- This topic has 111 replies, 15 voices, and was last updated 1 month, 2 weeks ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Always been a tight game against Sunderland home and away and expect the same again on Wednesday.
The last time we played The Black Cats at Anfield in the PL was back in November of 2016 winning 2-0 to late goals from Milner and Origi. Starting XI that day: Karius, Clyne, Lovren, Matip, Milner, Can, Wijnaldum, Coutinho, Henderson, Firmino and Mane.
Sunderland have made a terrific start to their return to the PL losing only 3 games from their opening 13 matches. They tend to fluctuate between a 4231, 343 and 541 and are heavily reliant on their midfield to protect and to create/score. We, therefore, must go 4231 for this and match them in mid. Players to keep an eye on are Brobbey, Traore and Le Fee.
Who will start for us? Not easy this.
Alisson, Gomez, Konate, VVD, Robbo, Grav, Szobo, Wirtz, Gakpo, Ekitike and Mo is my guess.
Sunderland have skidded a bit in recent weeks with two draws (albeit a good one v Arsenal), a loss at Fulham and went two goals down at home at the weekend but came back and beat Bournemouth.
They will sit deep, soak up pressure, and try and hit us on the counter and we all know how that usually ends with us but….I think we will prevail and get only our second back-to-back league wins since the third week of September.
Liverpool 2 Sunderland 1
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Tough, nasty, physical opponent, so we’ll have to be at our best to beat them, no complacency or lack of focus, or we’ll be punished.
I can see some rotation here, to account for injuries and fitness, so I’d start Szoboszlai instead of Wirtz, as he’s more suited, and experienced, to playing against this type of highly physical PL opponent. Wirtz can come on later, hopefully to a positive result, to tire them out with his tricks and flicks. Slot may think otherwise though.
We’re at Anfield, so the crowd must do everything to get us a win, now let’s do it.
Alisson
Gomez Konaté Van Dijk Kerkez
Gravenberch Mac Allister
Salah Szoboszlai Gakpo
Ekitike_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Slot will have positional decisions to make.
Gomez came thru his first 90mins in god knows how long.
Can he start another game just days later?
Kerkez came off with cramp after playing several games in a row.
Will Robbo start instead?
Slot was advised by the sports science staff against starting Wirtz on Saturday.
Will he start again so soon?
Szobo has played nearly every 90mins recently. Can he go again without risk of injury?
Isak started but needed subbed as can’t last 90mins yet.
Will he start him again?Sunderland are going very well this season and will be a seriously tough opponent for us currently.
If we revert to pushing MacA (or whoever) up beside the 10 and constantly inverting fullbacks we’ll leave ourselves wide open to their counter.
Persisting with ponderous build up play will just invite them on to overturn us._____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Writz, gomez and isak game time needs to be managed. Can see mo starting
These play 5-4-1 and run all day. Keeper long balls and they are tough
We have to be up for a battle.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Mo in, Isak dropped for Ekitike. Cannot play Mo and Isak together, two defensive passengers is too much.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Isak needs to start starting every match, we can´t have a player of that price tag on the bench and it´s about time for him to start delivering, if Mo starts then Gakpo is probably the odd man out… I don´t see Salah matching his tally from previous seasons ever again, I just don´t see another front line working for him like our previous two front lines have done. I don´t think he is gonna leave in January but I can see a clear path out of the team for him next summer. I want more from Gakpo as well, he needs to do more than cut in on his favored foot, with Isak in the box we need to play the ball into the box. I still can´t believe we let Diaz go, that fighter mentality is something we are lacking right now, he never gives up on any ball as evident by his last assist. On the ground chasing a dead ball and managed to give a assist with his heel. He is doing impossible things I have only seen Suarez do at Bayern, I think we sold the wrong player. For the first time in a very long time, Diaz is having a season.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Diaz wanted to go, simple as that.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Notor, Isak needs to be managed. Yes, ridiculous to say that considering his price tag but he had nothing to do with that. He was already feeling cramp at the last game so body mgmt the key for him until he’s fully firing. Whole ton of games coming up and can’t start everyone otherwise that groin of his will flare up again.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Never understood the logic that if a player costs X amount he has to start.
Like he had some sort of control that 2 clubs agreed for him.
Like his body knows the price that was paid for him and should act accordingly.
Does that mean someone like Robbo who cost £8mil shouldn’t have started all those games?l for seasons and seasons?
I get that if you spend big on a player you expect them to be available and performing but this is never linear.
In Isaks case he joined after the season had started.
With no proper pre season.
Was mismanaged with his playing time earlier on.
Got injured.
And is now working his way back to full fitness and performance levels.Very few players can play every game, week after week, season after season.
We’ve been extremely lucky/smart to have a few that could.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Id be very surprised if isak starts again tonight.
Him
Or eitike cant get any rhythm . I understand isak but im surprised he keeps startingThey Play 70 mins taken off then sub next game
Eitike had a good start but very quiet recently and him being in and out of team is not helping him
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Exactly Sean/Ginger.
A player’s price tag has zero to do with him.
What’s most important is that player being fit for the team regardless of how that’s managed.
Ekitike needs a good game Sean. Excellent player but hasn’t produced for a while. As I mentioned before, I can see him being a Jota style player, never prolific, but contributes. Rhythm a key to everything for a forward but we’ve not had that all season in our nine spot. Can see him and Isak being switched throughout the season which is fine as long as it benefits the team.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Ekitike wasn’t exactly loose change either and it’s pretty clear no plan is in place for them to play together, I’d say it exactly this situation he was bought for. Give Isak a day off with little or no drop off in quality.
Whether both are happy with that when they both are finally fit and firing remains to be seen…
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
In fact our entire front line hasn’t clicked at all these season.
Here’s the forward goal tallies in the PL over the past 3 months:
Gakpo 3
Salah 2
Isak 1
Chiesa 1
Ekitike 1That’s about half of what Haaland has produced on his own. 5 players!
Not helped by confusing tactics, a dysfunctional mid and full back inconsistencies.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
“Whether both are happy with that when they both are finally fit and firing remains to be seen…”
They shouldnt be happy.
They should try and outperform the other while remaining professional.We also play 3 games a week for most of the season, so plenty of games but too many for one player.
And then we have to take into consideration injuries, form, suspensions, needing rest, the opposition, playing home and away, change of formation etc etc etc.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Ginger I’m not going down that route again, but there’s numerous instances where there’s a hierarchy and one of them doesn’t agree and get the hump.
Say it every year…
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Every player has a price tag on him, the lot of you slated Nunez for his price tag so don´t expect leniency on Isak or Etikite for that matter. You slated Carroll as well, some of you even slated Anelka during his short time at Liverpool. Price tag does not matter, are you having laugh lads? It´s the biggest transfer of the premier league and there is pressure on both the management and the lad himself to perform, he needs to start and start delivering. There is no excuses, the fans do not care about him not having a pre-season and it was down to Isak himself to forfeit the pre-season. He needs to deliver and he needs to start delivering as soon as possible. I got no doubt in my mind that he will but that transition needs to happen where the players stop delivering to Salah´s best qualities and start delivering to Isak´s key attributes. We need more crosses into the box, we need to deliver the ball to Isak who can both finish and deliver a assist from inside the box but he is pretty useless if he nowhere near the box! The one striker that has shown any appetite is Etikite. I still think Gapko is overrated for his one basic move, I´ve only seen him approach the byline twice during his career here! He always cuts inside and that´s where the majority of his goals come from, it´s always against inferior teams. Diaz just wanted a contract to reflect his ability which is twice that of Gapko! I am happy with Etikite as a replacement but he needs one or two seasons from being ready for a season of 50 games. We sold our 2nd best player last season! It has not happened since FSG took over, the closest player was maybe Sakho and that was under a totally different scenario! This is the first time the club has sold a player entering into his prime instead of investing into him since FSG took over. I don´t even think Slot had anything to do with the decision as it was a moneyball decision for the other hierarchy at the club. I just think it was the wrong decision as I don´t think there has been a finer export from Colombia than Diaz for 30-40 years, he was a warrior on the pitch that could dribble past anyone, came up with more key moments for us than anyone else beside Salah during his time here.
Slot is still up against it, he will be under pressure for the rest of the season until he secures the champions league, he might even be sacked then if he fails to get out of the group stages again.
I think Nagelsmann after the World Cup is a prime target for the club, especially with less than 2 years on Slot´s contract. He seems to be the one man Klopp has pointed out as a predecessor in the case Slot goes and frankly unless Slot manages to win another title this season his job will be shaky at the start of next season. It´s a transition period for the club, the biggest one we have ever seen, the biggest one the league has ever seen actually. That transition is not up to Slot, it will happen no matter what! If he can´t manage the situation he will be gone next season, as I can only see a care-taker manager coming in to start with.
I just think it´s about time we trust our new forward line to come up with the goods, it has to happen sooner rather than later and if Isak can´t hack it then he can´t and Slot´s job will be on the line. He needs to play both Isak and Wirtz, he is under pressure to do so and both players are under pressure to perform as well.
Isak reminds me of when Crouch joined, Wirtz reminds me of when Bobby joined… You can see why we bought them, they are good players but they are not functioned yet.
That´s why I say until Salah leaves there will be a battle upfront between the players for the top striker position, it´s up to Wirtz to find that balance but we can not play to Salah´s strengths anymore. Especially with a new front line that needs a new direction… Isak needs to lead that new formation, Etikite needs to step up and be his rival while Wirtz balances it out… Salah is not in that picture and I doubt he will be happy as a squad player with limited game time so I would expect him to roll out in the summer time on happy terms with the whole fanbase, with oil money paying a minimal fee for him while he gets paid top dollar there.
No price tag… lol
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Sorry lads, not recovered mentally after seeing the psv game live and after coming back the footydebate had logged me out!
@notor.. that isnt short for NotoriusBingo is it? I agree with your point, diaz didnt want to leave but the club didnt appreciate him enough to give him a new contract.. so he left. Hes gone now so we need to press ahead in fitting the players into a new system.. or getting a replacement left winger if its not working.For me the price doesnt matter, i think the media are using that to destabilise the club and brainwash plastic pathetic fans (you only have to read bbcs news today in regards to death threats aimed at slot and other managers). The fact weve done some amaazing business and bringing our net spend down, some people cant live with that, so shout out loud that we soent 450mil£s. We have bought some players that have very high talent ceilings and hopefully they reach that… so lets judge them end of the season at a bare minimum!
In the meantime if we can conjure up some results from now until the new year, we could have the platform for a title tilt.. but i would be happy with the champions league and world club championship tbf 🙂
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Carroll, Darwin and Anelka didn’t arrive not fully fit either. Isak, until he meets all the required fitness metrics, needs to be managed and suspect that’s what will happen.
When he’s fully firing I can see him being #1 choice and Elitike rotated with him.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
@rob just realised youve changed your image.. well done! Whose next on your hit list?? Konate or kerkez??
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.