Team V Liverpool

Hamza's afro is amazing.

Legit could hide the ball in there and walk it into the opposition net.

 

Review of the game - we were ****e until Courtinho went off and Okazaki came on.

Would say Liverpool lost rather then we won.

Okazaki needs to start every game.

 

Simil

Similar to my lovemaking my prediction skills are ****

 

Iborra was a bit hit and miss, admittedly ... but it was a lovely cushioned lay off he made to Shinji for the opener

...and as for Shinji .... superb impact.

 

Shakey got out of jail with that one. First half we were so overrun in midfield with Albrighton getting pulled infield and leaving the left flank open that we should have been 2 or 3 down. We just relied on 40 yard balls to try and relieve the pressure without trying to build anything. Liverpool attacked as a unit and played 10 or 15 yard balls and cut straight through us. It was embarrassing. It was the injury that allowed Okazaki on and gave us that extra pace and presence in midfield that made the difference, and also the withdrawal of Coutinho.

Iborra started to show more in the second half when we actually tried to play as a unit. He looked totally lost in the first half. If we set up 4-4-2 on Saturday then it will prove that Shakey has learned nothing from tonight. Especially as Liverpool will be much stronger.

 

Iborra wont start on Saturday with that performance, will be interesting to see who we start up front.

 

I'm almost embarrassed we won that. Although we were better second half that was, in the main shocking.

 

The difficulty for Iborra is that he is used to playing in a team that has players who can keep the ball and that plays a style of play based on shorter passes and movement rather than one that tries to get the ball up front as quickly as possible which creates huge gaps between the strikers and midfield. He looked totally bemused in the first half last night and must have wondered what he's let himself in for. We did improve in the second half and moved the ball about better and kept possession, and he started to look more comfortable. It is always going to be difficult for foreign players to move to teams who can't retain possession, as it's totally alien to them. With our imports over the summer I'd very much like to see us play a more possession based game. The long ball up to 2 big strikers last night didn't work as their control was woeful and they were often isolated.

 

My thoughts on last night's game:

Hamer - Only had 1 real effort to save, the others were straight at him.
Amartey - Thought he got dragged in to central areas to easily, which left Albrighton playing too deep.
Chilwell - Had a good game. I forgot The Ox was on the pitch in the 2nd half!
Dragovic - Did well for his debut. Looked very steady.
Morgan - Did okay, typical Wes performance.
Albrighton - A few disappointing crosses, but had to do a lot of defending due to Amartey being dragged inside.
Iborra - Hit and miss. Gave the ball away too many times, some wayward passing, but improved as the game went on. Looked shattered.
Ndidi - Battled well after a slow start. Limped off at the end, hope he is okay for Saturday.
Gray - A couple of good runs, but looked like his heart wasn't in it at times.
Ulloa - Didn't really do much, ran around a bit, but gave the ball away alot.
Slimani - Wasn't in the game at all in the 1st half, his control let him down at times, but never gave up battling. A wonder goal that will hopefully bring him some confidence.
Choudary - A couple of decent blocks on his debut.
Okazaki - Changed the game for Leicester. From the first minute of coming on, he never stopped running.

 

When I got home from the game, I watched Okazaki receive his man of the match award from Morgan. One of the funniest things I've seen in a while. If you haven't seen his reaction, it's a must see......hilarious

 

I think Iborra was trying too hard last night. Rather then keeping it simple he was trying overhead kicks and fancy passes

 

Unfortunately the other players 'were' keeping it simple. So simple they were woeful for the most part lol