Agreed, we don't seem to be missing him at all in truth. Its noticeable how much more solid we are without losing the attacking nature of the side. Saying that, with the injuries piling up, he wouldn't go amiss for the next few weeks Saw a stat the other day that showed despite the fact Mane has had a "poor" season so to speak, he's outscored and out assisted any of Coutinho's full seasons...with several weeks still to run.
I think this is probably was DD was getting at. Other than because of the injury list, I agree, we haven't missed him. We've looked more solid and have increased our efficiency in attack without him as you say.
stutters game is on right now. interesting line up. looks like a as close to full team as possible for the off, at least 45mins here.
First half was alright, its very wet and pitch is water logged. the first team got off the pitch. front 3 is minamimo left, brewster and then Elliott. grujic is playing cm.
second half was alright but nothing great. bit of a work out. Adrian, milner, minamino, wijnaldum were by far the best players on show. not unexpected. tsimikas had a good run out. brewster did OK. ki didn't do much but was alright. the three cbs we put on were under severe pressure. you'd not say on that any would step up as a no 4 but its only a first run out and is really wet horribly boggy conditions
its like being at the local park watching im sure its nice when the weather is better but it was really wet.
Young Billy Koumetio looked the part in his litle cameo appearance to be honest. Looks real composed on the ball too. One for the future thats for sure. Tsimikas looks a good little signing too.
TBH he looked a bit better than phillips who just looked under real pressure on the ball. Koumetio will need some time. theres certainly room in our squad but I would see that the other two need a loan. van den berg especially.
Gini not even on subs bench. Is he injured? Or barca bound? Saying that theres a few other starters missing too so no Gini doesnt mean much i suppose
Enjoyable match for a pre season friendly. Some very attractive football on display. Jones just has something about him. He can push for a starting place this season.
Rocky start again but ended up a good game. Blackpool started very well but second half they flagged while we vastly improved on our first half showing.
so i watched the lot and it is again just preseason with a 50% team due to internationals so what can be gleaned? a) the young lad koumetio is very raw but he can pass the ball thats for sure. As just a kid he's quite good, but he's got a lot to learn about defending. only natural of course. b) the sloppiness and attitude from the front 3 was pitiful again. firmino was poor, especially first half. c) fabinho is quite slow in his thinking. After that, come 50-60mins the blackpool lads fell apart after their subs, jones did alright. he always stands out. minamino worked hard as usual but is light weight, elliot did just OK still looks like he will be an u23 this season there's not that much you can take out of of it for next week. im still waiting to see us next week. just need to see a big step up in mindset thats all and thats what you have to expect when 3 points and on the line
Really impressed with the development of Van Den Berg,he looks like a completely different player in comparison to his first tentative steps in a reds shirt.
a little bit yeah but I still think he's well off the level at this point. phillips is way off the level, van den berg probably needs a loan out. I would put koumetio as the better player right now.
I thought there was a lot more composure at the back when he was taken off ,he certainly didn't do himself any favours by loosing the ball for their first goal.I think the lad is decent in the air but I haven't been one of those lauding his displays preseason as defensively he has way too many flaws,concentration being a major one at the minute. I was impressed with Van Den Berg simply because he seems to have ironed out those flaws apparent in his first few games. I would definitely put him ahead of Koumetio in terms of development.
yeah very very raw is koumetio but you could see a bag of ability as well, not at defending par se van den berg just strikes me as a bit timid.
Van Den Berg will grow into an accomplished defender,the signs are already apparent in his game. Which is a massive leap from the immaturity he showed in his first games in a red shirt. A few years down the line and we will be talking of his procurement being a huge coup for the club and a particularly astute bit of business from the manager.
