yeah, penetration. my favourite part of football. all our best strikers knew or know how to go do it. Sturridge and suarez ran behind, torres, fowler, owen, salah irrespective of other traits they all get in that zone of most danger and all run to goal not away from it. Imo whats changed for mane most of all is he's not getting in enough scoring positions any more i nthe box off trent crosses. huge amount of plunder to be had.
we can even surmise who plays a high line and who does not from this. Man utd with slab head. Moyes and the bus parkers. In fairness to Pope that is an unexpectedly high amount for them. ramsdale at arsenal is shockingly poor for a guy who thinks he is god's gift.
This might wake some of you statto's up and maybe show that things like XG are really just there to make you feel better or keep you reading Perhaps this should put the other possibilities in this odds range into perspective. Sevilla have the ninth-best xG differential in LaLiga. They've managed to turn a plus-2.3 xG edge into a plus-16 edge in actual goals.
XG bullshit The second: Madrid just haven't played as well as their point total suggests. Halfway through the season, their xG differential is plus-11 -- equal to Atletico Madrid (who've played one fewer game) and worse than Barcelona's league-best (soccer is weird, man) mark of plus-13.2.
0 wins from 7 games without either Thiago or Naby playing the majority (45+ mins). Total of 5 points. 12 wins from 13 when one of Naby/Thiago is part of the midfield. Total points 37. (From 39)
We've missed Thiago. I always say I would prefer Jones starts than the likes of Chamberlain too. We cannot go backwards having Milner and Henderson both starting in midfield
its time for the official half term report: Games v bottom half: Games played 10 Goals scored 29 Goal conceded 4 Games won 9 Games drawn 1 Games lost 0 Win ratio 90% Draw ratio 10% Loss ratio 0% Goals per game 2.9 Goals conceded per game 0.4 Games v top half: Games played 10 Goals scored 21 Goal conceded 13 Games won 3 Games drawn 5 Games lost 1 Win ratio 30% Draw ratio 50% Loss ratio 10% Goals per game 2.1 Goals conceded per game 1.3 We are in massive trouble any time we play a half decent side. We scored about 2 goals a game (like v chelsea) but we concede 1.3 gaols per game so we have a trend. City, Brighton, West ham, Spurs, Chelsea. all conceded 2 to 3 goals. ----------------------------------------------------- For the blocks of 4 we have a postponement so black 5 might not be as bad as it looks right now. this says headed for 70points not 90 for sure. Super league 6 now: you can clearly see City are destroying the rest of the league top and bottom half. Had we hedl out v cheslea there was nothing really between the top 6 but again the issue is crystal clear there. Any half decent side is scoring 1.3 goals per game against us. That's fine if the goals are flying in the other end all the time but guess what Leicester 0-1, west ham we get our 2 but let in 3. too many gaps between cbs, zero covering, just playing offside, poor set piece and then add in not playing the smart % pass leading to turn over i nthe areas were we seek it ourselves leading to chances.
Think was carragher that pointed out us and city have both gone ahead 17 times this season. Problem is city have won all 17 of them where as we have only won 12 of them (I think that was the figure?) Midfield just aren’t controlling things and leaving us under too much pressure. Our game management in that title winning season was brilliant. Just knew once we went ahead we weren’t gonna throw it away. However seem to have gone back to you attack we attack football even when we’re ahead and letting teams have too many chances.
I think its a bit more than that. Yes the midfield don't control anything, for sure I agree. They are there to sprint and close down and the play it fast at salah. But if you add in unwillingness to get back in or for even one to hold its a different problem. Add in the offside game and a gap between cbs a mile wide with no cover and we start to see big issues. But looking at the stupidity v chelsea, most of the time it came to nothing as cheslea's forwards were poor. it was all over the park issues. playing the ball to players with back to play, flipping half hearted balls at one of our lads who's under pressure rather than clearing it etc. I counted 5 "headers" which you'd actually call passes compared to one actual hoof out of play by vvd for example. Loads of extra touches etc. Their second goal is a classic example. Henderson had no right flipping a ball like that out at trent. the lad was already closed down. hoof the thing 3 miles up in the air and everyone gets set. Our issue for me is we simply don't want to do the ugly side and "get set" other better defensive units pour back and get shape and then let us have a go. we rely on offside to do it for us. I agree we are letting sides have too many changes, klopp has said as much several times after wins. e.g. southampton.
It looks like Klopp is evolving our style of play and is something he wanted to since the beginning of last season. We're trying to become more progressive in midfield, take more risks and attack more - no coincidence that our attacking play has been excellent for most parts this season, especially with the RCM being more aggressive and combining more with Trent and Salah. The issue is covid and injuries, and the constant disruption to our team which is leading to us having to patch the team with inferior quality. It's 2022 and we're still starting Milner and Henderson in midfield. With the RCM now being more advanced, we badly need the LCM and DM to hold position and provide the defensive stability - you're not going to get that with any of our midfielders other than Naby and Thiago (and a certain Mr Gini!). I still can't believe that we did not use Naby to play that role vs Leic or Chelsea - it makes no sense. But that's only Klopp more than anything. Then you have Hendo on the right side - he simply does not have the legs to cover the ground and provide any defensive cover. Tbf - he has been good going forward when next to Thiago and Fab.
Really wish people would stop harping about wijnaldum Literally nothing to do with why the team is leaking goals. He made his bed for himself.
Don't get me wrong - I think letting him go was the right thing. The issue is that we didn't replace him with another midfielder as we knew Thiago would pick up niggles and despite Naby being good enough to play the role, Klopp would hardly choose him. With that said, I rather have given Gini a new contract over Hendo. That decision is looking more and more horrid with each game.
People have an obsession with replacements having to arrive as the other player leaves. Thiago IS the Wijnaldum replacement.
Gini played around 3,000 mins last season whilst Thiago played 1,900 and has only played more than 2,000 on two occasions I believe. If we really expected Thiago to cover all of Gini's minutes, then that is very dumb IMO and poor squad management. No doubt that Thiago is a massive upgrade on Gini but we needed another option to cover for when Thiago is out injured. In theory that would have been Naby but a) he is injury prone and b) Klopp doesn't prefer him for whatever reason. Either way, the midfield needs an overhaul. Hendo isn't up to scratch, Milner has been past his sell by date for 1-2 years, Ox isn't kicking on, Fabinho isn't getting any young, Naby may as well leave if he can't get past Milner and Thiago is injury prone.
Players progressing and adding value through passes and carries: - It may not be peak Mane but he is doing pretty well this season. - Trent is ridiculous with his passing - Salah is brilliant at dribbling - Give me Raphinha! - Don't let Ronaldo pass the ball ... please log in to view this image
Can't pin all that on Thiago, we've got about seven recognised internationals (or former) CMs in the squad... Fabinho Thiago Henderson Milner Ox Jones Keita ... plus Elliott; Klopp counted him! Behind that we've got youngsters and others like Minamino, Trent and Bobby that could fill in too. IMO, we expected Wijnaldum to leave a season earlier. That's when we bought Thiago and it would have given us some funds too.
fabinho is 28 now. its clear the midfield needs updating BUT its not the only issue. It's clearly not right at the back compared to the heroics of kabak and phillips who actually did defend together. VVD is not fit enough yet. he is even breaking a sweat this season. only time will tell if he gets back to his unsweaty, perfumed self after another preseason next year. IMo he's still not at the level he needs to be at.
i love these largely meaningless charts. If you want rafinha, why no get Townsend instead. nearly the same level or how about nathan Redmond LOL or how about comparing james minler to ward prowse or how about saying creswell is as good as gallagher or maddison.
We have 8 midfielders to play for 3 spots - yes on the surface that sounds like a lot. But the issue is that the 3 midfield roles are all different: - DM - only Fab can play this to a good enough standard. - LCM - sits in next to Fab, provides defensive stability and blocks out passing lanes but also help to control and dictate the game. Only Thiago and Naby can do this to a top level. The rest simply aren't good enough. - RCM - more progressive and takes more risks. We are definitely stacked in this area.
