Hear hear. I made a post on here before to show the times Rio, Vidic and Stam etc were here and save for Stam they all had their best seasons after having been here a few years and when they were close to or already in their 30s. Hell VVD - same thing. Mistakes yesterday aside Ive been quite pleased with his performances and his confidence and partnership with Harry in the first half seemed great. Hope he doesn't let the mistakes yesterday get him down. And even then it's mostly just the handball that was concerning.
4
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 24
- Clean sheets
- 7
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 4
The only mistake we should be beating De Ligt on is the handball. You have to be aware in that situation that an arm raised like that is like waving a red cape in front of bull. As for the Gakpo goal, De Ligt went for the challenge and missed but his fellow defenders should have anticipated the reaction more quickly. Gakpo gets all the credit for fantastic play on the goal.
Yeah I think VVD was still at Southampton at 25 wasn't he? Getting put on his backside by Martial.
My man, now I know you are just making it up. Gakpo cuts in BECAUSE De Ligt is busting a gut to get to him. He can see him coming, he's not just randomly cutting on to his right without knowledge of where De Ligt is. Look how far De Ligt has to lunge as well, he's almost off shot in the replay. Your proposed situation defies the laws of physics, De Ligt is too slow so he's literally had to lunge on Gakpo's touch (as any player at any level has to do) because he is gambling the ball is going that way. For him to 'stand up' he wouldn't be able to be sprinting at full speed, because otherwise he's still getting done as his momentum can't just disappear, so he has to tackle or do what he did.
Again, I feel like you're trying to put general defensive principles into a real life situation that they don't work in. Think of how fast De Ligt is having to make his decision and how much momentum he has, there is no way he is going to be able to stand Gakpo up because every single wide player from Non league to PL loves getting to the ball slightly ahead of a big CB coming full pelt, little touch past them, buy the contact, bang, penalty, hopefully a card as well.
He cut back because he's right footed and far more comfortable and dangerous on his right foot. Its what most players with that profile want to do. However he knows that the defender should have that basic information and will probably not allow it. By doing the most basic thing for himself and his preferences he's taking a chance that the defender doesn't do the most obvious thing and it paid off because de Ligt was found wanting
He does what Rashford or Garnacho would do 9 times out of 10 in that position and try to come inside. And most of the time they are blocked off because its obvious.
De Ligt done what most defenders in that situation do, slide in to cover the shot/cross.. Gakpo deserves the credit for cutting the ball back before taking the shot.
I often wonder why more attackers don't do that as how many times do we see an attacker get close to goal and automatically whip it in and it gets blocked, rather than put the defender on his backside and have a free hit at goal.
The handball was silly, the attempted block was not.
I often wonder why more attackers don't do that as how many times do we see an attacker get close to goal and automatically whip it in and it gets blocked, rather than put the defender on his backside and have a free hit at goal.
The handball was silly, the attempted block was not.
Yes because of where De Ligt is right, you get that? Rashford etc. won't cut back in the defender is in a better position i.e. tighter or at least they won't cut back and get a free opening to shoot, but De Ligt just isn't close enough - it's not really his fault, he can't magically get way faster, it's just the situation that he finds himself in. Looking at the whole play, he's unlucky, he can't really just leave VVD (nor should he go any wider) and Maz/Ugarte are covering their players but then Gakpo gets left when Ugarte comes back infield and its a very easy ball into his path. I don't even think De Ligt played poorly, I just think his physical limitations mean at RCB mean the mismatch in speed versus the left sided attackers he will come up against will keep happening.
Spot on
Gakpo has already made his mind up to try and come inside, just like Rashford and Garnacho would before De Ligt dives in. And before he dives in he's in position to defend if Gakpo comes inside. So I'm not sure what your first point is. His original position is perfectly fine to defend the most dangerous thing, he just abandons it in favour of a hail mary sliding tackle to block a ball across the box that would be less dangerous than Gakpo on his right foot having a shot.
You’re missing the point which is if De Ligt doesn’t dive in then Gakpo wouldn’t be able to cut in - it is irrelevant if Gakpo reacted after. The bottom line is the percentage play here is to leave Gakpo on his left foot from a narrow angle rather than have an open goal to aim with his stronger foot.
I can only think if City's Dias.
Most players need time to adapt to the PL, but for us, with the intense scrutiny, it's better if a newly signed player adapts quicker, unfair ask, but it is better for them to adapt quicker.
Agreed. I think he's doing very well all things considered
I think what @tomaldinho1 trying to argue is that when Gakpo received the ball and ran at goal, De Ligt was nowhere near him, De Ligt then proceeded to go at full speed and lunge in an attempt to block the incoming shot/cross by Gakpo which was not in a narrow angle, Gakpo could have shot, crossed, or cut back and it would have been dangerous, if that is what De Ligt was thinking, then his lunge to block the shot/cross/cutback was rational one, Gakpo then fakes it, sending De Ligt to the cleaners, I think in that situation, it was more that Gakpo knew what De Ligt would do and he saw him coming, if not, Gakpo could have decided to go with his left and either attempt the shot or create a chance for someone in the box.
Yes but if De Ligt had better awareness of his surroundings and scanned better he would see that any pass across 6 yard area was unlikely to reach a Liverpool shirt as we were back in numbers and thus Gakpo hurting us from that position was a low percentage. By diving in, he ended up changing the dynamics of the situation and increased Gakpo chance of creating a high risk situation of a goal.
Do you think he really has time to do that there? He's having to quickly recover because other players left Gakpo free. When he slides for the block Gakpo looks like he's about to cross, I don't think any defender is just letting that happen there.
It's a very good piece of play by Gakpo, the amount of blame being put on De Ligt here is a bit silly, especially when nobody seems to care that Ugarte just wondered off.
If you mean he would come inside if De Ligt magically just wasn't there, disagree. If you mean he's made his mind up knowing where De Ligt is - that's what I said. Right footed attackers do have left feet, you just need to force them to have to use them. His original position is fine, the error is Maz/Ugarte's but he chooses the wrong option in desperately lunging to block a cross/shot that never came.
Why would he, my point is because De Ligt is not fast enough he has to commit to either trying to tackle/block or nothing. I think Gakpo either just shoot (the preferable outcome for a defender) or will just breeze past him, literally a little touch with the left and buy contact/get a shot away, or just a pass, whatever he wanted. De Ligt is not close enough so he could just take a touch with his left, Maguire only reacts when he sees De Ligt is done (too late) and Ugarte is too far off. Re your follow up about scannig, no defender in world football is looking across their box, calculating the multiple runs and players availabel like some supercomputer and then deciding on their action, they might quickly look across the line but that's about it and there was a free pass (the cut back) on when you look at it that Gakpo surely saw and ignored.
@OmarUnited4ever kind of, more just his profile - big heavy unit, not dynamic but fast when up to speed coming up against someone fast and agile like Gakpo, I don't see a scenario where he can effectively defend that situation by not committing, he chose the one most people would (player fakes and you buy it) but obviously we hope PL defenders are the cut above. I think he can actually could and should have challenged the ball, obviously this seems way wiser with hindsight but as people are saying he knows Gakpo well, the danger is giving a penalty away but you know how close you are goal and if he passes you, no matter how, it's probably a goal anyway.
Of course he would come onto his right foot if de Ligt isnt there
That would mean nobody is there to stop him setting himself on his prefered foot to have a clear shot on goal inside the box.
De Ligt initially did well to follow Gakpo but sold himself silly for no reason. However, don't blame the other defenders, who were all in perfect positions. They couldn't have predicted that de Ligt would try to block a super narrow shot that Onana would have covered all day or a 6 yard cross where most of our players were already lined up to cover.
It wasn't even that skilful of a cut like you would see Neymar do or something. De Ligt made it look 100 times more highlight reel than it should have been.
Sorry if not clear, to clarify he wouldn't come inside as he did i.e. such an aggressive chop but I agree he would just move it to his right to shoot if he had time/space (as would Rashford and others you mentioned in other post).Of course he would come onto his right foot if de Ligt isnt there
That would mean nobody is there to stop him setting himself on his prefered foot to have a clear shot on goal inside the box.