Allisson is player of the season so far for me. It's not even close as far as I'm concerned. Another huge performance from him playing behind a backline that once again was shaky if not disastrous at times.
Someone needs to have a talk with Trent. If you noticed, the lad is not out of the picture defensively, he does track his man and he is there, but it seems like he is absolutely terrified of putting a tackle in for some reason. Somebody needs to remind him tackling is part of being a defender even if you are a right back. Put him in the middle of the rondo for the next few weeks or something because it can't go on like that. I am aware this is probably a loss of confidence first and foremost because he was not like that the seasons before, but he needs to get it together quickly or its just a matter of time before he's at the heart of another poor defensive performance.
Another thing I noticed during the game is that Salah started the game way too close to the touchline and was stuck there until Harvey was subbed in but by then we had totally lost control of the game because Thiago was subbed off and we reverted to that weird brand of football we have been playing since the start of the season which is comprised of three very simple steps: Get the ball (1), nobody in midfield can manage to break through the opposition's press (2), and finally, panic and make a poor long pass to an isolated forward upfront and lose the ball (3). The thing I take out of this is that for our 4-4-2 to work against lesser opposition we need Thiago in midfield and Harvey playing the hybrid RM/RCM role he's been playing in order to free Mo and whoever is playing in front or behind Mo. Anything else and we lose our ability to keep the ball long enough and in enough free spaces to create anything or Mo is forced to the byline and we know he's much less effective there. The bad news is this means that we are one Thiago injury away from our 4-4-2 being useless because we, effectively, seem to have no ability to break through any press without him on the ball which in turn means the most creative you can get is by throwing passes over the top which wont work against opposition not willing to throw their whole team in your half like City did. Some people did not like the changes Klopp did, I agree, but he has no choice. Very busy schedule and everybody and their grandpa is injured. We can't risk losing Thiago or anybody else to be honest.
The positives now! Nunez bagged yet another goal which is huge for his confidence (he's getting there). He could've left the game with at least another goal if it wasn't for his shot hitting the post. Despite being shaky defensively we got ourselves another clean sheet which I imagine will also do wonders for this backline's confidence levels. In due time, Carvalho is going to be a big player for us. He is still young and has a tendency to take one too many touch on the ball, but the lad has the ability to keep the ball and run with it which, yesterday, after Thiago, made him our second most efficient player at breaking through the opposition's press. Assuming we keep playing that 4-4-2 and assuming that when he starts, Klopp employs him the same way he employs Harvey on that right flank (hybrid between an RM and RCM) then I could see him slowly becoming what we wanted Keita to be in terms of carrying the ball forward through the middle. Tsimikas is solid both defensively and offensively. Only a few games ago that he was just ''okay'' defensively. Klopp was forced into those subs by fear of injury, but its good that we made sure Thiago, Nunez, Carvalho, etc. all stay healthy while giving someone like Jones some minutes after a lengthy period on the sideline.
All in all, get the 3 points by any means necessary, rotate your squad, get the confidence boost and move on!
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