Topic: Joël Matip (Job Joël André Matip)

[BER]

He has, how do you put it...obvious quality on his passes..even if they aren't all coming off right now. No doubt as he adapts to the pace of the league, movement of his team-mates, he's going to be a colossus.

[SteveLFC]

Why are there only 6 pages of posts about this man? For me, he is going to be the difference we have been looking for this season. He perfectly fits the Klopp mould, calm, intelligent and strong under pressure. To think he is still trying to adapt to the premier league as well! Awesome signing..

[Zizou]

Class act

Absolutely, it's easy to see why Klopp was so excited by landing him.

Can't wait to see more of him, can't wait to see more of the whole team, and it feels boss to say that.

[Frank Becton]

Top player, will make a massive difference for us.

[Igor Tripod Biscan]

Top player, will make a massive difference for us.

As Arry would say - A top top top top pwayer

[G1 Jockey 4(betfair)]

Apparently he wasnt even fully fit and wouldn't have played if Klavan wasn't injured, which makes the performance even more impressive. It also highlights the very real depth concerns we have at CB, but that's for another thread I suppose!

dunno about that.
from what i see we have one potential word class centre back.....matip....some way to go though imo.

2 good ones.....louvren and klavan.

and one moulded in true franco baresi style......ok he made a mistake yesterday for the goal but it wasnt a bad decision...it was an unusual mistake.


then we have sakho.....still needs to improve but has some of the ingredients.

thats quite healthy imo.


be far more worried with our midfield.

[clinical]

He is literally the perfect partner for Sakho. Just a shame about what's happened with Sakho. IMO sakho is better than lovren still

[BarryCrocker]

He is literally the perfect partner for Sakho. Just a shame about what's happened with Sakho. IMO sakho is better than lovren still

Scratch Sakho and drop in Lovren or Lucas.

[lamonti]

Does a lot of textbook, sensible centre-half stuff that years of watching Skrtel, Lovren and Sakho has made seem unfamiliar. The latter three are by comparison nuts.

[Yiannis]

Scratch Sakho and drop in Lovren or Lucas.

Good God. Also nothing to do with his calamitous mistake yesterday.

[clinical]

Scratch Sakho and drop in Lovren or Lucas.

I believe sakho will get his chance. Injuries will see to that. The way I see it. If he works is hardest, and behaves he will get his chance and prove himself.

IF he doesn't do that then he's not worth having anyway and I won't miss him.

[mickeydocs]

Can we please keep this thread about Matip? Enough has been written about Sakho.

[Clayton Bigsby]

so far, he looks inspired. why the fcuk did they let him go on a free. 25 years old and played 34 games last season in the league. Madness but good for us

[Dim Glas]

so far, he looks inspired. why the fcuk did they let him go on a free. 25 years old and played 34 games last season in the league. Madness but good for us

I'm sure they didn't want to! They loved him there, the farewell they gave him showed what the fans and team thought of him, and he left with no hard feelings.

He'd been there since he was 17, gave them everything, I guess maybe they just accepted he wanted a new challenge outside the Bundesliga.

[King Klopp.]

Looks boss so far. Would still like to see him add a bit more muscle though. If he did that he'd be a monster. Good on the ball, composed, and so far hasn't done anything mental which is a nice change from our usual centre backs.

[Wyl]

Sell Skrtel for £5 million, get Matip free. Not bad business I would say, early days but looking good so far. I only realised yesterday how tall he is (195cm), which is good to add.

[SC04OCT]

Amazing so far. It's been so long since we've had a CB where I genuinely feel confident that he'll stop almost anything that comes his way. So good at playing it out from the back too. Majestic.

All the hype around Bailly in the press when really, this guy has been better, imo.

[CraigDS]

Looks like a fantastic signing. Great positional sense, great in the air, great with the ball at his feet - and will hopefully continue to adapt and improve.

[robertobaggio37]

Great player. Now only to find him the right partner but Lovren or Lucas will do for now. He's got pretty much everything you would want from a modern central defender. Also huge threat on set pieces.

[rafathegaffa83]

so far, he looks inspired. why the fcuk did they let him go on a free. 25 years old and played 34 games last season in the league. Madness but good for us

Bundesliga teams let some of their best players leave on a free all the time. No point in selling a top player, if it will cost you more to upgrade. I think they view it as better off to use a top player to help meet your goals that season, rather than worry about trying to replace them. Lewandowski being a prime example. It also gives them time to buy and bed-in a replacement. You also see fewer permanent transfers made in January there. I recall reading that tax implications partly influenced this.

[na fir dearg]

Love him - looks so composed, doesnt panic

[Nessy76]

Why are there only 6 pages of posts about this man? For me, he is going to be the difference we have been looking for this season. He perfectly fits the Klopp mould, calm, intelligent and strong under pressure. To think he is still trying to adapt to the premier league as well! Awesome signing..

We should have told him to sign a new deal at Shalke then paid £40m for him and everyone would rate him. Number of people who thought he'd be on the bench all season was ridiculous, and purely because he chose to run down his contract. Early days (some of us remember purring over the debut of Bjorn Tore Kvarme, only to very quickly change our opinion) but he looks like the sort of assured and professional defender we've lacked since Hyypia left. We've never really been tight at the back since, hopefully that will change now with Matip and Karius.

[Yevgeny]

Schalke were desperate for him to sign a new contract, but he opted to seek a new challenge elsewhere. He was their best player, and is now one of ours. Like someone else said above, he has everything you could possibly want in a centre-back.

[So… Howard Philips]

Fingers crossed, hopefully he will have the same impact Hyppia did. A different type of player but calm and commanding and will be a good influence on whoever plays next to him. Should be a good mentor for any young centre backs.

[TepidT2O]

Looks good so far, but it's more difficult to judge defenders quickly than it is forwards....

I remember us being wowed by Jose Enrique when he joined us


I need to see him in a run of games to be totally convinced....

Not that I have doubts, just that time is needed

[Zoomers]

Huge test for him on Friday against fuckface.

[Andy]

"Good touch for a big man".

[Purple Red]

Huge test for him on Friday against fuckface.

We'll see how cool headed he is then. Skrtel would be off for decking him.

[SwordInYourGut]

We should have told him to sign a new deal at Shalke then paid £40m for him and everyone would rate him. Number of people who thought he'd be on the bench all season was ridiculous, and purely because he chose to run down his contract. Early days (some of us remember purring over the debut of Bjorn Tore Kvarme, only to very quickly change our opinion) but he looks like the sort of assured and professional defender we've lacked since Hyypia left. We've never really been tight at the back since, hopefully that will change now with Matip and Karius.

The only surprise about Matip so far has been that people are surprised. Came here with great pedigree and is showing exactly that.

[RayPhilAlan]

I was interested that he made fewer forward runs against Leicester than he did against Spurs. My theory was that he'd been told not to because of Leicester's pace on the counter-attack.

Either way, it's great that he has the forward run in his armoury as well as all his defensive traits.

He's played against two of last season's best forwards now and hardly looked like he's having to work hard. Now for Diego Costa!

[hansenite]

I believe sakho will get his chance. Injuries will see to that. The way I see it. If he works is hardest, and behaves he will get his chance and prove himself.
IF he doesn't do that then he's not worth having anyway and I won't miss him.

Good answer exactly what klopp wants  And the club needs

[hansenite]

Was lovely to see his first reaction after the Lucas mistake to clap the back line and get it up. A leader from the back and we've seen from the tv he is way within his comfort zone. Possibly a giant on the way. Maybe as good as hyppia or even better. But let's see

[woof]

Reminds me a bit of Hyypia. So composed and commanding. It may even help Mig to become a better, more assured GK!! That's if he doesn't lose his place

[xbugawugax]

We should have told him to sign a new deal at Shalke then paid £40m for him and everyone would rate him. Number of people who thought he'd be on the bench all season was ridiculous, and purely because he chose to run down his contract. Early days (some of us remember purring over the debut of Bjorn Tore Kvarme, only to very quickly change our opinion) but he looks like the sort of assured and professional defender we've lacked since Hyypia left. We've never really been tight at the back since, hopefully that will change now with Matip and Karius.

never thought he would adapt so quickly. nobody thought he would be on the bench for the whole season to be honest. Just needs to prove himself on the training pitch and then in games. So far he has done both for now. With Klavan and lovren injured and sakho doing his thing, he got his chance.

The next challenge is to make that position his. Hope to see him be a part of a settled back 4 for a long time.

[Alonso_The_Assassin]

Reminds me a bit of Hyypia. So composed and commanding. It may even help Mig to become a better, more assured GK!! That's if he doesn't lose his place

Yup, definitely got a bit of Sami in him. Got a feeling that the days of us being bullied at the back are about the come to an end. This lad is quality and although Mane is a fantastic signing, at the season’s end I have a sneaky suspicion that many will be calling Matip our best new recruit.

[killer-heels]

Looks good so far, but it's more difficult to judge defenders quickly than it is forwards....

I remember us being wowed by Jose Enrique when he joined us


I need to see him in a run of games to be totally convinced....

Not that I have doubts, just that time is needed

Indeed. The promising thing is that he has played against Kane and Vardy and played against 2 sides who played 2 up front, so he has been tested thus far and done well.

Big test next week against an in-form Costa.

[suede lady]

He looks very lean, almost slender. I suppose it is because of his height. As mentioned Friday will be a big test, he could use some extra muscle to deal with Costa.

[joezydudek]

We'll see how cool headed he is then. Skrtel would be off for decking him.

For all of Skrtel's obvious faults, his obvious hatred for Costa tended to make him raise his game and play really well against Chelsea. I'm sure Matip can handle him too.

[Buck Pete]

Was lovely to see his first reaction after the Lucas mistake to clap the back line and get it up. A leader from the back and we've seen from the tv he is way within his comfort zone. Possibly a giant on the way. Maybe as good as hyppia or even better. But let's see

Noticed that myself mate. It was an instant and natural reaction from Matip to keep Lucas head up.  Brilliant to see.

As for Lucas, thought he had a great game other than the mistake. Shit happens, it was a one off.

[Nessy76]

never thought he would adapt so quickly. nobody thought he would be on the bench for the whole season to be honest.

Except all the people who said exactly that...

Just needs to prove himself on the training pitch and then in games. So far he has done both for now. With Klavan and lovren injured and sakho doing his thing, he got his chance.

The next challenge is to make that position his. Hope to see him be a part of a settled back 4 for a long time.

Yes, if he can maintain the same level as he's showing, he'll be an automatic choice for years to come.