In this quote I’ve reason for lots of hope”The Reds deserved to win — which is always healthy — but the questions surrounding virtually all of the club’s new signings remain. “ Are you saying we’re good like last year when playing the players from last year?! That’s pretty good right? And the other guys can win their shirts.
I couldn’t believe my eyes seeing how naive Villa were , persistently playing out from the back. Our weakness have been so blatantly exposed this season, what was Emery thinking.
So yeah I’m going to take your positivity with a pinch of salt unfort haha.
As you say, still so many questions to be answered. And it feels inevitable that when we play Forrest, west ham etc later this month we will be back to facing those challenges and questions.
A glimpse at Slots ideas persisted in the game v villa, we saw a line of 6 attackers on a couple of occasions, with full backs high and inverted, Macca high on the last line too. It’s the one tactic I can’t get my head around, as we some to lose connectivity on the ball, and lose defensive reliability if the ball is lost in transition.
Much remains to be improved , but yes it’s a start and 3 pts
This quote sums up my feeling on the current state of play and the villa win :
"The Reds deserved to win — which is always healthy — but the questions surrounding virtually all of the club’s new signings remain. Wirtz was introduced as a late substitute and played as a number nine. I felt sorry for him."
I back the manager and the squad to fix it but as for now I don't call what I saw as "progress" and don't see any evidence yet that the manager really knows what to do with the squad. In particular the scatter gun tactics of the last 6 weeks really have me scratching my head. If there is/was a plan, surely we haven't seen it yet and that begs the question why? Due to the money spent and more so to the fact that we will not have a ton of time on the training pitch, I think some serious questions remain unanswered.
Let’s remember a win is a win despite how charitable villa were. They were still 4 wins on the bounce, so not a bunch of mugs. So defo a 🌈 from me. Still a bit of work to do before the sun comes fully out and we get to slap factor 50 on again though.
Interesting take on Wirtz starting from the left. I had been against that too but I have a feeling we may see that tonight with Robertson (if fully fit🤞) overlapping more often and Bradley staying a little deeper? Hopefully not in a crystal palace away 1st half type performance of let’s just sack off the left side completely.
I fully agree with your assessment. The win was important but I’m not convinced we turned a corner. We simply were not tested. Villa’s performance was on par with a charity game. They did not even try to exploit any of our current weaknesses and they gave us so much encouragement: played out from the back, individual mistakes, gifted us a goal before half time and their decisions on the ball were appalling.
Positive take aways alongside the win. Ekitike at times was delivering a Gravenberch tribute performance higher up the field, clever turns, worked very well as a connector and constantly hassled them off the ball while staying clear of a yellow. We were also content getting offsides in order to push their line.
Collectively, we worked their central players Rogers and Onana, the latter to the point of him loosing his head. Everyone left one on them, but no one got booked for it.
You like pessimistic takes, here are some. I feel, we just about got away with some of their central breakthroughs, took two or three of ours to bring one of them down. The next opponents might find their free man centrally in these situations.
Somewhat worryingly, this game made me realise how unfinished our full back positions are. Both players were fine this game but the objective is to be world class and all of ours are very far from it.
We are used to our LB being compensated, almost carried through games. Ideally the LB wins his battles on his own to allow his CB to stay in position, ready to intercept or to get tight to the central striker. As it stands, Konate is constantly moving in and out of position to double up, vacating his space.
Offensively Bradley offered good runs in good positions, but when he received in the box, his decisions were not quite up to the level required. He either crossed into opponents feet or telegraphed his move for it to be cut out. Robertson was delivering the best performance of all fullbacks this season without doing anything of note.
Ultimately, I’m a bit worried because - as you pointed out - we went back to last season’s team and tactics. Feels like a defeat.
happy with the result of course and we were better defensively but still lots to improve.
- We didn't create enough to win most EPL matches & got some luck on both goals
- We lost markers in the danger zone when defending a lead (Rogers' header in the 56th & Barkley's shot in the 79th were misses but could have been quality chances)
- We still brainlessly attack w/o a rest defense when up 2-0 (Malen's shot came to nothing but against a better team?)
fingers crossed that we fix the latter two for tonight as we'll get punished
evolution vs revolution. He'll have learnt a lot from the last few weeks and while we may not have the consistency to catch Arsenal, I think we'll now be a lot more consistent moving forward, as we attempt to combine all the new pieces systematically, but in a more measured way. We'll really see the benefits towards the end of the season, when we are hopefully challenging in the Champions League while pressuring Arsenal's belief and ability to defy the 'chokers' label.
Robertson seemed to get forward more than Bradley. I wonder if he’s been given more licence due to his defensive weaknesses these days and Bradley has been told to be more reserved.
In this quote I’ve reason for lots of hope”The Reds deserved to win — which is always healthy — but the questions surrounding virtually all of the club’s new signings remain. “ Are you saying we’re good like last year when playing the players from last year?! That’s pretty good right? And the other guys can win their shirts.
Yes and no. So I’m saying we’re good when the team from last year plays.
But that isn’t viable for a run of matches, because you can’t just not use Wirtz. Or Isak, Kerkez or Frimpong.
Liverpool can’t accept playing badly whenever those guys are involved.
Jesus Josh, this side but with Isak firing…. damnnnnn.
😭😭😭😭😭 yes waiting and watching to see how they are integrated. Thank you Josh!
Words of wisdom, Josh! Arne Slot might want to give them serious consideration.
I couldn’t believe my eyes seeing how naive Villa were , persistently playing out from the back. Our weakness have been so blatantly exposed this season, what was Emery thinking.
So yeah I’m going to take your positivity with a pinch of salt unfort haha.
As you say, still so many questions to be answered. And it feels inevitable that when we play Forrest, west ham etc later this month we will be back to facing those challenges and questions.
A glimpse at Slots ideas persisted in the game v villa, we saw a line of 6 attackers on a couple of occasions, with full backs high and inverted, Macca high on the last line too. It’s the one tactic I can’t get my head around, as we some to lose connectivity on the ball, and lose defensive reliability if the ball is lost in transition.
Much remains to be improved , but yes it’s a start and 3 pts
A clear, honest, and concise take. Nice one.
This quote sums up my feeling on the current state of play and the villa win :
"The Reds deserved to win — which is always healthy — but the questions surrounding virtually all of the club’s new signings remain. Wirtz was introduced as a late substitute and played as a number nine. I felt sorry for him."
I back the manager and the squad to fix it but as for now I don't call what I saw as "progress" and don't see any evidence yet that the manager really knows what to do with the squad. In particular the scatter gun tactics of the last 6 weeks really have me scratching my head. If there is/was a plan, surely we haven't seen it yet and that begs the question why? Due to the money spent and more so to the fact that we will not have a ton of time on the training pitch, I think some serious questions remain unanswered.
Cheers Josh. YNWA
Let’s remember a win is a win despite how charitable villa were. They were still 4 wins on the bounce, so not a bunch of mugs. So defo a 🌈 from me. Still a bit of work to do before the sun comes fully out and we get to slap factor 50 on again though.
Interesting take on Wirtz starting from the left. I had been against that too but I have a feeling we may see that tonight with Robertson (if fully fit🤞) overlapping more often and Bradley staying a little deeper? Hopefully not in a crystal palace away 1st half type performance of let’s just sack off the left side completely.
I fully agree with your assessment. The win was important but I’m not convinced we turned a corner. We simply were not tested. Villa’s performance was on par with a charity game. They did not even try to exploit any of our current weaknesses and they gave us so much encouragement: played out from the back, individual mistakes, gifted us a goal before half time and their decisions on the ball were appalling.
Positive take aways alongside the win. Ekitike at times was delivering a Gravenberch tribute performance higher up the field, clever turns, worked very well as a connector and constantly hassled them off the ball while staying clear of a yellow. We were also content getting offsides in order to push their line.
Collectively, we worked their central players Rogers and Onana, the latter to the point of him loosing his head. Everyone left one on them, but no one got booked for it.
You like pessimistic takes, here are some. I feel, we just about got away with some of their central breakthroughs, took two or three of ours to bring one of them down. The next opponents might find their free man centrally in these situations.
Somewhat worryingly, this game made me realise how unfinished our full back positions are. Both players were fine this game but the objective is to be world class and all of ours are very far from it.
We are used to our LB being compensated, almost carried through games. Ideally the LB wins his battles on his own to allow his CB to stay in position, ready to intercept or to get tight to the central striker. As it stands, Konate is constantly moving in and out of position to double up, vacating his space.
Offensively Bradley offered good runs in good positions, but when he received in the box, his decisions were not quite up to the level required. He either crossed into opponents feet or telegraphed his move for it to be cut out. Robertson was delivering the best performance of all fullbacks this season without doing anything of note.
Ultimately, I’m a bit worried because - as you pointed out - we went back to last season’s team and tactics. Feels like a defeat.
Feels like a defeat?… cheer up mate.
Exactly. Definitely wasn’t a time when winning felt losing. Felt like regular old winning to me 😆
happy with the result of course and we were better defensively but still lots to improve.
- We didn't create enough to win most EPL matches & got some luck on both goals
- We lost markers in the danger zone when defending a lead (Rogers' header in the 56th & Barkley's shot in the 79th were misses but could have been quality chances)
- We still brainlessly attack w/o a rest defense when up 2-0 (Malen's shot came to nothing but against a better team?)
fingers crossed that we fix the latter two for tonight as we'll get punished
evolution vs revolution. He'll have learnt a lot from the last few weeks and while we may not have the consistency to catch Arsenal, I think we'll now be a lot more consistent moving forward, as we attempt to combine all the new pieces systematically, but in a more measured way. We'll really see the benefits towards the end of the season, when we are hopefully challenging in the Champions League while pressuring Arsenal's belief and ability to defy the 'chokers' label.
Do we expect the same 11 against Real Madrid and Man City, or will Slot rotate a bit?
Can kinda see Wirtz and Chiesa coming in, but there aren't many other options at the mo
Robertson seemed to get forward more than Bradley. I wonder if he’s been given more licence due to his defensive weaknesses these days and Bradley has been told to be more reserved.