- May 22, 2011
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But again - you’re happy with sticking with those players even though THEY THEMSELVES haven’t done much to warrant a place. And you talk about KDB or Bernardo Silva - neither player set the world alight when they started in England.
And whether you like them or not, Keita and shaq are two of the most progressive players we have in the team. And that’s the issue - the other midfielders bar Fabinho (and Milner to some extent) don’t get the ball up the pitch and to or attackers quick enough.
Even in the limited time they’ve played, Keita is already one of our top dribblers and Shaq has goals and assists to his name.
People can complain how long Keita dwells on the ball - fact is, he’s trying to find the right ball FORWARD. Give me that over a coward like Henderson who kills attacks. However people will only remember the one good long ball he played and think he’s creative. The same people criticised Can for the same thing but dismiss the fact that he’s trying to be positive. And I’m not saying Keita has been brilliant but he did find some form and played pretty well. His final ball is not quite there but at least he’s making the runs to be In a position to make that final ball.
Some of our best performances have come when one of Keita and Shaqiri started in midfield (look at Nov / Dec) and it’s not a coincidence.
Also, I’m not absolving blame from the front 3 because they have been poor as well. But these guys have been performing at elite levels for 18 months or so. The defence has been world class all season. The only constant is the midfield which is just always **** - they’re the ones who need to step up and contribute.
And it’s not all their fault - klopp knows their limitations but still chooses them, and I’m sure he is applying shackles as well.
I’m sorry but I’m just not buying the fact that we are powerless to do anything to change this worrying trend. Because we are truly ****ed until Of the season as we are incredibly predictable to play against if our key attacking weapons fail to produce.
I don’t disagree jimmy. And I think everyone is of similar opinion on our midfield. I think it’s just because in that current 3 you know what you’re gonna get. I agree Keita offers that dribbling and I’d like to see him play more, but I think carra made a good point that we aren’t going to our score city this season. To win the league it’ll be because we have the best defence, and part of that defence is our midfield.
It seems like like klopp is happy to keep that defence and midfield as a solid unit and keep a clean sheet and bank on the front 3 to nick a goal. It’s a whole different approach, and had Salah taken one of his chances, you’d say game plan worked. Obviously when we don’t score it looks bad, but it’s getting that balance and maybe klopp thinks that we are more likely to win 1-0 with that solid midfield then make it a more open game an dposisble concede 1 or 2 and then be relying on Thisbe players who are creative (but haven’t quite done it regularly) in Keita and shaq to get us 3 goals to win the game?
i don’t think anyone is happy we just stick with the same, but it’s more about weighing up the pros and cons on each. It’s sinilar to when we had cout, much better going forward but shambles at back. He goes we aren’t quite as good going forward but the midfield protected defence more.
Its about getting that balance and it’s not quite right but I think this year, we’re more likely to win a game 1-0 than 4-3
