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Sean, Frimpong is expected back this weekend.
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I think everybody’s in agreement that the first half was about as bad a 45 minutes that anybody can remember. However, at least we bucked things up in the second half and, whilst still not brilliant, I’d say we just about did enough to deserve the 3 points. And we have to accept that we don’t have a divine right to consistently play teams off the park as there really aren’t any basket-case teams in the PL these days. In recent days, Wolves and Burnley both gained respectable draws against Arsenal and Chelsea respectively. That’s just how it is – small margins between the top and bottom and if you’re 5% off against anyone, then it’s going to be a struggle. It was certainly a ‘bad day at the office’, but when (nominally lesser) teams come up against us and put in a rear-guard dogged display of resistance and sneak a late winner, then they get praised to the skies. There’s more than one way to win a football match and we don’t have to be vilified by exercising the options.
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I still think Salah form has been effected by his partner on the left, I would not write him off just yet, I think the main issue in our last match was that we missed Wirtz. The whole team has become accustomed to him carrying the ball and opening up our passing lanes, Jones was well off the pace up there and so was Szoboszlai. We only created 3-4 chances throughout the whole game, not a single one of our forwards got any service, nobody could spot out a pass for them inside the box.
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“Sean, Frimpong is expected back this weekend.”
I suspect he may not start though and we’ll ease him back.
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Bingo, it is a different dynamic for Mo from what he used too (personnel/tactics) but one would hope along with his coaching staff and teammates that he could adjust, and hasn’t. It’s as though it’s 10 man Liverpool FC and Mo Salah out there.
Wirtz seems more synchronized with the left side and nine position. We need Szobo pushing up as the 8 helping Mo on that side. Gravenberch needs dropping but with Endo out it’ll all be on Mac and he isn’t a ‘natural 6’ – he’s always been part or a double pivot.
Don’t know what the solution is but it’s all very disjointed and it seems (to me) that the players aren’t 100% about a lot of things, who covers who, runs, overlaps, inversions etc. Doesn’t help that when we do find space we are so bastard slow on the ball to exploit, which, of course, doesn’t help our front line.
Our mid needs a B12 shot and a kick up the arse before every game as the dysfunctionality isn’t helping our front line and overloading our back. Thank the Lord we look solid at the back these days otherwise we’d be fucked.
Better dynamism from our mid and bigger and better efforts from our front guys as Gakpo, Mo, Chiesa and the sporadic Ekitike need to up their game and find the net more consistently.
Since Nov 1….
Ekitike scored in 4 of his last 16 league games (25%)
Mo scored in 1 from 10 league games (10% and no goals in his last 9 PL matches)
Gakpo scored in 2 from 15 (13%l
Chiesa 0 in 13 (0%)A combined 63 games and the above scored in just 11%.
Not good enough considering the experience and talent levels of the above four players.
We need to fix ‘stuff’ if we are to make the CL which is a non negotiable considering the financial outlay last summer. Not making that could set us back a way, a long way.
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Rio set-up the (wrongly) disallowed goal yesterday by playing the old-fashioned attacking winger role. i.e. right-footed on the right flank, hitting the goal-line and delivering a right-footed cross. This approach has virtually been consigned to the history books and all forward line attackers play on their ‘wrong flank’ and the crossing with a good foot is left to an overlapping fullback. But all trends have a finite existence and who says that it’s not time to revert to the old ways and that Rio should be targeted as a Salah, rather than a Gakpo, replacement. Although let’s face it, it wouldn’t be difficult to do better job than Gakpo on the other flank too!
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put those stats in minutes as Chiesa has not played full 13 games, we just scored 3 goals against Brighton and should have scored more. We were also scoring in Europe while not delivering in the league.
We still have not played our strongest lineup this season and we are not likely to do it soon. Salah is likely to have a dip because of the Ramadan but he was scoring at the AFCON. He will return to his usual ways before the season ends.
Gakpo has the most game time of any forward right now and like you say it´s 2 goals in 15 full games for him, I think one assist. He scored with his knee the last time he scored and he was upfront then.
I´d take Nunez over him right now, Gakpo has to be the most static player I´ve seen play for us in a long time.
I lost count on how many times I saw Ekitike, Salah and someone from midfield try to press the opposition but Gakpo just stands there waiting in space for the ball to arrive, there is no drive at all when he plays.
I don´t know what Slot is happy with when he praises his performance as I see nothing happening out there with him every game, a simple one two with Kerkez should be enough to unlock some space but he just refuses to pass him the ball every game.
I don´t see this problem on the right with Salah, he can link up with who ever is backing him up at right back not that anyone has a understanding with him though. Frimpong plays and him and Salah link up about 30-40 times, the numbers decrease with Bradley or Szobo or Jones there.
On the left flank I see maybe 5-10 passes between Kerkez and Gakpo, it´s usually Kerkez delivering the ball to Gakpo and then Gakpo running straight into the middle of the defense and never passing the ball back as it´s so rare that Gakpo does anything else than sit in space and cut inside. He has these two basic functions as a forward and that is it.
I would drop him for Chiesa at a moments notice, same thing goes for Rio, Chiesa actually works for the team and opens up space for others, Rio has that unpredictability where he can go anywhere with the ball.
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Bingo, if I put it all in minutes I think the stats would look even worse! I’m being kind here! For example, Mo’s last league goal was 1st November. That’s nearly FOUR whole months ago. One goal in 810 minutes.
The collective returns aren’t good enough, end of.
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Oh good to hear frimpong available sat rob
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0-0 and Half-time. Apart from the opening burst from United, it’s been just an industrious of first halves where defences have come out on top.
There’s just no real style and flair of quality. I’m wondering in relation to the Prem whether it’s just about late goals and leaning on added time.
Everton to be fair to them have resisted United quite well.
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That counter press was mint; reminds me of the days when Trent or Hendo would ping a ball to Salah, and he’d find Mane, Firmino or Jota.
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Apart from us actually needing to take consistently care of our own results, our possible aid of help is for both Villa and Chelsea to start tripping up. United in fairness to them have been grinding out results and they do in my eyes at the moment look good for Top 4.
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Rob I´m fully aware of how Salah has performed, there are not many goals there but I still think that is Slot not Mo himself. Mo is being asked to track back and defend, even the manager has praised him for it recently. I don´t see the point of that when we have Gakpo on the opposite flank standing there like a light post, just standing there in space or or waiting for the throughball and being praised for his workrate.
It should be the opposite, with Salah there waiting to exploit the space as he has proven over the last few years how capable he is at doing that.
Salah should not be working to open space up for Gakpo which is the current format of our forwards right now, everyone works while Gakpo sits there and slows down play. Ekitike had more runs from the left flank than Gakpo during the whole game despite being our center forward. Gakpo has no work rate, he just sits there.
It´s Slot not Salah who is responsible for out attacking play and the symptom is our future captain Gakpo!
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Bingo, as predictable as Gakpo is in possession he does track back and help out Kerkez/Robbo. He’s always done that which is maybe why he gets the nod most of the time.
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And there’s the brutally predictable 1-0 away win for United.
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he does not track back mate, he will sit there in space and wait for the team to work the ball to him instead of tracking back, 97% of the time, just like he will cut inside on his right foot every time he gets the ball 97% of the time.
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the amount of presses he did was under 5, the amount of time he passed to ball to Kerkez was under 5, the amount of time he passed the ball to anyone else was 5 times.
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Click the link below Bingo and select the ‘season’ tab for his heatmap.
https://www.sofascore.com/football/player/cody-gakpo/862967#tab:details
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that heat map does not mean moving, he is the most static forward we have ever had, he does not track anyone back, he jogs back into a area and then sits off a player. He never joins a press, he never does a one two with another player. All he does is cut inside on his right foot.
Try to name me one instance where he actually tries to win the ball after he lost it in the next 5 games we will have, you can screenshot it and send to me or just call it out during a game but I guarantee it´s not gonna happen as he does not work for the team.
He might be moving up and down the pitch but he is at least 3-5 meters from his nearest marker, he does not want anyone close to him when he receives the ball, it´s the opposite of a good ball player.
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