Isak Delivers, Wirtz Questions Grow and Van Dijk Silences Doubters

0:00This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. I didn't realise it went live, it's quick as it did. Good evening, it's Cioriast. He's on Amfield Index once again. It's Suarez, it's storage. We are back for another show. You can determine who's who. That's entirely everyone's preference. I'd rather be. But we've actually got positive things to discuss. No more negativity. Some of Windows done. No forest game. No new castle game. Six games in the Premier League. And a row of our win. Finally, we have got one on first win since the 21st of April in the Premier League. When we beat Crystal Palace 3, one on first clean sheet since the 11th of April. When we beat full on 2-0, it has been way too long since we've been able to actually come out of a match and discuss positive events.

1:03My name is Lewis. Of course, Loa is with me. The one who carries this whole thing. I just sort of tech not tired and pretend I know what I'm on about. And of course you guys need to get involved in the comments because we're going to be discussing Liverpool's 2-0 win over Ipswich and match. Which I didn't go to. But I also have to go to the game. You can go to Bort. Plus over to Loa, who was actually at the match. How was that experience? Oh, it was a lovely away end. It was an absolutely lovely away end. And I'm sure the result had something to do with it. It's lovely to score early. And I think part of the reason why I was having such a jolly time is I didn't feel too worried about the Liverpool lead. There was a couple of moments of, oh, but you know, when you get an early gold, you're just bouncing around you and having a good time. It just transforms the experience. And there wasn't much room for negativity. Liverpool went ahead in a game. I mean, the manager pointed out in his pretty much press conference that we have been losing for 90% of our matches so far.

2:06And I think that it weighs on you. You feel desperate when you go a gold out and to score those two goals in such quick succession. Which is honestly, I had such a nice time. I love Portman Road. I've always loved it as a ground, like what kind of family up here. So I've been a few times in the Ipswich and it was really nice to get to see the away end. They did do one weird thing, which I'm putting out to the comments section just to see if anyone else is at the game noticed it. You know, like on a plane, right, where they turn the lights off when you're on a night flight. So like, yeah, really dark. So they turn the lights on before the match in the away end so you could like find your seat and they turn them on at half time. But during the game, they turn the lights off. The only thing you can see in the pitch is the pitch and it's like pitch black all around you. And it was just a lovely cinematic way. I don't know. I don't know. But it made you started. You started a good thing. I liked it. I liked it. It just felt like the first thing I felt when I saw the Liverpool players come out was that looks like a nice environment to play.

3:09Football. And I say that partly knowing a bit about the upswitch faithful, they're not the world's most hostile crowd. Also just said, lovely pitch, lovely ground. Nice evening match vibes. It was just, yeah, no, no, it's a lovely, lovely evening. I like it switch. I was kind of disappointed when they went down to be honest and we we've had quite a. A history against it switch. I think I might be remembering it incorrectly, but I'm sure George who leaves last game was against it switch. I think we've had some good matches against them. We beat them fat like of the last three games. We've scored 11 goals, only conceded one, three wins in a row. It's a ground that we have a lot of joy out in recent years when they have been in the Premier League. And I think this was a very. This felt like the potential banana skin. I think in terms of we've seen so many times in the past hole in 2013, 14, Bernle, 2021, these are the kind of games where we can sort of drop points.

4:11And I think it was important that we went into this not with the intention of shutting up shop and trying to contain things, but go in there and making a bit of a statement and just getting through the game in as minimal damaging away as possible. I couldn't agree with you more. I think if we'd ended up doing what Lan United did against them the week before where you go behind, you score a lot of goals, you concede to, I don't think I would have come away with such a good feeling because I would have thought Jesus they really gave us a game. The fact is if this didn't really give Liverpool a game. I know that there's been some stats flying around about XG, but the one thing that actually doesn't take into account is game state and Liverpool were two goals up in 10 minutes. So I think it was just a wholly positive evening, selfishly or not selfishly, but greedily I could say I'd like no goals. But it was the way that they managed the game with a 2-0 lead was just lovely.

5:16And I was the right players for it that happened to him. Barker those days, I'm sure we'll come on and talk about it, but it literally happened right in front of me. I was like close to the pitch on his side. And oh my god, those first three touches just took my breath away. It's so mad that like you get so excited about side and players that he touches the ball three times. And it's like, it's oh my god, this is the best thing you've ever seen. But the thing is, the thing is it was like you saw him warming up. There's a little bit of the Bradley Barker song in the Concourse. I knew it's what you know, you know when they've been singing it on the bus all the way down. You know that they're going to do it when he comes on. And he strips off on the bench and the Bradley Barker bounce starts across the end. And and then you're just willing him to have a positive like first impact. And the ball comes out to him and it's quite a last ditch pass from Kirk as he fires it in. And Barker just kills it dead out of the air. And then whatever the play moves on, a couple of minutes later it comes to him.

6:18Again, another pass under pressure from Kirk as and he just makes it look so easy, so elegant, so balanced. And I think that is we don't know what will end up. How his Liverpool career will go from here. Florian Vitz looks brilliant on his Liverpool debut and will come on to talk about it. But but it you can tell a class player from the start and just the small things like he wasn't even in the same world as those it's which players. He was somewhere else on his own stratosphere. And I just I love that. I think I've said this to you for that Max Rodriguez song was one of my favorites. And I've just all day just being a Bradley Bradley Barker. But come just all day I can't get out my head. I love it. Was there you just told me about the Max Rodriguez song? Yeah, I don't think you remember that. When was that because I feel like yesterday and I don't know why because we didn't speak yesterday.

7:19That's so weird. I don't know what told you about it, but I know there's that video that goes around of the way and Craven Cottage absolutely bouncing. I think it's a rare positive from a period in which we were shit. But it's just it's so fun. You can't help but smile when you do it. And then I'm sure we'll talk about Alex Landry's act to but he's acts are at all a like like it's just fun. It's fun to have some news on. It's a yeah. It's nice to actually enjoy the matches again and like that. That's the big thing with here I all the coming in. And this whole window and everything. A lot of people are saying, well, you're going to be struggling to get top five. The point of bringing in a I all is not because we think he's going to immediately win as the league or anything like that. It was just to bring someone in who gets us playing football that we can recognize. But like it's it's Liverpool and that's exactly what this performance was. And I think from minute one up until minute 90 with a few dip in moments of course, because we were away from home and it switched to be fair to them.

8:23Look at good side. I'm more confident about them staying up than I was at the beginning of the season. But this game was the perfect representation of how I all want us to play and how we want him to set us up. So I mean, we'll look at the team like the initial start and 11 and to be honest, I did a preview for on agenda and I predicted start and 11. Bar the right back spot. This is the exact team that I thought was going to start. I didn't expect Bar Kohler to start. I don't know if you disagree with that, but it wasn't something I was predicting to happen. Bar Kohler starting this much. I thought it was possible purely because of Liverpool's habit of going behind. I just thought he could offer you more in a game at Mill Mill than he could at one mill down. But maybe that was an overly negative kind of perspective to look at. I can see why I didn't start him because it was clear when he came on. He's not kicked a ball since was it July 16? Like the land's not fair. It's obvious. But massive, in massive excitement around the fact that a half fit Bradley Bar Kohler has hit top speed in the Premier League this season in that 26 minute cameo.

9:31I mean, you saw everything that you wanted to see from him. And it's interesting. I haven't watched back the highlights because you know when you're like at pitch level, it's hard to see what isn't an amazing chance. But the one where he pulls it just steams forward and then pulls it across the penalty area. I can tell you. Yeah, Gacco and Gacco should just leave it for Savozlí. But watching that in the ground, like let's compare him to Victor Munoz who had a brilliant night and who I really, really enjoyed his performance. God bless Victor Munoz. I think he's going to be a fantastic player, but he's nothing like Bradley Bar Kohler. When he's running with the ball, it's not entirely controlled. It's all about physicality, power, desire. When Bar Kohler was running with the ball to create that chance and running at top speed, he is entirely in control. He looks like he has time. He looks like he's doing it almost in slow motion. And that is what, and it's a great cliche, but it's a cliche for a reason. The greatest players do. So yeah, maybe I am. Maybe I am.

10:31We'll see because I'm going to follow. I'm going to follow. So think it's crossed. I mean, I hope you are. I've been to two games this season and we've lost both. No, we've lost the Monaco game and we drew against nothing in forest. So you're bad. You stayed in. I'm. I'm okay. I am a bad luck. I want to try and go to the top-num game as well. I might be going to take it for that and I'm really worried now. So we're going to have to wait and see. But yeah, no, I agree. Like Bar Kohler is. He's just, he's what we needed. He's very direct, very from footed. And I liked as well that, yeah, he predominantly spent time on the left, but he did drift through the center quite a lot. And I know where I always touched on how he wants all the wingers to play. He wants them to rotate. He wants them to operate in different positions to get minutes into cast the opposition and the words. And from minute one, we were doing exactly that. You know, ESAC was dropping out onto the left and he looked really good out there. GAC bows started playing as like a number 10. Yeah, I think one player though,

11:32that absolutely deserves credit for the position change. And I look. I'm not a person who goes like I told you so. I'm really not. But I said weeks and weeks ago, rather than row, how it right back is a brilliant option. We both said it. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. We both said he can shoot. He shoots right back. There's a bit of a worry from people. People say he turns like an 18 wheeler stuck in a maze. He's not. You like you look at his statue and you just think he's just a big, mushy, physical player. And he doesn't have to be quick. His positioning yesterday. And what he allowed Kirk has to do by dropping into like a back free in let Kirk has pushed up. And that led to the first goal because Kirk has put pressure on the it switch player gave it to GAC bow when to ESAC. I think rather the row, oh, yesterday was absolutely superb. And if the man of the match will went to him, I wouldn't have had many complaints.

12:33100% agree with you there. What I will say is it's easier to be a sense back playing right back when the team goes to nilup inside 13 minutes or whatever it was. Because you're not in a situation where Liverpool having to chase the game and you're seeing loads of the ball and you're needing to like bomb up and down that right flank, which he wasn't in the team to be to do that to be fair. One thing I found interesting was all the way through the right side. And it feels like a shame it's taken us to game week three to get to this point because the baller was so so much better to better last night. But the right hand side was the more workman like flank so Victor Munoz was working up and down and going back, whereas Cody was higher and wider and staying up and not going back in with his man, which that sort of part of being a team is the unseen work that goes into Cody gapo being in space to play the pass into eSAC not to take away from gapo because it's a brilliant pass on both occasions.

13:36But he was the free man, he was the spare man, he was the one being platforms to do that. And it just made so much so much more sense and it's easy to say because sprint one was fantastic against Cuomo in that last friendly the week before the season. But it just it just made sense and I think too often Liverpool team sheets have been dropping on paper and you're kind of doing a sharp intake of breath and being like bloody hell that is an all out attack lineup and if it doesn't work, you know, if it doesn't work and you're not three nil up inside after an hour. Then you're in trouble and I'm just really glad that the penny has dropped that the option is there now to use a rajo there because as you say one or his jewels minimum of first and just so committed and switched on like there was a moment second half. Well, maybe it's just at the end of the first half if such as whole plan all the way along was to get fat who to cut inside against Kirk has and crossed to the back post because I think they expected from home to be playing.

14:39And a rajo was just switched on and it sounds a basic but Jeremy Frempo helped and you just think fucking hell switch on like look over your shoulder see what's behind. Yeah, I think you play in track and back. It's crazy if not lazy doesn't have the instinct to do that but that means that you have to in a team where you have so many players is instinct is just first pass forward how can I support this attack. You have to have a few players like Ronald or a who are thinking about what's behind them. Yeah and that's it's a nice change of pace and like the issue with Frempo and Kirk is because they both want to push up how many like how many times against new castle will we open when they ping one long diagram or because both full backs have pushed up and we were like. A free on two situation because a rajo stayed back Kirk has pushed up we dropped into a free at the back and every ball that went over the top like canata I thought canata was great in the air I really liked the money played for us in the air a rajo puts into shame. I think he won the most jewels of any player on the pitch I think he won the most aerial jewels of any player on the pitch.

15:45He made seven in to sections or something like he was just it wasn't a case of he was quick and like he you know like Frempo and going for that he just positioned himself well and that's exactly why we've brought him in and if he can continue that form when we get to the end of the season when Van Dyke potentially does move on you know we both sort of different on that for 40 million for a rajo at that point could look like a bargain. Absolutely absolutely I think there's a couple of comments here. Mezzan Duke was as I didn't want Ronald Wright backs I didn't want him to get an injury boy my grader I would put in there and I think him going right back is partly to do with the fact that Joe Gomez is really close to coming back and like look. It may never happen again in Joe Gomez's career that he's a bit available consistently it might not and I think we all just have to be grown up about that. What happened in the first place to be honest well there was a way that but he played he played it left back very reliably in that season in cop last season but yeah take a point and basically sit there's a line in the sand at Plymouth away when we lose in the FA Cup and he has not been fit properly since so this is a caveat here in an ideal world you have to have them as available and what I think here is the managers kind of slightly relieved of that type rose.

17:05That type rope he was walking in terms of defensive depth because when you have Joe Gomez back you've got cover at center back and right back if you do need to take. Jack off because he's tiring you can bring Gomez on for the last 10 minutes so. If free that or I hope right back in immediately Liverpool look stronger for me else to do that so I don't think it was necessarily just the manager doing it because he was just trying to play frimpong I think he was also doing it because he was worried about. Oh Jackie has to come off what am I going to do but it's all interrelated and I think it's really interesting there are obviously individual performances last night that were unbelievable but what you saw throughout Liverpool was a set up that everybody was comfortable in there were no square pegs in round holes there was nobody in a position that didn't suit them even the callister who I was a little bit worried about in his one on ones with and see so. He was in the game he was on the board he managed that yellow card an early yellow card and he was so disciplined for callister and he worked so hard but all of that was possible because everybody was backing each other up and how often the last season did we see games that people just weren't back each other up so both I was emptying the midfield going wherever.

18:15And you know and gapo was having a turning circle wider than the fucking Titanic like it was just it was just no one was helping each other Marmadash really for example when he wasn't a team they kept passing it to his wrong foot. Yeah yeah yeah yeah this was like I spoke why I'm trying to say it's what Iroana did a Bournemouth that was so impressive was consistently that team performed better than the Southern Vith parts and weirdly last night even though ESAC has a great night gapo as a great night. The great night. Looniel has a great night bandike etc everybody facilitated everybody else being good and that is the biggest positive that I can take away from that as a fan. Well like I sat next to Jim at the forest game and we said it on the post map for all yesterday in the forest game it was like everyone passed it to where they for their teammates should have been as in like they they knew exactly what they wanted to do but no one was doing it there was just no sort of interconnectivity between them in this game. Any past that went anywhere there was someone running on to it or there was someone in space or there was someone looking to attack it was so from for the and it was very reminiscent ironically of when we played it switching our first game two seasons ago where it was it was so direct and playing off the last man.

19:30And one big reason for that and I know you're really excited to touch on this section in particular is because we had that solid back lines a build off of and I truly think this has silenced so many people who said that verge of undiac has completely dropped off now. I want to caveat this by saying no he is not to the level he was five years ago but he's 36 years old he's come off an ACL injury and the issue is he's set his standard so hard. So high that this performance to him looks like the normal but any other center defender who has that level of performance beat against it switch united city arsenal whole anyone it would be no system recognize amongst the best and league that is van Dyke at his absolute best and he was super the yesterday. Yeah he would like any opportunity for me to talk about my cats and I'm just trying to pull the staff up actually because his staff last night were really impressive. Here we go.

20:32Just just take a walk around my center half take a walk around my cats and I just I adore the bones of that man like never ever want him to leave the club. He is a ridiculous footballer that is quite simply there is nobody like him there is nobody on his level I slightly disagree with you that he's been below his level I think he's had much inferior protection. I think I'm both last season and I agree with that if you protect Virgil van Dyke let's say you go and sign a mean comara a really responsible midfielder that is happy to sit behind the ball. I I'm willing to just put it out there I think you get three or four more go juniors of van Dyke I just I don't think his level has dropped I think the set up I think he was let down at times last season by having to babysit canate worry about canate he's worrying about the players to the left of him he hasn't got that midfield protection individually for me van Dyke is just on another level and he's the type of center back and I felt this since he arrived at the club when I am fortunate enough to go to the game sometimes I was just watching and you know you do that with a back and because they're in the exciting areas and doing the exciting things but that flick under pressure and past he's just she's ridiculous he's ridiculous and will be there.

21:55I'm sure you'll come on to Jeremy Jacket but he I'm sure is making and I like Jeremy Jacket and I think he's been admitted really good start as Liverpool career but I'm sure being next to van Dyke helps and I just hope that we can keep him fit I hope we can keep him hungry I hope we can surround him with good players and protect him because honestly I remember watching Tiago silver for Chelsea when he was 37 years old and thinking and thinking we surely we can get him surely we can get him he's 37 years old and you could it. Because he didn't have a weakness apart from pace at that age and I fully fully expect Virgil to be the same and I just you know that he he takes a lot as Liverpool captain he absorbs a lot he takes that role incredibly seriously he took a hell of a lot of shit last season and bailed us out on more than one occasion this season more than anything I just want to see a team in which Virgil is a lot more than one. I'm not a very loud to be Virgil not some guy that's got to go into the opposition penalty area and win the game for us but a guy who's platformed to be the best centre back in the world and that means other people having to having to work for him but joy to watch absolute joy to watch and a privilege to have him as captain of the club.

23:14Scott mixed lawyers says you're talking about my relation Ron yeet and I I if you ever had a thing where like you never watch the player growing up because obviously is before your time but you it's someone you just look at and you just think Jesus Christ like you see clips and videos and watching back the old videos of Ron yeet and how he revolutionized that Liverpool team under shankly and obviously winning as the FA Cup in 65 like propelling was into that new era of Liverpool. He has that same impact van Dyke were just him being there the presence of him in that back line just instills confidence in the entire squad and I think yesterday was a proper like Jack a doesn't look out of place he fits in perfectly like you said like he just eat the compliment each other so well and I think that must be such a breath of fresh air from Van Dyke to have someone next to him who is. Young enough to still develop what is already a good enough level where he doesn't look out of place in a Liverpool back line it must feel so refreshing for him to have that level of.

24:15T made a wrong side I think this is your fiancee she says I do bandite. She says she says she says she always every time when we first time she always go oh my god these massive look at the size of my mom I got these huge so I tease there and all your fancy and don't yet and it's become a little bit too much of a running joke now where there is concern from I can't compete with that how am I meant to compete with him. Look, you're about to be a married man let me give you some advice for your married life let have a whole past for the virtual van Dyke I've got a whole past for the van Dyke. I want the whole past the virtual van Dyke never mind her. I mean yeah, I mean, I'd marry him or do I travel around the world with it. I do. It's a very. It's a very different podcast. But yeah, on on Jackie it's really interesting because he was great last night. I had one little lapse in the second half when I think he was really tired and nearly gave the ball away but me and my mom were saying like I like canarty a lot and there were moments when can arty played real passion real connection to deliver push and it was nice when the ball got played into the channel with canarty you never worried about whether he was going to come away with the ball.

25:34But that's all the praise I'm going to give canarty aside. Jack is going to be so much more than canarty. He is so much more he's so much smarter in his positioning. His distribution is so much better. Jack in a way is closer to being a mini van Dyke than canarty ever was. I can see that yeah. And he's got the past and range to him. Yeah, and the smarts he's just he plays football with his brain was I think canarty because he was blessed physically he did a lot on instinct and that's to take not Jeremy Jack is young and he's got a hell of a frame on him but he still needs to grow into that and I just think. I'm really delighted for him to get that clean sheet because I think he's been doing a lot of last it's kind of putting out fires last it blocks across the St James Park game. And notting and forest and it's just I think it'll be massive for his confidence to have got that and to come through that especially again it's which that is a sense of forward is huge by the way and he was.

26:37Emerson yeah Emerson yeah he's big is he's a he I think in C so Placiosch for tarwhu. Yeah, they've got good players Ipswich but Emerson was the one that I was looking at because we've seen van Dyke against like better and he rarely struggled against him he doesn't like that kind of physical player so I worry was Emerson is going to try and bully him or jacket and create space for the others but in the air we were just exceptional and I think. It's not just us winning the ball it was that long diagonal out all you know you showed there 17 long accurate long balls into the final third and because of that we just immediately switched the pressure back on to Ipswich and they just couldn't do anything with it. Yeah no it they couldn't get they couldn't get out and like I say part of the reason why I was able to have such fun was any winning and be it so didn't let go of on us and it was just such a mature performance like I come away from that thinking that clean sheet. That clean sheet means everything as you say it's been far too long since we had one and the goal scorer who let's let's talk about him such a difficult first year at Liverpool and some of that was self inflicted when you come when you signed for that money when you leave the club in the manner in which you did a new castle there's always going to be talk but he that was the Alex under attack I have seen a tear Liverpool the shreds for new castle because people are slagging the Ipswich goalie and yeah he probably should have done better it's not going to be a good one.

28:02He probably should have done better it's a near post but that is Alexander he said all over he hits the ball so hard and so clean that he creates situations like that and then the second goal is just all quality. If you go back to like the 90s and you watch how many goals are actually scored from people just smashing it as hard as they can and the keeper can't save it you'd be mesmerised. Yeah maybe he would have been even better in the 90s but he's been close. Right the end I mean this video has been bouncing around Liverpool Twitter all day but right the end you know the away ends thanking the team and singing a bit of the Bradley Barcless song and then bandite pushes Esac in front of the end and it's Esac is a red o'leolo and it's just like it's just so it's just makes my heart feel full because he's quite a shy guy and you see him in the videos he goes wow because he got a hell of a ball. He got a hell of a lot of love from those jordies but it's been a long time coming to have that moment of connection with the Liverpool fan base all of us have had the best win in the world for him and a lot of excitement but we haven't had that was that was an Alexandria sack performance that was 125 million striker winning you the game and just that moment at the end like I say shy guy not a big personality he's not someone who's straight away you really feel that affinity with the fans.

29:26It's a contrast he's someone who's absolutely fan favorite straight off the bat but seeing him in front of the end and seeing how much it meant to him I'm like you're one of us now you're absolutely one of us now Esac is a red o'leolo. That was I like that that game was the difference between an assistant that just had Esac plonked in the middle of it and hoping that something happened and a system which was designed to get the best out of him and I've said so many times and we've had this conversation. Esac flourished at Newcastle because Joel Inson, Tanali, Gimresh, Gordon, Murphy, Barnes, Al Moron at one point they were all designed to get the best out of him and to put the ball into him last season there was a system in place it was boring and shit but the system was there but Esac was just sort of plonked up top and told right try and find a way to get involved and every goal he did score was when the ball went central through the middle and he could play off the last man.

30:30That game yesterday showed what happens when you play to his strengths when he's playing off the last man when he uses pace to get in behind and when he's actually got time on the ball which I know is nothing to do with us it switched defensively we're a little bit poor in those moments but he had that killer edge and instinct and like you said that first goal people will criticize the goal keeper for it switches name escapes me i'm sorry. Shurpin sharpen sharpen thank you yeah but like he did he didn't do that enough last season that was my big issue with him that if that was last season either held up the ball tried to go on his left square it's a someone maybe put it far far post just hit it because he's got that that vital killers instinct to him as a strike or where. He knows how much power to put in where the goal is just shoot and if it if it doesn't work and it parries it parries and you've got players quick enough to be able to get on the end of it if it goes in you've taught you chance and it clearly gave confidence for the second goal as well.

31:32But this is the thing and we've been talking about this so much on the show while we've been miserable about the transfer and I think I did actually round off I mean like I'm I'm parks my negatives the end of that show because I think we said everything needed to be said. But we did also round off by saying look football moves on difficult trance windows you move on and then it's the business of football matches and three points and champions league and we both said if Liverpool win we will feel very different and you you do you feel I feel transformed because we won we won well and suddenly you feel okay. We didn't sign a right winner but we kept the right player and code of the app because he's quality and he's showing that and hats off to him by the way for the professionalism that he's shown in the early weeks. He's with all the noise like he's I think one thing he took a lot of shit last season and he was poor but the one thing that I think no one ever questioned was he's a really decent fella really decent ladder on the dressing room and someone that you know I think is quite important for those.

32:39I think sorry to interrupt one thing that didn't help him was that much where him and Salah both got subbed off and they were both pissing themselves on the bench I think that sort of I can't remember exactly what match it was it was towards the end of the season and there was him they both got subbed off and then they were both laughing amongst each other when we were getting beat and I think that sort of gave people the wrong impression of him as a person. You have to remember he went through a really difficult year personally him and his wife lost a baby in pregnancy which is like like you know you with it was the same with canante too when his dad was it like you never know what's going on with these players behind the scenes and I'm so happy that he played well yesterday and I'm so happy that he's been so committed and so concentrated but what I'm trying to say is a win totally refrains your perspective on the squad because suddenly you're looking at me going oh okay around Hozanova. Hozanova

33:42== Winning Games is medicine. And right now, massive week, we play out let's go and feel midweek and then full them. And I think if we can win those two games, if we can see a way to winning those two games, come next Saturday night, you know, and match the days on optimism in the fan base will be soaring because that is what winning football games does and that's what Eriola has to do. And that's how we'll put this massive a transfer window to the massive Richard Hughes, the frustration about signings, that's how you put it behind you. So huge, huge, huge week, massive week for Eriola and really, really a chance to put a foot forward and get the season going. Yeah, no, I agree. This is a real indication of where moving in the right direction. It's baby stepped, but we were slowly getting there. Now, you'd sort of sound the negative there

34:42and there's a lot of comments about a particular player who's doing the versus job is what GACPOW is actually doing. 100 million plus votes for a lease A next summer. Offer votes for a lease A, you know it's right. Look, right, Florian votes. He is the one negative, if you want to call him, that from this match. I, it has become a bit of a worry for me in that it feels as though there's signs of improvement from everyone around him and the way that we played yesterday felt as though it was tailor made for his skill set in terms of putting those balls through the ESAC through the middle and beyond the last man. Yet we didn't see any of that and he did have the one which got this allowed. That, you know, that was brilliant superb. But I still feel as though if there was no Florian versus this team and you put someone else there, you wouldn't know so much of a difference at the moment and it's getting to a point like ESAC got injured a lot last season. He's come back. He started scoring goals.

35:42You know, he has a reason for a last season where the way it did. Florian votes at the entire campaign had little purple patches sort of December, January time went away to the World Cup, come back and it feels as though we're still in the same position he was when he joined, if not, a little bit backwards in some regards. Definitely. I want to share his stats from the game yesterday because I think this just, this just sums up right the different ways in which you can interpret his performance is so far this season. So I wasn't at the forest game, but a lot of people, and I found in very frustrating in the forest game, but a lot of people who were there thought he was magnificent. I thought he was good. Yeah, he covers the most ground of any Liverpool player. So these are some stats from Squalker and I'm, this is trying to take a positive year on the performance, but 21 passes in the final third, six touches, opposition box, five jules, one, four times possession, one, three, so that's what he cons, two shons created and so on. So that's painting a positive picture. But from what I saw, and where I was sitting,

36:43I saw him give away the ball a lot. I saw the attack break at him a lot. I saw him losing jules. And I think until the output matches, matches what we expect from him, it doesn't matter what the stats say. It doesn't matter what the stats say about his running, about the chances that he creates, about the XG created. There is going to be criticism. He was a player sign for a hundred million pounds. There is going to be criticism. And I don't want to be too harsh on him because he absolutely works his socks off and that is something to be positive about. But you're absolutely right to say that last night was Taylor made for him. Bradley Barkler is a footballer, Taylor made to play with Florian Vitz and there was moments where Liverpool could have broken away on the counter attack, but Vitz gets the ball wrong. And I think it's just starting to get in his head. There's been talk about, oh, he's cursed. And I kind of get that because you think about the disallowed goal

37:45that was a really controversial offside. You think about the disallowed goal last night that was only a slight offside. You think about the moments last season where it could have been his really exploding. This is me moment and it didn't happen. And I just think the longer it goes on, the harder it becomes and I feel for him. I do really, really share the concern about whether it's going to work out for him because it's gone quite negative, quite quick. And it's just really interesting when you see the different sides of it in terms of how we feel, how we felt watching him, what the stats say, what I think would be most interesting and I don't think, well, though, the answer to this is how does Euriori feel about how he's playing? Because there was players like, I'll just pick Genie One out of him as an example, who fans used to get really frustrated about and Klopp would say, no, he's doing exactly what I want him to be doing. I love it. So I'd love to know what Euriori, I mean, Biggie Mous just said, Vitz is becoming a more forward version of Winaldum.

38:46Yeah, and that's not what he was brought for. Yeah, exactly. So let's see, there's still loads and loads of time. And I think if there was another tiny negative from last night, it was that Rio doesn't get on. And I think I just worry that he, a little bit, that he'd be feeling a bit demoralized because Gatpo's played so well to start season. You brought him, Brad DeBarkler. But then I saw the rest of that negativity because I'm like, well, we're playing again on Wednesday and again on Saturday. He is going to play in that time. No, he will, but like, this is my thing. I want Florian Verst to work. There's a comment saying, like, people just want to scapegoat him the same way they did Gatpo last season. People just see the negatives. It's not that we are trying to look specifically at the negatives and trying to single him out. We've got no reason to, we want thirds to work. The difference is Gatpo's contributing, ESAC contributed yesterday. Micalus looks good. Sobber's live, Fair enough has looked a bit average at points, Fair enough. But then Munoz, everyone who's been brought in

39:47or is in that attack in line is contributing at the moment. And like, low level of the stats of a minute ago, saying about the passing, the amount that he put in the final third, but he only averaged the 75% pass accuracy rating through the whole match. He won five jewels. He also lost nine jewels. So it's so easy to look at metrics and sway towards the decision of, no, he wasn't that bad. And the arguments that people have of, he does more than people realize. I'm not saying he's to this level, of course, because there's still time and he's a completely different system and different player. But those are the same arguments we were making for Darwin Nunez for years. It was, he put in the effort, he runs, he works hard. That's brilliant. That's not what you're there to do. You're there to score goals or to create goals in the case of Florian Verts. And I think he does have games where he contributes. Someone said they contributed against forest. He also contributed against Iron Track Frankfurt last season. He contributed against walls. He contributed against Tottenham. He's had games where he comes up, but for that price tag in that position in this system,

40:49which is designed to bring the best out of him, it needs to be a more consistent basis. And I know really free games in. And if you go on a 10 game stretch, where he looks top quality, absolutely. And I hope he does. But at the moment, the common denominator between last season and this season, in a team that has changed entirely with a new manager and new players, the common denominator is Florian Verts, who still looks the exact same now as he did 12 months ago when we brought him in. Absolutely, absolutely. And I pulled up the kind of more negative side of his stats to show that it really is, it's dividing people, his form at the moment. I think output is key. I know he did contribute against forest, but he needs output. Someone like Cherokee is consistently putting in output for Manchester City. So you're going to make those comparisons to other number 10s in the league. I think my biggest problem with Florian Verts is it's absolutely obvious, sorry, that's a fly. Absolutely obvious how talented he is

41:51and has been from the very start. And I would never doubt that. Having seen him up close, having seen him on the TV. But it's not going anywhere currently that talent. And sometimes what you want to do is in, and he does work hard, but you just want to scream at him, fucking put your foot in or put your foot through that. Actually, one of the things I dislike about him most is it feels like when he shoots, sometimes, he's passing the ball back for the opposition keeper, just put your foot through it. And that's what I worry about in terms of lots of people say, Tony Steele says here, Vitz is not for the prem. And it's funny, Bayern were on Sky Sports earlier tonight. And I was just looking at it thinking, it's such a different way of playing football in the Bundesliga. It's so much less intense than the Premier League. It's got, for me, it's got 70 million back to Bayern, written all over it, and he goes on to have a wonderful career. And everyone just says it didn't work in the Premier League. You look at someone like D Maria, obviously, an unbelievable player didn't work for him in the Premier League. So I don't want to write him off.

42:51I desperately want him to work out. He seems like a hard worker and a good guy to have in the team for that reason. But he frustrates the life out of me. And he frustrates the life out of me last night. So it's a really, it's a big moment to him. And I just, ultimately, he just need output. He needs output. And the excuses are, as you said, wearing quite thin. Yeah, they are. And it's not even, I wouldn't even use the word, excuses. It's what we see with our own eyes. We're just, we're not seeing anything that sort of screams. This is someone who's going to succeed at Liverpool. And it might sound a bit controversial. I would like to see him dropped into a deeper role, where if we had someone alongside him, he was a bit more defensive minded. Say if we did bring in a Camara, for example, if you listen and Liverpool, the words could have dropped in a deeper role and been sort of tried to play the Macalester role in a sense. Who? Macalester's up for the fight. He's not as physical as Maca, but he's got the pass and range.

43:53You know, we have more time on the ball. He's good on the half turn. I just, I think this moment, where he just takes too many touches and there's instances where it feels as though he's trying to do too much. He doesn't have that sort of quick instinct that a Macalester does where it receives the ball, pass it and go. Yeah. It feels that it received the ball, touch, touch, touch, touch, go or touch, touch, touch, lose it kind of thing. I think it's just so clear, like, Ipsich have signed some good players and Cesar, I want to give a shout out to because it was a horrible injury that he had at Brighton and then he gets mucked about in the whole blue-co machinery. He actually signed to Blue-co and they chose to put him at Strathburg, like, I don't know if the plan was for him, eventually he needs to join Chelsea, but he gets sucked into all that. He has a decent loan sandwiched in between that at Ipsich when they were last in the Pratt and absolutely fantastic in the World Cup. Fantastic last night. And it's really interesting because I look at N Cesar and think if he was playing number 10 for Liverpool,

44:54he feels like more of a Liverpool player and that feels harsh on bits because he does work hard. But this is missing that fight. He's missing that dog. And I think just by comparison to N Cesar who shows so much fight, does lose the ball a lot but also wins it back a lot. I don't know. I just sometimes think, where does he fit in? He doesn't really fit in as an advancement fielder. He doesn't fit in out wide. Just as you were saying, I think we should play him deeper. I was thinking, or could we give him a go? Could we not start him and bring him on as the sub for ESAC and try him as a false nine, get him closer to the goal and see if having him closer to the goal helps? I don't know, but it's becoming difficult. It's becoming a conundrum because Liverpool don't really play with a number 10. We haven't in any of our... Coutinho left in order to facilitate that development for Liverpool. So I just... Yeah, like I said, you're right. Maybe it excuses the wrong word, but it's becoming harder and harder as the team adds more and more vertical players

45:55that are making the types of runs that he has thrived with hitting. And especially because there were players in that Liverpool team that even though it's a good-ip switch team, on another planet to the Ipswich players, with the greatest respect to Ipswich, who had a World Cup winner playing for them. But Florian Viz didn't look like that. He didn't look like he was finding it easy. Whereas Van Dyke, ESAC, Gapo all stood out as being a level above. Yeah, exactly. I completely agree. And you know, you touched on there, you know, for the final couple of minutes of this, you touched on the number 10. Well, do we have a new number 10 in terms of Cody Gapo, who, look, I said a few weeks ago, and this is my sort of apology, I suppose. I said, Gapo will not fit here, I'll assist him. I said, he's too slow. I don't see how he fits in with the quick turn of play. The wingers, you know, he doesn't shoot that style. I was wrong, and I'm willing to admit I was wrong.

46:56Cody Gapo, as a minute, looks sensational. And it's all because he's dropping in in midfield. And he did it in the Monaco game. I went to that one and I could, you can see his movement off the ball was so central and he would drop back to the number 10 role and he was creative. This game yesterday just exemplified what Gapo brings to the team that other wingers don't in that he's not the fastest player. He's not the best dribbler of the ball. He isn't going to take a man on and beat them a lot of the time. But my God, he's still got that creative spark to him that not a lot of other wire players have. I think the other thing with Gapo is your comment about whether or not he fits zero low style of play. It's fair. It's absolutely fair because last season he was ponderous and he would pick up the ball and he cut inside and he had to tend to do the same thing over and over and over again. Everyone knew what he was going to do. But the positioning, like you say, dropping into central areas, he's played a bit on the right.

47:57I think it's just number one. He's added more variety and that you have to praise the manager for because the manager has not pigeonholed him to this one role. And the other thing I would say is that weirdly Gapo for a player who, as you say, he doesn't have the raw pace to beat man. Nor does he really have the skill to do that. But I think what Gapo drives in is he actually, when the player is faster, he is better because it's simple. It's touch. It's pass. It's touch and turn. And I think the, you know, for all we're talking about him being slots landlord, that system didn't sit in the tall because it was slow and it was ponderous. And when you, when he picks up the ball and squares up his fallback, that is not where you want it to be. But in transition, winning the ball back high, when he's got runners, I did not know he had that passing range. Both passes to Eastack. Fantastic. And just, yeah, I know nobody said it before, but couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

49:00And brilliant, this is the point about winning again. It's suddenly it feels like we have options. Like I said, Rio doesn't get off the bench last night. We don't feel down to the bare bones in terms of squad depths and you're thinking, you know, you could start Gapo here, you could bring Barclay or an old vice versa. And it just that front unit now feels like there's a lot of flexibility and a lot of complementary abilities, which I don't think you could have said last season because everyone kind of wanted to go into that. Everyone was drifting into that left half space. There wasn't enough pace. Moe was isolated, but now you have a group that all brings something different to the table. No, it definitely and it's very reminiscent of the early on slot days where Gapo is a completely different profile player than Louis D. As and you can try different players in different systems and formations. And ultimately you're going to get something out of it, which I always has said he wanted to do anyway. So it's a made up that things are starting to click a little bit. And like I said, it's a switch.

50:03It's a team that you would expect to go down, but they made it go of it. You know, they gave you night at the headache. They beat Sunderland who qualified for Europe and they weren't pushovers in this game. As much as we batted them in the first 10, 15 minutes, they didn't go down without a fight. Like they gave as good as they got in San instances. So this could have easily been a banana skin could have easily faltered easily dropped points. And just before we shoot, there's two quick questions coming in at he says, was just those results more of a demonstration of our offensive qualities or defensive qualities? Would you say I would personally say defensive qualities, I think personally. Yeah, I'm going to say both because I just think the buzzword from yesterday is balanced. And you're right to say it's only a switch and we can't get carried away. But I just think the fundamental struggle for Liverpool since winning the title has been finding a team that has balance where everybody is the right is a round peg in a round hole

51:03and doing things that help each other. So I think it was absolutely a balance in terms of, yes, ESAC one Liverpool to game with those two goals. But then the guys at the back, they controlled it because they just kept the pressure off and defended anything. There was no flapping, there was no drama, they just dealt with things. And that is why, like I said to you, if we'd won six, three or five, two, I would have been like, oh, yeah, you know, excited, really nice to see goals. But the way that we won the game was everybody performed their function. There was only one performance in Florian vits and potentially a bit Kirchers where you're like, that was below seven out of ten. Everybody just did what they were supposed to do and it's so refreshing. Yeah, absolutely, that completely great. It was it was a perfect team performance in terms of finding that balance. I can't remember who the rapper is who did that song balance. I can't quite remember. And lastly, Tony Steele says, panel, do you think birds will be part of the clear

52:03out in the midfield come summer as we need to bring in some transfer money for better player options? I think it's too early to say, personally, I still think there's a whole season ahead where he could break out and become a bit of a better player. I, I mean, low on my disagree, I personally think it is still way too early to be going right, get rid of it because there is still a player in there which needs to be locked. I agree, I agree with you. I think it may end up being one of those situations where it's like a Kodi Gap per situation where it's like if somebody wants to pay a stupid money for him, then Liverpool, I think Liverpool for every player, they're the price, possibly with the exception of the goalkeeper in the captain historically. But yeah, for every player, there's a price. So Bayern wanted to say, okay, you know, 50 million plus a lease say, or whatever, I think Liverpool might, could my, whatever, you know what I mean? Like the market can be weird or, you know, Barcelona say we want vids and they want to pay the money.

53:06Then yeah, Liverpool might do business, but I think they see him as a long-term project and they think it's far more likely that what Lou said about trying further back, trying further forward, they will try all of those things before they make a decision about a player that is so obviously talented. Yeah, absolutely, they're not going to rush into this at all. I think we've got a whole season ahead, this is a long season, as I say, we've beaten Hip switch, which, you know, it's not exactly the top quality opponents that we've, you know, we've seen in the past, but it's still a team that could have absolutely derailed us and it's a team that we have picked up for a point against. It's a clean sheet. For someone not on my door then. How do I someone did? Hello, hang on. Sorry. Hey, no baby. I thought the dog. It's the pig, and she's in her case as well. What do you think on Florian Bertson, the number 10 role?

54:09That's incredible. Welcome. Is that literally a pig? Is that half dog half pig? I think she's all pig. I'm going to be honest. She's like a, she's like a big spam fritter. Not you. No, yes you are. Bright, but that is going to wrap up. Cock curiosity. Yeah, but that's a nice. You do want to sign us out. Thank you very much for watching me and Lola on Cock curiosity. Let us know what you think in the comments down below. What do you think of the hip switch? When would you think of Florian Bertson's performance? Click like, click subscribe, and also, where can people see you next when you're on an individual different channel that you're going to be on a lot more? Well, I think a lot of these people, Steven D. I know I've seen over there. Thank you always for your nice comments. But yeah, to all the guys that aren't aware, I'm over on EPL Index. It's the sister channel of Amfield Index. And I will next be on there with my sister, Scarlett, doing the goal difference every Monday at 8 pm.

55:12So please do if you like me and Lose, if you like me, if you hate Lose. Yeah, come and join me over there. Thanks for walking out. I mean, I'm not there to defy her. So if you hate me, you're in the right place. But yeah, everyone, make sure to click like and subscribe. Thank you all so much for watching. Those are the past, near our bow. Go on, you can sign us out. Good effort. Thank you all so much. Thanks everyone. Hey, pigs on often. Everyone, see you later. S up,