Top post Danzel and much like Swab, the post you highlighted about Moreno made me view him in an entirely different light and ever since I've had a real appreciation for how he's improved on the reckless lad of the past.
I think that recklesness was one of the biggest problems most people had with him. Whenever he'd try to make an interception or a tackle, he'd fly in like a mad man and more often than not, he'd take himself out of the game completely leaving acres of space in behind where Lovren would then start to panic. His current approach in these situations seems to be far more measured and you very rarely see him flying in anymore. From memory I think I can only remember one time this season where it almost went wrong and that was late in the 2nd half in Hoffenheim.
Totally agree with Can and while I don't generally like to call players lazy he has that tag off me right now, he's infuriating me to be honest and I simply can't wait to get Lallana back. Sure Wijnaldum has had few touches but he does do his part in the press and the ushering of the opposition into the areas you highlighted...
He infuriates me too, he has bags of talent and potential, but his head doesn't seem to be in it right now. I don't think it's down to fitness levels / stamina issues. If it were, surely Klopp and his staff would substitute him more often later in games where he's an even bigger liability if he can't keep up with the pace of the game?
I don't remember which game it was, think it was against Arsenal for Salah's goal, he'd make the fastest sprint I'd ever seen him make, almost putting Usain Bolt to shame, to join the counter-attack and that was around the hour mark. He just can't be bothered to do his defensive duties it seems and it's costing us points. Problem being that both Grujic and Alex aren't ready either to play in that position, so he was the only option for Klopp. Good call with Wijnaldum there. I remember people using the amount of touches he had on the ball during the Leicester game as a statistic to say he had a bad game. People should watch that game again and look at his work off the ball, I think he did really, really well. In our system (in any system really), the work the players do off the ball is equally important as the work the players do when on the ball.
Wasn't his preference to play in that #6 role during the period where he was carrying that calf injury and that the #6 role would require him to make less sprints and make it easier to play there with that injury? I don't think he's a player who'd like to be limited to that #6 position, he joins attacks way too often and doesn't have the discipline to play there. He'd probably have to do less running in that position though if we'd switch Henderson and him around because Henderson would actually do his defensive duties and track the runner.
If I were Henderson, I'd be really pissed off with Can. Can is making him look sh*t because he constantly has to fill the gaps Can is leaving behind and people then think Henderson is out of position while he actually is doing exactly what Klopp expects him to do. The problem is that Can doesn't return the favour to cover Henderson when Henderson is covering for him. With Coutinho back I'd expect to see a midfield of Coutinho - Henderson - Wijnaldum more often.
« Last Edit: Sep 29, 2017 09:22:27 pm by Danzel »
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