Ajax (H) - CL, Tue 13th Sep 2022 (8:00pm)

[Mook]

28 minutes ago, dockers_strike said:

And what fucking good would that do the team? Honestly.

I'm not convinced he was being entirely serious.

[Alan Sex]

17 hours ago, Shooter in the Motor said:

Buy some liver, eat it near the pool and clean up afterwards with a bottle of Ajax. You can thank me later.

What if I use the Ajax as lube as well?

[Bjornebye]

 

 

 

 

[lebron]

6 hours ago, an tha said:

The line is sound - well it would be if it was offered enough protection and we were able to stop teams lobbing 1 ball forward and being at it - comes down to 2 things....not enough pressure on ball when we lose it and not good enough at winning the 2nd balls/snuffing out danger and closing gaps.

 

Dropping the line back IMO does not fix the cause of the problems, it just accepts we have the problems and we are then compromising ourselves to try and allow for them - for me we need to eliminate those to be better again.

 

All comes down to the midfield - when it worked and when it had players who could win 2nd balls regularly, who could spot and snuff out danger, stop balls being played into space, close off passing lanes and drop in and cover off gaps left by full backs the line was not seen as a problem....it wouldn't be a problem now if we fixed the midfield.

 

Agree with all of this. It would be much more damaging to us if we threw away everything that we've been working over the past few years. We just need to execute better. We might need new players to do this, or we might just need them to get back in shape. Probably a bit of both. What we don't need is abandoning our belief(s). Imo that is the single biggest problem with football managers (and supporters). There were loads trying to ridicule Guardiola in his first season here. How many in here think the opposing managers have "worked out" his system by now? They just execute it better than us (this season). Personally I think a lot of our problems are solved with Thiago coming back, as he makes us control the games better as well as being a great ballwinner. Hopefully Arthur can prove to be a valuable understudy, as he has a few of the same qualities. 

 

I can easily absorb us losing a few matches if I see that we're still working on the same page. What we definitely don't need is complete panic stations and abandoning our playing style. We need to phase out Henderson (and Milner shouldn't play for us agains), as neither are giving the midfield what they once used to. We might temper Harvey's role for a while. I still have hope for Curtis to grow into one of the midfield roles, as he has the quickness of feet to both win the ball and the pace to stop/stay with runners once we've lost the ball. He also has much better technique and perception in terms of turning with the ball in terms of playing a midfield role. Question is if his fitness will ever allow it.

 

Final bolded point; I actually think we need to be a bit better in our pressing from the front too.... Bobby has always set the tone here, but Mane was pretty vital when we were at our best too. We lose A LOT when Darwin is starting, and Salah has been a bit on and off with his work. I actually think Diaz is 2nd behind Bobby when it comes to causing the opposition to make mistakes now.

 

Anyway, I think we will win tonight. I suspect Klopp will have made his points very clear to the group this week, and I will be shocked if we see a repetition of the lacklustre displays (defensively especially) we've seen recently. Time for Virgil and Mo to kick into gear, and grab the game by the scruff of the neck. Bet Klopp will also have them as fired up as possible for this one. Let's hope the crowd can give them the support they need and deserve, and that the groaners and moaners from the web haven't infiltrated our believers.

 

 

[an tha]

3 hours ago, MegadriveMan said:

Ali

TAA

Kostas

VVD

Matip

Thiago

Fab

Milner

Mo

Bobby

Diaz

 

Lets go with our most experienced side.

 

We then have Jota, Nunez, Elliott and Carvalho available from the bench. Probably the strongest squad we've had all season! 

Milner v these is a disaster waiting to happen....far too quick and pacey and energetic for him.

 

Don't want him anywhere near starting this.

[lebron]

2 hours ago, MegadriveMan said:

Ali

TAA

Kostas

VVD

Matip

Thiago

Fab

Milner

Mo

Bobby

Diaz

 

Lets go with our most experienced side.

 

We then have Jota, Nunez, Elliott and Carvalho available from the bench. Probably the strongest squad we've had all season! 

 

No freaking way should Milner be anywhere near the team. He would be chasing shadows (again).

 

I think (and hope) Klopp will go with Harvey again, and with Thiago back in the line-up Fabinho should be able to cover better for Trent (as Thiago is much more positionally sound than Milner/Hendo).

 

From what I've seen of Ajax they are still confident (or arrogant) enough to be trying to play/keep the ball more than your standard mid-table PL team. IF we pick the right personnell (Bobby/Thiago) we should get some easy opportunities in their half. If it's Darwin up top and the retirement home in midfield they will play through us and we'll be in trouble (again).

[an tha]

11 minutes ago, lebron said:

 

Agree with all of this. It would be much more damaging to us if we threw away everything that we've been working over the past few years. We just need to execute better. We might need new players to do this, or we might just need them to get back in shape. Probably a bit of both. What we don't need is abandoning our belief(s). Imo that is the single biggest problem with football managers (and supporters). There were loads trying to ridicule Guardiola in his first season here. How many in here think the opposing managers have "worked out" his system by now? They just execute it better than us (this season). Personally I think a lot of our problems are solved with Thiago coming back, as he makes us control the games better as well as being a great ballwinner. Hopefully Arthur can prove to be a valuable understudy, as he has a few of the same qualities. 

 

I can easily absorb us losing a few matches if I see that we're still working on the same page. What we definitely don't need is complete panic stations and abandoning our playing style. We need to phase out Henderson (and Milner shouldn't play for us agains), as neither are giving the midfield what they once used to. We might temper Harvey's role for a while. I still have hope for Curtis to grow into one of the midfield roles, as he has the quickness of feet to both win the ball and the pace to stop/stay with runners once we've lost the ball. He also has much better technique and perception in terms of turning with the ball in terms of playing a midfield role. Question is if his fitness will ever allow it.

 

Final bolded point; I actually think we need to be a bit better in our pressing from the front too.... Bobby has always set the tone here, but Mane was pretty vital when we were at our best too. We lose A LOT when Darwin is starting, and Salah has been a bit on and off with his work. I actually think Diaz is 2nd behind Bobby when it comes to causing the opposition to make mistakes now.

 

Anyway, I think we will win tonight. I suspect Klopp will have made his points very clear to the group this week, and I will be shocked if we see a repetition of the lacklustre displays (defensively especially) we've seen recently. Time for Virgil and Mo to kick into gear, and grab the game by the scruff of the neck. Bet Klopp will also have them as fired up as possible for this one. Let's hope the crowd can give them the support they need and deserve, and that the groaners and moaners from the web haven't infiltrated our believers.

 

 

The press is off deffo....from midfield and front....the front always triggered it and helped us squeeze game.

 

For me and i have said this over and over and i stand by it - 100%.... Get us two players in our midfield who can do the jobs to a really high level that Hendo and Gini of 2018-2020 did and you fix us.....

[lebron]

11 minutes ago, an tha said:

The press is off deffo....from midfield and front....the front always triggered it and helped us squeeze game.

 

For me and i have said this over and over and i stand by it - 100%.... Get us two players in our midfield who can do the jobs to a really high level that Hendo and Gini of 2018-2020 did and you fix us.....

Yeah, I agree with your overall sentiment. To beat the very best teams in the world (consistently) I think we need a better, more press-resistant midfielder than Hendo was back then. Without the abundance of energy he's displayed over the last few years, he's just not good enough to be playing regularly in midfield for a title contender anymore.

 

I'm not panicking to the same extent as a lot of our supporters over our midfield options*. When most of them are match fit I think we have the tools to solve this mini-crisis. Problem is our midfield maestro (Thiago) just isn't reliable enough for us to go through a whole season without major issues. I'm actually quite pleased that we've got Arthur (who has a lot of similarities with Thiago), but we still need Fabinho/Trent/VVD and his partner to step up for us to be effective.

 

PS! Those wanting a midfielder because many are midfielders are injury-prone have a point of course.

[an tha]

37 minutes ago, lebron said:

Yeah, I agree with your overall sentiment. To beat the very best teams in the world (consistently) I think we need a better, more press-resistant midfielder than Hendo was back then. Without the abundance of energy he's displayed over the last few years, he's just not good enough to be playing regularly in midfield for a title contender anymore.

 

I'm not panicking to the same extent as a lot of our supporters over our midfield options*. When most of them are match fit I think we have the tools to solve this mini-crisis. Problem is our midfield maestro (Thiago) just isn't reliable enough for us to go through a whole season without major issues. I'm actually quite pleased that we've got Arthur (who has a lot of similarities with Thiago), but we still need Fabinho/Trent/VVD and his partner to step up for us to be effective.

 

PS! Those wanting a midfielder because many are midfielders are injury-prone have a point of course.

Yeah fair.

 

If stories in media are true we were in for Valverde - so be interesting to see if that is revisited.

[Megadrive Man]

I dont particularly want Milner starting either, but I think he's our least worse defensive option! 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Alan Sex said:

What if I use the Ajax as lube as well?

It would certainly make it easier to shove some liver up your arse. 

[joe_fishfish]

29 minutes ago, an tha said:

Yeah fair.

 

If stories in media are true we were in for Valverde - so be interesting to see if that is revisited.

Valverde from Real Madrid? We might as well be in for Mbappe.

[alles ist gut]

 

[Bobby Hundreds]

Glad jota is fit, Thiago too. Cmon reds.

[Bjornebye]

I'd have started Nunez and had Jota as an option. Can't complain too much, great to see Jota back. 

[stringvest]

Jota will get a couple. 

[an tha]

Still 2 keepers on bench....mad.

[lebron]

Fair team that. Should give us some more energy and pressing than if we'd gone with Milner and Nunez at least. Let's hope Jota has his shooting boots (or head) on.

[alles ist gut]

9 minutes ago, an tha said:

Still 2 keepers on bench....mad.

And one of them played 90 minutes this afternoon. (The eight outfield players on the bench comprise everyone eligible and healthy.)

[LFC 6 Times]

No Nunez again. Fairly alarming really.

[an tha]

7 minutes ago, alles ist gut said:

And one of them played 90 minutes this afternoon. (The eight outfield players on the bench comprise everyone eligible and healthy.)

Says it all about how many we are still missing.

[Toxteth O'Grady]

I like that team and have much more confidence in it.

Having Matip, Thiago and Jota back, if they are match ready makes us look much more balanced.

And the bench looks much stronger.

[Creator Supreme]

Still 0-6!

[Megadrive Man]

4 minutes ago, LFC 6 Times said:

No Nunez again. Fairly alarming really.

At this point he's better as an impact sub off the bench.

 

 

[sir roger]

3 hours ago, Bjornebye said:

 

 

 

 

I assume it was because of Ajax's fairly unique kit, and presumably the law was different back then and the home team had to change.