My brief observations of the season so far regarding Liverpool FC:
1. So far, so good. We are near the top whilst still in 3rd gear. I feel like once we start playing at our full potential, we will blow teams away.
2. Goals conceded stat. People have been saying we have a good defence because we had one of the lowest goals conceded but we conceded so many chances that I do not think we defend particularly well as a team, we just have the best GK in the world who comes to our rescue. We should not conflate a low goals conceded record with a good defence. I think this is where the XG conceded stat is helpful, as it shows whether it is the GK or the defending doing the work.
3. We need a recognised DM. Endo or Bajetic need to play to provide balance in the midfield. I like Endo and the fact his passing is progressive. I also heard a rumour that in Germany he conceded the most fouls without being booked, so he is quite cute in that regard (if true).
4. I hate the inverted full back tactic. I think it only works when Gomez plays as he can sit at right back quite comfortably when TAA comes in. People say that its working because we are winning, but if we kept a normal formation (no inversion) we could have won games more comfortably, who knows. What I know is we are being attacked down our right all the time and lots of space is being vacated.
I have read people say that its pros outweigh its cons (i.e. TAA being more creative and creating more chances) but the same would be true if TAA played in midfield as normal (i.e. a fixed position) and we had a right back who stayed at right back like Gomez or Bradley. The only difference being it would not be an over-load in the centre of the park. I am not sure how much that over-load actually helps, it may do.
5. Nunez is good and once he improves his finishing, he will be very good. At the moment, it feels like he has golf clubs in his boots because most of his shots go sky-high!
6. Salah has lost a yard of pace but evolved into a great passer. The weight of his passes and his passing has really improved as he is assisting more. We are no longer reliant on him, but play as more of a team now.
We have a good squad. I particularly like Harvey Elliott coming on to affect games as a sub and the fact we have Jones, Endo, Bajetic, Gakpo, Jota, who can all come in and do a very good job.
Written by redhead100 December 04 2023 21:18:45
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