friendly, com shield curse and all that.

wirtz had to drop wide quite a bit to receive passes from those areas as there was central penetration going on and still showed what a mega star he is. world ain't ready for a grav/szo/wirtz midfield + ekitike and hopefully a barcola.

Leoni got the duels prowess, mental profile, long balls/diagonals and will get 2 years under Virg's wing. Connect the dots.

Ekitike is so clean 😭 don’t think there’s a single striker in the league with his combo of touch, dribbling and strength

saying ekitike is the one was a controversial opinion at one point lol

don't think this is the intended setup for the season build up wise, just had to manage with absentees. grav dropping between cbs and bradley joining mf and szo to the left to allow kerkez to go forward more often bc this kerkez 3rd cb ain't it.

#22

"once arsenal sign a striker it's over for the league"

why a striker who doesn't have the linkup, holdup and aerial prowess being spammed long balls, his runs weren't being utilized which is what he's all about. thought there's an intention to change dynamics to fit him in but current situation is terrible profiling and business.

team not defending as a unit to compensate for the large amount of players attacking the box is the issue. there were instances where kerkez stayed deeper to provide balance but it gave more space to bou to recieve and play with no immediate pressure down that side.

central overload as a mean of progression v bournemouth.

Long read on Liverpool v Bournemouth - medium.com/@vyom.nanavati… Touch on Bournemouth's OOP issues, Liverpool's new OOP scheme. What Ekitike and Wirtz bring, rest-defence, breaking down that Slot interview and more. Would appreciate any feedback/shares.

previous encounters with newcastle we lacked wirtz and ekitike type of players; comfortable under pressure, can handle contact and effective btl to bypass their pressing trap in mf + grav back so won't have to go long and give up to their physical game like the cup final.

it's always the same cycle whenever we face arsenal/newcastle, start with long balls directly which is the right choice against such an intense press in that initial phase, but it always goes way longer that it has to the team just keeps losing every single possesion.