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21 Sep 2015 08:00:11
Awesome win, awesome three points and a pretty darn awesome goalkeeping display by a guy who apparently "wasn't in the right frame of mind" three weeks ago. Before I say anything else that save from De Gea to deny Fonte and claw the ball out from behind him was just sensational.

The first half an hour I admit I was spewing and Southampton to their credit made us look like an Conference club. Luckily for us we soaked up the pressure and responded in the second half with aplomb. A couple of the goals were lucky with Yoshida's mistake and the offside but you still have to put them in the net. I was impressed with our performance in the second half but like we did against PSV we seem to go to sleep a little when seeing games out. The word fantastic has been branded about on here which is false, we did well but let's not get ahead of ourselves now children.

We all know Depay is young and new to this league but he really does need to get his act together real soon because he is playing for a massive club and his performances (youngster or not) have not been to an acceptable level. I posted before the game that I was concerned in regards to Pelle targeting Blind and that played out worryingly the way I thought it would early on. We really should have got a taller more physical CB in the window because clubs will continue to do this having seen Pelle and Gomis rough Blind up fairly easily.

Finally I have to mention this guy David De Gea again. The points were brought home solely by the bravery, commitment and ability of this lad to just outright deny the opposition goals from point blank range. Yes that is his job but we cannot continue to rely on him like that all season and the defenders really need to step up and take the pressure off the goalkeeper especially in the dying embers of the game.

Some good things, great things, bad things and poor things happened in this game but we live and learn and here's hoping we can replicate this victory next week.

Agree6 Disagree0

21 Sep 2015 08:52:03
I don't remember that well, but didn't Martial have a good games as well?

21 Sep 2015 09:21:59
Who said he didn't have a good game Harry? For you to read that whole post and come out with a statement like that says more about you looking for a reaction than anything else. Jog on son it's too early. Yawn.

21 Sep 2015 09:31:32
Agree with that,blind is getting bullied at cb,I thought the swine controlled the midfield when he came on,his passing is top drawer,whatever happened with ddg in the summer it's like a new signing.

21 Sep 2015 09:49:31
I agree with blind, but to be fair he'd not going to come against players like pelle every week. The bloke is huge.

21 Sep 2015 10:15:15
To be fair to Blind he isn't the biggest or strongest are far bigger amd stronger defenders than him struggle with the likes of Pelle and Gomis.

But Benteke also fits into that same kind of striker and yet Blind didn't struggle against him.

So what was the difference? Mane and Ayew were the difference. Liverpool lacked a quality wide player who could beat a full back and put a quality cross in for the striker at attack.

Blind being small isn't a big problem, the trick is to starve the big strikers of service. Against Swansea Ayew was outstanding and neither of our full backs fully got to grips with him.
Against Southampton Mane started on fire and we struggled, then we lost Darmian so as we had neither first choice full back on the pitch.

Blind will do fine at CB we just need to work harder as a team to stop those crosses coming into the box. Our wide players aren't great at protecting their full back which will always present an issue from wide positions.

21 Sep 2015 10:22:27
100% agree Maze. I think we showed a lot of talent in the second half and if we can replicate that for the rest of the season we will be comfortably up top competing for the title.

Martial is look like a special player, could see him picking up Young player of the year if he continues this form and stays injury free.

21 Sep 2015 10:30:04
One other thing I forgot to add is I thought Morgan Schneiderlin was outstanding and he flys under the radar as he does the simple things with the ball.

Leahy - I agree mate I thought Bastian was a force when he came on and I actually believe bringing him on as a sub when the opponent is tired is probably when he is most effective as he has a vast array of vision. When I have seen him play or come close to playing a whole game he is dead on his feet after 65mins.

CTR - I agree Pelle is a monster but after seeing Gomis torment Blind that is why Koeman would have set Pelle that task. The worry is for me, other teams will follow suit after seeing Blinds woes against big physical strikers. Maybe others aren't as imposing as Pelle but there are still plenty of big men in the league who like bully their way to goal.

21 Sep 2015 10:42:47
Guess we will have to see how it goes when we play Everton hey, I can't see borini playing him like that but Lukaku is another kettle of fish.

21 Sep 2015 11:13:36
CTR - I think Giroud could also give him a tough time and we also play City who have Bony and Aguero in their ranks. Add these to Lukaku and even Doumbia (granted he is smaller but uses his body well) of CSKA and I think October could be a telling time for Blind should he still be playing at CB. I have said before he is a capable CB but for me he just lacks the physicality to take us to next level.

Shappy - I agree that wingers make a significant difference by luring players out of postion but I honeslty feel in regards to Gomis and Pelle they just used thier huge bodies well against Blind and won a physical duel. As for Benteke I feel that it was more Rodgers's defiance and negligence to use Benteke in a physical way that nullified his threat on Blind. Having said that Daley had a great game against Liverpool but if I was Rodgers I would have told Benteke to get in Blinds face as much as possible which he didn't really do.

Weggy - The young Frenchman has been exciting and his work rate is commendable thus far but he did look isolated at times in my opinion and I thought that maybe someone like Herrera could have pushed on to give the lad more support. He is by no means a bargain giving the fee but he may well be a real gem going by his performaces thus far.

21 Sep 2015 11:40:06
Maze, Strikers can only get involved in a battle with Blind if the ball is being played into the striker or into areas the striker can attack.
When the ball is played vertically to the striker then Blind needs only to stand off as the only options to the striker is to hold the ball up or turn and run at the defence if he stands off him at that time then he keeps himself in the game by not allowing the striker to turn him with his strength. The only option left for the striker in that situation is pass the ball onto another player, no amount of strength will aid him in that. Thus his strength makes no difference.

Where a strikers strength will make a difference is winning headers from crosses or running into the channels onto through balls. Most of these kind of passes come from either the wide or inside wide positions on the pitch. These kind of passes will cause Blind problems against strikers stronger than himself. So the trick to that is to limit or if possible totally cut them out. If we do that like we did against Liverpool then Blinds lack of physical strength won't be a problem, if we allow passes from these positions against strong strikers then they will expose Blinds weakness such as Ayew and Mane did to the benefit of Gomis and Pelle.

These are tactics which many people fail to fully grasp. Every player has his strengths but also his weaknesses, it is a team game at the end of the day and the teams job to make sure as a team they cover for each others weaknesses and play to each others strengths. When that is done well that is when you get a winning team.

Just because Blind has a weakness downs' mean he can't play well, if you were to replace him with any other CB in the world that player would also have his weaknesses and the team would have to adapt to help cover for them.

Football is not a simple case of taking out one part and slotting in another and it instantly improving it.

21 Sep 2015 11:57:30
JMB,

I said the word fantastic as a bit of an opposite post to Jaime who was frankly doing my head in with his negativity and embarrassing posts during the game. I thought we were good, even great at times but admit fantastic may be pushing it. The thing is we are playing the way LVG wants us to play and we are doing that really well, the longer we keep picking up points the closer we are going to get to challenging, need a big win against Sunderland on Saturday as I do think October could be tricky, not looking forward to some of the posts on here if October isn't great, but I think November and December will be a big help for us.

21 Sep 2015 12:11:55
I apologise Maze, poor banter, too early on a Monday. I'll concede that.

21 Sep 2015 12:54:07
Shappy, you're completely wrong about Blind. It's not that Blind has a weakness. It's that Blind is a weak defender and teams are targeting him directly.

In every game so far this season, all I have seen is Smalling playing with one eye on covering for Blind's lack of height and pace. In the two games we have been really caught out, Swansea and Southampton, big strong forwards sat on Blind and bullied him. The reason this didn't work for Liverpool is, and your right, because they lacked width. What any smart manager will have noted is that if you play against us with width this will stretch the defence and allow your striker to isolate Blind and bully him.

I have yet to see a striker try to isolate Smalling in this way, and this is obviously because there isn't anything to be gained from doing this. Central defence needs to be a true partnership. What we have at the moment is one defender babysitting the other because he simply isn't strong enough to handle strikers by himself.

21 Sep 2015 13:36:13
Shappy, we didn't "lose" Darmian, he was taken off because he was rather rubbish in that first half.

21 Sep 2015 14:16:56
"These are tactics which many people fail to fully grasp"

Shappy I think most of he folk on here are pretty clued up on how tactics work and how to get the best out of other players so no need to talk down to us little people from your high horse. At the end of the day - tactics aside - every player has attributes which suit their own personal game.

Blinds greatest attributes is his discipline, composure and intelligence. His weaknesses are his lack of physicality and pace. If opponent targets this in him and it comes off then it exploits us. Yes every player has a part to play in the team, whether that be attacking or defensive but when you have a physical player who is good in the air and with his feet, route one and diagonal balls are always going to cause an issue (as we have seen with Felliani over the pat year).

21 Sep 2015 14:44:20
Maze, I am not talking down to anyone or anything but most folk on here don't actually understand tactics at anything more than a basic level. It will be totally different for the PL teams. Moon's post on here a few weeks back was the best I have seen on here detailed and thorough but even that only scratches the surface.

PS. That isn't a dig at you Moon i thought that was a great article.

21 Sep 2015 15:06:04
Yeh shappy stop talking down to people!

Follow maze's lead with lines like "let's not get ahead of ourselves now children" 😆

21 Sep 2015 15:41:10
Lol love it gav.

21 Sep 2015 16:03:11
Shappy your "these are the tactics. " paragraph absolutely spot on. probably the best sense I've ever read here. It's why we have to be patient with this team as they come to learning each other's game towards team balance. So far I see many positives.

21 Sep 2015 16:32:11
Maze, Nice attempt to deflect from my point. Btw I didn't mean for it to come across as if I was talking down to people. Just what I considered a fairly obvious point that few people have a detailed knowledge of tactics. A lot of posts on here confuse tactics with formations for example. Formations will be part of the tactics but only a small part, style, tempo, where to be aggressive, when and where to allow the opposition the ball, as well as individual and team instructions are all part of the tactics. How many people on here have managed a team and has coaching experience? If not then it is likely that your tactical knowledge will be limited. There is nothing wrong with that, It isn't your job to know or understand tactics. Same thing as Ed002 not talking about money as few of us have any understanding of it as we aren't accountants.

Funnybunny, Darmian has been not quite with it for the last couple of games. Maybe something has happened to knock his confidence or maybe something is happening off the pitch which is effecting him. Either way he has been our first choice RB all season and we didn't play the second half with him. That means the team lost him and therefore it will effect the defensive unit.

Danny, Blind isn't a weak defender, he averages 9 defensive actions a game which is the same as Otamendi is managing. And only a few less than the likes of Hummels and Ramos. So he is contributing well to the defensive side of things. He has played as a defender for much of his career and is a good defender. Probably not a great one but certainly a good one. He has two weaknesses as a footballer one being that he isn't blessed with blistering pace, and two he isn't a physically strong player. But he is very intelligent and an excellent reader of the game, he is vocal and helps organise those around him, he has great technique and a cool head which means he does't buckle under pressure. And he is a wonderful passer of the ball, and has completed more passes than anyone else in our team.

He can be targeted by opposition players but that doesn't mean he isn't a good player. Torres used to target Vidic every time he played us. Does that make Vidic a poor defender?

Does Smalling only look a good defender because he isn't being targeted and therefore less likely to give a chance away?

Teams will look at what they have and how they can use that against us. Its tactics and it is our job to counter those.

I believe the best way to defend is as far up the pitch as possible. Stop them getting into dangerous positions by not letting them have the ball in areas they can make those passes from.

21 Sep 2015 18:47:02
Top post shappy. I've said before I enjoy your analysis and also that of moon. I think maze misunderstood to be fair as I'm sure the majority on here didn't feel you were talking down.
I don't always agree but I respect your opinion with usually well argued points made in a respectful way. You have obviously studied and practised and have the badges. As it stands out in much of your reasoning. Please keep on posting just the way you do.







 

 

 
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