épieur

Second half was us doing the thing that top teams do and dominate the opposition and use that to create chances and keep them from having too much. Possibly our most coherent 45 minutes this season.

Hugo is the bees knees. Our main man.

Put Wirtz into a central three. Let one of the forwards do what Gakpo does but on the right.

Really don't like Wirtz stuck out on the right and really don't like Jones and Szoboszlai as a two man midfield. Sort yourself out Slot.

Midfield utterly nonexistent for that counter.

If Henry and Hasselbaink were partnered.

343? Actually 352?

wat. Arne, stahp.

Basically. Feels like Slot is just finding ways of making life difficult for himself at this point. Wtf is that midfield. Jones and Wirtz in a two is asking for trouble. If it's 433 with szoboszlai in midfield it's still an opportunity wasted for seeing what a post Salah line up could look like.

5 foot 11.

Kerkez is 1.80m! Looks 1.60m.

He was plenty fast. Not Mane/Salah acceleration, but definitely enough to get away from most defenders.

Start Marmardashvili and all the ex-bundesliga lads and figure out the rest. So Marmardashvili Frimpong, Konate, Gomez, ??? Endo, Szoboszlai, Wirtz ??? Ekitike, Isak I'd be giving Joe, Robbo and Chiesa starts for this one too and let our two grand old men sit this one out. Salah can't complain about being rested if Big Virge is also rested.

Think lots of great teams have shown that having more than one playmaker in midfield can accomplish great things.

I don't understand how someone like Conte can do amazing things in the league, in both England and Italy, with different clubs, yet throughout his career be astoundingly bad in Europe. It can't be that different.

We won all the league games he has started and lost all the league games he didn't.

I really don't understand Slot's decision with not starting him and Wirtz, but starting Isak. I can't read Mac Allister starting ahead of Wirtz as anything other than being too intimidated by United to risk starting Wirtz. But then he goes and starts Isak ahead of Ekitike when there is plenty of risk in such a decision given their respective form. So was it a game with leeway for carrying a player or two or not? If he's still punishing him for the celebration, that's bulls***.

His pressing stats were very high in Germany. He's used to it. The pace and physicality is just a step up.

I think it works fine if Wirtz can lift his responsibilities at the head of midfield and the fullbacks particularly on the left, can provide similar kind of width to what they did under Klopp. Then you've got Salah on the right and Ekitiké and Isak sort of reinterpreting the old "two up front" setup in a way that's shifted one step to the left. They're both good at dropping off to receive the ball, they can both work the channels and both can get in behind. They just need to work out who does what when between them. Especially out of possession. I really don't think it's a super radical setup. Especially not in an era where we see right backs stepping into midfield as playmakers, centre forwards acting as playmakers instead of goalscorers and wide forwards being the primary goalscorers.

Ekitike looks comfy there.

That was my first thought after the miss. Why did he go low when we know he can hit it properly and on target?

Nunez would still be finding chances. He is far more dynamic than Isak so far has been. Isak had one of the best chances of the game with his 1on1 with the keeper. That was his moment.

I am not writing him off or anything. He's had bad spells before. It's just that I think we'd be better if Chiesa starts right now. And given that starting every game hasn't done much I'd like to see what happens if he doesn't.

I think you are vastly over stating how easy that was. He had an open shot at goal for a first time shot just inside the penalty area with a keeper on the line and bodies in the way. He still needed to place that shot in the corner with power from 17 yards. Gakpo had a free header from 3 yards out.

I am an advocate of just playing our four star attackers together in the same way that we played Suarez, Sturridge, Sterling and Coutinho together. I do think it's looking increasingly like Isak should be be playing Sturridge to Ekitiké's Suarez than the other way around though. And I don't get why Slot seems more focused on implementing the plan he made in his head over the summer than what he's seeing on the pitch. Ekitiké has pure star power and is the only in form player up front besides Chiesa. Slot should be taking him as his starting point for the rest to find a way in around.