rgk_lfc

The quality of commentators and punditry in football is so so poor compared to cricket, NFL, NBA - pretty much every other sport. Some of these pundits played under Bob Paisley, Ferguson, Del Bosque, Bobby Robson, Wenger - some of the most intelligent and tactically astute managers in the game. Is it too much to ask to come up with something intelligent, one piece of insight, occasionally? What I think it might be is stuff like NFL, cricket, baseball, there's enough down time for them to start a dialogue - TMS commentators going on about cake and stuff. Whereas football is fast enough to now allow much of that, but slow enough to allow the likes of McManaman or - and for me, he's the worst, Danny Murphy - to fill the gaps with their wittering on about whatever they're fucking obsessed with. It's like being forced to watch a match in your local with the pub twat sat next to you, chuntering on for 90 minutes. But even during half time/lunch time or post game analysis in NBA or cricket, you listen to pundits sometimes talking about the nuts and bolts of technique, positioning, seam position, cloud cover, swing of bat - things we never have knowledge off. The way they analyze how a fast bowler sets a batsmen up with four types of different deliveries and gets him out with the fifth one. In the NFL, how they analyze the plays, the runs. We have nothing even close to that depth in football. Mostly repeat cliched bs. I dont even know why we have Mcmanaman or Murphy on TV. They have never said anything interesting or funny ever.

The quality of commentators and punditry in football is so so poor compared to cricket, NFL, NBA - pretty much every other sport. Some of these pundits played under Bob Paisley, Ferguson, Del Bosque, Bobby Robson, Wenger - some of the most intelligent and tactically astute managers in the game. Is it too much to ask to come up with something intelligent, one piece of insight, occasionally?

Looks like he's lost his motivation for the game now, so if he goes anywhere it'll be China or MLS, maybe his local Argentine team. Don't see him having the desire for any other team He has more than 30 goals and 25 assists this season . I know that is lower than what he usually does but that is better than Thierry Henry's best ever season. Every team on the planet wouldn't have a problem accomodating "unmotivated" players like him. Dont rhink hes saying teams wouldn't want him.....its more what HE wants. True. I did not read his post correctly. I have been wondering about the Barca and Messi obituaries since yesterday. Yeah, things do look bad. But the problems they have can be fixed by hiring a progressive manager with a clear vision like Poch or Nagelsman. Messi, Dembele, Griezman, Coutinho, Fati - I am sure Poch can come up with a system that gets a tune out of them. Play De Jong in his natural position. As for the defense, good managers can assemble a fairly robust defense economically. Rafa put together a top 7 premier league defense which can defend on the ground, in the air, and play the ball out on a shoestring budget. I am sure Poch can do the same. I don't think Barca and Messi's situation is as bad as people are making it out to be. There financial situation is pretty critical mind, 60% drop in income for 2020/21. I understand they are overextended and there is a drop in income. But pretty much all clubs, except the state-owned ones, are going to have to deal with significant drops in income to varying degree next season. Under Klopp, we went from being thrashed by Stoke 6-1 to Champions League finalist within three seasons and our attack was nothing compared to what Barca has. It is not going to be easy. But I think a manager like Poch or Nagelsman can work wonders with that attack.

Looks like he's lost his motivation for the game now, so if he goes anywhere it'll be China or MLS, maybe his local Argentine team. Don't see him having the desire for any other team He has more than 30 goals and 25 assists this season . I know that is lower than what he usually does but that is better than Thierry Henry's best ever season. Every team on the planet wouldn't have a problem accomodating "unmotivated" players like him. Dont rhink hes saying teams wouldn't want him.....its more what HE wants. True. I did not read his post correctly. I have been wondering about the Barca and Messi obituaries since yesterday. Yeah, things do look bad. But the problems they have can be fixed by hiring a progressive manager with a clear vision like Poch or Nagelsman. Messi, Dembele, Griezman, Coutinho, Fati - I am sure Poch can come up with a system that gets a tune out of them. Play De Jong in his natural position. As for the defense, good managers can assemble a fairly robust defense economically. Rafa put together a top 7 premier league defense which can defend on the ground, in the air, and play the ball out on a shoestring budget. I am sure Poch can do the same. I don't think Barca and Messi's situation is as bad as people are making it out to be.

Looks like he's lost his motivation for the game now, so if he goes anywhere it'll be China or MLS, maybe his local Argentine team. Don't see him having the desire for any other team He has more than 30 goals and 25 assists this season . I know that is lower than what he usually does but that is better than Thierry Henry's best ever season. Every team on the planet wouldn't have a problem accomodating "unmotivated" players like him.

Why? He is and has been a very good footballer. Yes, I rate him, too. But as a goalscorer he's not that good. Very good couple of articles about Thomas Muller, in case you or others are interested. Love this about him. "Thomas Müller can’t beat you with his close ball control. He can’t beat you with his pace. And he can’t beat you with his dribbling skills. He just beats you" https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/feb/23/thomas-muller-modest-assassin-bayern-munich-germany#:~:text=In%20other%20words%2C%20M%C3%BCller%20can,a%20legendary%20namesake%2C%20Gerd%20M%C3%BCller. https://thesefootballtimes.co/2017/03/31/thomas-muller-the-first-and-possible-last-ramdeuter/

With the high line Bayern are playing, they might need one or two more goals. Feels like it is just a matter of time one of Messi's runs will play out.

Have a huge amount of respect for what Simeone has achieved but I believe players like Koke and Felix would look a different level under someone more progressive like Nagelsmann.

Nice Such a simple and effective gesture. 10 more minutes plus added time. Hope they can hang on.

They do have a great academy and scouting network. Lots of their players are spread throughout the league and in Serie B that haven't made the grade and they've sold lots in recent years (Andrea Conti, Franck Kessie to Milan, Gagliardini,Bastoni to Inter, Mancini to Roma etc, Zappacosta). Even Caldara (playing at CB) they sold Juve who has made his way back now after not settling there or at Milan (he was involved in the weird Bonucci deal). The current team is mostly through good signings and very good coaching. It is becoming an older team though, particularly in the forward areas. Cheers. Hopefully, their growth continues in the following seasons.

Do they have any uber-talented youngsters or is it all about teamwork and good coaching? The reason I am asking is once every few years we have teams like this who pop up. Monaco with Mbappe and Lemar are the previous example. But then big teams scavenge their talent and they drop back. Are there any similar outstanding players in Atalanta? If not, hopefully, this season is not a one-off and they can sustain this.

First time I am watching Atalanta and I really like the way they play.

Whenever people talk about Rafa and Liverpool, they just focus on the Istanbul squad. But to get a good picture of what a monumental achievement it was, you should look at some of the hurdles we overcame along the way. This was the squad comparison for the home game of the quarter-final which we won 2-1. Juve was coached by Capello. Our attack was Baros supported by Le Tallec and Garcia. Liverpool: Carson, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Traore, Luis Garcia, Gerrard, Biscan, Riise, Le Tallec, Baros. Subs: Dudek, Smicer, Alonso, Nunez, Warnock, Welsh, Potter. Juventus: Buffon, Zebina, Cannavaro, Thuram, Zambrotta, Blasi, Emerson, Camoranesi, Nedved, Del Piero, Ibrahimovic. Subs: Chimenti, Montero, Pessotto, Trezeguet, Appiah, Olivera, Zalayeta. For the return leg, it was even worse. Gerrard was injured. We had Tony Nunez playing right center midfield who I think quit football 2 years later and became a lawyer. Irrespective of whatever you think of Rafa's career post-Istanbul, that 2004-2005 Champions league run was one of the all-time great coaching job by a manager.

When we won the league after Chelsea defeated City the players had like a 24-36 hour party, had their next game a week after, and still, they played like they were hungover. According to van Dijk, the party had started again last night and this game is in 3 days. No way we are winning this

Nah. So hard to please How did they do that year without him? Manager Real Madrid La Liga: 2016–17,[258] 2019–20 Supercopa de España: 2017, 2019–20 UEFA Champions League: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 UEFA Super Cup: 2016, 2017 FIFA Club World Cup: 2016, 2017 If he continues picking up important trophies at this rate, his stature as a manager might eclipse his stature as a player.

England have a superb collection of young fullbacks at various stages of development - TAA, Lamptey, Chilwell, Saka (if he commits to England), Lamptey, Reece James, Wan Bissaka.

Davies and Sane. That pace on Bayern's left wing is going to be frightening.

I think you are being a wee bit harsh by stating his type is becoming redundant. Yes, he is no Gerrard or Alonso, but he is a perfect midfielder if a coach wants to implement a high press system. He can control and move the ball fast, press and close down space at a high level for 120 minutes, follows instructions to the letter, and has the game intelligence to position himself in space to receive the ball from the defenders. Keita, Wijnaldum, and Fabinho are better midfielders than Henderson in attributes but we play better when it is Henderson plus two. To see his impact, watch the Southampton game from last season when he came on in the 60th minute and changed the game. He was instrumental in moving the ball faster, initiating the press faster. We just play at a higher speed, tempo, and control when he is on the pitch. As a captain, he has been perfect on and off the pitch for the last three years. Does a lot of great work in the community, an excellent ambassador for the club. He is loved by the squad and players respond to him. He is an ideal captain for Klopp and Klopp is the perfect manager for him. As long as counter-pressing is in vogue, players like him will be in high demand. He is definitely going to retire as a bonafide Liverpool legend, no doubt about it.

I always thought I would go out and have a wild party when we finally win the league. Spent the time on my sofa with tears in my eyes for like an hour once it happened. Don't get me wrong, we have had some wonderful times in the last 30 years, champions league, europa league, FA cups. But the league feels different, more special. Some poster's earlier talked about a dynasty. I don't think so. Ferguson was spot on when he said every great team has a 3-year window after which you will have to change stuff. The core of this team is in its third year next season. I think we might give it another title challenge and a decent CL campaign, hopefully, win one of those but I think that will be the limit. The loss of revenue due to the pandemic has pretty much shelved our transfer plans. We are pulling out of all of our original transfers. So I will be surprised if we are able to stand up to Chelsea, City, United, and maybe even a minted Newcastle in two years;)) Whatever few posts I have made here, I think 90% of them have been with respect to Rafa. But over the past few months, I have been lurking regularly to read Troll's valuable nuggets of information in the COVID threat. Troll = legend. I will lurk around in the Chat forum and occasionally pop in here if Rafa once again becomes your manager or if you are linked to any ex LFC players or staff. I hope that the takeover goes through and you get to winning stuff soon (If we are not winning would prefer it to be a club like you to benefit).

Disclaimer: I haven't watched a lot of your games. My views are based on limited viewing. He looked like the next quality English midfield talent after the City game last year. He looks woeful in the couple of games I have seen of him this year. I wouldn't blame him. It is more of a function of the coaching setup at Newcastle. Young talents need to be carefully nurtured tactically. That is even more important for midfield players. Even the great Xavi's value was not truly recognized until Guardiola took over. Rafa understood Longstaff's strength and weakness and provided him very clear instructions on what to do in different phases of play. I am sure Rafa designed drills and made Longstaff go through them day in day out so that certain things became second nature for him. Also last year, your forwards defended from the front and ran the channels brilliantly opening up passing lanes for your midfield players and making them look twice as good. See a lot of parallels with Henderson under Klopp and Henderson for England. He is not a naturally talented midfielder like Alonso. But he is crucial to the way we play and that is mainly because of Klopp who recognized his strengths and weaknesses and designed a system to maximize his impact. Regarding Longstaff, the next person who coaches him is key for his career. If it is a PFM, then most likely there is going to be a slide down the leagues as his career progresses. If it is someone who values coaching, improving players tactically and physically, then he can be a very effective premier league midfielder at the very least, if not higher.

Torres on Rafa: “The vast majority of footballers stop learning once they become professionals,” he states. “And that is their big mistake. I’ve been lucky enough to have coach like Rafa Benítez who tries to make you better every single day. There’s no doubt I’ve improved a lot.” Torres is the embodiment of practice makes perfect; if the devil is the details so too are the goals. “Things that you would never even have thought about, Rafa does,” he says. “Things that you thought weren’t important are. You might think ‘that’s ridiculous’ but the thing is the proof is there in front of you. You try it and you see that it’s true. It really works. “When I met Rafa I realised maybe for the first time just how important a coach is. He’s not just someone who sticks 11 people on the pitch and chooses a system. He has to get the very best out of every player and every player is different. Some players have to be pushed and piqued, others have to be looked after,” he says. “When I’ve scored two goals or three goals, he tells me I’ve played badly, that I didn’t help out at the back…” The question is inevitable: isn’t that tiresome? Plenty of players have been burnt by Benítez. “It depends,” Torres replies. “You can think, ‘forget it’ or you can think, ‘next time I’m going to work twice as hard, I’m going to do the things he tells me to do and then we’ll see what he says’.” There is a grin. “But if you do that he still has things to say! ‘In that corner, you let your man go and he had a shot…’ He always demands more. Maybe there are players who get sunk by that but personally it helps me.” Nor is it all about motivation; in fact, says Torres, it is more about method. “People say things like: ‘he’s got to improve his shooting’ but that doesn’t mean anything. You have to look deeper than that; you have to focus on how you get into the position to shoot, your arrival point, the position of your body. To say ‘he’s got to shoot better’ is banal, so general as to be meaningless. How do you find the space? How do you get into that position? How do you finish? In what way? “Rafa talks to me a lot about the position of my body. If you’re turned fractionally more to the right or left you might get a millisecond’s advantage; if when you receive the ball you shift you weight you can get away easier. The way you position yourself against the centre-backs, focus on their position and judge their movements as well as your own is vital. One of the most important things I’ve learnt with Rafa is how to play closer to the opposition’s penalty area – how to get in behind the defenders as a solo striker. I don’t have to come back and look for the ball; I fix my position by the centre-backs more than by the ball or the build up. “Rafa always analyses the centre backs I’m facing and the goalkeeping coach tells me about the goalkeepers. In a game it’s a matter of tenths of a second and that information can help. You might be told: ‘The goalkeeper always dives one way and if you’re patient you can wait and go round him the other side, the goalkeeper comes out a long way and you can chip him…’ Those small details really helped, especially in the first year when I didn’t know the players, whether centre-back was quick or slow, whether he comes across to the wings to cover and leaves space behind or whether he sticks.” https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/features/fernando-torres-how-rafa-made-me-great

Klopp was raving about Wilder in the pre-match program and interview before the game with Sheffield. I have never seen him praise an opposition manager like this. Klopp's original plan was to step out in 2022. But now he extended his contract to 2024 and the reason for the extension was to help manage the transition. I am wondering if FSG is looking at Wilder as one of the options. They wanted Klopp in 2010 and waited for 5 years to get him. Also, they are not afraid to give upcoming managers a chance as long as they commit to attacking football. Their choices after Dalglish was Rodgers and Martinez.

Carlo Ancelotti: "The players are really sad. But I said to them I have experience in moments like this. I lost the Champions League final after being 3-0 up, these things can happen sometimes." Not sure if Carlo is helping the Everton players there.

He isn't. Longstaff brothers are a much bigger talent. Chirivella has a manager and a bunch of coaches at the academy who know how to train youngsters into a pattern of play.