He has been disappointing so far and I really thought he would be an instant hit based on the various clips and game films of his last couple of seasons in Germany. My thoughts on him thus far are:
He needs to
- Be far more careful with the ball. He doesn't really check if the pass is on, he gave it away a couple of times the other night with no-look passes and was lucky not to cost us a goal.
- Release the ball a lot more quickly, he often beats a man (does all the hard work) but then holds on to it too long and either loses the ball or ends up playing a safe pass backwards as all his angles have shut down.
- Show a bit of positional awareness. I'm still not sure what role Jürgen wants him to play. Does he want him to be box to box, sit and hold, or as an out an out attacking mid? f Klopp doesn't know then i'm not sure Naby does either. He clearly likes to get forward but he doesn't half abandon his post when we are attacking and then unfortunately if he is the one who then turns over the ball then he (and the whole team) are in a difficult position.
What I like:
- We saw in that 2nd half that he can turn on the ball and glide past players, he also likes to travel with the ball and this is crucial against teams that park the bus. Funnily enough he looked more influential when Firmino wasn't treading on his toes in central areas.
- As has been suggested already, stick him in front of Fabinho and Gini and give him some licence to roam. When Firmino drops deep give him some licence to get beyond the ball. With the 2 behind him at least we are better set should he lose the ball in a bad area.
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