Thiago Alcantara

[frank the tank]

It becomes less of an issue when you have midfielders in there who are willing to plug those gaps though, that's what Fabinho and Henderson have done in previous years, we haven't had that this season. Hopefully with Fab back in midfield that will be less of an issue.

Totally agree. The defensive injuries have been a total ballache this season......but the fact that we have had to remove midfielders to plug that gap has hurt us big time too. The fact that Henderson and Fabinho have also both missed a lot of games with injury just further compounds the whole thing.

Some people on here (Jaco I think most vocal??) have been saying for weeks - just play Fabinho and Henderson in midfield and it will protect the defense more. Even if that means Phillips and Williams at CB, then so be in. I never agreed to be honest. The fact that the 12 year old Villa fella left Williams for dead kind of validated that for me. However, in hindsight - i think it was totally correct. They help break up the play a million times better and in turn the transition into the attacking players is quicker and we are ****in in. If we had our shooting boots on last night, then we could have had 5 or 6. In the champions league knock out phase?!?!

So I still have faith in Thiago coming good to be honest. He is too ****in good not to. When our 3 CBs were injured, it meant that Fabinho and Hendo have had to deputise. But Thiago and Gini debutising for Fab and Hendo have taken from their games.

Last night we saw ****in everyone playing in their natural and favoured positions. And the difference was amazing.

[Irishnev]

It becomes less of an issue when you have midfielders in there who are willing to plug those gaps though, that's what Fabinho and Henderson have done in previous years, we haven't had that this season. Hopefully with Fab back in midfield that will be less of an issue.

Totally agree. The defensive injuries have been a total ballache this season......but the fact that we have had to remove midfielders to plug that gap has hurt us big time too. The fact that Henderson and Fabinho have also both missed a lot of games with injury just further compounds the whole thing.

Some people on here (Jaco I think most vocal??) have been saying for weeks - just play Fabinho and Henderson in midfield and it will protect the defense more. Even if that means Phillips and Williams at CB, then so be in. I never agreed to be honest. The fact that the 12 year old Villa fella left Williams for dead kind of validated that for me. However, in hindsight - i think it was totally correct. They help break up the play a million times better and in turn the transition into the attacking players is quicker and we are ****in in. If we had our shooting boots on last night, then we could have had 5 or 6. In the champions league knock out phase?!?!

So I still have faith in Thiago coming good to be honest. He is too ****in good not to. When our 3 CBs were injured, it meant that Fabinho and Hendo have had to deputise. But Thiago and Gini debutising for Fab and Hendo have taken from their games.

Last night we saw ****in everyone playing in their natural and favoured positions. And the difference was amazing.

It wasn’t a ‘problem’ when all players were fit, the defence were in synch with the midfield and the midfield were constantly rotated to cover their workload

[SB]

But surely when either fullback gets forward someone has to drop to cover the hole he’s left? With the constant changes in midfield perhaps that’s a big part of the problem? Gini is always thereabouts helping out predominantly on the left side & when Hendo plays he is too but I do agree TAA is not the best defender in our team but he’s under orders to get forward to whip in crosses. So who fills in then? RM?

[frank the tank]

But surely when either fullback gets forward someone has to drop to cover the hole he’s left? With the constant changes in midfield perhaps that’s a big part of the problem? Gini is always thereabouts helping out predominantly on the left side & when Hendo plays he is too but I do agree TAA is not the best defender in our team but he’s under orders to get forward to whip in crosses. So who fills in then? RM?

In the case of Trent being out of position because he is making it rain further up the pitch, then I think it was a combination of Joe Gomez, Fabinho and Henderson all covering. They all had different priorities depending on the exact scenario and it was a ****in machine.

When Gomez, Fabinho and Henderson are all injured, then it is inevitable that new personnel aren't up to speed. The understanding developed between Hendo, Fab and the defence has been a few years of high quality work. Remember when Jurgen had the luxury of slowly integrating both Fabinho and Robbo into the side??? That is probably because it takes hours and hours of work on the training field for the team to be in sync with each other.

[rudedog]

That jumping scissor kick would have been an amazing assist.

[Rich]

It made a massive difference for him having Fabinho in there doing the defensive stuff. Looked much more like the player we know he is.

[Doc_Piptorious]

He is ‘out of position’ because he is told to play high. The issue was the ball wasn’t always sticking up top and when it broke down their CBs launched into that space for Nkunku who was supposed to be their out ball - lucky he was wasteful

Another part of it was TAA was moving into the space being left by Phillips. A lot of the time last night when our right flank was exposed, TAA was almost in the RCB position and Phillips was still coming back from an advanced position, so it looked like TAA was trying to do his bit to help the less experienced player out.

[Irishnev]

Another part of it was TAA was moving into the space being left by Phillips. A lot of the time last night when our right flank was exposed, TAA was almost in the RCB position and Phillips was still coming back from an advanced position, so it looked like TAA was trying to do his bit to help the less experienced player out.

Noticed that also - Phillips ‘galloping’ back into position

[danperkins]

It becomes less of an issue when you have midfielders in there who are willing to plug those gaps though, that's what Fabinho and Henderson have done in previous years, we haven't had that this season. Hopefully with Fab back in midfield that will be less of an issue.

absolutely

[SB]

In the case of Trent being out of position because he is making it rain further up the pitch, then I think it was a combination of Joe Gomez, Fabinho and Henderson all covering. They all had different priorities depending on the exact scenario and it was a ****in machine.

When Gomez, Fabinho and Henderson are all injured, then it is inevitable that new personnel aren't up to speed. The understanding developed between Hendo, Fab and the defence has been a few years of high quality work. Remember when Jurgen had the luxury of slowly integrating both Fabinho and Robbo into the side??? That is probably because it takes hours and hours of work on the training field for the team to be in sync with each other.

Good observations. So I suppose Curtis Jones & James Milner having been in & out of the side are the next two on the list I suppose in seniority to learn Klopps expectations of them covering for TAA which we’ve missed too.

[Shaggy]

[ame]https://twitter.com/ChampagneXabi/status/1374886935978737664[/ame]

[BigChief]

He didn't use his left foot once to pass.

[baitman]

Bet hes **** when its cold and raining.

[Tribute]

He's easily most technically-gifted midfielder at the club. He's a joy to watch when he's got some CDMs around him and a bit of space... plus he's got a bit of bite to him... we've been missing that with our 'nicey-nicey' midfield...

[Jas]

For such a fantastic footballer, his lack of speed across the ground is quite staggering.