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    Liverpool will look to put the disappointment of their Champions League elimination behind them when they head to Elland Road to play Leeds United on Monday night. 
     
    The Reds may not claim any silverware this season, but clinching a top four berth will be a significant boost to the confidence of the squad after a difficult season.
     
    Leeds have enjoyed a very solid campaign in their return to the Premier League after over 15 years. They pushed Liverpool all the way at Anfield in the first game of the season and have shown that they have no fear when coming up the teams in the upper echelon of the division.
     
    @arronsmarshall from @LS11LUFC described their progress so far and what areas they need to look at in their quest to climb the table in the seasons ahead.
     
     
    It was clear from our meeting to start the season that you were not going to be overawed in your return to the Premier League. How have you viewed your season to this point?
     
    This season has been fantastic. We have achieved the goal that any promoted club sets by hitting that magic 40 points mark. For us to do it with still games to play is even more remarkable. Full credit must go to Marcelo, the back room staff and the players. Leeds are truly back where we belong and I think, universally, we have been entertaining additions to the Premier League.
     
    What do you view as your standout team performance and in turn what was your low point of the season?
     
    The stand out performance has to go to City away last week. Defended, well drilled and tactically on point. To go to the champions elect and take 4 points from a possible 6 against a top class opponent is remarkable. It also showed a different side to us. 
     
    We can defend and win horribly if needed. Leeds fans are not used to that style under Bielsa but that is in the arsenal moving forwards into the next season. I think the low point of the season has been VAR. It needs looking at. From goals not allowed, silly offside decisions and yellow – red cards. It needs addressing.
     
    From an outsider’s point of view, one of the biggest improvements in a player during the Marcelo Bielsa era has been Patrick Bamford. He always seemed to be someone who could never replicate his goal scoring exploits from the Championship to the Premier League. What changes have you seen in Bamford’s play in the last 12 months?
     
    Bamford was never really given a chance in the Premier League. However, his work off the hall is simply brilliant. He never stops running and can be up front one minute and defending the next. His finishing has improved this season and I am sure he will keep developing under Bielsa. He surely will be in the Euro squad for England as he does deserve it!
     
    Who has been your most consistent player throughout this campaign and what made you come to this conclusion?
     
    Stuart Dallas. He can play in any position and is extremely versatile. He could even probably play in net if needed!
     

     
    There is often a debate about eras in Football and how the game has progressed over time. With Leeds having returned to the top flight after 15 years, you are perfectly placed to say whether you feel the league has evolved in a technical sense and overall standard?
     
    The league has evolved. I agree. The Premier league is the top league in the world for a reason. Quality players play for each of the 20 teams.
     
    What lessons can you take from the downfall of your Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United who like yourself looked very accomplished in their first season but who have fallen by the wayside during this campaign?
     
    Firstly, I wouldn’t class Sheffield United as a ‘rival’! Recruitment has been a huge downfall for them. There are also boardroom issues that need to be addressed. They need to sort things off the pitch and the next managerial appointment is key. They could, if they don’t get it right, do another ‘Sunderland’.
     
    Which areas would you like to see addressed in the transfer window to help push Leeds to the next level?
     
    The next level for Leeds is to maintain premier league survival for the next couple of seasons. Top 8, then top 6 - then the top 4. The squad is not ready for a European campaign just yet. If you look at both Manchester clubs they are effectively running an A and B team between Europe and the League. 
     
    The depth of our squad isn’t big enough, especially if key players such as Phillips, Raphinha, Bamford etc get injured. For us to break into the top 8, a left back central midfielder and another striker I feel is needed also another back up keeper. Four more recruits needed.
     
    A lot of change has occurred for Liverpool since the first game of the season. What have you made of the Reds performances this season and in what areas do you think Bielsa will look to target in his usual studious fashion?
     
    Firstly, I think Liverpool have been unlucky with injuries. That has clearly effected the type of play Klopp demands. The form hasn’t helped and neither has the Covid-19 pandemic. Home form has been poor lately and I don’t think the Anfield crowd would have put up with performances seen recently. With that said, the pandemic has thrown form and home advantage out of the window! 
     
    Bielsa will go out to win the match and it will probably be similar to the first game of the season. High press, high tempo and lots of goals. Set pieces will also be an area for Leeds to exploit. Would also like to see Kalvin Phillips grab his first goal of the PL season.
     
    Have you got a score prediction?
     
    End to end, classic one this I feel. However, I think there will be goals.
     
    Leeds 2 Liverpool 2
  • Saturday Apr 10:
     
    L 2 Villa 1 Fucking hell we’re making hard work of everything this season aren’t we? Even when we win it usually isn’t much fun. I enjoyed the late winner but there’s not too  much about today that provides a great deal of encouragement for Wednesday night or indeed the rest of the season. We were alright today. It’s better than we’ve played in most home games over recent months but it was still a massive slog. Everything is just so fucking hard isn’t it?
     
    That said, that winner from Trent just felt really sweet. It might be a turning point for us and help us kick on to sneak into the top four but I wouldn’t be putting any money on that. Not the way the forward line looks. Even when they don’t play bad individually it’s just not what we had when we were at our best. Mo has generally been fine, Jota has been a real bonus and Firmino didn’t play badly today. Sadio still looks shite though and wasted a great chance at the end. But you compare how it looked to a couple of years ago and it’s just nowhere near.
     
    We’re pretty solid defensively though. The Villa goal only happened because of another blunder from Alisson. Aside from that, and a Trezeguet shot that hit the post, we defended well and that’s been a rare positive this season. The defensive collapse the was predicted when we kept losing all of our centre backs has never happened. It’s just a shame we’re showing shite at the other end now.
     
    Still, I was on a little mini-high at full time due to the dramatic nature of the winner, and it actually gave me a little bit of interest in what was happening elsewhere. For months I’ve only paid attention to our game and often didn’t even know the other scores until it came to doing the Round Up on Thursday. Today though, after we won I thought “I might have a little look at Chelsea’s game at Palace. Could be a good result for us there”. So our game finished, I went to make my tea and missed the start of the Chelsea game. Ten minutes in and they were 2-0 up so I just put the golf on instead.
     
    I’m going to stick with the policy of watching our games and avoiding everything else until I have to do the round ups.
     
    Sunday Apr 11:
     
    Had a few little bets on the Masters and one of them was a 110/1 shot who I did each way. He came 5th so I won £23 and I’ve re-invested two quid of it on Big Nat to get the first goal on Wednesday night. 50/1 it was. I know it won’t happen but there is logic to it. As long as it’s 0-0, any time we get a set-piece I’m going to have that little bit of excitement and anticipation, and that’s worth a couple of quid of anyone’s money, surely? If the game ends 0-0 then I’ll have had 90 minutes plus stoppage time of hoping that the bet might come in. *taps nose*
     
    There’s a good reason for him being 50/1 though as even though he wins every single header anywhere else on the pitch, when he goes up for set-pieces he’s just like a blind bull in a china shop, just charging around bumping into everything and causing mayhem. I don’t think I’ve seen him get his head on a ball in the opposition box, which is mad really considering how good he is at attacking the ball.
     
    It’s a completely different skill though. Look at someone like Craig Dawson who isn’t big at all and isn’t especially dominant in the air defensively. When it comes to set-pieces though he always seems to be on the end of things. Virgil is great in those situations too and we’ve probably missed that as much as anything he does defensively. We’ve coped at the back but we’re zero threat on set-pieces now, which has hurt us a lot as over the previous couple of seasons we were by far the best in the league on that front.
     
    Hopefully Nat can make himself a hero and make me a hundred quid.
     
    Monday Apr 12:
     
    Just watched some highlights of the u18s 6-1 away win at Leeds from the weekend. The kid from Derby looked boss. He scored two, one of which was pure quality, but he was also winning the ball really high with his pressing. If he’s good at that then that will fast track him if the rest of his game is as good as the hype suggests.
     
    He can’t play in the youth cup unfortunately though. A shame that as the kids have got a good chance of going all the way in that this year. They knocked the Mancs out in the last round and will take some stopping. Probably end up playing City again in the final. So many good players in this squad though.
     
    Just having a look through news now to what’s being talked about, and Gini is now being linked with Bayern. I could see that happening actually. The Barca thing seems unlikely to me because they’ve got no money and Koeman’s future isn’t certain. He obviously doesn’t like the contract we’ve offered, but who is going to give him a really big salary in the current climate? He’s not going to sign for someone just for the money so if he goes it will need to be to a top club. Bayern would make sense.
     
    I still say we should be giving what he wants or at least coming close enough to make him think about it. I don’t think he wants to go, he just wants to be rewarded for what he’s done since he’s been here. We already need to rebuild the midfield anyway because Keita needs fucking off and I don’t see much point in Ox hanging around any longer. Plus Milner doesn’t have long left now and Hendo is always injured. 
     
    At the risk of sounding like a broken record, having to replace Wijnaldum in addition to all the other issues we have just seems like something we should be avoiding at virtually all costs.
     
    Tuesday Apr 13: 
     
    I said after we lost last week that this tie was over and there was no way we were turning it around in an empty Anfield. I still feel that way but I’m not as completely sure about it as I was. I’m now thinking we’ve got a 10% shot at doing this, because we only have to win 2-0 and that’s definitely achievable if everyone plays well. We won’t be at our rampaging best because it’s basically impossible to do that without fans and in our current form, but if we’re at 80% and get a bit of luck then we could do it.
     
    Meanwhile, while reading a piece about something else I stumbled across some quotes from Richarlison about what happened with him and Thiago. Just when I thought it was impossible that I could hate this cunt more than I already do, he comes out with this…
     
    “The last game I made that challenge on Thiago and got sent off. My goodness. Then I went on Instagram to apologise and such. He only saw it. I said ‘I’m going to delete this message too, since he doesn’t want to reply’. Then I went there and deleted it. He didn’t answer, no.”
     
    “Then there was the derby now, at their home, he didn’t look at my face, I didn’t look at him, either. The game goes on. He ignored the pigeon (Richarlison's nickname from Brazil).”
     
    What a massive fucking twat he is. Honestly, I hate him more than anyone else in football. I’m with Thiago, I can’t look at the cunt’s face either. It’s the most punchable face I’ve ever seen. If he wanted a reply from Thiago he shouldn’t have apologised on social media, because like I said at the time that’s all about being ‘seen’ to be doing the right thing rather than a sincere gesture of actually just doing the right thing.
     
    I’m not defending Pickford for what he did, but he apologised to Virgil at the time and then at the end of the game he asked Hendo to pass on his apologies again. He didn’t go straight to instagram to make himself look good. All Richarlison had to do was ask Firmino or Alisson for Thiago’s number and then send him a text. Maybe then he’d have got a reply. Fucking cunt.
     
    Wednesday Apr 14:
     
    L 0 Real 0 Ah well, that’s that then. We could have actually won this had we not continually wasted chances but it doesn’t really hurt as much as it usually would because we got what we deserved. There’s no sense of being hard done by or that we were unlucky. We were fucking crap last week and we were wasteful tonight. Didn’t deserve to go through.
     
    What really stood out to me tonight was what a difference fans would have made. It’s easy to say “yeah Liverpool are missing the fans” but it’s the extent that the players are missing the fans that isn’t being given enough recognition. It was so glaring tonight. I’m talking about specific moments in games that would have been pivotal with a full house in attendance, but ended up being irrelevant due to fans not being present.
     
    The obvious thing that people will point out is that players get more motivation and energy from a full stadium. That’s far more important to a high energy, ‘heavy metal football’ team like us than it is to a suffocating, possession based, death by a thousand passes Man City.
     
    City aren’t missing crowds at all. In fact, they’re helped by it due to the impact an empty stadium has on the energy levels and motivation of their opponents. That’s not to make excuses for us surrendering the title to them so meekly. City would have won the league this year with or without fans in stadiums. We would have put up a hell of a better fight than this though and we wouldn’t be behind United either. They haven’t lost in twenty odd away league games which is the longest run in their club history. Sorry, that’s not happening in full stadiums.
     
    We recently lost six home league games in a row. Not even the worst teams in our history had done that and this is most certainly not one of our worst teams. Not under normal circumstances anyway. We also lost at home to Everton which, again, is something that never happens. We even went 12 hours or something without scoring a goal from open play at Anfield (Salah scored a penalty). 
     
    None of the above happens with fans in the stadium. I can say that with 100% certainty because you only need to look at the history of the club to see what a complete outlier all of that is. Visiting teams don’t need to fear Anfield anymore. It isn’t Anfield. It’s A field. This team can’t function at 100% without the 12th man.
     
    This game highlighted it perfectly. It isn’t just as simple as “they miss the energy the fans give them”. There’s way more to it than that.
     
    Firstly, the streets would have been lined with thousands to greet the team coach. So the lads would already be on a massive high even before kick off. They didn’t have that. Well, there was a half arsed attempt at it and some tit smashed the window on Madrid’s coach, but it wasn’t the same as a normal European night.
     
    So straight away, advantage Madrid. Then there’s the lack of atmosphere and anticipation when the players warm up, and then take the field for kick off. YNWA is utterly pointless in an empty stadium and is only being played because of tradition. It doesn’t lift the players when there’s no-one there to sing it and it doesn’t put any trepidation into the hearts of the opposition.
     
    Many a team has crumbled even before kick off in a packed Anfield. I’m not saying Madrid would have as they are packed with experience and players who are used to big time games. But so were Barcelona. And Dortmund. And Juventus. And Chelsea. And plenty of others. Players who played in those games have all spoken about how difficult it was because of the crowd.
     
    It isn’t always about the crowd intimidating the opposition, it’s more about how they inspire our lads to almost superhuman performances. But it is also about rattling the opposition. It’s human nature. Barcelona’s players have seen it all. They’ve been in every kind of situation you can imagine and the team was packed with experienced superstars. But when that second goal went in they still completely shit themselves and there was just a wave of momentum that everybody sensed was going to end up with our lads performing the seemingly impossible. Our players knew it, so did Barcelona’s.
     
    But Real Madrid didn’t have to face any of that. When Mo missed that early sitter in an empty stadium two things happened. Our lads were disappointed and the Madrid players were lifted. If that happens in a packed Anfield it’s completely different. The fans wouldn’t have seen that miss as a setback, they would be hugely encouraged by the fact we carved them open and almost scored. 
     
    The roof would have come off and our players would have been lifted by it and would then have been flying around trying to win the ball back to go again. That in turn makes the opponent nervous. Madrid’s response to us creating - and missing - chances was to calm it down by keeping the ball for five minutes and feigning injury any time there was any sort of contact on one of their players. 
     
    You do that in a packed Anfield and the whistling and jeers are deafening. Barcelona keep the ball better than any team on the planet but they couldn’t take the sting out of the game because of the manic atmosphere.
     
    We’ve seen it before. One chance gets the crowd right into it and the momentum just builds from that until the opponent just can’t cope with it and eventually breaks. In an empty Anfield there was no momentum because the players can’t generate those adrenaline levels themselves. That isn’t a criticism, it’s just physically impossible to do it. Let’s not forget that the Anfield atmosphere turned Divock Origi into Superman. 
     
    With each and every chance we created and squandered, our players became more dispirited and Madrid’s players became more comfortable and confident. You could visibly see it. The players really tried to raise their intensity and at times they were able to do it, but they couldn’t sustain it and for most of the second half you could see they had lost belief that they could turn it around. 
     
    The missed chances sapped their belief, but as I say, with a full house it does the opposite. Even with just a couple of minutes left and needing to score two goals you can’t rule it out at a packed Anfield. Just ask Dortmund.
     
    We’ll never know for sure just how many points the lack of fans has cost us this season but I think it’s clear that we’d comfortably have a top four spot virtually sewn up by now just because we wouldn’t have lost those six home games on the spin. Win just three of those and we’re sitting pretty in third and thinking about catching United for second spot (actually you can probably knock ten points off their tally so we’d be well clear of them!).
     
    Instead we’re below West Ham.
     
    Thursday Apr 15:
     
    Always a sad day but it feels even worse with lockdown. Like last night for instance, not being able to pay our respects inside the stadium and people not being able to gather today because of social distancing. Just fucking grim.
     
    Friday Apr 16:
     
    Big win for the kids in the Youth Cup tonight as they smashed Leicester 5-1. James Balagizi is one of the stars of the side and he bagged a hat-trick tonight. Max Woltman scored the other two. I should also point out that the infamous “H Davies” who has been appearing on CL team sheets recently played in goal, so Harvey is actually getting some games and isn’t just the mascot or one of the coaching staff’s kids making up the numbers.
     
    Another Harvey had a good night too. Elliott scored the winner for Blackburn and took his shirt off to reveal a ’96 YNWA’ message. It’s impossible not to love this kid, I really hope he becomes what we all hope he might be. You know the lack of tolerance I have over silly haircuts and over the top fashion, but I like this kid so much that I’m not even going to pass any comment on this….
     

     
    You be you, Harvey, son.
     
    Meanwhile, this has passed me by until now as frankly I tend to just ignore all this “European Super League” stuff because it’s usually just nonsense. Now it looks like it’s about to happen though. They want to scrap the CL Groups Stage and have a 36 team league instead. That doesn’t mean you have to play 70 games though, they’ve cone up with some weird seeded format where you play 10 games and then the top eight go through and then loads have to go into playoffs or something. 
     
    I don’t know, I read through it once, found it confusing as fuck and didn’t want to spend any more time trying to figure it out. It sounds SHITE though doesn’t it? The people who run football just keep coming up with new and novel ways to make it worse and far less enjoyable. 
     
    This is a terrible idea but it’s obvious what it happening here. This so called “Swiss format” appeals to the organisers because it gives them scope to add more matches in future. In other words, that 70 game thing I mentioned could one day happen. Ok, maybe not 70, but 35 certainly. That’s clearly their goal here. A big fuck off European League.
     
    There is a small part of me that thinks “Yeah, fuck it. Let’s do it and leave all these bent English refs and shitbag teams like Everton and Burnley behind”. Most of me though absolutely hates the thought of this. It’s not that I’m against change completely. I don’t pine for the days of the old European Cup because I think the change the CL format with more quality teams competing has been a really good thing. 
     
    The group stage works for everyone in that it allows teams to play enough games to make money, it still offers the possibility of unfenced teams going through and it just keeps things ticking over nicely until the real business of the knock outs starts. It doesn’t need changing. The cunts in charge need changing because they’re just going to turn people off football completely the way it’s going with this shit and VAR.
     
     
    And that was the week that was…..
  • Virgil Van Dijk should scrap any thoughts of playing for the Netherlands in the upcoming European Championships according to his countryman Khalid Boulahrouz.
     
    The imperious defender has been making steady progress from a knee injury which has seen him out of action since the middle of October.
     
    The impact of Van Dijk's absence who is widely seen as Liverpool’s most important player has been there for all to see and started a domino affect with other central defenders falling by the wayside and Jurgen Klopp having to turn to stop-gap measures to keep Liverpool’s season afloat.
     
    There was a theory that if Liverpool were in contention in the Champions League latter stages that Van Dijk could make a late season return, but that was swiftly put to bed by Klopp who would not risk his prime asset under any circumstances.
     
    Dutch National boss Frank De Boer would love to see the 29 year-old in his squad but is leaving the ball in Van Dijk’s court.
     
    “Ultimately, he must have a good feeling himself. I’m glad he’s on the right track.
     
    “We will see. I’m not putting any pressure on him at all. He must do it himself and must have confidence in it himself. The choice mainly lies with him.”
     
    But one person who thinks it is not worth the risk is Boulahrouz.
     
    The retired 39 year-old was a defender who could play across the back four, was renowned as a tough tackler and given the nickname  'Cannibal” from a young age.
     
    Boulahrouz had a 14-year professional career which saw him play in many countries across Europe including two stints in Germany and a short spell at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho in the 2006-7 season.
     
    He also played 35 times for the Netherlands including in two World Cups (2006,2010) and a European Championship (2008) and therefore knows the pride that Van Dijk will feel in playing in a major tournament.
     
    However  he says Van Dijk needs to balance that with the thought of his long term future.
     

     
    The Mirror via (Voetbal Primeur) reported Boulahrouz as saying:
     
    “I don’t think he should be preoccupied with the European Championship.
     
    “He shouldn’t put that pressure on himself. His career lasts longer than the tournament. 
     
    “Sure, such a tournament is great, but he still has many beautiful things to do in his career.
     
    “He first has to go and see: okay, will I be able to get fit in time? And how far along am I when I can get back on the pitch?
     
    “Then he has to see if it’s worth considering. But I wouldn’t be thinking about the European Championships.”
     
    Fair to say that many Liverpool fans along with the manager would concur with those thoughts.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  • One of the many downsides to us being shit is we can’t even enjoy a City defeat anymore. They lost at home to a late winner from ten man Leeds and I got absolutely zero pleasure from it.
     
    Imagine how that would have felt last season or the season before. Rooting for West Ham to lose to increase our chances of finishing fourth just isn’t the same.
     
    Hell of an effort by Leeds that though. Dallas gave them the lead after being set up by my boy Bamford. Cooper was then sent off after VAR told the ref to check the challenge he made on Jesus. Such a modern football red card that. He won the ball and then wiped out Jesus with the follow through. 
     
    Some players made their living off those challenges back in the day. And when I say back in the day, I don’t mean the 70s or 80s. Carra and Stevie loved those ones too. They get the crowd going, they let the opponent know you mean business, and there’s fuck all wrong with it. At least there never used to be. You can’t do it now and the refs actually got this one right based on what they are told to do.
     
    So Leeds were down to ten and my boy was sacrificed so they could get an extra defender on. Torres equalised late on but City looked vulnerable to counter attacks and Raphinha was giving them all sorts of problems. He should have scored but was denied by Ederson. He then nearly set up Alioski following another swift counter, and then right at the death Alioski picked out the run of Dallas and he fired through the legs of Ederson to win it.
     
    That XG thing I mentioned last week. Leeds had an XG of 0.13 even though on the Dallas winner he was clean through on goal in the centre of the pitch. The first goal he scored was a low percentage chance as it was a shot from the edge of the box. But even if we disregard the other chances they had, does that mean they had a 13 percent chance of Dallas converting that one v one? 
     
    Don’t answer that as it’s a rhetorical question. I couldn’t give a fuck what the actual answer is. I already know that XG is utterly pointless and MOTD should stop bowing to the stat nerds and fuck it right off. Load of shite.
     
    Interesting that City have fallen behind six times in the league this season and haven’t won any of them. They’re miles better than everyone else currently but they’re nowhere near as good as they were.
     
    Something I noticed in this game that has been a recurring theme all season. You can do whatever you like on set-pieces now without being called for it. The amount of shirt pulling and grabbing from defenders on set-pieces is at an all time high, when you’d think it would be the opposite because of VAR. Stones was blatantly hauled back by the shirt right in front of the ref, and VAR looked at it too and gave nothing.
     
    There’s clearly been a directive sent out to not give any penalties for this kind of thing as you could easily give a penalty following every single corner if you wanted to. Some degree of holding and shirt grabbing needs to be allowed but there have been loads of incidents when a player has been prevented from reaching the ball because he’s been yanked back by the shirt. 
     
    As much as this is irritating, on a list of things that need fixing about the game in its current sorry state, it doesn’t even make the top 100. Plenty of things that need addressing before this.
     
    Speaking of which, was it just me or did the silences for Prince Phillip at the weekend seem longer than a usual silence? Was it two minutes? If so, just what the fuck is that about? It wouldn’t even be acceptable if it was the Queen herself, but nothing shows just how fucking backward this country is than the reaction to this fella popping his clogs.
     
    I’m not even massively anti-Royal. Don’t get me wrong, I find the whole idea of a Royal Family ludicrous and outdated but I don’t hate them individually or wish any harm on them. Other than Andrew and Charles, obviously. Pair of cunts. But no, it’s concept of it that I have the problem with rather than the royals themselves.
     
    It just blows my mind the way so many people fawn over them. They aren’t movie stars, athletes or pop stars. They haven’t ‘done’ anything to get the status they have, yet people will line the streets just to get a half arsed wave from them as they drive past in limos. There’s nothing weirder than a “Royalist” to me. I just don’t get it.
     
    But what possible justification is there to have any kind of silence for Prince Phillip at a footy match, let alone a longer one than you’d get for ANYTHING else? I’d love someone to try to explain it. All they have is “he was married to the Queen”. Ok, so tell me why that makes him more important than anybody else?
     
    The only people involved in games this weekend that would give a flying fuck about it would be Roy Hodgson (you can just tell Roy loves the royal family), Scott ‘Scotty’ Parker (flew Spitfires in WW2 for King and Country) and Mark Noble (loves the Queen, gawd bless ‘er). Everyone else, especially the foreign lads, will have been wondering just what the fuck all the fuss was about.
     
    Like I say, it just seems completely mental to me. When MOTD were showing the silence at the various games, they lingered on it way longer than they normally would too. And the irony of the silence for Phillip being immediately followed by players taking the knee for “BLM” was off the fucking charts.
     
    It was a bad couple of days for the Palace as not only did Phillip kick the bucket but Chelsea ran riot at Selhurst. That pissed me off as Palace are one of those weird teams that no-one really wants to play because you always think it’ll be a tough game, yet they always seem to finish around 15th so they can’t be any good. 
     
    Still, I’d convinced myself this was a really tricky game for Chelsea and that we might make up another three points on them after our dramatic late winner over Villa just before. I was actually going to watch this game but by the time I’d made my tea and settled down to watch, 10 minutes had gone and Chelsea were already 2-0 up. Fucks sake. Time to put the Masters on.
     
    Havertz and Pulisic got the early goals and some of Chelsea’s football was top drawer. They were just passing and moving their way through the packed Palace defence and it looked easy for them. Havertz almost added a brilliant third and he’s finally starting to show why he was so highly rated when they signed him.
     
    Zouma headed in number three and the Palace goal was leading a charmed life. Benteke thumped in a header to give them a glimmer of hope but Pulisic made it 4-1. Last week's shock defeat to West Brom gave us hope but Chelsea are better than us at the moment and catching them wont be easy.
     
    Fulham are doing all they can to ensure Newcastle’s survival. If they could just win a couple of games the Geordies could be in trouble but they keep fucking losing. Based on performances they should be about 10th but it doesn’t seem to matter how they play, they just lose. They're losers.
     
    Willian Jose headed Wolves ahead from a Podence cross. At least that’s what he thought. VAR ruled that Podence was offside and this is up there with the absolute worst of these farcical decisions. Honestly, this is the biggest threat the game has ever faced. 
     
    If they don’t fuck this shit off fans are going to desert the game in their droves. What should happen to make up for these last couple of years of complete fucking horseshit we’ve had inflicted on us, is we should have a public flogging of Mike Riley and anyone else who has their fingerprints over this shite. I’m not even joking.
     
    Justice was done in the end as Traore raced clear to smash home a late winner. His first goal in 48 games. Thats dogshit that. How can a player with his talent, shooting power and physical attributes go 47 games without scoring. He should be fucking ashamed of himself. I’m 48 in a couple of months but give me a dozen games and I’d score at least once even in the terrible shape I’m in. And if I could body swap with Traore I’d score 50 goals a season. He doesn’t deserve that body and that talent.
     
    Sunday now and the West Ham v Leicester game was a tricky one for us. On the one hand, West Ham losing would help us in the fight for fourth, but on the other a Leicester defeat brings them back to the pack and means there may be two CL spots up for grabs rather than just the one. 
     
    My preference was for West Ham to lose because they are more of an immediate concern than Leicester, but that didn’t happen and when I look at the table now I’m thinking that the Hammers picking up those points might actually have been the best result for everyone else, including us. 
     
    A little over a week ago we were ten behind Leicester. We’re only four back of them now, and if they choke like they did at the end of last season then maybe we don’t need to finish above Chelsea to make the top four? That’s assuming we can catch West Ham, which is by no means certain. I’ll never get used to writing that.
     
    I don’t think I’ll be able to get used to Jesse Lingard suddenly emerging as one of the best players in the league under the coaching of Moyes either. Of all the crazy things about this season, that’s up there with anything. 
     
    Lingard has been genuinely fucking brilliant since arriving at West Ham. It didn’t take him any time to find form either, he just hit the ground running so he must have been in decent nick already, even though he barely had a look in at United. Nice job Ole.
     
    He scored twice in the first half. The first was a volley from the edge of the box that found the bottom corner. The second was a tap in after Bowen beat the offside trap and put it on a plate for him.
     
    He’s had some off the field issues and mental health problems so I really want to wish him well and be happy for him. Then I see his face. And him dancing. And it’s just really, really fucking hard not to hate him.
     
    Bowen made it 3-0 just after the break and Diop thought he’d made it 4-0 from a lovely floated cross by Lingard, but he was marginally offside. No need for the lines on that one.
     
    That Iheanacho cunt then scored a couple to put the wind up the Hammers but it was too little too late.
     
    Brendan had taken the decision to drop Maddison, Choudhury and that Ayoze Perez loser for some kind of covid related breach of discipline. Anyone remotely surprised that Maddison was involved? Just seems like a tit. A Diet Coke Jack Grealish. 
     
    Burnley should have had a penalty when Mee got to the ball first and a Newcastle player booted him on the back of the calf. VAR looked at it and didn’t give it. I mean what the fuck? We had that pen given against us when Robbo caught Welbeck, but this was way more of a foul than that. It’s just fucking bullshit.
     
    Vydra scored very soon after so the decision didn’t hurt Burnley, but it’s hurt me as I’m sick of seeing this shit week after week from these useless cunts.
     
    Newcastle were then denied a pen when Tarkowski booted Longstaff in the head. It was unintentional and he was just clearing a bouncing ball in the box, but his foot is head high, Longstaff goes in to try and head it and gets a boot right on his fod. That has to be a penalty. If it’s the other way around and an attacker scores with a high boot as a defender tries a header, the goal never stands, so what’s the difference here?
     
    Bruce sent on Saint-Maximin and Wilson and it paid off immediately, as Saint-Maximin teed up Murphy to rifle in the equaliser and then put them ahead with a brilliant individual effort. I like him, I think he’s worthy of ‘my boy’ status. 
     
    Arsenal got back to winning ways with a comfortable 3-0 success at Bramall Lane. Lacazette broke the deadlock, Martinelli tapped in the second and Lacazette scored again to put the seal on it.
     
    Arsenal just annoy the fuck out of me. They’ve got Callum Chambers playing for them again now. They knew he wasn’t good enough about six years ago and kept loaning him out, but he’s still there and still getting games. This would be like us still picking Nathaniel Clyne. 
     
    Meanwhile, the fallout from United’s win at Spurs was just sensational. Absolutely fucking hilarious. Mourinho has destroyed Solskjaer and in the process did a pretty good job of deflecting away attention from just how fucking shit Spurs are under him. No team has benefited more from the absence of fans as there’s just no way they’re getting away with the shithouse tactics in a full stadium.
     
    Solskjaer was fuming about Son’s playacting and as much as I don’t like the little goblin faced oik, he seems to be the only person in football who can see Son for the little cunt that he is. Just because he smiles a lot and always seems happy doesn’t make him sound. He’s not. He’s a fucking cunt.
     
    The problem was that Solskjaer tried to highlight it and set the narrative but he went about it the wrong way and it backfired spectacularly. For those who missed it, check this out….
     
     
     
    Mourinho isn’t the complete sociopath that he often portrays himself as. I’m 99% certain that whole thing was a charade. He saw what Solskjaer had said and must have thought it was Christmas day. The narrative went from Son being a diver to Solskjaer being an awful parent who starves his kids when they misbehave.
     
    I bet the second he left that room he was pissing himself laughing at the performance he’d just put on. And to be fair, it was magnificent.
     
    Solskjaer won the points but that’s the only thing he won. Mourinho done him like a fucking kipper there.
     
    It all stemmed from a pathetic decision to disallow a Cavani goal for a supposed foul by McTominay in the build up. Son came to close him down and grabbed at him. McTominay pushed his hand away and then accidentally brushed Son’s face. It was the tiniest hint of contact but predictably, Son hurled himself to the deck.
     
    If the ref had seen it and been conned that’s something you can live with as it is difficult for the officials when players are looking to cheat at every possible turn. The ref didn’t give anything though until he was told by VAR to take a look at it. Incredibly, he then disallowed the goal.
     
    Son was down for ages too. Horrible little shit that he is. To rub salt in the wounds he then put Spurs ahead just before half time. Spurs collapsed in the second half like Son in a light breeze. Fred equalised, Cavani headed in number two and Greenwood wrapped it up with the last kick of the game.
     
    Actually I’ve changed my mind. I said no-one had benefited more from empty stadiums than Spurs, but clearly it’s United. They’re unbeaten in 23 away league games and there’s no way in hell that happens in full stadiums. Not a chance.
     
    You can tell from watching Spurs that there are big problems there though. Imagine having Kane, Son and Bale and playing football as negatively as they do. They start off well, get the lead and then ‘Mourinhoball’ kicks in and it all turns to shit because they aren’t good enough defensively to just sit back and hold what they have.
     
    There’s talk that Kane wants out this summer. Who can blame him? He’d get in any team in the world as he’s that good, but I don’t know who could even afford him in this market. City or United probably could but will he be at the top of their shopping list? If there was any way whatsoever we could enter the Kane sweepstakes I’d be all over that, but we ain’t paying big money for anyone, let alone someone who will be 28 in a few months. 
     
    Very few people hate Kane more than me but I don’t allow that to blind me to his ability. He’s just absolutely fucking brilliant. That supersedes the slobbering goon aspect of it and I’d sign him in a heartbeat if possible and whatsmore I’d sacrifice any of our current forwards to make it happen, even Mo if his contract negotiations are going to be a problem.
     
    I reckon he’s going to be stuck at Spurs though. Let’s hope so, because if City or United get him then that’s a game changing signing. It’s depressing to think that Kane, Mbappe and Haaland might all be up for grabs this summer and we won’t be near any of them despite all the success we’ve had the last few years and the spending power that ‘should’ have brought.
     
    Finally, Monday night. West Brom’s recent revival continued as they spanked sorry Southampton. 
     
    Pereira’s penalty set them on their way after they had overcome a shocker of a VAR decision when the gimp at Stockley Park appeared to draw lines from the wrong player when he ruled out a Baggies goal. They’re outdoing themselves on a weekly basis now. 
     
    Yes, it’s the twats who are using the technology that are more of a problem than the technology itself, but that’s a red herring. 
     
    “VAR isn’t the problem, it’s the people implementing it”. 
     
    Ok, so if those same people are back next season (which they will be) then how is this going to get any better? It isn’t, and even if all these shit refs were sacked they’d be replaced by more shit refs. 
     
    VAR needs fucking off because even with competent people at the controls (which isn’t even an option) it would still be fucking shit. And unless there are plans in place to sack all of the sub standard officials then that argument falls down anyway. Get rid of it for fucks sake.
     
    But it’s all well and good the likes of me moaning about it to a limited audience. That’s not going to change anything. You know the only people who can change this? The clubs. Nobody wants this. How many players or managers are speaking out in support of it? I haven’t heard any. They all hate it.
     
    So therefore, the clubs need to band together and demand that VAR is fucked off at the end of this season. They have the power but only if they unite.
     
    Anyway, where was I? Yeah, West Brom 1-0 up from the penalty spot. Phillips then made it 2-0 with a back post tap in and Callum Robinson wrapped it up with a nice finish. His first ever goal against someone other than Chelsea, so at least you won’t need to hear that nugget from commentators (and me!) every time he misses a chance.
     
    West Brom have surely got too much to do to save themselves as they can’t win all of their own games and therefore need Newcastle to lose pretty much all of theirs to have any chance. Given a choice between them or Newcastle going down I don’t know what I want. Ordinarily it would be Newcastle all day, but I can’t be doing with the whole “Big Sam has never been relegated" thing. So I think I’ve answered my own question. 
     
    Also on Monday, Bissouma caught the eye in Brighton’s 0-0 draw against the Blueshite, which considering how crap some of our lads have been against them is a decent enough reason to sign him. I don’t know if he’s good enough for us but he won’t be cheap if we do sign him. Our midfield does need a revamp so maybe this lad can help. 
     
    I have no real opinion on Bissouma either way but it irks me that we’re going to have to spend £30m to replace Gini who we are allowing to leave for nothing. That’s not good financial planning and flies in the face of how we usually operate. 
     
    Everton are just truly pathetic though. They were lucky to get a point and their record since they had the chance to go above us is truly laughable. Never change Everton. Never change.
  • US punters have every cause for celebration as the days when Nevada was the only state with legal sports wagering are now behind us. The Silver State was the only place with legal sports betting for over half a century, offering it since 1949.
     
    Things took an interesting turn in 2018 after the US Supreme Court overturned PASPA, the notorious piece of legislation that confined sports wagering to Nevada’s borders.
     
    The repeal paved the way for individual states to legalize these activities and set their own regulations. Many states have already taken advantage of PASPA’s demise, which transformed sports betting into a multi-billion-dollar industry. Less than two years after the Supreme Court struck down the restrictive legislation, the sports betting industry witnessed unprecedented growth. 
     
    American punters collectively spent an estimated $3 billion on legal sports wagers in October 2020 alone, according to figures released by the American Gaming Association. New Jersey, in particular, broke all records in December of the same year, reporting five successive months of sports betting growth. But the real questions are what has contributed to this unprecedented growth and, more importantly, will it continue in the future?
     
    US Punters Recognize the Importance of Betting Legally
     
    As sportingpedia.com reported, Punters themselves are a major contributing factor for the industry’s growth. More and more US sports fans have started to recognize the importance of betting with legal bookmakers as opposed to taking their action to unauthorized offshore bookies. There are several reasons for this transition, a survey by the American Gaming Association reveals. 
     
    As many as 74% of the AGA survey participants confirmed it is important to wager with legal, US-licensed bookmakers. Indeed, a shift can be observed toward legal bookies in the states that have introduced regulations. The biggest incentive for consumers to shift to legal betting is the confidence of being paid out, followed by the desire to punt legally, the promotional incentives at regulated books, and the news reports regarding legal wagering in some states. 
     
    The biggest obstacle in the path of regulated betting is the lack of consumer education. Many US punters are unsure about the legal status of offshore bookmakers, to begin with, especially in states with unregulated betting industries. Some AGA survey participants even expressed surprise when they learned they were wagering on unauthorized websites. 
     
    How States With Legal Betting Are Faring So Far
     
    It would be an understatement to say the legal sports betting industry is thriving in the US. The revenues in states with legal wagering have soared during the first eight months of 2020, registering a cumulative increase of 31.5% compared to the previous year. 
     
    Statisticians observed similar tendencies in terms of handle, which is the overall amount locals have wagered on sports. Much of this unprecedented growth was driven by the industry’s online segment. 
     
    Despite the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdowns that ensued, many states reported record highs in betting handle in the summer of 2020. New Jersey is among the leaders in this respect, reporting the impressive $668 million in handle for the month of August alone. 
     
    Handle continued to increase at a steady pace over the following months. In December of the same year, the already impressive figures in the Garden State rose further and were just $4 million short of reaching one billion. But New Jersey is hardly the only state to witness such record-breaking growth. 
     
    The states of Pennsylvania, Illinois, and West Virginia also scored their highest monthly handle results in August 2020. You can find exhaustive information about individual states’ revenue in this report about the US sports betting market industry.
     
    Future Growth of the US Sports Betting Industry
     
    Over twenty states have launched legal sports betting for the time being but many others are expected to follow suit. States like Ohio, Texas, Georgia, and Kentucky have all made moves toward legalization but some of the bills were either stalled or are yet to gain the lawmakers’ approval. Arizona is among the states that stand decent chances of seeing legal sports wagering by the end of 2021.
     
    The legislature in the Grand Canyon State approved House Bill 2772 with a 23-6 vote in the Senate, paving the way for legal sports and fantasy wagering. If state Governor Douglas Ducey signs House Bill 2772 into law and Arizonians will have access to properly regulated sportsbooks.
     
    Ohio is also working hard toward the introduction of legal sports betting via mobile apps and at local casinos. The local legislature’s efforts make sense considering Ohio punters pour an estimated $5 billion into illegal offshore sportsbooks each year. Should the efforts come to fruition, the state will collect 8% from the legal bookies’ sports betting revenue. 
     
    The coronavirus pandemic affected the expansion process a little bit but the US sports betting industry still shows no signs of slowing down. Bank of America analysts predict the legal sector could grow by 70% by the end of 2021, reaching punters from 27 US states. 
  • We had a go but got what we deserved in the end. We were pathetic in the first leg and wasteful in the second. You can’t expect to beat anyone like that, never mind Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter finals. 
     
    We played quite well in this game. I don’t think we were as good as a lot of people are saying we were but we were decent enough and should have won the game. I’d add a caveat to that though because Real had a two goal lead and played the game accordingly. Yes, we were on the front foot and had the most chances, but how much of that was because Madrid did what they needed to do in the first game and therefore approached this one a lot more cautiously than they would have? A lot, I’d say.
     
    Nevertheless, on the balance of chances we probably should have won this game by enough goals to go through, but shite finishing has been a big problem all season so I can’t say this was unexpected. Goalscoring is a big problem for us currently.
     
    Before the gave I gave us a one in ten chance of going through. After ten minutes that was up to around five or six as we started so well I was beginning to feel pretty confident. We looked like our old selves for those ten minutes. Then we began to resemble something between our old selves and this new, shite, lockdown version of us. 
     
    By half time that five or six was more like a three or four. I still thought we could do it because we’d had very little trouble creating chances, but it was all about the first goal. If we got one I felt we’d get two, but sadly we couldn’t get the one.
     
    Some may be encouraged by how we played but I can’t say I’ve taken anything from this. We were better than we have been for most of the season but it wasn’t anywhere near the levels we’ve set for ourselves. 
     
    I do think that would have changed dramatically if we’d just converted one of those chances. That’s all it would have taken. Put one of them away and the confidence would have come flooding back and we might have steamrollered them. 
     
    Instead we wasted some great opportunities and then with every chance that came along we seemed more and more hesitant. By the end, Mo was having to take about six touches before even attempting a shot. He was by far the biggest culprit and had he put that early sitter away then we’d probably be talking about another great comeback while looking forward to another semi against Chelsea.
     
    Mo’s closing in on 30 goals for the season and unlike Firmino and Mané he’s still producing at the level he always has so any criticism of him is probably unfair, especially since I thought his overall performance was really good and he chased absolutely everything. His finishing was proper fucking shite though, and it’s not wholly inaccurate to say that’s why we’re out.
     
    I’m not going to say that though simply because of last week. THAT is why we’re out. All eleven players were fucking hopeless and that stinking performance gave us a mountain that we were unable to climb without fans in the stadium. Had Mo not fluffed his lines we could have overcome the shitshow we served up last week, but his missed chances shouldn’t mask what the real problem was. You can’t play like we did last week and expect to go through.
     
    Yet with fans in the stadium I’m convinced we would have done. Every missed chance seemed to take a little bit out of the players and make Madrid more confident, but with a full stadium the opposite happens. Fans don’t get disheartened by a missed chance, they get excited and raise the fucking roof. And that in turn lifts our lads and causes the opposition to panic. 
     
    With a full house, this game doesn’t end up goalless. I’m 100% sure of that. That’s why I never believed we would turn this one around. When Mo missed that early chance the noise level would have been deafening. Our lads would have been desperate to get the ball back so they could continue applying pressure, and Madrid’s players would have been way more uncomfortable than they were in an empty stadium.
     
    When Mo missed that chance they’ll have shrugged it off and thought “got away with one there”. When there’s 55,000 fans screaming encouragement it’s a whole different mindset. It becomes “fuck, we’re in trouble here”. 
     
    On a normal Anfield night this one still wouldn’t have been over even when it reached 87 or 88 minutes. We could have got one and then in stoppage time forced another. We’ve done it before. The Dortmund game immediately springs to mind. In an empty stadium though forget it. 
     
    The players gave everything they had but it was clear from about an hour onwards that it wasn’t going to happen. Personally I think the pivotal moment in the game was the horrific miss by Gini late in the first half. It wasn’t a sitter and I’m not saying he HAS to score. But you can’t shoot six yards over the fucking bar from there. You just can’t. It deflated everyone. You could see the disappointment in all of them, especially Gini. In a full stadium the fans lift the players and spur them on to keep pushing. Gini’s name would have been chanted. Instead they have to lift themselves and it’s just a lot more difficult, especially given the run we’ve had these last four months.
     
    Other than that terrible finish Gini was outstanding, but what does it matter when you blow your big moment like that? Same with Mo. He played really well but he should have had a hat-trick. The first one he missed was weak as fuck. He needs to be bursting the net there but he sort of scuffed it. The next one got stuck under his feet and he scooped it over. After that he was just taking too many touches.
     
    Milner had a good effort saved by Courtois and after the break Bobby brought two saves out of the keeper but really everything was straight at him. Like I say, the miss from Gini was the real killer when I look back on this game. That’s the one. Bury that, go in at 1-0 and we probably end up going through.
     
    Instead we’ve lost to a team we would have fucking obliterated had we played them last season or the season before. They’re nothing special and Chelsea should fancy their chances of doing them in the semis. Hopefully they won’t, but I hate the fact I’m now having to root for Madrid or PSG to win it. Two clubs I have no time for whatsoever. 
     
    This is completely on us though. We weren’t hard done by. We can’t blame refs or VAR in the way we’ve been able to for much of the domestic season. This one is on Klopp and the players. Some of Klopp’s decisions over the two legs are certainly questionable but mostly it’s on the terrible performance last week and the shit finishing in this leg.
     
    Starting Keita last week backfired terribly and I’m sure a lot of fans were equally as miffed by Jota being left on the bench for this one. I was a little surprised by that but I understood it. We needed to win 2-0 and Jota has been a big difference maker off the bench. Firmino doesn’t have that kind of impact and benching Sadio - while completely justified - would have been counter-productive as I don’t think you could expect him to come on and make any difference with his confidence on the floor.
     
    Klopp left out Jota and Thiago and put his faith in players who had come through for us many times in big games. I’m ok with that and maybe if he’d done it last week in Madrid then we wouldn’t have been in this situation. That might have been his line of thinking here.
     
    The substitutions I’m not so comfortable with. Taking off Kabak seems pointless to me, especially when Phillips had just been booked seconds before. As well as big Nat played, he’s on a yellow card so it would have made more sense to take him off rather than Kabak. 
     
    But my wider complaint would be that I don’t see the sense in changing either of them. All it does is take Fabinho out of midfield and surely we know now that there are no circumstances whatsoever where that makes us stronger. Our midfield needs to be Fabinho plus two. Subbing Kabak and moving Fabinho back there achieves nothing other than making the midfield weaker.
     
    You can also argue that bringing Thiago on doesn’t achieve anything either. This might be unfair but I just thought “what the fuck difference is he going to make?”. The answer was none. He was fine. He did nothing wrong. But we thought we were getting one of the best midfielders in the world but so far he’s been a poor man’s Joe Allen.
     
    He’s just been so fucking underwhelming but it’s only partly his fault. It’s not even that he’s playing badly (I don’t think he is) but he’s just a terrible fit for this team. I’ve said before that he’d be quality at Man City but what he does isn’t working for us at all. It’s partly because the forwards have been shite I suppose, but watching him is doing my head in now. 
     
    Loads of sideways, simple passes that he plays with a little swag in his step that makes him look like he’s doing more than he actually is. He’s the master at looking great at doing something really simple. Then when he plays it forward it’s nearly always cut out by a defender, which I’m not even blaming him for because he’s having to try to force it and play eye of a needle passes.
     
    Thiago has been a great player his whole career but he hasn’t been a great player for us. It’s a stretch to even say he’s been good. Maybe that changes next season but I can’t really think of any reason why that would be. He’s got Juan Sebastian Veron written all over him. 
     
    Did he bring more to the team than Milner had done before he was subbed? Not for me, although I’m not saying Milner shouldn’t have been subbed as he was probably in the ‘red zone’ having played the full game at the weekend. The change had to be made and Thiago for Milner would have made sense. 
     
    Thiago for Kabak and Jota for Milner wasn’t something I was on board with though. I see the logic in getting the fourth forward on but Sadio had completely fizzled out after a bright start and I’d have taken him off because he was killing our attacks every time he got the ball. He’s completely lost right now.
     
    I don’t think I’ve ever seen a truly great player become absolutely fucking shit almost overnight. With Bobby it was a slow decline but Sadio started the season well and then just fell off a cliff in December. Klopp insists it isn’t a physical problem so it must be confidence. I almost wish it was a physical problem because that’s easier to fix.
     
    Maybe he just needs a good goal or a strong performance to get his mojo back. Let’s hope so because we just aren’t the same team when he isn’t himself. He used to be so fucking explosive. It’s heartbreaking watching him play this badly. 
     
    As I say, I’d have definitely subbed him to get Jota on. He was taken off a bit later along with Bobby as Klopp made a last throw of the dice with Shaqiri and Ox. That was never going to work but it was worth a try as nothing else was working at that point. It’s a sign of where our main problems lie now though that with ten minutes to go and needing to score twice, Firmino and Mané are being subbed.
     
    The longer the game went the more ragged we got (understandable as we became desperate) and if anyone was scoring in the closing stages it was going to be Madrid. Thankfully they didn’t because the lads at the back deserved a clean sheet. Alisson had very little to do but he made a great double save to deny Vinicius Jr and Benzema.
     
    Big Nat was excellent and Kabak did nothing wrong either. The only criticism I have of Phillips is that he’s fucking hopeless in the opposition box on set-pieces. In his own box he wins everything. At the other end all he does is bump into people and give away free-kicks. We pose zero attacking threat from set-pieces these days and that was a big part of our arsenal before Virg was taken out. Now when we get a corner we may as well just play it short because the ball into the box isn’t working at all. Ever.
     
    Phillips was a positive and he’s doing enough to deserve another season in a back up role. The full backs were brilliant too I thought, especially Trent who was top drawer all night at both ends. He defended superbly when he had to and when he was on the ball he always looked the most likely to make something happen. Star man by a mile for me.
     
    It’s pretty gutting to go out but it’s easier to take when there’s no injustice involved and we can’t feel hard done by. This exit was entirely self inflicted but the main concern now is that it might be a while before we’re back in this competition again.
     
    We have a chance at top four but we aren’t favourites and I’m not expecting us to do it. We might do, but it feels more unlikely than likely at this stage. I’m sure we’ll be better next season when fans are back in and we’ve had the chance to regroup and try to just put this nightmare eight months or so behind us, but there are some big question marks hanging over us now all over the park.
     
    The full backs are great but Klopp has no faith in their back ups which means they are being overplayed. Our main centre backs may not be the same when they come back from injury. The midfield is a fucking mess. Fabinho is great but Gini looks like he’s off, Hendo is always injured, Milner is on his last legs, Keita can fuck off, Thiago is a square peg in a round hole and Ox is completely pointless these days. 
     
    But despite all of those issues the forward line remains the biggest source of concern and frustration for me. You know how long I’ve been saying it but the front three as a unit have gotten steadily worse each season, and now only one of them is pulling his weight. Jota has been great but we need more than just him and Mo scoring.
     
    There are a lot of things that need fixing but I doubt there will be much money to fix them. Securing a top four spot is massively important but it just doesn’t look like the lads have it in them to do it. I’ll be honest, I’m even expecting us to lose at Leeds next week.
     
    I just wish it was all over as this has been the least enjoyable season of my lifetime by a fucking mile. We’ve had worse teams and worse results, but never anything as miserable as this when you factor everything together.
     
    The expectation going into it, not being able to celebrate winning it last year, the events at Goodison, losing all of our defenders and then the midfielders who were filling in, the constant stream of VAR inflicted persecutions, the run of home defeats, it’s just been abject fucking misery. 
     
    This season needs to fuck off and never be spoken of ever again.
     
    JFT96.
     
    Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Kabak (Thiago), Robertson; Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Milner (Jota); Salah, Firmino (Oxlade-Chamberlain), Mané (Shaqiri):
  • Andy Robertson feels that Trent -Alexander Arnold will be stronger for the scrutiny that he has faced this season.
     
    With the drop-off in form by the Reds compared to their exceptionally high levels in recent years, there barely seems to be a week that goes by when a pundit looks for key reasons other than the long-term injuries to Virgil Van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip.
     
    That has led to the Liverpool and England Right-back being put under the spotlight and the fact that he was not picked for the national team for the two World Cup qualifiers last month only added to the scrutiny.
     
    It was only last year that the 22 year-old was rightly seen as one of the best full-backs in Europe.
     
    But as a professional footballer knows, you have to take the good with the bad and while this analysis can be difficult to hear for a player, in many ways it is a sign of how far Alexander-Arnold has come in such a short space of time. 
     
    Speaking ahead of the Champions League quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid, teammate and close friend Andy Robertson put it in eloquent terms as the Official site reported. 
     
    “For me, I know it’s hard for Trent but he should take it as some sort of compliment, the fact that so much noise has been made about him. 
     
    “But for me and the teammates and for somebody that’s close to him and that cares for him, it’s just about trying to keep his confidence at the highest level because when it’s like that, you know, nobody touches him. 
     
    “I thought on Saturday he put in a very good performance, I thought against Arsenal he was excellent. 
     
    “Of course he struggled against Madrid in midweek but we all did, not one of us played well but more gets said about Trent’s performance than anyone else’s. 
     
    For me, he’s a strong character, he’s always been that since he’s been a young age and that’s why he is where he is – that’s why he’s at the top of the game at a very early age and he’ll come over all the criticism. 
     

     
    “But it's just about trying to not let it affect him and trying to do what he does on the pitch, because when he does that then I don’t think anyone can touch him.”
     
    Speaking of the task that faces Liverpool this evening, the straight-talking left-back knows there is a sizeable mountain to climb, but the confidence and relief of winning a game at home for the first time since the middle of December will be of benefit to the team.
     
    “Our run at home has not been good enough since Boxing Day in terms of the points that we’ve dropped [and] the defeats that we’ve came to.
     
     “It’s simply not been good enough and to then get our first win of the new year there, it always makes a difference and then when you walk on that pitch tomorrow you get good feelings instead of negative ones, which have maybe been the case the last couple of weeks [with] the performances and the results we’ve had here. But we’ll go into tomorrow full of confidence.
     
    “Of course Real Madrid are hot favourites and so they should be with the aggregate [lead] they’ve got.
     
    "But it’s up to us to leave everything on the pitch, give a better performance than we did last week and give ourselves the best possible chance to progress because we don’t want to give up on our chances of getting through and we won’t do that until the last whistle has been blown. 
     
    "We know how hard a task it’s going to be and we know we probably need an as-close-to-perfect performance as we can."
     
    Parallels have been drawn between the task that Liverpool face tonight and the miracle at Anfield against Barcelona two years ago.
     
    While the Reds are better placed in terms of how the tie is placed with an away goal to their name, the lack of fanatical home fans helping push the team over the line makes this an incredibly difficult task to overcome as Robertson conceded.
     
    “Barcelona that night obviously was an incredible night and it wouldn't have been possible without the 55,000 fans in there, that's a fact. The noise at the start, the noise they made when we scored the first, it just carried on and they got louder and louder as the night went on. 
     

     
    “Unfortunately, tomorrow night we won't have that. But we're coming up against the team that's the most experienced in this tournament, won it the most times in the short history and the long history. 
     
    “They're a fantastic team full of quality and it's a big task for us. It's not the same as the Barcelona game and we can't rely [on] the fact that we came back from that game, [and] that we're going to come back from this one.
     
    “We've got to aim to win the game, first and foremost, and once we do that then let's see what the aggregate score is and let's see what we need to do. Our determination is to take our chances, to keep a clean sheet and hopefully make it as uncomfortable a night for them as possible.”
     
     
  • That was a looooooong time coming. Not just a win at Anfield, but a win of THAT type. You know, the type we used to pull out of the bag all the time back in the ‘mentality monsters’ days.
     
    I don’t remember the last time we did anything like this but it felt good. Very satisfying, especially given the way this game went. We fell behind, got slapped in the face by VAR yet again, responded superbly, equalised but then seemed to lose our way until a last, late flurry that brought us the winner.
     
    If we manage to sneak into the top four come the end of the season this is definitely the game we’ll look back on as being pivotal, because had we not bagged that late winner I think it would have been all over for us. Psychologically, failing to win yet another game at Anfield would have been too much to come back from.
     
    The performance itself did nothing to suggest we have what it takes to break into the top four but that can change. The main thing is picking up points while you wait for the performances to pick up, and we did that.
     
    I don’t feel especially encouraged or happy about where we are but it was such a relief to win this game. It was a great feeling when Trent lashed in that winner, especially as it was obvious that there was no way they could disallow this one. I actually celebrated it, which is rare these days.
     
    Still no first half goal for us though. It’s just getting really fucking weird now isn’t it? We never score in the first half anymore. And when we do, it doesn’t count, but I’ll get to that shortly.
     
    As expected, Sadio was benched and Bobby came back in. Milner was also recalled, which again, I think we all expected too. We started ok but typically we weren’t sharp in the final third. We were completely dominant though.
     
    At one point the graphic came up that we’d had 10 attempts on goal but the only one I could even remember was a sitter that Mo missed. What were all the other ones? There was a Jota header from a corner as well, that was pretty close, but I can’t remember anything else. 
     
    I never really had the feeling we were going to score even though Carragher kept talking about how we looked so more dangerous than we have been in other home games. I didn’t feel that way, mainly because their keeper wasn’t having to do anything.
     
    That miss from Mo was bad though. Mings made a mess of it and although the keeper was out quickly it looked like Mo could have skipped around him and finished with his right foot. Instead he took it early with his left, but that was an almost impossible finish with the outside of his boot and it was always going to go wide.
     
    We were well on top though and Villa didn’t look dangerous at all. There was a Konsa header from a corner that went straight at Alisson, but they really weren’t offering much. And then they scored. Out of nothing.
     
    Kabak got in front of Watkins to make a challenge but the ball went to a Villa player and now Watkins was goal side. The ball was played to him and although Kabak got back at him, the striker got his shot away and Alisson somehow let it go under him. Shite that again, but at least he’s ditched the tash now.
     
    We’ve been in this situation a lot over the last few months and we’ve rarely been able to respond. This time it looked as though we’d hit back fairly quickly when Bobby finished from close range jut before half time. 
     
    I didn’t celebrate but there wasn’t anything specific that I’d seen that made me think it might be disallowed. It’s just a general thing now. I’ve almost become attuned to not celebrating, just in case.
     
    And as soon as I saw the first replay I knew it was getting disallowed. I’m not saying it was or wasn’t offside, but it was close enough that there was no way those lines were going to be drawn in our favour. Whenever it’s that tight and there’s enough wiggle room for them, it’s going to come down against us. It always does. 
     
    The only hope was that the replay would show that Cash got a touch on the ball before it reached Jota. He made a play at it and it probably brushed him, but the replay was inconclusive, so then out came the lines and we all knew what would follow. 
     
    I don’t know how long it took from the moment the ball hit the net to them ruling it out, but it felt like three or four minutes. It’s just a fucking joke really. They’re just always so fucking desperate to disallow goals. Especially ours.
     
    I’m not even saying they got this wrong because there was no visible proof as to whether Cash played the ball (I hate that shit rule anyway) so you can’t give that, and Jota’s arm may have been a fraction ahead of the last defender’s knee. Then again, it might not have been. 
     
    I’m not even blaming the officials too much for this. They’re the swelling when you have the mumps, or the scabs when you have chickenpox. The rule makers are a bigger problem than the rule enforcers.
     
    I just think the whole process is fucking killing the game and making it virtually unwatchable. If you’ve got to forensically examine it like that then it’s close enough that the attacking team should always get the benefit. 
     
    That’s how it should be, but instead we’ve got these busy little traffic warden cunts looking for reasons to disallow goals and ruin everyone’s enjoyment of the sport. I hate it now. There’s no real pleasure in football anymore because VAR has sucked it all out. If VAR isn’t scrapped at the end of the season I honestly don’t know how much longer I’m going to keep watching.
     
    Something I hadn’t even thought of until I read it on the forum (credit to Niallers), but there hasn’t been one incident when the lines overlapped to show that it was level. That in itself shows that these close calls are completely at the discretion of the VAR because there has not been a single ‘level’ since they introduced this shit, even though there has to have been incidents when the players are indeed dead level. 
     
    So given that some of them will have been level but were not called as such, we know beyond any doubt that they are moving the line one way or another to avoid a scenario where it’s ‘level’. So how do they decide which way to move it? If there is a default ruling where they have to allow (or disallow) the goal then why haven’t we been told? It fucking stinks this doesn’t it?
     
    What’s the point of football if you can’t celebrate goals? There is no point. None whatsoever. May as well not bother watching it live anymore and just watch the highlights later. The big thing with football was always being in the moment. The euphoria of a goal. It doesn’t exist now.
     
    The one saving grace was that it happened just before half time and not just after. We had 15 minutes to get over it and channel the anger from it, and we did just that. 
     
    The response was great. We started the second half looking really lively. There was a purpose about our play and we were moving the ball much quicker. The equaliser came from a flowing move and even though it was a little fortunate in how the ball eventually fell to Salah (Robbo shooting from an unlikely angle and the keeper parrying it straight at him) it was a deserved goal and credit to Mo for getting in there.
     
    You’d have thought that would have given us a real lift and we could have taken advantage of it and put Villa to the sword, but if anything it had the opposite effect. The urgency we’d shown to get level seemed to just ebb away and Villa were quite comfortable. That’s as concerning as it is disappointing. 
     
    Maybe that’s one of those effects of no fans? Anfield would have been rocking after the equaliser and Villa would have known there was a storm coming. Without fans momentum just isn’t as big a factor though. Goals don’t really change games that much now.
     
    Klopp sent on Thiago for Gini and then Sadio for Firmino. I didn’t like that second change because Bobby was doing alright and I’d have preferred Milner to have gone off instead. We needed a winner so why not go with the four forwards?
     
    What did my head in even more was Shaq being given two fucking minutes at the end (plus stoppage time). At least give him five or ten minutes. Sending him on after 88 minutes seemed absolutely fucking pointless, yet it actually worked as he was involved in the winner.
     
    As the clocked ticked into stoppage time I’d pretty much given up, especially given the lack of urgency on show. Thiago, Fabinho and Alisson knocking it around in their own half as time was running out really wound me up.
     
    Then it happened. Trent had sort of ambled forward into space and collected the ball in the centre. The ball ended up out wide with Robbo and his cross was just too high for Mané. Shaq and Thiago worked something between themselves and Thiago met Shaq’s return cross with a powerful volley that looked sure to go in. I was on my feet for that, but no, fuck off, it’s too close to the keeper who made a good save. 
     
    Oh well, that’s that then. More points thrown away at home. But no, it ended up at Trent’s feet on the left edge of the box. He shifted it to his right peg and bent one into the corner. Get the fuck in!
     
    Villa had been time wasting for most of the second half but now all of a sudden they were in a hurry. They threw men forward and put plenty of crosses in the box, but Big Nat’s head was on the end of most of them.
     
    We held out comfortably and should have made it 3-1 when Shaq slid a ball through for Mané to get himself a much needed goal. The keeper stood up well and won the battle, but the finish was just weak as fuck though and really showed just where Sadio’s confidence level is at right now. He’s normally great in those situations.
     
    It didn’t matter as it was the last kick of the game but that could have been a real morale booster for him ahead of the Madrid game. Instead he goes into it with his confidence on the floor. I probably wouldn’t start him but I think Klopp will and I reckon it’ll be Jota who makes way. Maybe all four will start though.
     
    I have zero expectation for that game but if we were to score first then you never know. I just can’t see us keeping a clean sheet, especially with Alisson in this kind of form. We’ll see though.
     
    Star man isn’t easy but I’m going for Phillips who was rock solid all afternoon. I can’t remember him putting a foot wrong and it was a good response to a difficult night in Madrid.
     
    Robbo was better than he has been of late and Fabinho was good too, but the big fella deserves it.
     
     
    Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Kabak (Shaqiri), Robertson; Fabinho, Wijnaldum (Thiago), Milner; Salah, Firmino (Mané), Jota:
  • Rafa Benitez says that Liverpool should not panic despite being down 3-1 after the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie with Real Madrid.
     
    While the Reds will not have the benefit of the usual passionate Anfield crowd to help them get over the line on this European night, they received a much needed confidence boost by recording a first win on home soil since the middle of December after defeating Aston Villa 2-1 on Saturday.
     
    Madrid come into the game also full of confidence after claiming a 2-1 victory over arch-rival Barcelona which saw them move to the top of the La Liga table ahead of Atletico playing their game in hand on Sunday.
     
    Benitez who is currently on the lookout for his next managerial job is one of the most astute minds when it comes to planning for a two-legged European cup-tie having tasted success in the Champions League with Liverpool and the UEFA Cup/Europa League with Valencia and Chelsea respectively.
     
    The vastly experienced manager documented his thoughts-per the Mirror:
     
    "The way the tie is, if you score once, you are back in it. Even if that takes an hour, so be it.
     
    “For me, the key will be not to get too anxious – for them to manage that anxiety – don’t rush it. Maintain concentration levels and keep focused.
     
    “With quality players, a goal will come.
     
    “But Liverpool have to be in a position where they can keep a clean sheet – and they will have to be more aggressive at Anfield and play with greater intensity over 90 minutes than they did in Madrid.
     
    “Sadly, they cannot rely on the crowd to provide the spark for that.
     
    “In my experience, the supporters at Anfield have been a huge factor in those European nights. I don’t think you can dispute that. It has been one reason for their success. One hundred per cent.
     
    “Now, that drive will have to come from within.”
     

     
    Benitez says despite the widely held view that Madrid are on the decline, they have a number of excellent individual talents that are worthy of respect, but there are vulnerabilities that the Reds can attack more than they did in the first leg.
     
    “Real Madrid are a balanced side. Casimero does that really well for them. He allows Toni Kroos and Luca Modric to move around. And to win football matches, you need a balance.
     
    “He also allows the full-backs to move forward. But the reality is that they weren’t exposed too much.
     
    “Nacho is a very good team player. 
     
    “I don’t have any doubts about his quality in the absence of Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane but Liverpool didn’t put him under too much pressure, either.
     
    “I would also include the full-backs in that and Mo Salah and Sadio Mane have it in them to cause problems in the return leg if they can find that intensity to their play.”
     
     
     
     
  • Monday Apr 5:
     
    You can tell West Brom won at the weekend as Allardyce was on Talksport breakfast this morning telling everyone how he masterminded it. You can set your watch by him. Any time the Baggies have a good result he’ll be on, Monday morning, talking about how ‘he’ did it. 
     
    I was in the car so I caught most of it and he’s amazing. He’s a total parody of himself these days. He says that they identified the Chelsea keeper as a weak point because he always does mad things. The lack of respect for an opposition player was staggering. I’m sure these kind of things are pointed out in team meetings but how many managers would actually come out and say it just to make themselves look clever, especially when the keeper didn't even do anything wrong? Honestly, I think he’s the only one. Not even Mourinho would single out an opposing player like that.
     
    The best thing about Fat Sam though is how he can take credit for wins and pass on the blame for losses. They’ve lost loads of games since he went there but he put that down to “players not putting away their chances”. Because obviously his gameplan was flawless. He’s one of a kind. Thankfully.
     
    Meanwhile, we’ve got Real Madrid tomorrow! How cool is that? It’s shit that fans aren’t going to be at either game, but springtime, big European nights against the top sides, this is what we live for. It’s not the same because we can’t go, I know that, but it’s still the most excited I’ve been about footy since…. actually since Atletico a year ago I think. Defo the most excited I've been for a game this season anyway. I’m genuinely looking forward to tomorrow night.
     
    Tuesday Apr 6: 
     
    Real 3 L 1 Well fucking hell. Wasn’t that a massive damp squib? Remind me never to look forward to any game without fans there ever again. It just isn’t the same. It's awful, especially when we lose.
     
    I’m not saying no fans is the sole cause for what’s happening to us but it definitely makes it less enjoyable to watch these games. I’m at the end of my tether with it now and just don’t know how many more of these games I can sit through, especially when we're playing like such fucking losers.
     
    This was fucking abysmal. I can’t believe we performed like that in such a massively important game. Every single player was shite. Every one. No exceptions. That’s what has really shaken me here. Even players that we can always hang our hats on, the likes of Fabinho, Gini and Robbo, they were shite too. Everyone was shite. Klopp was shite too.
     
    He got the team wrong by picking Keita then he took him off three minutes before half time, creating a story and putting an unfair spotlight on Naby (he was shite, but no worse than anyone else), and our tactical approach to the game just seemed wrong from the start. Why were we playing so slow? Why defend with the high line when we weren’t pressing them? Whose idea was it to let Toni Kroos have as long as he wanted to pick out balls over the top? 
     
    I just feel really deflated after this because we’re a shambles right now and we can’t keep blaming injuries. Other than the centre backs and Hendo we basically had everyone available tonight. Klopp said post match that the goals didn’t concern him as they were mistakes and mistakes can happen. It was how we played that was the worry for him. I agree 100% with that.
     
    We’re going out there with our 6th and 7th choice central defenders so being vulnerable in that area is almost to be expected. The first goal I can live with completely because Nat Phillips is playing against Real Madrid in a Champions League quarter final. He isn’t supposed to be here. I have nothing but love for Nat Phillips. This isn’t his fault.
     
    The second goal is a brain fart from Trent, who was also partly responsible for the first and third goals too. Alisson was shite on the third. But like Klopp said, I can live with all of that as long as we’re playing well and creating chances. Remember when we used to score three or four to compensate for those mad games when we gave away a load of stupid goals? We just don’t have that in our locker anymore.
     
    Fuck Real Madrid though, the arrogant, entitled cunts. This was supposed to be the night when we shoved it right up their arses for what happened in Kiev. If we’d played them last season or the season before it would have been carnage and we’d have utterly humiliated them. Instead, we get to play them when we’re in this fucking sorry state, and we humiliated ourselves. The ref can go fuck himself too, falling for so much of their shit but not giving our lads (especially Sadio) anything when they were fouled. The booking for Trent when he didn't even touch that Vinicius bellend was outrageous (although that was more the fault of the linesman than ref).
     
    Usually I’d be the first one banging the drum about how it isn’t over and we can turn it around in the second leg. Not. A. Fucking. Chance. Anfield with no fans isn’t Anfield. It's a field. The only thing left to hope for now is that someone can stop City from winning it.
     
    Wednesday Apr 7:
     
    Speaking of City, just catching up on their game from last night. I hadn’t seen the disallowed Dortmund goal until now but I did see Sancho’s tweet saying the ref “needs checking”. He’ll surely be in trouble for that but having now seen the incident he’s got a point.
     
    We know European refs are always trigger happy with the whole ‘foot up’ thing but this was taking the piss. The kid Bellingham did nothing wrong at all and it’s a disgrace that VAR didn’t overturn that. 
     
    The worst part of this wasn't City winning, it was seeing Haaland and Foden cosying up to eachother at full time, hands over their mouths whispering like teenage girls. The two most punchable faces on the planet and they'll be teaming up soon as I'm now 100% convinced Haaland is joining City. You could just tell. He'll score 50 goals a season playing in that team.
     
    As for tonight, PSG and Bayern were involved in a cracker but I didn’t watch any of it as I can’t face it. It’s probably 50% about empty stadiums and 50% the Reds sucking away any enthusiasm I have for watching any footy whatsoever. Hopefully Bayern turn this one around in the second leg as they’re the best hope of stopping City winning it.
     
    Meanwhile, what the fuck is going on with all this racist shit? Every week now we have footballers being subjected to racist abuse on social media. Today LFC had to put out a statement after Trent and Naby were on the receiving end. The other day it was Callum Robinson after he scored two against Chelsea. Rashford has been getting it all season and the list goes on and on. 
     
    It’s just fucking weird. Obviously these cunts have always been out there but they are just so brazen about this shit now. Loads of them aren’t even doing it under the mask of anonymity, they’re doing it from their own account with their own name on. And fuck all gets done about it. I remember someone got sent down not so long ago for this kind of thing, and there have been others who have lost their jobs because of sick stuff they've said or done. So how come it’s happening more then ever? Just expose the fuckers and ruin their lives.  
     
    The likes of Twitter and Instagram could stop this if they wanted to but they don’t seem to give a fuck. Watch how quickly they act when someone posts a video of a Premier League goal though. Racism = ok. Copyright breach = delete & ban.
     
    Thursday Apr 8:
     
    Lots of talk about this Konate lad from Leipzig. Given that for about four months the only teams we’ve looked like we could score against are Arsenal and Leipzig, I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t be touching any of their players with a shitty stick. If they make our forwards look dangerous then that’s a massive fucking red flag, surely?
     
    Not sure I like the rumblings apparently coming out of the club concerning Sadio’s slump. The Athletic have done a typically long, in depth piece on what different sources at the club are thinking and there’s some bollocks about how this stems back to Guardiola’s throwaway line last season about “sometimes he’s diving”. The implication being that refs have been influenced by that and this is why Sadio is getting fuck all from them.
     
    What a crock of shit. I hope that’s not what people inside the club are thinking because that’s proper Man City behaviour that. Any time something doesn’t go their way they’d be pointing the finger at Liverpool because they were utterly obsessed. We better not start with that shit. There’s not a chance in hell that the ref the other night wasn’t giving Sadio free kicks because of something Guardiola said well over a year ago (and subsequently apologised for).
     
    It’s certainly true that refs have had it in for him though. He’s been criticised for not going down when fouled and then he’s been criticised for going down when apparently not fouled. One source at the club said "He can’t win" and the comments made by Michael Owen were apparently referenced in the article, suggesting that Sadio is aware of it.
     
    I’m not having it that this is the reason why he’s completely forgotten how to play football though. There’s way more to it than that because there’s no way he’s that mentally fragile that he’d allow refs to torpedo his form like that.
     
    Having said that, getting all this out in the public domain does maybe put refs under some pressure the next time he's brought down in the box and they want to wave it away.
     
    But let's be honest here, the horse is long gone and closing the stable door now is a fucking waste of time. The time to have made a huge stink about unfair treatment from refs was after Goodison. We just accepted it and we've been a punchbag for officials ever since.
     
    Friday Apr 9:
     
    I just thought of something. Where the fuck is Ben Davies? I’d completely forgotten about him because of the international break but as far as I’m aware he hasn’t even been on the bench lately has he?
     
    He’s gonna be a modern day Frank McGarvey. I only know McGarvey was a Liverpool player because he was in my Panini sticker album, and even then he was wearing a St Mirren kit. If Ben Davies is in any Panini album he’s probably in his Preston shirt. McGarvey left us to join Celtic without playing a game. There's every chance Davies will go the same route.
     
    The u23s lost 3-2 at City tonight. I don’t think I’ve watched a full game of theirs all season because there’s just no point. There isn’t one player in the regular line up that has any hope of making it here, even though I did enjoy watching Cain and Clarkson play when they were in the u18s. It might just be me, but u18 footy is boss and u23 footy is dull as fuck. It feels like all the best kids we have are in the u18 set up, while there are players like Woodburn, Moyes and Gallagher in the 23s who are just treading water until they are released. 
     
    And we’ve got about a hundred keepers, most of whom I’ve seen play a few times but there’s one fucker I’ve never seen play any games yet somehow he keeps getting named on the bench for Champions League games. Just who in the blue hell is “H. Davies”???
     
    We’ve got Villa tomorrow. I have no idea what’s going to happen because that Arsenal game last week has thrown me. That’s the outlier here. We looked good in that game and it’s muddied the water because it made me think we’d turned the corner. Then the Madrid game happened and I’m back to just having no idea what we are anymore. 
     
    If I had to bet on it, I think I’d pick us to lose. But then that would be seven straight losses at ‘Anfield’ (I don’t even like calling it that without fans) and statistically the odds against that must be pretty big. Playing the odds would mean a win, so how come I can see us toiling away and losing to one of only two or three shots Villa have?
     
    Hopefully I’m worrying over nothing because if we do win this one it does set us up nicely for a run at getting fourth. It’s hard not to be shaken by that horror show the other night though.
     
    and that was the week that was…..
     
  • Jurgen Klopp says that Sadio Mane is going through a phase that all top forwards go through in their career and there is no physical hinderance affecting his game.
     
    While Mo Salah has often taken the headlines due to his goalscoring exploits throughout his Reds career, the all-round game of Mane has been greatly underrated.
     
    Those who see the Senegalese star play on a regular basis will say that he is the individual that gels the front three together.
     
    But just like many of his teammates, this campaign has been a significant struggle for the 29 year-old.
     
    After starting the season in his customary style scoring three goals in as many league games, Mane tested positive for COVID-19 after the Arsenal game which saw him have to serve the customary two weeks of self-isolation and saw him miss the 7-2 humbling at Villa Park, his next game for the Reds against Everton saw a return to the scoresheet.
     
    Since that fixture in the middle of October, Mane has scored just three league goals with his last coming against Tottenham at the end of January.
     
    While it is worth noting that he did score in both fixtures against RB Leipzig, Mane is well below near his usual strike rate (12 goals in 39 games) and faces a significant challenge to reach the 20 goal mark (in all competitions) for the fourth consecutive season.
     
    As research steadily increases into the lasting impacts of COVID-19, more and more individuals who have had the illness say that they continue to have lingering symptoms many months down the track.
     
    We may never know how much  this has been a major factor for Sadio, or if it is a matter of wear and tear beginning to show after a extremely heavy workload over the last couple of seasons and a compressed schedule during this season.
     
    According to his manager, it is nothing different to what most elite players in his position have had  to deal with  and he is not duly concerned as the Official site reported:
     
    “We all know how good Sadio Mane is, what a player he is. 
     
    “And what he did for us. Obviously the numbers, scoring-wise now, are obviously not great at the moment – he knows that. It’s always for a player and for a player with the mindset of Sadio, he wants to do extremely well then in these moments and that’s the situation he is in. 
     
    “Each striker in the world knows these kinds of situations. But I’m not concerned, but I see it as well. That’s clear. We work on it – that’s the only answer I can give. 
     
    Klopp conceded that the schedule may well have played a role, but the more likely reason would be a lack of confidence in front of goal which is something that is only natural.
     

     
    “The schedule of the last three years was for a lot of players in world football a tough one – for him as well, that’s true. But I don’t think that’s the reason, there’s no physical problem for Sadio, not a real one. 
     
    “We all need breaks from time to time, that’s clear, but it’s not a general problem or whatever. It’s just a situation.
     
    “If you don’t score for a while then strikers start thinking and there is a moment when you start thinking exactly the right things again and then it will be fine again. We have to make sure this time is not too far away.”
     
     
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