Liverpool FC Forum

[maypaxvobiscum]

Exactly. How anyone can blame Sakho's pass for Gerrard's slip is a joke.

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

Sakho is captaining France tonight in their game against Norway ,with Deschamps stating the following :

France coach Didier Deschamps claimed Mamadou Sakho is a "natural" leader" as the Liverpool defender will captain his nation for the first time in Tuesday's friendly with Norway.

Sakho, 24, was surprisingly named captain of former club Paris Saint-Germain aged 17, and will now take the armband of his country with Hugo Lloris rested for Les Bleus'
first World Cup warm-up friendly.

Though the game at the Stade de France will mark just his 17th appearance for his country, Sakho has already earned himself sufficient respect from squad elders to be named vice-captain to Lloris for the World Cup to come.

Deschamps said that Sakho's influence on the team had been seen when he scored twice in France's thrilling 3-0 second-leg play off triumph over Ukraine that clinched their ticket for Brazil.t's a whole bunch of things from what he does on the pitch to how he is off it. It's something natural for him, I don't want to hold him back.

http://www.espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1833358/mamadou-sakho-captain-france-versus-norway?cc=5739

[damjan193]

Sakho gives me nightmares. Every time he plays a pass he either slips over or looks as though he's about to. He gets caught in possession, can't play a simple 5 yard ball and jumps into the tackle whether the ball is there to be won or not. His ungainly appearance reminds me of Traore as they both look like Bambi on ice. I'm sorry, but I can't ever see this lad becoming international class, let alone world class. He's just too indecisive and awkward.

Finally some sense ,welcome back fella 

This is exactly what I was saying about a month or so back, I really can't understand why so many people seem to rate Sakho so highly, I'm for ever having this discussion with my lad. I always look for the good points in our players but I really can't see any in Sakho. It appears to me that he can hardly kick a ball but then my son showed me a video of him training with the French team and I was amazed at his ball skills, he was doing all the tricks in the book !

I think It's because you judge him by his appearance and the way he moves. It's true, he does look like he might crumble every time he's with the ball and I must admit, his appearance strongly resembles a certain Djimi Traore, but it's the end product that matters, and it's usually positive. He always finds a way to slip a pass through the midfield and find an attacking player in a good position, something that even Agger rarely does. He is also our best defensive header of the ball. He can have his goofy moments at times, but so far they haven't proved to be often or costly. Agger on the other hand, one of the most elegant defenders you'll ever see, struggles to win headers and is often beaten for pace in one-on-ones. Not saying that he's a bad defender, but just trying to make a point that the quality of players shouldn't be judged by their appearance.

I agree with what's been said above. To blame Sakho for Gerrard's slip is laughable. Carragher really disappointed me with his post-match analysis.

[devaney]

Yakka I've looked at it several times and there were better options. I don't think I made myself very clear. There was nothing wrong with the pass? Stevie fkd up and that cannot be disputed. My gripe with Sakho's pass was simply that there were better options - nothing else. Decision making is vital to the success of the team and I don't think a five yard sideways pass did a fat lot in terms of worrying Chelsea !!

Hey lads I don't think I actually blamed Sakho for Gerrard's slip now did I. Stevie managed that all by himself  And in no way am I blaming Sakho for costing us the league title. He had better options available and if he had opted for something a little more adventurous then who knows what would have happened. If's and buts I know and in no way am I blaming Sakho for the goal. I just thought it was a poor decision given how positive his passing usually is. He may have been under instruction to pass it to Stevie at every opportunity given Stevie's ability to play exciting killer balls.

Sorry I wasn't too clear was I..........

[SouthCoastShankly]

I've tried to get enthusiastic about Sakho mainly because I don't want to see £17m pi.ssed down the Mersey. Got to say apart from his somewhat frightening appearance he leaves a lot to be desired. Don't agree about his passing as I actually think that is the best part of his game. Invariably he looks for a positive pass to a player in a reasonable position. His worst pass of the season was to Gerrard when he slipped. There were several better options and his selection possible cost us more than we will ever know 

You're joking aren't you Dev? There was nothing wrong with Sakho's pass, he didn't give it to Gerrard when he was under pressure or anything, in fact even after letting the ball run under his foot Gerrard still had time to get to the ball but he exacerbated his first mistake with another.
Gerrard had plenty of time and space to control a bog standard pass and made a right pigs breakfast of it but it has to be said he didn't make the mistake in the last minute, we still had over a half of footy to score 1 goal against a scratch Chelsea side.
We just didn't play well on the day.

carragher made a great point in the Monday night footy analysis after the game. He said that whilst Sakho was not at fault, if Agger had been in the same position he would have played a forward pass or taken advantage of the free space and progressed forward himself.

Sakho looks like he still needs to adapt to our attacking style.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

I've tried to get enthusiastic about Sakho mainly because I don't want to see £17m pi.ssed down the Mersey. Got to say apart from his somewhat frightening appearance he leaves a lot to be desired. Don't agree about his passing as I actually think that is the best part of his game. Invariably he looks for a positive pass to a player in a reasonable position. His worst pass of the season was to Gerrard when he slipped. There were several better options and his selection possible cost us more than we will ever know 

You're joking aren't you Dev? There was nothing wrong with Sakho's pass, he didn't give it to Gerrard when he was under pressure or anything, in fact even after letting the ball run under his foot Gerrard still had time to get to the ball but he exacerbated his first mistake with another.
Gerrard had plenty of time and space to control a bog standard pass and made a right pigs breakfast of it but it has to be said he didn't make the mistake in the last minute, we still had over a half of footy to score 1 goal against a scratch Chelsea side.
We just didn't play well on the day.

carragher made a great point in the Monday night footy analysis after the game. He said that whilst Sakho was not at fault, if Agger had been in the same position he would have played a forward pass or taken advantage of the free space and progressed forward himself.

Sakho looks like he still needs to adapt to our attacking style.

Carragher is Gerrards best mate and quite frankly you could go through practically every pass a player makes in a game and find a better option. This micro-analysis of a bog standard, unremarkable pass wouldn't be happening if Gerrard hadn't have made a complete horlicks of it.
Personally SCS I'd rather we all stopped going on about it because it was the worst moment of an otherwise brilliant season and I'd much rather we focused on the positives.
For me it wasn't even Gerrards mistake that gutted me, it was the fact that we still had near an hour to salvage the situation but we didn't create a single chance of note. With our first title in 24 years on the line and given how we'd played at home all season I thought we'd really throw the kitchen sink at them but we just let the game drift.
Anyway it's gone now, we move on to next season, maybe next year is our year, teams often go close the year before they win the title.

[damjan193]

Carragher is Gerrards best mate and quite frankly you could go through practically every pass a player makes in a game and find a better option. This micro-analysis of a bog standard, unremarkable pass wouldn't be happening if Gerrard hadn't have made a complete horlicks of it.

Exactly. It's ridiculous that some blame Sakho for it. If there was pressure on Gerrard or if he was in a bad position, I would have understood. But it was quite the opposite. There was no pressure and Gerrard was exactly where he should be, in the anchor position, ready to distribute the ball. Our players have clearly been instructed to pass to Gerrard so he could create the game, we've been doing that for most of the season. Also, what would a limited player like Flanagan do if he received the ball in that position anyway? He can't penetrate through Chelsea's wall and he can't put a cross past their defense, all he would have done is pass it back to Sakho. Gerrard on the other hand, has the ability to find players even if they are heavily guarded, that's why he was the better option.

[Stu the Red]

In no way was it Sahkoś fault, to say he could have played another pass is stupid, because there was nothing wrong with the one he played. It was safe rather than aggressive, Agger may have been more aggressive, but it wasnt that pass that cost us the goal.

Sahko has looked alright at times, heś done well at others, one thing is for sure, having Mignolet, Skrtel, a kid and a joke next to him hasnt helped him at all.

For me heś been better than Skrtel, which isnt hard. I think next to a decent partner and a leader rather than a mute who doesnt have a clue he will do a decent job. He seems like the type of player who needs to be talked through and guided. Skrtel is just a drop off merchant who positions himself terribley and hangs everyone out to dry who he plays next to.

[devaney]

Who the fk said it was Sakho's fault? I merely suggested that he had far better options available to him which is something you harp on about all the time especially when it comes to the rubbish you write about Skrtel. You talk about decision making - Sturridge comes to mind - yet when I suggest that he made a poor decision that resulted in a disastrous goal you regard it as stupid. Stu mate at times the only thing consistent about you is your inconsistency. WHILST THE GOAL WAS NOT SAKHO'S FAULT I WOULD CERTAINLY QUESTION HIS DECISION MAKING.

[damjan193]

Who the fk said it was Sakho's fault? I merely suggested that he had far better options available to him which is something you harp on about all the time especially when it comes to the rubbish you write about Skrtel. You talk about decision making - Sturridge comes to mind - yet when I suggest that he made a poor decision that resulted in a disastrous goal you regard it as stupid. Stu mate at times the only thing consistent about you is your inconsistency. WHILST THE GOAL WAS NOT SAKHO'S FAULT I WOULD CERTAINLY QUESTION HIS DECISION MAKING.

But how was it a poor decision? Gerrard was neither in a bad position nor under pressure.

Let me give you an example: we have a situation 3 on 1 in front of opposition goal, Gerrard is carrying the ball, ha has a defender in front of him and Sturridge and Suarez to his left and right, both in an equally ideal position to score. Gerrard picks Sturridge to his right, but Sturridge slips and the opportunity is gone. Would you blame Sturridge for the missed opportunity or say that Gerrard is at fault because he should have passed to Suarez?

[aCe']

What are you arguing about ? The system is designed for Gerrard to come deeper and get on the ball in a deeper position where he can pick out passes under less pressure from opposition midfielders. Gerrard cam deeper and Sakho passed him the ball. End of. From that area of the pitch, theres no other play in the side you'd want on possession more than Gerrard. He slipped, and the sooner we move on from it the better.

[Stu the Red]

In football you generally have a few options. Some right, some aggressive, some safe, some poor etc etc.

Had sahko made a poor decision I would have been all over him myself. However the decision and pass was a nothing pass and nothing decision. Its the type of pass that if your centre half or keeper plays then you dont flinch because the reality is it doesn't effect the game positively or negatively. The decision to pass to Steven instead of carrying the ball, at 0-0 in a game we didn't have to win cannot in any way be named a bad decision. Sometimes in football the higher up you go the less touches good players take. Often the biggest gap in quality in amateur players and semi pros is the latters ability to recognise that passing responsibility on is usually the right thing to do

[SouthCoastShankly]

In football you generally have a few options. Some right, some aggressive, some safe, some poor etc etc.

Had sahko made a poor decision I would have been all over him myself. However the decision and pass was a nothing pass and nothing decision. Its the type of pass that if your centre half or keeper plays then you dont flinch because the reality is it doesn't effect the game positively or negatively. The decision to pass to Steven instead of carrying the ball, at 0-0 in a game we didn't have to win cannot in any way be named a bad decision. Sometimes in football the higher up you go the less touches good players take. Often the biggest gap in quality in amateur players and semi pros is the latters ability to recognise that passing responsibility on is usually the right thing to do

And I don't think Carragher was highlighting it as an error. Purely an observation than Agger would most likely not had played that pass.

[Stu the Red]

For the first time ever I agree with you, it only took me to get cancer for that to happen ha.

I disagree with those saying it was a poor decision by sahko. Passive yes... Poor? Not in a million years!

:-)

[Welsh LFC]

I'm a big fan of Sakho's he will no doubt improve next season after a positive World Cup.

I think losing Cissokho will be a big loss, doubt he knows much of our language at the moment.