Topic: Kabak signs

[Djozer]

Thought he looked alright. Not great, but alright, which, considering his age and the fact he's pretty much been thrown into the side with little bedding in time, into one of the biggest games of our season thus far, is actually pretty great really.

[oldman]

what are people expecting  ? - someone to be on a par with Van Dyke ?
the lad did really well last night
thought he did us proud

[UntouchableLuis]

Good performance - got a lot of unnecessary stick after Leicester. Showed a good mentality to put that out his head and didn't really put a foot wrong.

Everton will be a big test for him - they'll be very physical and Richarlison will look to get in behind and draw silly fouls.

[darragh85]

Can see why Klopp would like him. He looks good at breaking out in to midfield with the ball similar to gomez and van dijk.

[Ghost Town]

Can see why Klopp would like him. He looks good at breaking out in to midfield with the ball similar to gomez and van dijk.

For a 20-year-old he looks quite good at ball carrying and passing in the online compilations. Lots of time to get better as well. At the moment he seems to be under instructions to mostly keep it simple. There were a number of occasions in the last two games when for a split second you saw him looking to move with the ball or attempt a creative pass before stopping himself and just passing short to Trent. No doubt he'll be given his head after he's got used to his teammates and the system.

[The G in Gerrard]

He's a young man and did really well last night. Hopefully people remember that going forwards.

[FlashGordon]

That screenshot doesn't actually show what you want it to Al  As others have said if you took a screenshot from two seconds earlier it would show Henderson and Kabak pretty level. Hendo bites on the dummy move towards the ball by Hwang and then gets done in behind.

Very disingenuous screenshot, but I can't blame you for that as I'm not sure if you took it.

[johnj147]

Done well ..

[Mister Flip Flop]

Comes into one of the top sides in the world from a poor side straight into a huge champions league game and did really well. What's not to like.

[rawcusk8]

I'm not sure what the point is when saying he was too deep? If he was in line with the rest of the defence then the attacker is still onside, it's a very good run, he sold Hendo the dummy and got in behind. I'm not sure I understand the point in this particular point, yes going forward you want the CB's to maintain the line but surely as he gets more games and experience he'll improve on that. Too much nitpicking going on IMO, he did well, he's shown in both games that he can be a good signing for us, there is plenty to improve on but for a 20 year old playing in a new league and playing in a defence that has Hendo or Fab besides him as opposed to any of our top level CB's, he's doing alright. Look at Upamecano yesterday, he's moving to one of the biggest clubs in the world and was linked with a few other top clubs, his performance was pretty bad, comparing the two I thought Kabak had the better game.

[Scouser-Tommy]

He done well and seems to have impressed most of us given that he is only young, especially after the incident leading to a goal in his debut.

[lamonti]

Genuinely miles better than some of the lads who have (manfully) filled in for us at CB.

Still hard to tell how good he is long term but only 20 and plays like a senior player.

[stockdam]

Kabak is still very young for a centre back and he’s still learning his trade. He has a fantastic opportunity to learn at a great club and from great players around him. Yes he’ll make the odd mistake but that’s part of learning.

The one worry I have at the moment is that he may tend to jump into tackles when he shouldn’t and may pick up lots of yellow cards and possibly the odd red one. However he looks like he’s up to the challenge.

[JordanTremenderson]

[Red Cactii]

[dirks digglers]

Runs funny. The last time we had a funny runner everyone hated him and we had to swap him for the famous rapper Deuce Dempsey at Fulham.

Thought he did well last night considering the Leicester game was a tough debut, had some confidence and didn’t shy away from trying to play a bit when it was on. Pretty good in the air for a non giant. Hard to tell on recovery speed. Not super quick but not treading water slow either. 

[[new username under construction]]

I'm sure he gave someone the finger last night though the "I was just scratching my nose" routine

[Ravishing Rick Dude]

I bet he's chuffed for finally beating a german team this season

[zadoktBeast]

Anyone else think he looks like Dick Tracy? No?  Kabak P.I. 

[Drinks Sangria]

Quietly impressive last night, beat the first line of Red Bull's excellent pressing game with a few timely surges forward. Promising.

[El Lobo]

He dropped his shoulder to beat a player a couple of times as well. It didnt 'quite' work but I reckon he's got it in his game to be pretty good bringing the ball out of defence for us once he's got some confidence. Not sure about his long passing but I dont really think he needs that with Hendo next to him

[HomesickRed]

Second full game, aged twenty.
He'll have tougher tests for sure and is still learning the game but the boy done good. Best of luck to him.

[Kopenhagen]

Richarlison will look to get in behind and draw silly fouls.

And try to break the lad's leg.

[Songs to Sing]

He’s done well, can see his impact on team too

[stockdam]

A comment on the clip above where they nearly scored.

Henderson was the one who had a rush of blood to the head and sprinted out of position. That was the only thing that he did wrong all night; but it wasn’t Kabak who was at fault.

[ToneLa]

you could take a photo of anyone at a random time of day free of context and use it to slag them off

"ffs why is he spilling the tea like that? clumsy fucker" (only what really happened was you moved the cup back from its tilt in time to avoid an incident!)

Very snide, even by Al's standards

YNWA - unless you're defence and you're new

[Eeyore]

you could take a photo of anyone at a random time of day free of context and use it to slag them off

"ffs why is he spilling the tea like that? clumsy fucker" (only what really happened was you moved the cup back from its tilt in time to avoid an incident!)

Very snide, even by Al's standards

YNWA - unless you're defence and you're new

This is what I put mate.

I am not criticising Kabak. He has come from a relegation team that looks to drop off.

We are pretty unique in that even if we haven't got pressure on the ball our first instinct is to push out. Kabak needs to get used to that. 

The toughest part of playing for us as a centre back is knowing when to drop. We tend to hold our line much longer than most teams. Kabak will need time to get used to that.

[FlashGordon]

This is what I put mate.

The toughest part of playing for us as a centre back is knowing when to drop. We tend to hold our line much longer than most teams. Kabak will need time to get used to that.

He didn't drop though? He stayed where he was, Henderson makes it look like he's dropped off because he's sprinted forward 3-5 yards.

[Bobinhood]

Kabak is in a pretty poor position.

Thats true, you can see from the way hes no more than 15 feet outside the semi circle that hes likely getting into Allisons territory    He should stick up at the centre circle if he can. Likely to get a boot in the back where hes stood.

He'll learn not to drop quite as quick i assume. Got Shalke derangement syndrome most likely, where if the ball crossed half the danger was imminent.

[Bobinhood]

Also,fwiw  i dont think hes slow at all. Im not even sure why people think that except hes been in pretty good positions and not really had to sprint that much, except once in Leicester he couldn't turn and close a man that  ran off his shoulder in 2 steps. nobody can, thats why people play off the shoulder of the last man. Its hard to tell in the limited viewing but i would say hes got above average speed for a prem cb.

For me it remains to be seen exactly where his pace is at but the way he plays and positions himself is not the way a slow guy would do it.  after game one everyones all "omg hes a turtle" and i just dont see it. I guess we will see.

[AmanShah21]

Also,fwiw  i dont think hes slow at all. Im not even sure why people think that except hes been in pretty good positions and not really had to sprint that much, except once in Leicester he couldn't turn and close a man that  ran off his shoulder in 2 steps. nobody can, thats why people play off the shoulder of the last man. Its hard to tell in the limited viewing but i would say hes got above average speed for a prem cb.

For me it remains to be seen exactly where his pace is at but the way he plays and positions himself is not the way a slow guy would do it.  after game one everyones all "omg hes a turtle" and i just dont see it. I guess we will see.

He's not slow but he's slow on the turn but even then, he looks faster than Rhys or Nat, which is a positive. He's also strong physically and seems to be smart at reading danger, the only problem is that he's played in a team that had to sit deep and fight for most of the game at Schalke and suddenly having to play a consistent highline will take some getting used to. A decent game against Leipzig where I think he did well. Don't think he was as outstanding as media would have you believe, but he did look more comfortable and that is a good sign. Still not so confident in a few things like playing a long ball which I've seen him being decent at, so there's more to come still.

[liverbloke]

there's deffo more things to come

and he'll start the derby

[Fromola]

there's deffo more things to come

and he'll start the derby

First three games are a baptism of fire for him. The fast attack of Leicester with Vardy who's one of the toughest forwards to face, a CL game away at one of the most attacking teams around and then a derby. Had Fabinho stayed fit he might not have played any given he's barely trained with the team. After Saturday that eases off a bit.

[dutchkop]

First three games are a baptism of fire for him. The fast attack of Leicester with Vardy who's one of the toughest forwards to face, a CL game away at one of the most attacking teams around and then a derby. Had Fabinho stayed fit he might not have played any given he's barely trained with the team. After Saturday that eases off a bit.

hopefully he gets more and more confident on playing with this high line and pressing defensive system, and also aggressive attacking full backs which means as a CB you are more exposed down the channels (like Vardy and Leicester exploited).

Interesting to see how poor Upamecano was for RB Leipzig  against us after big money transfer to Bayern and also Kounde Sevilla's defence was so easily pierced by a good performing Dortmund team (I really think we should get Haarland in the summer - the man is a beast in front of goal and it would be criminal if he went to City or Chelsea or any other team).

[Eeyore]

He didn't drop though? He stayed where he was, Henderson makes it look like he's dropped off because he's sprinted forward 3-5 yards.

Our first response to losing the ball is to press, block the passing lanes and push up. We drop when the press has been beaten. It is about triggers. The back four has to press as a unit or drop as a unit.

For me with the two centre backs being deeper when Hendo pushes out to press Hwang then Kabak has to go with him. It is just getting used to the system for me.

I think the whole team is caught in two minds between dropping and forming a low block and pressing. We got away with it against Leipzig but if we go further then we need to improve as a unit. It is early days and hopefully Kabak can adjust quickly.

[TepidT2O]

Our first response to losing the ball is to press, block the passing lanes and push up. We drop when the press has been beaten. It is about triggers. The back four has to press as a unit or drop as a unit.

For me with the two centre backs being deeper when Hendo pushes out to press Hwang then Kabak has to go with him. It is just getting used to the system for me.

I think the whole team is caught in two minds between dropping and forming a low block and pressing. We got away with it against Leipzig but if we go further then we need to improve as a unit. It is early days and hopefully Kabak can adjust quickly.

How well you can learn that with little training time is the question. It’s not easy for any player let alone a 20 year old.

The instinct is to drop... and it’s that instinct that will cause us all sorts of problems at the back.

Really there are no easy solutions.  But the lad is 20, none of this is his fault so good luck to him.

[FlashGordon]

Our first response to losing the ball is to press, block the passing lanes and push up. We drop when the press has been beaten. It is about triggers. The back four has to press as a unit or drop as a unit.

For me with the two centre backs being deeper when Hendo pushes out to press Hwang then Kabak has to go with him. It is just getting used to the system for me.

I think the whole team is caught in two minds between dropping and forming a low block and pressing. We got away with it against Leipzig but if we go further then we need to improve as a unit. It is early days and hopefully Kabak can adjust quickly.

So, let me guess this right. You'd rather both our centre back had bitten on the dummy run towards the ball from Hwang and then allowed him to slip around the corner and be able to square it to a free man in the middle now that Kabak had also vacated the space?

Even if Kabak stepped up Henderson was playing Hwang onside.

The correct thing to do in your mind was to concede an easy tap in in the last minute of a Champions League knockout game?

No one is in any doubt that we play a high line and I agree that Kabak needs to get more used to this. In this instance though he was correct in what he did. Hendo bit on a dummy run, he wasn't going to press any ball so your other points are moot. It's not Henderson's job to press a midfielder on the ball when he's playing centre-back. His job is to stay with the runner and anticipate where that run is being made. He got it wrong in this instance, he'll learn from it of that I'm sure. Kabak did us a favour by not jumping out with Henderson.

[Yorkykopite]

It's a good photo, made great by one of the group being called Clusterman.

[Eeyore]

So, let me guess this right. You'd rather both our centre back had bitten on the dummy run towards the ball from Hwang and then allowed him to slip around the corner and be able to square it to a free man in the middle now that Kabak had also vacated the space?

Even if Kabak stepped up Henderson was playing Hwang onside.

The correct thing to do in your mind was to concede an easy tap in in the last minute of a Champions League knockout game?

No one is in any doubt that we play a high line and I agree that Kabak needs to get more used to this. In this instance though he was correct in what he did. Hendo bit on a dummy run, he wasn't going to press any ball so your other points are moot. It's not Henderson's job to press a midfielder on the ball when he's playing centre-back. His job is to stay with the runner and anticipate where that run is being made. He got it wrong in this instance, he'll learn from it of that I'm sure. Kabak did us a favour by not jumping out with Henderson.

Firstly Hwang is a centre forward not a midfield player, so he is Hendo's responsibility. Secondly if Hwang squares it to Poulson and Kabak had pushed out then Poulson would be flagged offside.

The centre backs need to play as a pair. They either push out together or drop together when you are playing a team with two strikers. As I said it is just an organisational problem. Hopefully we can get a settled centre back pairing and they can iron things out.

[exiledintheUSA]

He's going to eat Richarlison alive.