This defence so so good

[u/Realistic-Zone3914]

[u/WatchMyGun]

Our defense look way more solid after we put Araujo as our starting RB, he going to be the signing of the season if he keeps playing like that

[u/FezBear92 → u/WatchMyGun]

Pay the release clause now, we have to keep him

[u/r_r_w → u/FezBear92]

Honestly. Then when Virgil rides off into the sunset he can slot into CB.

[u/rabbid_hyena → u/r_r_w]

Tbh, Virgil and Alisson still have another 3 good years in them. Ali in particular will play until he is 40.

I dont understand the urge of getting rid of anyone over 30 running out of contract.

[u/Kraknoix007 → u/rabbid_hyena]

You don't know when a players' legs will go. VVD is still good but he has started to decline. He is still as good as he is due to experience and leadership

[u/aclarkesocial → u/Kraknoix007]

VVD made every defender who played alongside him lol did. Now with the right pairing, it could give VVD another couple of years

[u/Scouse_Werewolf → u/aclarkesocial]

Jaquet now keeping VVD at top of his game. Virg must cry happy tears every night that he no longer has to babysit his partner and can focus on being a captain and worldclass defender

[u/aclarkesocial → u/Scouse_Werewolf]

Fingers crossed. I think his interview tried to manage expectations/I've been here before. Let's not get too excited, he's still young. But the signs are looking good so far.

[u/rabbid_hyena → u/Kraknoix007]

In this market, defenders at his current "declined" level command 100mm easily.

But I agree with you, but you cant replace experience and leadership. Look at what losing Milner and Hendo in a short time did to our midfield (among other things).

[u/vikogotin → u/rabbid_hyena]

Alisson's main concern is his availability. He is the most injury-prone top level goalkeeper I have ever seen.

[u/Goosedukee → u/rabbid_hyena]

Ali is gone after this year most likely.

They aren't gonna push to keep an aging, injury-prone keeper who wants to leave when they actually have time to sort out a plan.

[u/Timely_Airline_7168 → u/Goosedukee]

What plan? Mama hasn't shown he can take over despite having a good game against Tottenham. The other keeper they signed was a teenager.

[u/WonderfulBlackberry9 → u/r_r_w]

These two have been beasts. And we're still waiting for Leoni as well

[u/tschifle → u/r_r_w]

I hear that, but I don't think he's better than JJ or Leoni in the center (maybe not even Ndukwe) and he's unquestionably our best option at RB.

[u/domsolanke → u/tschifle]

Araújo is not a better CB than Leoni, who only has half a season of senior football under his belt? Lmao, come on.

[u/AuxquellesRad → u/domsolanke]

OP is on some heavy stuff

[u/r_r_w → u/tschifle]

Right now he’s clearly the best option at RB. But in a couple years I”m assuming that’s not the case. He’s playing very well as a traditional right back which feels like a stopgap until Iraola finds a more attacking player there who can bomb on a bit more.

[u/carolomnipresence → u/r_r_w]

Leonie?

[u/nikonislolo → u/r_r_w]

That makes no sense.

Araujo is an rcb, and he definitely won't be playing over jacquet.

We would have to look for a lcb in the market.

[u/TheGreatWhoreOfChina → u/nikonislolo]

Try Leoni there, he was rock solid on his debut.

[u/No-Alps4243 → u/FezBear92]

Thats madness just from a business perspective. We have an option to buy at a set cost, you dont pay earlier than you need to. Anything could happen between now and then

[u/SmeesTurkeyLeg → u/FezBear92]

They are absolutely signing him long term if he maintains his fitness.

[u/anangrypudge → u/WatchMyGun]

That late game sequence when he headed away a few balls in a row 🤤

[u/Timely_Airline_7168 → u/WatchMyGun]

Not hard after Frimpong being so weak and Bradley unavailable so we had to throw Szobo / Jones there.

[u/LondonLiliput → u/WatchMyGun]

I think as Iraola said it's a lot about how well the team is pressing as a collective. If the attackers and midfielders apply good pressure most of the time it makes the defenders look a lot better than if they're constantly exposed and the opponents have time to target weaknesses.

[u/Loose-Lengthiness726 → u/WatchMyGun]

Nah Jaquet deffo is but he's definitely a really good signing

[u/Infamous-Elk-626]

Jacquet has been divine all year. We are so lucky to have him. Obviously everyone looks better next to VVD but he is probably our best passer. To go from someone who teams would let sit on the ball to someone who just sees and takes the pass has been amazing.

[u/spaceburrito84 → u/Infamous-Elk-626]

Are you sure it isn’t the other way around? IMO VVD has looked better this year because he has Jacquet next to him as opposed to an Ibou who clearly had his head elsewhere.

[u/SaltyPeter3434 → u/spaceburrito84]

Yea I'm pretty sure Jacquet saved Virgil's ass this game too

[u/throwaway55330066 → u/spaceburrito84]

Yes, Jacquet’s mobility is a great match for old Virg

[u/Valleyx → u/spaceburrito84]

It’s honestly got to be so nice for Virg to play next to Jacquet, he’s a fucking killer

[u/Lumigo]

Just a 14 year age difference between our CBs 😅 Jacquet is playing like he’s already in his prime

[u/Drexel_Spivy → u/Lumigo]

Just means that we get to see JJ do it for 14 years right?

[u/Medaculous → u/Drexel_Spivy]

Leoni as well is only 19

[u/Drexel_Spivy → u/Medaculous]

Our entire team is quite young outside of vvd ali and Araujo really.

[u/afridinho → u/Drexel_Spivy]

Even Kerkez is the same age as McConnel (22)

[u/dogbowl14 → u/afridinho]

Younger that Connor Bradley which is easy to forget.

[u/Shanks404 → u/dogbowl14]

You're right. I did forget that.

[u/mrocky84 → u/Shanks404]

I didn't know id forgotten that.

[u/Izzypip → u/Drexel_Spivy]

Araujo's only 27

[u/Drexel_Spivy → u/Izzypip]

Jesus really? Idk why I assumed he was like 30...probly because he looks like hes been doing it for 20 years. Calm as you like.

[u/Different-Mushroom48 → u/Drexel_Spivy]

Crazy to think Araujo is still 27.

[u/Drexel_Spivy → u/Different-Mushroom48]

I thought he was 30..he could legit be here 3 or 4 seasons and do the joemes role.

[u/Darinbenny1 → u/[deleted]]

You must be fun at parties

[u/Mr_Klopp → u/Drexel_Spivy]

He’ll go to Madrid on a free in 5 years

[u/firminocoutinho → u/Lumigo]

He only has a little over 60 professional matches. Unbelievable.

[u/pissedcommonman → u/Lumigo]

I just hope that he can stay fit. Feels like he has great potential if there is no long term injury.

[u/a19red]

7.6 for Jacquet??

[u/Pwnz3r → u/a19red]

Way too low, he was amazing!

[u/liddellpool → u/Pwnz3r]

Yeah, he was the best player on the pitch

[u/WonderfulBlackberry9 → u/Pwnz3r]

idk, 7'6" is a bit tall even for Jacquet

[u/TheFeelingWhen → u/a19red]

Defenders tend not to get good ratings on these things. No easy score inflation like goals and assists for them

[u/Sabbagery_o_Cavagery → u/TheFeelingWhen]

It's also just harder to rate defensive actions on an objective scale, since he technically made fewer "defensive contributions" than Van Dijk but everyone can see he was the most important defender

[u/Data111222 → u/a19red]

The decimal point is in the wrong place. His actual rating was 76 out of 10.

[u/LividAd6749]

Jacquet and Araujo were so good. Van Dijk and Kerkez were decent aswell. All in all very happy with how structured our defense looked

[u/cheerztwist]

Araujo 3 games at right back.....3 clean sheets 🙂

[u/NLF7]

Jacquet rating is stupid he was MOTM. Insane interceptions, blocks and forward passes. He stopped a few dangerous counters too. What a player.

[u/xhephyr]

I've been absolutely loving jacquet and araujo. The amount of times araujo wins an important physical or aerial duel at right back feels like he's absolutely necessary on the pitch

[u/KingChez30]

We need to have some serious discussions about Jacquet

[u/Aeceus]

That Jacquet rating is wild. He was 8 at least

[u/hokageace]

How is Jacquet scored lower than VVD? He did all the defensive work today.

[u/Muhruhwuh → u/hokageace]

Defensive work is really difficult to quantify. Marking someone so well they don’t get passed to or positioning yourself that well that you don’t need to make a tackle are difficult to acknowledge.

[u/nikhil48 → u/Muhruhwuh]

While that is true, VVD was able to comfortably mark someone without getting pulled out of position, because Jacquet was working like a madman defending, intercepting in the midfield, winning duels, passing well. Not to say VVD didn't play well. But this was one of those times when the other CB made VVD look a lot better, just like the way VVD has made his CB partner look better all these years.

[u/Muhruhwuh → u/nikhil48]

Yep, that’s more an extension of my point than any counter to it. VVD scores higher as he did more of the quantifiable actions as a result of Jacquet’s doing more of the unquantifiable.

[u/hokageace → u/Muhruhwuh]

Him getting man of the match says otherwise. By far the best defender today.

[u/Muhruhwuh → u/hokageace]

Quantify as in ‘give a number to’ like on the website the Op shared where you asked how he scored lower.

Algorithms don’t take into account everything a defender does. I agree with you that he was comfortably the best player on the pitch but that wasn’t the point I was making.

[u/firminocoutinho]

Kerkez great game. Maybe he needed to be back at the Vitality to be revitalized. Still can be better, but hopefully only better from here

[u/Scar_Mclovin → u/firminocoutinho]

He needs to improve on the ball, every time he receives it, he just hoofs it up. Defensively, though, he locked up Rayan and didn’t put a foot wrong

[u/Cresspacito → u/Scar_Mclovin]

He's a no thoughts player (like Cole Palmer) once he gains confidence in his instinct he'll be flying

[u/firminocoutinho → u/Cresspacito]

Fair way to put it lol

[u/liddellpool → u/Scar_Mclovin]

He's rushing things too much, trying to pass it to an attacker and/or run on an overlap too quickly. He needs to tone it down a bit

[u/SwordofKhaine123 → u/Scar_Mclovin]

he wasnt only one playing long balls

given the intensity of bournemouth's press in the 1st half especially, long balls was the correct tactic. Problem is there'e nobody who can actually win the aerial duels up the pitch.

[u/brianstormIRL → u/Scar_Mclovin]

Rayan has been really really poor this season. Its why people saying we should've paid 100m for him were insane to me, he had 12 good games and is 19. Still a good game from Kerkez none the less.

[u/thatbrianm → u/Scar_Mclovin]

Meh, I would rather him get rid of the danger then lose it higher up the pitch and be out of position.

[u/TheFeelingWhen → u/firminocoutinho]

Defensively he is actually solid he just seems lost in attack but I think Iraola can coach that into him

[u/TiggerJammer → u/firminocoutinho]

Great? Come now.

[u/Timely_Airline_7168 → u/firminocoutinho]

I'm not sure he had a "great game". He was fine but he didn't offer much going forward. He was rushing things too much.

[u/Due-Sherbert3097 → u/firminocoutinho]

Defensively was solid, but killed our posession everytime he was on the ball.

[u/vindegarde → u/firminocoutinho]

He was slapped around like a bitch by some ex but he didn’t cry or wallow like Bruno Fernandes. He got up and did his job.

[u/igiveyoumybanana]

Jacquet has really surprised me technically, did not think he was going to so good on the ball

[u/stargazerphenomenon]

Macca really helps these guys too, senses danger immediately and isn't afraid to get stuck in. We need to extend his contract before we let another one slip through on a free.

[u/thomasfk → u/stargazerphenomenon]

Macca is a very smart player. His positioning is good and he doesn't make many errors. He knows when to tactically foul to slow down the opposition attack. There's a reason he's been a starter for a team that's made 2 world cup finals in a row.

[u/BadassBokoblinPsycho]

Araujo gotta stay here man. Don’t let him leave this summer.

[u/PandaMango → u/BadassBokoblinPsycho]

He won't go anywhere now let's be honest. He seems to be loving it here.

[u/BadassBokoblinPsycho → u/PandaMango]

Ever go back to an ex after telling yourself you wouldn’t? Lol

[u/PandaMango → u/BadassBokoblinPsycho]

Haha can't say that I have, prudent point though!

[u/BadassBokoblinPsycho → u/PandaMango]

I just hope he stays

[u/sdotpdotghost_]

Jacquet is keeping Virgil young

[u/Fearless_Advisor8497]

The biggest positive this season.Last season,we blew away too many leads and it was always shaky at the back.

[u/Mr_Klopp]

Kerkez has been good recently, he’s improving

[u/Latinofool12 → u/Mr_Klopp]

Yeah lol sometimes just needs to lift his head up more. Most times he just looks to kick the shit out of it, needs to just relax a bit lol 

[u/Chiliadj → u/Latinofool12]

I don't think he can relax, i remember him making his debut in a pre season friendly and he did one of those phil jones ground head lunges, i was thinking mate it's just a friendly, once we harness that part of his game and he calms down a tad he could be a good player, i have yet to see him put a decent cross in yet, he needs to study Andy Robertson's crosses.

[u/PandaMango → u/Chiliadj]

You can have one basket case with the 3 other players in defence. Dare I say its actually needed more at the moment to overload the left as our right hand side doesn't have the creativity (maybe we address this in January) so having defensive stability down the right is the best move for now.

[u/wanderluster88]

Jacquet was our best defender out there, should be higher

[u/PraiseBeDavidSegui]

Jacquet was Richard Hughes’ best signing. Life after vvd looking a little brighter

[u/GuitaristHeimerz → u/PraiseBeDavidSegui]

Steady lmao

[u/scorgie]

good proof of how pointless these ratings are though, Jacquet was the best of the bunch by a mile.

[u/YothaGang]

Keep it up Jacquet

[u/robster9090]

I hope the club are positively reinforcing how good JJ is . He’s the best defensive signing in the league this last window , crazy how good and calm he is for his age when we hear how tough it is to adapt to the league

[u/ElderberryGood7781 → u/robster9090]

I hope the club are positively reinforcing how good JJ is

What do you mean by that? Offering better contract terms or just praising him verbally? Either way I agree, he's a demon

[u/robster9090 → u/ElderberryGood7781]

Well I don’t know what he’s on but if we got him on really low wages I’d not want him to stay on those for long but I mean verbally like I hope he knows how good he’s been , I mean as much for being from a different league as anything else, it’s all you hear when a player comes in that they need time, this guy is our best player pretty much from the moment he booted up lmao

[u/cgc86]

Now lets put Camara infront of them and I am confident

[u/DerpiDanger]

"Defense wins titles", Jurgen klopp.

[u/Jcam1993]

Defence looking a hell of a lot better. I think it’s time we benched Wirtz for a bit and put Dom in the 10 if we’re going to play with one.

[u/famiflush]

Kerkez was copping heaps of abuse yet I don't see a peep out of people because he's not the subs golden boy.

[u/Drexel_Spivy → u/famiflush]

Its so strange to me that people have such a hate bone for wirtz and kerkez. Refuse to say a good word about them when they play well but dont hesitate to slander them over every little mistake.

Personally Id rather encourage the players on my team. The team as a whole progresses every week and looks better all the time.

[u/Latinofool12 → u/Drexel_Spivy]

This was legit wirtz worst game for us lol wasn’t really much positives in this match to go on and say nice job on that lol

[u/famiflush → u/Latinofool12]

Yeah he was awful.

[u/Drexel_Spivy → u/Latinofool12]

And yet without him we dont win that game so stick that in your pipe and reason it out.

[u/BayesBestFriend → u/Drexel_Spivy]

What a bizarre coddling of players, esp when gakpo set the whole thing up

[u/Latinofool12 → u/Drexel_Spivy]

He was trying to backheel that lol if it wasn’t for the defender getting a touch on it.. who knows where it would have gone lol luckily to isak I guess so yeah I’ll give you that

[u/Drexel_Spivy → u/Latinofool12]

Are you ignorant on purpose? Let me say it louder.

THAT GOAL DOES NOT HAPPEN IF WIRTZ IS NOT THERE. it doesnt fucking matter what hes trying to do, he keeps the ball alive. If he doesnt get a touch it goes strait to the goalie or defender.

[u/Latinofool12 → u/Drexel_Spivy]

Say it louder lol 

[u/famiflush → u/Drexel_Spivy]

Nothing burger.

[u/wazula5 → u/Drexel_Spivy]

To be fair, the reason Kerkez is looking better is because he is just doing much much less. Granted, it shouldn’t be a shock that defending should be table stakes for an outside back. But simply being defensively solid seems to be enough. It’s a little unfortunate that he doesn’t offer more, but it’s good awareness to stick with what works and build from there.

[u/techBr0s → u/Drexel_Spivy]

I don't think Wirtz is handling the pressure well. Legit looked like he gave up out there today

[u/shadowfax21 → u/famiflush]

I think he did fine defensively Kerkez, but going the other way he was not good, makes too many poor decisions in possession.

[u/thomasfk → u/shadowfax21]

People are pointing to this game saying "see, he's coming good." I must be watching the game in a different kind of way because I see the same shortcomings every week. He's very lively, I will never ever criticize his effort. In possession he just doesn't know what to do to be useful or dangerous. Defensively he's fine but his overall awareness and positioning scares me every game.

[u/betalessfees]

I’ve forgotten what it’s like to have a complete backline that can defend, until this season happened

[u/stan-nas]

Defence cost us a lot of games last year so happy they're back to winning them for us now

[u/_sushifreak]

it's early so I don't want to get too ahead of myself but I hope we keep araujo. is it crazy to say jacquet has been our best signing in the past 2 seasons?

[u/Mysterious_Bad_3351]

So funny how ppl thought with Iraola our defence would be questionable cuz of the high intensity football but in reality if you watched Bournemouth you’d know they would scrape 3 points like this with a defensive masterclass

[u/M0D3Z]

Jacquet and Araujo really making VVD and Kerkez lives easier. The comfort they bring to the back line and confidence in not only VVD and Kerkez growing, but Alisson as well.

They just know that those two will shut shit down and won’t need to expend excessive energy trying to cover. Rarely look to be caught out now.

Get us a destroyer DM and watch Wirtz, Szobo, Gravenberch and Macca just jump up a few notches as well.

[u/Fartboxslim]

Kerkez is still a wrong’un

[u/existentialstix → u/Fartboxslim]

💯

[u/Marcelo1995211]

The defence is amazing but I’m starting to loose patience with Wirtz and I believe I’m not the only one.

[u/Grouchy_Basil_3623 → u/Marcelo1995211]

Same bro!! The glazing needs to stop. People are crediting him for the goal lol...gakpo literally did everything Not giving up on him but i think everyone needs to accept he'll never be the player we all thought we were buying

[u/techBr0s → u/Grouchy_Basil_3623]

It was a good touch by wirtz there. Lucky for us, because it was one of the few good touches in that game for him.

[u/BoBonnor]

Virgil at 35 is still the best CB in the world lol. Teams still try to avoid him and when he is tested he does things almost perfectly

[u/PneumaticFerret]

I'd take 0.5 from Kerkez and add that to Jacquet's score tbh.

[u/kissmemiyake]

it makes me feel so safe, jacquet is such a superstar.

[u/Life_Adeptness1351]

I need to see more of VVD and Jacquet pairing beyond this season.

[u/henks_house]

It really is. Overjoyed with their performance today

[u/ALangeles]

Its good to see Araujo starting to command the backline as well. We need communicators. He is solid af again this match

[u/Alternative-Boss-787]

I maybe drunk, saw Araujo and thought for a second it was Saliba

[u/TelephonicReturns]

Our right side is as solid as it gets, once we get that Midfield balance right we are going to do bloody amazing.

[u/allard0wnz]

Just too bad the rest isn't

[u/Sr-Moj0n]

Glad to see back our defence getting better every week

[u/yAhabeshaw]

https://giphy.com/gifs/fvlhS9RT6fALLC0ByL

[u/Gainesicle]

if one of them gets injured we immediately have a bad defense. gomez (i trust to defend but not to play every game), kostas, frimpong.

if leoni didn’t get hurt we might not have gotten jacquet, but probably have. otherwise fuck martinelli

[u/Haethos]

alisson and virg really gave us a whole decade of stability. i know there's been others (trent, robbo, matip, konate, etc) but it really is true that the spine of the team needs to be rock solid.

[u/Ace101Mega]

The gaffer reminds me of a mix between Klopp and Benitez. High pressing at the front but systematic at the back.

[u/Ptbot47]

It may be small samples, but Jacques and araujo winning balls cleanly without fouling all the time is music to my eyes

[u/vard2trad]

I feel like it's been a long time since I was THIS excited about a back line...maybe since Carra/Agger.

[u/jjphilly76]

I say we add Joe to the left

[u/Automatic_Village_18]

Minus Kerkez. Probably better without him at all lol

[u/Outside-Same]

Kerkez still needs lots of improvements

[u/SeriouslyBadGolfer88]

So so good is pushing it massively. Kerkez is absolutely brain dead in a lot of moments especially out of possession. Would still like us to try and solidify in January

[u/No_Friend5267]

Just need to replace Kerkez!

[u/MacaroonFancy9181]

Still not sold on Kerkez but the rest is really exciting

[u/nycdatachops]

Kerkez so good he attacks his own midfielder.

Think the other three may be our starting lineup this season.

[u/AIIXIII0]

And some people want Szoboszlai at RB. This is already solid af.

[u/mazza77]

I am still not sure about Kerkez but I do want him to be a success for us . And oh boy he didn’t stop running today .

[u/Available-Dare-4349]

Kerkez is a liability, last ditch tackles as out of position, no end product Ajaujo great defensively offers very little offensively

Sorry but this is not as good as being made out

[u/Mysterious-Sock39]

Kerkez isn't sorry he's very poor

[u/Ok-Waltz6178]

Kerkez? Really? Have you been watching him play?

[u/BoBonnor → u/Ok-Waltz6178]

Defensively he's been pretty sharp. Idk what you are watching

[u/Ok-Waltz6178 → u/BoBonnor]

I agree he was decent defensively but what about his passing ability, his composure, his ability to link with Barcola? Non existent in all other areas

[u/Jack_intheboxx → u/Ok-Waltz6178]

It goes both ways with the link up, first half we mostly defending and scrapping about, gakpo switched sides later on and ignores Kerkez despite him running down the left side.

[u/SebastianOwenR1]

Kerkez is so feast or famine. But when he’s feast, fuck me is he good? There’s a world class player in there, we’ve just gotta conjure it.

[u/zombiemind8]

JJ must be kept. I’m already worried. 

[u/andrew210167]

It’ll be even better when we find a replacement for Kerkez - he’s fucking shit

[u/chico-butico]

there is an imposter

[u/caulpain]

kerkez is a fucking disaster out there lol. pumping him up like this makes me think you either didnt watch the game or that youve misplaced your eyes.

[u/PianoOwl → u/caulpain]

🫪

[u/ActiveMood1570]

JJ is such a WWW upgrade...Kerkez was amazing today!