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  • TLW
    Gini Wijnaldum seems set to stay at Liverpool after liikely suitors Barcelona have had their hopes dashed by La Liga authorities.

    New Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman had earmarked his countryman as a key signing as he looks to rebuild the fortunes of the Catalan club. Barca have fallen from grace in recent seasons and as reported on bettingtips.net they are distant second favourites behind Real Madrid in La Liga betting odds.

    As talks to bring Bayern Munich star Thiago Alcantara to Liverpool intensified, it seemed just a matter of time that the popular 29 year-old will be on the move after a impressive four season spell.

    However Jurgen Klopp seemed intent to keep one of his most trusted lieutenants and now that seems like that will occur.

    The Mirror reports that Barcelona's dire financial crisis has forced them to shelve plans to sign the Dutchman with the Spanish league's governing body stepping in to block the move.
     


    La Liga clubs are operating under strict financial guidelines following the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Barcelona are struggling with a £510million-a-year wage bill and will not be allowed to buy Wijnaldum and Lyon star Memphis Depay unless they raise the money with player sales first.

    They must also pay the same amount as the transfer fee to the Spanish government following financial help given to clubs during the health crisis.

    For years, observers have wondered how the top two clubs in Spain have been able to cherry pick the best talent from other clubs and at the same time hold on to what they currently have.

    But as Joris Evers, the La Liga's director of communications, explains those days could be a thing of the past.

    “We have a financial system, which goes beyond UEFA’s Financial Fair Play.

    “At UEFA they look at figures when a season is finished, we set the standards before the season starts.
     
    "If Barcelona try to do a deal behind the scenes, our analysts will notice this immediately.
     
    "The clubs agreed on this system as a reaction on a period when they were struggling to pay the wages of the players, because they'd overspent time and time again. Nobody wants to go back to that situation.’’

    They say seven days is a long time in Football.
     
    There was a bit of apprehension creeping in to the fanbase that with no fresh blood coming in, repeating the title triumph could be a task too far.

    They say good things come in threes and in the last week we have seen Thiago and Diogo Jota complete deals and Gini more than likely to remain at the club.

    One player who may be departing is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with the Mirror reporting that Thiago’s arrival means he will slide down the pecking order and Wolves are planning a bid for the midfielder.

    It is speculated that Liverpool will want in the range of £25 million for the 27 year-old.

     
  • Saturday Sep 12:
     
    L 4 Leeds 3. So that was unnecessarily stressful. For all the talk of how well Leeds did, the truth is that we should have won this by a landslide based on chances. Leeds scored from every chance they had and that, combined with them somehow having more possession (certainly didn't feel like it when I was watching) makes this game seem closer than it was. It wasn't that much different to Norwich last year, other than Leeds being much more clinical.
     
    As irritating as this was at times, in the end there was no harm done and actually when you analyse what happened there's not really much to be concerned about. The concern would have been if we'd dropped points, but we didn't. In terms of how the game went, the good was that we looked good going forward and created a boatload of chances. The bad was that we made errors at the back, and we have been doing ever since footy came back after lock down.
     
    That's obviously a concern but it's more of a short term worry than a long term one. We know these lads can defend well and keep clean sheets, but they seem to have lost a bit of focus and concentration. I put it down to there not being any fans in stadiums and it's not something that will continue indefinitely. Fans might not be back any time soon though so they do need to sharpen the fuck up and I expect Klopp will be drumming that into them. Personally I'd be a lot more worried if we looked bad in attack, as this is an easier fix and it's easier to overcome.
     
    How good was Mo though? This was his best performance in a long time. He just looked dynamite all game. The hat-trick was well deserved and even though two were penalties it doesn't really cheapen it because the performance was so good. I hope this is a sign of things to come and we see 2018 Mo again, but one swallow doesn't make a summer.
     
    Sunday Sep 13:
     
    What the fuck is this? Arsenal are getting £20m for that keeper who played against us in the Charity Shield and acted the cunt during the shoot out. This is mad. I’d never even heard of him until Leno got injured and he got a run of games, but now he’s worth £20m?? And what's with Villa having that kind of dosh to throw around? So much for Covid killing the market. 
     
     
     
    Mind you, we’ve signed a keeper too. Not for £20m like, and we’ll probably never even see him play for us, but we’ve spent a million or so on a Brazilian kid who Alisson recommended. We seem to be stockpiling young keepers and I don’t really understand it. We must have a dozen keepers on the books now, it’s like Jurgen has a fetish for them or something.
     
    Reports today have United having agreed terms with Thiago. Absolute bollocks, I’m just not buying this for a second. Thiago is playing for a much, much better side than United and he’d have to be a fucking moron to swap that to go and play for Solskjaer. It makes no sense. So when reports like this come out, you have to question who benefits from it.
     
    The obvious answer here is Bayern. They’re trying to force our hand, whereas we seem happy to just let it play out until Barca make us an offer for Gini or we can sell someone else to raise the cash needed. All the reports from sources close to Thiago seem to suggest he’s agreed everything with us.
     
    The way it's dragging out is annoying and I can't say I'm sure we'll get him, but he's not going to end up at United, that much I'm confident in predicting. You don't leave the European Champions to sign for Old Gunnar Solskjaer.
     
    Meanwhile, Mbappe again hints at leaving PSG next summer. This is all well and good, but who can actually afford what it will cost to get him? There's only really City, and that's only because they'll disregard the rules to do it. 
     
    Kloppo should be telling Mbappe to stay there for the finl two years of his contract and that we'll come calling for him then.
     
    Monday Sep 14:
     
    Interesting interview with Ox today on goal.com. Specifically talking about us winning loads of games when not at our best, he said  “I felt that for the most part of last season,” Oxlade-Chamberlain says. “When I look back on the season, as amazing as it was, there were a lot of times when I wasn’t happy with how I’d played, personally. That’s me being honest with myself, which I think you have to be. I know I can do better, and I don’t think I was the only one who thought that.
     
    “But if you look at the season before, when we finished second, we had a lot more games where we won 3-0 or 4-0. The difference last season, and it was obvious, was that in the games we didn’t play well in, we were still able to win 1-0 or 2-1. We’d find a way. We were drawing those games before. We’d win 4-0 and look unbelievable, then we’d not quite be on it and we’d draw 1-1, and drop points. That didn’t happen this time.”
     
    Also today, the agent of Marko Grujic says Liverpool want to keep him. Why? What’s the point? He’s 8th in line for a midfield spot and if Thiago comes he’ll be 9th. It’s not really fair to keep him when he’ll never play. So this seems to be a bargaining tactic. Tell Hertha Berlin “yeah if you don’t wanna pay for him that’s sound, we’ll just keep him”. There’s no way we’re keeping him though.
     
    Same with Wilson. Both of them will go as neither will even make the bench unless we have injuries. Not only can we not afford to keep assets like that when they can't make a matchday squad, but on a personal level it's unfair to keep them. That's just not how Klopp operates. Brewster should be concerned too really, as he's not getting near an 18 man squad when everyone is available either.
     
    Tuesday Sep 15:
     
    “You can’t put Van Dijk in the category of Kompany and Ferdinand. He’s too arrogant” said someone on Talksport. Usually you trace this this kind of nonsense to Adrian Durham and his radio clickbait. I swear he doesn’t believe half the shit he comes out with, but if it gets people talking and ringing in then job done. This wasn’t him though, it was a former Premier League player.
     
    I didn’t want to click on the link to the article to find out who it was as that would be falling into their trap. Instead, I had a look through the replies to the tweet and the player in question was….. Gabby Agbonlahor!!! Hahahahaha fucking hell, what kind of a world are we living in when the opinion of this bum is actually deemed worthy of airtime?
     
    Honestly, if you were to compile a list of former players whose opinion I’d value the least, arl Thicky Agbonlahor would be right up there with Dean Windass. He looks like he eats crayons.
     
    He also compared Grealish to “Iniesta in his prime” and said he’s the best player he ever played with. “When I played centre back in training for a bit of banter I couldn’t get near him”. Ok well thats me convinced. Kinell. Take that microphone off him and send him back to the oblivion he’s been in since he got too fat to play footy anymore.
     
    Speaking of Talksport though, Simon Jordan was killing it again today by pulling up Lampard on the bollocks he was talking about Klopp ‘spending big’. It’s ridiculous how so many seem to think Klopp has spent loads of money when the reality virtually all of the big signings have been funded by other players leaving. There’s so much lazy analysis about it, usually from ex pros, but maybe Jordan’s background as a club owner is the reason why he can see the reality of that situation. Or maybe he’s just not a fucking moron?
     
    Speaking of morons, Jim Davidson was trending on Twitter again today. Every time I see that I’m hoping the cunt has died, but every time it’s because he’s been a massive racist again. I’ve got a story about Jim Davidson. Many, many years ago me and a mate went to see him do a show in Southport. The place was about half full, and you could tell from the moment he came out that he had the hump about that, as let’s just say he didn’t seem too enthusiastic about his work.
     
    Anyway, as usual there were a few hecklers. Comedians love that as it gives them a chance to get some cheap laughs at the hecklers expense. Davidson didn’t do that though. He was just a nasty cunt. The thing I remember most about that night though was his act was so fucking shit and the jokes so obvious that my mate was calling out the punchlines before Davidson could get to them (which was way funnier than the actual jokes) and old Jim was fucking FUMING about it. I thought we were going to get thrown out at one point, which would have been doing us a favour. We ended up just walking out anyway as he was such an unfunny horrible twat.
     
    I used to watch a lot of comedy gigs back then and Davidson was by far the worst. He was even worse than Chubby Brown. In fairness, he was good the first time we saw him but I was sober the second time and that made a hell of a difference. 
     
    Frank Skinner and Lee Evans were good but the best one I saw was, surprisingly, Mark Lemarr. He was really funny.
     
    Wednesday Sep 16:
     
    Speaking of comedians, David James tips Arsenal for the title. What the fuck is it with some of these ex pros? I think it’s become such a dog eat dog world now and punditry jobs are in such high demand that some of these lads feel the only way they can push themselves to the front of the line is to say controversial, stupid shit just to draw attention to themselves. There’s no fucking way James actually believes Arsenal are winning the title this year. Not unless he’s been on another 48 hour playstation bender.
     
    By the way, Agbonlahor is also tipping Arsenal to win the league within the next three years, which isn’t as bad as Jamo’s take but is still daft as fuck. 
     
    Also today, I spoke to my mum before and she asked if I was coming round to watch the match on Sunday. As it’s Chelsea we’re playing she somehow shoehorned their game against Brighton into the conversation just so she could absolutely rip into poor Adam Lallana again. She’s not letting that hatred go, this was fucking brutal. 
     
    He’s “a disgrace” apparently. I pointed out that he’s not getting injured deliberately, to which she replied “it was a minute before half time, why couldn’t he have waited? It’s because he knew the manager would tell him to get back on and stop being a wimp”. Jesus.
     
    “He walked off like there was nothing wrong with him. He should have waited until half time but he doesn’t even want to play, he’s a disgrace.” I told her she was talking shite but she doubled down on it and got even more hostile.
     
    “He wanted to get back to the dressing room before the others so he could have the mirror to himself to do his hair or put on his make up”. Then she compared him with Andy Carroll, who she says also doesn’t want to play and on the rare occasions when he does make an appearance “spends the whole game trying to elbow people so he can get sent off and get suspended”. She might actually have a point on that one, but lumping a great pro like Adam in with Big Andy is out of line. 
     
    I don’t even hate Richarlison as much as she hates Lallana, and I REALLY hate Richarlison.
     
    Meanwhile, it wouldn’t be a transfer window without us being linked with Ousmane Dembele and the Spanish press have come through for us again, claiming we want him on loan. Who knows, maybe it’s true this time. I think I’d rather bring someone in on loan than spend £40m on Sarr. At least that way we’ll have dosh next summer for arl Kylian when he leaves PSG....
     
    I see the Blues are revelling in the new found fame that “Hamez” has brought them. They were the most watched match in Colombia last weekend and their fan accounts are swinging their dicks about it, which is funny seeing as how they’ve always mocked us for being ‘global’ and revel in their relative anonymity and wear it as some kind of badge of authenticity. Now the first time they get a bit of overseas interest they’re all jizzing themselves.
     
    Sheffield United seem to be the favourites to land Brewster but there’s still talk from the LFC patch journos that he’s been touted around for £25m. How shit is this transfer window? We aren’t getting anyone, or if we do it’s going to be some second rate benchwarmer like Sarr. All the focus seems to be on trying to get money in by selling promising young players like Wilson, Grujic and now maybe Brewster.
     
    Meanwhile, every other cunt is signing players, even notorious mingebags Spurs, who are close to bringing in Bale on loan. Fucks sake, this is annoying.
     
    Thursday Sep 17:
     
    Ohhhhhhhhh yes, I cried that one in good and proper. Nothing like a good little reverse jinx. “We aren’t getting anyone, or if we are it’ll be some second rate bench warmer”. Next day, BOOM!! Thiago. You’re welcome people.
     
    There were actually twitter rumours last night about a private jet flying into Liverpool from Munich but we see so much of this shit that it was generally just disregarded by most of us. Turns out it probably was a pre-cursor to what happened today. I’m not saying Thiago will have been on the plane (he defo wasn’t) but it will probably have been representatives from the club and maybe the medical team.
     
    It was funny seeing the Echo shoot down the Thiago stuff eight minutes before everyone else confirmed it though. I have sympathy for the LFC reporters currently because it’s difficult for anyone to know what’s happening behind the scenes anymore as the club is such a tight ship these days, but the Echo seems to always be behind everyone else now. It’s a shame really as it used to be the go to place to have rumours confirmed or denied.
     
    Thiago though. This is quite the coup and I’m obviously made up, with one caveat. If it means Gini leaves then I’m a lot less thrilled about this deal than I expect most of you are, but equally as I’ve said before maybe we do need to tweak the style and that a player like Thiago might be the next step in the evolution of this great side. If Gini stays as well then I’m over the fucking moon about it.
     
    The thing that excites me the most about it are that I can’t wait to see what it means for the style of play. Thiago is so different to anything we already have that I’d say the change he will bring will be quite drastic. He’ll help us control games because he never gives the ball away, and he should help the forwards be more productive by getting the ball to them quicker and thus giving them that extra yard of space to do their thing.
     
    In addition to what we’re getting from Thiago the player though, the other thing that I’m buzzing off is what this represents. This lad was playing for a team that has won the Bundesliga seven or eight times on the bounce and is currently (along with the Reds) the best team in Europe. They wanted him to stay and offered him a new deal and he turned it down because he wanted to come and play for us. We’re fucking massive right now. This is the place everyone wants to be.
     
    That’s huge really. Remember when we kept losing our best players to other clubs because we’d dropped out of that group of Europe’s elite teams? Now we don’t have to worry about players leaving for ‘bigger things’ because there are no bigger things. This is where it’s at. Everyone wants to play for Klopp. Of course the money isn’t there for us to go and buy anyone we want but I doubt there is a top player anywhere in Europe that wouldn’t want to play here if he could.
     
    I’ve repeatedly said that I’d have rather we signed another forward than a midfielder and I stand by that. I’d have preferred Mbappe, Sancho or even Traore over Thiago just because I feel as though we need to strengthen that area more than midfield. That being said, it was important that we signed ‘a star’ (irrespective of position even) just for the impact it has on the dressing room and on the fanbase. When you don’t sign anyone things can go a little flat and stale. 
     
    A new player though, especially someone who everyone in the dressing room will be excited about, well it just lifts everyone and raises the level of the players. That first training session with Thiago will be off the fucking scale. LFCTV should show that live and charge for it and make a fortune. They won’t, obviously, but I’m just saying, they could because we’d all pay for it.
     
    The other thing to consider here is the fee. £20m plus £5m add ons is good but it’s not that much less than Bayern were asking. We haven’t pulled their pants down on the deal, but by getting them to accept four yearly payments of £5m you have to say this is one hell of a fucking bargain, especially if Brewster brings in £25m which would over the entire deal. 
     
    This sends out a nice, timely little message to everyone else; The best just got better.
     
    Friday Sep 18:
     
    HOLY SHITBALLS!!! Not only did we finalise Thiago today, but we’re getting the fourth forward we need as well. Granted, it’s not Mbappe, Sancho or Adama, but I’m not complaining as Diogo Jota is a boss little signing. I like him a lot and had I known he was only 23 I’d probably have suggested him myself but I thought he was a journeyman in his late twenties who was as good as he was ever going to get. Turns out he’s way younger than I thought and still has room to improve and become a genuine star. 
     
    He perfectly fits the profile we look for in strikers. He’s a similar age to what the current front three were when we brought them in and I’d imagine his numbers are pretty similar to Sadio’s as he’s not too dissimilar in what he does. I don’t mean in terms of style (he’s more like Bellamy I’d say) I just mean in terms of his contributions to goals, assists and the general job he’s done at Wolves being similar to that of Sadio at Southampton. 
     
    I’d imagine his nerdy pie chart spider graph thingy is similar to Southampton Mané when it comes to dribbles, sprints, shots and all that jazz. He’s very much a signing that fits in with how we do things and he can play anywhere across that front three. The age he’s at, and the experience he has, means he’s at that point where he’s ready to kick on to the next level as Sadio, Mo and Bobby did after coming here (the main reason I didn’t want Sarr is he’s still a year or two away from that). If he does that then we have the four man rotation I’ve been calling for.
     
    There might even be times when they all play together. Sadio and Jota wide, with Bobby behind Mo. When you look at that, as well as the ridiculous options we’ve got in midfield now, we’re going to be a lot less predictable for teams to plan for because we’ve basically got it all now. These two signings tip us right over the edge and I don’t see anyone even running us close this year. What a fucking day!
     
    Oh, I should also mention Ki-Jana Hoever leaving. Disappointing that but the writing was probably on the wall for him when he was overtaken by Neco. In the long term he might end up at centre back (and I hope we have a buy back clause in there because I still feel he could be really special) but he’s not the tallest and is probably a few years away from being able to play at the level we’d need in a centre back. 
     
    I’m sure the initial plan was for him to break through as a right back but with Trent becoming the world’s best and then Neco’s rapid rise from Academy kid to first team talent there was just nowhere for Hoever to go. Letting him go makes sense, especially as we needed to raise money for Thiago and Jota.
     
    According to reports, only £4m or so of the Jota fee needs to be paid this year, and that's already been covered by the sale of Hoever.
     
    I expect we’ll see Wilson, Grujic and Origi all leave now too. Probably Shaq and Brewster as well. So by the end we’ll have ended up bringing in Jota, Tsimikas and Thiago and still coming out with a profit of around £100m.
     
    As Uncle Junior once said, “what did I tell ya, hold onto your cock when you negotiate with Michael Edwards”. Or something like that anyway, I forget.
     
    Spare a thought for Everton today though. They thought they'd won the transfer window again but not only was that taken away from them, their manager had this to say about Thiago:
     
    “Breaks my heart, breaks my heart. The only good thing about this signing is that he is a neighbour and that’s it. I think he chose the wrong team.
     
    “He could choose the blue team, not the red team. I am joking. He is a fantastic player and my friend, Jurgen, will be happy.”
     
    Ooof!!
     
    and that was the week that was…
  • The first couple of weeks of the season are a Manc free zone, so let’s enjoy that while we can because as soon as either of them has a convincing win over some turd team we’ll be subjected to the nauseating fawning over them. 
     
    The back end of last season was a joke really. All that bollocks about “resurgent United” because they looked decent against a load of slapdick bottom half teams and because Leicester and Chelsea choked like dogs to let them sneak third. They’re still majorly flawed and they’ve still got a manager who got Cardiff relegated. 
     
    Then we have City. Seemingly everyone is tipping them for the title, in many cases because of “how strong they looked after lockdown”. Did they really though? Or are people getting carried away by their flat track bully act? They lost the same amount of games as we did but the perception seems to be that they were great when footy came back and we were shite.
     
    This actually suits me just fine as I’d much rather not be the favourite, but it is a load of bollocks when you actually take a step back and look at it objectively. They shouldn’t be favourites because they’ve done nothing to suggest they’re better than us. Absolutely nothing at all.
     
    People have been completely fooled by City. They win so many games by cricket scores that it influences people into thinking that the bad results they have are somehow just a fluke. The bad results aren’t a fluke. They’re every bot as much who City are as the 6-0 wins. 
     
    City will always finish with the best goal difference because when they get on top of a bad team they pound them into the ground and keep trying to score goals right up until the end. They’ll do it again this season. There’ll be games when they score six, seven, maybe even eight (although their personal bitch Watford getting relegated makes that less likely) and everyone will be going “oh aren’t City just wonderful”. 
     
    Yeah, they are. When they have it their own way there’s nobody like them. At the risk of sounding all Neil Warnock though, the fact is they don’t like it up ‘em. Get City in a close game and you’ve got every chance of beating them. Just ask Lyon, or any of the nine Premier League sides who beat “Pep” last season. I feel like this is lost on most people though.
     
    It’s like how they’re always favourites for the Champions League even though they have zero pedigree in the competition. Why the fuck would City ever be favourites for the Champions League? There’s absolutely no logic to it as they’ve never done anything of note in Europe. Even when they seemed to have a clear path to the final this year they went and lost to a team that finished 7th in a “farmer’s league” for fucks sake. They’re about as welcome in Europe as Nigel Farage.
     
    In terms of the Premier League, on what basis do people have them being better than us? They lost nine league games last season and they finished 18 points behind us. Since then they’ve lost David Silva, while Sergio Aguero is another year older and the squad have had even more time to get sick of the sound of Guardiola’s voice, the fuckin’ weirdo. 
     
    There’s only so much “guys, come on guys… we need to play better guys… ok guys, let’s do this guys” that even the most ardent professional can tolerate before he switches off completely. So I’m not sure why everyone just assumed that last year was a blip when City’s flaws have been exposed on so many different occasions. 
     
    They’re a bully with a glass jaw. They look big and tough when they’re pounding on the weaker kids and stealing their lunch money, but as soon as anyone hits them back they run off crying (to the CAS when it was UEFA doing the hitting).
     
    If they sign Koulibaly that could certainly be a difference maker and if that happens then you could probably make a case for them being at least joint favourites with us. But as of yet they haven’t signed him, yet people are still falling over themselves to tip City for the title. It isn’t based in logic because over a sustained period of time (i.e. two full seasons) we’ve outperformed them massively and neither squad has changed much, other than City have lost Kompany and now Silva.
     
    So while I’m not shouting from the rooftops that we’ll win the title again, what I would say is that if you look at it rationally and sensibly then we should be seen as favourites, but I’m glad we’re not. I won’t be making any predictions in these round ups until we’re four or five games in though. 
     
    Actually no, I’ll make one prediction right off the bat. Fulham are going straight back down. They’re no different to how they were last time they were up. I’ll reserve judgement on Leeds (and West Brom too, I suppose) but my mind is already made up about Fulham. 
     
    They’ve got no chance of surviving, especially as that bum Tim Ream is STILL at the heart of their defence. Incredible. Nothing has changed with them since last time. They played nice football and created some chances against the Gunners, but they lost 3-0. Standard Fulham that.
     
    Lacazette got the first, new boy Gabriel shouldered in the second and Aubameyeng hit a brilliant third. That was a great move and a terrific finish. 
     
    How weird was it seeing Willian playing for Arsenal though? He’s a good signing for them as he’s already their second best player behind Aubameyeng. Arsenal will definitely have a better season than last time but how much better only time will tell. Beating Fulham isn’t an indicator of anything, as everyone will beat Fulham.
     
    Elsewhere, there’s a real dark cloud hanging over West Ham at the moment and for once it isn’t David Moyes. In fact, much as I enjoy ripping into Moyes the fact is he actually did a decent enough job last season in keeping them up. They ended the season in encouraging form, with Antonio scoring goals and there generally being a more upbeat vibe about the place.
     
    That’s gone now though. The fans fucking hate the owners though, and who can blame them? I hate them and they don’t have anything to do with my club. Sullivan, Gold and Brady are the reason I wanted West Ham to go down last season. Other than them (and Moyes, obviously), I’ve got no beef with the Hammers.
     
    I still want them to go down this year but at the same time I do feel sorry for the fans. This isn’t a Newcastle situation where I just think the fans have the owner they deserve. West Ham’s fans have done nothing to deserve these fuckers. 
     
    The unrest has really increased in recent weeks due to their transfer activity. No signings of any note and they sold some kid who had looked good in pre-season and who the club apparently had high hopes for. Things are so bad that club captain Mark Noble took to twitter to express his disapproval at that decision. I like Mark Noble. It’s not a popular view but I think he’s sound and him speaking out against how the club is being run only reaffirmed that.
     
    COVID is the best thing that could have happened for West Ham’s owners as it means no fans in the ground to protest. Can you imagine the unrest there’d be if fans were in the London Stadium right now?
     
    They were convincingly beaten at home by Newcastle and Moyes even admitted as much afterwards.  The Geordies have done some good business this summer. Jamaal Lewis was good enough to attract a bid from us so he’s quite the coup for them. Ryan Fraser may be a turd and a wretched individual (© Simon Jordan) but he improves their squad significantly, as does Jeff Hendrick, while Callum Wilson is EXACTLY what they needed. He will definitely score goals for them. 
     
    He broke the deadlock at West Ham with a poachers effort at the near post and Hendrick’s smart finish wrapped up the win. I could even see them finishing in the top ten this year but I’ll hold off on that for another few weeks.
     
    Can’t believe Southampton lost at Palace though. They were one of the form teams of the second half of last season and looked to be heading in the complete opposite direction of struggling Palace. I had them down as a banker there but Palace are the absolute fucking masters of the “how the fuck did they win that” result.
     
    Zaha got the only goal of the game when he volleyed in a cross by Townsend. Other than that it was mostly Southampton but they couldn’t beat an inspired Gueita in the Palace goal, while in fairness Zaha could easily have had a hat-trick and looked very dangerous. Looks like he might have to stay at Palace another year unless something drastic happens.
     
    The most interesting thing that happened in this game was a red card for Kyle Walker-Peters that was overturned after a VAR review. This was great, really encouraging. Fat Jon Moss got it badly wrong as although the kid was high he didn’t really catch the Palace player. It was never a red card in a million years although in real speed I could maybe see why Moss may have thought it was worse than it was.
     
    So Craig Pawson has a look and then tells Moss to go and check it out on the monitor to see what he thinks. Moss has a look and changes his mind. That’s exactly how this thing was supposed to work when it was brought in. So how come we had that entire year of complete bollocks last season? 
     
    It’s really not difficult, just let the on field ref use the tech and then either stick with his decision or change it. If he sees the video and STILL gets in wrong then we can all hammer the cunt. Which no doubt we will when Moss hands out yet another phantom pen to United and then stands by his horrific decision. It will happen. You know it will.
     
    Still, I can’t believe I’m saying this and the likelihood of it happening against at any point this season is virtually non-existent, but…. well done Jon Moss.
     
    Sidenote on this one. Southampton’s kits this season are sexy as fuck by the way. They wore the away shirt in this one but the home one is even nicer. Just lovely.
     
    Ok, so I know I said I wasn’t making any predictions yet but fuck it. West Brom are going down too. Them and Fulham plus one more as yet unnamed team. There’s just no way either of those are staying up though. I’m prepared for the possibility that I might be writing the Baggies off too early, but no way are Fulham proving me wrong.
     
    West Brom were beaten easily in the end by Leicester but the first half was pretty even. The game changes when new signing Castagne stole in at the back post to head Brendan’s boys into the lead and after that they never looked back. 
     
    He’s their only signing so far despite them bringing in a huge fee for Chilwell. He’s a right back, but they’re well stocked there with Ricardo and James Justin. Why not sign a left back, Brendan? He’s proper shite at transfers isn’t he? Do Leicester have a transfer committee he can blame? What’s Aly Cissokho doing these days?
     
    Vardy then doubled Leicester’s lead with a penalty. Bit of a soft decision as it looked like an accidental off the ball collision. He added another penalty to make it 3-0 late on. This was a stonewaller. Vardy always scores against West Brom and their fans fucking hate him. He's always rubbing their noses in it when he scores and even though the stadium was empty he still couldn't help himself and ran to the home end cupping his ears. Top notch shithousing as usual from Vardy.
     
    Final note from this. I’d forgotten just how much I hate James Maddison’s face as I hadn’t seen him since before lock down. His face and his hair is proper annoying. I feel the same way about him that my mum did about Lallana for all those years. Some faces and haircuts just rub you up the wrong way I suppose.
     
    One face that I most certainly hadn’t forgotten how much I hate is that Richarlison cunt. I hate his face even more now he’s bleached his hair. I actually think he’s the player I hate the most in the entire league, he’s just such a massive cunt. I’d never tire of slapping him and I reckon Calvert-Lewin probably feels the same way. 
     
    That chance he wasted when all he had to do was cut back to an un-marked Calvert-Lewin was a fucking disgrace. Greedy selfish prick.
     
    On another day it might have cost Everton but not this day, because Spurs were terrible. Calvert-Lewin superbly headed in the only goal of the game to give them a rare win away at Spurs. Lot of nonsense being spouted about this new look Everton and how much stronger they are with their new signings. They’re still shite and they’re in debt up to their eyeballs. House of cards that is.
     
    Spurs are shite too. There’s just no fun about them anymore. It’s all very dull and stoic these days. Maybe Gareth Bale can give them the spark that’s missing but I suspect it’s going to take more than him to completely cancel out the Mourinho effect. They’re just so fucking uninspiring and if they had fans in the ground I suspect there’d be plenty of unrest at how they’re playing. The results have been ok since lockdown ended but they’re boring as fuck to watch.
     
    Doherty is a good signing I think. I like him a lot. Hoijberg not so much. It’s going to be fascinating to see what Bale does though. He was amazing in his last few seasons with Spurs before he left but he seems to be injured a hell of a lot and it remains to be seen how he’ll cope with being asked to play as a second left back in Mourinho’s 6-4-0 system he uses in big games.
     
    Onto Monday now, where there was actually TWO games played. Why were Wolves and Sheffield United playing at teatime? Is this how it’s going to be now, because fans aren’t in the ground no-one gives a shit what time games kick off anymore? I don’t like this. I understand that each game needs to be televised, but this is shit. There were only four games on Saturday
     
    Wolves won this game inside the opening six minutes when they scored twice. A lovely controlled finish by Jimenez set them on their way and Seiss added a second with a great header from a corner.
     
    By the time the Blades had settled the damage was already done. Wolves could have scored more as they hit the woodwork twice. They look to be the best equipped of the “non big six” clubs to break into the top six this season. They should be thinking they can finish above Spurs at least. Maybe Arsenal too. 
     
    Mendez FC are going to be interesting this season as they’ve made a few new signings. It looks like my boy Adama is going to be playing wing back as they’re completely stacked with forwards but sold Matt Doherty to Spurs. Playing Traore there is either going to be a masterstroke or an absolute waste of his talent. 
     
    Maybe he’ll get pissed off and demand a transfer, and we can do a swap with Wilson, Origi and Grujic. What would I give for that? I’m so desperate for us to sign him that if that happened I’d even be willing to oil up his muscles before games. Who’s with me? Let’s grease up this beefcake, gang….
     
     
     
    Chelsea have been getting a lot of positive press too after all the new signings they’ve made. They look to have bought well but there are two reasons why I’m not yet too concerned about them. Firstly, Frank Lampard. His teams concede shitloads of goals and there’s nothing as yet to suggest he’s a top level manager. Secondly, their keeper is SHITE.
     
    It’s funny really. Lampard was lauded last year for bucking the Chelsea trend of spending big and instead concentrating on bringing through young players like Tomori, Hudson-Odoi, Mount, James and Abraham. As soon as their ban was lifted though what happened? Bish bash bosh, two hundred million spent and most of the kids are out in the cold.
     
    James is still in the side and he scored a cracker as they beat Brighton 3-1. It wasn’t the most convincing performance and Brighton gave as good as they got, despite losing Lallana to a first half injury. The poor bastard, it’s just really sad. Hopefully he isn’t out too long but his body just can’t cope with the demands of top flight footy anymore can it? He’s got the same cheese string muscles that Sturridge has and it’s such a shame.
     
    Anyway, Chelsea had taken the lead courtesy of a Jorginho pen (he might be the best in the business as he just never looks like he’s going to miss) but Trossard lashed in an equaliser. Plenty of fingers pointed at Kepa for that, and rightly so. He’s the Spanish Brad Jones.
     
    James hammered in from 25 yards to put Chelsea ahead again before Zouma’s scruffy late deflected effort killed off Brighton. In between those two Chelsea goals though Lewis Dunk missed an absolute sitter at the back post. We’ve got Chelsea next week though so my lips are sealed until then, and if the football fates can just forget everything I’ve written about Timo Werner these last few months too that would be appreciated.
  • Paul Merson is the latest Football figure casting doubt on whether Liverpool can retain their league title this season.

    The Reds won their first game of the new season against Leeds, but were made to fight every step of the way against the newly promoted side.

    That performance carrying over from their lacklusture form to end the last campaign has sparked discussion whether they have the squad depth required to go again.

    So far Liverpool has only added Greek left back Kostas Tsimikas in the transfer window to date, but Speaking on Sky Sports (via Metro), Merson says more is required 

    “Liverpool could easily drop to fourth.

    ‘You look at the goals Liverpool let in against Leeds: wow. I just think they turned up and thought they would wipe the floor with Leeds. ‘

    “I think they need to buy someone. 

    “It would not surprise me if the finished fourth this season, and I thought that before this game.
     
    ‘It’s the same team, and they have a massive amount of players who have to play every week 
     


    “Virgil van Dijk cannot get injured. The full-backs cannot get injured. They have not got anyone to replace the front three if they are injured.

    Merson says in contrast, the Reds chief title rival will be able to cover losses.

    “If Man City get injuries, they will just play.

    “We’ll score more goals than you” anyway. 

    “What we’ll see later in the season is teams like Man City come into the fold massively, because their squad is too big. 

    “That’s why I worry about Liverpool, there’s five or six players who must play week in, week out, otherwise the team is weakened immensely.’

    Merson’s comments follow on the back on former Reds striker Peter Crouch saying that he noticed a bit complacency of late.

    Crouch is certainly not as pessimistic as Merson when it comes to the fortunes of Liverpool this season, but says some new faces would help their prospects.

    “Liverpool are still my idea of champions and their squad is fantastic but there are always areas that need some investment.

    “I looked at the defence against Leeds. They have got three great players in Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip but I believe they could do with another addition there, as I wouldn't want to see Fabinho used as the fourth-choice central defender.

    “Look at the second goal they conceded, to Patrick Bamford. It was a rare mistake by Van Dijk that had a hint of complacency about it. Does he make the same mistake if Liverpool have signed a central defender this summer and pressure is being applied to his place? 

    “Competition raises your standards by an extra one or two per cent."

    Crouch also believes that the front line may need some tinkering and says his old club missed a trick in not signing the highly rated German talent in Timo Werner.

    “There are only so many times Mohamed Salah, who bailed out his team, and Sadio Mane can produce heroics. 

    “Adding another midfielder — such as Bayern Munich's Thiago Alcantara — or back-up striker would be welcomed. I have a feeling they missed a trick not getting Timo Werner."

    There are some valid points and something that many fans have raised during the off-season.

    At the end of the day, if Jurgen is content with what he has at his disposal and he sees these players on a daily basis, then who are we to argue?
     
  • Turkish club Fenerbache are leading a long list of clubs in acquiring the services of striker Divock Origi according to reports.

    The Mirror reports that a number of Premier League clubs including Aston Villa, Newcastle, Brighton and Fulham have registered an interest, but according to Turkish journalist Ekrem Konor, Fenerbache have made direct enquiries with the Reds.

    The club is said to be open to letting the Belgian striker leave providing the Turkish giants pay a loan fee which will include a obligation to buy clause and Konor said the fee stipulated by Liverpool is around £14 million.
     


    Origi has come to the period of his career where some defining decisions have to be made.

    As someone who has got a contract with the Reds until 2024, the striker who has made 140 appearances in his five seasons at the club is well within his rights to see that out.

    But he will do so in the knowledge that he will be in the backup role to the current front three and regular first team minutes will be at a premium.

    Therefore, Origi who is still only 25 may look to greener pastures where having learnt from the best, can take it upon his shoulders to be the leader of the front line.

    Whatever happens from this moment, Origi will comfortably sit in the category of Liverpool cult heroes having played a major role in getting a undermanned Liverpool side past Barcelona in the iconic Champions League semi final last season and then scoring in the final against Tottenham.



     
  • Not really sure what to think about this. First and foremost I’m relieved we won and contrary to what many seem to be saying, it was completely, totally, 100% deserved. We were by far the better team and created a shitload more chances than Leeds did. We made it unnecessarily hard for ourselves but as this team so often does, they came through to take the points.
     
    So that’s a good thing. The ability to just ‘find a way’ is great and that’s what separated us from Man City last year. When the going gets tough, they lose matches whereas we win them. It would be nice if we didn’t make it so hard for ourselves so often though, and just what the fuck has happened to the defence? 
     
    We’ve gone from being by far the tightest unit in the league to looking like Brendan’s 2014 vintage. Since lockdown the amount of goals we’ve shipped has been alarming. At the back end of last season we could put it down to the lack of intensity after winning the league, but what’s the excuse for this one? 
     
    Rustiness maybe, but I think it’s deeper than that. We’re conceding loads of goals since fans were no longer allowed in to stadiums. It’s hurting us more than anyone and I don’t just mean the ‘Anfield atmosphere’ thing either. Even having a hostile crowd helps with focus, intensity and concentration.
     
    With no fans these games look like training sessions at times and as a result we’re making stupid mistakes and generally not being as switched on as we normally would. That edge that everyone has when playing in front of a packed stadium isn’t there and it’s causing a casualness and lack of focus. 
     
    The lack of intensity in games also doesn’t help us. We’re great when we’re full throttle but when we drop off a touch we’re not as good with or without the ball. I just don’t think this game plays out like this in front of a full house, but there’s no way of proving that one way or the other I guess.
     
    In fairness to Leeds, two of their goals were excellently worked. I can pick holes in how we defended them but it was nice football by them. One of their goals was a gift though, an absolute disgrace in fact. There’s been a real stench of complacency about our defensive play since football returned a couple of months ago. I’m not sure if that’s going to go away until fans are back, but hopefully this serves as the kick up the arse that we need, 
     
    The back four looked ropey for all of the first half and parts of the second. It wasn’t just because of them though. Leeds players seemed to be picking the ball up in space between our midfield and defence much too easily. There were gaps everywhere and the absence of Fabinho was noticeable. Why that was I can’t say. Maybe Hendo was a little rusty or maybe it was because Naby was in the midfield three? 
     
    Fabinho not being selected didn’t surprise me at all. Normally it would, but as I wrote in the diary this week, Klopp had a right go at him last week against Blackpool and subbed him at half time. I wondered if there was something to that, and him not starting this game tells me there was and that a message was being sent. 
     
    The message might have been more effective if we hadn’t had to send him an SOS to go on and shore up the midfield, but hopefully whatever issue there may have been has been sorted, because we’re a better team with both him and Hendo playing rather than just the one of them. 
     
    Fab was belatedly brought on to replace Keita. I was a little surprised by that, more so because I didn’t expect Hendo to last as long as he did. Naby could have no complaints.
     
    This was one of those games where both factions in the “Keita wars” saw the game completely differently. I saw people outraged that he was subbed and I saw others who couldn’t believe he lasted as long as he did. I don’t really know where I stand on this, because I didn’t think he had a bad game as such, but it does concern me that whenever he plays we seem to be wide open and the opposition finds all sorts of space in front of our defence.
     
    He’s really good at winning the ball high up the pitch and did it a few times in this game. They would have led to chances too if the forwards had made better decisions (mostly Bobby). Yet there always seem to be gaps when Keita is on the pitch. Maybe I’m imagining that and it’s more how I perceive it than it is reality, but that’s how it feels. 
     
    I can see plenty of positive things with him but I don’t get how his fanboys can be so vociferous about how great he is. The jury is still well and truly out and if we had to lose one midfielder to make room for Thiago I’d rather it was Keita than Wijnaldum. I’m not saying I’d sell him, by the way, just that he’s the one I’m least convinced by.
     
    Anyway, I’ve gotten a little sidetracked. So let’s get back to the game and go through the goals. We drew first blood from the penalty spot. Amazing that there are people disputing that decision as it’s just blatant. 
     
    I’m one who generally gives the defender the benefit on handball decisions, but when the arm is outstretched like that, away from the body, then it’s just a pen all day. So what if it hit his knee first? His arm is still needless out well away from his side. Apparently they’ve changed that law anyway so this was undoubtedly a pen.
     
    Mo stepped up and buried it right down the middle. I’m not a fan of the down the middle pen as generally it’s risky if you do it too often. For example, I reckon I’d save half of Troy Deeney’s pens just by standing still and letting it hit me. 
     
    Mo occasionally goes down the middle but he’s also gone everywhere else too. He mixes them up nicely though and with that wide run up he has it’s almost impossible to read where he’s going. So if a keeper saves a pen from him it’s because he made a lucky guess as there’s no way you can tell from his run up where he’s going.
     
    Leeds levelled when their left sided player got away from Trent, cut inside and then beat Alisson with a low shot. Initially I thought it was weak as fuck from Trent. He should have made a challenge but held off. Then I watched the replay and he only held off because Gomez arrived on the scene and kind of got in his way while not making a challenge either. Needs better communication from them really. Good goal from the lad though.
     
    Virgil then headed in from a Robbo corner to restore our lead. Some nice movement in the box to clear a path for him and the header was so powerful that the keeper caught it on the line and ended up three yards behind it.
     
    Virg then undid that good work with an appalling piece of defending to gift a goal to my boy and fellow Bon Jovi enthusiast Patrick Bamford. I Always hated him until I realised that he was just Misunderstood and that he has the same excellent musical taste as me. Good Guys Don’t Always Wear White, but Patrick does. 
     
    It’s been a Roller Coaster ride for him at Leeds but it hasn’t exactly been a Bed of Roses for him lately with constant speculation about him being replaced. He’s Unbreakable though is Patrick. When he’s feeling like a Monday he tells himself “Someday I’ll be Saturday Night”. This was Saturday night for him and he dished out some Bad Medicine to us. 
     
    There’s not enough patience in football These Days and this could be the Last Chance Train for Bamford, but I can’t help thinking it might be a Breakout season for him if Leeds Keep the Faith. 
     
    Ok ok relax, I’m done with the Bon Jovi references now but I have No Regrets about any of them and I make No Apologies.
     
    Virgil though. Jesus. Talk about over-confidence. I know he’s done shit like this before and it’s come off, and to be fair we all buzz off it when it does, but this was different because he was too close to his own goal and Alisson was completely stranded because of it. Just fucking head it away and stop showing off.
     
    Mo then rifled in a stunner to make it 3-2 before half time. Ridiculously good strike that, right into the top corner. He’d looked dangerous every time he had the ball and you could see how up for it he was. Sadio had some good moments too but he faded the longer the game went on I thought.
     
    Anyway, at 3-2 I just assumed we’d run away with out, especially having had the half time break to sort out the defensive sloppiness and get everyone refocused. If we’d have scored the next goal I think that’s how it would have played out.
     
    The second half was going well. We were creating chances and - especially after the introduction of Fabinho - looked to have taken the sting out Leeds. Then Henderson was replaced by Jones and immediately we conceded. The change had a direct impact on it too as Curtis didn’t track the runner into the box. 
     
    It’s not a strength of his and this is the kind of thing he obviously needs to work on, but he had literally just stepped onto the field so it’s understandable that there may have been confusion as to who should have been picking the guy up. It may have been partly on Gini too, although he had his back to the runner whereas Curtis could see him, so it’s mostly on the kid. As I say though, he had only just come on and it’s difficult to be immediately in tune with everything that’s happening.
     
    He was terrific aside from that. Demanding the ball, showing great confidence and composure and generally being really positive. It was a real vote of confidence in him that he was sent on ahead of Milner and Minamino and he’s got to be very close to getting a start soon. And not just a “let’s give the kid a game and see how he does” type of start. I mean a genuine, “he deserves to be starting ahead of the senior lads” kind of start. He’s getting closer to that with each week now.
     
    Prior to that goal I didn’t think Leeds had really threatened at all, but because we squandered chances to get the fourth goal there is always the risk that something like that could happen. The lad took the goal superbly and one thing Leeds did all day was flood the box when they had the opportunity. They’ll score goals this season but they’ll probably conceded a ton as well.
     
    Had we been sharper in front of goal they’d have been utterly embarrassed in this game. All this talk about how well they played and how unlucky they were. It’s being hugely overblown. Had we been more clinical we’d have put seven or eight past them.
     
    We weren’t clinical though, and we haven’t really been for some time. Is Bobby becoming a problem? No-one wants to really say it because we love him and he still does enough to remind us all of what he’s capable of and how important he can be, but he’s definitely not playing at the level he was.
     
    Even in this game when he struggled, there was some lovely stuff from him. Not least the graceful turn away in his own half to start a counter attack that would have been a contender for greatest goal ever if Sadio had found the top corner instead of the middle rows of the Kop. Is it enough though? 
     
    I suppose the obvious answer to that is yes it is, because we won the league. When outsiders question him I’m the first to become defensive and dismiss the criticism, yet I do feel like it’s starting to becoming a thing and he needs a few goals just to nip this in the bud.
     
    I know what he brings to the team can’t always be measured by goals, but I don’t think he’s even doing those things especially well of late (by ‘of late’ I’m talking the best part of a year). The one thing I do know is that since the beginning of last season I’ve lost count of the number of games where he’s either been subbed or he was lucky he wasn’t. 
     
    There was a time when you’d never even consider bringing him off, but now it feels as though half the games he plays I’m thinking “Bobby needs hooking” before we even reach the hour mark. Why is that?
     
    Firstly, he’s actually become TOO unselfish. The thing that made him so great is now holding him back because his first instinct in any given situation now seems to be to look for the pass. Shooting is almost a last resort. The early chance when Keita played him in and he tried to square it is a perfect case in point.
     
    Secondly, when he does have clear chances himself he isn’t putting them away with the regularity he did a couple of years ago. I know I go on about this all the time and I’m even boring myself with it now. But the fact is he scored 26 goals in 17/18 while still doing all the things that we love him for.
     
    Bottom line, he needs to sharpen up his finishing. The chance he missed not long before we got the winning penalty was a fucking disgrace. I don’t even think that shot was hitting the target before the defender blocked it. You have to take chances like that, there’s just no getting away from it.
     
    He’s incredibly fortunate that we won the penalty almost immediately, because if we’d dropped points here then that miss would be the big thing people would be looking at.
     
    Thankfully Fabinho forced Rodrigo into a lazy, careless challenge and we were awarded our second penalty of the game. Again, it was blatant and no more than we deserved, especially after Van Dijk had seen a perfectly good goal ruled out for a phantom foul by Jones.
     
    That pissed me right off because it was beautifully crafted by us. Virgil spun away and ran around the back of a pack of players. There was nowhere for the defender to go so he tried to squeeze through a tiny gap between Jones and his marker and tripped over. Fuck all wrong with that.
     
    It didn’t matter in the end because Mo buried another penalty with aplomb (this time putting it in the corner) to give us the points late on. We shouldn’t have to score four goals to win but it’s nice to know we can when it’s needed.
     
    It’s hard not to be at least a little worried about Firmino though, while at the other end Alisson isn’t having his most productive period either. I’m not saying the goals that we’ve conceded since lockdown ended are his fault by any means. 
     
    It might just be a statistical anomaly but he isn’t making many saves. According to a statto I follow on Twitter, he’s saved 17 of the last 35 shots he’s faced, which is really not good. For perspective, there was a period last season when he saved 50/54.
     
    Obviously there are various factors that contribute to this, not least the quality of shot he’s facing. It’s the kind of thing that used to happen all the time under the Mig though. Teams would have three shots on target and two of them would go in. Leeds actually scored three from three in this game.
     
    Were any of them Alisson’s fault? No. Would he normally save at least one of those? Quite possibly, but who knows really? I suspect it’s just one of those weird statistical thing that happen now and again and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he’s the hero against Chelsea or Arsenal in the coming weeks.
     
    So all in all, I’m made up with the win if not necessarily the way it was achieved. It wasn’t an enjoyable experience at all though. It would have been had I been sat in my seat in the Main Stand. I’d have come out buzzing and the focus would have been on what a thrilling game it was in what would no doubt have been an electric atmosphere. It’s shit that we’re missing out on this.
     
    The first home game of the season is one of the best days of the year. I fucking love it. The sun is always shining, meeting the lads before the game and catching up after the summer, and then there’s the buzz of walking up to the ground. Even better is the buzz of walking up the steps and seeing the immaculate pitch. Then YNWA before kick off. It’s just fucking great, and we’ve been robbed of it this year. And this year would have had an extra edge because it was Leeds.
     
    So yeah there’s a lot of depressing aspects of not being able to go the match, but near the top of it is being subjected to Martin Tyler. He’s the fucking worst, I hate him. He may as well have been wearing a Leeds shirt, a flat cap and had a ferret down his trousers while breeding whippets and racing pigeons. 
     
    Actually, is a ferret down the trousers an actual Yorkshire stereotype or did I just make that one up? Whatever, you get the point. Tyler was rooting for Leeds with every fibre of his being. Which would be fine if he has the same approach when they play City or United, but he won’t. The cunt.
     
    Then there was his constant over pronunciation of “Hhhhhhockkkkkkkkk” just because he didn’t want to say ‘cock’, the fucking cock. He ruined my enjoyment of this game even more than our wretched defending did. The sooner he’s put out top pasture with ‘Motty’ the happier I’ll be.
     
    To be fair he wasn’t the only one going completely overboard about Leeds. You’d think they had stood there and gone toe to toe with us, creating chance after chance and just being desperately unlucky to be beaten by a late penalty. That’s not how it was. Yeah they had a go and played some nice stuff, but they had three chances and scored from all of them. That’s not going to happen very often.
     
    So while I find their style to be refreshing and I actually hope they do alright, I’m not buying the Leeds hype yet. In fact, I won’t be forming any judgement on them for at least another month because I had my fingers burnt last year with Norwich and I won’t be falling into that trap again. 
     
    Yeah, Norwich. Remember them? The newly promoted team that came to Anfield on opening night last year and conceded four, just like Leeds did. Norwich were brilliant that night and created a lot more chances than Leeds did. They didn’t take any of them though. Still, everyone said “well if they play like that against everyone else they’ll do just fine”. How’d that work out for them?
     
    Most newly promoted teams start off like a runaway train because they’ve come from a division in which they’ve been top dogs and are used to playing attacking football. You don’t get promoted by parking the bus, so it stands to reason that when these teams come up they’re going to do what got them to the dance in the first place.
     
    It’s only after a few tonkings they realise that they need to tighten it up a bit. In the case of Fulham two years ago and Norwich last year, they never realised it at all and just kept on entertaining (and losing). So yeah, Leeds looked lively against us but we’ll see how they do when they go to Bramall Lane or how they fare when they have to break down Sean Dyche’s lads.
     
    So anyway, we started with a win and perhaps we’ll benefit from the sloppiness. Maybe it’s a wake up call we needed, because the fixtures over the coming weeks are more difficult than this one and we can’t afford to be so lax in defence against better sides, because we might not be able to score four against them.
     
    Star man is Mo, who was fucking sensational from first minute to last. He looks like a man on a mission to regain the Golden Boot and to put himself back into the Balon d’Or conversation. I’m seeing a lot of talk of him not getting the credit he deserves and how now he’s going to show everyone. I reckon that’s bollocks to be honest. He gets the credit relating to what his performances merit.
     
    The season he scored 44 goals he was the king of the world. He was the name on everyone’s lips and arguably the biggest global star in the game. Since then he’s been scoring around half that amount, so yeah he isn’t being spoken about in the same glowing terms but no-one is saying he isn’t a top player. 
     
    He didn’t make the PFA Team of the Year because he didn’t deserve to. He was probably close and it wouldn’t have been out of line if he had, but he can’t have any complaints about not getting in ahead of the likes of Sadio, Vardy and Aubameyeng.
     
    So let’s put all this “Mo is disrespected” talk on hold shall we. I hope as much as anyone that he goes on another goal rampage this season and hits forty again, but I’m not going to put the cart before the horse just because he scored a hat-trick (including two pens) against Leeds.
     
    I made that mistake late last season when he looked like dynamite against Bournemouth and I said he’d chase down Vardy for the Golden Boot. I don’t think he scored another goal after that. So yeah, one swallow doesn’t make a summer and I’ll need to see him put a consistent run of games together before I start declaring that “King Mo” is back.
     
    This was a great start though as I thought he just looked head and shoulders above everybody else on the pitch. I’m excited by it, I just hope he can keep it up and doesn’t go and miss three one v ones next week at Chelsea. 
     
    As for the rest, some were alright, some were below par and some (Trent and to a lesser extent Hendo) were rustier than a 10 year old patio set that’s been left out in the rain all that time. 
     
    That’s to be expected though really and it might be another month before everyone is fully back in the groove as pre-season was basically a non-event this year.
     
    If we can get through the first five games unscathed then we’ll take some stopping again, but I’d feel a lot more confident about that if the stadiums were full.
     
     
    Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold (Matip), Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson (Jones), Wijnaldum, Keita (Fabinho); Salah, Firmino, Mané:
  • Saturday Sep 5:
     
    L 7 Blackpool 2 The scoreline doesn’t really tell the story here, as we were shite for a significant part of this game and only really ran away with it when Blackpool started to make changes. We deservedly went 2-0 down. Koumetio was caught out for the opener but that was as much on Salah as it was him. The pass to the kid was shite and put him in a difficult spot.
     
    Then Alisson was culpable for the second goal. It might not have been in the box but it was close enough that he can have no complaints that a pen was given. Of course he got nowhere near the spot kick because he never does (hopefully there’s some nice reverse jinxing going on there).
     
    Matip headed us back into it just before the break and the second half was massively improved as the goals flowed. Nice for Elliott to get a goal and for Taki to get himself another. He looked lively again.
     
    I’m not reading anything into the poor first half performance as it’s pre-season and we had our entire back four away on international duty, but there’s just a weird vibe about us at the moment, on and off the pitch.  
     
    Considering we should be on such a massive high, it doesn’t feel like that does it? Loads of fans are unsettled about the lack of transfer activity and the team looks a bit flat, although it is pre-season and it’s stupid to form any opinions - good or bad - based on these friendlies.
     
    I do have concerns about the front three though, as I’ve written quite regularly over the summer. Minamino has been our liveliest forward recently while Jones looks like he’s the most creative player in the squad right now. Hopefully when the season kicks off we’ll see the ‘big three’ step it up a gear but I’d feel a lot better about things if we added another one into the mix. Bobby looked very good today though, at least.
     
    Klopp wasn’t happy at all in the first half of this and the pitchside mic picked him up having a go at Fabinho telling him “make a challenge, be in the right places”. He subbed him at half time too. Don’t know if there’s anything sinister in that or if it was pre-planned. 
     
    By the way, I’ve skipped a few days since the end of the last diary as I want to get back to the Saturday/Friday format now that the season is upon us again, and there’s been virtually nothing of note to talk about this past week anyway. The one significant bit of news was Messi staying put, which surprises no-one really as it felt like a power play right from the start, and as soon as it became clear that he wasn’t going to be allowed to just walk away this was always the most likely scenario.
     
    Tell you what though, he’s a proper scheming little fucking diva isn’t he? Ronaldo was always the one who got pilloried for his arrogance and selfishness but this fella is just as egotistical on the sly. Hope we play Barca this year so we can make him cry again. 
     
    Sunday Sep 6:
     
    I saw Robbo was trending on twitter and I panicked and thought he might be injured. Turns out it was just a load of ‘Tierney Nonces’ posting about how shite he is when isn’t surrounded by the great players he plays with for us. If you think Kieran Tierney is better than Andy Robbo then you need to start watching a different sort, because footy isn’t for you. 
     
    Meanwhile, Neco scores a last minute winer for Wales on his home debut. Nice. That’ll be great for his confidence as I don’t think he’s been at his best in the last few first team games he’s had for us. He was fucking brilliant to start with but just the last two or three times he’s played he’s had some struggles. He’ll come back flying now after this hopefully.
     
    Sheyi Ojo joins Cardiff on loan. Anyone even remember that he was still our player? I’d completely forgotten about him. I thought he was permanent at Rangers but he was only on loan. I’d imagine this will be his last loan deal and then he’ll just be sold for whatever we can get for him. Talented player but really inconsistent.
     
    Moving on, and the latest on Thiago is that he’s now saying stuff like “I’ve never said I’m leaving Bayern” and he made a comment about “going home” after international duty. Home being Bayern. Proper bored of this now. Reports in Spain today claim that Barcelona want him. You know what, they can fucking have him and we’ll keep Gini. I’m good with that. 
     
    Monday Sep 7:
     
    Foden and Greenwood are sent home from international duty after bringing a couple of local girls to their room. Ordinarily this wouldn’t be a big deal (unless you happen to be Foden’s long time girlfriend of course) but pulling this shit when in a bubble, in a foreign country and under strict orders to follow the rules is pretty fucking bad I reckon. It just shows a total lack of respect for Southgate. 
     
    If I was Southgate I wouldn’t pick either of these upstart cunts again for a long time. Not that he’ll be there for a long time of course, but if by some miracle he is. They wouldn’t have done this if they feared or respected Southgate. That’s probably as much on him as them actually as he’s such a fucking wet lettuce. This is his chance to set an example.
     
    This wouldn’t have happened under Capello. Or Sven, albeit for completely different reasons. Capello ruled with an iron fist, whereas it wouldn’t have happened on Sven’s watch because those birds would have already been in his room, the smooth old bastard.
     
    Meanwhile, “Hamez” has signed for the Blues. Quite the fall from grace that. One minute you’re the young superstar of the World Cup and signing for Real Madrid, and then six years later you’re being unveiled at the Pit. Still, at least he’s got experience of dealing with disgusting little fucking creatures clinging onto him, so he’ll be sound when the fans are allowed back in.
     

     
    So Power Shift FC have won the transfer window again and they’re also declaring themselves the social media kings now because “Hamez” has around 14m more instagram followers than LFC. Mostly Real and Bayern fans who simply haven’t unfollowed him yet, but regardless, they can have this one. When’s the parade? 
     
    Oh wait, hold on a second, news just in…. turns out that a lowly minority stakeholder in the Reds has…. *checks LeBron’s page*  71.8m followers. Better cancel that parade then. Unless they can somehow pull off the signing of Taylor Swift maybe? She’s got 140m followers and is probably a better keeper than Pickford.
     
    Tuesday Sep 8:
     
    Trent is PFA Young Player of the Year. I’m relieved, because if anyone other than him had won it I’d never have been able to get over the ridiculousness of it. I don’t think there has ever been a more obvious decision in the history of this award as he was soooooo far ahead of everyone else. Take Trent out of the equation and it would have been close (I’d have probably gone for Shagger Greenwood), but Trent was so far ahead of the rest that not even the PFA members could fuck this one up.
     
    Meanwhile, as expected, De Bruyne got the senior award. Hendo might have won it if it hadn’t been postponed, but post lockdown he didn’t play and De Bruyne was fantastic so this was the right call too. Congratulations to him, great player and a top fella. Deserves better than to be associated with that absolute cunt of a club. 
     
    Probably the only person less arsed than me that Hendo didn’t win it is Hendo himself. He actually comes across as the type of fella who’d rather not win any individual award as the team is the only thing that matters to him. We had four players on the shortlist of six, which probably did Hendo’s chances no favours as the LFC vote was split whereas KDB was City’s best player by light years.
     
    Five of our lads made the team of the season too, which is about right I’d say. The only one who missed out who probably should have made it was Alisson, although the two injuries he had probably counted against him. I don’t begrudge Nick Pope his spot in the team, and Vardy and Aubameyeng getting in is fine too. 
     
    Soyuncu though?? Much like his team, he had a great first half to the season and a poor second half. Still, him getting in is another slap in the face to the Mancs for spending so much on Maguire only to see his replacement at Leicester do even better. Of course it would have counted for much more if Leicester hadn’t completely fucking choked away a top four spot and allowed United to sneak in the back door.
     
    ‘Spanish Scholes’ getting in was the thing that really pissed me off. It was a team of the season, not a ‘let’s pay tribute to someone who’s had a good career and is leaving for pastures new XI’. Absolute joke that he got picked. Most charitable selection since Giggs was named Player of the Year when he was 45 or something. Fuck David Silva, the little gobshite.
     
    Wednesday Sep 9:
     
    What the fuck? Reports from the LFC patch journos claim that Brewster can go out on loan for the season but that if anyone offers £25m then we’re prepared to sell him. Look, if you’ve been reading this feature for a while you’ll know I’m not completely sold on Brewster and if you put a gun to my head and ask me if he’s good enough or not then I’d say ‘not’.
     
    But selling him before he’s even really had a chance to show what he can do? I would most definitely NOT be on board with that, mainly because I’d question the reasoning behind it. Would he be being sold for football or financial reasons? It would seem to be the latter. I don’t think it will happen but if it does LFC Twitter will go fucking mental and for once I wouldn’t blame them.
     
    Also today, Lovren posts a picture of a letter and present sent to him by Hendo, and it’s fucking awesome. Everyone should have a friend like Hendo. What a guy.
     
    The season starts on Saturday and frankly I couldn’t possibly be less excited. I think it has to be that we’re not allowed in to games. It just doesn’t feel like a new season is starting. I should be looking forward to meeting up with the lads before the game and strolling up to Anfield in glorious sunshine. There's nothing quite like the opening home game of the season.
     
    Instead I have no buzz whatsoever and from talking to a lot of other Reds I’m not alone. Maybe it will all change with a thumping win over Leeds, but right now I’m just not feeling it.
     
    Thursday Sep 10:
     
    Klopp does an extended interview on BBC 5 Live and it seemed to confirm the fears fans have that we won’t be signing anyone. Lots of talk about how ‘there are other ways to strengthen a squad without new signings’ and ‘we do things differently to other clubs’ etc
     
    I’m not getting as worked up about it as a lot of people are but it’s really not what we want to be hearing as we prepare for a title defence. In fairness Klopp admitted that himself, he knows that there’s some anxiety over the lack of transfer activity. He's probably feeling it himself but he accepts the situation.
     
    We all know we aren’t owned by a country or an oligarch and I don’t think fans are expecting us to compete with City’s (or even Chelsea’s) spending but you can’t blame fans for wondering what the fuck is going on when Everton are throwing loads cash around for the third year running. 
     
    Yes, I know it’s got them absolutely nowhere so far, but that isn’t really the point. Every club has been impacted by Covid yet we seem to be the only ones who can’t buy players as a result of it. Other than the Thiago crap virtually the only transfer talk surrounding us is about players leaving. Gini, Origi, Shaqiri, Wilson, Grujic and now Brewster. All said to be available at the right price.
     
    Meanwhile you have the likes of Villa spending £34m on a striker from the Championship, Newcastle buying Bournemouth and Wolves signing every Jorge Mendes player in Portugal.
     
    Why can't we do anything? From what I’ve been told it’s not specifically a result of what COVID has cost us so far (estimates are anywhere between £75-100m) but what it might cost us in the future. Other clubs are borrowing against future earnings on the assumption that fans will be back in stadiums sooner rather than later. Rightly or wrongly, FSG aren’t prepared to do that.
     
    I can’t say I’m happy about it or that I’d make the same decision if I were in charge, but equally I can’t say with any confidence that I can see fans being allowed back in as normal at any point this season. I expect limited attendances at best and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if at some point football ended up being suspended again. And if that happens, some clubs might be sweating a bit based on what they’ve spent this summer. So I see why LFC are being cautious even if I don’t necessarily agree with it.
     
    What else was going on today? Oh yeah, Simon Jordan referred to Ryan Fraser as a ‘turd’ on the radio. He also called him ‘a wretched individual’. Bit strong perhaps, but it’s not entirely unfair either as Fraser has been talking about how he could have really helped Bournemouth survive if he’d stayed and played for them in the run in. 
     
    Jesus Christ, I get that he’d think that because every footballer needs to have that belief they can make a difference, but the fact is he didn’t play for them. He walked out in their time of need because he was looking after his own self interests (he was entitled to do that even if it was a bit cunty to a club that had given a little fat kid the chance to become a star), but having left them to fend for themselves it’s a proper turd move to then say “I could have saved you if I’d wanted to”.
     
    Anyway, this was pretty entertaining I thought, so check it out..
     
     
     
    Friday Sep 11:
     
    The FIFA ratings were announced yesterday so all the spotty virgins are now arguing with each other about why ‘Auba’ doesn’t have a higher rating than ‘Kun’ and why Pogba isn’t a 99 instead of having the same rating as Henderson. Pathetic.
     
    Yeah I’m old, I get that. But if being young means acting like these sad cunts then… oh who am I kidding, yeah I’d love to be young again but *shrugs* whadayagonnado?  
     
    I think Lukaku made a good point about all this. He said “Fifa just mess with the ratings so we players start complaining about it and give them more publicity… I ain’t with this shit. I know what I do.” He’s right, but the irony of him tweeting about it and giving them publicity seems to be lost on him.
     
    Ben Woodburn has joined Sparta Rotterdam on loan for the season. It’s a step up from Oxford I suppose but I’d be surprised if this went well. Very few of these loans work out when you actually think about it. Harry Wilson has done well and so did Brewster, but most of the other kids who go out don’t have a good time of it. Woodburn deserves some better luck though so hopefully this can kickstart his career again.
     
    Other reports today claim that Gini held positive talks with Klopp and might be staying. Hope so, but how the fuck would anyone know what was said in those talks? Smells like guesswork to me, but we’ll see I guess. Tell you one thing though, if the club announce a new deal for Gini this week then the FIFA virgins in our fanbase will have a fucking meltdown if it means no Thiago.
     
    Jamie Redknapp thinks Thiago is coming though. “He isn’t fazed by anything. He’s already played for two of the biggest clubs in the world in Barcelona and Bayern. He would give the midfield an extra dimension on top of Henderson, Fabinho, Wijnaldum and Keita. They are all brilliant players but technically Thiago is on a different level.”
     
    All true, but Jamie forgot to mention Milner and Jones. Neither are playing ahead of Thiago of course, that’s not my point though. My point is we already have six midfielders competing for three spots (seven if we don’t get the asking price for Grujic). So unless someone leaves, Thiago ain’t coming people.
     
    I’ve just been catching up on videos on LFCTV and I have some observations. Firstly, it looks like Shaq has shamelessly slid into Lovren’s role as Mo’s sidekick. Actually it wouldn’t surprise me if big Dej left instructions with Shaq when he left to make sure Mo doesn’t get too depressed without him.
     
    Secondly, they were doing laps of the training ground and Milner left everyone in his wake as usual. It wasn’t the lactose test thing they do each summer it just looked like they had to do a few laps of the pitches but no surprise that it was the old man leading the way. He’s a machine he is.
     
    Thirdly, the u18s have been smashing everyone in pre-season and they beat the Macs 4-1 at the Academy this week. I watched the highlights today and Oakley Cannonier caught the eye. If he made it here it would be quite the story as he’s the kid whose quick thinking helped Trent take the famous corner.
     
    I’d love to see him come through but I also want to see the other kid make it. You know, the one who ran on and gave Messi the V’s at full time. The official word on him has always been that he was just a kid from the crowd, but it sure looked like he was a ballboy, and all the ballboys were Academy kids, so.....
     
    Maybe one day we’ll find out who he was, the little fucking hero.
     
    Finally, have any of you ever watched a Klopp press conference live on youtube? It’s fucking mental. Not because of Klopp, but because of the live comments on the chat. I just sat there today watching as hundreds (thousands maybe) of comments were flying in while he spoke. 
     
    I don’t get it. I don’t really know what people get from this as it’s not like they’re even making any salient points. They're just firing out random words. It’s just hundreds of goons posting shit like this:
     
     “Thiago” “Sign Thiago” “Thiago *load flame emojis* “Keita” “De Bruyne to Liverpool” “Sign Messi” “GO GET IT BABY” “Get Mbappe in at LFC” “I’M A PROUD RED FIFA. ARE YOU?” “Bale” “we don’t want Bale he plays too much golf” “Chelsea” “J-U-R-G-Y-A-N-K-K-L-O-P-P” “thiago is blue” “Bale is golfer” “salah salad”
     
    Every one of those is legit and there were hundreds more I could have thrown in too. It’s actually quite fascinating in a weird way. It would make for a good social study I think.
     
    Oh yeah, there’s one last thing. Klopp was clearly not happy today about the voting down of the proposal for 20 man match day squads and five allowed subs. I’m with him. I like the idea because when it was brought in after lockdown it allowed us to get some kids on the bench. They wouldn’t have been involved otherwise. How is this a bad thing?
     
    I’ll tell you why it’s seen as a bad thing and why it’s been voted down. It’s because cunts like Man City and Chelsea would abuse that and end up bringing on five subs who had a combined cost of a half a billion. 
     
    That’s the only objection people have to it. “Oh it favours the big clubs” they say. Not really, and it would be easy enough to add a little rule change that means you have to include a certain number of under 19s in the 20 man squad and at least one of the five subs has to be a kid.
     
    Fucking Man City ruining everything with their big spending cheating ways. 
     
     
    and that was the week that was….
     
  • Trent Alexander-Arnold says that Liverpool will have to adapt to a new challenge as they prepare to defend their league title.

    Over the last few seasons, the Reds have been fearless in their desire to take their game to the next level with the list of trophies to their name clear proof of their success.

    Jurgen Klopp famously coined the phrase ‘mentality monsters’ as a tribute to his squad, and at times seemed almost in awe in their ability to produce elite performances on a consistent basis.

    Now, having the conquered the Premier League mountain, the inevitable question is whether this squad still has the hunger to ‘go again.’

    Alexander-Arnold told Sky Sports that that the team has to be ready for the challenges that lay ahead.

    "We know that there's now a big target on our backs being the champions and teams are going to be extra motivated when they play us, so we need to match that mentality and take it to the next step.

    "Winning it back-to-back is harder than winning it once.

    “We need to keep that mentality, that is the main thing that helped us get this far. '

    While Liverpool virtually swept all before them during the last campaign, the right back says topping their outstanding 99 point total isn’t their overall goal.

    “For us it's not about topping the points that we got or scoring more goals, it's about if we can all develop as a team and keep winning."
     


    Naturally as Alexander-Arnold has evolved his game and become one of the best attacking right-backs in Europe, so too have opposition tactics in looking to counter his strengths.

    “Towards the second half of last season, or even the final quarter after everything that happened, I found it a little bit tougher to find the space and have that freedom.

    “I found myself getting man-marked a few more times in games, which I wasn't used to.

    “When you pose a threat to the opposition, they look at it and try and stop it from happening In my mind, if that's happened to me it means that I'm doing something right.

    "I can only try and keep doing that. Every season you've got to adapt and change your ways because everyone is improving. You can't stay the same, you've got to keep improving."

    Alexander-Arnold added to his growing list of personal accolades this week when he deservedly picked up the Premier League Young Player of the season.

    He had some sage advice for the next generation of Footballers looking to emulate himself.

    “I'd say don't get fixated on other players.

    "At that age it's all about development - you can't get attached on other players and what they're doing and what they're achieving at a different age."
  • It seems like only yesterday that Liverpool’s fearless leader Jordan Henderson was doing his customary shuffle on the podium when lifting the Premier League trophy. 
     
    It was a culmination of a truly fantastic two years, which has seen the Reds crowned Champions of England, Europe and the World. However with a new season on the horizon we now look forward to see whether Jurgen Klopp”s men can reproduce that outstanding consistency yet again. 
     
    First up in the title defence comes an intriguing clash with newly promoted Leeds, a team who haven’t graced the top flight in over 15 years, yet remain one of the iconic names in English football. 
     
    In that time they have had countless managers, players and false dawns. After coming heartbreakingly close to a return in 2018/9, they eventually conquered the mountain last season and are ready to resume hostilities with some of their great rivals, including Liverpool.

    Alfie from the @LS11LUFC fan hub may have not been around to see the glory days of the Yorkshire club, but he knows all too well about the hard yards they have done to get back to this point. He talks us through that time as well as why he thinks they should attack this clash with a lot of confidence.

     
    Congratulations on your promotion and it is nice to see an old rival back in the Premier League. Can you talk our readers through what the last 15 or so years have been like as a Leeds fan? 

    The last 15 years have differed in experience from fan to fan. For me personally I was only four when we were relegated at Bolton all those years ago, so for my generation we’ve known only misery and the League 1 days are the first solid memories I have of supporting Leeds playing teams like Stockport County and Hartlepool every week. 
     
    Then the last decade has just been constant mediocrity with very few bright moments. Poor ownership brought a constant string of sub-par managers who couldn’t do anything to stop us finishing anywhere outside of 13th-15th every season. Since 2016 it’s become far more interesting and Garry Monk was the first manager I saw who actually got us playing decent football but fell short. Then after a frankly embarrassing 17/18, Bielsa came in and has just turned the club (not just the team) completely around.
     

     
     
    Jurgen Klopp coined the phrase “mentality monsters” to describe Liverpool’s ability to overcome hardship and keep striving to achieve the main goal.  After the heartbreaking end to your 2018/9 season, who do you believe was the catalysts to push the team to greater heights and overcome the wobbles that inevitably come during a gruelling Championship campaign? 

    It’s a tricky question and there are many answers! I think it was a mix of improving the squad in key positions, slightly adapting tactics and working hard on changing the attitude. Pontus Jansson was a great player for us and will be remembered as a cult hero, however he was a huge disruptive influence in the dressing room and is likely part of the reason we fell at the last hurdle in 18-19. Bringing in Ben White was a master stroke, a humble young player with far better defensive and passing skills than Jansson and who allowed us to fully execute our playing style. 
     
    Also in Bielsa’s first season we always seemed to go full blast for 90 minutes and be looking to score more and more, often leaving the back exposed. However last season we were able to go toe-to-toe with physical teams and grind out results when it mattered, often riding our luck with poor performances, which is what champions do. A gritty 1-0 win at home to Barnsley in the last game we actually played before being promoted and crowned champions who were bottom at the time summed this up. The mentality changed where no player ever got ahead of themselves and talked about promotion or trophies or anything, it was always on to the next challenge.
     

    Leeds had a long list of unsuccessful managers during your spell in the lower leagues, so the arrival of Marcelo Bielsa must have been a gift from the gods. Can you explain the impact that the Argentinian has brought to your club? 

    It was a strange one because I can’t lie I’d never heard of the bloke before he came to us! However in hindsight how we got him to replace Paul Heckingbottom must be one of the best upgrades in football history. He has just created a winning mentality throughout the club from the players to the fans at home it just feels good to be a Leeds fan and we have a club we are properly proud of again. 
     
    He instils an air of humbleness in the players, stemming from making them pick up litter around the local area in one of his first training sessions to make them appreciate how hard fans work to buy a ticket. Also there just seems to be a sense that we are an elite club again - we are fitter than anyone else and we play more stylish football than most. Couple that with his mysterious nature and being able to keep a respectable distance from the playing squad It is not far fetched to say that he is genuinely seen as a god around these parts.

            
    Of your current squad, who do you think will thrive in the Premier League spotlight and what makes you come to that conclusion? 

    To be honest I think they all will! We have a well-drilled side who know how to play this system and after the performance of our reserves against Arsenal in the Cup last season, we fear no one. 
     
    But to choose a few, I think the new lads (Spanish international) Rodrigo and (German defender) Robin Koch will do well of course, and in terms of the players we already have, I think Pablo Hernandez will have something special up his sleeve, 
     
    I’m excited to see (Mateusz) Klich’s shithousery in the top flight, but I think the biggest expectations come for Kalvin Phillips (pictured below). He's our best player and pivotal to our style, as well as being a lovely lad and now an England international as well! He has the skillset to rocket to the top and hopefully it’s with us.
     

     
     
    Regarding the expectations for this season:  Would the fans be satisfied with just surviving the drop for the first season, or do you think you can replicate your bitter rivals Sheffield United and push for a top 10 finish? 

    We would be satisfied with anything but the drop, but seriously I think we have the players and the system to push for the top 10 it just depends on injuries and if we’re lucky with them we can do something special - I’ll say 9th.
     
     
    Is there a certain opposition that you cannot wait to play at Elland Road this season? 
     
    A few! Just to have the big teams back will be great. Newcastle, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool, Man City and of course the Man U game will be huge!
     

    Your return fixture to the Premier League couldn’t be a tougher challenge at the home of the Premier League champions. What is your opinion of this Liverpool team? 

    True! But also it couldn’t be a more exciting curtain-raiser. Klopp is a fantastic manager and I’ve always liked him even at Dortmund so to see him succeed at Liverpool is fantastic. I see a lot of similarities in Liverpool and us in the passion of the fans and the big history so I don’t think there’ll be much bad blood. The team are worthy champions and it was a shame not to see them smash City’s record right at the end but let’s face it they were by far the best team in the land last year. The players you have with the system makes it almost impossible to play against Liverpool on a good day with how hard they make teams work to even play against them.  
     
     
    Bielsa is studious in his preparation for any opposition, so do you expect any surprises in line-up or formation for this clash? 

     Unsure. He changed system last year so he might do the same this year and it’s anyone’s guess! It might be too soon to see the new lads in but we will have to see - if we have Koch and Rodrigo in the side we will look far more competitive.
     

     
     
    While fans are unfortunately not allowed inside grounds for the time being due to COVID-19 protocols, where will you be taking in proceedings and what will your emotions be like? 

    Either at home or in the pub! My emotions will be excited and nothing more! It’s a chance to show what all Leeds fans know we can do against the best team in the league and just to see my team in the premier league is enough for me.
     
     
    What is your prediction for this big clash? 
     
    I’ve thought long and hard about this and I’m going to be bold! We won’t fear anyone not even Liverpool and Bielsa will have done his homework. I think it will be a cracking game as both teams will go out there to attack. We will surprise a lot of people on Saturday, 1-1.
  • While winning the Premier League, as Liverpool did in record-breaking fashion, is a tremendous feat, defending it to land back-to-back titles grants near-legendary status. 
     
    This is because all of the other top teams and those who want to be a top team reinforce tremendously to mount the challenge. While Liverpool’s net spend over the last few seasons rocketed to £278 million, as favourites and defending champions, the club has spent very little.
     
    So, we’re diving into the evolving transfer policy of the Reds and seeing if it aligns with teams that have achieved the near-impossible of winning back-to-back titles in the modern game.
     
    The years of build and outlay
     
    On 8 October 2015, Liverpool appointed Jurgen Klopp as the new boss, with the go-to starting line-up five years later being predominantly made up of players that the German boss has signed.
     
    In 2016/17, the club signed Sadio Mané (£37 million), Georginio Wijnaldum (£24.75 million), Loris Karius (£5.58 million), and Joel Matip (free) to commence the moulding of the squad. The next season, 2017/18, Liverpool set a new world record for a defender’s transfer fee to get Virgil van Dijk (£75 million), and also brought in Mohamed Salah (£37.8 million), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (£34 million), and Andrew Robertson (£8 million).
     
    In what would be the last season of huge spending, 2018/19 brought in Alisson (£56 million), Naby Keïta (£54 million), Fabinho (£40 million), and Xherdan Shaqiri (£13 million).
     
    The transfer action over those three campaigns rung up a bill to the tune of £385.13 million which, considering the Reds won the Champions League and the Premier League with most of those players as the core of the team, was money well spent. However, the 2019/20 transfer windows showed a notably reduced rate of spending, as has this summer market.
     
    Last season, Adrián came in on a free transfer to play as back-up to Alisson, and Takumi Minamino joined for £7.65 million to pad the attacking corps. While Minamino has played well in limited minutes and on smaller occasions, it seems very unlikely that the 24-year-old is considered a challenge to the recognised first-choice front three, all of whom are now only 28-years-old and in their prime.
     
    To dive into the 2020/21 campaign as the defending champions, Klopp so far opted to add just one player, left-back Konstantinos Tsimikas from Olympiacos for £11.7 million. Another modest purchase who, while being highly rated by Olympiacos fans, likely won’t overtake Robertson as the go-to left-back. Moves haven’t been made to improve the team or pose significant competition to those leading the line-up for four transfer windows now. While the approach worked last season, other teams have had even more time to catch-up.
     
     
     
     
    A historical need to keep cycling
     
    It’s quite rare that the defending champions don’t enter the season as the favourites to repeat, regardless of how uncommon it is for back-to-back titles to actually occur. Using the complex league prediction system “Unikrn,” it was found that Manchester City are the favourites, with Liverpool in second. This sentiment holds true across the board, with the bookmakers giving Liverpool rather long odds considering that they’re the champions.
     
    As of 8 September, Betway has Liverpool at 9/4 to win the title, with City ahead at 8/11, and third in the Champions League odds at 13/2. The biggest difference between City and Liverpool coming into this season is that the Citizens have done a fair bit of business – which is also why Chelsea have started to sneak into the conversation, too.
     
     
     
     
    The Reds managed to stop City from achieving a three-peat of Premier League titles, but between their 2017/18 and 2018/19 trophies, Pep Guardiola made a key addition. For £61 million, City brought in Riyad Mahrez from Leicester City. While Leicestershire Live says that the Algerian was out of favour for much of the season, he still scored 12 goals and 12 assists over 44 appearances.
     
    Furthermore, he pushed for a place in the team, forcing others to step-up. Of all of the managers to draw lessons from for sustained and consistent success in the Premier League, though, Sir Alex Ferguson may be the best source.
     
    It wasn’t fun for the rest of the league, but the former Manchester United boss perfected the art of cycling his team to keep it a contender each season. In 2008/09, United completed the three-peat, with the transfer windows between each trophy showing an infusion of competition. The first summer saw them bring in game-ready prospects in Anderson and Nani as well as first-team competitors Owen Hargreaves and Carlos Tévez. Next season, another top scoring option was added in Dimitar Berbatov.
     
    Through sustained success, Ferguson still brought through his top young talents, which Klopp has stated he aims to do, with players such as Neco Williams and Curtis Jones being recent examples of this, but there was still a regular infusion of competition for the starting XI via the transfer market.
     
    This season will go one of two ways: Liverpool will slip to a competitor, most likely City, and pundits will point to the lack of transfer activity and a ‘title hangover.’ Or, the Reds will reign supreme to add yet another feather to Klopp’s cap and perhaps ushering in a new age of low-spending champions.
  • The start of the decade went off with a bang after Liverpool finally landed the Premier League title. They now have a decade ahead of them to add to that title, and the team in place has certainly been built to last, the idea is to win the league more than once.
     
    But, with the world at their feet, what will be deemed a successful decade for Liverpool? Is it possible for this talented team to win the Premier League title again but still be described as underachievers at the end of the decade?
     
    The expectations on this team at the moment are simply huge, and things are not going to be easy. Just what does this team need to do next year and beyond to live up to those expectations?
     
    How Many League Titles for a Successful Decade?
     
    The 2019/20 Premier League title win was the first, but the first of how many? Liverpool have the world at their feet, and it is unthinkable as a fan, but could they win further and be deemed a failure?
     
    If we only see this team lift the Premier League title once more, will they remain one of the greatest? It is tough to think about, but if this team is going to get spoken about as a great, they need to lift another two or three titles over the next few years, maybe more.
     
    In many ways, this team has already proven to be a success, in terms of how they have been built and how Jurgen Klopp has implemented his style. Over the next few years, the battle is all about adding league titles to give the players their reward.
     
    A Team Built to Dominate
     
    When young players are talking about retiring at the club, you know you have got something right.
    This Liverpool team has not been built with one season in mind, it has been built to dominate a decade. First of all, when Jurgen Klopp arrived he instantly put in place his high pressing style of play, and made sure every player bought into that.
     
    Then piece by piece, he added other players who would bring quality, solve problems, and more importantly, they also bought into his style of play.
     
    This has all made Liverpool incredibly popular with fans around the world, and their games are watched by millions. With live streaming available, watching a game has never been as easy as it is now. Sites like 101 great goals help fans find out where the live streams are available to watch.
     
    Will Others Try to Copy Liverpool?
     
    This is almost certain to happen somewhere, even if not in the Premier League. The way that this Liverpool team plays and has been built over the past few years is something that the majority of the footballing world are envious of.
     
    However, anyone who does try to copy what has been put in place will not find it easy. First, they need a style of play that is good to watch, one that wins and one that players are happy to buy into.
     
    Then you need the right players for each position, and every time a player comes into the club, they need to be the right fit otherwise they risk ruining what has already been built.
     
    The blueprint is there for those who want to try it, but what has happened at Liverpool is not going to be easy to replicate.
     
    Looking forward to next season, expectations are high and why shouldn’t they be, this could be one of the greatest Liverpool teams we have ever seen. 
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