Naby Keita

[El Rojo]

3 hours ago, El Dangerous said:

Has a player ever turned it around after so long? I suppose some people could argue Hendo but that would be very harsh imo. If you can't do it in this team under Klopp then the problem is you, we even get a semi half good game out of Origi.

 

Hope he turns it around, doubtfull he will.

Players have less time to make an impact these days. I remember Robert Pires’ slow start with Arsenal was often used as an excuse to persevere with whoever our latest disastrous French league signing was in the latter days of Houllier. As Lizzy says, if he’s not right for us he’s taking the place of someone who will be. 

 

I think the Morientes comparison is fair enough at the moment, given that the best arguments in favour of Keita are still YouTube clips from before he joined us. 

 

We’ve had an amazing run with signings, the best I ever remember anyway. Would be ironic if the one we all thought was the dead cert is the one that doesn’t work out for whatever reason. 

[TheHowieLama]

Keita is already well past the Pires stage - Pires was the Player of the Year in his second season

[Lee909]

He just doesn't look up for any physical fight in games. Just drifts in and out

[El Rojo]

5 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

Keita is already well past the Pires stage - Pires was the Player of the Year in his second season

Our fan logic being back then that Diao would get player of the year after Cheyrou got the goal that won us the title. 

[3 Stacks]

We won't give up on him because we're taking a big loss at this point and Klopp has always believed in his talent, but it's wishful thinking that he'll turn it around. Even when he gets on the pitch, tactically it doesn't really work out. We look more open when he plays. 

[sir roger]

I haven't given up on him , but even if you disregard the injuries something doesn't seem quite right with his demeanour. I worry that the recent spate of close and late wins is making Jurgen pretty conservative with his selections and that the likes of Keita / Shaq / Ox as a more attacking midfielder with 2 more defensive types could help us to wrap up some of the 'easier' games more efficiently. Every game seems to be a rollercoaster and very stressful at present.

[Grinch]

He just doesn't fit the midfield anymore.   Unless you're covering our full backs, you're not getting in there more often than not. 

 

So we may get used to the water carriers. 

[dockers_strike]

2 hours ago, sir roger said:

I haven't given up on him , but even if you disregard the injuries something doesn't seem quite right with his demeanour. I worry that the recent spate of close and late wins is making Jurgen pretty conservative with his selections and that the likes of Keita / Shaq / Ox as a more attacking midfielder with 2 more defensive types could help us to wrap up some of the 'easier' games more efficiently. Every game seems to be a rollercoaster and very stressful at present.

Totally agree. The way games are going, Jurgen's sticking with the players he trusts the most to get the result. If we were battering teams 4 or 5-0, you could expect Jurgen to sling on Naby and Shaq for example on for a run out.

 

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

Got to find something to moan about I suppose. Some great points here and some not so great. Despite interruptions with fitness he started or came off the bench in 27 pl games last season, scored a few important games late on too, as for Guinea it’s not as easy to pull out of International squads as some think, blame their manager who made him carry on until he went down for the 3rd time.

Has he been great no not really but he has been far poor. I’ve seen players bounce off him in games here as they did in Germany, physically he is strong enough, maybe it’s mental, sometimes players just don’t settle. He might not come good although I think he will. I agree with the posters saying we are in such a fight he cannot be used currently, every slip up is ridiculously dramatic and over the top in the league. Draw a game and the knives are sharpened for us anyway.

Jurgen likes certain players and passes are given, not Keita though. The manager only knows if it’s the player you like, we’ve all done it. He has suffered from the hype, i’m as guilty as anyone because I watched  him regularly in Germany

[aRdja]

8 minutes ago, VERBAL DIARRHEA said:

Got to find something to moan about I suppose. Some great points here and some not so great. Despite interruptions with fitness he started or came off the bench in 27 pl games last season, scored a few important games late on too, as for Guinea it’s not as easy to pull out of International squads as some think, blame their manager who made him carry on until he went down for the 3rd time.

Has he been great no not really but he has been far poor. I’ve seen players bounce off him in games here as they did in Germany, physically he is strong enough, maybe it’s mental, sometimes players just don’t settle. He might not come good although I think he will. I agree with the posters saying we are in such a fight he cannot be used currently, every slip up is ridiculously dramatic and over the top in the league. Draw a game and the knives are sharpened for us anyway.

Jurgen likes certain players and passes are given, not Keita though. The manager only knows if it’s the player you like, we’ve all done it. He has suffered from the hype, i’m as guilty as anyone because I watched  him regularly in Germany

It was a feature published just yesterday on a prominent football website mate. Thought other posters would find it interesting. Didn’t mean it offend.

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

2 minutes ago, viRdjil said:

It was a feature published just yesterday on a prominent football website mate. Thought other posters would find it interesting. Didn’t mean it offend.

No one in particular mate.

[joe_fishfish]

He needs to knock the international shite on the head if he wants to make it here. If he'd jibbed the ACON and worked harder on rehab and integrating with out style of play over the summer then he'd be playing. He's got amazing potential and he was great for Leipzig but it's not looking rosy for him at the moment.

 

Honestly think if someone would pay us a similar sum as what we paid for him he'd be sold, but right now I doubt we'd get half, even. Maybe he could be useful as a makeweight in a deal for Sancho in the summer if his reputation in Germany is still good.

 

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

Don’t think he can easily jib off the national team, not so simple. 

 

[Grinch]

11 hours ago, VERBAL DIARRHEA said:

Don’t think he can easily jib off the national team, not so simple. 

 

 

No chance, remember all the shite with matip? 

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

Nominated for African player of the year, despite having splinters in his arse. When he actually stays fit he'll win the ballon dor.

[aRdja]

One of his best games for us was away at Bournemouth last season out on the left in a 4-2-3-1. Maybe that’s worth another go...

 

Alisson; Trent, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson; Mane, Firmino, Keita; Salah

[Elite]

26 minutes ago, viRdjil said:

One of his best games for us was away at Bournemouth last season out on the left in a 4-2-3-1. Maybe that’s worth another go...

 

Alisson; Trent, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson; Mane, Firmino, Keita; Salah

We aren't going to change out shape and tactics to accommodate him

[No2]

The team he plays are very good at football and it's difficult to get a game for them. If we had the whole league to select from only 2 or 3 players are dislodging Gini from the team.

 

Let's just be happy we finally have players the calibre of Keita who can't get into our team. 

[aRdja]

17 minutes ago, Elite said:

We aren't going to change out shape and tactics to accommodate him

We played that formation a lot the first half of last season, with good results too. We paid £50m+ for him, it’s clear that Klopp doesn’t trust him fully yet as part of the three in a 4-3-3. I say against smaller teams we experiment a bit with our setup. Spurs used to do it a lot a couple of seasons back.

[SasaS]

On 17/10/2018 at 06:42, Hades said:

Huge disappointment. Kante hit the league running and based on the hype, we thought we'd signed his equivalent. He looks a couple of levels below even Can and worse, seems to have a frail mentality if he's getting back spasms this early. Klopp's Aquilani.

That was harsh, but how much has changed in 13 months? Is Keita lucky that we are so good now and can wait for him to get going, or cursed that we are so good now there is no place for him to do it? 

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

A few months in and that gem from Hades. We are in a position with so much at stake that no risks are being taken. Ridiculously pressurised from early on this season, every mistake analysed to death, high stakes indeed. Hopefully Keita gets his chance and comes good.

[kemskem]

I think he'll feel pressure every time he comes into the team and he knows he's got to try and break into a Champions League winning midfield now. I imagine it's worse for big signings when you're in and out of the team. He's probably looking at someone else getting injured before he gets a run of games.

[Elite]

2 hours ago, viRdjil said:

We played that formation a lot the first half of last season, with good results too. We paid £50m+ for him, it’s clear that Klopp doesn’t trust him fully yet as part of the three in a 4-3-3. I say against smaller teams we experiment a bit with our setup. Spurs used to do it a lot a couple of seasons back.

Why try to fix what isn't broken?

 

If we get a few injuries fair enough but it would be daft to changing things to get an underperforming player firing, when there's no guarantee he will.

[3 Stacks]

4-2-3-1 isn't a real option. Klopp went away from it quickly and we never used it in an important game. Maybe if we're rotating and Shaqiri comes in, it makes sense that he play as a #10, otherwise it's not something that seems viable.

[mgw100]

10 minutes ago, 3 Stacks said:

4-2-3-1 isn't a real option. Klopp went away from it quickly and we never used it in an important game. Maybe if we're rotating and Shaqiri comes in, it makes sense that he play as a #10, otherwise it's not something that seems viable.

It seems now to be a Plan B tactic for Klopp, i.e. we revert to it during games that aren't going well. We have seen some success with it as a result to be fair.