Think this maybe our transition season not last season as we all thought. Klopp’s players are gradually being squeezed out and Slot is trying to balance between the old regime and his new regime. Salah is missing Trent with the effect that nobody is passing to Salah but then again Salah doesn’t exactly come looking for the ball. There is nothing coming down the wings although we allegedly have 2 very fast full backs, consequently everything is going through the middle and once we lose possession we are in shit street as neither of our high pressing centre backs seem particularly quick nowadays when the ball is knocked over them into that vast chasm between them and Allison. Perhaps I should stick to subbuteo 🤔🤔
Yeah we all assumed there’d be a transition last season but keeping the same players and broadly the same tactics avoided that. I’m sure it’s no coincidence that Salah is struggling when starting wit three different right-backs already this season. Desperately need a bit of stability.
FWIW, I like a post-match analysis post alongside one about a longitudinal trend. Another string to your bow. Thanks Andrew.
It's been a difficult start to the season. It's hard to sugar coat it as the performances have often been poor. However, it's also silly to not have some perspective given the scale of change in the squad. Alex and Florian are world-class players and they will achieve the fitness levels that the EPL's intensity requires and rediscover their form. When they are "back", it'll have a knock-on effect to the rest of the squad.
After the next international break, hopefully Arne will start the "new-to-EPL" signings (Florian / Jeremie / Hugo) in the cup competitions and limit them to substitutes in the league. Give them time to adjust to the new country/league/club.
Get the impression our spending blitz was not aimed at this season but future seasons in the hope that the new signings get time to gel into Slots system. Personally think Salah is on his way at the end of the season, get a nice reasonable fee for him and he sails off into the sunset as a legend and everybody is happy 😃
Sorry to hear about the Tomkins change. I'm not a subscriber, but better to have more outlets than not when you're doing this for a living (something I've never been able to do...) Your point about Florian looking much better in the Champions League than the Premier League is cogent. I've been saying that that's where he SHOULD be showing up because both squads we've faced in the CL so far are closer to Bundesliga level. It sounds awfully arrogant to say as a fan of a PL club but I think we've gone past the point of disputing that the level of the league is higher than pretty much anywhere else in Europe not labeled "Bernabeu", "Spotify Camp Nou", or "Allianz" (at least the one in Munich.) So, Flo having to adjust to the greater pace of play there isn't a surprise. What is a surprise is when he's not really showing up in CL play, either.
Opta posted today that he's created more chances for us than any other player in the league so far and that only bends me toward questioning their methodology, as "chances" are even less well-defined than "expected goals." Yes, there's no denying that he has delivered a few nice through balls, as expected. There's also no denying that he's only winning 1/3 of his duels and continually has the ball taken off him in the middle third, even when there are open teammates to pass to, as absolutely not expected. Only having half a midfielder out there isn't what anyone signed up for. To say: "That's because he hasn't adjusted to the PL yet" is fine, but it happened THREE TIMES yesterday in Istanbul. No, I am not blaming him alone for our poor performances. There are a lot of factors there and he's just one of them. As before, I am far more prone to suggest that the primary flaw begins with Arne's tinkering. But I understand why he's doing it, since we have so many new players to bed in that we paid a lot of money for and there's some evidence that our slowdown in the late winter last season (CL, League Cup) is because we didn't rotate enough and we wore out. But that's rotation, not a whole new approach to playing the game. In this instance, as much as I rarely agree with his tactical assessments, I think Carragher has it right: Flo needs to come off for a while until we get things stabilized with everyone else (including Mo.) And maybe start rotating Joe in for Ibou in the hopes that someone will be less prone to giving up scoring chances every 30 minutes...
Thanks re Tomkins Times but I'll be fine, it's the life of the freelancer. Last time I counted I'd had work published by over 30 places, this sort of thing is inevitable.
Re chances created, they are simply the pass that precedes a shot. If Wirtz plays a simple pass to Gakpo who drills a long range shot into the first defender (to use a purely hypothetical example, obviously!) then he has created a chance.
More interesting are Opta's big chances, which are those where you'd expect the shooter to score. Wirtz has created three when nobody in the squad has more than four, so not too bad (though it's reasonable to expect more).
On the difference between the Bundesliga and PL, I was looking at that recently. My logic for thinking Gyokeres might flop at Arsenal is that most clubs in Portugal are below Championship standard, at least according to Opta. But if you apply the same logic to Germany, while clearly not as bad, 11 of the 18 teams are currently worse than any team in the Premier League. And Wirtz obviously played for one of the seven above that line. It's probably worth a deeper investigation as it will help explain his relative troubles.
On the chances created thing, I know the usual definition. I was just trying to refer to the idea that not all shots are equal. So, Flo has created more chances but if three of those chances are Cody shots that landed in 204 in The Kop it's not as good as Opta makes it sound. I agree that big chances are really where it's at, but also that Flo can only provide and hope that Cody puts the shot on target (i.e. there's a limit to both what he can do and be expected to do.) Anyway, I end up sounding like one of those people declaring him a "bust" after 7 games, so I'll get off this hobby horse.
To my mind, it makes sense that EVERY LFC player from last season will have his equilibrium thrown off (for an unknowable period of time) by the injection of so many new band members. Perhaps Mo Salah more than anyone, since he was the longtime central cog for offensive output for so long.
It makes sense to me also that Florian Wirtz is the #1 most disruptive new presence to the team. I don’t say that as “blame” for what he does or doesn’t do now. It’s just that I see him as playing a role we’ve not had in the team in a long time - a master conductor stationed in the midfield. It changes everything - perhaps for Mo more than anyone else.
Does it make sense to bring such a player in now to build a NEW methodology? Absolutely! We can’t rely on the old Mo-based one forever. Will it be a chaotic process? Absolutely! I believe we have the right coach to handle the process, and great non-dickhead players to make it happen. It may take a while
Think this maybe our transition season not last season as we all thought. Klopp’s players are gradually being squeezed out and Slot is trying to balance between the old regime and his new regime. Salah is missing Trent with the effect that nobody is passing to Salah but then again Salah doesn’t exactly come looking for the ball. There is nothing coming down the wings although we allegedly have 2 very fast full backs, consequently everything is going through the middle and once we lose possession we are in shit street as neither of our high pressing centre backs seem particularly quick nowadays when the ball is knocked over them into that vast chasm between them and Allison. Perhaps I should stick to subbuteo 🤔🤔
Yeah we all assumed there’d be a transition last season but keeping the same players and broadly the same tactics avoided that. I’m sure it’s no coincidence that Salah is struggling when starting wit three different right-backs already this season. Desperately need a bit of stability.
FWIW, I like a post-match analysis post alongside one about a longitudinal trend. Another string to your bow. Thanks Andrew.
It's been a difficult start to the season. It's hard to sugar coat it as the performances have often been poor. However, it's also silly to not have some perspective given the scale of change in the squad. Alex and Florian are world-class players and they will achieve the fitness levels that the EPL's intensity requires and rediscover their form. When they are "back", it'll have a knock-on effect to the rest of the squad.
After the next international break, hopefully Arne will start the "new-to-EPL" signings (Florian / Jeremie / Hugo) in the cup competitions and limit them to substitutes in the league. Give them time to adjust to the new country/league/club.
Get the impression our spending blitz was not aimed at this season but future seasons in the hope that the new signings get time to gel into Slots system. Personally think Salah is on his way at the end of the season, get a nice reasonable fee for him and he sails off into the sunset as a legend and everybody is happy 😃
Sorry to hear about the Tomkins change. I'm not a subscriber, but better to have more outlets than not when you're doing this for a living (something I've never been able to do...) Your point about Florian looking much better in the Champions League than the Premier League is cogent. I've been saying that that's where he SHOULD be showing up because both squads we've faced in the CL so far are closer to Bundesliga level. It sounds awfully arrogant to say as a fan of a PL club but I think we've gone past the point of disputing that the level of the league is higher than pretty much anywhere else in Europe not labeled "Bernabeu", "Spotify Camp Nou", or "Allianz" (at least the one in Munich.) So, Flo having to adjust to the greater pace of play there isn't a surprise. What is a surprise is when he's not really showing up in CL play, either.
Opta posted today that he's created more chances for us than any other player in the league so far and that only bends me toward questioning their methodology, as "chances" are even less well-defined than "expected goals." Yes, there's no denying that he has delivered a few nice through balls, as expected. There's also no denying that he's only winning 1/3 of his duels and continually has the ball taken off him in the middle third, even when there are open teammates to pass to, as absolutely not expected. Only having half a midfielder out there isn't what anyone signed up for. To say: "That's because he hasn't adjusted to the PL yet" is fine, but it happened THREE TIMES yesterday in Istanbul. No, I am not blaming him alone for our poor performances. There are a lot of factors there and he's just one of them. As before, I am far more prone to suggest that the primary flaw begins with Arne's tinkering. But I understand why he's doing it, since we have so many new players to bed in that we paid a lot of money for and there's some evidence that our slowdown in the late winter last season (CL, League Cup) is because we didn't rotate enough and we wore out. But that's rotation, not a whole new approach to playing the game. In this instance, as much as I rarely agree with his tactical assessments, I think Carragher has it right: Flo needs to come off for a while until we get things stabilized with everyone else (including Mo.) And maybe start rotating Joe in for Ibou in the hopes that someone will be less prone to giving up scoring chances every 30 minutes...
Thanks re Tomkins Times but I'll be fine, it's the life of the freelancer. Last time I counted I'd had work published by over 30 places, this sort of thing is inevitable.
Re chances created, they are simply the pass that precedes a shot. If Wirtz plays a simple pass to Gakpo who drills a long range shot into the first defender (to use a purely hypothetical example, obviously!) then he has created a chance.
More interesting are Opta's big chances, which are those where you'd expect the shooter to score. Wirtz has created three when nobody in the squad has more than four, so not too bad (though it's reasonable to expect more).
On the difference between the Bundesliga and PL, I was looking at that recently. My logic for thinking Gyokeres might flop at Arsenal is that most clubs in Portugal are below Championship standard, at least according to Opta. But if you apply the same logic to Germany, while clearly not as bad, 11 of the 18 teams are currently worse than any team in the Premier League. And Wirtz obviously played for one of the seven above that line. It's probably worth a deeper investigation as it will help explain his relative troubles.
https://theanalyst.com/articles/who-are-the-best-football-team-in-the-world-opta-power-rankings
On the chances created thing, I know the usual definition. I was just trying to refer to the idea that not all shots are equal. So, Flo has created more chances but if three of those chances are Cody shots that landed in 204 in The Kop it's not as good as Opta makes it sound. I agree that big chances are really where it's at, but also that Flo can only provide and hope that Cody puts the shot on target (i.e. there's a limit to both what he can do and be expected to do.) Anyway, I end up sounding like one of those people declaring him a "bust" after 7 games, so I'll get off this hobby horse.
To my mind, it makes sense that EVERY LFC player from last season will have his equilibrium thrown off (for an unknowable period of time) by the injection of so many new band members. Perhaps Mo Salah more than anyone, since he was the longtime central cog for offensive output for so long.
It makes sense to me also that Florian Wirtz is the #1 most disruptive new presence to the team. I don’t say that as “blame” for what he does or doesn’t do now. It’s just that I see him as playing a role we’ve not had in the team in a long time - a master conductor stationed in the midfield. It changes everything - perhaps for Mo more than anyone else.
Does it make sense to bring such a player in now to build a NEW methodology? Absolutely! We can’t rely on the old Mo-based one forever. Will it be a chaotic process? Absolutely! I believe we have the right coach to handle the process, and great non-dickhead players to make it happen. It may take a while
Agree with all of that.