Andrew Robertson

[Buzzo]

Yeah Bellingham was sensational, some sort of Pele/Zidane hybrid. And England looked worryingly slick - their squad depth is taking the piss a bit now.

Yeah Robbo was decent enough. But the mistake was an absolute howler.

[S-RED]

Best I’ve seen England play, looked very impressive.

That front 5/6 won't play again together, soutgate has his favs....

[badpiggy]

Had a feeling he'd step up today after a few questions were asked this week.

Best performance this season so far.

Virg the weak link now?

It is a bit of an elephant in the room situ now. We’ve looked more solid since Vurg went off last week.

Virg was really poor against Ireland the other day. I repeat, against Ireland. Specifically Adam Idah. I repeat, Adam Idah.

[red g]

Virg was really poor against Ireland the other day. I repeat, against Ireland. Specifically Adam Idah. I repeat, Adam Idah.

How did we get into a sutuation where our Captain and Vice Captain could be our best players but also our biggest liabilitys!!

[Cormack74]

A shout out to your fans BTW Buzzo, I was having a proper lol every time they gave Maguire the big build up

[Buzzo]

A shout out to your fans BTW Buzzo, I was having a proper lol every time they gave Maguire the big build up

It worked as well!

[danperkins]

Looks way way off it and has done for quite some time. Crazy to think that he was considered one of, if not the best left full a few years back. Now, not only is he struggling to get forward as regularly as he used to, his passing and crossing are dog**** and he is making a lot of defensive mistakes which he never used to do. He has become as much of an issue as Trent imo.

We just got to comfy with Trent and Robbo and imo they got too comfy with having zero competition.

[frank the tank]

Think he has definitely peaked a few years ago. Virgil too.

For me, they are still very good players but no longer suited to the way we (jurgen) play. So i think it is a case of we change the way we play or change the players.

Next summers defense will surely be last summers midfield where a major revamp is required.

I did think it was interesting that Tsimikas signed a new contract too though. I found it surprising because i was convinced that he was on his way out.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Still think a big part of why he looks a little off at times is down to him not being suited to our new set up.

Probably would look great if he was a defensive LB/LCB hybrid player that only had to concentrate on shuffling to his right when the back four becomes a three and then shuffling to his left when it went back to a back four, buit he is trying to be the far left side cover for the box system and at the same time being used as an attacking left back as if we had a flat back four in play all the time that was being covered by a dedicated/specialist DM to account for having two attacking full backs bombing down the flanks.


Is why I do not like the box set up when TAA is in it.

It causes the LB, the LCB and the RCB to have to cover two roles constantly throughout games and that has to unsettle their positioning and spatial awareness.

The LB is playing LB and also LCB when it becomes a three.

The LCB is playing LCB and then over to central CB when it becomes a three.

The RCB is playing RCB and then becomeing a RCB/RB hybrid when it becomes a three.


That pivot in front of the three defenders (when we are on the ball and the box comes into play) is simply not bringing enough reward imo when that double pivot is being made up of TAA and MacAllister.

MacAllister is doing a decent job but not able to bring to our midfield what he brought to the Brighton midfield as he is sitting far deeper and trying to watch runs.


TAA is not bringing as much to the centre as he used to bring (when on form) as an attacking RB.


We are seeing good moments from that double pivot, but we are also seeing less solidity there and our back line being that little bit more exposed during games.

The extra mobility and quality in midfield that we have this year compared to last year is making a difference, but think it is papering up some cracks at present with regards to a somewhat less stable (and probably slightly over worked) back line and a double pivot in midfield that has two players (when it is MacAllister and TAA in there both doing a similar job) that do not naturally get back into the back line quickly when we are being countered or are out of possession for a period of time. TAA being the one that realistically should be getting back being that he is an actual defender.


Just feel that we are trying to be too clever and overly complicated with our set up at times, and that whilst we are getting results we are maybe working a bit harder for them than maybe we need to.

[S-RED]

Tailed off since Gini left TBH, he needs that suppport the same as TAA needed it from prime Fab.

I think Jones can support Robbo, in the same kind of way TBF.

[Fosterbloke]

Think he has definitely peaked a few years ago. Virgil too.

For me, they are still very good players but no longer suited to the way we (jurgen) play. So i think it is a case of we change the way we play or change the players.

Next summers defense will surely be last summers midfield where a major revamp is required.

I did think it was interesting that Tsimikas signed a new contract too though. I found it surprising because i was convinced that he was on his way out.

I'd love it if we signed Alphonso Davies - he's so ****ing fast as well as defensively sound.

Who else could we feasibly sign?

[Cerbie]

Still think a big part of why he looks a little off at times is down to him not being suited to our new set up.

Probably would look great if he was a defensive LB/LCB hybrid player that only had to concentrate on shuffling to his right when the back four becomes a three and then shuffling to his left when it went back to a back four, buit he is trying to be the far left side cover for the box system and at the same time being used as an attacking left back as if we had a flat back four in play all the time that was being covered by a dedicated/specialist DM to account for having two attacking full backs bombing down the flanks.


Is why I do not like the box set up when TAA is in it.

It causes the LB, the LCB and the RCB to have to cover two roles constantly throughout games and that has to unsettle their positioning and spatial awareness.

The LB is playing LB and also LCB when it becomes a three.

The LCB is playing LCB and then over to central CB when it becomes a three.

The RCB is playing RCB and then becomeing a RCB/RB hybrid when it becomes a three.


That pivot in front of the three defenders (when we are on the ball and the box comes into play) is simply not bringing enough reward imo when that double pivot is being made up of TAA and MacAllister.

MacAllister is doing a decent job but not able to bring to our midfield what he brought to the Brighton midfield as he is sitting far deeper and trying to watch runs.


TAA is not bringing as much to the centre as he used to bring (when on form) as an attacking RB.


We are seeing good moments from that double pivot, but we are also seeing less solidity there and our back line being that little bit more exposed during games.

The extra mobility and quality in midfield that we have this year compared to last year is making a difference, but think it is papering up some cracks at present with regards to a somewhat less stable (and probably slightly over worked) back line and a double pivot in midfield that has two players (when it is MacAllister and TAA in there both doing a similar job) that do not naturally get back into the back line quickly when we are being countered or are out of possession for a period of time. TAA being the one that realistically should be getting back being that he is an actual defender.


Just feel that we are trying to be too clever and overly complicated with our set up at times, and that whilst we are getting results we are maybe working a bit harder for them than maybe we need to.

When we played a back 4, forget if it was against Wolves or West Ham, with Dom and Curtis as the double 6 and we looked very solid. Gomez and Robbo could bomb on, but the CBs could move wider when required because the DMs were solid. If Trent inverts it weakens our right side and it is no surprise the opposition is still having success targeting that.

[Doc_Piptorious]

When we played a back 4, forget if it was against Wolves or West Ham, with Dom and Curtis as the double 6 and we looked very solid. Gomez and Robbo could bomb on, but the CBs could move wider when required because the DMs were solid. If Trent inverts it weakens our right side and it is no surprise the opposition is still having success targeting that.

Also think the inverted role takes quite a bit away from TAA's game.

He is not really athletic enough to be a roaming midfielder when he comes in and he turns quite slowly for a short enough guy.

Also think that his range of passing is wasted a bit from that deep. We already have the likes of VVD and Konate that can play long accurate diagonals from the back, but we have lost TAA's ability to switch play from flank to flank around the half way line and the low whipped balls he used to ping in from the right to the feet of attackers.

In the middle he is decent but I can think of a dozen players I would love to see us get to play in the role whereas at RB when TAA is on form and supported I could think of maybe one player in the game that *might* be able to do what he does at a similar level.


We seem to have gone from trying to see if he can regain his form as a genuine world class attacking right back to accepting he is a decent midfielder when he inverts.


And in the process of doing that we have taken away a lot of what made the likes of Robertson and VVD special as their workloads have increased to accomodate/cover the inverted roles. Imo of course.

When Gomez was starting recently we seemed to be a lot more solid in defensive terms with Gomez creating a surprising number of chances.

Our XGA vs AGA numbers also dropped quite a bit with Gomez at RB so there was a quantifiable element to using Gomez in the role, albeit over a small sample of game though the drop off basically started the moment he came in and it changed in a negative manner the past two games TAA started.

[vlahka]

Time for Robertson to become a sub.

[SB]

The lack of a reliable deputy has been his downfall imo. We only play Timmy in cup matches & he’s always been a bit ropey so Klopp hasn’t trusted him in the league. Think it’s time to be looking for an upgrade with Robbo to deputise.