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30 Aug 2020 13:00:31
Ed001 what's your thoughts on Gini's performance yesterday mate? Looked To me like he was affected by the situation with Barcelona maybe on his mind.

{Ed001's Note - he was poor, not at the races at all. There was one moment when the ball broke loose on the edge of their penalty area and he never chased it down, instead he dithered. Then he realised he could have got it and went to chase it but it dawned on him he had missed his chance so he didn't. Normally our players don't hesitate and just chase it. That was symptomatic of his entire performance and I was very surprised he wasn't one of the first hooked.

To be fair, he didn't look even close to full fitness and nor did anyone else, but he was definitely not giving his all.}

Agree0 Disagree0

30 Aug 2020 13:15:29
Ed01, I think I saw that play you are referring to. It seems Gini was indeed playing within himself or prolly just unfit cos it is preseason. Slaha as well, was very poor. Maybe cos he was being doubled up on BUT I have seen Salah crush the double team before so not sure if it was a fitness issue cos men, he was anonymous all game long.

{Ed001's Note - to be fair, Salah didn't get any service out wide with Neco constantly stood out there and so he was having to come central into a crowd scene. He and Williams have not developed an understanding yet. Williams was advancing too far too early and closing out the space.}

30 Aug 2020 13:21:41
Glad you said it first Ed001. It's the worst i've ever seen him play in a Liverpool shirt. All of his passes looked under-hit as well. I even saw him get muscled out a couple of times which i cannot remember happening once last season.

I remember exactly which moment you mean by the way. Corner from the right wing, Van Dijk glanced a header out of play but it trickled for an age and i was screaming at Gini to chase it down. He really did look like he was already thinking about emptying his locker. Really disappointing end to his Liverpool career.

I will still choose to remember him for the years he's been an absolute machine working his balls off to cover the defence, and of course for those goals against Barca. The writing couldn't have been more clearly on the wall though.

{Ed001's Note - that was it. So frustrating to watch as he had so much time to chase it and just stood watching. He might have just been tired, all the players were clearly leggy yesterday. A number of times Mane stumbled trying to run in that way your legs go all rubbery when you are knackered.}

30 Aug 2020 14:13:22
Did anyone else thing the pitch didn’t look great. Seemed very bobbly.

30 Aug 2020 13:58:12
HMB, that was the play. Ed01, I see what you mean regarding Salah. Had Hendo played that CM role, that stuff btw Salah and Williams would have been ironed out right there on the pitch, IMO.

Gini did not help either cos he was not there to cover for Williams esp. on the goal.

{Ed001's Note - Williams kept coming too narrow when he did get back, so not sure it was all down to Gini. He was not aware of Aubameyang at all, which is very poor defending at any level, even an ex-winger should know enough to actually look and see where his man is. Gomez was out covering him on a couple of occasions because he wasn't learning. Mind, not learning in the right-back area seemed to be an issue for us yesterday. Keita got robbed of the ball in a dangerous area by fannying around there and then we won it back and he did exactly the same thing in almost the same place. Worrying as it was from those mistakes that Arsenal took control of the game for a period.}

30 Aug 2020 14:03:45
Since you’re on about the match Ed, it seems like Neco were facing both Auba and Tierney all alone as well at times, when Hendo for instance would fall back and cover up?

We looked tasty though when Naby and Taki came on. Kinda lost our way slightly after bobby left the pitch?

{Ed001's Note - Neco was not doing any such thing at all. He was not getting back most of the time, when he did he was far too narrow to face anyone. Not Gini's fault that Williams lacks awareness and did not get back quickly enough.}

30 Aug 2020 15:52:45
JK I thought the same about the pitch. It looked like they hadn’t cut the grass for ages.

{Ed047's Note - they did play the women’s Charity Shield on it earlier in the day so not sure how much that affected it

30 Aug 2020 14:43:56
Just saw your reply to the post above. Thinking about it back I do remember a few times when neco looked to be too narrow and got beaten for pace because of his starting position.

{Ed001's Note - he had a shocker, but Trent did a fair few times in his first couple of seasons, so he has plenty of time to learn. You learn more from your bad games than your good ones.}

30 Aug 2020 14:48:00
But Neco will learn from this Ed001.

{Ed001's Note - hopefully mate.}

30 Aug 2020 16:36:40
Ed001 - I agree that Neco had a shocker yesterday. What is concerning is that this is now the third or fourth game in which he played very poorly. I do not recall Trent having two bad games in a row. I am worried that Neco is simply not ready and I think that the best thing for him might be to go out on loan in order to learn some of the basics and to regain his confidence which looks shattered right now. He is after all only 19 and unlike Trent does not possess other world class skills to compensate for his learning curve.
Thoughts as to what would be best for Neco’s development next?

{Ed001's Note - can't compare the two, Neco is playing in meaningless games, Trent was in a team with something to play for. I would keep Williams and let the coaches work with him.}

30 Aug 2020 17:00:27
Ed01, I remember in your last podcast reviewing last season (it was hilarious at times), you said how concerned you were about Williams defensively. Now, I see why. I had thought that Gini could offer a bit of help there but on an individual level, he defend the goal poorly. He did not even look where Auba was when it was clear Saka was going to switch it to him. Head on a swivel comes to mind here. Neco has to do better there.

At the end of the day, football is all about beating your opposite number or stopping your opposite number cos sometimes, it is going to be a simple one on one situation. Neco did not do well in this regard and coming narrow clearly did not help his cause. Hopefully, he will learn.

{Ed001's Note - he is still young and has changed position so hopefully he will be fine but he needs to use the experience to learn from. You only had to look at the difference after Gomez moved out there and just shut Aubameyang down.}

30 Aug 2020 17:49:51
Have to say, I thought Neco struggled athletically too.
Pace wise, strength and heading.
Aubameyang was all over him like a rash.

{Ed001's Note - very true and his tendency to grab, pull and push opponents is going to cost us unless it is stopped. He is going to give away a lot of cheap, needless free kicks in dangerous areas out of stupidity if he keeps doing it.}

30 Aug 2020 18:21:26
Yes, Neco didn't have a good game. But you're saying that football is often about 1 on 1s. Neco Williams at 19 years old 1 on 1 with Aubamayeng, one of the absolute best in his position. Yes his positioning and awareness weren't good, but we only conceded one goal.

Arsenal have had a shorter preparation period, several players missing, we should be able to perform on the rest of the pitch to make up for Neco's mistake and score a couple.

Still. It would have been nice to win the shield but it's not really an important game in the grand scheme of things. Neco will learn from it; Brewster will learn that you don't have to take the perfect penalty by smashing it on the underside of the crossbar and just score it instead; Gini will either leave or know that he's staying and buckle down.

It's not all negative.

30 Aug 2020 19:03:27
Neco Williams V Aubameyang was always going to have a huge bearing on the game, poor move by Klopp to play him against such a big star, at least Gomez looked much better once he moved to right back, I thought Gomez was a bit iffy until then, hopefully Trent will be back for the Leeds game, heard he was in training today with Matip .

30 Aug 2020 19:10:09
EpicPotato - Agreed that Auba is world class and many would struggle with him. But as Ed001 stated above, once Gomez moved into the RB position we did not see Auba anymore. I am not taking down the kid. He has potential but he is not ready and assuming that he is will cost us big this year. It does not make sense to allow him to learn within a team fighting for the title. Thus my suggestion to find him a good loan destination.
The issue with Neco is not only his lack of positional sense which he can develop with experience but he also lacks speed. As such when he finds himself in the wrong position he is unable to recover.
I am knocking the kid down just saying that as it stands he is not ready to deputize for Trent when we are aiming to keep the title.
Just my opinion.

30 Aug 2020 19:08:16
just a quick one Ed if you don't mind, on the ofside goal that VVD scored, do you think that VVD should have been a bit smarter, big Virg is my fave player by the way,
I thought myself that VVD was trying to be too clever, Robbo put over a great free kick, think this was only after about 8 mins in, from the left hand side, great cross and if only VVD had stepped back one pace he would have been onside, and an early lead .

{Ed001's Note - I just think your best players should be running onto the ball, rather than dropping back, so he should never have started off in an offside position.}







 

 

 
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