Liverpool FC Team Talk, Gossip, Rumours 2024/25

Slow down there!

Not top drawer stuff but a vast improvement on recent form.

We need to get back to our pressing game.

Missed it but fine result, I'll have PTSD going back to AMEX tho.

So another crack at Brighton😬😬😬

Elliott is not a midfield player he needs to be played wide where he has that freedom to link up with midfield that is his strength. He's a really tidy player, works hard and isn't afraid to take on a player. He's only 19 I still see him with a big future at the club.

Not going to pretend it was world class, but the lads looked organised and had a clear idea of what they wanted to do and the press was back up until the last 20 - 25 minutes. Can't say that for most of the season.

The big thing I took from it is that if players are motivated, confident and clear on their instructions they can still do an effective press without needing to run about the place like mad yokes. Bajcetic didn't cover every blade of grass, he just made intelligent decisions about when to engage and when not to. Fabinho should be well able to do that. (For clarity, I want Bajcetic to start at the weekend, cos Fabs' confidence is shot. But it's not a case that he's finished at 29) Likewise Keita didn't go through an amount of running that's beyond Henderson, even at 32. And Thiago was in the team. So the "we don't have the legs to press anymore" argument can be retired imo.

We absolutely should be able to play with that level of application and aggression every week. Then with the extra quality from the likes of TAA, Nunez, Salah and Robbo in the side that didn't start tonight, we should get our confidence back and be close to ourselves again.

Nunez should be back for Chelsea

The pressing issues aren't "they're all unable to press now", it's that the team as a whole aren't able to play the press with the 'first choice' guys.

It doesn't really matter if Hendo individually can still do his part - he can only do his part if all the other guys around him are also able to do the part. Fabinho alone I think has had a massively negative impact - it's one player who will never sprint into an interception or block. Add Ox and Trent and a few others doing similar more often than not, and the whole thing becomes impossible.

Watch the difference in Thiago tonight and last week - when other people also run around him, he does the running he needs to as well. But if they're not, like the first 70 minutes last weekend, his running becomes pointless since the team as a whole are not doing it, so he stops. Pressing is an all or nothing business.

Elliott was immense tonight - but his game was improved by those around him also running. So so many times tonight he pressed hard, didn't win the ball, but the next Wolves player messed up their pass because of the continuous pressure. In other games this year, he makes that first press, but the second player who receives the ball ends up with too much time and Elliott's running is rendered pointless. Tonight everyone else ran too, so his pressing was far more effective. As you say, it doesn't need everyone running like maniacs, but it does need a certain amount of running from everyone, which has been lacking from a few key culprits which scuppers the rest.

Would love to see Bajcetic, Naby, Elliott, and then one of Hendo and Thiago in a midfield 4, behind Salah and Nunez up front. Elliott in a similar role to tonight, defending on the front foot, but also off the forwards to link the attack or recycle passes to uncoming midfielders.

This was a great performance, one we all wanted, score one, and control game. We have the means to do this week in week out. No need for the kamikaze approach

This new fvckin boards 🙄

Unfortunately there's a lot more than Fab's confidence that's gone. He literally just can't run, so no matter what role he's in, he's incapable of doing it. I genuinely have no idea when last we saw him sprint - which is a shocking dip from him, considering the power he used to carry in his runs. As you say, he used to be a fullback, with gallops up the wing being one of his trademarks. Now the most we ever see is a hunched over trot. When one of the midfielders is playing like that, any other plans for a higher intensity game go out the window,.

There's a lot of formational stuff we could do - but first and foremost the selected players need to be able to physically impose themselves on the game, which guys like Fab and Ox - for whatever reason - are no longer doing. Trent is one who really holds back on his running when the rest of the team aren't on it, so he needs a bit of a pep talk to get him doing things with intensity again too, to start being a bit of a leader. He's capable of doing it, but seems to fall back into whatever the mood of the team around him is. if they're lethargic, he will be too - in contrast to someone like Milner who will at least try to drag others around him up a level.

Could Elliots future be as the next Firminho in the false 9? He is completely wasted as just a work horse on the right who's main responsibility is to cover Trent. He's also not that type of player as his natural instinct will always be to go forward, not the ideal type of player you want covering a free roaming fullback!!

I think your analysis of Fabinho is off. He started his career as a right back but in the 2014/15 season he began the transition to a defensive midfielder at Monaco where he played in a two. He was always a very mobile player but in recent years he has suffered a series of hamstring and thigh muscle issues. He broke down with three injuries in the 2020/21 season when he was overplayed and it happened again at the end of last season.

He hasn't been the same player since the 20/21 season and it wouldn't surprise me to learn that he has been managing some muscle issue since that period. Henderson and Thiago have both been guilty of declaring themselves fit to play when they have been carrying an injury which subsequently lead to a drop in their performance levels and further injury. It's not a stretch of the imagination to think that Fabinho would behave the same way.

Fabinho's injuries could have been prevented if there was an extra able body to rotate in midfield. It has been a failure of Klopp's management style that first eleven players would not be properly rotated to keep them fresh. We began to see some rotation of the midfield players (Fabinho, Henderson, Keita & Thiago) in the second half of last season, Jones got a few cameo appearances and Oxlade-Chamberlain was ignored after the transfer window closed.

Keita is now back from injury and available for rotation. Coincidentally the midfield was more solid with him present in the second half against Brentford, porous without him against Brighton and solid against Wolves with him starting. Last night was his first 90 minute game this season, so we probably won't see him for the Chelsea game, but he should be available for Brighton.

"a hunched over trot" is a new one for me! But it's scarily accurate.

He seems to be chasing shadows a lot, and that slow turn around to job towards the play behind him after being taken out of the game is a sorry sight these days.

Out of sheer interest, I'd love to see him play a few games in the Man City midfield with Silva & KDB or in Arsenal's midfield with Odegaard and Xhaka/Partey beside him. Just to see how he fares out in a midfield/team with more energy. Are his weaknesses being over-exposed by Henderson's lag of legs in front of him and to a degree Thiago but Thiago is able to get around at the same time. Or is it that his injuries have caught up with him, and taken a yard away from a player that wasn't exactly blessed with pace in the past.

I'd love to see it but Klopp would hardly start Bajcetic again on Saturday, he's only back from injury and played nearly 90 mins last night. It was only wolves but that gave us something to build on again, so I'm a bit optimistic this morning.

Elliot played well last night but not sure how anyone could give him MOM over Bajcetic or Naby both where splendid

I think last night we saw Klopp make a good tactically change for the first time in a long time it was clearly more of a old school 4 5 1 formation , The two wide men tucked in a lot deeper than we are used to seeing with in our normal 4 3 3 ,

It allowed our CM to make more forward run than usual , For Elliot's goal Naby was the one pulling the CB away from Elliot into the box,

Also lets not forget Wolves rested a fair few normal starting 11 players ,I think calls for Elliot & Bajcetic to start at home to Chelsea may be premature., It'll be a completely different game ,

You could take Carragher down from the commentary box and start him as a DM instead of Fab this weekend and it would be a marked improvement. Fab is currently unable to run, turn or tackle and has offered absolutely noting to the cause in months so I don't know how playing Bajcetic over him could be any worse!

Where did you get the stats from ?

Not saying there incorrect or anything would just like a look at them ,

You answered the Elliot post with stats,

So here goes abs is our 10 best player this season on stats ratings , only Thiago is ahead of him out of our midfielders

So do stat matter to you or do they not in Fabs case ?

Said this about Bajcetic a few weeks ago and he's not put a foot wrong yet, only criticism is that he can't seem to sustain his performance for a full 90 but that'll come with consistent playing time.

I'd like us to try a midfield diamond with Henderson at the base, maybe Thiago and Kieta left and right and play Elliott at the point with Salah and Nunez in front. If Kieta reverts back to being shite then push up TAA and put Gomez at RB.

Kelleher is comfortably the best backup keeper we’ve had in recent years, and I’d rank him higher than a couple of first choice keepers we’ve had over the last couple of decades as well. This mad notion that he can’t make saves would be quickly dispelled if those posters watched three games; home to Ajax in December 2020, away to Arsenal in the league cup last January, and the league cup final against Chelsea (the game itself, not the shootout).

That’s without giving it much thought. I’m certain I could list a good few more if I could be arsed doing the work.

I’d love to see him stay and learn from Alisson and the coaches so he can succeed him one day, but in all honesty, Ali looks like he’ll still be world class at 40 because his positioning and shot recognition/decision making is out of this world, and those qualities generally don’t suffer with age and a loss of athleticism.

Kelleher obviously isn’t as good as Alisson, but at the same time, he’s far too good to loan out and not have him available for any potential injuries to Ali.