Saturday Oct 24:
L 2 Sheff Utd 1. Not going to say too much about the game as it’s all covered in the match report. It’s a nice little win for us this because we’re having to deal with a lot of adversity at the moment and the lads have done well to come through it. What I want to talk about here though is Henderson’s post match interview. Fucking fantastic.
He was asked about the heavy fixture load and said “We do have a tough period coming up, yeah, but we love playing football. We want to play these games,” he explained. “If you look back a few months ago and were sitting in the house during lockdown, couldn’t go out…we’d have played football every single day if we could.”
“There are a lot of things going on in the world and it’s tough for people sitting at home. These things have a huge impact on people. So we really have to try and put a smile on the face - even if it is just for tonight. So for us, it is physically demanding, but we are used to it. And we enjoy it. We will use all the lads in the squad, everybody is needed for full season. But you have to enjoy it - I love playing football, we love it, enjoy it.”
You’d run through walls for that lad wouldn’t you? Imagine saying that a few years ago though, you’d have been laughed out of town. He was always a nice lad, a great pro and a good example to everyone, but now he’s the ultimate fucking leader.
He just gets it, doesn’t he? A lot of footballers are in their own little football bubble but Hendo just seems to know how people are feeling and what his responsibilities are. It would have been easy for him to complain about the number of games and the injuries we’re getting but he knows how entitled and tone deaf that would come across. So instead he goes the opposite way.
He’s fucking great. Because the other players all take their lead from him, so when he’s thinking something you know they all are because he’ll make sure they are. The influence he’s had on our recent success is fucking massive and goes beyond his performances on the pitch. He sets the tone for everything.
A couple of my mates have been saying for a while he’s the greatest captain we’ve ever had. At first I think it was a little tongue in cheek, but by the time he’s finished it’s something you might be able to make a really strong case for. He won’t have won the most trophies, he won’t have been a Superman type who took the team on his back and won games almost singlehandedly, but in terms of the all around complete package of leadership on and off the field and setting the example for everyone else to follow, he’s got to be right up there.
Sunday Oct 25:
Sick of hearing all this victim shit from and about Everton. If it’s not Ancelotti crying it in it’s pundits expressing their sympathy for Pickford. Today it’s Kevin Phillips.
“Let’s not forget that he has got to live in that area as well. It reminds me of the situation when Stephen Hunt crashed into Petr Cech and it resulted in Cech having to wear the head guard. A stigma becomes attached to you, whether you meant it or not. I am sure Pickford did not mean it. It was a clumsy tackle. I am pretty sure he is upset because he seems like a different guy.”
I doubt he’s losing any sleep over it to be honest. He’s probably upset that he took so much flak when it happened, but this notion that he’s upset at the thought of Van Dijk not playing again this season is ridiculous. I doubt he gives a fuck, because why would he? Footballers see this kind of thing as just a risk of the job.
I’m sure he felt bad when it happened and his apology was sincere, but don’t be telling me he’s even giving Virgil’s situation a second though because he isn’t. I don’t expect him to either, footballers need to be selfish and single minded and worry about their own game. I’m just sick of this ‘poor Jordan, he’s a victim in this too”.
Phillips also said “Now he has to live in that area and it is like Sunderland and Newcastle. You are either red or blue. Half of the city will hate him and the other half will put an arm around him.”
Ironic really, because that was also the case prior to him ending Virgil’s season. Only difference is the roles have been reversed.
Elsewhere, Harvey scored for Blackburn and had a cracking game apparently. It’s his first professional goal, which is nice. It’s going to be fascinating to see how he does there, because he’s still only a baby really.
Today’s reported transfer target is Upamecano from Leipzig. £40m he’d cost, although if we want him we should just send Naby back there in part ex and call it quits. No idea if he’s any good or not but I don’t sweat stuff like that these days because it’s clear that Klopp, Edwards and the staff know what they’re doing.
You know what they won’t be doing? They won’t be doing what Mark Lawrenson suggested they do. What’s that, I hear you ask. Wait for it, he’s only gone and suggested we sign……
Conor fucking Coady. Jesus Christ, Lawro. Not you as well? ‘If Liverpool are going to pay big money for somebody in January, they want absolutely ready-made. Conor Coady has had loads of shouts and he is a very good organiser who has played lots of games in the Premier League.’
Firstly, there is no ‘ready made’ replacement for Van Dijk because he’s the best in the world. Coady isn’t even the best at Wolves. But because he shouts and points and organises people (which he does very well to be fair, he always has done and he is a natural leader) that means he could come into our defence, playing with our high line?
Fuck me, I can’t believe how many intelligent people can’t see why this is a terrible idea. If he wasn’t a Red and an Academy graduate, would anyone be saying we should go for him? I’d rather have Eric Dier, and I think Eric Dier is shit.
Monday Oct 26:
Big debate on MNF tonight about Project Big Picture. As I said last week, I have no idea what it is because I couldn’t be arsed reading about it. I have a but more of an idea now because I watched Carra and Neville discussing it and making some fantastic points about this and also society in general.
I don’t think allowing the owners of the ‘big six’ to be calling the shots is good for football, but at the same time I take issue with all the flak the big clubs are getting over this and how the rest of the Premier League clubs are being made out to be paragons of virtue only interested in the good of the game.
FSG are in it to make money and a lot of their actions won’t go down well. They’re an easy target because they own one of the biggest clubs in the world, but you know who’s worse than FSG? Half the owners of teams outside of the ‘big six’, that’s who. Take West Ham for example. As Carra pointed out, they were banging the drum for ‘null and void’ so they could avoid relegation. That would have fucked over clubs in the Championship, and in turn other clubs right down the scale as promotion would have been denied for everyone.
Bottom line here is that most clubs are only ever going to act in their own interests and the big clubs are far from being the worst, they’re just the most high profile. The lower league clubs seem to be siding with the big six because it benefits them, so they’re looking out for themselves too.
And I get it up to a point too. If you own Liverpool and your club is bringing in the highest viewing figures and raising the profile of the Premier League more than anyone else (which we are, currently, and were to some extent even when we were shit) then you’re not going to be happy that non-entities like Burnley, Fulham and Everton are getting the same share of the revenue.
It’s also valid to not be happy about yo yo clubs like West Brom, Norwich and Fulham having the same say in how things are run when they spend half their time in the Championship.
But if you’re an Everton or Villa and you see a massive gap to the top clubs due to the financial advantages they have then you’re not going to be on board with anything that makes that gap even wider.
I think the only conclusion to be drawn here is that basically all parties involved are self serving cunts looking out for their own interests and as such we’ll never end up in a situation where everyone is acting for the overall good of the game, the fans and the clubs in the lower leagues. The best we can hope for is the least shit option, which we probably won’t get because the world just seems fucked right now.
Tuesday Oct 27:
L 2 Middjytyyjlaalnd 0 We won and that’s the only thing that matters. No-one remembers group games in the Champions League anyway unless it’s the sixth game and you need to win to qualify. I remember the Napoli game with the Alisson save, and I remember “Cushioned header for GERRRARRRRRDDDD” but generally group games don’t survive long in the memory.
This one will be forgotten by next week. It was bad. Not terrible, because we never looked like losing the game, but it was bad. Especially the first half. The attacking play was non-existent but we weren’t bad at the back. They played well to be fair. We were a bit better in the second half and the opening goal was lovely.
As I say, there’s no point reading anything into how we played as the hectic fixture load we have now means there are going to be loads of games when we look way below par and the only thing that matters is getting a result. Save the great performances for the knockout stages and the big league games. That being said, I do want to see more from the fringe players when they get a chance. Bobby has been shite for ages so there’s a real chance for Taki to stake a claim and he just hasn’t done it. It’s frustrating.
Going into the game there will have been two things we wanted. Three points and for the centre backs to come through unscathed. We got the points but we lost Fabinho, which is a big problem. Williams doesn’t look scared by first team football though so that’s a good thing. No idea if he’s ready to play or not, but he looks like he believes he is and that’s half the battle.
It was nice to see Lallana on the BT coverage tonight. I dread to think what my Mum made of it and I deliberately didn’t bring it up when I spoke to my Dad after the game. It’s a good job he’s as deaf as a post as he’ll have been subjected to two hours of constant snide remarks about Lallana’s outfit and how he looks like he’s just stepped out of a salon.
Speaking of my Dad and his terrible hearing though, look at this from the other day….
I spoke to him a bit later and he said he still had that horrible sick feeling and hadn’t gotten over the fright. I felt really bad for him but it’s still fucking hilarious like.
Wednesday Oct 28:
Seen some reports today linking us with a January move for Alaba, who is out of contract in the summer. I doubt Bayern would let him go but he’s a class player so I wouldn’t turn my nose up at him. Not sure he’d be much of a replacement for Virg though as he’s not the most dominant in the air. He can play anywhere though so he’d strengthen us for sure.
Another reported target is the son of Lillian Thuram, who plays up front for Monchengladbach. He scored twice against Madrid this week apparently. Didn’t we try and sign his Dad back in the day? Or am I getting confused with Desailly? We defo tried to sign him and Lizarazu, but not sure about Thuram. For what it’s worth I doubt we’ll sign this Thuram either, although I guess if Divock goes we might be looking for another forward.
Speaking of Origi, Newsnow was splattered with stories about him today. Some had him leaving on loan while other ‘news’ reports consisted of tweets from fans moaning about Klopp saying that Div had a good game last night. Don’t know who annoys me more, the shitty websites who churn out this crap, or the fans who give them the content to do it by bitching on twitter.
So what if Klopp said Origi had a good game. We all know he didn’t, he was proper shite, but Klopp isn’t going to say that is he? He’ll always be positive about his players, especially one who rarely plays but has never moaned or rocked the boat and only ever been a model pro. We know he’s shite but come on, we don’t need to say it on social media, not after everything he’s done.
Also today, Pickford reveals that he’s hired bodyguards to look after his family because he’s been getting death threats. Get. The. Fuck. Out. Of. Here. Is there anything more pathetic than social media death threats? If you’re gonna kill someone you’re hardly gonna tell them on Instagram first. He hasn’t had death threats, he’s just been subjected to some dickheads talking bollocks. Still, anything to make Everton look like the victims in all this, eh? Cunts.
Thursday Oct 29:
Klopp has a bit of a dig at Brazil boss Tite after pulling Fabinho out of international duty. “I'm not sure if Tite's too worried because he plays him never so he will probably now not sit on the bench for the next three international games”.
It is weird like. He’s the best holding midfielder in Europe and he’s playing for arguably the best (or at worst, second best) team in the world. That’s Brazil though, they’re a fucking law unto themselves. There’ll be players in their squad from mid-table teams in Croatia and Japan. Shit, they even have Everton players in there. Probably why they don’t win any World Cups anymore.
More clickbait on newsnow. “Hamann names three factors that could hand Tottenham the title.” I can only think of one to be fair, and that’s if the the other five members of the ‘big six’ were wiped out of existence. Even then they’d probably finish behind Wolves or Leicester or someone. They are Tottenham after all.
Meanwhile, that injury that Virg inflicted on poor “Hamez” has flared up again. Some fucking weird knock this one. Not bad enough to stop him playing 90 minutes in the derby, but bad enough that four days he was described as a major doubt for the weekend. Not bad enough to stop him playing 90 minutes again though. Yet here we are four days later and they’re pulling the same shit they did this time last week.
Hilariously, it’s described as ‘swollen testicles’. I don’t even have a punchline for that. Everton fucking trumping me again.
Friday Oct 30:
Klopp says Virgil’s op went as well as it possibly could, and for some reason people are taking that to mean he might be back before the end of the season. His entire knee had to be re-attached, there’s no way he’s back before the end of the season. In fact, if he’s back for the start of next season that’ll be a big bonus.
Look how long Ox was out, with virtually the same injury. I honestly think that because Virg walked off and didn’t look in any real pain at the time that people aren’t realising just how bad it is. He’s not coming back this season. Not a fucking chance.
Klopp also said that Fabinho is out for tomorrow and probably longer. It was obvious when he went off that we weren’t going to see him again until after the international break. So unless sick note Matip finally declares himself fit, we might have to take on City at the Etihad with young Williams at centre back. Still, on the bright side at least all their centre forwards are injured.
Meanwhile, the team for tomorrow is out on Twitter again. Thiago and Rhys Williams both starting in what is otherwise the side you’d expect. This annoys the fuck out of me to be honest. It’s never wrong so whoever it is that is putting it on social media is getting it from someone at Melwood, or they themselves are based at Melwood.
Thing is, the team news is on a strictly need to know basis and none of us fucking need to know until the team is announced. The only reason someone is sharing that on Twitter is to get themselves more followers and feel more important, because there is no other reason to do it. It’s always spot on so how long before the opposition get wind of this and prepare their team accordingly?
Moyes probably knows already now that we have an untested teenager at centre back, when it would have been much more beneficial to spring it on him an hour before kick off. So if we lose tomorrow it’s on this attention seeking cunt who keeps leaking the team.
Ok, so I decided to ask my Mum what she thought about Lallana being in the studio the other night. The reply was more or less what I expected….
....and that was the week that was.
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