Christian Benteke

[Bender]

Christian Benteke has been told he must “run more” by Jurgen Klopp if he is to thrive at Liverpool.Benteke revealed the crux of the talks with Klopp centred upon his development into an all-round team player.
It is up to Benteke to comply – or fall by the wayside. #lfc* (Paul Joyce)
Benteke: “I spoke with the manager a few days ago about where I can improve and what he is expecting from me. We had a good conversation."

[Bender]

Christian Benteke is rivalling Liverpool’s Main Stand development as the most expensive work in progress in Anfield history.(Chris Bascombe)

[baitman]

He lacks too many of the skills needed for the level we want to play at. He'll be gone and end up in the Andy Carroll category.
No player at our level should have under 70% pass accuracy.

Just being a goal scorer is not enough.

isnt this more about the passes that come to him and the fact he has two centre backs climbing all over him.
the ball might be walloped to him and he has to try and control it and pass, or lay it off to a team mate. often he has little or no support so then the pass from him wont find its target.
the 70% stat looks bad, but it needs to be viewed in context.

i believe if benteke was playing along side ings or sturridge then he would look great. fast footed players buzzing around him dragging defenders around.

[-V-]

V's gone a bit quiet in this thread

I generally don't post much anymore. However even though we overpaid Benteke will give us goals and plenty more match winners. Lets give him better service and see how it goes.

Its great having 3 quick front players who are skillful but Lallana, Firminho and Coutinho are not exactly Neymar, Messi and LS so we need a different approach sometimes.

Remember how good Van Nistelrooy was for the Mancs, it was because they mixed it up and delivered good service. Benteke can do the same for us, he's got the talent. Confidence and goals will come

[-V-]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdCQuQ62nzo"]Christian Benteke Bicycle Kick vs Manchester United 2015 - YouTube[/ame]

[Mattshark]

isnt this more about the passes that come to him and the fact he has two centre backs climbing all over him.
the ball might be walloped to him and he has to try and control it and pass, or lay it off to a team mate. often he has little or no support so then the pass from him wont find its target.
the 70% stat looks bad, but it needs to be viewed in context.

i believe if benteke was playing along side ings or sturridge then he would look great. fast footed players buzzing around him dragging defenders around.

No, he just isn't very good.

[Nicey]

When people are criticizing him, I think they are doing it from a standpoint of not being good enough striker who will lead us to the elite level. I think everyone recognizes that he is a very good striker who can win games on his day.

The problem is that for us - we have Ings and Origi who are two projects and they have shown enough promise to be worth that status. They will need time. Sturridge due to his injuries cannot be trusted. So the fourth striker better be an elite level striker - the player who is going to lead our line and fire us into the Champions League and higher.

Is Benteke that striker? I am not really sure. If he does not offer movement or creative skills, he needs to be making a difference in games by scoring goals on a consistent basis. Given that all three options are injured, I think he will be given the chance to prove himself over the next month or so. It will be up to him to grab the chance. If not I think he will be sold in the summer transfer window.

I hear you and I understand where people are coming from. I still honestly put him up there with the best strikers around ... previously I liked Carroll and I hoped for Ballo to work but I think Benteke offers a lot more than both of those ... he needs to amend his game and he will never get a better chance to become of Europe's best other than under the manager who turned Lewandowski into a household name

[RichC]

No, he just isn't very good.

Some deep analysis there into why you think that

Fwiw I'm not sure he suits us but he is a goal scorer, something we currently are pretty light on at present - currently scored 21 goals with a -1 GD in the league. his pass rate is also partly down to how he's receiving the ball from other players so this is a slightly misleading stat tbh but he does need to do more for us.

As has been shown he can and will score us goals what needs to be seen is if he can be involved more in our play and at the level required; jury still out on this for me.

[The_weatherman]

Some deep analysis there into why you think that

Fwiw I'm not sure he suits us but he is a goal scorer, something we currently are pretty light on at present - currently scored 21 goals with a -1 GD in the league. his pass rate is also partly down to how he's receiving the ball from other players so this is a slightly misleading stat tbh but he does need to do more for us.

As has been shown he can and will score us goals what needs to be seen is if he can be involved more in our play and at the level required; jury still out on this for me.

I think Benteke is really up against it, tough for him to change his game so quickly but I'd give him the start on Wednesday and give the chance, he did win us the game after all.

[RichC]

I agree, like all of the players they probably need some time under Klopp to prove they can adapt to his methods. We're at a huge disadvantage in terms of having to implement playing style midway through a season rather than having a preseason with him.

It's good to hear though Klopp has already told him he needs to do more

[danperkins]

isnt this more about the passes that come to him and the fact he has two centre backs climbing all over him.
the ball might be walloped to him and he has to try and control it and pass, or lay it off to a team mate. often he has little or no support so then the pass from him wont find its target.
the 70% stat looks bad, but it needs to be viewed in context.

i believe if benteke was playing along side ings or sturridge then he would look great. fast footed players buzzing around him dragging defenders around.

yeah difficult to bring stats like that into his type of game. I definitely think he is much more suited to playing in a two up top, but it does seem that Klopp wants to play with one up top and someone who is mobile and can run the channels. We'll soon see if Benteke can adapt his game to the way Klopp wants, I hope he can.

I feel a bit sorry for Benteke in that respect. Whilst he hasn't set the world on fire at LFC, he has done ok. I get the criticism alright and agree with alot of what people are saying about him, but really and truly he hasn't been that bad for us. If he gets games, he will score IMO. The service to him has been dire & Clyne and Moreno get into great positions in the wide areas but their delivery is shockingly bad.

We've been pretty much decimated by injuries to key players the whole season, so it's really difficult to judge any of the new players yet with things so stop start.

[Mattshark]

Some deep analysis there into why you think that

Fwiw I'm not sure he suits us but he is a goal scorer, something we currently are pretty light on at present - currently scored 21 goals with a -1 GD in the league. his pass rate is also partly down to how he's receiving the ball from other players so this is a slightly misleading stat tbh but he does need to do more for us.

As has been shown he can and will score us goals what needs to be seen is if he can be involved more in our play and at the level required; jury still out on this for me.

Well, it is seems unlikely that our players can pass well enough to everyone but Benteke, apparently when they pass to Benteke it causes Benteke to not be able to pass properly.

He is a mid-table player, you cannot make it at the top level with out things like passing and being able to take players on and generally barely getting involved in each game. Just scoring is not enough and hasn't been for a long time.

[baitman]

Its too simplistic to say others can complete a better percentage of passes. Elsewhere on the pitch the passing is often to team mates who are unmarked or to the space they are running into.
Once you get to the business end of the pitch the LONE centre forward is double man marked and if he isnt in a position to shoot his only option is a hurried pass under more pressure than anyone else has been in their passing.

if stats were the whole truth then joe allen would really be pirlo and not just some lookalike.

[Vermilion]

Its too simplistic to say others can complete a better percentage of passes. Elsewhere on the pitch the passing is often to team mates who are unmarked or to the space they are running into.
Once you get to the business end of the pitch the LONE centre forward is double man marked and if he isnt in a position to shoot his only option is a hurried pass under more pressure than anyone else has been in their passing.

if stats were the whole truth then joe allen would really be pirlo and not just some lookalike.

Good point.

[Mattshark]

Its too simplistic to say others can complete a better percentage of passes. Elsewhere on the pitch the passing is often to team mates who are unmarked or to the space they are running into.
Once you get to the business end of the pitch the LONE centre forward is double man marked and if he isnt in a position to shoot his only option is a hurried pass under more pressure than anyone else has been in their passing.

if stats were the whole truth then joe allen would really be pirlo and not just some lookalike.

I never said that stats where the whole truth did I? But Origi managed a 100% pass accuracy rate against the same defence.

Also, you are assuming the Benteke gave the ball away v centre backs in an isolated position, he didn't, he gave the ball away all the pitch.