Monday Dec 30:
Been away for a while due to illness, so just seeing if there’s anything I missed that’s worth bringing up now. Lijnders was sacked. Surprised it took so long, as there was no way he was still going to be there when Klopp took over as that would have been awkward as fuck. I feel sorry for him but he just isn’t cut out for the big job. There was a point a year or so back when I’d have given serious consideration to letting him have a go here to replace Jurgen, just for the continuity aspect, but clearly I’m a fucking moron and we can all be thankful that I am not making any decisions like that.
It’s easy to diminish what he did here and put it all on Jurgen, but Lijnders had a massive role in terms of our tactics, training and in game changes (which were usually fantastic and won us loads of points) so I don’t know why he’s so shit as a number one. Does he just grate on everyone too much? I could see that. Is it recruitment? Man-management? There must be a reason because everyone raves on him as a coach, but he seems destined to only ever be the sidekick now. There’s no shame in that, as long as you accept it and embrace it. Salzburg was a perfect situation for him to go into and he just wasn’t up to it. It’s a shame for him but something else will come up.
There’s probably other stuff I’ve missed but nothing is jumping out at me so I’ll just crack on. Tonight’s MNF saw Carra and Neville do their teams of the season so far. I think they agreed on six, most of which were probably shoe-ins that few would argue about, but Chris Wood up top isn’t going to be a popular choice, especially as everyone is creaming themselves about Isak right now, but I like that pick as Wood is great at what he does.
Most of those jizzing over Isak currently will have been doing the same thing over Olly Watkins this time last year. I do think Isak is class, but every year a striker will go on a hot streak before calling off. That’s Isak right now. That being said, he’s absolutely good enough to play for any club in Europe, and I never thought that about Watkins.
Carra almost shit a lung when Neville picked Gvardiol at left back. I mean that is fucking mental. He’s scored a few goals but he’s been a quivering wreck since Doak ran rings around him twice. Carra went with Robinson, which is fair enough. He almost went with Kerkez, but Robinson deserves his spot.
They disagreed on the other full back spot too, with Neville going for Trent and Carra going with Aina from Forest. Clear case of Carra not wanting to flood his team with Liverpool players, and to be fair that Aina has been boss any time I’ve seen him. It’s Trent though, even Neville is admitting that, and this is a fella so bitter and twisted about Liverpool that he’s still tipping Arsenal to win the league!
Carra also picked the Forest centre back Milenkovic, whereas Neville went with Saliba. I love Carra’s pick there, not least because of the fume it will invoke with the online Gooners, but Milenkovic has been a transformational player for them. They’ve gone from relegation candidates (Carra tipped them to go down back in August!) to second in the table, and he’s been a massive reason for that. He’s really fucking good. So is Murillo alongside him.
I’d go with Raya in goal, largely because Alisson has hardly played and I don’t think there are any great candidates. I’m not going for cunts like Pickford or Martinez, and I think Raya has been better than I thought he was so I’ll reluctantly go for him through default. Back four is Trent, Milenkovic (would have gone Konate but he hasn’t played enough), Virg and Robinson. Midfield is Gravenberch and Mac Allister, and then the front four is Salah, Palmer, Diaz and Cunha.
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