Topic: Brazilian Porn Review Topic (Warning: may contain Wijnaldum)

[AaronSingh25]

His best games for us have been Chelsea, Spurs and City away.

It's unusual isn't it - he's best performances have come in the big games. It's the smaller teams, the ones that sit back that he has been least effective in.

[jepovic]

All touches video of Gini vs Man City. (With no annoying music!)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y2q6VUOzrQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jati5qKOL9A

Here's Can and Gini, with annoying music.
Great stuff. Gini was just as determined as Can this time, which is not always the case. They made Toure look so old. Gini has a bit quicker feet than Can, but Can's aggressiveness is unique in our midfield. Based on this game, I'd be tempted to try a midfield with Henderson in Lallana's position.

[Curtisinho]

It's unusual isn't it - he's best performances have come in the big games. It's the smaller teams, the ones that sit back that he has been least effective in.

It's not that unusual. He's not an 'impact' player so to speak in terms of offensive ability. His best offensive attributes are timing, finding space and late runs. The attributes that make him such a great midfielder against the top teams (very economical with the ball, great at shielding the ball, great first touch/one touch passing, intelligence, work rate, ability to soak press, etc.) don't necessarily impact the game as much when we're playing against bus parking sides. He's only recently become more adventurous (and he should be, just watch the City game and others of late to see he HAS the ability to be an impact player offensively) but the reality is that our problems against the smaller sides seem more systemic to me than based on any individual player. We play too safe WITH the ball but all of our players are pushed up the field (especially the fullbacks) which allow for counters to hit us very hard.

Against small teams we should be switching to a 4-2-3-1 IMO with Wijnaldum playing in a more advanced role and encouraged to be more adventurous, almost like a secondary striker in the 10 role since Firmino is not really a box striker as much as he is a playmaker up front who can score goals and roams a lot, while Wijnaldum has really good composure in the box and is a great header of the ball.

[Groundskeeper Willie]

The overrating of Wijnaldum is typical of our supporters who always overrate our players for since the past 20 years or so.

He is no better than a good to a very good player. Often he is average and occasionally garbage.

For me he often hides when the going gets tough and goes missing away from home a lot of the time. For him to take the next step up from the level of 'good' he needs to control games a lot more often and stand up for himself more and take charge. His lack of conviction in front of goal typifies his overall game.

I am happy with him don't get me wrong and he has put in some very good performances but let us not overrate another player here.

I rank this post as garbage. I'm sorry but it is. Damn that Wijnaldum for only being a very good player. I don't want to label anyone as not knowing the game, but if you can't see what he brings to the team then you know less about football than me. Even when his offensive game is off, he brings a lot of important things to the team. But it seems that his critics mostly judge him based on his goals.

[SerbianScouser]

But it seems that his critics mostly judge him based on his goals.

For which he should actually be praised as Lallana and Fer are only CMs in the league who scored more goals than him.

[Groundskeeper Willie]

Indeed.

[mrantarctica]

The overrating of Wijnaldum is typical of our supporters who always overrate our players for since the past 20 years or so.

He is no better than a good to a very good player. Often he is average and occasionally garbage.

For me he often hides when the going gets tough and goes missing away from home a lot of the time. For him to take the next step up from the level of 'good' he needs to control games a lot more often and stand up for himself more and take charge. His lack of conviction in front of goal typifies his overall game.

I am happy with him don't get me wrong and he has put in some very good performances but let us not overrate another player here.

I quite highly rated Gini even before he went to Newcastle and was highly optimistic when we captured him. However, after the first half of the season I think he had been pretty inconsistent and underwhelming. Of late though, he has really come into some fine form. He's been a powerhouse in the middle making some crucial contributions. Overall I think he's had a good season. I think he definitely needs to be a bit more consistent. He seems to be a fairly cool head on the pitch and could be one of the 'quiet' leaders for some years to come.

Certainly in terms of thinking about improvement for next season, Wijnaldum is the least of our concerns at present.

[Redcap]

It's not that unusual. He's not an 'impact' player so to speak in terms of offensive ability. His best offensive attributes are timing, finding space and late runs. The attributes that make him such a great midfielder against the top teams (very economical with the ball, great at shielding the ball, great first touch/one touch passing, intelligence, work rate, ability to soak press, etc.) don't necessarily impact the game as much when we're playing against bus parking sides. He's only recently become more adventurous (and he should be, just watch the City game and others of late to see he HAS the ability to be an impact player offensively) but the reality is that our problems against the smaller sides seem more systemic to me than based on any individual player. We play too safe WITH the ball but all of our players are pushed up the field (especially the fullbacks) which allow for counters to hit us very hard.

Against small teams we should be switching to a 4-2-3-1 IMO with Wijnaldum playing in a more advanced role and encouraged to be more adventurous, almost like a secondary striker in the 10 role since Firmino is not really a box striker as much as he is a playmaker up front who can score goals and roams a lot, while Wijnaldum has really good composure in the box and is a great header of the ball.

This is an excellent bit of analysis here. I completely agree that we don't take enough risks on the ball. Case in point, first half against Burnley. When we went more direct (i.e. took more risks), we had too much for them, even without having a lot of fluency.

I'm getting pretty bored of the word 'consistency' being thrown around to criticise players.

I think it's borne out of frustration that at players that have great games one week, but little impact another, which is a fair and normal reaction.

It's not a particularly useful description, because by its nature, it assumes that players should perform at a high level every game, regardless of what the opponent is doing.

But as your analysis points out, it's not actually realistic to assume Wijnaldum, for example, will be able to do his thing against Leicester like he does against Man City. Because the conditions for him to perform in the two games are completely different.

And I think that applies more broadly to our approach to games generally. We have a Plan A, which is extremely effective in certain conditions, but which some teams have learned to neutralise pretty effectively. What we need is a tactical tweak to get more of our players against these teams. Because I think they're still good players, and while they might be optimised to play our Plan A, they'll be more effective doing something quite different, if Plan A as an approach is not the right one in a given game.

So it's up to Jurgen to make this happen. I don't think it's a massive adjustment, because frankly we were pretty good last season playing a 4-2-3-1. Our squad is undoubtedly better now than it was then, and Wijnaldum is one of the big improvements.

[Curtisinho]

Yes, a big part of why I think we have so much trouble against bus parking sides is that Klopp sets his teams up to thrive on transitions. There's no space to operate or create transitions against teams that sit back and defend in numbers. He doesn't really have an attack plan for that so rather than try and ask his team to create those openings he gets them to probe, move up, and play safe with the ball hoping for an opportunity to present itself. We've seen the mixed results that come from this. Sometimes other teams just play disciplined enough or our players have lapses in concentration and then we're caught half way up the field with our fullbacks generally acting practically as wingers, etc. people blame our defence for being shaky, but aside from set pieces I think the issues are clearly systemic.

What does Klopp get his teams to do extremely well? Move incredibly well with space, create extremely dangerous transitions, and hound the ball like crazy. When a team is defending deep how are you going to get the most out of these attributes that his teams generally exhibit? To me it seems kind of simple. You have to play more direct (but also not force your defence to be vulnerable by hanging out at the half line and having your fullbacks pushed all the way up without proper defensive midfielders especially when you know the other team is almost only going to be hitting on the counter and generally looking wide for those outlets) -- yes, you might lose the ball more but in that case it also creates more opportunities to press the opposition and create more transitions. It also means that the other team spends more time attacking the ball as opposed to just needing to keep a consistent defensive shape.

For me this is just about a bit of pragmatism. It's a very small tweak. We have the players to play this way -- they can all play a more direct style and all of them have the ability to take people on and operate in tight offensive spaces. They just need to be more adventurous in these games. It's not an issue specific to Wijnaldum IMO.

[nico 8]

Yes, a big part of why I think we have so much trouble against bus parking sides is that Klopp sets his teams up to thrive on transitions. There's no space to operate or create transitions against teams that sit back and defend in numbers. He doesn't really have an attack plan for that so rather than try and ask his team to create those openings he gets them to probe, move up, and play safe with the ball hoping for an opportunity to present itself. We've seen the mixed results that come from this. Sometimes other teams just play disciplined enough or our players have lapses in concentration and then we're caught half way up the field with our fullbacks generally acting practically as wingers, etc. people blame our defence for being shaky, but aside from set pieces I think the issues are clearly systemic.

What does Klopp get his teams to do extremely well? Move incredibly well with space, create extremely dangerous transitions, and hound the ball like crazy. When a team is defending deep how are you going to get the most out of these attributes that his teams generally exhibit? To me it seems kind of simple. You have to play more direct -- yes, you might lose the ball more but in that case it also creates more opportunities to press the opposition and create more transitions. It also means that the other team spends more time attacking the ball as opposed to just needing to keep a consistent defensive shape.

For me this is just about a bit of pragmatism. It's a very small tweak. We have the players to play this way -- they can all play a more direct style and all of them have the ability to take people on and operate in tight offensive spaces. They just need to be more adventurous in these games. It's not an issue specific to Wijnaldum IMO.

I agree that we need to be more direct (at times) when teams defend deep for 2 reasons:-
- we do not have the technical players that a team like Barcelona have (even then I believe they need to be more direct when stifled);
- by being direct (which would include crosses) you are able to destabilze their defensive structures by pulling the last line of defence out of position which allows you to win the second ball. Space should then open up. The ryder of course is that we need to get more bodies into the box. By being more direct you also avoid being dispossessed in the middle of the park where the opposition have had a clear run on the counter.

[amirani]

Player of the Month for March. 2 goals in 3 games. Well done lad.

[Redinho]

What a man.

[Chakan]

What a man.

A mighty mighty good man?

[Boaty McBoatface]

Yes he is.

[Dim Glas]

with a beautiful smile 

[NaivetyinBlack]

He's probably the most cheerful lad in the team. Absolutely brilliant.

We'd need his shackless off now against the lower table sides. I hope Klopp plants Lucas / Hendo at the 6, Can as cover and gives free reign to be as adventurous as he wants. Fuck being safe. Shape is for pussies.

[joekim87]

How good have Klopp's signings been? Seems like we paid a good (to bargainish) price for all of our transfers. Wasn't obvious at the start of the season but it's clear for everyone to see now.

[Dim Glas]

How good have Klopp's signings been? Seems like we paid a good (to bargainish) price for all of our transfers. Wasn't obvious at the start of the season but it's clear for everyone to see now.

exceptional really, especially when you look around the league and see how hard it is to get it right on a consistant basis. Of the 4 players brought in for the first 11, 3 of them have been really good and a big influence on improving the team. 1 (Karius) will come good given the time next season.  I have high hopes for Grujic too, he's had a tough time though with injury.

Now he and his team have to do it all again this summer, another 3 or 4 who can compete from the start, and a bit more depth, and it'll be another huge step.

[Redcap]

How good have Klopp's signings been? Seems like we paid a good (to bargainish) price for all of our transfers. Wasn't obvious at the start of the season but it's clear for everyone to see now.

Genuinely quite good.

I think the hardest thing is building the spine of a team.

This season we've brought in Matip, Wijnaldum and Mané who are now a part of that spine. Jury's out on Karius, but he could yet also become a part of that spine.

Think about it.. that's 3 players in a first XI that we've solved in one transfer window. That's extremely hard to do at the best of times.

[Keith Lard]

Genuinely quite good.

I think the hardest thing is building the spine of a team.

This season we've brought in Matip, Wijnaldum and Mané who are now a part of that spine. Jury's out on Karius, but he could yet also become a part of that spine.

Think about it.. that's 3 players in a first XI that we've solved in one transfer window. That's extremely hard to do at the best of times.

Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy when you put it like that.

When we're winning most will agree with you.

When we're not, most wouldn't. Interesting phenomenon. Win, lose or draw - I agree with you. You are my shining light, indeed quite possibly my love fantasy.

[rickardinho1]

Genuinely quite good.

I think the hardest thing is building the spine of a team.

This season we've brought in Matip, Wijnaldum and Mané who are now a part of that spine. Jury's out on Karius, but he could yet also become a part of that spine.

Think about it.. that's 3 players in a first XI that we've solved in one transfer window. That's extremely hard to do at the best of times.

Agree.

If you look at the transfers as like-for-like then there's no denying that the squad improved:

Bogdan --> Karius
Skrtel --> Matip
Allen --> Wijnaldum
Ibe --> Mané   (Ibe featured in 41 games in 2015/16)
Toure/Caulker --> Klavan

The biggest improvements are with Matip and Mané clearly.

Hopefully we can see similar positive moves this summer at CB (to replace Sakho); LB (to replace Moreno); RW/LW (to replace Sturridge), plus 1-2 others in midfield/attack to boost the squad size.

[mrantarctica]

Bogdan --> Karius
Smith -->
Enrique -->
Skrtel --> Matip
Toure --> Klavan
Allen --> Wijnaldum +Grujic
Ibe --> Mané
Benteke -->

Moreno -->
Sakho -->
Sturridge -->

So far so good really. It's a work in progress. I think we still need about 4 top players to come in and fill reasonably large gaps in the squad. If we achieved this, then I think we could push for a title challenge if we have a bit of luck . There's still quite a few young players to make an assessment of but that will take some time. Lads like Karius, TAA, Gomez, Grujic, Ejaria, Ojo, Wilson, Woodburn and Kent are all very young players who could well have an important squad role to play with added games next season.

[macmanamanaman]

He seems to be playing a completely different role to the one he was playing at Newcastle.
However, for the final few games of the season, I wonder if we could tweak the formation to give him free-er reign upfront.
With Mane out, we need goals and running up front - something the other attackers may not necessary have (esp if the Sturridge we know is not in there somewhere)

[Dim Glas]

He seems to be playing a completely different role to the one he was playing at Newcastle.
However, for the final few games of the season, I wonder if we could tweak the formation to give him free-er reign upfront.
With Mane out, we need goals and running up front - something the other attackers may not necessary have (esp if the Sturridge we know is not in there somewhere)

but with Lallana out we also need his guile, his running and skill in midfield. We'd lose more in midfield for moving him I think, he's such a key there, and even more so now.
 

[Bob Sacamano]

Agree.

If you look at the transfers as like-for-like then there's no denying that the squad improved:

Bogdan --> Karius
Skrtel --> Matip
Allen --> Wijnaldum
Ibe --> Mané   (Ibe featured in 41 games in 2015/16)
Toure/Caulker --> Klavan

The biggest improvements are with Matip and Mané clearly.

Hopefully we can see similar positive moves this summer at CB (to replace Sakho); LB (to replace Moreno); RW/LW (to replace Sturridge), plus 1-2 others in midfield/attack to boost the squad size.

It seems we say that every year, and then two years later we're looking to offload more deadwood 

Mane is clearly a home run, no question there. I think Matip is a class player, but he's been shaky in some games and has not been able to stay fit. He's definitely an upgrade over Skrtel, but I'm not ready to say he's our cornerstone CB either. I love both Joe Allen and Wijnaldum. Wijnaldum is better I think because of his goal threat, but I'm not ready to say that's a huge upgrade. Klavan I thought had a promising start, and I like his composure on the ball. But his last few games have been very dodgy. I don't think he's much better than Toure.

Karius was very very bad in his few moments of action, but he's young and had an injury pre-season. Way too early to judge him.

The quickest and simplest way to improve the team is to add a LB to replace Milner, put Sakho back in the side next to Matip, and replace Mignolet with an above average keeper. I'm certain we'll get a LB, but Sakho is probably as good as gone, and it sounds like keeper will not be a priority this summer.

[missis sumner]

Crazy horse. 

[hesbighesred]

Of all the players to play a backpass like that...maybe he misunderstood Klopp telling him he could fill Gerrard's shoes or something?

But my oh my, that assist was an absolute delight.

[wemmick]

Hell of an assist tonight. He is a dangerous player when he attacks the box with the ball.

[lgvkarlos]

Klopp's going to turn gini into a elite player, love watching him play at the moment.

[joekim87]

Quality player. Early mistake but didn't let it get to him and put on a superb assist. Got winner written all over him.

[Carra-ton]

Gerrardesque today. Quality player.

[jepovic]

I thought he was awful for much of the game actually. Not because of the goal he caused, but for his hiding away from the ball. His lack of movement off the ball is infuriating. If he feels like Anfield is a nice place to take a stroll, maybe he could at least stroll at the side to provide some width? He's great with the ball in the box, but he needs to take much more responsibility for the buildup.

[killer-heels]

I thought he was awful for much of the game actually. Not because of the goal he caused, but for his hiding away from the ball. His lack of movement off the ball is infuriating. If he feels like Anfield is a nice place to take a stroll, maybe he could at least stroll at the side to provide some width? He's great with the ball in the box, but he needs to take much more responsibility for the buildup.

He showed for it plenty enough and quite clearly Bournemouth tried to make the game narrow so he had less space.

[Didi_ram]

Good yesterday, but his howler was very very costly.
But clear signs that he will be a quality player for us.

[Persephone]

In the first half like most of our players he was pretty bad, the less said about that back pass the better, however he's got massive amount of fight in him. He never hid and the assist was wonderful, he's the kind of player you want. Does not give up, even when it's not his night.

[paulrazor]

John Barnes-esque assist

[Tony19:6]

I thought he was awful for much of the game actually. Not because of the goal he caused, but for his hiding away from the ball. His lack of movement off the ball is infuriating. If he feels like Anfield is a nice place to take a stroll, maybe he could at least stroll at the side to provide some width? He's great with the ball in the box, but he needs to take much more responsibility for the buildup.

Agree to a point, shocking back pass for the goal but then ran round like a dog chasing a balloon for the remainder of the game trying to make up for his howler. Great assist and fantastic ball from Phil to pick him out.

[clinical]

Players make mistakes, Gini hasn't made many.

We have to stop conceding first against poor sides.

[Chalky Boots]

He showed for it plenty enough and quite clearly Bournemouth tried to make the game narrow so he had less space.

Absolutely. You could tell he was desperate to atone for the mistake, which was obviously bad but you've got to ask if his teammates worked hard enough to give him another option, and I felt he was trying to drive us forward. He should have had several free-kicks on the edge of the box but Mason was refusing to give us anything of note.


The other guys point I'm not sure why he needs to drift wide. Milners job is to provide the width, if Gini is having to cover him defensively and do his job in attack then what is even the point of playing him? (exaggerated but Milner needs to be doing more on the outside)

[Giono]

He made the one mistake, but you could sense trouble was coming for the 3-5 minutes before thaat. His back pass was the final ball, but our entire team had started to feel under pressure and panicky from about the time that Mignolet almost lost it. All our players contributed to that goal indirectly.