Liverpool v Villa (h) PL

[Kenneth]

There were a few examples yesterday of how the 6th string CB pairing affects the entire team. In possession a slightly misplaced pass from defence or a loose long ball puts us in trouble. The next pass is rushed or further misplaced giving away possession. As soon as we have lost control or if we give the ball away quickly we can be put in trouble. Phillips is doing a brilliant job as a defender, but as a distributor he is miles off. Kabak is slightly better. Slightly.

Lots of the misplaced passes were from Milner and Gini. It was Milner’s poor pass down the left that started their attack for the goal, followed by a poor clearance from Kabak. ie it was poor passing from midfield putting pressure on a weakened defence. There were indeed some ropey examples from the CBs, but conceding possession cheaply seems to be a problem throughout the team. Gini doing it twice in a few seconds stands out in my memory, and pretty much every Trent pass that wasn’t a cross.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Vs Real I would drop Fabinho back and play him with Kabak, but on the condition that we have Naby playing close to his potential, or Jones for that matter as they are similar players. It’s crucial we are very good in possession and in transition against these lot. I know it’s a controversial view but I completely get what Klopp was trying to do earlier with Fab and Hendo in defence. In theory, a midfield 3 of Gini, Thiago and Jones or Naby is good enough with Fab and Kabak in defence. Whether that translates to actual results is something else though.

Against a lesser team than Real then maybe, but as we have seen this season we look a lot less solid in the centre when Fabinho is not there, plus Wijnaldum and Keita, the former in particular, have been very poor of late, especially in terms of misplacing passes etc.

Real are going to to be starting three from Kroos, Modric, Valverde, Asensio and Isco whilst still having Casemiro on the pitch sitting in front of a very mobile stand in back three. No way would I want Fabinho not starting in our midfield.

For me I would be going with Fabinho, Thiago and, if he is past that muscle strain, Jones in the middle.

[BigChief]

How nice does it feel for the ball to finally bounce just once for us again? Normally Robertson's shot would had a thinner parry and Salah would have been too far behind to finish it. But this time the parry finally landed exactly in his path. And he didn't head it over (Mane would have, sadly).

7 more games to win and make this season an acceptable one with hope of CL to entice new purchases.

[Buzzo]

Lots of the misplaced passes were from Milner and Gini. It was Milner’s poor pass down the left that started their attack for the goal, followed by a poor clearance from Kabak. ie it was poor passing from midfield putting pressure on a weakened defence. There were indeed some ropey examples from the CBs, but conceding possession cheaply seems to be a problem throughout the team. Gini doing it twice in a few seconds stands out in my memory, and pretty much every Trent pass that wasn’t a cross.

I think it starts from the back though. That’s where we get control. The remainder can be a domino effect. But also, yeah, we were giving away possession throughout the team. Gini also has been very guilty last two games. Almost as if his mind is else where!

System wise, I don’t think we have any issues. We have perhaps realised squad wise we have been lucky to avoid too many major injuries until this season.