Match Day Thread Vs Arsenal (H)

Even failed flicks and tricks concern the opposition; defenders can't commit because if they do come off, we're in.

 

Without doubt Bobby seems to have lost some of his mojo.

 

He has his moments, but he is not as consistent as he has been. I would have got Minamino on earlier against Arsenal.

 

What you have to do is have a bit of a moan about him while the game is on, guaranteed to make him score. Speaking from experience.

 

I said the following "elsewhere" to certain cretins.

if people want to know what Bobby firmino is about they ought to take another look at the moments in that arsenal game.

examples include;

who is on hand to pick up the ball and keep the move going then keita was taken out by Luiz. yes firmino. its a simple pass and salah does well to beat Tierney but there is the link play.

look who runs into the right wing channel to collect the ball so we are up the park and then retains and plays it back so we end up seeing taa cross to robertson. yup firmino.

firmino leads the press centrally then we find arsenal in tight spaces wide where players like mane and robertson then are getting the ball back as arsenal run out of room.

another example, who's the guy tackling in midfield to win it back so in the move where salah robs it off jota? Bobby.

for me this is the exact same debate as wijnaldum, he gets zero credit for the work that creates the domineering game we play.

when keita went off having done the job he was asked to do in the press then milner sat deeper and suddenly wijnaldum "comes alive" and is seen far more doing exactly what keita has been doing.

these guys are all doing their jobs in a very deliberate game plan. firmino plays his part and he simply cannot be in two places at once, you cant be winning the ball or running into channels and be hanging on the 6 yard box.

it is also a plain fact that if a side plays 5 at the back as the last two teams have done then a forward wont have space.

what we are seeing is a steamroller of a system that compresses space and forces teams to go long or break the press. that stream roller is driven by the front 3 but it requires firmino to lead it. it needs one cm pushing up and the two full backs sprinting in at pace if the ball is floated out the the full back area.

the nice thing is to watch this thursday as the second team tries to emulate this.

 

Has mito always been this much of a pompous prick or has it got worse?

 

Funny, I was just thinking that I'd missed his in depth analysis

 

Its the "certain cretins" part. Not sure i like that.

 

I was gonna say its quite the list.

 

Can't help but suspect he means me...

#allaboutzanjinho

 

Maybe he should provide a list of said cretins...


#joking

 

Has anyone noticed that he no longer speak mitoese either...?

i smell a rat

 

I think he makes some valid points

 

He's listing specific examples of things some of us have been saying often in general terms - that Firmino is crucial to the way we play, and how we score goals, even though more often it's someone else that gets them.

 

I think we all know what Bobby brings to the game and is without doubt one of our most important players but in the past he would have joined in with the goals more and have had more attempts on goal these days he doesn't seem to do that , it's as if he's lost a bit of confidence in front of goal.

 

True - he plays in arguably the most congested part of the pitch so any pass he plays is more likely to get cut out.

I keep looking back at this 17/18 season where he was pressing like a demon (as per usual) but his contribution on the ball was ridiculous. He had goals, assists, the flicks and tricks - it was coming off for him.

 

Unleash Minamino.

Thats all

 

Yeah, I'd love to see him get more goals again - but even a goal-shy Bobby is still an immense player in our set-up.
There have been a number of cup games where we've been lacklustre, he's come off the bench and suddenly it all starts to click - he makes things happen.
Perhaps he's suffering from burn-out a little? Hopefully Minamino is being groomed into his role - there are already similarities, but still some way to go, - to take the burden off him a bit.

 

The majority of the points you have raised is pretty much what everyone has said - he works incredibly hard off the ball to either win it back, or create space for others.

The issue is when he is ON the ball and that's where he should be doing better.