16 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

🤣🤣

He's finally come round to the correct line of thinking !

Felix next ? LOL

thinking a player is good enough for game time at a mid table PL team =/= being the best player in the world in their position

15 hours ago, Zeta said:

4 years ago. He is nowhere near these days.

because Maresca has him doing the grave yard shift at CM. Tuchel played him RWB for a single England game and it was like nothing had changed. Have a competent manager and he's still the best RB in the world, you don't lose natural ability.

It’s got to the point where Maresca’s ineptitude has even got us questioning the world class ability of Reece James?!

I’m with @Ukraine Bolt on his point though, outside of the GK position, the PSG squad isn’t THAT much better than what we currently have. The major difference is a competent manager with a football philosophy that works.

If anyone needed another reason to sack Maresca, the absolute clown

If everyone is fit, Reece James has a very difficult task to make it into Maresca’s ‘best’ team.

~ @SJohnsonSport

11 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

You just have to laugh at this point.

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumbass didn’t think either Flick or Enrique were good enough, yet both have their teams playing some of the most eye catching football and are on the verge of meeting in the Champions League final.

All for the sake of hiring a championship manager. Their failures as sporting directors couldn’t be be more evident.

They wouldn't have gone after them if they didn't think they weren't good enough. Simply didn't want to relinquish some control is all.

2 hours ago, dansubrosa said:

If anyone needed another reason to sack Maresca, the absolute clown

If everyone is fit, Reece James has a very difficult task to make it into Maresca’s ‘best’ team.

~ @SJohnsonSport

that's been obvious from his recent line ups.

Whether its Maresca being a moron and again misprofiling a player or the SD's seeing his salary and telling Maresca to start to phase him out. sh*t show from top to bottom.

16 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

that's been obvious from his recent line ups.

Whether its Maresca being a moron and again misprofiling a player or the SD's seeing his salary and telling Maresca to start to phase him out. sh*t show from top to bottom.

I think it's 90% Maresca and the SD's then going well if he doesn't fit your system then we might as well look to move him on.

3 hours ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

what does durable runner even mean? If Reece was only having to play at maximum for a handful of CL games he'd be durable. He's had surgery and he's be in a weaker league.

So he still missed three months and hasn't been injured once at PSG because its a weaker league, thanks for confirming.

Yes we dominated, you're welcome to go watch those matches.

Rating a player and thinking they're the best in the world in that position are two separate things, don't be obtuse.

Durable, as in not breaking down, It's no coincidence James' is experiencing his longest run of fitness because he isn't tasked to run up and down the flank anymore. Which begs my entire question. Can he even do that anymore without breaking down?

And thank you for confirming Dembele only had 1 injury in a little under 2 years which shows he was already on the right path given he was getting an injury every other month.

I have. Again. We didn't dominate. Lavia was the reason we combated against both of them. They were even games.

It's reasonable to conclude that Maatsen was the best performing LB in Europe that second half of the season, so to see you shy away from that statement given your antics in the Maatsen thread last spring is a bit funny.

20 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Durable, as in not breaking down, It's no coincidence James' is experiencing his longest run of fitness because he isn't tasked to run up and down the flank anymore. Which begs my entire question. Can he even do that anymore without breaking down?

And thank you for confirming Dembele only had 1 injury in a little under 2 years which shows he was already on the right path given he was getting an injury every other month.

I have. Again. We didn't dominate. Lavia was the reason we combated against both of them. They were even games.

It's reasonable to conclude that Maatsen was the best performing LB in Europe that second half of the season, so to see you shy away from that statement given your antics in the Maatsen thread last spring is a bit funny.

So you only think Hakimi is better because he's durable? I don't have an issue if that's your point, my entire point is when fit Hakimi isn't in the same discussion as Reece James. James is experiencing his longest run of fitness because he's had surgery and Maresca will only play him for 45 minutes once a month. Takes me back to my point about Tuchel playing him in his proper position and him instantly showing his class.

The season he didn't have an injury he played 21 league games for Barca, how's he expected to be injured when he's not playing? The year he did play he missed 3 full months.

“I think it was one of the games, maybe the only game, where I felt the other team was better than us during that game. That’s not to say for the long-term they’re better than us, but during the game they had more ball possession than us and were threatening us more than any other team did until now. That was my opinion about Chelsea back then, and that is still my opinion.". Who cares what the Liverpool manager thinks, the American says we didn't dominate. Lavia played 50 minutes so weird to put it down to one players influence.

Not really sure what this Maatsen whataboutery point is you're trying to make. Maatsen was good for a short period of time, that doesn't mean he was the best LB in football. Good to see you think Hakimi is on par with Maatsen and nothing more than the flavour of the month based on a small sample size of knock out games though.

10 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

So you only think Hakimi is better because he's durable? I don't have an issue if that's your point, my entire point is when fit Hakimi isn't in the same discussion as Reece James. James is experiencing his longest run of fitness because he's had surgery and Maresca will only play him for 45 minutes once a month. Takes me back to my point about Tuchel playing him in his proper position and him instantly showing his class.

The season he didn't have an injury he played 21 league games for Barca, how's he expected to be injured when he's not playing? The year he did play he missed 3 full months.

“I think it was one of the games, maybe the only game, where I felt the other team was better than us during that game. That’s not to say for the long-term they’re better than us, but during the game they had more ball possession than us and were threatening us more than any other team did until now. That was my opinion about Chelsea back then, and that is still my opinion.". Who cares what the Liverpool manager thinks, the American says we didn't dominate. Lavia played 50 minutes so weird to put it down to one players influence.

Not really sure what this Maatsen whataboutery point is you're trying to make. Maatsen was good for a short period of time, that doesn't mean he was the best LB in football. Good to see you think Hakimi is on par with Maatsen and nothing more than the flavour of the month based on a small sample size of knock out games though.

Hakimi has been among the best RBs in world football for about half a decade now. Both at club and international level. This season in particular he's been very influential in what's been a standout season for him. Reece James, right now, doesn't start over him given he hasn't been anywhere near his best for 2 years running which is down to the accumulation of hamstring injuries. His role under Maresca is less demanding on his body vs what he was doing week in week out at full/wingback. The fact he is hardly playing full 90s even in his current role indicates they are still cautious.

From his last injury at Barca to his hamstring injury that had Dembele miss 3 months, he played roughly 50 matches consecutively in all competitions. That's a pretty good return for a lad that just started taking care of himself seriously.

How does that prove we dominated exactly? I thought you were against possession for the sake of it? We had less xG against both Arsenal and Liverpool during those matches. Didn't take you for a closeted Xenophobe either but that's the internet for you.

Stand on business. You even went as far as saying every club would be queued up for a £40m young exciting prospect after describing Maatsen's season at Dortmund and his links with Villa.

8 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Hakimi has been among the best RBs in world football for about half a decade now. Both at club and international level. This season in particular he's been very influential in what's been a standout season for him. Reece James, right now, doesn't start over him given he hasn't been anywhere near his best for 2 years running which is down to the accumulation of hamstring injuries. His role under Maresca is less demanding on his body vs what he was doing week in week out at full/wingback. The fact he is hardly playing full 90s even in his current role indicates they are still cautious.

From his last injury at Barca to his hamstring injury that had Dembele miss 3 months, he played roughly 50 matches consecutively in all competitions. That's a pretty good return for a lad that just started taking care of himself seriously.

How does that prove we dominated exactly? I thought you were against possession for the sake of it? We had less xG against both Arsenal and Liverpool during those matches. Didn't take you for a closeted Xenophobe either but that's the internet for you.

Stand on business. You even went as far as saying every club would be queued up for a £40m young exciting prospect after describing Maatsen's season at Dortmund and his links with Villa.

Carvajal, Reece James, Trent, Cancelo. No one has mentioned Hakimi until this CL run. This is a perfect example of recency bias. No one was talking about Hakimi when they finished 15th in the CL group getting their cheeks clapped every week. Once again ignoring Maresca clearly phasing him out and his appearance for Tuchel in his natural position.

21/22

22/23

When were these 50 consecutive games? Considering he missed half of both the seasons in question.

I will once again reiterate, you are allowed to go and rewatch the games. xG is nonsense but a penalty will account for the majority of Liverpool's. Xenophobia? For stating your nationality? Grow up you child.

"stand on business". Cringe. Must be another Americanism. Am i allowed to say that?

Choosing to die on this Maatsen hill is weird but if you can find a message from me stating he's the best LB in Europe i'll happily hold my hands up.

My point was quite consistent that we should have given him more minutes, i never claimed he was the best on the planet. I understand you hated Maatsen and spent hours on Burnley forums looking for any hate comments you could find on the Chelsea youth player, but many fans want to see our youngsters succeed.

1 minute ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Carvajal, Reece James, Trent, Cancelo. No one has mentioned Hakimi until this CL run. This is a perfect example of recency bias. No one was talking about Hakimi when they finished 15th in the CL group getting their cheeks clapped every week. Once again ignoring Maresca clearly phasing him out and his appearance for Tuchel in his natural position.

21/22

22/23

When were these 50 consecutive games? Considering he missed half of both the seasons in question.

I will once again reiterate, you are allowed to go and rewatch the games. xG is nonsense but a penalty will account for the majority of Liverpool's. Xenophobia? For stating your nationality? Grow up you child.

"stand on business". Cringe. Must be another Americanism. Am i allowed to say that?

Choosing to die on this Maatsen hill is weird but if you can find a message from me stating he's the best LB in Europe i'll happily hold my hands up.

My point was quite consistent that we should have given him more minutes, i never claimed he was the best on the planet. I understand you hated Maatsen and spent hours on Burnley forums looking for any hate comments you could find on the Chelsea youth player, but many fans want to see our youngsters succeed.

If that were remotely true then Tuchel and Marina wouldn't of spent months chasing Hakimi after he won the league at Inter only for us to lose out to PSG and make him the most expensive RB in history. He's been among the best right backs in the world for some time and you pretending no one cared about him before this season won't change facts.

Notice how I said "All Competitions". And correction. It was 60 matches Dembele played consecutively without injury.

So is possession for the sake of it nonsense or is xG nonsense? Feels like its one or the other depending on which side of the bed you get out of. We didn't dominate. It was an equal game whilst we yet again failed to create more clear cut chances than our direct rivals.

1 hour ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Who cares what the Liverpool manager thinks, the American says we didn't dominate.

If this isn't Xenophobic then what is it exactly? 😂

You also made a brazen effort in trying to forcefully have Jim admit he was American. The f**k was that about?

18 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

"stand on business". Cringe. Must be another Americanism. Am i allowed to say that?

Choosing to die on this Maatsen hill is weird but if you can find a message from me stating he's the best LB in Europe i'll happily hold my hands up.

My point was quite consistent that we should have given him more minutes, i never claimed he was the best on the planet. I understand you hated Maatsen and spent hours on Burnley forums looking for any hate comments you could find on the Chelsea youth player, but many fans want to see our youngsters succeed.

You literally called him a young exciting prospect that would have a queue of clubs after his signature given he was only £40m. This was after his season at Dortmund where almost every match week you popped in his player thread saying how good he is and that we made a mistake. You may not have said he was the best, but you rated him highly enough to suggest he's one of the best. (which he was after the season he had). So to now completely downplay Maatsen's accomplishment just to suit your narrative about Hakimi, is funny.

5 hours ago, dansubrosa said:

If anyone needed another reason to sack Maresca, the absolute clown

If everyone is fit, Reece James has a very difficult task to make it into Maresca’s ‘best’ team.

~ @SJohnsonSport

The 4th best DM on our books!

25 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

If this isn't Xenophobic then what is it exactly? 😂

You also made a brazen effort in trying to forcefully have Jim admit he was American. The f**k was that about?

I'm not....

3 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

I'm not....

And if you were, so what?

13 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

If that were remotely true then Tuchel and Marina wouldn't of spent months chasing Hakimi after he won the league at Inter only for us to lose out to PSG and make him the most expensive RB in history. He's been among the best right backs in the world for some time and you pretending no one cared about him before this season won't change facts.

Notice how I said "All Competitions". And correction. It was 60 matches Dembele played consecutively without injury.

So is possession for the sake of it nonsense or is xG nonsense? Feels like its one or the other depending on which side of the bed you get out of. We didn't dominate. It was an equal game whilst we yet again failed to create more clear cut chances than our direct rivals.

If this isn't Xenophobic then what is it exactly? 😂

You also made a brazen effort in trying to forcefully have Jim admit he was American. The f**k was that about?

You literally called him a young exciting prospect that would have a queue of clubs after his signature given he was only £40m. This was after his season at Dortmund where almost every match week you popped in his player thread saying how good he is and that we made a mistake. You may not have said he was the best, but you rated him highly enough to suggest he's one of the best. (which he was after the season he had). So to now completely downplay Maatsen's accomplishment just to suit your narrative about Hakimi, is funny.

Even Hakimi knew himself he'd be playing second fiddle to Reece James at Chelsea, yet you still try to argue it. You pretending he's been the best RB in the world for years won't make it true either.

Failing to mention that the majority of those games were limited minutes. 8 games is the most he went in the starting 11.

Stats are nonsense, you're welcome to go back and watch the full 90 and take in what Arne Slot was saying. I know you know more than the manager that just won the league but try to see it from his perspective.

Xenophobia would insinuate some kind of dislike. I haven't shown any dislike to you, stop being so touchy about your heritage.

Jim had stated before he'd lived in the US, now its UAE. Are facts now Xenophobia? Very strange to start throwing such brazen accusations around.

So just to reiterate, i never said he was the best full back in the world. Very strange of you to try to point out otherwise. Maatsen was a very good prospect and CL quarter finalist again this year. I imagine he would have made a better back up than Gusto this season. I will wait for you to show me making any claim other than we should have gave him more minutes based on the options we had and the promise he had shown. We have plenty of players out on loan that you can go jump on their forums again to try and weirdly slate our own academy products, you don't need to try to rehash this again you showed your true colours and embarrassed yourself enough with the constant Burnley forum hate watches.

48 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Jim had stated before he'd lived in the US, now its UAE.

No I have not. Ever.

2 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Even Hakimi knew himself he'd be playing second fiddle to Reece James at Chelsea, yet you still try to argue it. You pretending he's been the best RB in the world for years won't make it true either.

Failing to mention that the majority of those games were limited minutes. 8 games is the most he went in the starting 11.

Stats are nonsense, you're welcome to go back and watch the full 90 and take in what Arne Slot was saying. I know you know more than the manager that just won the league but try to see it from his perspective.

Xenophobia would insinuate some kind of dislike. I haven't shown any dislike to you, stop being so touchy about your heritage.

Jim had stated before he'd lived in the US, now its UAE. Are facts now Xenophobia? Very strange to start throwing such brazen accusations around.

So just to reiterate, i never said he was the best full back in the world. Very strange of you to try to point out otherwise. Maatsen was a very good prospect and CL quarter finalist again this year. I imagine he would have made a better back up than Gusto this season. I will wait for you to show me making any claim other than we should have gave him more minutes based on the options we had and the promise he had shown. We have plenty of players out on loan that you can go jump on their forums again to try and weirdly slate our own academy products, you don't need to try to rehash this again you showed your true colours and embarrassed yourself enough with the constant Burnley forum hate watches.

We went months trying to get Hakimi's signature, and that was the same season Tuchel started experimenting James at RCB so its more than likely we've would've seen them both on the pitch. PSG offered higher wages and were willing to make him the most expensive RB in history. It's actually boggling my mind the lengths you are going to not admit Hakimi has been among the best RBs in the world for half a decade.

Between those two injuries Dembele started 35 matches in all competitions and almost 4,000 total minutes. Again. It looks like he already on the right path in taking care of himself.

We didn't dominate. Nor does Slot even mention we dominated. Both games literally could of gone either way. Dominating is running circles around Liverpool's entire team for 200+ minutes and out performing them in every metric. Even at Anfield.

32 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Xenophobia would insinuate some kind of dislike. I haven't shown any dislike to you, stop being so touchy about your heritage.

Jim had stated before he'd lived in the US, now its UAE. Are facts now Xenophobia? Very strange to start throwing such brazen accusations around.

Then tell me, what does my nationality have anything to do with forming an opinion? Because it would appear you are trying to de-emphasize my opinion because of where I'm from.

And when Jim tried explaining that to you, you also tried getting Jim to admit he was some closeted American.

Again. Why?

39 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

So just to reiterate, i never said he was the best full back in the world. Very strange of you to try to point out otherwise. Maatsen was a very good prospect and CL quarter finalist again this year. I imagine he would have made a better back up than Gusto this season. I will wait for you to show me making any claim other than we should have gave him more minutes based on the options we had and the promise he had shown. We have plenty of players out on loan that you can go jump on their forums again to try and weirdly slate our own academy products, you don't need to try to rehash this again you showed your true colours and embarrassed yourself enough with the constant Burnley forum hate watches.

Already showed you.

You said Maatsen was a young exciting prospect after his season with Dortmund and insinuated £40m was too low given you suggested there'd be a queue of clubs for his signature at that price. Kind of sounds like he's among the best talents in the world then don't it?

8 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

It's more about being a durable runner vs running fast.

James was effortlessly running up and down the flank when he was at wingback. He'd pocket an attacker at one end and then in the next 10 seconds he's creating a chance on the other end. He relied on his physical durability to be effective at that, and too much of it was the very reason why his hamstrings kept exploding. The sheer thought of James being tasked to run like that again makes our arses clench given his hamstrings could fall off the bone like slow cooked brisket.

11 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Durable, as in not breaking down, It's no coincidence James' is experiencing his longest run of fitness because he isn't tasked to run up and down the flank anymore. Which begs my entire question. Can he even do that anymore without breaking down?

It's a really interesting case because recent research [2016] [2022] actually suggests that wide/lateral players should have lower injury risk than central players (defenders, midfielders). That is also supported by the general theory that lateral movement (side-to-side) is much more stressful than running straight, a wide player like a fullback would basically be shuttling straight lines the whole game.

Yet, both Dembele and James have had their best runs in years by moving inside.

7 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

It's a really interesting case because recent research [2016] [2022] actually suggests that wide/lateral players should have lower injury risk than central players (defenders, midfielders). That is also supported by the general theory that lateral movement (side-to-side) is much more stressful than running straight, a wide player like a fullback would basically be shuttling straight lines the whole game.

Yet, both Dembele and James have had their best runs in years by moving inside.

It’s pretty obvious to anyone who has played football.

No idea about Dembele but James finally got the surgery he’s been putting off so I think that’s more of a factor than him playing in midfield.

Hopefully these 3 victories have helped the confidence in players to feel they can win Liverpool.

They have absolutely zero pressure heading to the game and they would probably love to give their fans something extra by beating us. Not sure if this is the perfect time to face them. Hopefully they are feeling festive and don't have all in. That is the hope.

We need 3 points.

27 minutes ago, Remodez said:

It’s pretty obvious to anyone who has played football.

No idea about Dembele but James finally got the surgery he’s been putting off so I think that’s more of a factor than him playing in midfield

I agree to an extent, what I am trying to point out is that it is more complex than any one given factor. If we were looking for a single factor it's the fact that James injured his hamstring while young and that alone is the biggest factor in recurring injury for the rest of his life. But that is a problem with no solution in football.

15 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

We went months trying to get Hakimi's signature, and that was the same season Tuchel started experimenting James at RCB so its more than likely we've would've seen them both on the pitch. PSG offered higher wages and were willing to make him the most expensive RB in history. It's actually boggling my mind the lengths you are going to not admit Hakimi has been among the best RBs in the world for half a decade.

Between those two injuries Dembele started 35 matches in all competitions and almost 4,000 total minutes. Again. It looks like he already on the right path in taking care of himself.

We didn't dominate. Nor does Slot even mention we dominated. Both games literally could of gone either way. Dominating is running circles around Liverpool's entire team for 200+ minutes and out performing them in every metric. Even at Anfield.

Then tell me, what does my nationality have anything to do with forming an opinion? Because it would appear you are trying to de-emphasize my opinion because of where I'm from.

And when Jim tried explaining that to you, you also tried getting Jim to admit he was some closeted American.

Again. Why?

Already showed you.

You said Maatsen was a young exciting prospect after his season with Dortmund and insinuated £40m was too low given you suggested there'd be a queue of clubs for his signature at that price. Kind of sounds like he's among the best talents in the world then don't it?

Hakimi is on 170k a week, we put Reece and Chilwell on 200k+. He didn't want to play second fiddle. Transfer fee means nothing to a player.

Only missed 6 games and played 2,700 minutes the season before he started 'taking it serious'. How strange. Its pretty clear the Ligue 1 is less harsh on the body, Falcao being a prime example.

Slot says we were the only team this season that were better than them on the pitch, do whatever mental gymnastics you want i'm sure you know better.

From experience, an Americans opinion on soccer-ball is much the same as a Europeans on the NFL or NBA.

So once again confirming that the Maatsen point has absolutely no relevance to this conversation. Good prospect that sold for £40m and made a CL quarter final again this year.

7 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

It's a really interesting case because recent research [2016] [2022] actually suggests that wide/lateral players should have lower injury risk than central players (defenders, midfielders). That is also supported by the general theory that lateral movement (side-to-side) is much more stressful than running straight, a wide player like a fullback would basically be shuttling straight lines the whole game.

Yet, both Dembele and James have had their best runs in years by moving inside.

Anecdotal I know but the vast majority of "full backs" I've played with over the years have barely missed games, they were pretty much guaranteed to play the season out. Ok this was when full backs were actual defenders, and not wingers wearing a different number, but still they were pretty much the safest bet on the pitch fitness wise, other than the keepers.

44 minutes ago, dkw said:

Anecdotal I know but the vast majority of "full backs" I've played with over the years have barely missed games, they were pretty much guaranteed to play the season out. Ok this was when full backs were actual defenders, and not wingers wearing a different number, but still they were pretty much the safest bet on the pitch fitness wise, other than the keepers.

Full back all my life through academy football and rarely if ever missed a game. Started playing CB in my mid-20's and knees were shot by the time i turned 28.

Not much easier on the body than running in a straight line.