striker

Much better 2nd half. Right from the start you could see we were attacking better. ASSE is no slouch either.

More subs. I think Yoshida is the only one left out there.

Much more attacking this half from the midfield, that is making a big difference. Also ASSE subbed a lot, I wonder if they are not that deep and thats helping too?

Long on now.

I think Pied is playing much better today than last match

Yes but the feed held up quite well throughout intermission

who were those subs? Did Bertrand and Boufal go off?

Better so far. A few little passes from Austin to Gabbi almost got something. Davis seems to be pushing up too.

Midfield seems to be a diamond with Davis at the point and Romeu at the bottom

I agree with all this. We need to get more of a push in center mid. It seems the only way we got it down field was to loft long passes and have Austin hold and distribute them.

Gabbi had a chance or two, Austin played a lot of hold-up play and had some nice passes out of them. I don't think I like the center mid with Davis and Romeu, didn't seem to have control or creativity. We need Tadic back in the middle not on the wing. At times it looked like a 4-4-1-1 with Austin behind Gabbi holding up the ball and dishing it.

Is it me, or are we playing a 4-4-2?

Changing Cedric for Pied, I agree.

All right, Gabbi and Austin in together. This is what I've wanted to see.

Austin's injury had a lot to do with this, we had no depth. Until Gabbi came we had no one else out there who really could score dependably.

Austin is a proven scorer and needs to be on the field. Gabbi and Redmond also have shown they can score, and have a lot of mobility, so they need to be out there too. Romeu for DM is a must. After that just fill in the pieces to support these guys. Who and where I don't really care, just set up whats best for the team.

I agree with this. Wait one more season than go to Real or Barcelona. https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/liverpool-fc-transfer-news/2017/7/26/16033762/southampton-tell-virgil-van-dijk-reject-liverpool-transfer-wait-for-barcelona

In less than a year we have gone from Fonte and VVD, to Yoshida and Stephens. Not the right direction.

what a sausage fest.

If we sell VVD I'd rather we send him to Barcelona, Real Madrid, or someplace else outside of the PL.

I'd also say that so far I believe Mauricio has only used a bigger striker upfront in the 1, either Austin or Gallagher. Gabbi has played outside. This may be the way he sees that position, if he sticks with this formation. In the end I think that we are fairly good at striker, especially with Long and Gallagher on the bench. We have much more pressing issues like CB and AM. Plus the fact is its a long season and people will get nicked up or tired, so I expect both to play quite a bit.

I'd like to play both, they are easily our best scorers. I think this may be the thinking in the 4-2-3-1. If Gabbi can play a wing on the 3 then both are on the field. I would also like to see a standard 4-4-2 with Austin and Gabbi. I think they can complement each other. Austin is better in the air and the box, Gabbi is more mobile and can stretch the defense. By the way, I think some here are overstating Austins "immobility". Sure he can't play outside or midfield, but given that he stays upfront he gets on the ball a lot. He is pretty good at holding up the ball and then dishing it, and does come up with some nice passes (like the cross to Long last game). I much prefer this to a guy who plays striker but just runs around a lot and never scores. If forced to choose, I'd likely choose Austin to start. His finishing and ability to find the back of the net is something this team desperately needs. The guys has proven he can score 15-20 in the PL if put in the right setup.

Ha ha, LOL. Meant McQueen obviously. For some reason I always confuse the two.

As long as we get Bertrand and Cedric back out there by August 12th then I'm ok. I guess I'm in the minority in thinking that Cedric/Stephens/Yoshida/Bertrand, with backups of Targett, Gallagher, and the Polish guy, is good enough to go to work with.

Whats the status of Cedric? Wouldn't he be out there too?