Sheffield United Away

[Buzzo]

Absolutely class this from Curtis. He seems so young and uncertain in front of the camera which makes this all the more poignant and endearing.

[ame]https://twitter.com/theredmentv/status/1366136160188301317[/ame]

[Rich]

Yeah he did ok.

If he scored those two goals in the first half it’s a 10/10.

He was way off target too for the second goal.

His lack of finishing is becoming a really big problem for me though - it means that the opposition can afford to give Salah (in particular) and Mane more focus, knowing that Bobby is a) unlikely to shoot and b) take a shot and miss by a mile.

His goalscoring ability was never his strong suit but it was always decent enough that you could over look it because he's so good at the other stuff but his finishing is rotten (bar the 2 at Palace).

This summer we need to bring in a Firmino alternative - sell Origi to help fund it.

[Kenneth]

I noticed a couple of passes that bounced off Bobby to the Sheffield Utd defenders in decent positions and maybe that's swayed my view of his general play, but I thought he was crap all round yesterday. It's gone on for so long that you start to worry that his form is never coming back.

[Buzzo]

He showed his skill in making space for the goal with really good feet, and some of his hold up play was decent. But missing gilt edged chances undoes a lot of the credit he gets for that. He is ‘our number 9’, he has to do better in front of goal. It’s not as if he is at du Bruyne levels of assists, so scoring goals has to be part of his job.

His shooting always seems so hesitant for me. Where is the guy that was ‘no look finishing’ a couple of seasons ago.

I wonder if not getting the goal might be good for him? Look how pissed off Salah was when he missed that chance at the end. It would be good to see a few more of them display that sort of passion in front of goal.

[danperkins]

We have made a lot of excuses for Firmino over the last year and half or so. Yes, we know he is a talented guy but he needs to score more goals plain and simple. His finishing was never amazing but ffs he's scuffing, shanking or slicing nearly every shot he takes. The hit for his goal looked like is might have hit the corner flag if not for the deflection. I thought he was so so last night.

There has been way to much burden put on Mo to score. Actually I think Mo was more annoying at Robbo's over hit pass last night rather than him missing the target. Delighted to see Gini back to his best. IMO Gini, Trent and Jones were our three best players. Thought Mane & Thiago were very quiet again, it's getting a bit concerning.

Philips I actually don't mind too much, he is what he is a battling, no frills CB but seems to read the game well & IMO he had a very good game. It's early days for Kabak but I thought was poor, constantly caught ball watching or out of position & so slow on and off the ball haven't been impressed with him so far. You know it's bad when Ollie McBurnie was giving him the run around ffs.

[Tribute]

We have made a lot of excuses for Firmino over the last year and half or so. Yes, we know he is a talented guy but he needs to score more goals plain and simple. His finishing was never amazing but ffs he's scuffing, shanking or slicing nearly every shot he takes. The hit for his goal looked like is might have hit the corner flag if not for the deflection. I thought he was so so last night.

There has been way to much burden put on Mo to score. Actually I think Mo was more annoying at Robbo's over hit pass last night rather than him missing the target. Delighted to see Gini back to his best. IMO Gini, Trent and Jones were our three best players. Thought Mane & Thiago were very quiet again, it's getting a bit concerning.

Philips I actually don't mind too much, he is what he is a battling, no frills CB but seems to read the game well & IMO he had a very good game. It's early days for Kabak but I thought was poor, constantly caught ball watching or out of position & so slow on and off the ball haven't been impressed with him so far. You know it's bad when Ollie McBurnie was giving him the run around ffs.

Thiago played 20+ more passes (65) than both Gini and Jones (42 and 40), and he was subbed earlier. You might not think he’s all that in this setup, but he continues to post better numbers than those around him in the middle...

[Buzzo]

I thought the midfield three were all good yesterday.

[danperkins]

Thiago played 20+ more passes (65) than both Gini and Jones (42 and 40), and he was subbed earlier. You might not think he’s all that in this setup, but he continues to post better numbers than those around him in the middle...

So you posted yesterday, once again though I watched the game and he was ok imo. Been watching Thiago play for years, he is so far beyond what he has shown at LFC that it's hard not to mention it. You said he was excellent last night, I disagree I thought he was ok

[Irishnev]

We have made a lot of excuses for Firmino over the last year and half or so. Yes, we know he is a talented guy but he needs to score more goals plain and simple. His finishing was never amazing but ffs he's scuffing, shanking or slicing nearly every shot he takes. The hit for his goal looked like is might have hit the corner flag if not for the deflection. I thought he was so so last night.

There has been way to much burden put on Mo to score. Actually I think Mo was more annoying at Robbo's over hit pass last night rather than him missing the target. Delighted to see Gini back to his best. IMO Gini, Trent and Jones were our three best players. Thought Mane & Thiago were very quiet again, it's getting a bit concerning.

Philips I actually don't mind too much, he is what he is a battling, no frills CB but seems to read the game well & IMO he had a very good game. It's early days for Kabak but I thought was poor, constantly caught ball watching or out of position & so slow on and off the ball haven't been impressed with him so far. You know it's bad when Ollie McBurnie was giving him the run around ffs.

Dan I get you are frustrated but you are starting to sound like Roy Keane now ranting about every player. Firmino was never our main scorer and 100% he is off his top form but we are being too harsh. I thought he played well yesterday - we altered the shape slightly and got a lot of players around him which meant he could impact the game more. His goal was some brilliant play from him and yes he scuffed it but I’ll take it.

He always was poor from a big chance conversion rate but our problem is he is getting far more big chances than Mo and Sadio which highlights his misses more. If you look at his numbers he has 6 PL goals so far which is the same as Cavani, Grealish and Tammy A, one less than Antonio and Mane and more than Werner, Richarlison and Martial. A lot of those are being lauded for their great seasons.

You are also going full Hamman on Thiago - he looked solid to me, v neat and tidy and played some clever passes. He was probing far more than Gini and Curtis.

Phillips did all right - he got roasted once by Burke and was rash a few other times. Kabak was the same - he made 2 errors but recovered both times. These are a couple of young lads up against big hard working grocks and they ended up with a clean sheet with Adrian behind them

I’ve written off the season - we can expect nothing from a cobbled together bunch of lads who must be out on their feet. Since I’ve done that I’ve become far more relaxed and am not blinkered by pre existing bias.

I know you are an emotive guy and football brings out the supporter rest mist but you are judging some of these guys against standards they are not set up to possibly achieve

[Doc_Piptorious]

Dan I get you are frustrated but you are starting to sound like Roy Keane now ranting about every player. Firmino was never our main scorer and 100% he is off his top form but we are being too harsh. I thought he played well yesterday - we altered the shape slightly and got a lot of players around him which meant he could impact the game more. His goal was some brilliant play from him and yes he scuffed it but I’ll take it.

He always was poor from a big chance conversion rate but our problem is he is getting far more big chances than Mo and Sadio which highlights his misses more. If you look at his numbers he has 6 PL goals so far which is the same as Cavani, Grealish and Tammy A, one less than Antonio and Mane and more than Werner, Richarlison and Martial. A lot of those are being lauded for their great seasons.

You are also going full Hamman on Thiago - he looked solid to me, v neat and tidy and played some clever passes. He was probing far more than Gini and Curtis.

Phillips did all right - he got roasted once by Burke and was rash a few other times. Kabak was the same - he made 2 errors but recovered both times. These are a couple of young lads up against big hard working grocks and they ended up with a clean sheet with Adrian behind them

I’ve written off the season - we can expect nothing from a cobbled together bunch of lads who must be out on their feet. Since I’ve done that I’ve become far more relaxed and am not blinkered by pre existing bias.

I know you are an emotive guy and football brings out the supporter rest mist but you are judging some of these guys against standards they are not set up to possibly achieve

I have never seen "You're talking ****" take so many words to say

You sure you are actually living in Poland now Nev, and not one of the lads up in the Dail

[Irishnev]

I have never seen "You're talking ****" take so many words to say

You sure you are actually living in Poland now Nev, and not one of the lads up in the Dail

Ha - Dan is a good guy and I understand where he is coming from but the context of where we are at can get lost in the big picture sometimes

[Doc_Piptorious]

Ha - Dan is a good guy and I understand where he is coming from but the context of where we are at can get lost in the big picture sometimes

You really could work in the Dail you fecker.

[Buzzo]

Dan I get you are frustrated but you are starting to sound like Roy Keane now ranting about every player. Firmino was never our main scorer and 100% he is off his top form but we are being too harsh. I thought he played well yesterday - we altered the shape slightly and got a lot of players around him which meant he could impact the game more. His goal was some brilliant play from him and yes he scuffed it but I’ll take it.

He always was poor from a big chance conversion rate but our problem is he is getting far more big chances than Mo and Sadio which highlights his misses more. If you look at his numbers he has 6 PL goals so far which is the same as Cavani, Grealish and Tammy A, one less than Antonio and Mane and more than Werner, Richarlison and Martial. A lot of those are being lauded for their great seasons.

You are also going full Hamman on Thiago - he looked solid to me, v neat and tidy and played some clever passes. He was probing far more than Gini and Curtis.

Phillips did all right - he got roasted once by Burke and was rash a few other times. Kabak was the same - he made 2 errors but recovered both times. These are a couple of young lads up against big hard working grocks and they ended up with a clean sheet with Adrian behind them

I’ve written off the season - we can expect nothing from a cobbled together bunch of lads who must be out on their feet. Since I’ve done that I’ve become far more relaxed and am not blinkered by pre existing bias.

I know you are an emotive guy and football brings out the supporter rest mist but you are judging some of these guys against standards they are not set up to possibly achieve

Good post Nev. it’s difficult being caught between pre-season (even up to Christmas) expectation and the reality of our injury ravaged squad.

Agree though that was one of Thiagos best games once he got his Trademark free kick error out of the way.