Other PL Round 31 Matches - Saturday 2nd April, 2022

[OrangeKhrush]

Paul Merson:

“They [Aston Villa] have got a good team.

“They should be…you know…it is [lack of] consistency.

“You turn seven of them defeats into wins and they are fourth.”

Jeff Stelling:

“You could say that with any team couldn’t you.”

Paul Merson:

“Well not really because they have lost fifteen games.

“I’m not saying they are Man Utd and you change them seven defeats into seven wins.

“We are talking about not even half their defeats.”

Jeff Stelling:

“I know, but if Norwich had won seven of the games they have lost, they’d be safe in mid-table.”

Paul Merson:

“Maybe…but that is Norwich, they haven’t got the players that Villa have got, Villa have got better kind of players.”

[Dan+]

That really is a dream of a result if you're a Brentford fan. Amazing.

[Cicero]

Tuchel blaming fatigue yet played a starting XI that were ran ragged during the international break. 

West Brom all over again. Guess we are winning the Champions League again. 

[Danny]

Brilliant from Mbeumo, but had this been done against Trent then you'd never hear the end of it

 

 

[Cicero]

13 minutes ago, Danny said:

Brilliant from Mbeumo, but had this been done against Trent then you'd never hear the end of it

 

 

Probably because James was just coming back from a prolonged hamstring injury, which is even mentioned in the clip...

[Danny]

8 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Probably because James was just coming back from a prolonged hamstring injury, which is even mentioned in the clip...

Probably wouldn’t be an excuse many people would listen to if it had happened to Trent

[Cicero]

3 minutes ago, Danny said:

Probably wouldn’t be an excuse many people would listen to if it had happened to Trent

There's probably a logical reason for that. 

 

[LFCMadLad]

27 minutes ago, Danny said:

Probably wouldn’t be an excuse many people would listen to if it had happened to Trent

You have a slight obsession with Trent don't you?

[Dr. Gonzo]

Just now, LFCMadLad said:

You have a slight obsession with Trent don't you?

He's saying the media's got an obsession with Trent  and that if that happened to Trent they wouldn't have come up with an excuse for why he fucked up so badly like they did with James.

[Danny]

23 minutes ago, Cicero said:

There's probably a logical reason for that. 

 

The point is that had it of been Trent, coming back from injury or not, it would be plastered all over the internet as to how bad a defender he is. Because that’s what happens whenever he makes a defensive mistake 

10 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said:

You have a slight obsession with Trent don't you?

That I think he’s a phenomenal footballer? 

[LFCMadLad]

9 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

He's saying the media's got an obsession with Trent  and that if that happened to Trent they wouldn't have come up with an excuse for why he fucked up so badly like they did with James.

Yeah reading it back that's clear. It's not Danny I was thinking of, it's someone else who's name escapes me?

Sorry @Danny

[LFCMike]

19 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said:

Yeah reading it back that's clear. It's not Danny I was thinking of, it's someone else who's name escapes me?

Sorry @Danny

Teso! 

[LFCMadLad]

2 minutes ago, LFCMike said:

Teso! 

More recent than him but bloody hell, Teso is a blast from the past 

[Cicero]

4 minutes ago, Danny said:

The point is that had it of been Trent, coming back from injury or not, it would be plastered all over the internet as to how bad a defender he is. Because that’s what happens whenever he makes a defensive mistake 

That I think he’s a phenomenal footballer? 

I don't agree to the preconceived notion that he is awful defensively, but there is an element of truth as to why this idea emerged. 

The way I see it, what makes TAA a generational talent is because of Klopp. He's formulated an effective system that has TAA in attacking areas and on the ball as much as possible. His ability on the ball sets him miles apart compared to any other full back on the planet.  What allows Klopp to take advantage of TAAs strengths is by having the world's best defensive midfielder and world's best centre back covering the space he leaves behind. You then have to look at last season when TAA didn't have that defensive cover with the injuries Liverpool had. Not sure if this was down to Klopp's mismanagement or TAA himself, but the amount of space he left was specifically targeted  by other clubs which found himself in awful situations defensively. 

There is fair argument to be had just on how effective TAA would be without Klopp or in a system where he has to defend just as much as attack. 

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 hour ago, Cicero said:

I don't agree to the preconceived notion that he is awful defensively, but there is an element of truth as to why this idea emerged. 

The way I see it, what makes TAA a generational talent is because of Klopp. He's formulated an effective system that has TAA in attacking areas and on the ball as much as possible. His ability on the ball sets him miles apart compared to any other full back on the planet.  What allows Klopp to take advantage of TAAs strengths is by having the world's best defensive midfielder and world's best centre back covering the space he leaves behind. You then have to look at last season when TAA didn't have that defensive cover with the injuries Liverpool had. Not sure if this was down to Klopp's mismanagement or TAA himself, but the amount of space he left was specifically targeted  by other clubs which found himself in awful situations defensively. 

There is fair argument to be had just on how effective TAA would be without Klopp or in a system where he has to defend just as much as attack. 

 

Henderson fills in more for Trent than Fabinho though? And Trent's time when he was most out of form last season was early on in the season - when we still had CBs. He was playing great when we had just Nat Phillips and other random people filling in for him... I think that's a serious re-writing of last season that's not really grounded in what actually happened last season. The biggest issue with last season during our run of being absolute shite was we had CMs playing at CB (and getting injured because no CBs could stay healthy) and our midfield went to absolute shit as a result.

What makes Trent a generational talent is his vision and passing range - I think that'd be true regardless of where his position would be under any manager. He's got better vision and a better passing range than most players in the league, regardless of their position.

If Southgate were a better manager, he'd take advantage of the fact he's got a right back with world class talent and find a system to get him to perform with England. But TAA is a player a simplistic "vibes only" manager like Southgate will always struggle to get the best out of because he's too different to fit into his very defensive setup. A better manager would have Trent feeding the ball to Kane all day long.

[Cicero]

7 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Henderson fills in more for Trent than Fabinho though? And Trent's time when he was most out of form last season was early on in the season - when we still had CBs. He was playing great when we had just Nat Phillips and other random people filling in for him... I think that's a serious re-writing of last season that's not really grounded in what actually happened last season. The biggest issue with last season during our run of being absolute shite was we had CMs playing at CB (and getting injured because no CBs could stay healthy) and our midfield went to absolute shit as a result.

What makes Trent a generational talent is his vision and passing range - I think that'd be true regardless of where his position would be under any manager. He's got better vision and a better passing range than most players in the league, regardless of their position.

If Southgate were a better manager, he'd take advantage of the fact he's got a right back with world class talent and find a system to get him to perform with England. But TAA is a player a simplistic "vibes only" manager like Southgate will always struggle to get the best out of because he's too different to fit into his very defensive setup. A better manager would have Trent feeding the ball to Kane all day long.

England struggle in defensive transition. That is why they play 5 at the back. They don't have the midfield nor CBs to replicate Liverpool's system. 

it really is an intriguing question. Personally, Klopp is the best in the world at the moment and I feel he's massively levelled your players with his football. I'm curious to see how your players fair with him gone or they move on ala Salah. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

17 minutes ago, Cicero said:

England struggle in defensive transition. That is why they play 5 at the back. They don't have the midfield nor CBs to replicate Liverpool's system. 

it really is an intriguing question. Personally, Klopp is the best in the world at the moment and I feel he's massively levelled your players with his football. I'm curious to see how your players fair with him gone or they move on ala Salah. 

I dunno, England have 2 players that are particularly familiar with Trent and how to work with him - in key positions too. Henderson and Gomez are two players you'd want with Trent in the England side. A solid CB that is good defensively and very quick (and familiar playing alongside Trent) along with the guy who does a lot of the dirty work for Trent. Get Phillips doing the Fabinho thing & Rice/Ward-Prowse in as a Gini/Thiago-lite and that's not that far away from our midfield.

Tbh, England struggle at a lot of things tactically... and I think that's down to the manager more than the players. But he's a good man manager that's fostered a good team spirit in the side and for international football, you don't really need to be good tactically tbh, and obviously England have looked better having shed the cliques and toxic attitudes of "the golden generation" going further in tournaments than they'd probably have been expected to.

I think we'll probably struggle when Klopp goes, because I think most sides would struggle if a manager as good as Klopp leaves. Only Pep really comes close imo, so anyone that comes in after Klopp isn't going to be the manager he is.

[Cicero]

1 hour ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

A solid CB that is good defensively and very quick (and familiar playing alongside Trent) along with the guy who does a lot of the dirty work for Trent. Get Phillips doing the Fabinho thing & Rice/Ward-Prowse in as a Gini/Thiago-lite and that's not that far away from our midfield.

 

You know as well as I do it isn’t as simple as that mate. Not only are they significantly lesser in quality, there isn’t Klopp there to coach them. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

10 minutes ago, Cicero said:

You know as well as I do it isn’t as simple as that mate. Not only are they significantly lesser in quality, there isn’t Klopp there to coach them. 

It's international football, everything about it is going to be less quality than any club side tbh.