Topic: Naby Keita Watch

[PEG2K]

Yeah, like others have said already, he has very good acceleration but low top speed. So don't expect lung-busting recovery runs from Keita like sometimes you saw with Henderson or Gini. Once people go past him, they will go past him. Quite strange for a player who can ease past defenders on the ball. Is he fast? Is he slow? Depending on the situation. We just have to accept that's part of his attributes. You can't have everything.

[King Kennys Pumas]

The comments here are at odds with all the video evidence (YouTube) before he arrived - he looked dynamic in both boxes, forward-thinking and could score. Did we get his brother?

[RedForeverTT]

The comments here are at odds with all the video evidence (YouTube) before he arrived - he looked dynamic in both boxes, forward-thinking and could score. Did we get his brother?

Or we are just spoilt by Steven Gerrard. When we think Box-to-Box, we see the image of Gerard running from his own penalty box to score at the other end.

[Ghost Town]

The comments here are at odds with all the video evidence (YouTube) before he arrived - he looked dynamic in both boxes, forward-thinking and could score. Did we get his brother?

He's playing for a different manager in a different system and following instructions - instructions that can vary between games.

Why do people find this so hard to understand?

[Lad]

I think he's always going to be a player that divides opinion. For me I'll just say I don't think I'm particularly arsed if his name is not on the team sheet.

[CraigDS]

I think he's always going to be a player that divides opinion. For me I'll just say I don't think I'm particularly arsed if his name is not on the team sheet.

You deserve Naby adding to your username.

[Bob Sacamano]

He does actually seem faster with the ball than without it.

[Sangria]

He does actually seem faster with the ball than without it.

You expect players to slow down whilst dribbling (that touch forward, run to catch up, slow down while you manoeuvre the ball to get it under control, touch forward, etc). Keita slows down less than most players (the ball is exactly where he wants it to be).

[Redcap]

The comments here are at odds with all the video evidence (YouTube) before he arrived - he looked dynamic in both boxes, forward-thinking and could score. Did we get his brother?

Why are you basing your judgement of him on RAWK comments and YouTube videos, would be my question.

Have you not seen him play for us? He is dynamic, forward thinking and goalscoring. He's not dynamic in the defensive box and never has been, but does it all elsewhere.

I think he's always going to be a player that divides opinion. For me I'll just say I don't think I'm particularly arsed if his name is not on the team sheet.

Yeah. Like people that thought Gini, Henderson and Lucas weren't good. They're wrong about them, and they're wrong about Naby. Except his qualities are actually a lot more obvious than those of all of the above. He dribbles. He scores. He tackles. He intercepts. He gains plenty of yards with forward passing. It's not like with Gini where it's hard to find numbers to describe what he does for us.

You expect players to slow down whilst dribbling (that touch forward, run to catch up, slow down while you manoeuvre the ball to get it under control, touch forward, etc). Keita slows down less than most players (the ball is exactly where he wants it to be).

Exactly.

[Kansti]

Following the spirit of Pogba, I hereby proclaim that Thiago will unlock Baby Keith. Thiago showed that he's not going to shy away from slamming you with a pass even if you're surrounded by opposition players. Let's go Nabyyyyyy

[Red Giant]

Would like to know how much he ran tonight. Him and Mane were tormenting that Arsenal defence. I thought he had a great game especially in the first half

[DelTrotter]

Felt like a pressing masterclass out there first half!

[Gods_Left_Boot]

He was a joy to watch first half, he was absolutely everywhere. Faded a bit late on before being subbed, but as long as he builds fitness and avoids injuries he'll be a massive asset for us this season.

[newterp]

He's definitely being told to be more cautious on the attack - but even still he had a great game.

[Fordy]

He's definitely being told to be more cautious on the attack - but even still he had a great game.

Only because Gini is getting forward more.

[Ratboy3G]

Been subbed on 60 & 62 mins now which I think must be pre planned and sport science lead

Think we’re building his fitness and strength to allow him to get back to Leipzig levels of fitness. Be interested to see the next game he starts and if he gets nearer 70 mins

There’s no doubting his quality and ability

Got 79 minutes tonight, I was expecting him to get hooked after 65-70.
I thought he played really well.

[CraigDS]

Got 79 minutes tonight, I was expecting him to get hooked after 65-70.
I thought he played really well.

Yeah looks to be having his minutes increased gradually, which is great if it helps him build up some long term fitness and get away from those niggling injuries.

[Keith Lard]

Absolute knockout and pretty selfless performance from Naby Lad. Hope he gets a few worldie goals soon to shut the doubters up. Same for Firmino. They deserve a few goals to reward their strong all round contributions.

[thejbs]

MOTM with Mane for me tonight. Every aspect of his game was superb. *whispers* he’s arrived.

[bornandbRED]

Think the Thiago signing really helps him as it will take the spotlight off him being our deemed creative outlet in midfield whilst allowing him to rack up performances in the background. 5 league starts in a row now and showing some real physical robustness...

[FlashGordon]

Best sight of the night for me was seeing him still being able to commit to a full court press on their goalie in the last few moments before he was taken off. Someone mentioned above that they were expecting him to be subbed around the 60 minute mark and he played 79th minute. Ability has never ever been in doubt, even though some would like to say otherwise. Durability was key. If he's improving that then there is no ceiling for him. Only 25 as well, I think there's lots of room for him to grow even more. When he and Thiago line out together I can see us suffocating teams in a way I've never really seen from a Liverpool side.

[Angelius]

I think and hope that as he continues to find his feet in the first team and builds his robustness, we'll see him play a little more freely in attack. He's a beast in that department as well which we've only seen glimpses of so far.

Klopp jokingly mentioned something along these lines recently where he said that Keita was good when he first arrived and was given free license but got worse as Klopp started coaching him. Obviously the statement was self-depreceating and not true but I think there is something about the fact that as he gets comfortable in the system and first team, we'll see the attacking side come out more. If that happens, we'll be in for a treat.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Doing well in what he's asked to do. Touch wood he's staying fit.

[Knight]

It's really interesting to watch Keita at the moment because it feels like he's super reigned in offensively when he's 'in front' of the opposition. Very rarely attempts to beat the press, very cautious about driving forward with the ball. This is different to how he has sometimes played for us. At the same time he looks totally in sync when it comes to shape, pressing and counter pressing. On a few occasions he did receive the ball on the half turn and was able to move forward a bit more purposively inside Arsenal's shape but Fabinho and Gini (again, reigned in like he was) were very cautious about playing those passes.

It feels a little like Klopp is happy with the managed risk of a high press and a high defensive line but isn't happy with the added managed risk of his 3 CMs attempting to beat the opposition press either through ball carrying or progressive passing. This is no surprise to me with certain midfield 3s, because players picked don't have the skillset (or as much of the skillset) to play sharp progressive passes down the middle, receive the ball on the half turn, or move through a press by ball carrying. But it is more of a surprise when the midfield 3 definitely do have the skillset required.

[The G in Gerrard]

Doing well in what he's asked to do. Touch wood he's staying feet.

Same. I hope his feet always stay with him.

[harleydanger]

I don't think Keita is very quick at all off the ball, but he's a quick ball carrier - and he looks particularly quick taking the ball past multiple players.

He's got that Messi thing where he always accelerates when the defender is off balance, which makes him look way quicker than he actually is

[Drinks Sangria]

Did very, very well last night in protecting Trent, covering and overall offering a far more disciplined and coached performance than we're perhaps used to seeing from him. He was used in a very specific way last night that they'd clearly been training on and he did it very well.

I look forward to the games where he can show that more natural forward-thinking he's so good at - I still salivate thinking of his performance in the Chelsea home game last season.

[Sangria]

It's really interesting to watch Keita at the moment because it feels like he's super reigned in offensively when he's 'in front' of the opposition. Very rarely attempts to beat the press, very cautious about driving forward with the ball. This is different to how he has sometimes played for us. At the same time he looks totally in sync when it comes to shape, pressing and counter pressing. On a few occasions he did receive the ball on the half turn and was able to move forward a bit more purposively inside Arsenal's shape but Fabinho and Gini (again, reigned in like he was) were very cautious about playing those passes.

It feels a little like Klopp is happy with the managed risk of a high press and a high defensive line but isn't happy with the added managed risk of his 3 CMs attempting to beat the opposition press either through ball carrying or progressive passing. This is no surprise to me with certain midfield 3s, because players picked don't have the skillset (or as much of the skillset) to play sharp progressive passes down the middle, receive the ball on the half turn, or move through a press by ball carrying. But it is more of a surprise when the midfield 3 definitely do have the skillset required.

None of our midfielders were reigned in.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Same. I hope his feet always stay with him.

Damn autocorrect

[newterp]

None of our midfielders were reigned in.

I think Keita is playing within himself offensively.

[Sangria]

I think Keita is playing within himself offensively.

Then he was "reined in", not "reigned in". It makes me wince whenever I see the latter.

[MNAA]

Aubameyang had 0 attempt yesterday. Read Neil Atkinson review that Naby played a big part in that especially in the earlier parts of the match. Could anyone verify that? Thanks ...

[tubby]

Ran his bollocks off yesterday, really selfless performance.

[newterp]

Then he was "reined in", not "reigned in". It makes me wince whenever I see the latter.

Hahahahaha I didn’t even realize that’s what you were referring to.

[Ghost Town]

Hahahahaha I didn’t even realize that’s what you were referring to.

Understandable error, we are the reigning champions, after all

[Rhi]

I think yesterday was one of his best performances for us. It showed that he can play the role that Klopp needs him to play in our midfield. I don't think we had seen that from Naby before. If he can kick on and blend in some of the attacking threat we've seen previously with the discipline in the role we saw last night, then we're in for an absolute treat of a season from him.

[duvva 💅]

Aubameyang had 0 attempt yesterday. Read Neil Atkinson review that Naby played a big part in that especially in the earlier parts of the match. Could anyone verify that? Thanks ...

Cant verify it, but before that chance Gomez blocked in injury time I can’t recall him doing anything.

[number 168]

I watched Naby a few times playing for RBL after we signed him. He seemed to be a bit of free spirit able to run all over the place, however his performance last night was just the oposite being so disciplined and doing the job asked of him really well, a top display. I guess when Tiago is playing alongsde him he just might get that cavalier way again.

[JC the Messiah]

Aubameyang had 0 attempt yesterday. Read Neil Atkinson review that Naby played a big part in that especially in the earlier parts of the match. Could anyone verify that? Thanks ...

The stats say they had three shots on target. One of them was Lacazette's when he was flagged as offside, but the ref didn't bother blowing it because we had the ball.

So, Aubameyang certainly didn't have an attempt on target, and as noted above, can only remember him touching the ball once in, or close to, our box.

[terry_macss_perm]

Then he was "reined in", not "reigned in". It makes me wince whenever I see the latter.

Perhaps it was the damp weather that encouraged him to play within himself?