rgk_lfc

I highly doubt Messi and Ronaldo will be that highly regarded unless they win the world cup and play an important role in that. A good majority of football watchers don't care about club football or champions league. You have to deliver at a world cup to reach that all time great pedestal. I am not saying that is correct but that is the way it is for a decent majority. If Messi or Ronaldo do not win this world cup and do not score an iconic or important goal, forget Pele and Maradona, I feel they will be below Zidane in the global public conscience as time passes.

I think England can beat France. Mbappe is the x factor in attack. If he does not click or is contained, I think the English midfield and defense can handle Giroud, Dembele, and Griezmann. My guess is Southgate will play the Henderson, Rice, and Bellingham midfield which was very effective today. Henderson or Rice will be asked to help out Walker against MBappe. The midfield battle will be important. Bellingham, Rice, Henderson vs Tchouameni, Rabiot, Griezmann will be very interesting to watch.

I think you can defeat Spain. Yes, Spain will dominate the midfield and possession but they don't seem to have that cutting edge upfront and the defense seems a bit soft. The way Spain play might also work well for Southgate ball. Keep it tight at the back, let the opposition have the ball and have the fullbacks attack in numbers when they lose possession. Spain also don't look that convincing defending set pieces which England can exploit with their physicality upfront and Trippier.

I was about to post both of these teams could use a Callum Wilson upfront. We can go through so many styles and philosophy of football, there will always be a place for a big pacy physical striker with decent technique who can score.

Shouldn't that handball be a penalty?

How have Spain managed to reincarnate another generation of Xavi and Iniesta. With these two kids in their midfield, they only need one decent defensive midfielder and one decent striker upfront in the next 12 to 15 years to win another major international trophy.

South American players find it easy to settle there - language, weather, food. But I think the main factor is the work permit. It is easier for South American players to get work permit in Portugal which means there are no administrative barriers to the move. So not sure if the Benfica and Porto success story in recruiting South American talents is due to careful scouting or safety in numbers. According to this, currently there are 111 players from Brazil plying their trade in Liga Portugal. https://www.transfermarkt.us/liga-portugal/gastarbeiter/wettbewerb/PO1

Or maybe do a Saudi Arabia. Frustrate Argentina in 45-60 minutes and when they tire, turn on the press and attack.

Unreal cross from Griezmann also.

One my issues with Southgate with yesterday's game was why England didn't use Trippier's deadball ability. They have excellent dribblers - Sterling, Saka, Bellingham, Kane is no slouch at dribbling. Get the ball and run at the US defenders in front of the penalty box and draw fouls. Two or three fouls in the right area and Trippier would have put one in.

I have also been guilty of being too critical of Southgate due to his lack of tactical nous against top level team, but credit where it is due, I thought England looked very impressive. Maybe even the best of the teams which have played until now. France looked good too but I think Iran was a better opposition than Australia. Highest ranked Asian team and a Queiroz coached team is difficult to play against.

Having said that, I am wondering which PL club he even has a chance. Arsenal, Brentford, Brighton, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, City, United, Newcastle, Spurs, Southampton - all have moved past "personality" or "big name" player managers. They all have a plan or vision with DOFs running the scenes and look to hire managers who fit that vision. Everton too for all their transfer failings - you can see that they are trying to implement the modern DOF manager model - they just haven't nailed the appointments in the past. I don't know enough about West Ham, Wolves, and the remaining clubs. I just don't see space for someone like him managing in the PL unless he shows that he has something interesting in terms of tactics, vision elsewhere. Of course, at some point, there is going to be an intense media campaign to get him the LFC job, but he seems to be the exact opposite of the analytics data driven FSG type.

It is going to be tricky though. He got the LFC youth team job through his status as a player. It appears he got the Rangers job through contacts. Dalglish and a couple of others with connections to Rangers hierarchy played a role. Purslow played a big role in him getting the Villa job. I dont think he has gotten a job because he impressed the owners and CEO with his footballing vision or interview. I guess as long as his mates continue to back him in the media, he will end up getting another job.

Still early days to judge how good Michael Beale is going to be, especially at the particular level. But he has earned that job. Started at Chelsea at the U7 role worked his way up. Moved to Liverpool to coach the U16, then worked his way up to the U23. Took up an assistant manager position in Brazil. He has really put in the hours and earned all the jobs he got. By all accounts, he was a wonderful youth team coach. Will be very interesting to see how his career progresses.

He assembled that core on budget though. Credit to him for that.

I think Moyes is the greatest 6th to 8th place manager, PL has ever seen. Give him time and he can get any team to 6th-9th position on a budget. Look at some of his signings at Everton on a budget - Coleman, Howard, Pienaar, Arteta, Cahil, Lescott, Baines - brilliant. But when he is given money, it seems like he hits a ceiling and then bounces low.

It could also be that he finally has a manager who trusts him and knows how to use him. Marco Silva is an underrated manager.

Mitro appears to have finally figured out the PL. He did not give a single moment rest to our defenders on opening day.

I am not saying Parker's points are wrong. But there is a difference between a multiple leagues and European cups winning manager stating "I know what it takes and currently the owners are not backing me" and Scott Parker stating that.

Jones and Elliott are good enough to have a career in the PL. I am confident of that. Elliot looks like yet another technically solid, comfortable on the ball, clever young player which England seems to be producing a lot these days. Whether they are good enough to start for a team with ambitions of competing for a top 4, I am not sure about that. Definitely worth their place on the bench.

In the interest of balance and to defend TAA a little, depending on where the shot was taken from, that might be by design. Most top teams instruct their defenders to back off and allow opposition strikers to take the shot at goal if the shot is being taken from the outside and right or left of the box. This is because the chances of scoring a goal are very less. Also when the goalkeeper has a clear view of the shot and the goal, he should be able to catch it easily. If the defender tries to block it, then there is a chance of deflected shot going into the goal which is difficult for the goalkeeper to handle, or the ball deflecting to another player in a better position to take the shot. So it could be that. But the Sancho goal was different. Once Howe gets comfortable with Pope, you might notice it in your game also. Tell defenders to back off and bet on Pope to catch the ball. In a home game, if the shot goes out, the ball boys are also instructed to immediately throw the ball in so that you can start the attack immediately with the opposition still in attacking formation.

Check out the goal Mitro scored against us on the opening day. A big discussion among LFC fans now is whether TAA can't defend or does not want to defend? Based on the goals we are conceding and his role in that, it seems to be the latter than the former. He was never the greatest defender, but it has never been this bad before. I also don't think moving him to midfield is the answer. His vision and deep-lying crosses are incredible but he is doing that from deep inside his half with no pressure on him from the opposition and Salah distracting opposition left backs and left wingers ahead of him. The midfield is going to be more crowded. The opposition is going to be on his face; lot more opportunities to nullify him. His inability or lack of desire to track runners might hurt us more.

He grew up in a tribal fishing area. His first exposure to any sort of professional football was when he was 17 or 18 years old and that too for a youth team of a Colombian second division side. He is 25 years old but he has played far less football compared to players his age. His footballing age is 22 or 23 years old, if that makes sense. Also, when I said developing I meant still adapting to Klopp style of football. Klopp wants his attackers in the box whereas Diaz does his best outside the box - skills, tricks, and all. Mane was not the most elegant player but he was in your face attacker, constantly harassing the right back and right central defender. Diaz hasn't developed that aspect of his game, yet.

But his vision doesn't excuse this. Unless you are a prime Messi or Ronaldo, you don't get away with this. Fairly confident, De Bruyne would have done a better job of defending in that position. That should cost him his position in the world cup squad. Lot of issues that you all have covered for the most part. Diaz is an excellent player, but he is still developing and is not offering the physicality and threat of Mane upfront. Henderson and Milner shouldn't be starting games. Elliott and Carvalho are excellent youngsters, but they shouldn't be held responsible for holding our midfield together. Salah seems to be modeling his career based on becoming less talented Cristiano Ronaldo variant. As in not offering a lot other than scoring goals. We are definitely at the end of the cycle as @HTT II pointed out and kept it a bit too late to refresh. Once Thiago, Jota, Nunez is back we should be fine. By fine, I mean competing for the top 4. VVD has not been great, but I think once we replace Keita, and Ox and get more reliable midfielders both he and TAA should look OK. To me, the problem is the midfield. Two to three years ago, we had a younger Henderson, Milner, Gini, and Fabinho running around, pressing and hunting down every loose ball and offering a lot of protection to the defenders. We don't have that anymore which is exposing VVD and TAA. We definitely underestimated the scale of overhauling the squad in the short term, but I still trust our transfer committee to find solutions by next summer. I feel if we fix our midfield, a lot of the problems will be solved. As for Klopp looking clueless in post-match, his default mode when we lose or draw is to complain about the opposition being too defensive. Hated it when he or any other manager did that. He can't use that now as in three games; the opposition has gegenpressed us into submission.