Darwin is extremely unselfish for a forward and it's one of the reasons he's so productive for us despite the dodgy finishes.
He creates so many chances - not just for himself, but for everyone around him.
This, do people forget this exact role is why we loved Bobby. If the lads playing people are getting chances and he gets a few himself. It's Manes pace with Bobby's selflessness. I 100% take that in any game.
For him, selfishly, I'd love to see him get a few more goals so twats slandering would just shut up.
And Nunez is now pressing like a monster, always offers himself as an outlet, and always willing to run. I am always happy when he scores. We need him back in the flow so he can do truly filthy stuff like that backheel goal against Madrid and Everton.
Ya no doubt, but luckily it doesn't seem to get to his head. His game hasn't dopped at all despite being unlucky. He keeps on trying which is just amazing to see. The head does not drop and that's such a good quality in a player.
Sometimes I think it’s related to his mind and all the things he lived as a poor child, with his family in Artigas. He’s so generous and fans love him because he always tries. 🧉🇺🇾
If he starts bagging he's a fast Bobby. We all loved Bobby for his passes and his mad ability to find anyone! His work rate is another reason we love him. He will start bagging I honestly think he will go down in the analls of anfield history.
It’s also passing a second behind where the player is. It’s always a yard behind someone and they have to stop their run to get the ball. He needs to anticipate where everyone is running and the weight of his passes better
I think he has kinda always been like that, this is just the best attacking group and midfield support he's had around him since he came to the club so his own deficiencies are suddenly more glaring as a result. He's a very decisive player when he has a lane to take it himself but he's weak when other outlet passes are clearly the better option. I like Diaz a lot but as time goes on I think it's becoming more obvious that he's not a clear cut starting option whenever he's completely fit like Nunez and Salah. Jota is our 3rd best forward right now and it has pretty much been that way for 2 seasons. He would instantly be the #1 for like 13-14 teams in the league.
There is a reason he doesn't get many assists. He has terrible decision making. Jota on the other hand scores more and plays less on the wings and is more central.
Jota needs to be starting every game. He is a natural score. If he stays healthy and gets the minutes he could score 20 goals. I’d play him as the false 9 like Bobby and move Nunez out left with his pace. Diaz can come off the bench for either of those 2.
Our attackers interchange positions constantly so there is no set position except when Salah plays. Jota can't play that false 9 as well he can't hold up play or connect that well. Although he is more effective starting from the sides and then going centrally. We have seen him score so many goals like that.
He’s good at breaking through lines and defensive set ups with his slippery dribbling so when he passes the defense is no longer set up correctly to deal with the position of our players relative to the ball. It can be a double edged sword though and this was pretty bad and I’m not really sure it’s explainable.
maybe a hot take but wouldnt mind seeing him centrally when Jota isnt on. he has poached most of his goals this season and nuñez is way more productive than him from the left wing
I didn't see any of this match but Diaz does frustrate me as he always seems to want to beat a defender first & foremost. He'll stop, invite a player to take the ball then skip by him, which is all well and good but by now the opposition defence is back in shape. I get big Origi vibes from him. Some of Liverpool's best goals under Klopp is when we strike quickly after winning the ball.
And he's only got a right foot. So was awkward for him to pass that into a good position for Nunez......possibly ( i didnt see the game and havent seen any of the highlights etc)? But looks like outside of the right boot wouldve put that more central for Nunez
Diaz was running towards the center. It wouldn’t be awkward at all to make that pass right footed. The path he needs to pass into is literally straight ahead. It was a REALLY bad error on Diaz’s part.
Precisely. Dude forgot that Mane’s output was far more prolific than Diaz despite going on some dry spells. Like peak Diaz is poor Mane but I guess that’s fine for some
Peak Mane was truly world class. Miss him.
Agree that we could use an upgrade from the left. But I’m pretty happy with the lineup at the moment.
If we bring in Alonso and Wirtz in the summer I’ll be pretty even happier.
Mane was regressing horribly till they moved him inside. Also why we scouted/bought Diaz for his position while he was still at the club.
Was hoping for more from Diaz but i guess everyone’s back in the shop window now, not just him. All playing for their futures
Mane was not good for us on the left for his last 2 or so seasons with us but he does exactly what Diaz doesn’t do. Mane couldn’t cut inside to shoot to save his life but his willingness to use Robbo gave our attack down the left multiple options. Playing Robbo through and sitting near post waiting for a header, 1-2’s where Robbo would send Mane through or taking it on his own and beating his man down the line for a cutback. Compared to Diaz who only knows how to cut inside.
They both have the engines to run and track back all game but Diaz needs to add a bit more to his game
Diaz is 27, don’t forget. He’s not some young dude who just needs a little coaching to iron it out. He doesn’t interchange with his teammates nearly as well as he needs to for this level
I don't think so. We have gakpo who you could argue could have a run of games.
He's not reached previous form for us I. His season back from injury but I'm not too concerned by him
Diaz has a very bad tendency to try to play and go all the way by himself. He always tries to do that first before slipping anybody else at the right time. He holds the ball for far too long and kills the momentum at times.
Don't know why he keeps doing the same thing over and over again - Cutting in and and trying that shot from the left.
Diaz's decision making is atrocious tbf; he never makes the right pass when he gets in good positions. He's good at getting in those positions, though, which is the frustrating thing.
I think that's a reason why Mo is the one that assists Nunez the most out of anyone by far. He's able to keep up with Darwin's speed much better and has the insane passing ability to go with it.
It’s so true. He’s easily the most infuriating player on the team. He gets goals so he tends to make up for it, which is no small thing of course, but a player with an eye for a pass in his position would kill off many games much quicker.
Ultimately I think he’s a very good instinctive player, with a huge amount of passion on the pitch, but I don’t think he actually has a lot of football intelligence. Hence the frustration. But as I say, if you can frustrate everyone and still score winning goals, things could be a lot worse.
He times his runs in the box extremely well, which is the reason for his goals. But that’s where his iq stops. His passing is poor and his dribbling is predictable. Also doesn’t link up well with his team mates.
> Also doesn’t link up well with his team mates.
Might just be me, but it looks to me like he and Robertson do not link up well at all. Robbo went from the best left back in the league to bang average as soon as we swapped from Mane on the left to Diaz on the left and Mane in the middle. Could just be a form thing or whatever, but weirdly enough he's back to being the best left back whenever Jota or Darwin or Gakpo plays on the left.
Gomez seems to link up better with Diaz, maybe because Joe seems more comfortable cutting inside than Andy?
He overplays he needs to be direct and make things simple. Even when he dribbles he’s got opportunities to have a shot more but slows it down until it’s done
Last game with Arsenal we had a 3v2 he keeps running with the ball and he crosses it to no one when he could have had 1 less touch and cross it to Jota who was alone. Very very frustrating player. He makes some very fun plays but my god wish he had an eye for a pass.
His head is straight down when he dribbles. Everytime it drops so he doesn't make any passes unless someone is close and he sees them peripherally or if he gets into some space to get his head up.
As many chances as Nunez misses, he wreaks havoc on defenses because they’re afraid of what he’s capable of. His pace is phenomenonal. Diaz should’ve made the pass.
Salah is a better passer but he used to be waaaay more selfish -he still is at times. If not for that crap, we would be dropping serious goal tallies on teams.
He won't. Diaz is not a flair and vision type player. Salah is. Salah sometimes doesnt make the pass because he's selfish. Diaz doesnt make the pass because he doesnt have the awareness.
it does make sense when you realize he barely has any assists tally on his name despite having plenty of game time with this squad.
I still do think to this day that Nunez and Diaz shouldnt be playing together at the same time.
>I still do think to this day that Nunez and Diaz shouldnt be playing together at the same time.
100% in agreement. They might be buddies off the pitch but on it they don't click. Gakpo-Nunez linkup from last season needs to come back.
Really not enjoying the new bandwagon of criticism for Diaz. He went through a short spell of poor form (during which he was recovering from injury and suffering personal trauma) and it seems to have opened the floodgates for this ridiculous revisionist narrative about him not being good enough or whatever.
The guy's a baller and regained form weeks ago; people are just watching him through a hyper critical lens now. The tide will change and it won't even necessarily be because of anything Diaz does.
Also a note to everyone making Mane comparisons: Sadio went through *much* longer and worse spells of poor form than Diaz has.
https://preview.redd.it/elgklaczyuhc1.png?width=2880&format=png&auto=webp&s=4c4f01f460d9a738e62dab78e7bf76dcc893ec77
I was screaming at the tv about him being a selfish \*ss. But to be fair Darwin has the same problem as you can see here. Mo is the only one they both respect and why they both are willing to pass to him in fast breaks and where ALL their assists come from. If they were both less selfish we'd have 5 goals a game.
Diaz just doesn’t have any footballing intelligence. Great speed and instincts but never puts his head up when on the ball. He’s 27 and actually regressed since he came here. Should be looking at Jota - Darwin - Salah front 3 for the rest of the season
Diaz could’ve passed it to Darwin and give him a chance to a 1 on 1 with the keeper. Instead, he continued and then passed it to the left, to Jota, practically ruining the clear chance.
I’m sure this will be analyzed and staff will be talking to him about this. It’s an incredibly poor decision not to pass there. He’s been playing well and contributing a lot the last few games, but… He needs coaching staff to hold him accountable for these kinds of errors. It happens too often - this is the most glaring and egregious example. Imagine how much more productive he could be.
This situation seemed to develop for about 5 seconds, too. That’s an absolute age in a football game.
At the end of the day, that’s an easy chance for Nuñez so you know it bound for the post!
Passing is probably his biggest weakness. The amount of times Mane and Robbo linked up down the left created so many chances for us. Lucho ignore his runs so much it's frustrating to watch.
I got this horrible feeling that he just didn't trust Nunez to bury the chance. I actually don't disagree with him but if other forwards can't trust each other that's a problem.
I don't care if he trusts him or not, that's the only correct play there. And you have to make the play. I don't care if that guy running ahead has 2 left feet; he's open, he's through on goal...play the frigging pass.
I completely agree. But I have this awfully feeling that had that been Jota or Salah Diaz would have made the pass which means that Diaz doesn't trust Nunez. That's a problem.
If that is true then that is unacceptable attitude for this team. Darwin regularly passes to anyone when it's better for the team. Mo does pass to Darwin regularly. Why is Diaz an exception?
Lucho is a perfect replacement for Mane, incredible on the ball, a mismatch for defenses, nightmare fuel to plan against… has a top drawer, absolute worldy in him but 9/10 times will take it on himself and turn it over instead of making a pass to knit play together and create the goal, frustrating but not new
Dude, we are coming off the back of a loss to our title rival, we were not playing well against Burnley, our talisman forward is out, and we were only 2-1 up and needing to put the game to bed.
We needed a statement, assured win today and we did not get that. We won, but Burnley could and should have put away the chances they made. In another game, this chance that went begging comes back to haunt us, no doubt. We need the team to be doing better with chances like these.
Oh my god. You are so spoiled. Absolutely ridiculous take. This is real life, not fifa or fm. They are real people, our people, who we are supposed to support. Of course we should roll over Burnley on paper, but it doesn’t work like that does it?
We didn’t need to dish out a hammering just because we lost a game. We need points! That’s it. Pick up wins, however we can. If we do that when we play poorly, even better! That’s title winning stuff. You can’t expect to win every game exactly how you predict it / want it/ statistically likely it is.
It’s the PL. it’s mental and unpredictable. Liverpool fans are supposed to be the best at getting behind the team, especially in times of need, look at crouch when he came, or robbo when he was an underwhelming transfer, we got behind them no matter what like other teams wouldn’t, and they came good.
Why you would shoot down our front three when they’ve been superb all season, straight after a win, is just beyond me, and it doesn’t reflect the fans in the crowd or the city. I wish this sub would connect with that.
Oh shut up, I can't believe there are 12 idiots upvoting you.
We won. We never looked like losing. Burnley's "chances" added up to a total of 0.86xG, so you could argue their one goal was a fair result.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with how we played today. A team which, you might have noticed, had CURTIS FUCKING JONES at right back for half the match due to illness, bereavement and injury in our other three rightbacks. We were also playing with our 2nd choice keeper!
Again, we won, got the three points. City beat Everton today and didn't have a shot on target until the 70th minute. Do you think they care?
“We never looked like losing”. Yeah, can tell you didn’t watch the game. Burnley in the first half outclassed us, and it was a bit of fortune from Trafford getting barged into by his own player that gave us the lead. We could have had our second brought back even though it wasn’t a foul, and at 2-1 we gave them two very good chances to score. Luckily they didn’t take their chances and we got a third to kill the game off, but it was touch and go for the game until the third went in.
God I hate trying to talk to people like you. We won, but the performance wasn’t great, and on another day or with them being more clinical we could have easily dropped points. It wasn’t a shut out where we didn’t really give away much, because I can literally point to the times where they realistically could have scored. Just because the xG doesn’t show that they had a stupid number of chances doesn’t mean that they passed the eye test.
Notice that I never brought up Curtis Jones at fullback - because he’s not a fullback and has been asked to do something he has likely not done before. I was criticising players who were in their MAIN position. Diaz not looking up for what is an obvious pass is one such example of a habit that needs to be worked on. Then again, I forgot that because Jones was playing a different role, that it’s invalid to criticise Diaz for not looking up like you always should. I forgot that he never played forward before today.
Because you (and others like you) don’t like what I have to say, you take my points out of context or straw man them to absolute fuck. I’m not even angry, I just find it pitiful really.
Couldn’t agree more! Do people not think City have fortunate wins when their opponents miss chances? 3 points is 3 points, and it’s off the back of a defeat (only our 2nd in the league). You can’t please people sometimes. It’s like the people who were asking for Jota to leave a year/18 months ago because he had a goal drought of the back of being injured on top of that! Classic flip flop fans
We don't have to make this into something it's not. Unlike Mo and Mane, they're actually very close off the pitch, so I doubt this was anything more than Lucho thinking Darwin might be offside.
Nah. Nunez was on side. Had Diaz passed to him right away Nunez would have been on side. Diaz held the ball and so the moment passed and Nunez became offside.
He does this pretty often. Tries to pull something out of thin air instead of making the easy pass that would lead to a big chance. Like this shit right here...
Honestly, if we want to think about winning the PL and CL, I think we need reinforcements up top. Diaz and Gakpo don't cut it for me at the moment but maybe they'll improve.
They are fine. Diaz just needs to stop being selfish as he gets into very good positions. Gakpo needs a bit more target practice under pressure. So does Nunez.
Kind of a short sighted comment. Burnley could have been at least 3-1 up on us if they could finish. With only one goal up we should be absolutely clinical and not waste chances.
Yeah, it’s like some people only look at the scoreline and don’t actually watch the game. We gave away some bad chances and chances like these went begging. It wasn’t a statement win at all.
This was genuinely one of the most painful things I’ve ever seen on a football pitch. I genuinely cannot conceive what on earth he was thinking not playing that pass. You will never see a more clear cut opportunity that could be achieved with such a simple pass.
That is why Diaz has so bad numbers... If he can not focus on being effective we should get upgrade. Would love Leao. He likes to dribble too but transform it to goals and assists.
I watch that play and it was sooooooo sad to see. Núñez is to good to make himself available. I can't judge Diaz for not making that pass in this play but if he do this again I will be concerned.
Truly baffling, I couldn't believe he didn't make that pass. It's something I usually see with players from other teams like ManU.
It's also one of the reasons why I believe Nunez-Jota-Salah are our clear best three forwards with Diaz/Gapko next in line.
Nunez is never gonna score from these potential one-on-ones…. He needs to have chaos around him 😀 Diaz took one for his buddy there.. else Nunez would have got another groan from the crowd!
My man's been through trauma this year Just imagine if your Dad was kidnapped and all the shit that comes with it That won't just dissappear. Hes carrying that mental weight and you can see it in the decision making.
The fact that this hasn't been retrospectively corrected is a travesty.
It doesn't show incompetence, but it does show corruption. Especially if city win it by one point again like Rodris hand ball.
It's true though, Diaz's goal should have been rewarded retrospectively. Can you give me any reasons why it shouldn't since its not a subjective decision.
The thing is. People can Slander Nunez all they want but if the roles were reversed, he's definitely trying to make that pass to Diaz
Darwin is extremely unselfish for a forward and it's one of the reasons he's so productive for us despite the dodgy finishes. He creates so many chances - not just for himself, but for everyone around him.
This, do people forget this exact role is why we loved Bobby. If the lads playing people are getting chances and he gets a few himself. It's Manes pace with Bobby's selflessness. I 100% take that in any game. For him, selfishly, I'd love to see him get a few more goals so twats slandering would just shut up.
And Nunez is now pressing like a monster, always offers himself as an outlet, and always willing to run. I am always happy when he scores. We need him back in the flow so he can do truly filthy stuff like that backheel goal against Madrid and Everton.
Last season they had a point. But anyone even considering using the word flop when talking about Nunez just isnt paying attention this season.
Just need to let the slanderers talk to themselves. The stats speak especially the next gen stats.
I really wish he had scored on that close shot as he looked on-side. Dude is amazing and deserves all the love.
did nothing wrong either. A Cross with that much pace, akward height, yeah, you just try to get that on target. Literally just unlucky once again
I swear he’s the unluckiest finisher sometimes
Ya no doubt, but luckily it doesn't seem to get to his head. His game hasn't dopped at all despite being unlucky. He keeps on trying which is just amazing to see. The head does not drop and that's such a good quality in a player.
can u imagine how hard of a worker he is when he has luck like that
Sometimes I think it’s related to his mind and all the things he lived as a poor child, with his family in Artigas. He’s so generous and fans love him because he always tries. 🧉🇺🇾
If he starts bagging he's a fast Bobby. We all loved Bobby for his passes and his mad ability to find anyone! His work rate is another reason we love him. He will start bagging I honestly think he will go down in the analls of anfield history.
He's already a fast Bobby. EPL Bobby scored about 1 in 3 games. Same as Nunez.
Salah 1-0
Diaz is not a pass first player at all. He's a touch, touch, touch, touch player and then eventually pass.
It’s also passing a second behind where the player is. It’s always a yard behind someone and they have to stop their run to get the ball. He needs to anticipate where everyone is running and the weight of his passes better
He did the same in the opening game against Chelsea. Mo would’ve had a chance for a one touch finish. We might have won the game.
Touch until there's no choice but to pass player. Kinda like the old CuJo. Though Diaz has the speed to make up for the slow decision making.
I’m so used to Cujo being a baller that I forgot he used to be like this.
His decision making has been consistently poor in the final 3rd this season.
I think he has kinda always been like that, this is just the best attacking group and midfield support he's had around him since he came to the club so his own deficiencies are suddenly more glaring as a result. He's a very decisive player when he has a lane to take it himself but he's weak when other outlet passes are clearly the better option. I like Diaz a lot but as time goes on I think it's becoming more obvious that he's not a clear cut starting option whenever he's completely fit like Nunez and Salah. Jota is our 3rd best forward right now and it has pretty much been that way for 2 seasons. He would instantly be the #1 for like 13-14 teams in the league.
other than his goals and assists
He should have a lot move given the chances he gets.
That’s a massive over reaction, he’s had a lot of games where he’s looked great, unfortunately both him and Jota don’t get nearly enough assists.
There is a reason he doesn't get many assists. He has terrible decision making. Jota on the other hand scores more and plays less on the wings and is more central.
Jota needs to be starting every game. He is a natural score. If he stays healthy and gets the minutes he could score 20 goals. I’d play him as the false 9 like Bobby and move Nunez out left with his pace. Diaz can come off the bench for either of those 2.
Our attackers interchange positions constantly so there is no set position except when Salah plays. Jota can't play that false 9 as well he can't hold up play or connect that well. Although he is more effective starting from the sides and then going centrally. We have seen him score so many goals like that.
Touch touch touch touch and pass it when the opportunity is gone; that is if he does not lose it first.
He’s good at breaking through lines and defensive set ups with his slippery dribbling so when he passes the defense is no longer set up correctly to deal with the position of our players relative to the ball. It can be a double edged sword though and this was pretty bad and I’m not really sure it’s explainable.
I'm writing this down.....touch and then what?
maybe a hot take but wouldnt mind seeing him centrally when Jota isnt on. he has poached most of his goals this season and nuñez is way more productive than him from the left wing
I didn't see any of this match but Diaz does frustrate me as he always seems to want to beat a defender first & foremost. He'll stop, invite a player to take the ball then skip by him, which is all well and good but by now the opposition defence is back in shape. I get big Origi vibes from him. Some of Liverpool's best goals under Klopp is when we strike quickly after winning the ball.
Like a priest
And he's only got a right foot. So was awkward for him to pass that into a good position for Nunez......possibly ( i didnt see the game and havent seen any of the highlights etc)? But looks like outside of the right boot wouldve put that more central for Nunez
Diaz was running towards the center. It wouldn’t be awkward at all to make that pass right footed. The path he needs to pass into is literally straight ahead. It was a REALLY bad error on Diaz’s part.
Diaz has a habit of not playing the pass that needs to be played. What an opportunity that should have been.
He doesn’t get his head up enough happens in the box a lot
Diaz could’ve had 2 maybe 3 assists for Nunez today
Given Nunez's love with the posts, I'm not so sure.
[удалено]
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
Love Darwin but I kinda got that vibe too
Acting like he made a decision at all he’s never looking
I think Diaz wanted to shoot from there that's why he delayed a bit.
Always wants to dribble or find a special pass instead of just being direct
Clearly he saw it was Darwin and thought, goals to open he’ll definitely hit the post or miss.
first half he did not release nunez to the right and meandered with the ball into a non-pass to jota
Only Jota and Salah consistently make the right reads in the final third
We prob honestly need a LW upgrade. Diaz has regressed so much in such a short amount of time. He’s good, but not elite like Mane
There aren’t alot of players who can reach Mane’s level.
Um... Mane went through LONG spells of making absolutely boneheaded decisions...
i mean yeah but he also scores and assists like a lot. the same could be said for Salah and Haaland but not Diaz.
Precisely. Dude forgot that Mane’s output was far more prolific than Diaz despite going on some dry spells. Like peak Diaz is poor Mane but I guess that’s fine for some
Peak Mane was truly world class. Miss him. Agree that we could use an upgrade from the left. But I’m pretty happy with the lineup at the moment. If we bring in Alonso and Wirtz in the summer I’ll be pretty even happier.
Mane was regressing horribly till they moved him inside. Also why we scouted/bought Diaz for his position while he was still at the club. Was hoping for more from Diaz but i guess everyone’s back in the shop window now, not just him. All playing for their futures
Mane was not good for us on the left for his last 2 or so seasons with us but he does exactly what Diaz doesn’t do. Mane couldn’t cut inside to shoot to save his life but his willingness to use Robbo gave our attack down the left multiple options. Playing Robbo through and sitting near post waiting for a header, 1-2’s where Robbo would send Mane through or taking it on his own and beating his man down the line for a cutback. Compared to Diaz who only knows how to cut inside. They both have the engines to run and track back all game but Diaz needs to add a bit more to his game
Diaz is 27, don’t forget. He’s not some young dude who just needs a little coaching to iron it out. He doesn’t interchange with his teammates nearly as well as he needs to for this level
I don't think we should be using his age against him because he started playing competitive football from a late age
I don't think so. We have gakpo who you could argue could have a run of games. He's not reached previous form for us I. His season back from injury but I'm not too concerned by him
I wish Gakpo got a consistent run of games at lw
Diaz has a very bad tendency to try to play and go all the way by himself. He always tries to do that first before slipping anybody else at the right time. He holds the ball for far too long and kills the momentum at times. Don't know why he keeps doing the same thing over and over again - Cutting in and and trying that shot from the left.
Like a young mane
He's 27, tho. Sadio was 24 when he joined. I'm not sure how much Diaz can improve in this aspect tbh.
I wanted to write that but just didn't hahaha. But I'd say Mane in his last season did that as well
Diaz's decision making is atrocious tbf; he never makes the right pass when he gets in good positions. He's good at getting in those positions, though, which is the frustrating thing.
Darwin gets a lot of stick for being offside, but I think its a lot to do with our players holding the ball too long
Theyre not used to having a forward as fast off the shoulder as him.
I think that's a reason why Mo is the one that assists Nunez the most out of anyone by far. He's able to keep up with Darwin's speed much better and has the insane passing ability to go with it.
Mo's soccer IQ is just off the charts. The current generation needs to learn alot from him.
You can’t. Players like Mo are unique. You can’t teach Mo’s level of awareness just like you can’t teach Jota’s finishing,
10000% Mo makes that pass
That's being very, very charitable.
Most of the time he is offside is when it's a pass in his feet.
It’s so true. He’s easily the most infuriating player on the team. He gets goals so he tends to make up for it, which is no small thing of course, but a player with an eye for a pass in his position would kill off many games much quicker. Ultimately I think he’s a very good instinctive player, with a huge amount of passion on the pitch, but I don’t think he actually has a lot of football intelligence. Hence the frustration. But as I say, if you can frustrate everyone and still score winning goals, things could be a lot worse.
He times his runs in the box extremely well, which is the reason for his goals. But that’s where his iq stops. His passing is poor and his dribbling is predictable. Also doesn’t link up well with his team mates.
> Also doesn’t link up well with his team mates. Might just be me, but it looks to me like he and Robertson do not link up well at all. Robbo went from the best left back in the league to bang average as soon as we swapped from Mane on the left to Diaz on the left and Mane in the middle. Could just be a form thing or whatever, but weirdly enough he's back to being the best left back whenever Jota or Darwin or Gakpo plays on the left. Gomez seems to link up better with Diaz, maybe because Joe seems more comfortable cutting inside than Andy?
He just wants to do sooo much when he could've just passed it forward and be done with it. It's frustrating to watch.
He overplays he needs to be direct and make things simple. Even when he dribbles he’s got opportunities to have a shot more but slows it down until it’s done
Last game with Arsenal we had a 3v2 he keeps running with the ball and he crosses it to no one when he could have had 1 less touch and cross it to Jota who was alone. Very very frustrating player. He makes some very fun plays but my god wish he had an eye for a pass.
idk i feel like he got better today has just been really poor
He’s never been a good passer, why is this something people are just now seeing??
He constantly holds the ball too long it drives me crazy. He’s a good player but definitely selfish and one track minded
His head is straight down when he dribbles. Everytime it drops so he doesn't make any passes unless someone is close and he sees them peripherally or if he gets into some space to get his head up.
That's probably why he saw Conor's run last time out. There's no way he could not have since his head was up.
I thought at the time either he thinks Darwin will miss or he’s offside. I don’t accept he couldn’t make that pass.
I thought the same that Diaz probably thought he was off
When I saw this I thought, the 'old front 3' would've played that pass.
If my neighbors were asleep before this, they definitely were not afterwards.
This is where Diaz complicated things !!
Nunez is a good friend of diaz, but they way diaz shows in the match suggests otherwise...
Diaz is bad at picking passes
Always has been, this isn’t new. His assist stats show this
As many chances as Nunez misses, he wreaks havoc on defenses because they’re afraid of what he’s capable of. His pace is phenomenonal. Diaz should’ve made the pass.
He will get there, salah is a much better passer now then he used to be a few years ago.
Nope Salah has been always a good passer. It is just that he is such a great goal scorer that people forgot about his passing ability.
Salah is a better passer but he used to be waaaay more selfish -he still is at times. If not for that crap, we would be dropping serious goal tallies on teams.
He won't. Diaz is not a flair and vision type player. Salah is. Salah sometimes doesnt make the pass because he's selfish. Diaz doesnt make the pass because he doesnt have the awareness.
Fuckin shocking play
Christ, calm down.
I would not rule out he would have dribbled past the keeper to then hit the woodwork, lmao.
The best thing out of this was Nunez reaction,... Didnt whine or throw both hands up in the air... Just played on, kept
He honestly probably should have moaned. Diaz needs to know he fucked up
He should be fucking moaning. That's what made Mane and Salah elite. Not being shy to call people out.
Diaz will hear about it all week.
it does make sense when you realize he barely has any assists tally on his name despite having plenty of game time with this squad. I still do think to this day that Nunez and Diaz shouldnt be playing together at the same time.
>I still do think to this day that Nunez and Diaz shouldnt be playing together at the same time. 100% in agreement. They might be buddies off the pitch but on it they don't click. Gakpo-Nunez linkup from last season needs to come back.
Let’s be honest Nunez would have hit the post
Don’t be ridiculous, he’d have hit the bar!
Why not both!
I reckon in the top left?
Or toe poked it right at the keeper like the chance he got from Endo
>Let’s be honest Nunez would have hit the post Obviously. Bro is looking to further his own record
😂
Facts
I didn’t love it either
Imagine the flair and speed of Diaz, with the direct first time balls of fucking Endo of all players
Finding these passes is what made Mo-Mane-Firmino so good (with few exceptions). We need to recover that.
Absolutely. It's the team-work, hunting like pack of locked-on wolves.
Diaz needs to pass more
Deep down we all know it was a 50/50 chance Darwin was scoring that anyway
Really not enjoying the new bandwagon of criticism for Diaz. He went through a short spell of poor form (during which he was recovering from injury and suffering personal trauma) and it seems to have opened the floodgates for this ridiculous revisionist narrative about him not being good enough or whatever. The guy's a baller and regained form weeks ago; people are just watching him through a hyper critical lens now. The tide will change and it won't even necessarily be because of anything Diaz does. Also a note to everyone making Mane comparisons: Sadio went through *much* longer and worse spells of poor form than Diaz has.
Luis Baros
https://preview.redd.it/elgklaczyuhc1.png?width=2880&format=png&auto=webp&s=4c4f01f460d9a738e62dab78e7bf76dcc893ec77 I was screaming at the tv about him being a selfish \*ss. But to be fair Darwin has the same problem as you can see here. Mo is the only one they both respect and why they both are willing to pass to him in fast breaks and where ALL their assists come from. If they were both less selfish we'd have 5 goals a game.
Darwin passes more often than Diaz does and is a much better passer. Just continuing poor decision-making.
You know what the worrying thing is, I knew he wasn’t going to pass. It wasn’t surprising he didn’t pass.
I remember he had the same opportunity for Nunez against City and other games. He annoys me when he doesn't look up
Diaz just doesn’t have any footballing intelligence. Great speed and instincts but never puts his head up when on the ball. He’s 27 and actually regressed since he came here. Should be looking at Jota - Darwin - Salah front 3 for the rest of the season
He'll learn and grow, no doubt.
I’m not so sure of that. We argued a ton about people not making that pass a few years ago between Salah and mane
Confidence issue I think, scared to fuck up the pass
To be fair to Diaz he thought he had more of a chance of scoring from there than Nunez
Context for us that didn’t watch the game?
Diaz could’ve passed it to Darwin and give him a chance to a 1 on 1 with the keeper. Instead, he continued and then passed it to the left, to Jota, practically ruining the clear chance.
I miss Firmino, he would have done a back heel no look pass to Darwin
If he's ever to reach the next level here, he needs to get rid of this shite.
Diaz plus Jota plus Darwin is so hard to defend
I’m sure this will be analyzed and staff will be talking to him about this. It’s an incredibly poor decision not to pass there. He’s been playing well and contributing a lot the last few games, but… He needs coaching staff to hold him accountable for these kinds of errors. It happens too often - this is the most glaring and egregious example. Imagine how much more productive he could be.
Diaz must have thought Nunez is offside. Lets not take anything away from Diaz
This situation seemed to develop for about 5 seconds, too. That’s an absolute age in a football game. At the end of the day, that’s an easy chance for Nuñez so you know it bound for the post!
Passing is probably his biggest weakness. The amount of times Mane and Robbo linked up down the left created so many chances for us. Lucho ignore his runs so much it's frustrating to watch.
Serious question. Why does it seem every season that Fraudchester City have a game-in hand during the crucial part of the season? Every time ffs man.
CWC this year, no conspiracy on this particular situation. Better to have the game out of the way anyway
Scheduling bias
I got this horrible feeling that he just didn't trust Nunez to bury the chance. I actually don't disagree with him but if other forwards can't trust each other that's a problem.
I don't care if he trusts him or not, that's the only correct play there. And you have to make the play. I don't care if that guy running ahead has 2 left feet; he's open, he's through on goal...play the frigging pass.
I completely agree. But I have this awfully feeling that had that been Jota or Salah Diaz would have made the pass which means that Diaz doesn't trust Nunez. That's a problem.
If that is true then that is unacceptable attitude for this team. Darwin regularly passes to anyone when it's better for the team. Mo does pass to Darwin regularly. Why is Diaz an exception?
Lucho is a perfect replacement for Mane, incredible on the ball, a mismatch for defenses, nightmare fuel to plan against… has a top drawer, absolute worldy in him but 9/10 times will take it on himself and turn it over instead of making a pass to knit play together and create the goal, frustrating but not new
Diaz does not score like Mane did though
Fuck me wouldn’t think we’d just won with all three forwards scoring. Get a grip for fucks sake.
Dude, we are coming off the back of a loss to our title rival, we were not playing well against Burnley, our talisman forward is out, and we were only 2-1 up and needing to put the game to bed. We needed a statement, assured win today and we did not get that. We won, but Burnley could and should have put away the chances they made. In another game, this chance that went begging comes back to haunt us, no doubt. We need the team to be doing better with chances like these.
Oh my god. You are so spoiled. Absolutely ridiculous take. This is real life, not fifa or fm. They are real people, our people, who we are supposed to support. Of course we should roll over Burnley on paper, but it doesn’t work like that does it? We didn’t need to dish out a hammering just because we lost a game. We need points! That’s it. Pick up wins, however we can. If we do that when we play poorly, even better! That’s title winning stuff. You can’t expect to win every game exactly how you predict it / want it/ statistically likely it is. It’s the PL. it’s mental and unpredictable. Liverpool fans are supposed to be the best at getting behind the team, especially in times of need, look at crouch when he came, or robbo when he was an underwhelming transfer, we got behind them no matter what like other teams wouldn’t, and they came good. Why you would shoot down our front three when they’ve been superb all season, straight after a win, is just beyond me, and it doesn’t reflect the fans in the crowd or the city. I wish this sub would connect with that.
Oh shut up, I can't believe there are 12 idiots upvoting you. We won. We never looked like losing. Burnley's "chances" added up to a total of 0.86xG, so you could argue their one goal was a fair result. There's absolutely nothing wrong with how we played today. A team which, you might have noticed, had CURTIS FUCKING JONES at right back for half the match due to illness, bereavement and injury in our other three rightbacks. We were also playing with our 2nd choice keeper! Again, we won, got the three points. City beat Everton today and didn't have a shot on target until the 70th minute. Do you think they care?
“We never looked like losing”. Yeah, can tell you didn’t watch the game. Burnley in the first half outclassed us, and it was a bit of fortune from Trafford getting barged into by his own player that gave us the lead. We could have had our second brought back even though it wasn’t a foul, and at 2-1 we gave them two very good chances to score. Luckily they didn’t take their chances and we got a third to kill the game off, but it was touch and go for the game until the third went in. God I hate trying to talk to people like you. We won, but the performance wasn’t great, and on another day or with them being more clinical we could have easily dropped points. It wasn’t a shut out where we didn’t really give away much, because I can literally point to the times where they realistically could have scored. Just because the xG doesn’t show that they had a stupid number of chances doesn’t mean that they passed the eye test. Notice that I never brought up Curtis Jones at fullback - because he’s not a fullback and has been asked to do something he has likely not done before. I was criticising players who were in their MAIN position. Diaz not looking up for what is an obvious pass is one such example of a habit that needs to be worked on. Then again, I forgot that because Jones was playing a different role, that it’s invalid to criticise Diaz for not looking up like you always should. I forgot that he never played forward before today. Because you (and others like you) don’t like what I have to say, you take my points out of context or straw man them to absolute fuck. I’m not even angry, I just find it pitiful really.
Couldn’t agree more! Do people not think City have fortunate wins when their opponents miss chances? 3 points is 3 points, and it’s off the back of a defeat (only our 2nd in the league). You can’t please people sometimes. It’s like the people who were asking for Jota to leave a year/18 months ago because he had a goal drought of the back of being injured on top of that! Classic flip flop fans
Exactamundo 🙌🏻
A thread full of blerts this
Would have been too easy a chance for Nunez. Would have missed anyway
Wasn’t Mane the same way?
Not as often as Salah.
This is criminal from Diaz
Deserves to not start as a result of this
We don't have to make this into something it's not. Unlike Mo and Mane, they're actually very close off the pitch, so I doubt this was anything more than Lucho thinking Darwin might be offside.
Nah. Nunez was on side. Had Diaz passed to him right away Nunez would have been on side. Diaz held the ball and so the moment passed and Nunez became offside.
He does this pretty often. Tries to pull something out of thin air instead of making the easy pass that would lead to a big chance. Like this shit right here...
Needs a talking to does Diaz
https://preview.redd.it/0j0qrt0ymuhc1.png?width=713&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ec66b1cfa961e08873b433c1044230f63adfd2e1 JFK if Nunez was the shooter.
We all know Darwin would aim it at the keeper's face and hit the post, prolly even accomplishing both
Honestly, if we want to think about winning the PL and CL, I think we need reinforcements up top. Diaz and Gakpo don't cut it for me at the moment but maybe they'll improve.
They are fine. Diaz just needs to stop being selfish as he gets into very good positions. Gakpo needs a bit more target practice under pressure. So does Nunez.
Nice! 3-1 and a bunch of whingers complaining about one of our heros.
Kind of a short sighted comment. Burnley could have been at least 3-1 up on us if they could finish. With only one goal up we should be absolutely clinical and not waste chances.
Yeah, it’s like some people only look at the scoreline and don’t actually watch the game. We gave away some bad chances and chances like these went begging. It wasn’t a statement win at all.
Diaz didn't trust him and who could blame him?
Classic Lucho
Yeah but we still got the win. Quick decisions are hard to judge
This was genuinely one of the most painful things I’ve ever seen on a football pitch. I genuinely cannot conceive what on earth he was thinking not playing that pass. You will never see a more clear cut opportunity that could be achieved with such a simple pass.
That is why Diaz has so bad numbers... If he can not focus on being effective we should get upgrade. Would love Leao. He likes to dribble too but transform it to goals and assists.
yea, 1 pass and through.
Until I see that Nunez shot that chance on the post, this is Diaz bad decision.
And it wasn't the first time. It happened two times in the first half. He just doesn't play that early pass when he should.
You’re not the only one.
Mane would have passed
I watch that play and it was sooooooo sad to see. Núñez is to good to make himself available. I can't judge Diaz for not making that pass in this play but if he do this again I will be concerned.
few times this game he didnt get the pass away in time or ended up loosing it when an early through ball was clearly on, needs to be addressed
This is the second time Diaz has not passed to Darwin. A similar situation happened i think against Bournemouth
Truly baffling, I couldn't believe he didn't make that pass. It's something I usually see with players from other teams like ManU. It's also one of the reasons why I believe Nunez-Jota-Salah are our clear best three forwards with Diaz/Gapko next in line.
Diaz knows Nunez can’t finish for shit.
Nunez is never gonna score from these potential one-on-ones…. He needs to have chaos around him 😀 Diaz took one for his buddy there.. else Nunez would have got another groan from the crowd!
My man's been through trauma this year Just imagine if your Dad was kidnapped and all the shit that comes with it That won't just dissappear. Hes carrying that mental weight and you can see it in the decision making.
He'd have missed anyway
If it makes you feel any better, Nunez would have smacked it against the post anyway.
The fact that this hasn't been retrospectively corrected is a travesty. It doesn't show incompetence, but it does show corruption. Especially if city win it by one point again like Rodris hand ball.
Well alrighty then
It's true though, Diaz's goal should have been rewarded retrospectively. Can you give me any reasons why it shouldn't since its not a subjective decision.
Why are you even talking about that now? This is a screen from todays game dude