Topic: Re: Manchester City 1 vs Liverpool 1 - (Milner (p) 50'; Aguero 69')

[Jookie]

See Klavan getting some stick here. Maybe his positioning was slightly off but City were knocking and knocking and sometimes you have to credit the opposition. It was a fantastic ball in from De Bruyne.

Come on Nick. You know that's not the way it works. If we don't win you need to find a scapegoat. It's Klavan or Lallana this week.

We don't concede goals that are good play by the opposition. We need to go through every goal conceded with detailed precision to see who could even be remotely culpable.

Yesterday was a brilliant game with 2 teams playing at a really high tempo with huge quality. It was also played in not the best weather conditions. We could easily have won. We could easily have lost. We got a hard earned point that could be absolutely valuable at the end of the season. It was a game to be enthralled by not one to pick holes in. That's how I view it anyway.

Some of you I genuinely wonder if you actually like football (this isn't directed at you Nick!). Even in the best of games you are looking to pick fault and lay blame at someone's feet. Can't you find any joy in watching football unless we win?

[carven]

There were times late in the game when the ball fell to Mane/Firmino/Lallana and you could just tell that they were exhausted. Not pushing forward as they were before but to turn around and look for support.

I'm sure Klopp sees this and I'm sure this is not what he wants but the only other attacking alternative on the bench is 17 year old Woodburn.

New players in the summer and players like Danny Ings to come back... we are in a wonderful place guys. Please don't lose sight of this. Remember all those mid table finishes of recent seasons. This time, we are on the up again!

[Crosby Nick]

Well said Jookie!

Agree that our players looked knackered late on. I actually think this made it tough for Origi too. I know you look to the fresh legs but often he'd get the ball near halfway and have very little support or people making runs for him. Reminded me or my 5 a side team! He was unsure whether to put his head down and just plough forward himself or try to hold it up and wait for support and sometimes got caught in two minds. Wasn't easy for him so I can see why he struggled a bit.

[Jookie]

Any way to fit both Hendo and Can on the pitch at the same time?

Play 4-2-3-1 with them as the 2.

You could then have a more traditional number 9 as the one and play any 3 of Coutinho, Firmino, Mane, Wijnaldum or Lallana in the 3 behind the striker.

It's not worth going for this season but it could be an option to consider next year. We played a lot more 4-2-3-1 last season. Or even 4-4-2 in some games (Leicester at home on Boxing Day). We've also played 2 sitting in some recent games when Wijnaldum has played deeper and almost next to Can on occasions. I don't think Klopp would be completely adverse to 2 sitting midfielders in the future.

[Mighty_Red]

Disappointing to not get the win but you just have to accept that you can't expect to go away to a side with this much attacking talent and win every time. The downer is knowing that we were ahead and maybe had Firmino put that chance away (not easy from that angle mind) then things would have been different.

De Bruyne obviously had way too much space for their goal and I was screaming when I saw it happen, It was a great ball though. The balls across our box caused us issues all game.

Still think Mane was taken down, Ottomendi had his hands on him and put him legs in the way of Mane's stride pattern. I guess its all evened up with their claims.

Same with the chances, Lallana's brain fart was worse than any of their misses just about even as well.

A great game, shame we could not take advantage of Arsenal's slip and now have Utd breathing down our necks but the only way to fix it is by winning the next few games, starting with the bitters.

[Jookie]

A great game, shame we could not take advantage of Arsenal's slip and now have Utd breathing down our necks but the only way to fix it is by winning the next few games, starting with the bitters.

We gained a point on Arsenal this weekend despite playing City away. That's a massive positive.

Too many of you are concerned with United. I reckon a lot of the angst directed towards our players is because people are scared of United closing in on us. A lot of you won't admit it but I knew loads of you would be shitting yourselves because United won. Probably the same people who've been pissing themselves at United being 6th are the ones worried now.

Well fuck United. They've got a really hard remains 11 fixtures and if we do our bit and get to 76 points then they won't catch us. Concentrate on what we are doing rather than worrying what everyone else is doing between now and May.

[Klippity Klopp]

I was very angry last night after the game and I am not much better now.

In isolation a draw away to City is a good result.  At the beginning of the season I'd have taken that.  However at the beginning of the season I didn't expect our record to be so strong against the top sides and so poor against the weaker ones. 

Also Man City were not good yesterday.  How many times did they just pass it to our team.  How many times did they make errors at the back.  They were really there for the taking and a draw suited them more than us given our positions in the league.

I'm was really disappointed in the performance though from our players.  Both in possession and without it.  How many chances did we let City create?  We're just so naive defensively.  In possession our passing was so poor.  It was frustrating to watch as it was very unlike us in the big games, we are usually much tougher to beat and better on the ball. 

People will look at our remaining fixtures and say they are all winnable.  But given our record against the weaker sides, I am really not confident at all.  I was far more confident about beating City than any of the remaining fixtures.  So I consider it a missed opportunity given the way they were their for the taking and we usually perform in these big games.  Our decision making was really poor as well.

Trying to find positives.  I thought Emre Can did well defensively.  He worked hard, pressed well, won headers, tackles, was strong and it was impressive in that regard.  Wijnaludm I thought did well also, nothing spectacular, but he was solid and one of few players in our side who looked like a footballer who knew to pass it simply to his teammates.  I thought Clyne did well, apart from one silly foul where he pushed their player in the back which seemed brainless at the time.  Matip did some good things, but also did some questionable things - still not totally convinced about him.

Apart from that, I was not impressed with any of our other players.  I think it was a really poor performance, missed opportunity and I am worried about top four now, when I have felt confident about it all season up until yesterday. 

We could have won, then again they could have won.  Should have been 8-8 given all the chances, penalty shouts etc both teams had.  It must have been entertaining for the neutral.  But I thought it highlighted how poor the English sides are defensively and no wonder we get smashed in Europe.

Missed opportunity and I'm still pissed about it.

[TheShanklyGates]

Yeah. The consequences to the Lalana miss very significant.
We are still behind Manchester City who has a game in hand. ManUre are gobbling up the points behind us.

Plus the fact we suckered Manchester City into going for a win and hot them on the break. Hit them we did, on the break.
Score, we di not. The consequences could be missin out on the top 4

If Yoda did football analysis...

[fowlermagic]

Its a funny old game and yesterday's match just adds to that statement. City played rope a dope and looked out on their feet and we just threw our load at them until we ourselves were dead on our feet allowing City to finish the strongest. If you did not know it, Liverpool by the end looked like the side that played midweek, a strange outcome considering we should be one of the freshest sides in the Top 6 right now. That's another debate as a so so game became quite entertaining where a game winner was just one whiff away from been scored. I said before the game I would have taken a point, at HT I wanted all three and by the end I was begging for a point. It could be a great result from us, time will tell but I have niggling doubts......our legs on the home stretch look a little weary and the international break could help our cause. Or like the previous long break just scupper us too. Who knows with our team as they have surprised us on all counts this season by exceeding expectations and then falling flat of them. A funny old game.

[Bend It Like Aurelio]

I was very angry last night after the game and I am not much since.

In isolation a draw away to City is a good result.  At the beginning of the season I'd have taken that.  However at the beginning of the season I didn't expect our record to be so strong against the top sides and so poor against the weaker ones. 

Also Man City were not good yesterday.  How many times did they just pass it to our team.  How many times did they make errors at the back.  They were really there for the taking and a draw suited them more than us given our positions in the league.

I'm was really disappointed in the performance though from our players.  Both in possession and without it.  How many chances did we let City create?  We're just so naive defensively.  In possession our passing was so poor.  It was frustrating to watch as it was very unlike us in the big games, we are usually much tougher to beat and better on the ball. 

People will look at our remaining fixtures and say they are all winnable.  But given our record against the weaker sides, I am really not confident at all.  I was far more confident about beating City than any of the remaining fixtures.  So I consider it a missed opportunity given the way they were their for the taking and we usually perform in these big games.  Our decision making was really poor as well.

Trying to find positives.  I thought Emre Can did well defensively.  He worked hard, pressed well, won headers, tackles, was strong and it was impressive in that regard.  Wijnaludm I thought did well also, nothing spectacular, but he was solid and one of few players in our side who looked like a footballer who knew to pass it simply to his teammates.  I thought Clyne did well, apart from one silly foul where he pushed their player in the back which seemed brainless at the time.  Matip did some good things, but also did some questionable things - still not totally convinced about him.

Apart from that, I was not impressed with any of our other players.  I think it was a really poor performance, missed opportunity and I am worried about top four now, when I have felt confident about it all season up until yesterday. 

We could have won, then again they could have won.  Should have been 8-8 given all the chances, penalty shouts etc both teams had.  It must have been entertaining for the neutral.  But I thought it highlighted how poor the English sides are defensively and no wonder we get smashed in Europe.

Missed opportunity and I'm still pissed.

If you were pissed off about last night's match, you must have tried to hang yourself everytime we lost to a bottom half side this year. Last night wasn't even close to being one of our poorest performances of the year, we just didn't take our chances when we had them. Missed opportunity is all the points we dropped to the obviously poorer sides this year. Drawing away in Man City isn't one of those. In fact, they probably have more of a shout in terms of dropping points, really.

We can't continually look at our performances against the top six and use that as a stick to beat ourselves with. I consider that a proud achievement of our club, and that we should be grateful to have such a good record against our main competition, as it gives us a better base in order to move forward. But it also doesn't mean that automatically we should be considered favourites whenever we play against a strong club. It's such a warped view, one which I do not subscribe to.

[El Lobo]

Could really do with Sturridge and Origi stepping up in the home stretch because Mane and Firmino look like they'll need a rest massively at some point. If not them, then the likes of Woodburn, Wilson and Ojo could actually be really important.

[Dougle]

I was very angry last night after the game and I am not much better now.

In isolation a draw away to City is a good result.  At the beginning of the season I'd have taken that.  However at the beginning of the season I didn't expect our record to be so strong against the top sides and so poor against the weaker ones. 

Also Man City were not good yesterday.  How many times did they just pass it to our team.  How many times did they make errors at the back.  They were really there for the taking and a draw suited them more than us given our positions in the league.

I'm was really disappointed in the performance though from our players.  Both in possession and without it.  How many chances did we let City create?  We're just so naive defensively.  In possession our passing was so poor.  It was frustrating to watch as it was very unlike us in the big games, we are usually much tougher to beat and better on the ball. 

People will look at our remaining fixtures and say they are all winnable.  But given our record against the weaker sides, I am really not confident at all.  I was far more confident about beating City than any of the remaining fixtures.  So I consider it a missed opportunity given the way they were their for the taking and we usually perform in these big games.  Our decision making was really poor as well.

Trying to find positives.  I thought Emre Can did well defensively.  He worked hard, pressed well, won headers, tackles, was strong and it was impressive in that regard.  Wijnaludm I thought did well also, nothing spectacular, but he was solid and one of few players in our side who looked like a footballer who knew to pass it simply to his teammates.  I thought Clyne did well, apart from one silly foul where he pushed their player in the back which seemed brainless at the time.  Matip did some good things, but also did some questionable things - still not totally convinced about him.

Apart from that, I was not impressed with any of our other players.  I think it was a really poor performance, missed opportunity and I am worried about top four now, when I have felt confident about it all season up until yesterday. 

We could have won, then again they could have won.  Should have been 8-8 given all the chances, penalty shouts etc both teams had.  It must have been entertaining for the neutral.  But I thought it highlighted how poor the English sides are defensively and no wonder we get smashed in Europe.

Missed opportunity and I'm still pissed about it.

Yes it was a missed opportunity and City could say exactly the same thing. Actually I thought, for the team we are, for the manner in which Klopp set us up to play yesterday, that we defended really well. I thought Milner had a cracker of a game, indeed the whole back 4 did. Did you notice how many corners and free kicks we defended with relative ease ? Firmino, Can, Matip all commanded in our box. City are a superb attacking team with a smart manager. They gave it everything yesterday. Did you hear what Pep said afterwards ?
As for Sterling, he was erratic with his finishing yesterday, as ever, but he caused us endless problems and I, for one, would have him back in a heartbeat.
Mate, I don't know what you expect from Liverpool, but that, yesterday, was about as good as you are going to get from that group of reds on any given day. (I will give you Couts playing below his best, Firmino not finishing, Lallana ... well, one mis-hit. But that's football.)
I would take this every week myself.

[stockdam]

Klavan had to fuck that up didn't he?

In what way? His positioning could have been slightly better but sometimes you have to say that it was a great cross. The main problem with the goal was not Klavan's positioning but rather letting DeBruyne have so much space and then allowing the cross to come in.

[Banquo's Ghost]

Come on Nick. You know that's not the way it works. If we don't win you need to find a scapegoat. It's Klavan or Lallana this week.

We don't concede goals that are good play by the opposition. We need to go through every goal conceded with detailed precision to see who could even be remotely culpable.

Yesterday was a brilliant game with 2 teams playing at a really high tempo with huge quality. It was also played in not the best weather conditions. We could easily have won. We could easily have lost. We got a hard earned point that could be absolutely valuable at the end of the season. It was a game to be enthralled by not one to pick holes in. That's how I view it anyway.

Some of you I genuinely wonder if you actually like football (this isn't directed at you Nick!). Even in the best of games you are looking to pick fault and lay blame at someone's feet. Can't you find any joy in watching football unless we win?

Well said, and I agree. It was a great game and very enjoyable. To be a little disappointed that we didn't take away all three points from the Emptihad shows how far we have come as a team.

[DonkeyWan]

Can't believe the negativity over a good result away to a very tough side. That was the toughest remaining away game. Meanwhile United have to play Everton, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs. That means someone in the group around Liverpool have to drop points. The most important thing yesterday was not to let City open up a lead on Liverpool. I still think 2nd is more than doable.

[Pistolero]

Predicted a 1-1 pre-match but ultimately was disappointed...a curate's egg of a performance, good in parts but really could and should have capitalised on our lead as I thought City's heads were up their arses due to the CL exit and they were there for the taking...lack of killer instinct really is a worry with this set of players...leopard/spots etc..and the collective composure in front of goal since December has been way short of what's required. Two weeks until the derby with just the 2 international fixtures to navigate between now and then....and as always every LFC player will probably be required to perform the full 90 minutes in both games so we'll see where we are come April fools day.

[youll never walk alone it]

Anyone else concerned about our tiring in games? so often thiss eason, add european footy next season and its a big big task to get in enough players and players of quallity.

[Buck Pete]

If Yoda did football analysis...

[JackWard33]

Anyone else concerned about our tiring in games? so often thiss eason, add european footy next season and its a big big task to get in enough players and players of quallity.

It's been a problem in high intensity games but its mainly due to lack of depth and credible options on the bench.

[PhilV]

One thing to note, Ings is the type of player we want, a striker who can finish and has the same workrate as our current top 3 and he is already ours!

If he comes back fit and healthy after the complications he's had he will be a great asset

[Klippity Klopp]

If you were pissed off about last night's match, you must have tried to hang yourself everytime we lost to a bottom half side this year. Last night wasn't even close to being one of our poorest performances of the year, we just didn't take our chances when we had them. Missed opportunity is all the points we dropped to the obviously poorer sides this year. Drawing away in Man City isn't one of those. In fact, they probably have more of a shout in terms of dropping points, really.

We can't continually look at our performances against the top six and use that as a stick to beat ourselves with. I consider that a proud achievement of our club, and that we should be grateful to have such a good record against our main competition, as it gives us a better base in order to move forward. But it also doesn't mean that automatically we should be considered favourites whenever we play against a strong club. It's such a warped view, one which I do not subscribe to.

Not at all. 

I have been disappointed when we have dropped points to weaker sides this season, but that is our weakness playing against those types of sides.

We are perfectly set up to play Man City.  This has been our strength under Klopp and yesterday I thought we were really poor and it was a massive blow as that is what we are good at. 

I said the result was fine, in isolation.  But the performance and given the circumstances - no I've not been this disappointed since Seville I don't think.

[Barneylfc∗]

People complaining about Lallanas miss should give this a watch

Suarez, Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo, Lewandowski, Ibrahimovic, Aguero, Bale, Torres, Benzema, Ronaldinho + others all feature

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/v04htGzxNaM" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/v04htGzxNaM</a>

Shocking misses happen in football.

[LallanaInPyjamas]

One thing to note, Ings is the type of player we want, a striker who can finish and has the same workrate as our current top 3 and he is already ours!

If he comes back fit and healthy after the complications he's had he will be a great asset

I like Ings but after two ACL injuries we have no idea what is left of him as a footballer, and he's not a brilliant finisher either. Regularly missed some quite easy chances for Burnley.

[mickeydocs]

Could really do with Sturridge and Origi stepping up

Like many others I have sadly given up on Sturridge stepping it up in a Liverpool shirt. Origi has plenty of time on his hands.

[Walk on, walk on]

I'm not sure why everyone is up in arms about drawing yesterday. Going by the performance a draw is probably a good result considering City were all over us in the second half.

They had just about enough chances to give us a spanking but thankfully Aguero could only finish one. We had problems coping with their width all game. So I see it as one point gained rather than two points lost.

[JackWard33]

Wrong wrong wrong. 

If you dig into the numbers of the most prolific scorers it becomes obvious that the reason certain players score a tonne of goals (ie Aguero, Suarez, Ronaldo, Messi, Ibra, et al) is heavily influenced by the fact that they TAKE a tonne of shots per game, not that they have some ungodly conversion rate.

Even the goal scoring Gods (basically just Messi and Ronaldo) have conversion rates that aren't massively better than very good strikers, they're only a little better.

You can probably compile a 10 minute YouTube clip of the number of sitters that Aguero and Suarez have run their entire career .... and you know why their video would be so long?

Because the real skill of a goal scorer is in getting their shot off .... a great goal scorer is getting more shots, they're not burying more of the shots they get.

This myth of the "clinical" striker who always seems to bury his 1 shot a game allowing his team to win 1-0 is just British pundit fantasy.

Yeah good post - it's hard to convince people that 'clinical' isn't really a thing and that conversions rates for strikers average out over time with much less variance than people think. Finishing just isn't the key ability people think it is.

On the missing sitters thing - over the last 5 seasons Messi has missed more clear cut chances than any other player. It's taking shots from the right locations that matters. But its a long road to convince football fans or pundits because its counter intuitive

(PS see the current discussion in the Firmino thread )

[Jookie]

One thing to note, Ings is the type of player we want, a striker who can finish and has the same workrate as our current top 3 and he is already ours!

If he comes back fit and healthy after the complications he's had he will be a great asset

Now isn't the time for inquests but I think the difference between an easy ride towards top 4 and the current battle for top 4 could be down to Ings, Strruidge's and Origi's contributions this season.

This is not to lay blame at anyone's feet but for completely different reasons I don't think those 3 have performed the role expected of them in August -  in Ings case another long term injury put paid to any chance of him contributing. Earlier in the season I don't think they applied enough pressure through their performances to challenge Coutinho, Firmino or Mane for a place in the team. As the season has progressed, due to injury and poor form I think we've got to the point where they are not viable options unless someone in the front 3 is injured.

If we are to progress next season those 3 players, or their replacements, need to challenge the established front 3 a bit more. We can't get to a situation where the best XI in May is the same as the best XI in August. Over the course of the season, squad players need to prove themselves worthy of a starting place in the 1st XI.

[plura]

I think the game yesterday highlighted ours and theirs respective strengths and weaknesses. We felt at times extremely similar in they way the game was approached, and we took turns in being great in the attack and somewhat inconsistent in the defence. It wasn't a poor game defensively but at times both us and City were punished by the sheer qualities of the others attack. Great pace, movement and pressing will just cause those problems.

It's a bit lucky perhaps that Sterling is so poor in the final third and that Sane isn't perhaps 3-4 years older. As them both with their pace will just cause so many problems. Similar we could see with Mane. Who didn't have the best of games, but still is so lethal with his pace. Unfortunately a few of our players were out of form or not on the top of their games. With Coutinho and Firmino in better form and we'd won this one.

Positive to see Can getting much better. And it seems to have been an injury causing much of his poor displays. Wijnaldum as strong as ever!

[Giono]

In what way? His positioning could have been slightly better but sometimes you have to say that it was a great cross. The main problem with the goal was not Klavan's positioning but rather letting DeBruyne have so much space and then allowing the cross to come in.

And that wasn't the first or last time one of their players had too much space out on their right side.

But I think we will have to wait until the summer to correct that.

[LallanaInPyjamas]

Yeah good post - it's hard to convince people that 'clinical' isn't really a thing and that conversions rates for strikers average out over time with much less variance than people think. Finishing just isn't the key ability people think it is.

On the missing sitters thing - over the last 5 seasons Messi has missed more clear cut chances than any other player. It's taking shots from the right locations that matters. But its a long road to convince football fans or pundits because its counter intuitive

(PS see the current discussion in the Firmino thread )

Mane has nearly a shot per game less than Firmino but has three more goals.

Harry Kane has an almost identical shot per game rate to Firmino yet has scored more than double Firmino's tally in 500 fewer minutes.

You're not going to convince people finishing isn't a skill because it is. Firmino has no stock finish in his locker and it's something which needs to be developed. For example if he could finish into the far corner coming in from the left on any consistent basis he'd have a lot more goals this season.

[Klippity Klopp]

Positive to see Can getting much better.

Not sure about that.

He played well, because the game suited his strengths - winning possession, putting a shift in, using his strength etc.

His best displays this season have come against the top sides, when his graft really can be useful.

His issue is against the weaker sides when we need less graft, more craft from him.

[plura]

Not sure about that.

He played well, because the game suited his strengths - winning possession, putting a shift in, using his strength etc.

His best displays this season have come against the top sides, when his graft really can be useful.

His issue is against the weaker sides when we need less graft, more craft from him.

You can't argue against him playing much better the last two matches. If this is because it has been against better opponents or him shaking off an injury is left to be seen. But he has played better, and I hope it continues.

[redk84]

yesterday's game was breathtaking...such a fast pace throughout

I think a draw is fair, would have taken that before and am not at all angry that we didn't win. Although I would obviously wished we could have!

Both teams had great chances that they'll look back on and wonder about, but it was just a great attacking display at times and you gotta take your hat off. I know they got down our wing far too often but their wingplay is actually fucking fantastic, they've got some ridiculous talent there that have found their groove and are troubling everyone not just us. The type of balls into our box are just the sort you'd wish we could pull off at times...whereas we were much better going through the middle and some of the interplay we had especially for Lallana's shocker was fantastic.

The season won't have been defined by that game last night, or the others against the top 6.....its the consistency against the lower teams.
And there's 9 of those games left for our lads to go out and prove a point against and one of the top 4 places up for grabs which would be good for our progression.

[lionel_messias]

Our fans have become very fucking negative. It's abysmal.


Klopp is building a good side here. We went toe to toe with Man City, who have spent 600 million on players, and it was them, in Pep Guardiola lauding the ONE FUCKING POINT at home against us.

Reason Lallana missed - he's bloody tired, having run half a marathon for the team. Firmino is probably not at peak fitness either.

I was really proud of how we played. It was a great game of football. As we all know, we have improvements we could make to our defending AND our attacking.

We have to measure ourselves against Chelsea, who are more efficient at playing football that us right now. Let's get there and support the team. Next target is secure top four football and upgrade our players again in the summer.

Looking good, Kloppo!

[Charles58]

Stop being so negative guys. The match would have gone better, but it's still fine to me. Sadio Mane, Leroy Sane and James Milner were all standing out in this match. We gonna win next time, no worries

[rakey_lfc]

Our fans have become very fucking negative. It's abysmal.

I always find this ironic. They moan at the players for being 'shite and average', if that's the case we're sitting higher in the league than the last few seasons with a 'shite and average' and very thin squad. Imagine what Klopp's going to have done to us within a year or even two? I think many are spoilt and modern day football fans where they want and expect instant success.

You're absolutely spot on with your post! Klopp's a genius with what he's done so far, I can't wait to see what else he adds in the summer!

[harryc]

I don't think posters are being negative apart from a couple of idiots which you always get.

Probably more disappointed as Manchester City were there for the taking esp after our first goal and another goal would probably have deflated them.

[vicar]

I don't think posters are being negative apart from a couple of idiots which you always get.

Probably more disappointed as Manchester City were there for the taking esp after our first goal and another goal would probably have deflated them.

There was definitely a spell after we scored were it looked like we could/should get another and I think that would have sunk them. Klopp referred to that spell after the game.

[Suareznumber7]

You can make a case for Gini playing further forward and dropping Coutinho.

4-4-2 diamond although I would not drop coutinho even though he's been badly off form recently. 

Can
Hendo Gini
Lallana
Firmino Mane

[Suareznumber7]

You can't argue against him playing much better the last two matches. If this is because it has been against better opponents or him shaking off an injury is left to be seen. But he has played better, and I hope it continues.

Probably has more to do with him playing in his best position.  He's just not suited to playing further up the pitch.