GWT: Premier League Round 25

[Jersey Fresh]

Amazing how top 6 scalps have been taken by bottom teams lately. Really screwing around with the bottom half of the table.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

That was Lamela's free kick

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Martial has been absolutely awful.

 

[Power Man]

Lol Leicester

 

[Peen]

On these points, you are preaching to the choir here. The constant parade of loans while they bring in average dross is mind boggling. These players are excelling for other teams in the PL, and yet the concern at Chelsea is buying "projects" like Bakayoko and Barkley. Why?

Anyway, this his the kind of result that gets a manager the sack. Or at least creates a tail spin that causes the exit.

I cant even imagine the result for the summer. If they slump to a sixth place finish or something, Hazard is gone.

https://i.redd.it/ibxphj3n0hd01.jpg

Chelsea stats with Cahill in defense this season. Either way, we couldn't score today.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Dominance. Liverpool/Chelsea have reasons to be worried.

 

[phisherman]

Dominance. Liverpool/Chelsea have reasons to be worried.

You sound like Liverpool supporters when Liverpool beat Man City.

 

[bluesfan94]

Dominance. Liverpool/Chelsea have reasons to be worried.

Cause you beat ManU at home? Lol

 

[Jussi]

Martial has been absolutely awful.

Whole team apart from DDG were bad. Someone pointed out at that before the game on MUTV footage the team loooked a bit "off". Focus just wasn't there.

 

[hatterson]

Whole team apart from DDG were bad. Someone pointed out at that before the game on MUTV footage the team loooked a bit "off". Focus just wasn't there.

What are you talking about. Jones had the finish of the year. Amazing game from him.

Seriously though, I thought Alexis was good in the first half, but didn't seem to do much except get fouled in the 2nd half. Lukaku didn't get any service to really show quality.

 

[Venkman]

Moyes-esque performance at times by United. They didn't have a clue how to combat Spurs.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Cause you beat ManU at home? Lol

And partly because Chelsea just lost 0-3 to Bournemouth at home.

 

[Live in the Now]

Dominance. Liverpool/Chelsea have reasons to be worried.

Man United and Chelsea look like they have a lot more reason to be worried. If Klopp uses that same tactic he used yesterday against lower table teams for the rest of the season they'll cruise top four. It was boring but very effective.

Meanwhile for some reason Sanchez is playing in midfield and Chelsea is just probably the worst of these five teams overall. Arguably even worse than Arsenal, but they have many more points and a better player than Arsenal has.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Man United and Chelsea look like they have a lot more reason to be worried. If Klopp uses that same tactic he used yesterday against lower table teams for the rest of the season they'll cruise top four. It was boring but very effective.

Meanwhile for some reason Sanchez is playing in midfield and Chelsea is just probably the worst of these five teams.

Yeah, I guess I can agree with that. I actually thought United were further ahead.

 

[Cassano]

Remember everyone shitting on Eddie Howe? He's demolished Chelsea and Arsenal within a span of 2 weeks as Bournemouth sit 10th.

 

[Live in the Now]

Chelsea also has by far the most difficult CL tie, which could be a hidden benefit if they go out and can focus on that competition the rest of the season. Or it totally derails their season. Really no way to know.

The most alarming thing regarding them is that their supporters know their team has major problems, and it really does. That in combination with their results is usually an impending sign of a crisis.

These teams are so reliant upon players not getting hurt that if Pogba, Salah, Hazard, or Kane gets hurt, the season's gone.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

welp

 

[YNWA14]

I think Liverpool could cope if Salah got hurt a lot better than those other teams and players you mentioned. Firmino getting hurt on the other hand would be much more worrying.

 

[bluesfan94]

I think Liverpool could cope if Salah got hurt a lot better than those other teams and players you mentioned. Firmino getting hurt on the other hand would be much more worrying.

Who are Liverpool's backup wingers? I guess Lallana could go out there and obviously there's Ox, but who's after that? Firmino slides wide and Solanke/Ings start? Moreno I guess could play LW? Idk it's hard to imagine.

I also might be missing someone, this is a question asked not to argue but to learn.

 

[bluesfan94]

These teams are so reliant upon players not getting hurt that if Pogba, Salah, Hazard, or Kane gets hurt, the season's gone

I don't know if it's sad or uplifting that you can't say that about Arsenal. Leaning toward the former

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Who are Liverpool's backup wingers? I guess Lallana could go out there and obviously there's Ox, but who's after that? Firmino slides wide and Solanke/Ings start? Moreno I guess could play LW? Idk it's hard to imagine.

I also might be missing someone, this is a question asked not to argue but to learn.

Woodburn.

 

[Live in the Now]

Who are Liverpool's backup wingers? I guess Lallana could go out there and obviously there's Ox, but who's after that? Firmino slides wide and Solanke/Ings start? Moreno I guess could play LW? Idk it's hard to imagine.

I also might be missing someone, this is a question asked not to argue but to learn.

Moreno is decent at LW, Lallana is pretty good wide, and Solanke can play across the front three. Alexander-Arnold played RW once last season and was arguably man of the match, but hasn't needed to be used there since. There's also the option of moving Firmino and having Ings play striker. These are all not great options considering the midfield is no longer as dynamic as it was before. I do however believe that Ings is better than given credit for on this board. He's really out of form though from injuries and isn't a fantastic finisher, but he puts the shots on target and creates rebounds.

The problem is that if Salah was to go out, there is nobody for Firmino to play in combination with anymore. Mane is ridiculously out of form. Salah on the other hand a team can play a long ball to and have him run onto it. Can't do that with anyone else. If someone told me Liverpool would be third at this stage with Mane being one of our worst players I'd have laughed in their face.

Salah has 25 goals and 7 assists this season. Ludicrous goal contributions for this stage of the season. This Reddit poll isn't scientific, but I think it says it all about which players are most important. Salah's on there twice as much as Firmino.

 

[Evilo]

Come on, I've learnt here that Coutinho didn't bring much to Liverpool while Firmino was nearly the best 9 on earth.
Yet they get as many MOTM (in fact a tad more for Coutinho)? In much less games for Coutinho?

Can't be true.

 

[booyakasha]

Best part of yesterday, was Alli kicking Sanchez...brilliant.

 

[YNWA14]

Because a reddit poll is a great gauge of which players are most important to the team.

The same people would have picked Coutinho over Firmino. Firmino is, hands down, Liverpool's most important player. Any time he's out of form the team struggles (which says a lot). Salah has been really important, especially with Mane out of form, but with all our options available Firmino is the least replaceable one to the team. Liverpool are lucky though in that all of our front 3 are impact players on their day and, despite his lack of form this season, Mane should be coming back into that type of form sooner than later. It's bizarre that even after his 'breakout' this season people still don't see how important Firmino is. Salah would certainly not be close to his goal totals without him for example. Firmino has 19 goals and 10 assists at this stage in the season while providing so, so much more off the ball than any other forward in the top 5 leagues in Europe.

Who are Liverpool's backup wingers? I guess Lallana could go out there and obviously there's Ox, but who's after that? Firmino slides wide and Solanke/Ings start? Moreno I guess could play LW? Idk it's hard to imagine.

I also might be missing someone, this is a question asked not to argue but to learn.

Right now Lallana, Firmino, Ox and Milner have all spent time on the wing in various roles. Solanke and Ings can both slot in in that case (and honestly, despite their production so far I think they're both unlucky not to have potted a few they've both looked pretty decent in limited roles). Wijnaldum can also play out there and is quite successful as an attacking player actually despite Klopp's decision to move him deeper (Newcastle he played a lot of left wing where he scored most of his goals, and Mane could take up the right). Then you have Woodburn and Wilson who both look primed to step in and start making an impact despite their lack of opportunity.

Now, keep in mind that I don't think these are replacements of a similar quality. I just think that Liverpool losing someone like Salah and having Lallana/Ox or whoever else step in is less of a drop in quality than if Kane, Hazard or Pogba were to be injured.