The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by RobVarak »

He had a hat-trick of bad misses, so of course he didn't have a good game. I don't know if it rises to terrible, in that he was making the runs, creating chances and worked his ass off. I've seen plenty of games from notionally good forwards where that wasn't the case. But yeah, he was probably no better than a 6 or 7 out of 10.

Salah was fantastic. Everything we did in the final-third was based on him doing whatever the hell he wanted to Mario Rui. He was consistently beating him with strength and speed and forcing Koulibaly and Maksimovic to slide over to help. No less than an 8/10 on his work alone, but I'd bump him to a 9 for the goal.

Bobby Chompers was the quietest of the bunch. Can't help that he's been knocked back and forth between the midfield and up front for the last 3 weeks, but he didn't have much impact.

We also have to account for what Napoli did tactically. The game was open for the first stretch, but they became surprisingly docile after that. They conceded the ball and most of the territory to limit the threat to their back line. It was a pretty gutless approach, especially as the time passed and it looked less likely that they were going to steal one on the counter. If Alisson doesn't make the save, it's obviously a different story, but if I were a Napoli fan I would have wanted to see some more going forward after Salah scored.

Macca watches those stooges every week so he could say better than I, but it was a surprisingly timid approach by Ancelotti.
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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by Macca00 »

OMG I'M STILL ALIVE!

Hope you guys are well!

That Liverpool performance was MI-inducing for Liverpool fans but to suggest they played poorly or that they didn't deserve to progress at Napoli's expense is madness.

Like Rob said, I've watched a ton of Napoli the last two years (got a DAZN Streaming subscription, got hooked on Serie A and adopted Napoli because I need more heartbreak in my life). No one has cut Napoli up like Liverpool did last night. Watch the Juve vs. Napoli game from this season (up until Rui gets a bullshit Calciopoli second yellow) and the one from the end of last season - even Juve with all their stars didn't create as many chances as Liverpool did last night.

To say Salah had a poor game is absurd. He was up against one of the best CBs in the world in Koulibaly (watch how much he goes for next summer - Bayern will smash the Van Dijk record to get him) and that little Portuguese s*** Mario Rui is fantastic - and yet he beat both of them for his goal, got Rui subbed off and Koulibaly yellow carded.

I'm going to second what Rob said about all good players missing chances.

Furthermore, while you could find better finishers than Firmino and Mane but you'd struggle to find 2 forward players who;

i. Would create as many chances as they do (not just from assists but from their movement to drag other players out of position to create space)
ii. Would play in a pressing system
iii. Would track back, defend and defend AS EFFECTIVELY as Mane and Bobby

You know who's a great finisher and probably wouldn't miss as many chances? Jermain Defoe. Even at 78 years old (or something) he's a f***in brilliant finisher. But he would never in a million years find himself in the positions that Mane got into yesterday. The 8 yard miss in the second half - it's the 86th minute, Mane presses 15 yards back towards his own goal to pressure Allan (who is dead tired after getting hassled all game) who then, because of the pressure, coughs up the ball to Wijinaldum who then plays in Salah. Mane then sprints 30-40 yards the other way back into the box to get open. Yes, the silly d!ckhead missed, but Defoe wouldn't have been physically capable of making that play and I'd suggest he doesn't have the game intelligence to make that play.

Harry Kane? He'd have been in the ICU after attempting 45 minutes of pressing.
Icardi? He thinks pressing is something you only do to dress pants.

Mane misses chances but all players miss chances. Mane gets more chances than others not because he has a horseshoe up his ass. He gets them because he's a good player.

Liverpool aren't skint anymore and Klopp and Liverpool have shown that when they want to upgrade they'll do so - see Van Dijk and my husband Alisson. That Mane and Bobby are still starting week in week out demonstrates that Klopp thinks they're quite good and since it's December 12th and Liverpool are in first place, ahead of the Greatest-team-in-the-history-of-football Manchester City, suggests that they're not bad.

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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by Jimmydeicide »

Give Shearer or sturridge for that matter the chances Mane and Salah create for themselves and these games wouldnt be so close and giving you heart attacks.
Whatever your stats are Rob and go on dig some up on shearer and tell me Salah's are the same , I'm still going to say he should score more and connect with more passes.

I love this Team as much as anyone and we are much more resilient squad, doesnt change the fact that the amount of chances Salah gets he misses way more than he should.

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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by Jimmydeicide »

Oh and by the way Macca , your Dads doing s*** at Newcastle an'all.

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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by Jimmydeicide »

We should have been 3 or 4 up so Allison's save shouldn't of mattered.

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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by dbdynsty25 »

Jimmydeicide wrote:We should have been 3 or 4 up so Allison's save shouldn't of mattered.
This was my point too. Yes...pros miss too, but it seems to be contagious on the Reds front line.

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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by RobVarak »

Jimmydeicide wrote:Give Shearer or sturridge for that matter the chances Mane and Salah create for themselves and these games wouldnt be so close and giving you heart attacks.
Whatever your stats are Rob and go on dig some up on shearer and tell me Salah's are the same , I'm still going to say he should score more and connect with more passes.
Mane and Salah are two very different animals. Since returning to the EPL, Salah has the best conversion rate in the league at 23.5%. This does not include penalties, obviously and it doesn't account for his CL record. Noted "great finisher" Harry Kane is at 17% over that same timeframe. This is the percentage of all shots that result in goals, so it does penalize him for total whiffs. Sometimes people use percentage of shots on target, which is obviously a less useful metric.

If you look at xG, which is flawed but still a useful too, Salah scored 28 league goals last season with an xG of 21!! Translated into English, which is as close as I get to Scouse, Mr. Jimmy, this means that he not only missed few sitters, but scored many goals from positions where he ought not to have done.

Mane is more human altogether. His conversion rate was only 10% in 17/18, which looks bad but only compared to Mo. It's solidly in the average for outside forwards/wingers. And that number was an outlier. He was at 17% in 16/17, which is closer to his career mark.

FWIW, Bobby F. had a conversion rate of 19.1% in 17/18, good enough for 6th.

It is hard to find reasonable stats for Shearer. I just spent about 20 minutes looking, but all I can find for those years is goal/game or goals/SOG, which aren't really helpful. I'm sure his numbers are good, but I don't think you'd find the discrepancy with Salah that you expect.
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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by dbdynsty25 »

And what a finish by Mane against Man U...crow...get in my belly. Haha

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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by XXXIV »

Beautiful goal followed by hideous goal keeping.

Entertaining half

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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by XXXIV »

Brilliant substitution and Liverpool are in first place.

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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by pk500 »

I watched the Liverpool-United match live at a pub/restaurant in Liverpool while on vacation last Sunday. Very fun experience!
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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by RobVarak »

pk500 wrote:I watched the Liverpool-United match live at a pub/restaurant in Liverpool while on vacation last Sunday. Very fun experience!
If you went back this weekend, Jose could have joined you at the pub. :D

Your trip looked very cool.
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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by pk500 »

RobVarak wrote:
pk500 wrote:I watched the Liverpool-United match live at a pub/restaurant in Liverpool while on vacation last Sunday. Very fun experience!
If you went back this weekend, Jose could have joined you at the pub. :D

Your trip looked very cool.
Trip of a lifetime. Incredible. Going back soon!
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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by 10spro »

Bye bye Jose, it’s been a dismal season. Either he was going to be canned or ManU had to trade Pogba.

Players and ownership to share the blame.

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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by XXXIV »

pk500 wrote:
RobVarak wrote:
pk500 wrote:I watched the Liverpool-United match live at a pub/restaurant in Liverpool while on vacation last Sunday. Very fun experience!
If you went back this weekend, Jose could have joined you at the pub. :D

Your trip looked very cool.
Trip of a lifetime. Incredible. Going back soon!
Sounds pretty bad ass.

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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by Jimmydeicide »

I never knew too much about Pogba at juventus or previous all i base this off is with Man u in the prem.
He is one of the most gifted , cool, skilled all around talent i have ever seen. His Ball control under pressure is second to none, its unbelievable.

For me he was just in the wrong system, i mean Mourniho come on , its where good players go to Die, Only have to look at Alexi Sanchez, he was one of the most dynamic Premiership players going there until he went to Man U., barely gets a game.

Jose needs to let his creative players create he's holding them back, its the same wherever he goes. The game is passing him by he needs to adjust.

Jose dug his own grave in my opinion and has been doing for a long time , 6 foot under but hes been digging with a kiddies plastic sand shovel. :D

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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by pk500 »

Jimmydeicide wrote:Jose needs to let his creative players create he's holding them back, its the same wherever he goes. The game is passing him by he needs to adjust.
Bingo. Jose is the Carmelo Anthony of European football managers. A brilliant mind whose methods don't fit with the current game.

Melo still can score points from midrange and on isolation. But the NBA is all about threes and pace and space now, so he's unemployed just a few seasons after being an All-Star.
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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by Rodster »

pk500 wrote:
Jimmydeicide wrote:Jose needs to let his creative players create he's holding them back, its the same wherever he goes. The game is passing him by he needs to adjust.
Bingo. Jose is the Phil Jackson of European football managers. A brilliant mind whose methods don't fit with the current game.
How's that triangle offense working out for you Phil? He tried to force feed it on every HC during his tenure in NY.

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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by pk500 »

Rodster wrote:
pk500 wrote:
Jimmydeicide wrote:Jose needs to let his creative players create he's holding them back, its the same wherever he goes. The game is passing him by he needs to adjust.
Bingo. Jose is the Phil Jackson of European football managers. A brilliant mind whose methods don't fit with the current game.
How's that triangle offense working out for you Phil? He tried to force feed it on every HC during his tenure in NY.
Even better analogy, Rod. Well done!

But no coincidence both of our examples were members of the Knicks -- the most dysfunctional franchise in the NBA.
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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by wco81 »

pk500 wrote:
Jimmydeicide wrote:Jose needs to let his creative players create he's holding them back, its the same wherever he goes. The game is passing him by he needs to adjust.
Bingo. Jose is the Carmelo Anthony of European football managers. A brilliant mind whose methods don't fit with the current game.

Melo still can score points from midrange and on isolation. But the NBA is all about threes and pace and space now, so he's unemployed just a few seasons after being an All-Star.

I think the concern for a lot of teams is his defense. Opponents go after Melo on switches.

The other thing is, his shooting percentages have been steadily declining the last few years.

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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by XXXIV »

Van Dijk looked like he has does that every game.

Sweet .

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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by XXXIV »

Crystal Palace well done...

Merry Christmas Liverpool.

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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by pk500 »

What a strike by Townsend. Best goal I've seen this season.
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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by XXXIV »

pk500 wrote:What a strike by Townsend. Best goal I've seen this season.
It was pretty sweet.

https://www.nbcsports.com/video/crystal ... v-man-city

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Re: The Beautiful Game thread, season 2018/19

Post by Jimmydeicide »

pk500 wrote:What a strike by Townsend. Best goal I've seen this season.

In the words of the late great Divot. Ditto. :cry:

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