Hard to judge anybody last night, but Quansah was sound, especially in the 2nd half when it seemed that we were trying to defend in an episode of Deadliest Catch. Thought Joe was mature, Matip solid, the Greek was meh, Endo hit and miss, Elliott and Mo tried too many flicks and touches in the conditions, Jones was ponderous, Gakpo was industrious, Trent was greedy and wasteful when he came on as a DM (which is frustrating for those of us who-d like to see him there permanently), and Kelleher was as dependable as ever. Then on comes Darwin, strong, direct, and ruthless - just what was needed last night. I said 10 mins in that I didn't mind if we won or lost - it's only the LC, and, unless you get a big opponent, you really don't take it seriously until the semis if you get there. In those conditions, I would have just been happy with no injuries and getting home safely (hope they didn't attempt to fly home last night). That we won was a bonus, as were some players facing a test of character and coming through flying.
Interesting discussion. As a young player trying to break into the team what do you want to do? 1. Safe and sound, no mistakes, but no stand out moments. Your not going to be lambasted, but nobody is going to be talking about you either. 2. Go for it, try the outrageous, take the risk, if you **** it, it could be your opportunity over, but if it comes off, your name is on everyone's lips, you're suddenly an exciting prospect rather than just another youth player being given a chance.
Depends on your natural instincts. Don’t think anyone should be trying to do things they are comfortable with as only going to go wrong and manager is picking you for what you can do. If your natural game is to get ball down and take a few risks that’s what got you where you are and got you picked so should stick with it.
I don't think your original point was taken out of context mate, just expanded upon. I think we're unanimous in our opinion of Quansah.
It's a funny one. Doak for example looked really exciting when coming on as a sub, direct & fearless, he got his start and looked timid in comparison. I wonder how many young boys get their opportunity and think, don't **** up, don't **** up, rather than **** it let's have a go.
doak has a couple of issues. First the ball may not go near him for 20mins as we have a way of knocking it a out and unless he hunts for it he's boned. second he has not got the end ball yet as he drives to across. if our players knew he'd pick them.out they would feed him the ball. quansah has the unhappy position of the opposition targeting him so has to stand up every minute. you cannot have the game pass you by in the defence
Me too. I don't think what I said was taken out of context, just blown up out of all proportion. I said he was very assured, but just warned against becoming over-confident, which was a fairly reasonable comment I thought. I wasn't expecting an Oxford Union debate over it.
There is different challenges depending on position. I can imagine as young defender you'd be terrified of making a mistake that leads to a goal. You'd have to have some confidence in your own ability to try what Quansah did, but its paid off. As a more forward player the danger is having no influence on the game, drifting through the 90 minutes with little impact.
I can remember standing on the Kop when our new young CB called Alan Hansen made his first appearance. In those days CB's just hoofed the ball clear. The Kop held their collective breath as this skinny young kid calmly dribbled the ball out of the penalty area and then made a perfect pass. He was the first CB I can remember seeing who could really play out from the back.
Tbf to Tommy Smith he never hoofed the ball, he caressed it 60 yards with pinpoint accuracy. His first touch was sublime too. Pity he couldn't run though.
Liverpool’s Carabao Cup quarter-final against West Ham United will be played on Wednesday December 20. The tie at Anfield will kick off at 8pm GMT and will be shown live by Sky Sports in the UK. Liverpool v West Ham: Carabao Cup fixture details confirmed - Liverpool FC
