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Totally Unofficial 2021/22 Champions League Thread (NWT)

HuskyDeac said:
Wasn't watching live but the replay looks like the right call to me? Tajon stepped over the ball onto the defenders ankle just before the defender makes contact with his other leg. Not sure how you award a yellow after the fact though.
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Yeah, seeing the stills VAR likely made the correct call. Such a bang bang play.
 
It would be nice if the Salah who scored 3 goals in 5 minutes today shows up this weekend for the City game.
 
Havent watched any highlights yet, but not sure what to think of a Spurs team that goes a man up with 30 plus minutes left and actually finishes that time a net negative one... lucky to hold on to a 3-2 victory I suppose...
 
WPDeac said:
Havent watched any highlights yet, but not sure what to think of a Spurs team that goes a man up with 30 plus minutes left and actually finishes that time a net negative one... lucky to hold on to a 3-2 victory I suppose...
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Dier’s touch today would even shock some rapists.
 
WPDeac said:
Havent watched any highlights yet, but not sure what to think of a Spurs team that goes a man up with 30 plus minutes left and actually finishes that time a net negative one... lucky to hold on to a 3-2 victory I suppose...
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I mean, Kane skied a PK 5 feet over the bar. That never happens.

Other than that, think we just took our foot off the gas and didn't take our chances. Back line looked asleep/sus all game though. Woof.
 
BTB said:
It would be nice if the Salah who scored 3 goals in 5 minutes today shows up this weekend for the City game.
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no clue what our best formation is anymore. Maybe this weekend we will see something like -

Allison
Gomez - VVD - Konate - Tsimikas
Fabinho - Thiago
Elliott - Firmino - Jota
Salah

It gets Salah central, but is a bit unfair to Nunez, who is actually playing pretty well right now.
 
Deacfan2009 said:
I mean, Kane skied a PK 5 feet over the bar. That never happens.

Other than that, think we just took our foot off the gas and didn't take our chances. Back line looked asleep/sus all game though. Woof.
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Agree. Had a chance to watch the highlights and Spurs a lot of good chances. Give Trapp some credit on a few of those saves and Harry skying the PK was a rarity. But as Fayettenam noted, that Dier touch was straight up awful.
 
fuheel said:
no clue what our best formation is anymore. Maybe this weekend we will see something like -

Allison
Gomez - VVD - Konate - Tsimikas
Fabinho - Thiago
Elliott - Firmino - Jota
Salah

It gets Salah central, but is a bit unfair to Nunez, who is actually playing pretty well right now.
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I suspect we'll see Robertson back in the team and assuming a 4-2-3-1, Nunez rather than Elliot. If it's a 4-3-3, then Nunez to the bench with a midfield of 3 of these 4: Elliot, Thiago, Fabinho and Henderson.
 
TownieDeac said:
liverpool got too old very quickly
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I'm not sure I buy that line of thinking when they're only a few months removed from an incredibly successful season.

The front 3 all hitting their 30s at the same time was concerning, which is why buying Diaz and Nunez while letting Mane leave made sense. The age issue is more a problem in the midfield where Henderson, Thiago and Milner all continue to log significant minutes while the younger legs (Keita, Jones) are on the shelf.
 
BTB said:
I'm not sure I buy that line of thinking when they're only a few months removed from an incredibly successful season.

The front 3 all hitting their 30s at the same time was concerning, which is why buying Diaz and Nunez while letting Mane leave made sense. The age issue is more a problem in the midfield where Henderson, Thiago and Milner all continue to log significant minutes while the younger legs (Keita, Jones) are on the shelf.
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I’m talking mostly about the midfield, which in my mind is largely responsible for the big drop off from last season. You can’t not replenish a midfield in a gegenpressing system with a team that plays in every competition and a squad full of internationals.
 
TownieDeac said:
I’m talking mostly about the midfield, which in my mind is largely responsible for the big drop off from last season. You can’t not replenish a midfield in a gegenpressing system with a team that plays in every competition and a squad full of internationals.
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I haven't watched a ton of Liverpool this season, but based on what Napoli did to that midfield it's an absolute mess.
 
It's getting to the point where I'm not sure Keita, as much as I liked him pre-Liverpool, can ever really be relied upon given his injury history, and beyond that Fabinho can break up play, but then you're looking to progress the ball and you're sort of left with Curtis Jones under 30. Maybe Thiago can do it for another couple years, I think he's the best playmaker in the current midfield by a mile, but every league match I've seen Liverpool play this season their midfield is getting absolutely run over. I think it places unfair blame on the fullbacks like Trent when opposing teams are just passing straight between the lines in the midfield.

And what strikes me mostly is that Liverpool were the poster child for building up a system the right way from the ground up, recruiting a manager who had a system in mind, and then a group of players on the same place on the age curve to go chase titles and trophies. And then that kind of strategic planning sort of stopped? City have clearly done a far better job in the same time span replacing older players with younger players, and not spending astronomically more, either.
 
Yeah, there has been a lot of focus on Alexander-Arnold -- sort of understandably because of the England World Cup angle, and he hasn't been good in any facet, really -- but the midfield and Van Dijk have been worse. Henderson and Fabinho, in particular, just look like they fell off a cliff. Lotta intense minutes in those legs the last five years. It was never the most athletic midfield anyway, but they would usually at least not lose the ball, or be in a good covering position. If that failed, the line would be super tight and they'd get an offside, or Van Dijk would bail them out. But everything has been all over the place, they look like they're caught between two systems, and confidence has plummeted.

Despite them both being good this week, I'd drop Elliott and Firmino. I just think if they are getting anything out of this season at this point, it's going to be because of Salah, Nunez, and Diogo J, and I think they'll need the third midfield against City or they'll get carved open (they still might anyway).
 
Inexcusable not to bring in a midfielder this summer (Arthur doesn't count). Didn't make any sense. They are going to need at least three. They wanted Tchouameni, and want Bellingham, of course, but in the past they've been able to move on from a top target going somewhere else and get someone really good, and there is obviously no guarantee they get Bellingham next year, especially if there's no Champions League.

Don't think the sporting director change has helped, and suspect that part of the reason he left was probably due to some tension with squad building the last few windows.
 
OldGouldandBlack said:
Inexcusable not to bring in a midfielder this summer (Arthur doesn't count). Didn't make any sense. They are going to need at least three. They wanted Tchouameni, and want Bellingham, of course, but in the past they've been able to move on from a top target going somewhere else and get someone really good, and there is obviously no guarantee they get Bellingham next year, especially if there's no Champions League.

Don't think the sporting director change has helped, and suspect that part of the reason he left was probably due to some tension with squad building the last few windows.
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I know it comes at a cost but I prefer the path of waiting for the guy you really want over adding someone you're less enthused about because you have to add someone. Waiting for VVD and struggling at that spot while waiting was well worth it.

Liverpool have brought in productive, talented young players the last 2-3 years in Diaz, Jota, Nunez, Konate, and Tsimikas (and potentially Carvalho and Ramsay). I think Klopp has held off on adding midfielders because he believes in the ascension of Elliot and Jones, and had what he believed were sufficient numbers with Henderson, Thiago, Fabinho, Keita, Jones , Elliot, Milner and AOC. The injury crisis to start the year showed otherwise, but again, I'd rather see them get their guy next year than settle on someone now out of desperation.
 
Yeah, I mean, it's tough to argue against what they've done and how they've gone about it. They are like a couple of bounces away from three leagues and three Champs Leagues in the last five years, and have only lost out to two of the best squads of the last 20 years. A lot of this is colored in my mind by them not getting one of the two big ones last year, and the poor start this year, and who knows how it will end up shaking out in the end. Crazy things can happen.

I think the Van Dijk situation was a little different, and I think they've been just as successful not waiting as they have with that, which was a basically self-inflicted fuck up, though yes, it was worth it. I got his argument that he had numbers in midfield and the necessary profiles, and not wanting to block the paths of Jones and Elliott; I just think counting on those folks with their injury histories, age (on both ends of the spectrum), and contract situations, and thinking everything would be as smooth as last year, was not the best call, and more of a gamble than bringing in an extra guy that they may not have been sure about. Even with that, I think if Konate and Diogo J are fit to start the year, they are probably still not playing their best, but are probably "fine." The margin of error is just so small.

They were gassed at the end of last year, and I think the main impetus for them even challenging all the way to the end was going a little out of their comfort zone and bringing in Luis Diaz early, so kinda thought they may look at that and go, hm, what if we just pushed ahead in one area and carried one extra.
 
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Man, that Barca locker room must be fun right now.
 
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