re: tOfficial Liverpool 2020/2021 Thread: Champions of England

This.

I agree with you TFTC about more standard matchups like in European competition where we are less likely to face Jose Mourinho types.

However... More and more in the PL, and especially this season, anyone who wants to beat us just parks all eleven players within 25 yds of the box and screams at us to “be creative”. As much as I love Gini and Hendo, they are not necessarily creative.

Jota brings runs from the midfield that Hendo and Gini simply don’t do because Jota has the mind of a forward/number 10. That’s extra pressure on the back line that they don’t have to deal with normally.

There just aren’t a lot of answers to that.

Lineup vs Real Madrid

Liverpool: Alisson; Trent, Phillips, Kabak, Robertson; Fabinho, Keita, Wijnaldum; Salah, Mane, Jota

Substitutes: Adrian, H. Davies, R. Williams, B. Davies, Tsimikas, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Thiago, Milner, Jones, Shaqiri, Cain, Clarkson, Firmino

Well we really suck

Whatever we spend on defenders this next transfer window isn't enough...

quote:

---

I think the thing about their countering is just Klopp refusing to change his system even without starting caliber CB’s

---

This is the point I was skirting.

quote:

---

I don’t really see how leaving out Thiago and Firmino means we were trying to play for possession

---

The team choice he went with today meant a different style of midfield play with less creativity.

Jota is not a Bobby replacement. Our system can be shut down if we play our normal three or if we replace one of the three. Granted, we had a few moments where we should have scored, but for the most part we only truly deserved the one goal.

Gini in the side means the ball will be going backward a lot. Love him, but that is something he tends to do a ton of. Great for keeping the ball, bad for creativity. Keita in the side means both picking up the ball and some bad giveaways in tough spots. Him being in the side with not much playing time lately tells me either Klopp is banking on finishing Top 4 and resting players, or he honestly thought that this was a good idea re: Gini/Keita. (The 40’ sub tells me it was the latter.)

The way we play, if we don’t get runs into the box by the midfielders we are well and truly screwed. That’s why teams have crowded the center of the park against us this year. They know that if they give us possession and crowd the center, the likes of Hendo/Gini aren’t going to make runs to support our style of play. Everyone not named Gini/Hendo have been either injured or are second choice.

Now Hendo is injured, we play Thiago as an 8, and when Jota is on he is in a roaming 10 spot. Makes supporting runs, the back lines can’t handle it, and then we have goals. It’s like witchcraft, only this is actually real and tangible for us all to see and know.

It makes no sense to not start both Firmino and Jota if they are both healthy. Thiago and Fabs as well. That means we will have tough decisions when Hendo is back for that other midfield spot.

And this is an even weaker Liverpool side

Aston Villa beat us 7-2 and that was before all of our injuries

I’m not quite sure why you’re trying to argue with me

Liverpool vs Aston Villa game day program

VAR is seriously ruining my enjoyment of the sport... How an entity can so seriously frick up technology meant to improve it, is baffling... what the frick has happened to clear and obvious?!? Now you have some a-hole with an etch-a-sketch ruling people offside by a pube... nothing new here, but frick me!

It's not just our matches, but the sport in general... I can deal with us being bad... I have watched every minute of much worse years than this one...