re: tOfficial Liverpool 2018/2019 Thread: CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE!

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Loved his timing. Absolutely loved how he pulled defenders towards him to unlock the passes and open things up for everyone else

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He really just glides through the MF, and his ability to dribble past a defender is incredible to behold. Assuming Keita comes back and seizes the 6 with Gini as the primary backup there, and putting any combination of Hendo/Milner/Lallana next to Keita will be pure sex. And sliding Shaqiri in next to him could be even more sexy.

Alisson
TAA-Gomez-VVD-Robbo
Fabinho
Shaqiri Keita
Firmino
Salah Mane

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Assuming Keita comes back and seizes the

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Yeah sorry, definitely Fabinho.

James Milner: An Ode To The Tireless Yorkshireman (LINK)

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The numbers behind Milner’s performance only went to confirm what most felt at the time, that his performance was something quite incredible. He had 122 touches, more than anyone else, completed 95 of his 102 passes, made 57 passes in the West Ham half, put in seven crosses, made three key passes, came away with two assists, regained possession four times and even found room for an interception. All that, and he covered over 12.5km, more than anyone else of course.

It should hardly have been a surprise. The second-oldest player in the Liverpool squad set the benchmark on his first day of pre season, running laps of Melwood during the lactate test with such dismissive ease that next year the fitness team might want to consider putting obstacles in the way, like water hazards or firing paintballs at him.

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Community shield etc. Love the mid week games and want to see Shaq and the others get more minutes

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FA Cup has already started, but it is in qualifying rounds right now. Premiere League and Championship teams don't have to qualify and will start play when the rounds proper begin in November.

The first round of the League Cup starts today, but teams that are involved in European competition get a bye in League Cup competition until the third round. I didn't find a quick link to the League Cup schedule for later rounds, so I don't know when the third round would start play. Interesting facts for the League Cup this season: Tie games will not go into extra time but will immediately be settled by penalty kicks, and VAR is available for League Cup games played at Premiere League stadiums.

Lets talk about Gomez at CB for a second -

I was largely pleased with his performance. He, in some ways, resembles VVD in that he's a big athletic prescence with nice recover quickness/speed. He did well with the ball, well when he was pressured, and seemed to partner pretty well.

But, he also seems to have a problem with balls over his head. It got him several times last year, but when you are a RB, it generally means the guys running at the CB with the ball and you've put the rest of your defense under pressure.

As a CB, when you misplay a ball over your head, bare minimum its a chance at goal for the other team. He had at least two go over his head that I can remember that he didn't seem to judge/play well. One lead directly to Arno's left footed well wide shot that Allison seemed to have covered. But still, its a concern to me that there are balls he doesn't read well enough and lets get over his head (i.e. he needs to either know its over his head and sprint with the attacker or he needs to react quicker to put himself in a position where it doesn't go over his head. But he was in no-mans land at least twice on these)

Thoughts on his performance? (and again, I was largely pleased and hope he takes over the role).

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To me its a little hard to judge given West Ham was so shite and we were so dominant. Hard to really gauge when guys are basically asleep back there half the game. I know they need to be "up" for everything but I am going to wait until we play some decent teams before I get concerned.

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Well, I mean we're going to play 20-25 games a season like this, so he'd better get better at it.

Most decent teams won't be sending too many long balls either (except ManU)

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Besides, given his track record, he'll get injured before long anyway and it will be back to Dejan.

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too true

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Well, I mean we're going to play 20-25 games a season like this, so he'd better get better at it.

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For sure, just meant first game of the season, rust, etc.

I think he'll be fine and get better and better with VvD.

The Redmen TV podcast; I only listen to the free stuff but there’s plenty more.

Thanks for all the suggestions... I started with TAW yesterday and really enjoyed it... These definitely make work far more tolerable