Topic: Naby Keita Watch

[eeekaj]

In the sense that he's shown he's a good player but just not often enough...? Because otherwise I'm not sure how you'd even come close to classing him as a bigger disappointment than the likes of Diouf, Carroll, Balotelli etc.

I mean more in a sense of the hype, the wait, the expectation. He looked like the next best CM in the world at Leipzig.

[macmanamanaman]

Man is injured again. He's been injured more times than my granny and she's in her late 70's with brittle bones.

Can she play midfield?

[macmanamanaman]

What is Naby Lad's favourite movie?



Unbreakable

[btroom]

Keita,Thiago, Fabinho is our best midfield at the moment - As long as they all stay fit

Keita staying fit.  not with us

[Cafe De Paris]

Is he injured……surely not. !

[Persephone]

Anyone at the Club who even thinks about extending Keita's contract should be fired. He is made of papier mache, and pretty much collects wages and gets rehab treatment with 10-20 appearances a season just to remind us he's alive.

[Big Dirk]

Anyone at the Club who even thinks about extending Keita's contract should be fired. He is made of papier mache, and pretty much collects wages and gets rehab treatment with 10-20 appearances a season just to remind us he's alive.

You would be amazed by the amount of people on here thinking he should get a new contract…absolutely baffling.

[KloppCorn]

Never seen someone criticised for being injured as much. At least wait until the game to talk all the negative shit.

[AndyMuller]

Never seen someone criticised for being injured as much. At least wait until the game to talk all the negative shit.

Maybe if he wasn't injured so much he wouldn't get criticised so much?

[KloppCorn]

Put you on the ignore list. Peeped what you said and I don’t care to reply to it. Happy Friday

[AndyMuller]

Put you on the ignore list. Peeped what you said and I don’t care to reply to it. Happy Friday

Tara to you.

[number 168]

Maybe if he wasn't injured so much he wouldn't get criticised so much?

I don't know how he can be criticised for being injured unless they were all self inflicted. The guy is injury prone and I bet he's more upset than anybody. Criticise players for performance, attitude and effort but not being injured.

[lionel_messias]

He is not being criticised for being injured.

But sadly, he is no good to us injured. And it's no good if we keep hearing we 'have' 9 midfielders etc.

He's not one of them if he can't do 45 minutes without a strain. He would have started against Wolves but no.

[number 168]

He is not being criticised for being injured.

But sadly, he is no good to us injured. And it's no good if we keep hearing we 'have' 9 midfielders etc.

He's not one of them if he can't do 45 minutes without a strain. He would have started against Wolves but no.

I agree, but I was responding to the claim that he gets criticised because of injuries. which is ridiculous, I suppose his unavailability lays him open to question his value to the squad.

[JasonF]

He definitely gets criticised for being injured. We constantly have people saying "get rid", "waste of space" etc, things you never see for other players outside of the likes of Itandje, Diouf, Konchesky etc. His performances don't warrant being lumped in with those players and neither does his off the field behaviour (which is exemplary, he's a shy guy who doesn't speak to the media is the biggest thing you can criticise him for off the pitch).

The injuries are the only justified criticism really and he gets lambasted for that, particularly on social media. On here it's a little more balanced, thankfully but some of it can be a bit sinister imo. People seem to link injuries to character, we had it lots with Sturridge too. Nobody chooses to be injured and no athlete is carrying on with a pulled/torn muscle. It's just lazy criticism.

Btw no mention of an injury in the press conference so good chance he's not actually injured.

[Keith Lard]

Kewell says hi

Kewell was magic when he first joined us. How he went south after injuries was kinda heartbreaking, because he was at world class level for the first few months.

Naby has been a shattering disappointment. There’s no other way to put it.

[SamLad]

Kewell was magic when he first joined us. How he went south after injuries was kinda heartbreaking, because he was at world class level for the first few months.

Naby has been a shattering disappointment. There’s no other way to put it.

true, but it's pathetic the way so many "supporters" turned on him ---- because they were disappointed.  as Jason said, there is no way in hell he WANTS to be fukking injured!

[PaulF]

I think this is a way too simplistic way to look at Keita. To cherry pick 2 metrics and compare him against players.

Instead, when I look at Keita, I see a 1-man midfield. For every team, the center midfield (usually composed of 2-4 players) has 4 tasks.
1. Protect Defence
2. Link Play
3. Create
4. Support the attack

Each of these is absolutely crucial and if any one of those is missing, the team will ultimately break down. I imagine if you look back to any poor performance (not result) where we just were never really in the game, our CM failed in at least one of those tasks.

Now while each player will contribute to those tasks, because of the extremely wide rage of skills needed you will usually notice in terms certain players taking up almost sole responsibility for tasks. For example, in most teams there will be a clear defensive midfielder if not, someone who tends to sit in front of the defence more often than not and only venture forward when there appears almost no risk to do so.

Thinking back to Rafa´s Masch-Xabi-Gerrard midfield. The reason it was so successful for us is it was at elite level in those 4 areas. Xabi is elite at linking and creating. Masch is elite destroyer. Gerrard elite at supporting the attack.

So with all that in mind, this is why I am so excited about Keita. He looks like the first midfielder I have seen that hits elite numbers in whatever task he is given. At Salzburg when he was played as a 6, he was putting up elite numbers. They moved him forward to a 10 position and he put up elite numbers as a 10 but also continued to display almost elite DM numbers despite playing as a 10. That is unheard of. To put that into context, that is like running a stats comparison to see how Kante, Dier, Busquets, Matic, etc compare and seeing Coutinho´s name pop up near the top in every metric. Or running a comparison of attacking matrics to see how Isco, Lallana, Gylfi etc compare and seeing Wanyama sitting near the top in almost every metric. It´s ridiculous and it shouldn´t happen. That´s why to stats people, Naby Keita is a freak. Statsbomb touched on this back in early 2016 when discussing who Arsenal should sign to solve their midfield problems. To paraphrase, they said whether Wenger wanted a 6, 8 or even 10 Keita was the answer.

But, stats are only one part of scouting a player. Watch him and tell me what you see. For me the first thing is tempo. Everything he does is fast. Watch Emre Can in midfield and one of the first problems you see is he slows down play and holds onto the ball far too long. When you are trying to break down a side, this is your worst nightmare. Whereas Keita´s locker is full of things that are perfect for these games. His ability to turn on the ball in tight spaces has been compared to that of Iniesta. His ability to break through the lines with a burst of pace and quick footwork is Coutinho-like. He loves quick combination passing too (and imagine with better players this is something we would see even more). He isn´t a high volume shot taker, but has long range goals in his locker too when he picks his moments. His recovery pace (and desire to do so) is also important to us in those times possession breaks down. In fact both him and Salah here would be crucial for this.

The classic "who does he remind you of" question doesn´t seem to fit him at all because almost any answer people give will seem like hyperbole. "Imagine Coutinho but with Mascherano´s defensive nous". "Imagine a hybrid of Kante & Ribery". So I will add one to the list.

For me he is an elite version of Spurs Dembele. Everything Dembele does, Keita is better as well as being a lot faster, more of a goal threat, more creative, and a lot more productive in terms of pressing and regaining possession. And I REALLY like Dembele. For me he is a fanastically well rounded midfielder to have if you are playing against a low block a lot or if playing against a high-pressing side.

Keita would be the player I we have ever been linked with that I am most excited about us signing. Ever.

BabaYagu quoted himself on this early in this thread, and had other stats based posts to back it up. I think it's because we never really got to see him make the difference we were hoping for that we are so dissapointed.

[tubby]

Yep there was a lot of content along those lines with Keita, even before we were linked with him, so the hype levels were through the roof.  Just wish he could've stayed fit.

[El Lobo]

Probably didnt help that he was so good for Red Bull after we announced his signing, plus had the likes of Mane, Gini, Salah and Virg all showing how great we were in the transfer market.

[number 168]

He definitely gets criticised for being injured. We constantly have people saying "get rid", "waste of space" etc, things you never see for other players outside of the likes of Itandje, Diouf, Konchesky etc. His performances don't warrant being lumped in with those players and neither does his off the field behaviour (which is exemplary, he's a shy guy who doesn't speak to the media is the biggest thing you can criticise him for off the pitch).

The injuries are the only justified criticism really and he gets lambasted for that, particularly on social media. On here it's a little more balanced, thankfully but some of it can be a bit sinister imo. People seem to link injuries to character, we had it lots with Sturridge too. Nobody chooses to be injured and no athlete is carrying on with a pulled/torn muscle. It's just lazy criticism.

Btw no mention of an injury in the press conference so good chance he's not actually injured.

Well said mate. As I alluded to earlier, he must be hurting knowing just how good a player he is and could be yet his body lets him down. The excitement and joy he must have felt when signing for us must have been imeasurable so the last few years must be horrible for him. A top player and decent human being doesn't deserve criticism, sympathy perhaps. I know supporters get frustrated with his injury record but having watched the likes of Dicks, Konchesky and Paul Stewart turn out for us I rate Naby.

[Keith Lard]

Yeh the criticism for Naby is bs. Not his fault - he gave his all and that’s all you can ask. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out. Considering the sheer number of wins we’ve had in the transfer market, people should accept law of averages that a few will go south due to injuries. The complaining and unfair criticism is nauseating.

[PaulF]

Our frustration is exacerbated by midfield being our current weakness, a fit naby, even 80% as good as we thought we were getting would make a huge difference.

[Machae]

I don't know how he can be criticised for being injured unless they were all self inflicted. The guy is injury prone and I bet he's more upset than anybody. Criticise players for performance, attitude and effort but not being injured.

Well he really hasn't helped himself being available and playing for Guinea when either injured or coming back from his earlier injuries. Granted his coach was a dickhead and he probably felt pressure to play, but it's not really done his body any favours

[JasonF]

Well he really hasn't helped himself being available and playing for Guinea when either injured or coming back from his earlier injuries. Granted his coach was a dickhead and he probably felt pressure to play, but it's not really done his body any favours

I'm sure he probably has made that link himself and regrets what happened. The fact is he's the best player his country have ever produced and will have been under huge pressure to play in that AFCON (like Mané was for the world cup) and was possibly convinced by the Guinea doctors that it was safe (they tried to call him up in a similar fashion when he had his recent hamstring injury but it sounded like we were able to veto it this time).

[Machae]

Yeah I agree and not denying that but ultimately that may be one of the reasons why he may have a shorter career. Feel sorry for him but the whole international setup have badly mismanaged him

[spider-neil]

I think has been good in the appearances for us especially the semifinals last season. The injuries have been a nightmare but I think in the few times he has fit he should have been played more.

[Groundskeeper Willie]

Love the fella. One of the top 3 midfielders currently at the club. Too bad he can't stay fit, but the way some uses that to vent anger at him and as a measure of him as a player is weird.

[The G in Gerrard]

372 pages on Naby is impressive.

[Clint Eastwood]

Never been more excited about a signing than Naby Keita. Looked incredible at RB Leipzig, had incredible numbers, and had every credible football writer waxing lyrical about him. Add to that the long chase for his signature and the anticipation of his arrival a year later. Genuinely thought we were getting the future best midfielder in the World. He looked pretty good in his early games, seemed like he had another gear but was only 22 at the time. Five years later and he hasn't developed at all. Injuries have obviously prevented him from developing, and it's a big shame.

His best run in the team was probably last season. He was solid and competent but excelled at what our midfielders under Klopp always have done (until this year), so his performances probably went under the radar a bit. It would be great if he could put a run of games in between now and the end of the season.

[PaulF]

Be interesting to see if he or ox get more PL mins between now and end of season .

[Clint Eastwood]

Be interesting to see if he or ox get more PL mins between now and end of season .

I've been pleasantly surprised by Ox in some ways since coming back into the picture, but he's painfully slow now. Naby has to be picked ahead of him.

[Fromola]

I mean more in a sense of the hype, the wait, the expectation. He looked like the next best CM in the world at Leipzig.

He's won everything at the club, and played his part in all those trophies, he hasn't been bad. Obviously hasn't lived up to the hype and hasn't stayed fit. The issue is the club can never afford to get anything wrong with transfers.

In terms of big money signings the likes of Benteke, Carroll and Robbie Keane were far worse and were swiftly fucked off.

Kewell is probably a good comparison to Keita because he did well enough when he played (although not as the hype promised), he was just injured too much.

[PaulF]

I guess most clubs have players they can point too that would really make a difference if they could stay fit.
That said, I'm struggling to list them.
( I guess the manc clubs have the money to just replace them.  Phil Jones?)

[Fromola]

I guess most clubs have players they can point too that would really make a difference if they could stay fit.
That said, I'm struggling to list them.
( I guess the manc clubs have the money to just replace them.  Phil Jones?)

Arsenal used to have the likes of Diaby, Wilshere, Ramsey and Rosicky (and Ox until we took him for ours).

[Ratboy3G]

Well he really hasn't helped himself being available and playing for Guinea when either injured or coming back from his earlier injuries. Granted his coach was a dickhead and he probably felt pressure to play, but it's not really done his body any favours

Players don't have a say in whether or not they are called up for international fixtures

[Fromola]

Players don't have a say in whether or not they are called up for international fixtures

Matip did. He could have said i'm injured i'm not playing.

That 2019 AFCON has ruined his career here. He could never get right after that, his next season was a write off.

[Ratboy3G]

Matip did. He could have said i'm injured i'm not playing.

That 2019 AFCON has ruined his career here. He could never get right after that, his next season was a write off.

Matip announced his retirement from playing for Cameroon, then was in limbo during the AFCON as no one knew if he was allowed to play for us during the same time or not.
Players can be called up and assesed by their international sides, Keita has no say in that. It was an odd thing to try and pin on him.

[Fromola]

Matip announced his retirement from playing for Cameroon, then was in limbo during the AFCON as no one knew if he was allowed to play for us during the same time or not.
Players can be called up and assesed by their international sides, Keita has no say in that. It was an odd thing to try and pin on him.

That was during the season, 2019 AFCON was off-season.

[Machae]

Players don't have a say in whether or not they are called up for international fixtures

Not saying he shouldn't have gone, but if his body wasn't up to it or wasn't feeling 100% he shouldve sat it out or refused to play. I know it's easier said than done, but that's the situation we have now. If he couldve predicted the future, would he have been so gracious in playing when clearly not 100% and possibly aggravating his healing process.