Naby Keita

[danperkins]

****ing hell....was expecting this to be the traditional injury bump

same here

[RedReet]

Naby's average position and performances have been interesting in these first two games.

For two games that we largely dominated, he has played very deep. He was our deepest midfielder against Leeds and not much between him and Henderson against Chelsea.

I also can't remember seeing many of his trademark turns and/or dribbles so I wonder if he's been instructed to keep things simple and if Klopp is trying to mould him into a more disciplined player like he did with Gini. I hope not, I want to see the Naby we hoped we were signing.

[rudedog]

Have you got a link? I thought the whole team have playing really high up the pitch in both games so would be interesting to see some stats

[RedReet]

I used to use the 442 app and it was excellent for these types of things, but they scrapped it a few years ago. The official sit used to have an Opta section as well that showed average positions, but that also has been scrapped.

Because of this I signed up to FFS members areas last year for the stats section, but because it's a membership, I can't share link and it won't let me copy the images.

I did a Google search and found the image below.



FFS scout actually had Henderson and Keita's numbers back to front, so Keita wasn't deeper as I suggested earlier. Can't find a sharable image for the Chelsea match but on FFS, Keita and Henderson circles are overlapping, with Keita slightly ahead.

Having looked at the heatmaps however, it's clear that the average position graphics are either completely wrong, or heavily skewed. What all graphics show however was that Gini was considerably further forward than the other two in both matches.

[Exiled_red]

I used to use the 442 app and it was excellent for these types of things, but they scrapped it a few years ago. The official sit used to have an Opta section as well that showed average positions, but that also has been scrapped.

Because of this I signed up to FFS members areas last year for the stats section, but because it's a membership, I can't share link and it won't let me copy the images.

I did a Google search and found the image below.



FFS scout actually had Henderson and Keita's numbers back to front, so Keita wasn't deeper as I suggested earlier. Can't find a sharable image for the Chelsea match but on FFS, Keita and Henderson circles are overlapping, with Keita slightly ahead.

Having looked at the heatmaps however, it's clear that the average position graphics are either completely wrong, or heavily skewed. What all graphics show however was that Gini was considerably further forward than the other two in both matches.

I know that this is completely off topic but I love that according to that Leeds players average positions mean that they had more players in our half than we did

[danperkins]

I think Naby will get to the end of the season to impress and if it carries on like this he ll be sold.

[Venton]

I think Naby will get to the end of the season to impress and if it carries on like this he ll be sold.

[frank the tank]

I think Naby will get to the end of the season to impress and if it carries on like this he ll be sold.

Will be at the stage of either a new contract or sell

When he first signed I was really excited. Just hasn't seemed to have kicked on really. Id love to see him rattle in a 30 yarder. It would do his confidence good

[Sus]

Will be at the stage of either a new contract or sell

When he first signed I was really excited. Just hasn't seemed to have kicked on really. Id love to see him rattle in a 30 yarder. It would do his confidence good

He did that against Chelsea last season!! Hasn't seemed to help that much

[RedReet]

Have you got a link? I thought the whole team have playing really high up the pitch in both games so would be interesting to see some stats

Here's the Chelsea one...



From the Michael Cox article yesterday and the graphics for both matches, it definitely seems Naby is being asked to play more defensively. I'm starting to think it is more to do with Gini's contract negotiations now and he wants the freedom to play further forward.

Not that it matters, here's the Leeds one that had Gini and Hendo back to front which I referenced...

[Fredo]

The Naby we are seeing now is not the Naby who used to play for Leipzig. He has had to adapt his game and is not playing with more maturity. He has to learn when he can move into those gaps and help the attack. Against Chelsea, I thought he was told to hold his position. Also, I think we are managing his game time (plays around 60mins). Talks of him not living up to what was expected and that we could sell him at the end of the season are a bit ludicrous IMO. Yes, his contract will have two years left but we've done this before, given time to players, especially to someone who is still 25.

[Irishnev]

The Naby we are seeing now is not the Naby which used to play for Leipzig. He has had to adapt his game and is not playing with more maturity. He has to learn when he can move into those gaps and help the attack. Against Chelsea, I thought he was told to hold his position. Also, I think we are managing his game time (plays around 60mins). Talks of him not living up to what was expected and that we could sell him at the end of the season are a bit ludicrous IMO. Yes, his contract will have two years left but we've done this before, given time to players, especially to someone who is still 25.

It’s the same as Gini - they are ‘sacrificing’ their game to fit the needs of the team. If I am right Naby has never lost a PL game in which he has started.....not a bad record

I think we wanted the all action RBL Naby but Klopp and co are making him more tactically aware for the benefit of the team and the system we play

[Shaggy]

I don't think, long-term, Klopp wants to Keita to sacrifice elements of his game which, let's face it, made us want to sign him. On Sunday he definitely seemed to be playing within himself and a much more controlled role, but I think this is temporary.

Last year Pep Ljinders said of Naby:

"Naby is in a really good way. What a boy! He makes our build-up play completely different, creates unpredictability. He's an important player and hopefully we can use him."

[rudedog]

Thanks for digging those out RR, really interesting to see just how far up the field the whole team has being playing

[Scratch]

I don't think, long-term, Klopp wants to Keita to sacrifice elements of his game which, let's face it, made us want to sign him. On Sunday he definitely seemed to be playing within himself and a much more controlled role, but I think this is temporary.

Last year Pep Ljinders said of Naby:

Made us the fans want to sign him yes, but maybe Jurgen saw something in him that could be used in a different way, so the Naby we see, whilst not being the all action star from RBL, is the Naby that Klopp wants on the pitch.