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Jose Mourinho

How do you feel about Mourinho appointment

  • Excited - silverware here we come baby

    Votes: 666 46.7%
  • Meh - will give him a chance and hope he is successful

    Votes: 468 32.8%
  • Horrified - praying for the day he'll fuck off

    Votes: 292 20.5%

  • Total voters
    1,426

Primativ

Well-Known Member
Aug 9, 2017
3,229
12,486
Liverpools midfield is really nothing amazing. Henderson - Fabinho - Wijnaldum.

I'd take Fabinho in an instant, the other 2 are solid pros, hard workers but by no means world class.

However their midfield performs its exact function in either getting the ball to the dangerous front 3 or providing cover for the attacking fullbacks.

I think a midfield 3 of:

Winks - good dm - Sissoko

Is not much worse than

Henderson - Fabinho - Wijnaldum

And thats before you add in our other midfielders who have more quality on the ball.


I'm sorry but this is pure delusion mate.

Wijnaldum is a terrific CM player. He may not be world class but his close control and ability on the ball makes Sissoko look like a pub player. He has excellent skill and ability in tight spots which is perfect for this league, he is extremely press resistant, plus he is physically very strong too and he never stops running. Compare what he offers to what Sissoko offers and it is night and day. Sissoko only competes in the physique stakes but on the ball he is not even on the same planet as Wijnaldum.

Henderson is basically a much better version of Winks. He does everything Winks can do but much better.

Then you have Fabinho who is actually world class.


To say Liverpool's midfield is not much better is just plan wrong, you are completely overrating what is a terrible bang average midfield we have. Winks and Sissoko, just very average players.

It seems fashionable for people to say Liverpool's midfield is just functional, but it's doing a disservice to them. They all excel in particular areas which makes them formidable, we are witnessing one of the best Liverpool sides ever, record breaking left right and centre unfortunately. CL winners and will win PL, hardly lose a game in two years. It is mad to say their midfield is average. On paper it's the weakest part of their side, but any one of those three would walk into our CM. We can only hope GLC and Tanguy become very good for us, but Winks and Sissoko will never be good enough.
 

Japhet

Well-Known Member
Aug 30, 2010
19,232
57,392
Liverpools midfield is really nothing amazing. Henderson - Fabinho - Wijnaldum.

I'd take Fabinho in an instant, the other 2 are solid pros, hard workers but by no means world class.

However their midfield performs its exact function in either getting the ball to the dangerous front 3 or providing cover for the attacking fullbacks.

I think a midfield 3 of:

Winks - good dm - Sissoko


Is not much worse than

Henderson - Fabinho - Wijnaldum

And thats before you add in our other midfielders who have more quality on the ball.


And a CM of Lo Celso - Good DM - Ndombele would eat them alive.
 

Everlasting Seconds

Well-Known Member
Jan 9, 2014
14,914
26,616
I'm sorry but this is pure delusion mate.

Wijnaldum is a terrific CM player. He may not be world class but his close control and ability on the ball makes Sissoko look like a pub player. He has excellent skill and ability in tight spots which is perfect for this league, he is extremely press resistant, plus he is physically very strong too and he never stops running. Compare what he offers to what Sissoko offers and it is night and day. Sissoko only competes in the physique stakes but on the ball he is not even on the same planet as Wijnaldum.

Henderson is basically a much better version of Winks. He does everything Winks can do but much better.

Then you have Fabinho who is actually world class.


To say Liverpool's midfield is not much better is just plan wrong, you are completely overrating what is a terrible bang average midfield we have. Winks and Sissoko, just very average players.

It seems fashionable for people to say Liverpool's midfield is just functional, but it's doing a disservice to them. They all excel in particular areas which makes them formidable, we are witnessing one of the best Liverpool sides ever, record breaking left right and centre unfortunately. CL winners and will win PL, hardly lose a game in two years. It is mad to say their midfield is average. On paper it's the weakest part of their side, but any one of those three would walk into our CM. We can only hope GLC and Tanguy become very good for us, but Winks and Sissoko will never be good enough.
Henderson is better than Winks, although that doesn't say much about either of them. I'd love to have Wijnaldum in our team.
 

Gassin's finest

C'est diabolique
May 12, 2010
37,355
87,832
perfectly good what?...
Hey, you can't be all pro exotic football manager, without knowing exotic football tactics. Growing up with Football Italia in the 90's was educational.

It's what the Italians call the two flanking midfielders in a 433. Aka Gattuso and Seedorf playing either side of Pirlo. Or Xavi and Iniesta either side of Busquets. Or Jose's own Lampard and Essien with Makelele.

Chuck Dier (or someone better) as the DM, then Winks and Sissoko can do what they do best; playmake and disrupt respectively.

For the record, and I've said as much in plenty of other places, Ndombele and Lo Celso would be ahead of both of those two for this system.
 
Jan 31, 2006
2,184
6,495
Its simple... Jose said it when he first joined us...

You have to make your opponents feel like they have been in a tough game/war.

Yesterday, the players were pathetic and not one of them turned up for battle. Jose can try all he can, but if the players don't have it mentally it won't happen.
 

Gb160

Well done boys. Good process
Jun 20, 2012
23,646
93,315
Hey, you can't be all pro exotic football manager, without knowing exotic football tactics. Growing up with Football Italia in the 90's was educational.

It's what the Italians call the two flanking midfielders in a 433. Aka Gattuso and Seedorf playing either side of Pirlo. Or Xavi and Iniesta either side of Busquets. Or Jose's own Lampard and Essien with Makelele.

Chuck Dier (or someone better) as the DM, then Winks and Sissoko can do what they do best; playmake and disrupt respectively.

For the record, and I've said as much in plenty of other places, Ndombele and Lo Celso would be ahead of both of those two for this system.
My missus makes a delicious mezzala.
 

Gassin's finest

C'est diabolique
May 12, 2010
37,355
87,832
Its simple... Jose said it when he first joined us...

You have to make your opponents feel like they have been in a tough game/war.

Yesterday, the players were pathetic and not one of them turned up for battle. Jose can try all he can, but if the players don't have it mentally it won't happen.
If you don’t have to drag yourself off the field exhausted after 90 minutes, you can’t claim to have done your best.
~ Bill Nicholson
 

Japhet

Well-Known Member
Aug 30, 2010
19,232
57,392
Hey, you can't be all pro exotic football manager, without knowing exotic football tactics. Growing up with Football Italia in the 90's was educational.

It's what the Italians call the two flanking midfielders in a 433. Aka Gattuso and Seedorf playing either side of Pirlo. Or Xavi and Iniesta either side of Busquets. Or Jose's own Lampard and Essien with Makelele.

Chuck Dier (or someone better) as the DM, then Winks and Sissoko can do what they do best; playmake and disrupt respectively.

For the record, and I've said as much in plenty of other places, Ndombele and Lo Celso would be ahead of both of those two for this system.


Agree with you, but think the pair of us are pissing in the wind tbh.
 

The Opinionated Lurker

Well-Known Member
Jun 9, 2019
720
2,554
Hey, you can't be all pro exotic football manager, without knowing exotic football tactics. Growing up with Football Italia in the 90's was educational.

It's what the Italians call the two flanking midfielders in a 433. Aka Gattuso and Seedorf playing either side of Pirlo. Or Xavi and Iniesta either side of Busquets. Or Jose's own Lampard and Essien with Makelele.

Chuck Dier (or someone better) as the DM, then Winks and Sissoko can do what they do best; playmake and disrupt respectively.

For the record, and I've said as much in plenty of other places, Ndombele and Lo Celso would be ahead of both of those two for this system.
Won the league on FM w GLC and Ndombele as mezzalas in front of Florentino Luis so I approve of this message ?
 

Johnny J

Not the Kiwi you need but the one you deserve
Aug 18, 2012
18,124
47,911
Really hope Mourinho starts midfielders who can pass the ball forward. Our front three got absolutely no service yesterday, it's no wonder they were completely out of the game.

If Alli is played as a second striker - and that is indeed his best position - then our CMs are crucial, not least because they'll usually be outnumbered.

Yesterday, Sissoko and Winks were diabolical, and United were walking through our midfield with ease. It was ridiculous. They offered nothing going forward, and nothing defensively. Sissoko tried his best to cover for Aurier, but we saw how that turned out.

There's a reason we bought Ndombele and GLC. They are talented midfielders who can retain the ball and get it forward quickly. We waited years for midfielders like this and now, particularly in the case of GLC, they are most often found on the bench. It's criminal.

GLC's five-min cameo last night showed he has a wonderful touch and wants to move the ball forward quickly. Fucking play him. He bossed games in La Liga, I'm sure he can handle the likes of Burnley. Plus he's Argentinian, he's no stranger to the rough side of the game.
 

dudu

Well-Known Member
Jan 28, 2011
5,314
11,048
Its simple... Jose said it when he first joined us...

You have to make your opponents feel like they have been in a tough game/war.

Yesterday, the players were pathetic and not one of them turned up for battle. Jose can try all he can, but if the players don't have it mentally it won't happen.

I agree and would say that Jose was talking as much about mentality as he was about ability in relation to Trix's earlier post.

Whether you rate the individual players we had in the side last night or not, we have seen them put in much better cohesive performances than that for absolute-sure.
 

For the love of Spurs

Well-Known Member
Mar 28, 2015
3,444
11,252
It surely has to mean he realises that some players just are nowhere near good enough.

Winks is a midtable player at best. He would be sold to Bournemouth if he was at Liverpool. Sissoko has some attributes but again, he would be a very rarely used squad player at Liverpool. You can already see the problem can't you. We are starting players in CM who simply are nowhere near the required quality, and then we act surprised when we play poorly.

Winks might give you one 8/10 game once or twice a season, that is it.

Sissoko had a fantastic season last season but he isn't good enough to be CM at the highest level.

We need to integrate GLC and Ndombele into the side and do it now.

It's insane we have over 100 million quid of CM talent sat on the bench and we are fucking playing Sissoko and Winks, its mindblowing.

Can GLC and Ndombele really be any worse than Winks and Sissoko? Even half fit, GLC and Tanguy have more talent in their little toe than Winks and Sissoko do.

I'm loathe to slag Sissoko off to much as he has his uses but generally 9 times out of 10 if you set up against the top 6 with Sissoko and Winks in your CM, you are fucked. Properly fucked. You are up against it from the off. Put it this way, if you were managing a top 6 side and came up against Spurs, and they picked Winks and Sissoko you'd be thinking, sweet. What a underwhelming CM that is.

Yes we have issues in defence too but our CM problem is the major major problem.

I think it’s more we have no defensive midfielder of any decent standard. You shoehorn Winks or Sissoko into roles they are not suited. Until we resolve that we will have problems.

CM is fine, we have Ndombele, Winks, Sissoko and maybe GLC, we have no-one to play the holding role, that’s the main issue. And before Dier or Wanyama are mentioned, they look finished.
 

midge

Well-Known Member
Jul 28, 2011
400
784
Liverpools midfield is really nothing amazing. Henderson - Fabinho - Wijnaldum.

I'd take Fabinho in an instant, the other 2 are solid pros, hard workers but by no means world class.

However their midfield performs its exact function in either getting the ball to the dangerous front 3 or providing cover for the attacking fullbacks.

I think a midfield 3 of:

Winks - good dm - Sissoko

Is not much worse than

Henderson - Fabinho - Wijnaldum

And thats before you add in our other midfielders who have more quality on the ball.

Think you overlook how much help the 3 in midfield get from their fullbacks

Henderson - Fabinhon - Wijnaldum worked so well cause they have very solid fullbacks who are good both defensive and offensive

Our fullbacks just dont offer as much in attack or defence as the the Scousers
 

Johnny J

Not the Kiwi you need but the one you deserve
Aug 18, 2012
18,124
47,911
Liverpools midfield is really nothing amazing. Henderson - Fabinho - Wijnaldum.

I'd take Fabinho in an instant, the other 2 are solid pros, hard workers but by no means world class.

However their midfield performs its exact function in either getting the ball to the dangerous front 3 or providing cover for the attacking fullbacks.

I think a midfield 3 of:

Winks - good dm - Sissoko

Is not much worse than

Henderson - Fabinho - Wijnaldum

And thats before you add in our other midfielders who have more quality on the ball.
Wijnaldum and Fabinho are very good players. And wayyyy better than Winks and Sissoko.
 
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