Naby Keita

[~LFCHistory~]

Excellent in the final 3rd today

[Mark79]

Can't do it in the big games...

[ame]https://twitter.com/Tactical_Times/status/1452321747219460105[/ame]

[Corndog]

Wages might be a sticking point but I could imagine him doing well back in the bundesliga with Dortmund, makeweight for Bellingham...

[Charly]

Who is going to want or afford his wages though. I think we have learnt by now shifting underperformers isnt that easy.

That said, he still has until the end of the season, and he has shown he can do a job.

[danperkins]

I don't think I ever said he wasn't good enough to be part of the squad. Only that he isn't good enough to be a consistent starter imo and that I don't think he will live up to the hype his arrival from Leipzig attracted or his price tag.

No doubt he's capable of having good games, but not often enough to date.

and none of that is even taking into account his injury history. I ll be surprised if he's here next season. It'll take a massive turn around imo for him to stay here and it would epic if we could see the player we thought we were buying but personally I just don't see it.

[Corndog]

I agree with what you are saying, but I don't think it's totally irrelevant and shouldn't be dismissed so lightly. In the league we have played 3, won 3, scored 10, conceded 0 with him starting (also no midfielder has been involved in more league wins this season, despite his teammates making more appearances). Now the obvious response will be to dismiss this stat due to the opposition (Watford, Burnley, Norwich) and that's fair enough, but these are the types of teams that have caused us problems in the past and are the sort of matches that we signed Keita for, as we frequently struggled to break down some of the lesser teams in the division before he signed..

I seen a clip from the Anfield Wrap yesterday, describing Keita as a flat track bully, presumably stemming from this notion that he isn't suitable against top teams. They weren't saying this as a criticism, but highlighting that it is a good option to have in your squad and although I didn't necessarily agree when I watched it (I would still trust him in big games), I guess it ties in with the point I made above.

Although they aren't top tier teams as such, I thought we were totally dominant against Chelsea and Arsenal at the start of last season with Naby playing (Chelsea were being tipped as title challengers having signed Werner, Havertz and 10 other plyers, Arsenal were expected to have a good season off the back of an FA cup win and a few decent signings). He also played in the 7-0, but the other performances made more of an impact on me. Someone recently mentioned it, but the 4-0 against Leicester on Boxing day the year before was a world class performance under the circumstances. I also thought we were outstanding against Milan this year and had our forwards been as clinical as they are now, that could have been a record win.

Anyway, that's cherry picking matches to make a point when what I'm really getting at is that when fit, Naby has contributed to some excellent performances, so I don't know how you can claim he isn't good enough to play for us. His biggest problem always has been keeping fit and so far, the signs this season have been good.

Much like I made the point that I don't care if Mane misses 10 sitters a game, so long as he scores one and we pick up 3 points, if we continue to pick up 3 points every time Naby plays, I'm not that bothered about his individual performances (even though they will be great ).

I don't think I ever said he wasn't good enough to be part of the squad. Only that he isn't good enough to be a consistent starter imo and that I don't think he will live up to the hype his arrival from Leipzig attracted or his price tag.

No doubt he's capable of having good games, but not often enough to date.

[danperkins]

Well Goretzka signed a new deal it seems. Valverde is on a long term contract and Real nicked Camavinga on me.


So you are going to have to settle for Nkunku as our new more advanced midfielder and Tchouameni as our new box to box
guy who can also sit deep.


So it shall be written, so it shall be done.

Nkunku is absolutely flying this season isn't he

[RedReet]

It's a shame any of our players get abuse, even if they don't have a good game, they don't deserve it.

When I say gets off lightly, lots of people throw around hyperbole about other average midfielders to have played for the club, e.g a Raul meireles for example, he was a decent player, not **** as some might claim and not incredible either. For me, naby falls into this same category.

That descriptive stat you quote may be true but it's irrelevant to his individual performances at the club to date.

Since he joined Liverpool have an incredibly high win rate regardless of who plays so taking any sample of games when the team is in good form is not indicative of a strong causal link.

I agree with what you are saying, but I don't think it's totally irrelevant and shouldn't be dismissed so lightly. In the league we have played 3, won 3, scored 10, conceded 0 with him starting (also no midfielder has been involved in more league wins this season, despite his teammates making more appearances). Now the obvious response will be to dismiss this stat due to the opposition (Watford, Burnley, Norwich) and that's fair enough, but these are the types of teams that have caused us problems in the past and are the sort of matches that we signed Keita for, as we frequently struggled to break down some of the lesser teams in the division before he signed..

I seen a clip from the Anfield Wrap yesterday, describing Keita as a flat track bully, presumably stemming from this notion that he isn't suitable against top teams. They weren't saying this as a criticism, but highlighting that it is a good option to have in your squad and although I didn't necessarily agree when I watched it (I would still trust him in big games), I guess it ties in with the point I made above.

Although they aren't top tier teams as such, I thought we were totally dominant against Chelsea and Arsenal at the start of last season with Naby playing (Chelsea were being tipped as title challengers having signed Werner, Havertz and 10 other plyers, Arsenal were expected to have a good season off the back of an FA cup win and a few decent signings). He also played in the 7-0, but the other performances made more of an impact on me. Someone recently mentioned it, but the 4-0 against Leicester on Boxing day the year before was a world class performance under the circumstances. I also thought we were outstanding against Milan this year and had our forwards been as clinical as they are now, that could have been a record win.

Anyway, that's cherry picking matches to make a point when what I'm really getting at is that when fit, Naby has contributed to some excellent performances, so I don't know how you can claim he isn't good enough to play for us. His biggest problem always has been keeping fit and so far, the signs this season have been good.

Much like I made the point that I don't care if Mane misses 10 sitters a game, so long as he scores one and we pick up 3 points, if we continue to pick up 3 points every time Naby plays, I'm not that bothered about his individual performances (even though they will be great ).

[SB]

After all the tantrums during the summer and people being made to look like complete idiots, they need to cling on to something they can moan about and hepefully get to say "I was right" eventually.

Sounds about right

[Paul12]

Had to take Naby off now at half time in two important Champions League games because the midfield wasn't right and replacing him was the best way of improving it. Regardless of anything else, this is not a good omen for his future at the club.

[Corndog]

Disagree. That goal was in part his fault, but definitely not just on him. We had multiple chances of preventing it.

He offers a genuine goal threat from midfield. We lack that so that's important.

He's very good at pressing high up the pitch. He wins us back a lot of possession.

He's a good passer and capable of some great through balls. He does a lot of good one touch stuff too.

I think he's become a bit of an escaped goat, and is a slightly misunderstood player IMO.

Fitness record aside, I think he's going to be a big player for us this season.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate him or abuse him or whatever. In fact this is the first time I feel somewhat confident he won't live up to his promise here.

I definitely don't think he's responsible for all that's bad so for me he's no escaped goat as you put it.

I agree he's a great presser, good passer and good dribbler and he chips in with the odd goal although not more than an ox or wijnaldum would.

But when he doesn't get the press right he gets done quite easily due to his lack of pace, he's often injured and isn't very consistent.

To clarify, I don't think he's a bad player but this is still one of the best Liverpool teams ever and you pretty much have to be world class to consistently start.

[Corndog]

There was loads of issues with the goal, Naby got done but why did Griezman have so much time and space to get the shot off?

Also, the goal shouldn’t have even stood, Pepe was offside and stopped Mapit from clearing off the line.

You could make the argument that defenders can still clear the ball lemar pulls back and it's true, it could have been cleared but actually he's so close to goal with space near the byline and it's hit with such pace, I think that's unfair to blame any of them for not doing so.

Keita got done too easily on his goal side.

You can make an argument that any goal conceded on the field cannot be down to one single player 100 percent but the majority of the fault for that first goal lies with him.

[Corndog]

Gets off lightly? He gets abuse every game, regardless of how he plays. We have a 100% win rate with him in the team this year, so he clearly is good enough.

It's a shame any of our players get abuse, even if they don't have a good game, they don't deserve it.

When I say gets off lightly, lots of people throw around hyperbole about other average midfielders to have played for the club, e.g a Raul meireles for example, he was a decent player, not **** as some might claim and not incredible either. For me, naby falls into this same category.

That descriptive stat you quote may be true but it's irrelevant to his individual performances at the club to date.

Since he joined Liverpool have an incredibly high win rate regardless of who plays so taking any sample of games when the team is in good form is not indicative of a strong causal link.

[Big-Red-Ed]

We can't rely on the continuing development of Elliott and Jones. We need one more top mf to come in ASAP

YNWA

[Doc_Piptorious]

yeah agree with this. I'm hoping we have something up our sleeves.

Well Goretzka signed a new deal it seems. Valverde is on a long term contract and Real nicked Camavinga on me.


So you are going to have to settle for Nkunku as our new more advanced midfielder and Tchouameni as our new box to box
guy who can also sit deep.


So it shall be written, so it shall be done.