Players who should have scored more goals

Problem with Phillips getting forward more is he'd be doing more running!..

Fatigue?..

Better leaving him doing what he's doing, the likes of Ayling and Dallas are doing more than enough!..

Faith, a think NJS's fantasy tactical formulas is a shot at fantasy football!..

I don't feel Souness was criticising Phillips, complimentary really.

I think there was an over reaction to the result v Everton, more workmanlike victory imo.
I thought your article too was an over reaction, would you have written such a praiseworthy article of Bielsa's tactics had we lost?
Going into the Everton game we had 1 pt from a possible 9, our goals against isn't good, we had drifted further down the table.
The point I'm making is how do Bielsa's tactics of interchangeable tactics and man on man marking translate when we lose, when we may still drift downwards?
I'm alarmed that such as Rodrigo, one of the really few creative players is being left to play a peripheral part, a workmanlike player preferred to run around all game, is this Bielsa policy for the rest of the season?
How long is this man to man marking going to last, how many defeats will we have to endure?
In my opinion you can use this tactic occasionally but not on a permanent basis.

Rodrigo would have had a good day v Everton with that flying, Raphino winger! I feel we could have won by 2/3 goals had he played....
Bamford brace and Phillips!!!

Yes agreed let's draw the line and be more civil.

comment by NJS (U8272)
posted 41 seconds ago
I don't feel Souness was criticising Phillips, complimentary really.

I think there was an over reaction to the result v Everton, more workmanlike victory imo.
I thought your article too was an over reaction, would you have written such a praiseworthy article of Bielsa's tactics had we lost?
Going into the Everton game we had 1 pt from a possible 9, our goals against isn't good, we had drifted further down the table.
The point I'm making is how do Bielsa's tactics of interchangeable tactics and man on man marking translate when we lose, when we may still drift downwards?
I'm alarmed that such as Rodrigo, one of the really few creative players is being left to play a peripheral part, a workmanlike player preferred to run around all game, is this Bielsa policy for the rest of the season?
How long is this man to man marking going to last, how many defeats will we have to endure?
In my opinion you can use this tactic occasionally but not on a permanent basis.









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The level of performance is what it is regardless of the result.

I was critical of the negative comments following the Arsenal game which I would say was probably a better performance than than the one against Everton.

We actually conceded more/better chances against Everton than we did against Crystal Palace.

We are not a perfect side by any means. But look at what we are doing with the players we have. Their stature is minuscule in the game compared to who most of the Premiership have in their squads. We will lose again but I doubt that there is a system/style of play out there that would get more out of the players we have. What do you think that system would look like?

Man to man marking is obviously here to stay too. It won’t matter how many times we lose. To get rid of the man to man marking it’s obvious we will have to get rid of Bielsa.

As for Rodrigo he will get plenty of starts. I actually expect he will be starting ahead of Bamford at some point this season. I think he’s been signed to play there but due to injuries & Bamfords form has filled in in the midfield and done brilliantly anyway.

Souness: “Yeah, Makelele was good, but how many Golden Boots did the lad win?”

Thinking about Rodrigo further. I expected him to start against Everton. I expected him to be brought in sooner too.

But watching the game it’s clear why he wasn’t used. And it’s basically because of James. I highlighted him as a problem for us before the game because ideally you want Phillips on a player like that. But because he’s playing predominantly on the right you just can’t use Phillips on him. Bielsa put Dallas on him and so Dallas was mostly a left back out of possession. But James has the freedom to roam and Dalls has the job to follow. So Alioski was used on the left midfield to cover for Dallas in a more defensive role. The alternative would have been to play Harrison there and leave Raphinha on the right and put Rodrigo along side Bamford where Harrison started the game.

The problem with that is that Raphinha can’t be trusted defensively to that extent. That’s why Raphinha and Harrison had to swap. Ironically had too much freedom initially.

Given time Raphinha will likely improve this under Bielsa and the option may be available.

Maybe Bielsa doesn't think Rodrigo is fit enough, it takes time for anyone to get to his standards and Rodrigo came in fairly quickly!..

The same as Llorente, injured in training and had a relapse, Bielsa now says he's cured and is now under going extra training!..

Everybody knows that training is to satisfy Bielsa!..

comment by LufcGermany (U6066)
posted 54 minutes ago
Maybe Bielsa doesn't think Rodrigo is fit enough, it takes time for anyone to get to his standards and Rodrigo came in fairly quickly!..

The same as Llorente, injured in training and had a relapse, Bielsa now says he's cured and is now under going extra training!..

Everybody knows that training is to satisfy Bielsa!..
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I just think he assessed the opposition and felt he could only play 2 out of Bamford/Raphinha/Rodrigo and he stuck with the two who started previously.

As mentioned above I think he felt he needed Alioski & Dallas on the left. So there’s only Raphinha or Bamford he could have dropped.

Noel Hunt

Haven't commented ref this because when I heard Souness's comments, I instantly disagreed witth them, instantly on the defensive... however, if you listen to his comments now, days after the game, made me think, you know what, I can remember 3 or 4 times when KP got the ball and thought 'shoot'..

of course he has a role to play in midfeild, nobody is doubting that.. but when we have the ball as much as we do, in thier final third, why not get KP on the edge of the box and have a shot?..

I actually believe why KP has improved so much is due to his 'role', which seems condrictory, but the lad has improved so much.. he's not the finished article, the lad can shoot, lets add that to his game..