Fekir is nailed for Liverpool, it's basically a done deal.
Nabil Fekir
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Very good post. My sentiments exactly. The slow attacking transition or lack of movements to break a congested defence wil remain our biggest hurdle to winning the league. Hence, i felt there should be more variation in our football which requires JM to buy different genre of players.
I've only seen Fabinho and Fekir a few times, but the hope/expectation with Keita is that there is a legit chance that he will come in and basically be the best midfielder in the league after De Bruyne.
Exactly my point. Our tactics were mainly to create through width but our terrible wing plays through ineffective fullbacks and attackers playing out of position create the perception you have. Look at the shit crosses from Valencia, Martial, Rashford, Mata, etc. Most of them would drift inward due to lack of abilities. As for our central attackers, Lingard, Pogba, Matic simply do not excel in tight spaces and quick one-twos. Try looking at how we play one touch football outside the box, and compare to other teams. There is a serious lack of quality and hence i felt Fekir would go a long way towards improving our attack. If Mata and Lingard can play for JM, Fekir can do everything better compared to them.
Stats may back that up but it's not an impression I have when watching us, I guess that's why people get so irate about our attacking play because our route to goal isn't obvious and it is as others have said it's a 'if it happens it happens' approach. I can think of more goals from crosses last season than I can through the middle though
Really cant see that happening tbh, that would mean he's better than the likes of Silva, Kante and depending on your interpretation of their role the likes of Eriksen and Alli (and I'm purposefully not mentioning (although I just have) Matic and Pogba)
Awful name anyway. Wouldn't want that at United.
I am not sure Silva can keep up this level. But yeah, I think he can be better than Kante and duke it out with the likes of Eriksen and (assuming he plays to his talent) Pogba.
I think the hype with Keita is, well, he just seems to fit Klopp's football to a tee. Accelerative power and dribbling ability of a winger with the defensive grit of a CM. Every other current Liverpool CM is just a meat-carrier, Keita the willingness to run in behind. If he hits the ground running he'll be an absolute menace next year.
Anyone done a fecker joke yet?
I agree with you in some sense and i think we're circling around the same point but from different angles. However, I'd put forward the opposite impression really. We mostly try to play through the middle but because we don't have that creater or link player (as you say) then it ends up with our fullbacks crossing it as the last option too often.
What i do find is our one twos and quick passing movement tends to happen only after a slow build up and usually too close to a packed defence so it inevitably gets snubbed out quickly.
That's why i think we need quicker movement out wide to stretch the play and for our players to get the ball forward quicker so our players have the space to pass and move. Putting someone like Fekir at number 10 won't suddenly create space in my view.
Our one twos and quick passing happens at the final third in front of a packed defence because we basically let the opposition get back into position rather than hitting hard on the counter. Has happened for the past 3-4 seasons
Pretty much this. Martial waits to be pressured by a player just so he can dribble past him because that's what he does, Rashford either makes the wrong pass/shot or runs the ball out of play. Lingard is surprisingly selfish when given space and tries to score worldies all the time. Mata kills almost every counter attack he is involved in by shifting to his left foot and passing sideways instead of running into space or making a through ball.
Lukaku, Pogba and Sanchez are generally effective when running into space. We don't really feel like a Mourinho team, our ability to go from defence to attack is far too inconsistent.
A bit of a chicken and egg argument. It's true that our lack of width and slow attacking transition leads to congestion in the middle which rendered our 1-2s ineffective. I tend to attribute it at the lack of quality of the players in the middle. I saw Real Madrid players like Marcelo, Isco, Modric created havoc against a Liverpool bus. Similarly, Liverpool does a lot of their scoring with movements in tight spaces against packed defence due to the abilities of Coutinho, Mane, Firmino, Salah etc. We simply do not have players of such calibre. In fact, more often, the likes of Lukaku, Lingard, Rashford and Sanchez flicks and through ball lacks quality in the weight, precision and tinge of deception and screams of a hopeful punt than a moment of quality. We really stinks in this aspect and i think the likes of Fekir and Grizzmann bring a new dimension which an earlier poster correctly pointed out that it isn't a Mourinho's style of play.
Because Mourinho is interested in established stars only. If, and when, Fekir shines at WC Mourinho becomes interested. I just hope Liverpool has nabbed him up before that.
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Yeah just like Delot who is even younger and less experienced than Fekir.
And Lindelof. And Bailly. Neither have shone at a World Cup. Both were younger than Fekir when signed.
Yep but to name a few recent ones and the load more in the past. These out and out fabrications about him have gone beyond tiresome.
I thought I would stop at the most impending one since it’s so current it’s not happened yet as I decided against a long list due to realising that if someone didn’t even know that it was not worth the effort and Instatted questioning my life.
We try to put the majority of our play through the middle, but we invariably end up just pissing around unable to break through the defence and we eventually end up going wide to try to get around it.
Totally agree. It is the thing I feared about Mourinho taking over, tryin gto adapt our club to his style rather than the other way round and prove himself a brilliant manager. What you write kind of explains why probably the best time he has had in management I would say, was at Inter, he is made for Italian football.
Looks like he is on his way to Liverpool to tie up the move today, according to F365.
So that's Fekir, Keita, Fabinho in midfield.
I have to admit, I'm a little worried this could be their year finally.
We have a LOT of work to do in the market to get our MF options sorted.
So that's Fekir, Keita, Fabinho in midfield.
I have to admit, I'm a little worried this could be their year finally.
We have a LOT of work to do in the market to get our MF options sorted.
Keita is the only net player. Fabinho is a Can replacement, while Fekir (if he comes) is a Coutinho replacement.
They're gonna need at least a new goalkeeper on top of that, probably another centre back so Lovren never plays again.
They just finished 4th, 25 points off the pace. City look pretty unassailable going in to next season.
They need Salah to have another season like the previous campaign. As brilliant as he is I can't see that happening.
I haven't seen much of Fekir but he does seem very highly rated. They're making some good signings but we'll see how long it takes them to settle in.
You're assuming all 3 will both adapt to the prem and gel with one another in a relatively short timeframe. Not to mention making 3 additions to one area of the pitch is a risk in itself, potentially causing disharmony amongst current personnel and upsetting the rhythm the team built over the course of last season. Nothing is a given in football.
Plus the 3 mentioned are nowhere near the level of a City midfield consisting of KDB, Fernandhino, Silva, Gundogan etc. They are arguably comparable to United's current midfield and that's without the inevitable addition(s) Jose is likely to make over the summer.
Am I the only one who thinks the guy spends more time on the deck than on his feet?? So frustrating to watch,
Reminds me so much of Depay, plays a bit like Hazard but lacks the finishing touch.
Has a long long way to go to be the finished article, but he seems to be the flavour of the month for the Cafe for some reason!
Reminds me so much of Depay, plays a bit like Hazard but lacks the finishing touch.
Has a long long way to go to be the finished article, but he seems to be the flavour of the month for the Cafe for some reason!
This. I think City will comfortably win it again next season.
FWIW I think 2nd place is very much up for grabs - not much seperating United/Liverpool/Spurs in my view, might depend on who does what this summer.
Does Fabinho’s and Keita’s styles not overlap quite a bit?
Either way I wouldn’t be surprised if Fabinho turned out to be a flop.
Either way I wouldn’t be surprised if Fabinho turned out to be a flop.
Any player who Liverpool look at signing is flavour of the month here. It's a scientific fact!
He does go down easy but, in fairness, he has had such a horrible injury and because he's one of the best players in the league the opposition go in on him as such, so I think it's understandable.
As for flavour of the month, I've been raving about him all year long! His other thread in the football forum is full of praise from myself and others who have watched Lyon this season. In my opinion, he will be one of the best players in the league if he joins.
The problem as far as Liverpool go is that none of these signings actually do anything at all to address the issues they have with their team/squad.
Fabinho and Fekir are just replacing people that have left, which obviously you need to do, but from what I've seen of Fabinho he isn't going to be a significant upgrade. Fekir I know nothing about which is strange if he is apparently so good. Keita will need time to bed in I think...especially if you're signing two other midfielders from over seas at the same time. It's actually a pretty big risk as there is going to be a teething period even if they all live up to expectations in the long run.
Meanwhile, what was costing Liverpool games last year i.e. the inability to not leak goals whenever the opposition cross the half way line, and the inability to score them when the opposition don't cross the halfway line, is being helped in no way at all.
What they need is better defenders/defensive players, and a striker or someone to give them a different option when they can't get in behind the opposition. Something that allows them to win the games they didn't this season. They're not going to out do Manchester City by just trying to get better at what they're already good at. They already win basically every game where they're allowed to play to their strengths.
Fabinho and Fekir are just replacing people that have left, which obviously you need to do, but from what I've seen of Fabinho he isn't going to be a significant upgrade. Fekir I know nothing about which is strange if he is apparently so good. Keita will need time to bed in I think...especially if you're signing two other midfielders from over seas at the same time. It's actually a pretty big risk as there is going to be a teething period even if they all live up to expectations in the long run.
Meanwhile, what was costing Liverpool games last year i.e. the inability to not leak goals whenever the opposition cross the half way line, and the inability to score them when the opposition don't cross the halfway line, is being helped in no way at all.
What they need is better defenders/defensive players, and a striker or someone to give them a different option when they can't get in behind the opposition. Something that allows them to win the games they didn't this season. They're not going to out do Manchester City by just trying to get better at what they're already good at. They already win basically every game where they're allowed to play to their strengths.
Fekir is apparently the Coutinho replacement and that they definitely need as they do lack his creativity with their current midfielders especially in games where teams sit deep against them
It adresses some of the problems. Midfield is a big issue. We still need a centreback and goalie, but it's not like we get plus points for sorting them in the right order over the summer.
Yep, and similarly with United with LB+RW being our biggest concerns yet it seems like Fred (a CM) and Dalot (RB) will get done first.
So yea agree - order doesn’t matter as long as you get the rest done by the time the transfer window’s all said and done
I think they've been a better team since he left. It's put more onus on Salah and Mane and that suits how Klopp has them play. Before they would almost use Coutinho as a comfort blanket in games. The problem is they have nothing to replace the front three with if any of them aren't there, and nothing to give them an alternative in games they find difficult...and if Fekir is a replacement for someone who's already left, that wont change that. At best he's going to be a less good version of Coutinho.
Coutinho didn't seem to help them too much in games where teams sat off. It's been a problem for them for more than just the last six months. I think the problem is more that they need something different up top. They don't wear teams down or stretch them in the way City do. They don't have the Kane/Lukaku option like us or Spurs have.
You need a forward player. You do need a centreback (probably still two) and a goalie too but I just don't think you'll try and get either. Maybe a keeper after the CL final. They way you play though, you can't really get away with having decent/above average defenders like some teams can. You need very good ones, and there just aren't that many of them. either that or you basically need to stop teams from being able to attack you, but then you're back to the problem of too often not being able to break them down when they don't.
The problem is City have raised the bar for everyone. We're a million miles from them and the reality is that you were still behind us, and of the top five, City were the only ones you managed to beat.
Good post and well summarised. Someone like Fekir will help against teams that sit deep, he is a link to the attack from midfield that has been missing since Coutinho left. We dont and probably wont have a Lukaka or Kane type player but we will carry more of a great from midfield which we haven’t in previous season. We didn’t win a single game last season, lest one of the front 3 scored!
Our defence isn’t as bad as you’re making it out to be. We need one CB and a goalkeeper but we’ve improved a lot in that department over the last six months.
I think the idea with signing Fabinho and Keita is that they can be starters and upgrades on what we have, which allows us to have players like Henderson and Wijnaldum as squad options, instead of relying on those players as starters.
Can't say I've seen a lot from Fabinho apart from Monaco's CL run two seasons ago but isn't he supposed to be a true defensive midfielder who plays deep right in front of the defence? That could already make a big difference for our defensive issues given that we've lacked such a player for a very long time (Can and Henderson are no natural 6's).
IF Fékir gets done (it looks like it will take some time and definitely not before the WC), we need three more players: a GK, CB and ST.
IF Fékir gets done (it looks like it will take some time and definitely not before the WC), we need three more players: a GK, CB and ST.
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