with Hendo and Millie we have 2 players who really understand the dynamics of the game. perfect players to go out and bite into a few tackles and be "verbally aggressive". top-level management by Klopp, because that's exactly what we needed to shake Soton up - not simply fresh legs. once again I bow to Hendo's impact and smarts .... recognizing that we needed to run hard at them from MF, getting Klopp's OK to do it, then doing it magnificently.
right on. small things can make a huge impact, such as Mane's great challenge. also not much attention being paid to Matip's pinpoint 50-yard pass to set Bobby free. you know that if a City CB had done it we'd be seeing replays for weeks.
Managed to see the whole match in my office - wow! Henderson looked like he had been deprived of raw meat for a year What an impact - I like him playing further up the pitch and his passion and leadership were superb I am using “verbal aggression” from now on - brilliant
One little bitch, yeah I know. The comms and a couple of posters here mentioned that our first goal was dubious because the AR missed a OS call by inches that happened at least four more plays wing to wing and a couple of minute before the goal. Yet nothing had been said about the OF call that wasn't, by more than a couple of feet, when we looked in a good position to score. OK carry on. Note to Klopp. Must keep Hendo in a cage and poke him with sharp sticks before games.
I hope, for the love of god, that when VAR comes in next year SOMEONE shows some common bloody sense and realizes that a player's toes - or eyebrows - being an inch or two ahead of the defenders does NOT give any kind of material advantage and shouldn't be called offiside. I know, I know .... "common sense" means very little these days ...
When I was a kid my older brother would wind us up before a match and try make us angry and take it out on the other team - I have to wonder if he made it to St Mary’s last night!
If you have time at all, don some rubber gloves and browse blue moon— should be blue fine. Utterly hilarious.
While it wasn't a couple of minutes, it was definitely a couple of separate plays before the actual goal; which would render VAR helpless in the matter. Graham LeSaux really was having one against us last night. It was horrible having to listen to his incessant whining about anything that remotely went our way. According to him, Keita should've been booked for a dive and "threw himself to the ground" even after video replay shows he was clearly fouled.
And boy was he ever fouled .... they went so far as to claim he was already going down (not remotely true) and that there was only a little contact (it’s was huge contact).
More than a few times this season, especially since Christmas, I have wondered why Klopp has, in big games, gone with the midfield of Wijnaldum, Henderson and Milner. It’s obviously the trio he sees as his most reliable. Fabinho has made a serious claim that he should be one of the three, while Keita, Shaqiri and Lallana have made cameo appearances. But HMW it is. I don’t see that midfield as being creative, but it is very workmanlike. I think the performances of Milner and obviously Henderson have gone a long way to showing us what Klopp has in mind with that midfield trio. Perversely, of course, it wasn’t HMW in midfield, Milner played at right back and Wijnaldum was on the bench. But I think we saw what Klopp sees. Leadership, allied to footballing nous and prowess. I’m still not sold on HMW, but I do understand better why.
The midfield of Henderson Wij and Milner is Workmanlike. It’s not going to create however, but it will control (against many teams). Experience aside - it’s not one I like seeing. It forces the front three and the fullbacks to do a lot of work.
I think the big difference against Southampton was that Henderson was playing further up the pitch. Along with Milner they were both pressing high They also brought energy and determination which seemed to be lacking I thought Fabinho was poor to be honest and Keita started slowly but grew into the match We may see more of Henderson in an advanced role for the rest of the season
To be fair, Soton was very well-organized defensively. Also, crosses from TAA and Robbo were only fair. One from Robertson was so over-amped that I'm sure Klopp nearly had a stroke. Henderson REALLY wants this. He's a dependable passer from anywhere on the pitch and, while he doesn't have the pace anymore to track back effectively against pacy midfielders, he's positionally solid.
The midfield issues were a function of a few things: 1) Redmond and Bertrand overloaded on Trent and Matip, who couldn't find their way out. They got anxious and their passing was poor, which spread throughout the team. Salah couldn't hold the ball up against Westerveld who was excellent all game. Matip couldn't win a long ball against Long and they kept getting the second balls. 2) Gini seems to have hit the wall. He's a yard off the pace and he wasn't able to help us control the right side. His poor play dragged Fabinho and Keita out of positions they are comfortable in and put more pressure on them. While Keita clearly has talent, he's not yet able to impose himself on games when things aren't quite right. For the past month or so, I thought our midfield should be Gini, one of Hendo/Fab and 1 more. For the next couple of games, I think we should be going Fab and Hendo, plus 1 more. Given that foundation, I'd expect we'd see a strong 90 out of Keita if he was to start against Porto.
Gini is definitely struggling. Not helped by having to keep playing full games for the international break when Salah, Mane and others were able to rest.
He's played something like 1000 minutes more than any of the other midfielders. He's gotten us to this point, but now its time for other the carry us for a while.
Its actually 1200 more minutes and a lot of kms. Having covered 140km more than any other Liverpool midfielder this season, I think Wijnaldum might be justified in feeling a little tired— SimonBrundish (@SimonBrundish) April 5, 2019