couple of years to really fix it. specialists explain that the scar tissue is less flexible than healthy one. Just needs loads of time, strengthening and stretching. Mostly time tho.

Yeah let’s turn a muscle injury into a chronic muscle injury, after all the particular player never have any chronic injuries in his career... only that he did! Andreas looked like something he can recover quickly, or so I hope.

Sure I do as well, not excusing that. Something it’s something silly though as in when they were both chasing the runner, there a misunderstanding... someone should have brought player down before he was in a dangerous area. and to your point Jorginho turning his back towards the ball was a bit pathetic. With all that out of the way, we are going to have trouble defending if we don’t keep the ball having specialists at that in the middle.

Unfair on them imo. Even if you are right, that’s their characteristic. They are defensive players mostly by their ability to keep possession. However some players, esp the younger ones are very direct and don’t yet know how to do that.

Have to disagree here. set pieces is the entire team responsibility. Even if azpi started slow, happens with older players, he’s already back to his norm imo. it seems that regardless who plays, we concede goals all the same. aside from the obvious issue with set pieces, I think it has more to do with the directness that our young players play which makes defending difficult, esp when under pressure. Gotta keep the ball when the opposition presses high. tammy was very very poor in the first 30min or so. Missed easy passes, touches, and made no runs. The opposition then has the ball more and hence attacks more.

Not sure... achiles usually suggests a weakness there, often from overplaying, which is relative of course. He played little early on then a lot all of the sudden. Perhaps his body just wasn’t used to that yet. if the club and frank are doing some specific work with pulisic, they cannot publicly say it. So, it’s hard for us to know whether what frank says is really all there is to it.

Well you get arguments from every side there. He still ruptured his achilles tho, so perhaps he just wasn’t ready to play a lot then? Sarri was a good manager who in my book had more rights than wrongs. I was surprised by his take on the game even if perhaps did not have the players for it.

I honestly suspect the club is behind frank in some specific work pulisic is doing. Could be tactical, as suggested below. if not, then it’s hard to understand. The strategy today for the second was to use mount to enable alonso with triangulations, which alonso needs to get behind the opposition line. It kinda worked and we produced quite a few good balls from the leff but wasted every single one. frank also has the excuse today that he lost 2 players to injury in the first half. Still hard to explain bats tho, but that’s a different discussion. also a bit worried about the situation, but give the benefit of the doubt.

Kinda crosses your mind doesn’t it. I mean after pools #9 gets two free headers scoring from one.

Just a funny thing: if you read the comments here alonso was our worst player, but watching the after match show here, every pundit, kante, frank, and even Klop were praising alonso. still can’t understand bats tho. I thought tammy had a poor game even aside the miss, his overall play was poor. Swapping him for bats is just burning your last sub tho. @Tomo yes open play defending has improved, but we need to keep possession better. That’s also part of it esp when under pressure. Mount and Tammy need not be as direct all the time.

As good a game Jorginho and kova had, the first goal was on them. Fabinho? Just runs past both with easy and then gets fouled by Andreas as a last resort. Like frank said after the game, details win games.

Think Andreas is still ahead of tomori, who does look like an amazing prospect - must be said. tomori is very fast, strong, and actually good on the ball (twice as good as zouma). What he is lacking right now is discipline and, well experience. For example, he puts pool player onside when kepa saves azpi bounce. He’s just very focused on the player he’s watching and misses the line push. Experience.

You hit the nail right there: football is not about performance or volume of play, or who looks good on the ball. It’s about scoring and not conceding, so when we say we played better in the second half, that is true, but deserved to win? Nope 2 clear cut chances is the second bats was a free header and they both went wide. Tammy misses 1x1 in the first - at least on goal, but still poor finishing. and no it’s not being unlucky. It’s lack of quality and inexperience. Suspect we have few shots on target today actually.

I seem to always watch a different game than you guys. The team is overly using alonso on the left as an escape route. Bc his first touch is good and he can pass. O he’s not fast, so he needs players around him to get behind the opposition line. When he does get behind their line, the balls were actually very good. A perfect cross to bats and an assist to mount. That’s pretty good in my book. why bats is playing is a mystery to me. He and Tammy are the same player, while Tammy is better. The fact tammy missed that free header sums up how shitty his sub was... what the fuck was frank thinking.

2 great balls by alonso and both players fucked up. Bats then Mount.

Wow! Kante!,,, what a goal! much better second half btw. Zouma needs to stop giving the ball away tho.

Firmino is the fucking striker and wears #9, so why is he always unmarked!?

Tomori speed help alonso. Might even push him up since his crosses seem to be causing pool some problem, for a change.

I do too. But as poor as Willian final ball is, and it fucking is, he’s one of the few players able to keep the ball for longer than a second. Our direct play has been ok, but we can only play in that style, which is a big problem in here kind of games. the team is both inexperienced and disorganized. We are just a tier below Liverpool... it’s that simple. we need to come back sharper and compete in 5e second because otherwise they will score a couple more.

Have to disagree with you better team by far is winning. they are controlling the game. Tammy is having a very poor game and mount has been poor as well. We can’t keep the ball and as a result are constantly under threat.

Well firmino scored and Tammy put it wide... ;(

Lol fouls in that area will always be difficult to defend against and set pieces are a mystery to frank. azpi was haven’t a great game - stupid foul.