Topic: Naby Keita Watch

[PoetryInMotion]

As sensational as that video is (and it is sensational - some players have end of season compilation videos which are less impressive) Sportfreunde Dorfmerkingen is so far down the german leagues that it is difficult (for a non-German speaker) to find out exactly what league they are in (after some googling I found they were in the Verbandsliga Württemberg - one of the many 6th tier leagues - made up entirely of amateurs)
Edit: that is wrong, after finding their wiki (I have no idea why it didn't come up in my google search) they are apparently in the 2nd tier of the 7th tier. Though this seems inconsistent with some of the info on their website so one of the two is out of date.

Yes, but his compilations against other Bundesliga sides are equally impressive. There's one out there against Bremen, one against Leverkusen, one against Freiburg, another against Stoke in a Friendly and he's impressive in every all touch game that is up there in youtube.

His analytics numbers also show that he is consistently impressive and not a player who disappears in games based on opposition.

[BOBSCOUSE]

Lawd have mercy

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/nzav2vS0ktw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/nzav2vS0ktw</a>

First I've seen of Naby Keita - Oh boy!!

Bit of a Gerrard/Coutinho/Mane hybrid.  Can't remember the last time I saw a player soooooooooo comfortable with either foot.

We should sign him.

Actually, what I said about being two-footed - the fucker must have FOUR!!!!!

[Doc Red]

Well that's my daily dose of Keita-on-the-yootoob, sorted.

[JasonF]

Lawd have mercy

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/nzav2vS0ktw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/nzav2vS0ktw</a>

Some of those clips, particularly some of the skills in a Guinea shirt about 5 mins in, he just looks so effortless. Like he knows he's too good for that level and he doesn't need to try, he knows he's the best player on the pitch.

Amazingly he looked a bit like that in the friendly vs. Stoke too, which bodes well for him adapting to the Premier League.

[SpionBob]

Some of those clips, particularly some of the skills in a Guinea shirt about 5 mins in, he just looks so effortless. Like he knows he's too good for that level and he doesn't need to try, he knows he's the best player on the pitch.

Amazingly he looked a bit like that in the friendly vs. Stoke too, which bodes well for him adapting to the Premier League.

Wish we had him now

[Libertine]

Lawd have mercy

Good god 

If Klopp spent the entire summer in the laboratory, he couldn't have designed a player more suited to our team or one who is exactly what we need to get to the next level.

Don't want to wish away my life, but roll on next season.....

[Lycan]

Bundesliga expert Lee Price: "There is a chance that #LFC could pay a premium to capture #Keita in January depending on Leipzig's progress. It would be depending on Leipzig’s domestic and Champions League progress."

[jillcwhomever]

First I've seen of Naby Keita - Oh boy!!

Bit of a Gerrard/Coutinho/Mane hybrid.  Can't remember the last time I saw a player soooooooooo comfortable with either foot.

We should sign him.

Actually, what I said about being two-footed - the fucker must have FOUR!!!!!

OMG so many highlights in that. My favourite bit has to be when he is sat on the floor with an opposition player with the ball between them, and he still manages to flick the ball away to a team mate, awesome skills. I think its around 19 minutes on the video. 

[jillcwhomever]

Bundesliga expert Lee Price: "There is a chance that #LFC could pay a premium to capture #Keita in January depending on Leipzig's progress"

Wow I didn't think that was even a possibility this season. 

[Lycan]

Wow I didn't think that was even a possibility this season. 

Don't know how ITK he is with regards to this, but I did ask the question yesterday. Would be great if it was possible.

[Djimi Smicer34]

Bundesliga expert Lee Price: "There is a chance that #LFC could pay a premium to capture #Keita in January depending on Leipzig's progress. It would be depending on Leipzig’s domestic and Champions League progress."

I think if they were mid-table with very little chance of European qualification then it might be a slim possibility.

I'd expect Leipzig to be challenging for a CL spot though so I'm not expecting to see Keita here before next summer.

[jillcwhomever]

Don't know how ITK he is with regards to this, but I did ask the question yesterday. Would be great if it was possible.

I noticed he has written a book on the Bundesliga so he certainly knows his German football. Having watched that latest video on him I just have everything crossed that he can come to us in January, I suppose we'll have to wait and see.

[northern Monkey]

So excited to see this guy in our shirt next season.

Seems like he finds space really well and almost effortlessly escapes tight spaces when there isn't any. Passes, dribbles, gets back at pace.  Looks like he truely takes control of games and imposes himself on the opposition.

With Mane And Salah ahead of him?  /Drool.

If Coutinho settles back down the two of them ahead of presumable Henderson.. what a midfield that is on paper!

[Chief Brody]

Hope this lads given a bit of time when he eventually arrives, if he needs it.

Feels a bit like anything short of a pele/matthaus/Baresi hybrid will be a letdown.

[BOBSCOUSE]

Think that when teamed with the likes of Coutinho, Salah and Mane he (along with the rest of that trio) will provide the type of pace and speed of thought around the box that will allow Sturridge to thrive and Firmino gets to have a few games rest.  Klopp might also consider making subs earlier in the game as he will trust all the alternatives that he has lined up hungry to get on the pitch.

We will be awesome against low blocks or high lines.

[BabuYagu]

Fair enough. I just thought it was an odd comparison, no matter what way you compare them. Like there are so many players over the years who've been great dribblers, but are stylistically much more resemblant to Keita, picking Kinkladze out just seemed odd. I guess if Kinkladze was your favourite player or something. Like if you were gonna pick out a mythical figure in English football to compare him to from around that time period who enjoyed running rings around opponents, Gazza is probably the one. Two footed, similar upright style.

Keita would have led the league last season in interceptions per game for a midfielder I believe. I don't know if there's been a player with so much offensive talent also be so dominant defensively. I can't think of one. Maybe just in the stories you hear of Alberto Di Stefano from the 50's who was also talked about by opposition as being like 2 players in 1.

I was talking to Redmark the other day about the importance of stats. My memory of Suarez was him tackling defenders 50 times a game pretty much when taking time off from nutmegging them. I would put Firmino down as the person getting closest to that. Yet when you look at his stats at the time, they were about 70% of what Firmino does off the ball now.

I think with the passage of time, you take all those little moments of a player that sets the adrenalin off and feel like they did that all the time.

[BEAST]

Bundesliga expert Lee Price: "There is a chance that #LFC could pay a premium to capture #Keita in January depending on Leipzig's progress. It would be depending on Leipzig’s domestic and Champions League progress."

[God's Left Peg]

Lawd have mercy

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/nzav2vS0ktw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/nzav2vS0ktw</a>

Insane dribbling ability.

[FlashGordon]

His finishing ain't too bad either. Looks very composed.

[Gus 1855]

I cannot imagine our counter attack could be much better, but the way this guys seems to start attacks and thread balls makes me think he'd be unreal with our attackers to pick out.

[Keita Success]

Had a look at his performance vs. Stoke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znq86ujtrtU

I think the best summary is that he is everything that we wanted Allen to be.

[Yesitsanextender]

Cant wait for this lad to wear the red shirt, granted having seen the countless youtube clips of the lad and not games I'm intrigued to know a couple of questions maybe you lot could shine some light on-
1. Does he take free kicks? Is he the clubs fk taker?
2. Would the likes of Gini make way for him or is he more likely to complete against coutinho?(if he's still here)

Cheers

[Keita Success]

Cant wait for this lad to wear the red shirt, granted having seen the countless youtube clips of the lad and not games I'm intrigued to know a couple of questions maybe you lot could shine some light on-
1. Does he take free kicks? Is he the clubs fk taker?
2. Would the likes of Gini make way for him or is he more likely to complete against coutinho?(if he's still here)

Cheers

1. Keith can take free kicks, but it's not his strongest asset. He's certainly an option, but it's certainly not a main reason for his signing (see Charlie Adam, who was worth £10M for his set-pieces alone).

2. I think it's silly to look at the squad like that. I can't see Klopp regularly putting out the same starting 11 for most games next season - assuming we're in Europe. Kieta breaks the lines with his dribbling, has a very good pass. He's almost somewhere in between Gini and Couts. In reality, everyone has an opinion, but second guessing Klopp is like approaching a 9/10 in a pub - worth a try, but you'll probably look like a tit.

[Dim Glas]

I think if they were mid-table with very little chance of European qualification then it might be a slim possibility.

I'd expect Leipzig to be challenging for a CL spot though so I'm not expecting to see Keita here before next summer.

absolutely, I'd be hugely surprised if they drop off that much this season even with being in Europe. And because of the winter break, there is still a hell of a lot of football to play after January. People will likely remember BVB being in the relegation spot going into the winter break in 2014/15, yet they finished qualifying for Europe and in the final of the DFB Pokal. For Leipzig to be out of contention by January, they'd have be in a really bad way first half of the season.

[SerbianScouser]

When it comes to winning the ball back last player in our shirt who was doing it as much and in a very similar fashion was Mascherano. Very similar the way they both harass, tackle and win the ball back.

[rob1966]

Had a look at his performance vs. Stoke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znq86ujtrtU

I think the best summary is that he is everything that we wanted Allen to be.

Think he's everything Allen wanted to be judging by the way Allen flattens him a minute in - deffo got fed up with chasing his shadow did Joe.

[Art of Lies]

2. Would the likes of Gini make way for him or is he more likely to complete against coutinho?(if he's still here)

It would obviously depend on the game and the type of opposition, I am no expert but I would see him more of a long-term replacement for Lallana given Lallana's age. It is unlikely that Mane, Salah, Countinho, and Lallana play all of the games so I think we will still see Countinho further forward in some games (if he's still here). I really like Gini as a player and think he is most effective when he has a player like Lallana/Coutinho/Keita playing in CM with him because it gives him a outlet that is able to complete the transition from midfield to attack. Gini is capable of moving the ball on rapidly with one-touch football but needs someone to pass to who is able to receive the ball in tight spaces and has the necessary awareness and speed of thought that these players have.

[BabuYagu]

One thing to point out - this will be his first time playing twice a week. His number of minutes per season are slightly (about 20%) above what Origi played last season simply because due to the fact the Bundesliga is smaller, has less competitions and he didn't play in europe. He also burns out towards the end of matches due to the outrageous work he puts in. A good example is the Bayern 4-5 games last season. For the first 70 minutes he literally was everywhere. Not the Redknapp version of the word either though - I mean he was always somewhere in shot. Then as he tired, Bayern got on top and scored 3 in the final 10 minutes.

I remember when Lallana and Firmino first came here they would regularly be subbed off before the end and it became a recurring thing - will they ever do a full 90 minutes? People who put in an outrageous effort either need to find ways to pick and chose their movement better (Gerrard) or condition themselves better to maintain their levels for the full 90 minutes (Firmino).

I suspect Keita will be a game a week player at first with rotation and may even struggle to finish games. We will manage that though of course. It's just a question of conditioning.

[rob1966]

One thing to point out - this will be his first time playing twice a week. His number of minutes per season are slightly (about 20%) above what Origi played last season simply because due to the fact the Bundesliga is smaller, has less competitions and he didn't play in europe. He also burns out towards the end of matches due to the outrageous work he puts in. A good example is the Bayern 4-5 games last season. For the first 70 minutes he literally was everywhere. Not the Redknapp version of the word either though - I mean he was always somewhere in shot. Then as he tired, Bayern got on top and scored 3 in the final 10 minutes.

I remember when Lallana and Firmino first came here they would regularly be subbed off before the end and it became a recurring thing - will they ever do a full 90 minutes? People who put in an outrageous effort either need to find ways to pick and chose their movement better (Gerrard) or condition themselves better to maintain their levels for the full 90 minutes (Firmino).

I suspect Keita will be a game a week player at first with rotation and may even struggle to finish games. We will manage that though of course. It's just a question of conditioning.

Wonder if the club will work with Leipzig on this during the season? Its beneficial to them as well as us if they can get more out of him in games.

[Keita Success]

One thing to point out - this will be his first time playing twice a week. His number of minutes per season are slightly (about 20%) above what Origi played last season simply because due to the fact the Bundesliga is smaller, has less competitions and he didn't play in europe. He also burns out towards the end of matches due to the outrageous work he puts in. A good example is the Bayern 4-5 games last season. For the first 70 minutes he literally was everywhere. Not the Redknapp version of the word either though - I mean he was always somewhere in shot. Then as he tired, Bayern got on top and scored 3 in the final 10 minutes.

I remember when Lallana and Firmino first came here they would regularly be subbed off before the end and it became a recurring thing - will they ever do a full 90 minutes? People who put in an outrageous effort either need to find ways to pick and chose their movement better (Gerrard) or condition themselves better to maintain their levels for the full 90 minutes (Firmino).

I suspect Keita will be a game a week player at first with rotation and may even struggle to finish games. We will manage that though of course. It's just a question of conditioning.

Agreed, especially when we have a manager like Klopp. Klopp seems to look for ability first, how they fit in the system, then he moulds them into the player he wants. The fitness will come, it's his style that's important.

[7777]

Lawd have mercy

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/nzav2vS0ktw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/nzav2vS0ktw</a>

RAWK traffic has got the attention of someone cos the user has removed the video!

[Doc Red]

RAWK traffic has got the attention of someone cos the user has removed the video!

I never understand that.
I get it's copyrighted, but it's a highlight reel. The alternative option is to sign up to whatever media offers all of Leipzig's games + AFCON games, and than watch all the games.
And yes, I'm minging because I didn't get to see the whole video through, was trying to ration it out!
Hopefully it pops up again, elsewhere.

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

It's been a while since we signed someone that isn't actually coming yet, so we get to spend a season anticipating them. It's going to be a long season wait for this guy.

Cisse I remember. That winger we couldn't get a permit for for ages, Mark Gonzales. Any others?

[CraigDS]

It's been a while since we signed someone that isn't actually coming yet, so we get to spend a season anticipating them. It's going to be a long season wait for this guy.

Cisse I remember. That winger we couldn't get a permit for for ages, Mark Gonzales. Any others?

Matip

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

Matip

He's just a defender so I didn't notice/wasn't arsed for some reason

[KingKolo]

Had a look at his performance vs. Stoke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znq86ujtrtU

Looks fucking mint.

[BabuYagu]

Matip

Grujic
Lucas
Origi
Jovanovic
Wilson
Suso
Shelvey
Aquilani technically. Signed him and didn't see him for 6 months

[BabuYagu]

I never understand that.
I get it's copyrighted, but it's a highlight reel. The alternative option is to sign up to whatever media offers all of Leipzig's games + AFCON games, and than watch all the games.
And yes, I'm minging because I didn't get to see the whole video through, was trying to ration it out!
Hopefully it pops up again, elsewhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no5mEhR9eNg

Try this. I've also ripped it from the internet incase it vanishes again

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

Aquilani technically. Signed him and didn't see him for 6 months

Ha. Good old Bertie.

I wanted him to succeed so much. Sure he had a few stormers in the Europa. The gozzy eyed sicknote.

[JasonF]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no5mEhR9eNg

Try this. I've also ripped it from the internet incase it vanishes again

Thanks! I only made it to 7 minutes last time (not a euphemism, but it could be, he's that good!).