Naby Keita

[Kenneth]

I know it seems like that by comparison to the others, but he’s still not great and he’ll be injured tomorrow.

[labourRed]

Keita needs to stay, one of the few slightly bright points at the moment.

ffs.

What's this like his third game this season or some ****.

[Rich]

He's totally unreliable due to his injury problems BUT what it has shown is that having a proper, mobile, positionally astute midfielder helps the team a lot.

I thought he was our best midfielder while on the pitch yesterday and it was his pass which lead to the goal.

[RichC]

He's totally unreliable due to his injury problems BUT what it has shown is that having a proper, mobile, positionally astute midfielder helps the team a lot.

I thought he was our best midfielder while on the pitch yesterday and it was his pass which lead to the goal.

It's the unreliability with him that's the biggest issue.

[Bender]

Keita needs to stay, one of the few slightly bright points at the moment.

Needs to stay? based on what ? the half dozen games he's managed 90 mins and played well? or the 2 or 3 games in his lfc career he's stayed fit and played well!

[Shaggy]

He's totally unreliable due to his injury problems BUT what it has shown is that having a proper, mobile, positionally astute midfielder helps the team a lot.

I thought he was our best midfielder while on the pitch yesterday and it was his pass which lead to the goal.

Couldn't believe he got hooked.

[Exiled_red]

Keita needs to stay, one of the few slightly bright points at the moment.

I think he shows what we are lacking in midfield, for the last 4 years he hasn't been able to get into the team because of injury or the fact that we had at least 3 other midfielders who were better than him. I don't think that he has improved, the level of the others have dropped so much that he now seems to be one of our best midfielders. IMO for the last 2 years we should have been looking to get rid of him, offering him a new contract IMO would equate to a panic signing. We need to go out and get a new midfield in the summer (really we should be doing something now but we all know that ain't happening...)

[baitman]

I think he shows what we are lacking in midfield, for the last 4 years he hasn't been able to get into the team because of injury or the fact that we had at least 3 other midfielders who were better than him. I don't think that he has improved, the level of the others have dropped so much that he now seems to be one of our best midfielders. IMO for the last 2 years we should have been looking to get rid of him, offering him a new contract IMO would equate to a panic signing. We need to go out and get a new midfield in the summer (really we should be doing something now but we all know that ain't happening...)

Plus, he's playing for a new contract or a decent move.
They all step up their game, get loads of money, then mentally retire. We've already seen it before... trent, hendersnail, salah, etc

[danperkins]

The players that were brought in midfield weren’t the problem, but the changes disrupted the formation. Again, there is more than meets the eye than just “Hendo and Fabinho are finished”. Hendo did offer something when he came on, while Fab is going through a rough patch.

No the players he brought on were exactly the problem. Neither usually press or tackle, one finally did yesterday & should have been sent off, the other just runs around aimlessly chasing butterflies. How long of playing completely **** can you describe it as a "rough patch"? 6 months? 12 months? 18 months?

I'm not a fan of Keita at the very least he presses and he does try to move the ball around and link the play.

[danperkins]

I think he shows what we are lacking in midfield, for the last 4 years he hasn't been able to get into the team because of injury or the fact that we had at least 3 other midfielders who were better than him. I don't think that he has improved, the level of the others have dropped so much that he now seems to be one of our best midfielders. IMO for the last 2 years we should have been looking to get rid of him, offering him a new contract IMO would equate to a panic signing. We need to go out and get a new midfield in the summer (really we should be doing something now but we all know that ain't happening...)

Exactly, the others lads are so bad that it's making Keita seem like a great option when the truth is, he isn't good enough either but is a better option than the other lads at the moment for sure. It's a giant **** sandwich of our own making.

[Mark79]

Our best midfield performances have frequently been when Keita has started, going back over the past 3 or 4 seasons.

The benchmark is wildly different of course, but it remains the case whether we’re chasing titles or struggling in mid-table.

[Exiled_red]

I have no doubt that you can pull up stats that show we have a great win % when he plays or whatever. I don't think he's ****, I think he is a decent player who has been at or just below the level of our midfield even when we were at our peak. The issue is his reliability (and let's be honest things like that are unlikely to improve with age), IMO you can keep that type of player if they really are something special and when they are available they elevate the team to another level. For me he isn't that player, he is a player who at his and our best wasn't seeing a drop off in form when he came into the side, that IMO means that he should be replaceable. I read a stat which claimed he has only completed 90mins for us ~15 times in his 4.5 years here, while I want quality players we can't afford to be dealing with players with reliability issues. Between him and Ox we are probably getting 1 player who is available for much of the season, but we are paying them a combined wage of probably £300k a week and they are occupying 2 spots in the squad that's a false economy IMO.

[Mark79]

It’s beyond win %, its overall team performance level is regularly greater.
Basically, our best midfield includes him, and not just this season in comparison to everyone else struggling.

I don’t think anyone has any arguments over the availability issue.

[danperkins]

I have no doubt that you can pull up stats that show we have a great win % when he plays or whatever. I don't think he's ****, I think he is a decent player who has been at or just below the level of our midfield even when we were at our peak. The issue is his reliability (and let's be honest things like that are unlikely to improve with age), IMO you can keep that type of player if they really are something special and when they are available they elevate the team to another level. For me he isn't that player, he is a player who at his and our best wasn't seeing a drop off in form when he came into the side, that IMO means that he should be replaceable. I read a stat which claimed he has only completed 90mins for us ~15 times in his 4.5 years here, while I want quality players we can't afford to be dealing with players with reliability issues. Between him and Ox we are probably getting 1 player who is available for much of the season, but we are paying them a combined wage of probably £300k a week and they are occupying 2 spots in the squad that's a false economy IMO.

[Fredo]

Naby Keita

No the players he brought on were exactly the problem. Neither usually press or tackle, one finally did yesterday & should have been sent off, the other just runs around aimlessly chasing butterflies. How long of playing completely **** can you describe it as a "rough patch"? 6 months? 12 months? 18 months?

I'm not a fan of Keita at the very least he presses and he does try to move the ball around and link the play.

Neither of those players started yesterday and were brought on because we needed to manage the other’s game time, so was a necessary change.

Fab had a nightmare but Hendo, not sure what was wrong with his 20 mins yesterday, he has a different game to Keita and by the time they came on the game had changed and opened up, press maybe not functioning perfectly already as in latter stages. Didn’t cost us the game.

I can’t define what is the length of a rough patch, because no one can. No one would have known that one of our most important midfielders would have gone missing for the best part of 6 months, added to the fact we lose the spine of our forward line. You expect the manager to stack the bench with players just in case something happens so that we have depth?

Why we didn’t successfully replace players might be for a multitude of reasons that you lot know nothing about. Can’t be blaming the manager for playing the way he does when this has brought success. Some of these players are hardly that old and in their early 30s. And I’m not talking about Milner.

It’s also clear we have started rebuilding, and it’s going to carry on with recruitment over the next few years. Unrealistic to expect we could have signed and replaced everyone under a single window, or expected a drop off of that level.

Also, we’re not living in the 80s where a few clubs only could afford a few players, it’s a totally different ball game to when Paisley managed (in case a smart arse shows up with this argument).