Liverpool FC Forum

LIVERPOOL - Route to final

Third round: Liverpool 4 Shrewsbury Town 1
Fourth round: Liverpool 3 Cardiff City 1
Fifth round: Liverpool 2 Norwich City 1
Quarter-final: Nottingham Forest 0 Liverpool 1
Semi-final: Manchester City 2 Liverpool 3

CHELSEA - Route to final

Third round: Chelsea 5 Chesterfield 1
Fourth round: Chelsea 2 Plymouth Argyle 2
Fifth round: Chelsea 2 Luton Town 3
Quarter-final: Middlesbrough 0 Chelsea 2
Semi-final: Chelsea 2 Crystal Palace 0


Another opportunity for us to snap a trophy that is above the EFL on the cup pyramid. I personally feel the FA cup has lost its value throughout the years, I remember back in the 90's [I was toddler then) and early 20's it was viewed as a prestigious trophy. Anyhow, I still enjoy watching FA cup ties and really hoping we can bag this one in.

We are looking a little tired as expected with the amount of games we've played. Klopp did rotate a bit for the Villa game so I'm expecting the usual suspects to play for this one. Up top it has to be Salah, Mane and Diaz, another part of me says should we play Jota and bring on Diaz later... A little conflicted there. Fabinho is key we really need hit to be fit for this one, if his not available then a mid of Thiago, Hendo and potentially Keita.

Chelsea have not been playing for much recently so I'm exacting them to be fired up for this one. Recently their form has been poor, this will be the only trophy they can get their hands on, so it feels like their focus has been diverted to the final. I'm expecting them to play a weakened side against Leeds this evening.

Really looking forward to this one, just hope its not another 120 mins!

Fab is out of this final and also the rest of the pl matches. Doubtful for the CL final.

Kovacic looks like a doubt for them as he was injured yesterday,good news for us.

Hoping that LFC are resting and rebuilding their energy reserves.  The only question is how to replace Fab, and whether in fact we could try playing Trent in the Fab role and play Gomez on the right? Whilst the Chavs might emotionally want to win the game for the Russian pimp, on paper we should win.

Come on Reds!

I don’t think Trent has the discipline to play the Fab role, more likely it will be Hendo with Keita and Thiago either side. I did read that Kovacic is winning the race to be fit, whatever that means. This is their only possible trophy and their new owner will want a boost, so they will be motivated and better than they’ve been in the prem.

kazza » Fri May 13, 2022 5:22 am wrote:I don’t think Trent has the discipline to play the Fab role, more likely it will be Hendo with Keita and Thiago either side. I did read that Kovacic is winning the race to be fit, whatever that means. This is their only possible trophy and their new owner will want a boost, so they will be motivated and better than they’ve been in the prem.

Agree with Kazza. No way should Trent play as an alternative for Fab. Attempting to turn a "Greyhound" into a "Wolfhound" isn't gonna work.

Hendo is the obvious alternative.
However, If I was gonna do a Reg (    ) and offer a different off the wall alternative I'd consider Matip , obviously defensively aware and able to put in a tackle, can carry the ball when required, not shy to get forward and have a pop. Konate could fill in for him at the back. 

All said and done I still expect Hendo to fill in for Fab.

Team more or less picks itself. Just a question of if Klopp goes for Konate or Matip. Personally I think Matip has been our best CB this year, slightly edging VVD, so I'd go for him in both cup finals ahead of Konate's pace. Henderson has put some excellent performance this season playing as the DM and Keita has done well on the that right hand side so there is no debate about the midfield makeup.

Alisson, Trent, Robbo, VVD, Matip, Henderson, Thiago, Keita, Salah, Diaz, and Mane.

I'd personally start Konate as Havertz is a nightmare in the air with his intelligent movement ,Chelsea will constrict our middle to stop the ball finding Salah and co and press up on our fB's for the same reason. I think for this reason we would be best suited playing Thiago deeper dictating the play allowing Henderson and Keita to get forward and break their lines. I definitely wouldn't start Jota has he hasn't justified a starting berth with his performances of late and we kind of lose that perception around the box ,so for this reason we may see the manager start Firmino with Mane and Salah dropping Diaz and Jota to the bench. This wont be a popular opinion as Diaz is on his way to becoming a phenomena ,but he's a young lad and the occasion and the onus placed on him may get the better of the lad ,so I'd go with tried and tested experience and if he's needed in this game 'which is going to be tight 'and introduced in the last 20 mins he would give a tired  Chelsea defence twisted blood and possibly completely change the game.

This may seem a strange mindset ,but I've been to enough Cup finals to know its rarely the players you expect to win the game that do and I'd sooner have a player with Diaz's talent fired up to come on in the last 20/30 mins rather than start the game and be subbed after being overawed by the occasion and expectation of supporters ,I mean ,lets be honest the lad has already started to shoulder that burden albeit excellently ,but for me the likes of Salah has to step up and reaffirm why prior to the African Cup and World Cup qualifying heartbreak he was arguably referred to as the best striker in World football.

Hopefully he's thinking the same thoughts as every Liverpool fan and they're not just soundbites he's suddenly decided to share with the media in light of his yet to be resolved contract ?

OK, I'm maybe on the juice here lads    BUT I'd consider putting Salah on the bench ! 

IMO of late the "magic dust"  on his boots is not there and teams have sussed his game . Come on , all of us know what he's gonna do when he gets the ball . Unfortunately so do the oppo team.

They close him down and double team him.

At his best they can't stop him anyway BUT it's been a while since we've seen him at his best.

The fella is a machine but even the best machine sometimes needs a rest.

Are we still playing him game after game with contract discussions in mind ?

I'm rambling here, so I'm off to pour myself another drink      While I wonder how a front three of Mane, Firmino and Diaz might perform  ?

These Russian funded feckers are always a problem. Loathe and detest them almost as much as City,United and our soon to be relegated (possibly) neighbours !! Not sure that I’d trust the very erratic Naby in midfield without Fab alongside him. Quite fancy Joel Matip to do Fabs job and put Konate in defence. Joel loves the opportunity to go forward and he may just relish the opportunity. Not sure about leaving Mo out. He drags two or three defenders towards himself every time he gets the ball. Goals have dried up but he still getting assists. Leaving him out of the team actually gives the opposition a boost and that’s something we could do without !!

COYR let’s stuff these cockney plastics !!

YNWA

devaney » Fri May 13, 2022 4:04 pm wrote:These Russian funded feckers are always a problem. Loathe and detest them almost as much as City,United and our soon to be relegated (possibly) neighbours !! Not sure that I’d trust the very erratic Naby in midfield without Fab alongside him. Quite fancy Joel Matip to do Fabs job and put Konate in defence. Joel loves the opportunity to go forward and he may just relish the opportunity. Not sure about leaving Mo out. He drags two or three defenders towards himself every time he gets the ball. Goals have dried up but he still getting assists. Leaving him out of the team actually gives the opposition a boost and that’s something we could do without !!

COYR let’s stuff these cockney plastics !!

YNWA

Get what you're saying re Salah Dev BUT despite as you say "He drags two or three defenders towards himself every time he gets the ball."   In recent games it's mostly ended with a failed attempt to dribble and cut into the box or a short pass to Trent or back into midfield.

Don't get me wrong, the fella is world class BUT I honestly think "mental fatigue"  is something to consider.

As for him being on the bench ? Imagine with 30 minutes to go one of the front 3 are pulled off and a "rested" Mo comes on !   

I think the optics aren’t good leaving Mo out and if his contract situation is in the balance that could tip it as Egyptians (both him and his agent) are quite emotional. I do think he hasn’t been at his best and looks emotionally tired and could probably do with the rest, whether his ego would agree is another matter.

Given this trophy's importance to the history of the game I'd love a footballing romantic like Jürgen to have it on his CV.
Where we as human beings owe our existence to the primordial soup which all living things on this planet swam and crawled their way out of billions of years ago, well the FA Cup is football's primordial soup.

Nicely put yakka!

Match day folks it is thee final,common red men make us proud.

Games against Chelsea have been sketchy this season so I'm hoping for a easier ride.

So Tuschel agrees with pep that we have a lot of fans on our side because of sympathy  Hope we ram those words down his rather large dehydrated head. We have a lot of fans because we have a lot of fans!! Biggest team in the UK for sure!!