Yep, I did the same. I wonder who's giving him a kick up the rear for being sh*te for the past 4/5 months.
Someone's going to have a sore foot if they're giving everyone that's not performing a kick up the ass! Maybe that's how captain Hendo actually injured his foot?
Nope, that's Moreno. He has the ability but he's not using it. Unless you're saying Hendo is a better player than he's shown
Moreno has the ability as well - short memories but Moreno was actually performing very well under Klopp. Henderson is our captain. I have yet to see any leadership or commanding performance from him.
Was being the operative word If one or other lb looks better right now they play and the other realises they need to do better That's the basis of everything. If not its play favorites and that leads to more issues than it solves in the medium and long term. If smith is playing better then play him Same for flanagan v Clyne Same for ilori v toure v lucas. There's nothing personal in picking the best team possible.
I agree but I'm yet to see smith perform better than Moreno. Better going forward but worse defensively. Flanno will never displace clyne. I would happily play Stewart and tex over Lucas and lallana.
Re; Moreno... that's what I said He had the ability but he's not using it. Ie he needs a kick up the back side.
That's crazy though and the reality of that will cripple us, every year we overhaul the team and it doesn't work. We need to bring in 3 players and we need those players to be experienced and ready to go not players with potential. Grujic is a maybe, there are serious doubts on Markovic which leaves Matip as the only solid signing of the 3. It would make sense to look at selling Benteke if we can recover the majority of the transfer fee we paid as it would fund the possibility of a 4th player coming in but if we start selling and buying en masse then we'll be **** again. We need a squad and yes those named are not performing but put them in a good team and they may also improve.
According to ESPN Stats for this season (I assume they are accurate) going forward between Moreno and Smith are very similar...other than Moreno has had 25 more opportunities than Smith to play. Only one of Morenos assists came in the PL. Smith has scored, Moreno has not. As for defensively can anyone see stats on tackles made or defensive errors made because they aren't included. Obviously due to the disparity in games played they may be slanted against Moreno tbf. Ancedontal IMO I have seen very little difference between them at the back. Both get caught up field (more to do with tactics than personal blame). They both look Niave in decision making..they both lose their men at the back post..they both commit silly fouls due to bad positioning. I think they are equal enough to compete for the spot. Flannagan needs to play a lot more games to see if he is true competition for Clyne but I think he is more agressive when up than Clyne...who tends (like everyone else up there) to dwell on the ball rather than be actually effective in supporting the attack.
It would make sense at this point to play Clyne at RB and Flanno at LB problem solved 2 full backs that can defend.
Benteke With either Sturridge or Origi No point having the best outlet in the league with no one around him to pick up the balls he wins every. single. time.
I would tend to agree given our dfensive frailties since the flying FB doesn't seem to be producing the goods: Benteke is not scoring from crosses (not blaming him in this instances just stating a fact) And the low amounts of assists from either side from FB...and are they really creating space with overlapping runs? Dunno. Teams have sat back and thwarted us...maybe if Sturridge stays fit we will see more end product from these runs either directly or indirectly...
Flanno can't actually defend though - it's a complete myth based on the fact that he tackles hard. There were several examples of him losing his man, and his inability to stop crosses.
I agree with a more mobile striker like Sturridge in the team the FB's overlapping will stretch the opposition defence and leave room for him to exploit. The full backs don't need to score or assist (it would be nice though) but they have to push up to stretch the defence. Flanno and Clyne are capable of this as well as being better defensively.
Frank - I agree with you regarding Clyne going forward. I think he's been very underwhelming in that respect.
I mentioned this in the last game (and noted it previously) I just do not see the point in the long ball forward which Benteke always wins..when there is no one around him to pick up the second ball or run on to the flick on. Its not his fault in these situations its his team mates...either defenders for doing it continuously against klopps plans or the AM's for not getting into the correct positions to benefit. Not comparing the players directly but it reminds me when Suarez first came and would continuously come deep, recieve the ball and play the blind pass on only to find no one had made the run.. If your team mate is always winning the ball why would you not gamble the run?????
What he can do is defend better than Moreno, that's a fact. He may not be the best defender in the league but defensively he's better than Smith or Moreno.
