themanupstairs

The national side really is toilet. Premier League has killed the national side.

That's not the only reason though. Picking players on form would be a good start rather than the same old recycled crap.

Just seen England's starting lineup

He can pass it very well but it's his other attributes that are not impressive imo.  He's a quick passer.  A forward passer.

This were pap

Winning tackles and headers. It's beautiful.  Little Vurn could never.  Even if he has a bit of an off day (for him) on the ball he's still such an asset to the team.

That's a wonderful Haiku

I guess the BEIN sports pundits must be carrying the same agenda as me the  as they were saying his footwork and positioning were bad for the goal yesterday. 

 

The problem is, a shot that is hit well if you're positioned badly, and moving slowly looks unsavable, that doesn't mean it is.His positioning for long range shots, and his ability to move his feet quickly are poor, and it's not exactly like that hasn't been shown before. Shaqiri has already done it to him once before. No one is blaming him for every goal.

To be fair to him, Coutinho usually hits those in the far corner, and you could see Elliott shuffling his feet to his left expecting the shot to end up there. Coutinho simply outsmarted him by hitting it into the near post. It was a very intelligent finish as well as a rocket.

Picture how this game would be panning out if we had this chump trotting up and down, giving away freekicks around our penalty area and offering nothing in possession.

None sense. Colback has a better passing range than an Anita.

Colback is not bad technically. No Gini but I saw more from him in terms of passing range than an Anita.

I agree. I think he should be starting next to Shelvey or Diame in midfield personally.

Shelvey playing shouldn't cause him to just generally be more sloppy.

 

If it keeps happening I agree, but in this one game in isolation it's understandable imo. He played a slightly different role with a different partner so it's understandable it wasn't a completely seamless transition.

I reckon these two can steamroller both Southampton's and Palace's midfields.

Klopp knows of Merino's quality and tried to stifle his play today. That consequently opened up play for Jonjo on occasion, where he was able to pick a pass without any pressure. For that reason I think their partnership might be a good one, especially at home, as teams will target one of them and leave the other to cause problems - which both certainly can.

This is exactly why it's absolutely essential for a team like ours to play these two together. Having no PFM midfielder in the side is so refreshing, and gives the opposition the headache of having to decide who to double up on. If they overload the middle then we always have the outlets in Ritchie and Atsu who can both hurt teams with different skill-sets.

It's a travesty that we haven't invested more in our first 11 in attack.

Don't know why but I f***ing love his glasses off, into top pocket, shake the opposition manager routine he has.

When he was first appointed here, this was the first image that flashed into my mind. There's something really reassuring about this little routine - as if to say "right, this one's done - onto the next one".

Do we ever concede a goal that isn’t Elliot’s fault? Or a goal that someone else somewhere would have prevented in some way?

Good point. Football is all about mistakes. IIRC it was Gullit who said that football without mistakes means 0-0 every game.

No major complaints about Elliott so far this season. He's obviously delighted to be at a club like NUFC, and he's clearly working hard to improve. An upgrade would be ideal, but to be fair to the fat scrote, he's not as big of a worry as I thought he would be back in the PL.

Quite an accomplished defensive performance, and I don't mind it one bit. Football is about entertainment at some stage, but we are in a situation where we have to identify the moments to dig in and keep our shape. The primary aim of this season is to stay up and solidify our position in this league, and I'll take performances like this all season long. These types of results give our players more confidence and belief in Rafa's plan, and that can only be a good thing.

I thought Elliott was very good coming off his line several times in a flash to snuff out danger from Salah and Sturridge. It's clear that our coaches had identified the threat and asked Elliott to play sweeper keeper when possible. Love seeing these little tactical adjustments that end up influencing a result. Never saw this with the PFM mongs in years gone past.

Yedlin, Lascelles and Shelvey were excellent for us IMO.

Liverpool's defensive unit are powder puff and if we had any decent attacking threat we could have beaten them. Apart from possibly Matip, I wouldn't trade our defence for theirs. This is also the reason their attackers feel under pressure to score every time they attack, having no confidence in their side's defending - hence the million fluffed chances per game they keep banging on about.

Reasonably happy this morning.

They needed a LB, CB, GK, a finisher, and a possible replacement for Coutinho. They f***ed up their transfer window in that regard. Salah was a great signing but that's about it.

They still do things based on emotions (including Klopp) which is to their detriment IMO. They should have got rid of Sturridge when his stock was still high. Moreno was dropped by Klopp for being their weakest link, played Milner in his place for an entire year. 2017 and Moreno is still starting for them. He's improved ever so slightly but he's still a liability defensively. Mignolet is clearly not top 4 standard yet he's still playing and making howlers every couple of games. And then they wonder why they're not getting the results they need.

The football they play is scintillating at times, and it;s how I would love my team to play for sure. But questions are starting to be asked of the direction Klopp is going in, and rightly so, because it seems he doesn't even know.

I hope that the fact that Joselu's become a dad very recently for the first time is contributing to his lack of focus in front of goal. Sleepless nights/turbo diarrhoea etc...

RIP Freddie.

Intent is clear as day, especially considering the handbags moments earlier. Wouldn't have been charged if the FA thought it was accidental.

Colback still looking like a schoolboy up against Wolves reserves. He's totally finished.

He best get banned. I know it won't get us the points but i'm bitter and i will enjoy it

Yup. Especially seeing as he seems to be a talentless self-entitled little twat.

I find the level of this criticism weird seeing as he was clearly a big part of our last 3 wins. Admittedly, Lascelles was a major factor.

It's not really criticism. His pressing and tireless running helped massively in the last 3 wins. But on days when those around him aren't on their game, we still need a level of awareness and performance from an attacking player who had previously shown that he is able to deliver.

Perez is a very interesting case.  In a way, he disappointed lots of people here as we all believed that he has huge talent and should improve significantly by time, which was not the case on the pitch. That's one of the reason why he has played so many games and still learning his trade - sometimes great, sometimes frustrating, lots of ups and downs.  He is still far from the finished article.

 

However, what people ignored, or only very few mentioned, is the direction he is heading to.  In the past he was extremely weak, great technique and vision and unable to hold up the ball, doesn't have the power to strike the ball, and mainly takes on the defender when he is fully accelerated and use his quick feet to get pass the defender.  He didn't have enough stamina to sustain 90 mins.  He always get muscled out.  He is so weak that he always get into good position but unable to materialise.

 

What he is doing now is completely different.  He is strong enough to hold off lots of the challenges. He has enough stamina to run for 90 mins.  His strike power has improved massively.  And he doesn't seem to get slower too - the turn he did yesterday is pure class, great first touch, quick turn, great acceleration to take on the defender, and poor final execution.  We don't have any player who can do this, not even Merino or Atsu, in the middle of the pitch.  The only draw back I noticed is just his quick feet seems to become slower than before.

 

Yes, ultimately it's the final ball that matters most, and Perez is still very frustrating in this area.  However you shouldn't ignore the improvements he makes on other areas.  Not every player, especially technique based, can changed and developed his body like what Perez did, and this allows Perez to be able to do a lot of stuff that normal players are unable to do even in EPL.  That's what we have invested, and Perez obviously is heading to the right direction.  We just need to, and we have to be patient.  A classy no.10 is coming from our own hands, and we witnessing the process.

 

This is not worth the strength though. He relied on having quick feet to beat people, he looks too heavy and cumbersome now. That is clearly not his natural weight. I don't think a ten needs to be physical, he's heading backwards. He was far better off at his original weight. Managers getting players to "bulk up" is one my pet hates in football

I get this feeling as well.

Wonder what has happened to the Ayoze we first saw burst into the team. Wonder what has happened to the clever flicks and sharp turns. He has improved physically, but seems to have regressed mentally and to some extent, technically.

That pass out wide at the end of the game when under pressure, f***ing class.

 

That was superb  just a joy to watch

When he took control of the ball you just knew he would see Shelvey in space and make the pass. Delightful player.

He simply made the wrong decision time after time yesterday. He undoubtedly has the quality to deliver but needs to know when to shoot and when to cross and when to lay it off. Blood rush to the head one too many times.

0-4 away win. A proper spanking to show Sky and The Merse that this shit's for real.

1-1.

They have Coutinho ye nah? He usually starts in midfield rather than as part of the front three.

Who do you reckon will make way for him from the current 3 when Mane's back? Wijnaldum? Can?