Liverpool FC Forum

Reg » Sun Apr 04, 2021 7:07 am wrote:

electrum » Sun Apr 04, 2021 4:56 am wrote:Firmino should NOT start before Jota again this season- or next for that matter.

There is a complete chasm in the attacking threat / goal scoring with Jota on the pitch...

Bobby had a good game in my opinion, he plays a completely different game to Jota, he plays behind the front 2. Bringing Robbo off was totally logical and it worked out well. Bobby still has an important part to play in the overall shape and success of the team.

Agreed. Firmino was really good and when we switched to 4-2-3-1 with Firmino in the 10 role we became dangerous on top of the control we already had. When we are that dominant and a team is camped in their own third, 3 midfielders is counterproductive. Now that Jota is back I hope to see that setup on the pitch more often when we are trying to dislodge the bus. Shout out to Kabak and Philips who have played 4 games together and have kept 4 clean sheets. That's some accomplishment considering the circumstances. And Fabinho is some player. He was very good at CB but he's a world class midfielder.

If we can keep our key players fit for the rest of the season we might just make the top 4.

Bobby did have a good game, he kept the ball well even when he found himself in heavy traffic and he didn’t frivolously squander away possession like he sometimes has a habit of doing but as Mark says before Jota came on for all our dominance we didn’t really look like scoring.
Diogo carries a real goal threat, because he’s so mobile he’s difficult to pick up and to quote the old Rugby commentator Bill McLaren the lad just seems to have the instincts of a forest animal, he just seems to know instinctively where the cross is going to land or where the ball is going to break. Bobby for all his undoubted ability hasn’t really got that in his locker, Diogo scores 3 goals on international duty and then comes off the bench with less than half an hour left at the Emirates and scores another 2!
As Eagle mentioned we did look good with all four on the pitch and if any pairing is going to be able to hold the fort in MF it’s Fab and Thiago but if we do come up against a team who are particularly strong in the middle of the park and we do need the protection of the extra legs in midfield I do feel it is Bobby who should lose out and not Diogo.
At a time when we’ve been struggling to score goals it just seems ludicrous to leave someone out who looks like scoring every time he steps on the pitch.

A good weekend all round as Spurs just drew with Newcastle. They are consistently inconsistent :-) so don't think they will stay the course for top 4.

Looking back on yesterdays game I thought it was strange that Kostas never came on as a direct replacement for Robbo. He played in the internationals for Greece so is fit so what's the story with him not getting a sniff of a game here ?. He was bought to provide cover for Robbo and after three quarters of a season here he cant be trusted to step in for 20 minutes. Is he rubbish or what.

Great game. Klopp is right, it's one of the first games this season we've had a full team match fit with decent options on the bench. Injuries have ravaged our season especially with the CBs which in turn took Fab and Hendo out of midfield. Looking forward to football again now, big game tomorrow.

red till i die!! wrote:Looking back on yesterdays game I thought it was strange that Kostas never came on as a direct replacement for Robbo. He played in the internationals for Greece so is fit so what's the story with him not getting a sniff of a game here ?. He was bought to provide cover for Robbo and after three quarters of a season here he cant be trusted to step in for 20 minutes. Is he rubbish or what.

I think Jurgen just wanted to get some fresh legs in midfield to protect the lead and at the same time give Robbo a bit of a rest for tomorrow’s game and found a way of doing it by making just one substitution. You make a good general point though mate we’ve barely seen Kostas all season, I know Robbo has been an ever present but even so, he is rather conspicuous by his absence.