If as has been suggested Firmino is being targeted by the opposition surely this will create more space for Mane and Salah. No team can expect to play in the same way all the time. Klopp and the players will adapt. We now have Keita who is more willing to run at defenders than our other midfielders.
I agree, Bobby being targeted is almost his job, I though he was superb vs Wham but struggled a bit to link up vs Palace.
You are right. he is one half of Suarez. Salah plays the other half but salah adds huge pace. I don't know of another player who would play all 3 roles like firmino and put in the work rate.
but wouldn't anyone? they were very compact. the one time salah got in was due to palace being on press with high line and Keita turn was so awesome it caught the lot high up. imo we need to focus with compact sides at getting round the outside on overlap and having runners at near post etc. firmino imo needs to find a run to make that help that. be it supplying the pass to robertson/taa wide or edge of box or near post. we don't need him so deep. yes come short and draw people but don't be so deep you can't get back in.
I agree especially vs Palace he seemed to be deeper than usual but then again he was vs Wham but it worked and he linked well.
imo west ham he totally got it wrong but palace got it bang on. I don't think salah or firmino are where they want to be right now. neither is quite there yet.
Can't see how you can say that, he was effective Vs Wham and we battered them, he struggled to link up with Mane and Salah Vs Palace?
It's fitness and sharpness for both men. frankly my gran could be played against that high line west ham tried. You could see at end v palace firmino was absolutely shattered. there's still 30-40% more to come from both. mane on the other hand is fully up to speed
This is why I'd rest him at home to BHA, I'm hoping we have enough to beat them without him. Give Shaq a run out at home.
A lot of citeh and even scum supporters I know are now saying we're in with a chance this season. I think there's an element of jinxing (scum) and deflection (citeh) going on, but that's the general perception out there. It hasn't been that way for a long time. I've told them and I'm telling you it won't happen this season.
City are very strong, it would take a huge effort to overcome them this season. I'll just see what happens.
City are red hot favourites and have to be respected. 100points is an all time record. They have not got worse! Therefore I really want us to push on all fronts and stay in those cups as long as possible. 4th or 2nd is meaningless really but I would like us to get to 80+ points this year and at least be in a race at Christmas.
I think people are reading too much with two games in. If I remember correctly we played Palace as our second game with Mane scoring a late winner at Anfield last season. Even at their turf we struggled and scored a late winner via Salah. The positives one can pick so far is defensive stability where you can see clear difference in how hard we are giving up chances and no second balls falling to opponents. With regards to Firmino, I still see no issue with how he is deployed. The palace pitch is very small and it is advantageous to bus parking tactics. On any big pitch one can stretch palace and those are the gaps we exploit with our running from Mane and Salah
I’d also say one of his strengths is that he opens space for the others. What if Salah was very ordinary without Firmino?
I call a spade a spade. They're both fantastic players but neither has been quite what they were last season yet.. I'm not calling for their heads, I'm not saying they're bad. I'm merely staying their performance hasn't yet got to where it was. I also don't expect Salah to get 40 goals again this season. It will be great if he does, but if he gets 25 and others help out that will also be good and not disappointing. It's unreasonable to expect two record breaking seasons in a row. Fantastic if it happens and it's certainly possible but you shouldn't expect it. I certainly don't dislike Firm and I am not calling for his blood. I do think the front 3 feed off each other and they make each other look better when they play well. Just like Sturridge looked fantastic when he had Suarez helping him out. I'm not uncomfortable not following the crowd, I think not being exposed to the same pundits and commentators everyone else here is, I would develop a different opinion. I think Firmino Is very good but perhaps not the same quality as Mane and Salah and it's not about the goals... Mane, for example looks great even when he's not scoring. Firmino is certainly very tricky and does a lot of eye candy on the ball. His trickery always looks good on camera. The quality from width by Salah's and Mane give him a lot of space and options to show off though. If you think back to when his only options were Origi or Sturridge he didn't look nearly as quality without quality around him. Granted... I don't think Salah would look as good if we had Origi or Sturridge playing instead of Firmino either. I wouldn't want to lose Firmino but I think it would be easier to find someone who does what he does than it would be to replace Salah or Mane. To use an example from our enemies... Firmino is to Rooney as Salah is to Ronaldo. Forward playing playmakers are more abundant than wide forwards of Salah's class. United never replaced Ronaldo but theyve had several players who could replace Rooney. You absolutely need both in the team though to work the formation we're using, and I certainly wouldn't want to have to replace Firmino. (It would be nice to have a strong traditional centre forward on the team though as an occasional option).
