Topic: Naby Keita Watch

[JackWard33]

The two wins before last night.

Everton was a good performance, Newcastle wasn't
Overall our performance hasn't been better with Bajcetic in the team

[sattapaartridge]

we had a good win in the cup vs wolves, bajectic and keita played (bajectic was excellent). had a decent draw against chelsea, bajectic and keita played. bajectic was man of the match in the derby, and he was decent vs newcastle. heck, he was even decent against real madrid. keita though. but hey, what do i know.

[JackWard33]

we had a good win in the cup vs wolves, bajectic and keita played (bajectic was excellent). had a decent draw against chelsea, bajectic and keita played. bajectic was man of the match in the derby, and he was decent vs newcastle. heck, he was even decent against real madrid. keita though. but hey, what do i know.

was talking about our team performance not him as an individual .. the original post said his introduction has produced an upturn in our performances and it hasn't
(without double checking I'm pretty sure that apart from Everton we've conceded 1.5xg+ in ever game he's played in)

[Knight]

You keep having a pop at the boss don't you? The other week with your bollocks about there's a discussion to be had. I've seen a couple of other odd takes too, and then this. At least you raised the alternative possibility of Keita carrying a knock and making up the numbers.

My admiration for Klopp is off the scale, but that doesn't mean he won't have made mistakes. The problem is that I'm not qualified to know what mistakes were made, or when. He'll know though. There's also the possibility that what many know alls think were mistakes, were actually judgement calls

There's a world in which playing Bajetic is giving him insight into whether he needs 2 midfielders or 3.

People see stuff in black and white, but refuse to acknowledge that so many decisions are multi-faceted.

I’ve been questioning Klopp on Keita for ages. And yeah I think there are questions around why we seemingly can’t get out of this funk with no clear plan or a plan that isn’t getting through to the players. I’m super glad he’s here to lead the transition.

[hide5seek]

Bye. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[jackh]

Bye. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

No need for this sort of thing, regardless of how much you feel underwhelmed or disappointed.

[sattapaartridge]

was talking about our team performance not him as an individual .. the original post said his introduction has produced an upturn in our performances and it hasn't
(without double checking I'm pretty sure that apart from Everton we've conceded 1.5xg+ in ever game he's played in)

I think that Bajcetic has provided more energy and fight to the midfield, and hence, we are performing better than lacklustre older midfielders with no physicality/athleticism in those positions. When fabinho has been put back in, Bajcetic still played, because of these reasons.

[SamLad]

if you can't see that Baj has improved our midfield .... well jeez I simply dunno what to say.

[Legs]

Keita stands a strong chance of being selected against Palace or he should be after that last night.

Might be time to let Jones play too he cannot be any worse.

[Fromola]

Keita stands a strong chance of being selected against Palace or he should be after that last night.

Might be time to let Jones play too he cannot be any worse.

Keita never really convinces Klopp, just think he doesn't rate him enough (post-injuries anyway).

He will however play him if there's a few injuries or he's really not happy with others (i.e. Hendo or Fabinho dropped recently). He'll have a chance of a start against Palace and in games until Thiago comes back at least.

[Legs]

Keita never really convinces Klopp, just think he doesn't rate him enough (post-injuries anyway).

He will however play him if there's a few injuries or he's really not happy with others (i.e. Hendo or Fabinho dropped recently). He'll have a chance of a start against Palace and in games until Thiago comes back at least.

True and I think we will make at least one change in CM and its likely to be Naby who comes in.

He will leave on a free in the summer but we might as well play him when we can.

[Charlie Adams fried egg]

I’ve been questioning Klopp on Keita for ages. And yeah I think there are questions around why we seemingly can’t get out of this funk with no clear plan or a plan that isn’t getting through to the players. I’m super glad he’s here to lead the transition.

How do you know this?
I'm glad you're super glad, why not just let him get on with it? From what we know about him, if he thought he was no longer effective, then there's a good chance he'd make the call himself.

We're clearly in transition, while I'd prefer it if we were doing better, I'm actually quite excited to see what his next great team could achieve.

[El Lobo]

Poor lad must have thought he'd got away with one, logged onto RAWK (he does) and thought 'what the actual fuck, why is my topic at the top?!'

[stockdam]

Needs to step up a level and sort out our midfield problems.

[Knight]

How do you know this?
I'm glad you're super glad, why not just let him get on with it? From what we know about him, if he thought he was no longer effective, then there's a good chance he'd make the call himself.

We're clearly in transition, while I'd prefer it if we were doing better, I'm actually quite excited to see what his next great team could achieve.

I don't, it's 'seemingly' what's happening. There's been some good posts in the Klopp Template on this, one by Jackward. Obviously something is going seriously wrong, we just lost to Madrid 2-5 and conceded 5 without reply. We've been awful in the league in most games this season. Lots of that is a broken engine room in midfield but I'm not convinced you can put it all down to that. Some is injuries, some is the form of other players and might some be Klopp's struggles to get us playing in an effective way?

I'll quote Jack's post here because he says it better and in more detail than I can,

Having taken a step back I honestly think Klopp is currently lost and flapping around to try and find answers
He's one of the best coaches in the world and he should be our manager next season but the last few months have been a mess of decision making, mostly reactive, and failure to fix our inability to concede huge numbers of 'big' chances every single game at relegation levels

Last night we picked a midfield 3 which doesn't have anyone that can keep the ball featuring 2 of our worst performers in midfield this season
It feels like the reason we picked that midfield 3 is that they won against Everton then won against Newcastle, despite being poor defensively, and then despite Henderson and Fabinho looking obviously better after a break we ran out them all out again
Why? What were the tactical reasons for picking those 3 vs Madrid? .. maybe they weren't picked on vibes and hope but it feels like that

It looked like our gameplan last night was 2019's gameplan almost identically but with worse players in a worse physical state

The amount of vacillation of approach this season has been staggering
In the summer we spent a record amount on a world class 9 whose now playing as a wide forward despite his obivous inability to keep the ball and do the midfield elements the system needs (esp with Salah on the other flank)
We've moved him to accommodate a worse version of Firmino who doesn't seem able to receive the ball or hold the ball vs good opponents
And in the middle we've gone to 3 industrious midfielders..  2 of whom can't be industrious for more than 25 minutes per 90 .. with an inability to keep the ball vs technical or pressing opponents after spending the entire first 40% of the season with a possession based AM as a constant pick

Before the world cup we changed the formation to 'tighten it up' .. it didn't really work but regardless instead of trying to perfect it post world cup we went back to the beginning of the season gameplan .. that didn't really work so we moved back to the 2019 game plan  ... this also hasn't worked

Obviously we've got physical problems with some key players but we still have way more talent than our level on the pitch especially defensively
No matter what we change in the set up the approach seems to be unchanging - press high as much as your legs will let you, keep a high line regardless of scoreline or physical state.. keep playing fast direct passes forward at all times
We spent long periods of games in our title winning season dropping off 'shelling' and protecting leads .. this season we look like cub scouts who all think they'll get an extra £1 from their Dad for every goal they score......

I'll stop rambling on now but honestly some of it is alarming in its lack of direction and just how knee jerk its all been

It feels like he needs an entirely clean slate.
Clear out as many players as possible apart from those you can obviously build the next great team with... and bring in as many as you can
Critically change the coaching staff and get new voices with fresh ideas and commit to what you want the next 3 years to look like

[farawayred]

Why is he not playing? Considering the current state of our midfield, I'd think he'd be a starter...

[FlashGordon]

I don't, it's 'seemingly' what's happening. There's been some good posts in the Klopp Template on this, one by Jackward. Obviously something is going seriously wrong, we just lost to Madrid 2-5 and conceded 5 without reply. We've been awful in the league in most games this season. Lots of that is a broken engine room in midfield but I'm not convinced you can put it all down to that. Some is injuries, some is the form of other players and might some be Klopp's struggles to get us playing in an effective way?

Hard to get a team playing in an effective way when you've got loads of injuries to key players and your other key players have fallen off a cliff performance wise.

[Knight]

Hard to get a team playing in an effective way when you've got loads of injuries to key players and your other key players have fallen off a cliff performance wise.

The former isn't Klopp's fault directly although there are questions around the doctor/ physio/ conditioning team he's put in place. The latter... well it's possible he might have something to do with his players not performing. Undoubtedly this isn't all Klopp's fault, or even close to it. But is some of it down to Klopp?

[SamLad]

The former isn't Klopp's fault directly although there are questions around the doctor/ physio/ conditioning team he's put in place. The latter... well it's possible he might have something to do with his players not performing. Undoubtedly this isn't all Klopp's fault, or even close to it. But is some of it down to Klopp?

you're suggesting there's a conversation to be had, aren't you?

[Knight]

you're suggesting there's a conversation to be had, aren't you?

It's happening in the Klopp template thread right now so evidently people think so, including you. Your contribution was a strong rebuttal I thought and I appreciated you wading into the conversation.

simply amazing how Klopp has gone from a genius who got a tired and injury-hobbled squad THIS close to winning a quadruple --- to someone who's now a big part of our club's problems, who doesn't know that the people who helped him in the quadruple season are know-nowts who need to get fired asap. 

all this in - what? - 6 months?

wow.

[Schmidt]

It does feel like a very strange situation, Henderson and Fabinho getting a free pass for months before eventually getting dropped, only to then reappear a few weeks later and become undroppable again despite not really looking any better.

I'd start any of Bajcetic, Keita and Jones ahead of them, and would consider starting both Fabinho and Henderson together an absolute last resort, yet somehow they're still first choice.

[Suareznumber7]

It does feel like a very strange situation, Henderson and Fabinho getting a free pass for months before eventually getting dropped, only to then reappear a few weeks later and become undroppable again despite not really looking any better.

Would love to know the reasoning why this is happening. 

[BigRedFeetBed]

Everton was a good performance, Newcastle wasn't
Overall our performance hasn't been better with Bajcetic in the team

Why wasn't the game with Newcastle a good performance?

We won and kept a clean sheet against a current Top 4 team with one of the best defensive records this year and a cup finalist, and the only team that has beaten them previously was us, 6 months ago, back in August. I believe that the game was managed differently after the red card and instead of going all out to batter them more, the intensity was more than likely reduced because of our aging midfield and with an eye on the CL game.

Bajcetic has improved our performance which is why people on various threads within RAWK are doing nothing but raving about the lad. He is one of the few bright sparks to come out of this season. I don't know who in our current midfield squad makes us better if you take Stefan out?

[Jookie]

Why wasn't the game with Newcastle a good performance?

We won and kept a clean sheet against a current Top 4 team with one of the best defensive records this year and a cup finalist, and the only team that has beaten them previously was us, 6 months ago, back in August. I believe that the game was managed differently after the red card and instead of going all out to batter them more, the intensity was more than likely reduced because of our aging midfield and with an eye on the CL game.

It was a very, very good result.

But I'm not sure it was a great performance. Aspects of it where good. We were clinical in front goal during that 1st 20 minutes. We manage the latter 20 min of the game OK. The period in-between, we didn't have the control you'd expect for 11 v 10. For the majority of that time 20-70 mins I thought the game was pretty even.

Great result. Deserved to win overall. Decent (at times) but not great performance.

[SamLad]

Bajcetic has improved our performance which is why people on various threads within RAWK are doing nothing but raving about the lad. He is one of the few bright sparks to come out of this season. I don't know who in our current midfield squad makes us better if you take Stefan out?

completely correct.  he's the first name on the teamsheet for a midfield place right now, only question is what other 2 players goes in with him?

a fantastic talent. so far he seems to be taking it all in his stride. I just hope we don't overuse / burn him out.  it'd be great to give him a break soon though.

[Davidbowie]

Here's a random Keita post from January 2019

Long term I still think he'll be a success. However, the more time goes on, the more pressure he'll be under to perform. This is my big concern. What has come from the club suggests he is a shy character. His performances on the pitch suggest someone who is currently lacking in confidence. How will he cope if the pressure and spotlight comes on him a lot more after the grace of a 'bedding in' period becomes eroded with more of the fanbase?

Funny how 4 years later, the same thing still applies.

[Suareznumber7]

Funny how 4 years later, the same thing still applies.

Except it doesn't.  He's been one of our best midfielders of late and for some reason he's now being overlooked in favor of 2 players who have been god awful all season and don't seem to be playing any better then they have been. 

[harryc]

Probably his last game.

[David Struhme]

Probably his last game.

Why?

[GreatEx]

Was just about to say the same, guess we got our answer to the question of why he couldn't get off the bench vs Madrid. Break glass in case of emergency from here on out.

[Samie]

90% of his LFC career summed up by tonight's performance.

[aka_da_saus]

I never want see him again. saying that , harv has been awful .

[Lone Star Red]

Pound for pound, one of our worst signings. Fourth most expensive signing in club history (!!!!) and has struggled to prove he’s even the fourth choice midfielder at the club for a long, long time now.

To put in that first 45 minutes and get hooked at halftime, with the state our midfield has been in, is pathetic. Hope that’s the last time he plays in the shirt.

[ScubaSteve]

How many threads are getting locked in the next hour 

This guy never needs to play in a Liverpool shirt again. Throwing money away on so many average players right now

[darragh85]

One of the biggest cowards to wear our shirt. Can't wait for him to leave

[Coolie High]

One of the biggest cowards to wear our shirt. Can't wait for him to leave

Why is he a coward?

[JasonF]

Why is he a coward?

Subbed himself off obviously

[TheShanklyGates]

It's such a shame how his Liverpool career has turned out. I really thought he was going to come in and transform our midfield and become one of the league's top players. Constantly injured and when he does manage to get fit so often he flatters to deceive.

[shank94]

Misses his best friend Mane, can go join him considering his performances lol

[jepovic]

It's such a shame how his Liverpool career has turned out. I really thought he was going to come in and transform our midfield and become one of the league's top players. Constantly injured and when he does manage to get fit so often he flatters to deceive.

Yeah, he's a talented player, and it's easy to see why we bought him. But he just never converted that talent into consistent quality. Frustrating.