Always the scapegoat.
by NDMike2001 (2019-05-01 18:55:08)
Edited on 2019-05-02 08:53:34

In reply to: spoiler  posted by Irishlawyer

Post Reply Return to Clark's Pitch

He didn’t come up with the game plan to play a high line and give them the wings.

And it's not his fault that he and Keita are completely different players. I'm not sure how you replace such a direct/disruptive player with one whose game is predicated on passing.

Notwithstanding, had Mane converted his chippy, we'd probably be talking about Henderson's beautiful cross to set up Mane instead of Alba's decent one that set up Suarez's great finish. And at 1-1 it would have been a completely different game.

He did not play poorly. Liverpool didn’t play poorly. They bossed the game and their great players didn’t convert their opportunities. Barca’s great players came through in the important moments. 0-3

He didn't make himself captain
by Irishlawyer  (2019-05-02 10:52:09)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

and you're right about Keita - he can't do what Keita does, hence he was not in the lineup. He was still trash. He's slow, he doesn't settle a ball well, and he's ill suited to playing against the top teams.

It ultimately falls on Klopp that he didn't find some bit of depth to cover for Henderson's deficits. I believe it was Bear's first round draft pick Stan Thomas who was once asked about being such a bust as a first round pick and failing to meet first round expectations who said "I didn't draft me in the first round".
That's where we disagree.
by NDMike2001  (2019-05-02 11:37:34)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

He wasn't trash. He was ill-suited for Klopp's game plan...which was bold to say the least. With Firmino out he used Gini up to and chose to have Keita as a hybrid box to box play maker. He was to account for Firmino's incredible work rate while asking Gini to help cover the wing to allow Mane to be a threat up top more. He's literally the only guy that couldn't have gotten hurt in order to pull that off. So now Keita gets hurt and you have four midfielders, no natural striker and no play maker. Rather than defend, Klopp chose to play an open game. He wanted goals. He was prepared to concede. Our front line failed to convert.

Henderson was most certainly not trash. And I've never heard anyone complain that he's slow. Because he's not. If you want to say that he's not as direct as you want or that he doesn't have great footwork. Valid. But as a box to box midfielder, he was darn good against one of the top teams in the world. He was part of a midfield that dominated Barca the entire time he was on the pitch (save the last 5 minutes when they pushed for a goal). Mane and Salah let us down. They both had gimmies. 2-3 is a very good result especially when one goal is a moment of sheer brilliance by Messi.