Nunez and Gakpo

[DalyanPete]

2 hours ago, Toxteth O'Grady said:

I'm only guessing here but chances are the owners have said something like "now we've renewed Milner, Henderson and Fabinho at your request, just how many midfielders is enough? You've got about 10, get rid of 2 or 3 and you can have a new one".

Been saying this for a long time, it works the same in any industry,  how many welders/ lathes/buses etc do you need. We've held on or renewed for too long.

[an tha]

2 minutes ago, Joey8FrogsLegs said:

Could be actually. What else could explain a performance like that from what used to be a very good CB.

 

He looked scared of the opponents, the ball, his team mates, the home supporters, the lot.

He certainly did look very uncomfortable - he was looked put out that opposition players were running by him/pressing him/challenging him etc.

 

Quite likely a result of the drained confidence and belief in team at moment but also i do think he may have been less than fit.

[Poor Scouser T]

1 minute ago, an tha said:

He certainly did look very uncomfortable - he was looked put out that opposition players were running by him/pressing him/challenging him etc.

 

Quite likely a result of the drained confidence and belief in team at moment but also i do think he may have been less than fit.

Noticed one attack the FB's were up the pitch. Not sure were the midfield were so the CB's were roughly inline with the corners of the box. Whats that about 30 yards between them you could have taxied a plane straight through the middle towards goal.

[an tha]

2 minutes ago, Poor Scouser T said:

Noticed one attack the FB's were up the pitch. Not sure were the midfield were so the CB's were roughly inline with the corners of the box. Whats that about 30 yards between them you could have taxied a plane straight through the middle towards goal.

Yeah been happening all season.

 

Full backs are 60 yard up park, the invisible midfield is nowhere (remember the good old days when Hendo or Wijnaldum dropped in and covered if we got caught) and the two centre halves are left to try and defend width of the pitch against 4 or 5 ....

 

And people wonder why concede goals!

[Poor Scouser T]

I don't know if the CB speak to each other. You can see VVD ranting and organising but these to just have the 1000yd stare look.

[Poor Scouser T]

Bin one of them whoever we get most for. Bring new one in drop the other to 4th choice.

[Fugitive]

I stand with Nunez… one we get a midfield who can pass, run, tackle, look like they are capable of breathing…

[Joey8FrogsLegs]

8 minutes ago, Poor Scouser T said:

I don't know if the CB speak to each other. You can see VVD ranting and organising but these to just have the 1000yd stare look.

Some people were saying Van Dijks injury wouldn’t be a big problem.

 

It’s a massive problem. We were poor with him, and it’s not been his best season, but he’s still a far better CB than Matip and Gomez, and not least he organize the defence. 

[Red_or_Dead]

Not going to judge Gapko as it's only 5 games.

 

Nunez, on the other hand, I'm sick to death of hearing "he's raw" and "he'll come good".  He may well do, but for the price we paid that is unacceptable - it's half a season now and we've only had a couple of flashes of what we'd thought we'd got.

 

 

[Poor Scouser T]

Just now, Joey8FrogsLegs said:

Some people were saying Van Dijks injury wouldn’t be a big problem.

 

It’s a massive problem. We were poor with him, and it’s not been his best season, but he’s still a far better CB than Matip and Gomez, and not least he organize the defence. 

VVD Still works with Konate both have the pace to push up. Those 2 today couldn't hit a 20yrd pass under no pressure. And then Trent has to hit a Hollywood pass to clear lines.

[Joey8FrogsLegs]

3 minutes ago, Poor Scouser T said:

VVD Still works with Konate both have the pace to push up. Those 2 today couldn't hit a 20yrd pass under no pressure. And then Trent has to hit a Hollywood pass to clear lines.

His long range passing is also very important to the team. Matip never even attempts a long range pass, he probably knows he can’t do it. Gomez thinks he can do it, but can’t.

[TD_LFC]

18 minutes ago, Fugitive said:

I stand with Nunez… one we get a midfield who can pass, run, tackle, look like they are capable of breathing…

Are they going to get shots on target and score for him as well?

 

 

[Poor Scouser T]

I think we rely on all the back 4 to supply the front 3 Trent and Robbo mainly but CB advancing or VVD hitting long. No creativity in the  midfied.

[Red Shift]

The only thing I would argue, is that we shouldn’t auto start Gakpo because he is new.

 

Elliott is in good form and we need Mo in the middle imo, so for me its either Darwin or Cody on the left. 
 

I’m not averse to a 4-4-2 setup either. Keep the in-form players up top. Once again Elliott with Darwin might be worth a go, Mo and Cody used as subs.

[Red Shift]

1 hour ago, Poor Scouser T said:

I think we rely on all the back 4 to supply the front 3 Trent and Robbo mainly but CB advancing or VVD hitting long. No creativity in the  midfied.

50% of that strategy is gone, with VVD injured.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

1 hour ago, Red_or_Dead said:

Not going to judge Gapko as it's only 5 games.

 

Nunez, on the other hand, I'm sick to death of hearing "he's raw" and "he'll come good".  He may well do, but for the price we paid that is unacceptable - it's half a season now and we've only had a couple of flashes of what we'd thought we'd got.

 

 

The price we paid is the going rate for any halfway decent forward.

[Colonel Bumcunt]

I'm not worried at all by Gakpo and Nunez. 

Both playing far more than ever intended, supposed to be learning from watching Diaz, Salah, Jota and Bobby.  

Brutal first season. 

 

Trent seems to just lob balls in from deep, the oppo usually have 3CBs deep to deal with that.  

[The Golden Eel]

Nunez is great. Gakpo, I'm not convinced but there are a few signs of life there. I'd focus on questioning the players who've been here more than five minutes. 

[Jose Jones]

I think people are kidding themselves. You can tell great forwards straight away.
Yeah, Suarez missed a lot of chances in his first season, but you could tell he was amazing.

Torres, brilliant straight away.

Mane, immediately our best attacker

Mo, 44 goals in his first season

These two might improve a bit, but great players they will never be. 

[FrenchEyeGlass]

If we bought Nunez and added him to our PL winning team or either CL finalist team, he would be fucking soaring. It’s so obvious that’s he’s a confidence player and currently looks dogshite often because the entire team is so low on confidence. 
 

Gakpo is rubbish. I had this opinion before we bought him so it’s not reactionary. If anything I tried to forget my opinion when he signed to give him a chance. But he’s distinctly average. Here’s to him proving me wrong hopefully. 
 

Either way, I would not have signed either. Money pissed up a tree indeed. 

[razor]

Nunez is a big, fast lad who clearly makes defenders nervous.  You can clearly see this.  He puts people on the back foot.  We paid too much, I think, but he is not Andy Carroll, in either capability or attitude.

 

People putting Gakpo in the bin is just daft.  I think he needs to be braver/stronger in terms of physicality, but prime Messi would struggle to lift the gloom that has engulfed this team.  He's stepped onto a sinking ship and people want to blame him for not stopping it sinking.

 

We are looking for something to pin blame on because we are all frustrated and perplexed.  That something isn't these two.  Or any of the people named in thread titles currently on the first page of the FF.

 

The rest of this season is about getting the right combinations ready for 23/24.  Horrible but true.

[3 Stacks]

3 hours ago, FrenchEyeGlass said:

If we bought Nunez and added him to our PL winning team or either CL finalist team, he would be fucking soaring. It’s so obvious that’s he’s a confidence player and currently looks dogshite often because the entire team is so low on confidence. 
 

Gakpo is rubbish. I had this opinion before we bought him so it’s not reactionary. If anything I tried to forget my opinion when he signed to give him a chance. But he’s distinctly average. Here’s to him proving me wrong hopefully. 
 

Either way, I would not have signed either. Money pissed up a tree indeed. 

I think it's the opposite. Gakpo is someone that if you'd put him in a team with a good tactical base, he would do exactly the job you'd want, but he's not gonna beat a defender and hit it in the top corner. 

 

In contrast, Nunez is someone who could make something happen out of a random hoof towards him but you'd question if you could ever build a top side around him if he's your 9. Currently, he does too much dumb stuff and he's too erratic. And he's a player that could eventually cost close to 100m with add ons, he's not just a substitute, he has to be a key player. 

 

But anyway, the point isn't really about their quality, it's that we haven't seen our attack be coherent consistently with them as a part of it. 

[VladimirIlyich]

6 hours ago, Joey8FrogsLegs said:

Some people were saying Van Dijks injury wouldn’t be a big problem.

 

It’s a massive problem. We were poor with him, and it’s not been his best season, but he’s still a far better CB than Matip and Gomez, and not least he organize the defence. 

Correct. Gomez is a horror show of a central defender and like a lot of English players thinks he is far better than he actually is. Right back or nowhere for me. Matip looks like Fabinho and is already retired. Konate is our best central defender but is made of breadsticks like Matip.

[Turkish Delight]

Nunez has pace and the attributes to be a top player but he reminds me of Djibril Cisse in the way he finishes. He can hit a ball hard but there's no intelligence or placing in the way he does it. I never expect him to score.

 

The fact that Klopp called out that we're easy to pass through when he plays shows he is costing us more than just missed chances (of which there's been way too many). The fact that Darwin himself said he had to apologise to the other players for how far off their level he was in training in the summer says a lot too.

 

Gakpo is early in but he isn't even getting in positions to score which is a big worry.  He's generally been invisible apart from safe passes.

[Daisy]

They are both very shit.

 

Not sure who is the shittest