What should Liverpool do with Naby Keita?
When Liverpool beat FC Barcelona, FC Bayern and a host of Europe’s elite to secure the signature of Naby Keita it was heralded as a coup. The Guinean captain was a whirlwind in the middle third for RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga and appeared to be the definition of a box-to-box midfielder.
He scored goals. He made assists. He racked up tackles and interceptions at an alarming rate (4.81 during his final season in Germany), and his dribbling figures were …
Keita Could Be Liverpool's Midfield's Attacking Impetus
Let's face it, since his big money switch from Red Bull Leipzig in the summer of 2018 Naby Keita has failed to live up to the lofty expectations placed upon him in Liverpool red.
That's not to suggest the Guinean has been a bad signing, when his time with the European Champions should be assessed through the prism of the series of niggling injuries that have prevented him putting together an extended run of form.
With his slaloming dribbles, effortless …
We need to talk about Naby Keita
Naby Keita is the latest in a long line of players to divide opinion at Liverpool. He's a victim of hype others created for him and there's no escaping that. The deal to bring him to Anfield was unique in the sense fans has to wait an entire year to see him turn out for the club. The recruitment team, namely Ian Graham, saw his value and convinced those he had to that Liverpool needed this player. That not only …
Naby Keita: The key to a good performance against Burnley
Let's cast our minds back to a cold, dark Wednesday night at Turf Moor in December.
Jürgen Klopp took his Liverpool team to take on Sean Dyche's Burnley and selected Naby Keita in central midfield for the second consecutive match after an injury lay-off had seen him reduced to watching his team mates from the side-lines.
Keita had enjoyed a solid start to the season for the Reds, but injuries disrupted things for him, but he came in against Burnley …
Klopp's PlayStation Midfield
You know, I’d already got this article in my brain long before I saw this tweet from Michael Caley, the brain behind Caley Graphics xG maps. Caley is a brilliant football analyst and the insight that he offers in this tweet backs up other data that I’ve seen in other places, but the simple fact is as follows.
Nevertheless, before I get into some of that data, I want to outline the point of this article. Klopp has been tinkering …
Key Stats As Reds Resurgent Against Bournemouth
Liverpool moved back to the top of the Premier League for the time being with a fantastic 3-0 win over Bournemouth. But what are the key stats from yet another top performance at Anfield?
Midfield Maestro Naby Leads The Charge
Overall, Liverpool’s midfield were absolutely excellent, and at the heart of that was Naby Keita. His all-round game was outstanding, winning 7/8 tackles, making 97 passes at 91% accuracy means that he was able to completely control the game. But …
Patience - Naby Keita Will Be Worth The Wait
Twice in two pre-match interviews, Jürgen Klopp spoke about Naby Keita and reinforced the idea that he sees Keita as a long-term project, and a player who has a fantastic future at Liverpool. The positive side of that is, of course, Klopp remains invested in Keita as a player – which is to be expected given how long he spent chasing the player and how much money was spent on him.
The negative side of that is of course that …
Naby Keita is key to Liverpool's evolution going forward
Livepool's midfield is holding us back. Our defence is looking as solid as it has done in years and we possess one of the most feared attacks in Europe but with a midfield that lacks any sort of dynamism or creativity, the Reds will struggle to evolve into genuine title challengers. It goes without saying that our front three lacks the scintillating fluidity it possessed at the back end of last season but is that any surprise when the team …
Jean Michael Seri: A Perfect Alternative To Naby Keita
With Liverpool coming up short in their pursuit of Naby Keita so far this summer, and any such deal looking increasingly unlikely to arise, for the time being at least, Liverpool have reportedly shifted their interest to Nice’s Jean Michael Seri.
He’s a player that’s widely sought after across Europe, especially within the Premier League where Arsenal and Tottenham have shown prior interest.
So then, just who is he and should Liverpool be focusing their efforts on acquiring his services?
…
Naby Keïta: A Statistical Analysis
In my first profile of Naby Keïta, I looked at his personal qualities, attributes, and statistics, and then compared him to Gini Wijnaldum, the player who Keita would likely replace in the starting XI, should Liverpool persist with the staggered 4-3-3 system that was broadly successful during the 16-17 season.
In this piece, however, I'll be looking at Naby Keïta's statistics in comparison to the rest of Liverpool's midfielders, in respect to some other Premier League box-to-box, or key midfielders, as …