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  • TLW
    Joe Gomez may still be classified as a youngster as far as senior football is concerned, but the central defender has maturity well above his years.

    The 22 year-old has grown up under the spotlight of being at one of the biggest teams in world football, but it has been anything but a smooth ride.

    Instead, it has taken every bit of mental strength to overcome a catalogue of serious injuries which have cruelly halted his progress.

    After spending much of his formative years at the Reds at right-back, the beginning of last season saw Gomez team up with Virgil Van Dijk to form a flourishing partnership.

    However, a early December game at Burnley changed all that as a hard tackle by Ben Mee saw the former Charlton junior on the sidelines for near on five months.

    The crushing blow was magnified by the fact that the team was in fine form and embracing the pressure of a title challenge while also doing quite nicely on the European stage.

    His spot went to Dejan Lovren and eventually Joel Matip who never let it out of his grasp playing a key role in the Champions League triumph.

    Just over 12 months on and the roles are completely reversed.

    Matip and Lovren are nursing injuries, while Gomez is in possession of the prized central defensive spot next to the imperious Dutchman.

    The Evening Standard reports that Gomez is not thinking too far ahead.

    “Obviously, I am enjoying playing and getting some momentum. 

    “I get on well with Virg and we enjoy playing together.

    “I think as a unit, as a team, it is nice to be a part of it and get a run of games, so I am not dwelling on that, I just keep plugging away.

    “I am just taking it a game at a time. It is obviously nice to get momentum when you play games but I think the main thing is just to keep focus and take it one game at a time.

    “We are in a good place and it is a joy to be a part of this team. I think everyone will just keep pushing and plugging away and we just have to keep pushing as a team and individuals.

    “ I think in the dressing room as well, there are so many that are leaders and are keeping everyone on the straight and narrow. That is the focus - one game at a time.”
     


    Gomez is one of a number of players who is in line to be rested for the third round FA Cup clash against neighbours Everton at Anfield tomorrow afternoon.

    However, with the team being on such a role and someone like Gomez who has missed out on many big games over the years, you sense he would love to be part of the action.

    “Yes 100 per cent, I think if you asked everyone in the dressing room they all have that desire to play every game and I think that is what is important for us in this team.

    “There is a real hunger and you feel it. There is no, ‘Oh, I want to play this game and chill that one.

    “I think that shows and that is why when everyone comes in, the lads are playing well. 

    “They are really participating and helping the team.

    Gomez is sure Liverpool will see a much improved Everton lineup under new manager Carlo Ancelotti to the dispirited one that Marco Silva brought to Anfield in the death throes of his tenure in early December.

    “You look the other day with West Ham, there is that instant spark.

    “I don't think we go into any game underestimating anyone but we know that they will be up for it.

    “I think you have that in mind whenever a team changes their gaffer.

    "They have got a top manager and we have to be ready for that. 

    "They have good individuals and top players and they are a threat. 

    “We know that.”
     
  • Whatever happened to those roller coaster games when we couldn’t hold onto a lead? We’d play the likes of Palace or West Ham or Norwich and it’d be 4-3 or 5-4 or something wild, because we couldn’t control games. 
     
    The way the team has evolved was never more in evidence than here. We completely strangled Sheffield United and amassed the most passes in a league game since records began. To think that a lot of fans were worried about this game.
     
    I wouldn’t say I was worried as such, but I can’t say I was fully confident either. I thought we’d win but I expected a tough game, probably similar to the Wolves game three days earlier. Turns out it was quite easy. Or at least that’s how the lads made it look. No doubt a lot of hard work went into it but to the untrained eye it looks like we rarely had to get out of second gear. I’m sure that’s not the case, and the distance covered stats for the players would attest to that (Milner especially).
     
    It helps when you score inside four minutes of course. Lovely goal it was too. Ok, the defender fell down and that helps, but I’m not sure he would have been able to cut out that pass from Virg anyway. 
     
    Robbo collected the ball, got his head up and picked out Salah’s run. Mo did the rest. Lovely goal and I wish I’d celebrated it properly. I didn’t though. Why? Firstly because from where I was sat it looked like the ball might have brushed off Robbo’s hand as he controlled it, and secondly because there was no way of knowing whether Salah was onside or not.
     
    As it turns out the ball was nowhere near Robbo’s hand and Mo was well onside. I didn’t know that though from the opposite end of the stadium. I didn’t celebrate the second either because I thought it was probably offside. I hate this, but what can you do?
     
    That opening goal is another example of how the team has developed. Those long balls played from the defenders are killing opponents. We can hurt teams in so many ways that we’ve become almost impossible to stop. Sit back against us and we can play around and through. Push up and we’ll hit the ball over the top. If we don’t get you in other of those ways, then there’s always counter attacks or set-pieces.
     
    Mo’s movement was terrific all night. He never stopped running in behind and deserved more than the one goal. But for the keeper he’d have gone home with the match ball. Dean Henderson was the villain when his error gifted us three points earlier in the season, but he made amends in this one. 
     
    Everyone thought Mo had bagged a second goal when he met a cross by Hendo and directed the ball towards the top corner with a first time right foot shot. Somehow the keeper managed to get a hand on it and turn it over the bar.
     
    He denied Salah again after a lovely flowing counter attack. What a goal that would have been.
     
    Sheffield United were struggling to keep us at bay but they had two chances of their own, completely against the run of play. Lundstram saw a clever lobbed effort drop just wide of the post, and McGoldrick forced a save from Alisson with a snapshot from 18 yards. Aside from that it was one way traffic though.
     
    It was a hugely impressive performance all things considered. The toughest game we’ve had all season was at Bramall Lane. We got the win but it was fucking hard going. The Blades have been very difficult for opponents to figure out. Even the games they’ve lost have been tight and nobody has been able to dominate them. Not until this game.
     
    Chris Wilder’s classy comments post-match summed it up really. They couldn’t lay a glove on us and we outworked them as well as outplaying them. They’d played City a few days before and held their own in an unfortunate 2-0 defeat. This was men against boys though.
     
    Wilder was disappointed with how his team played but he also knows that we can make any side look ordinary when we’re on our game. It’s a mark of the respect Klopp and the players have for Sheffield United that they put on a performance like this.
     
    I feel as though this season we’ve become masters at just doing what needs to be done and conserving energy when possible. When we need to play really well we do, but most of the time second gear is enough. Leicester away was potentially our most difficult game of the season and the players obviously knew that and responded accordingly.
     
    Against Wolves we started well, got in front and then after that it was just about keeping what we had. We looked tired in that game but if Wolves had scored with ten minutes to go, you can be sure we’d have flown at them with everything we had. I look back on what we’ve seen so far this season and I’m convinced that there is an element of the players being able to ‘pace themselves’ and just do what is needed.
     
    This was a great example of it. We had the lead and we just kept the ball and didn’t let them have it. The second goal gave us the cushion we needed and although we could have added more, we never went gung ho for it because why would we?
     
    The second goal was brilliant. You can’t stop that, it’s just too good. It started with Alisson who threw it out to Robbo. He played it down the line to get Sadio off and running, but it never really looked like it was going to be a goalscoring opportunity as they had players back. 
     
    Sadio fed it inside to Mo but there didn’t look to be any way he could get the ball back to him as it was too tight and if the timing wasn’t right then Mané would be offside. The pass was brilliant though, and even though the keeper initially made another great save, Mané was quickest to react and smashed in the loose ball.
     
    As I said, I thought it was offside and fully expected a VAR review. It all happened so quickly and it was such a difficult ball that I just assumed it must have been off. The fact it wasn’t shows just how brilliant those two are. They shouldn’t have been able to fashion a goal from that but they did.
     
    All that was missing was a goal for Firmino. He should have had it too but he missed his kick from a few yards out after a trademark brilliant ball in from Trent. Bobby was a little off all night. He did a lot of good things, particularly dropping deep to win the ball back, but his final ball was shite. So many times he could have played someone in but left his pass short. 
     
    On another night it might have mattered, but this time it was merely a slight annoyance. I thought he’d have been the one to make way for Origi and was a little surprised that it was Mané. Bet he was pissed off, he doesn’t want a rest as he always says “tiredness is only in your mind”. He plays like that too. He never, ever looks jaded does he?
     
    We got a little sloppy late on and the Blades began to enjoy a bit of possession in our half. It only resulted in one chance, but it was a sitter that McBurnie should have buried. Speaking of McBurnie, I’ve often took the piss out of him over his appearance, so it made me laugh hearing a couple of fellas behind me ripping on him.
     
    “Look at the kip of him!” 
     
    “They found him when they were training on Stanley Park this morning. He was only there walking his dog and they nabbed him and told him he was playing tonight”
     
    “Look at him, he’s still got the Echo tucked in his back pocket”
     
    Quality.
     
    Other than the goals I think my favourite moment in this game was when Origi went streaking back to take the ball off an attackers toe deep in his own penalty area. That just sums up this team. No ego, no shirkers, no complacency, just a group of lads all giving everything they have for each other every week. You can’t go unbeaten for over 12 months without that kind of mentality.
     
    It was a little surprising to see Robbo brought off too, but I think the woeful crossfield ball he put straight out of play sealed his fate. Klopp immediately got Lallana ready when that happened, not because he was mad but I think he must have realised that Robbo’s legs were tired. No point leaving him on to pull a hamstring or something.
     
    The new rule for substitutes meant that Robbo had to leave the field at the nearest point and then walk along in front of the away fans. He got loads of shit from them but I felt as though there was no malice in it. They were just amusing themselves and when Robbo was grinning at them (as he does) that just mad them play up even more.
     
    Chanting “England” at him was a bit lame but it was an attempt at humour rather than them being bad brexit twats. I thought their fans were probably the best we’ve seen at Anfield. I might be wrong, but I don’t think they resorted to any of the “sign on” or “feed the scousers” bollocks, they seemed only interested in singing for their own team, which makes a pleasant change.
     
    When we sang about being World Champions, most cunts would have responded with “sign on” or something along those lines. They came back with “Champions of League One, you’ll never sign that”. Fair play, they’re alright them and I hope they continue having such a good season.
     
    Harvey Elliott got on too, albeit for about ten seconds. He didn’t touch the ball but it’s still nice to see him involved. I hope he starts on Sunday because he deserves a chance. With Shaq injured I’d say he has a decent chance.
     
    Much was made beforehand about the extra day’s rest we had prior to this fixture. While that was no doubt helpful, just where do the Premier League get off having the World and European Champions playing on a fucking Thursday night? We don’t play on Thursdays, only bums play on Thursdays. 
     
    We deserve more respect than that. Fucking Thursdays *shakes head*. We play on a Thursday again in a few weeks, which is outrageous really. It’s insulting, we should demand that as world champions that fixture is moved. Make United or Arsenal play on Thursday instead. And make it an afternoon kick off. In fucking Kazakstan or somewhere.
     
    We’re the World Champions, damn it. 
     
    As for the star man, there were good performances all over the pitch but it was quite clearly Henderson. At half time it was a toss up between him and Wijnaldum (who was incredible, what a strong little fucker he is), but by full time the skipper had outshone everyone after yet another top performance.
     
    Gomez was great again too, while Salah deserves special mention for his relentless movement that just dragged defenders all over the place. One of the great things about this squad is that the so-called ‘star’ players work just as hard as everyone else and it doesn’t matter who the opponent is. It’s like having a squad full of Luis Suarez’s only without the aggro.
     
    My Dad reckons that up to know Henderson should be player of the season. He also acknowledged that there’s no way it would happen because “players like him don’t win awards”. Personally I don’t think Hendo has been our best player this season (Sadio for me) but it’s not an outlandish claim either. He’s absolutely right that he’s got no chance of getting that kind of recognition though.
     
    Probably the biggest compliment I can pay Henderson is that we haven’t missed Fabinho one little bit. Fabinho is one of the best in the world at what he does, a fact not lost on the skipper who when he saw how good the Brazilian was requested a change in position. 
     
    Henderson felt he couldn’t play the six role as well as Fabinho and few would have argued with him. Since being pressed into that job again after Fabinho’s injury, his performances have been world class. In fact, you could make an argument for him being man of the match in every game he’s played there. He’s barely had any rest either. What a captain he is.
     
    Klopp was gushing in his praise afterwards and once again basically said “if you don’t rate Henderson then you’re a fucking moron”. I’m paraphrasing but that’s clearly what he meant.
     
    Hendo will almost certainly get a rest this weekend as I can’t see him starting the derby. It will be interesting to see just how many changes Klopp makes. Personally I think he can get away with still including a few regulars and mixing up the rest. I honestly believe if he starts with Van Dijk and any ten others we’ll still win the game.
     
     
    Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson (Lallana); Henderson, Wijnaldum, Milner; Salah (Elliott), Firmino, Mané (Origi):
  • Jurgen Klopp maintains his side can reach another level despite winning their 19th game from 20 outings this season with a comfortable 2-0 win over Sheffield United on Thursday evening.

    Despite being a relegation favourite to start the season, Sheffield United have been nothing short of ‘road warriors’ this season as they went unbeaten in their first nine away games, which is a league record.

    That fine streak was finally ended last time out against Man City, but it was a performance that in keeping with the majority of their season, impressed many observers.

    After a true test of their credentials against The Blades at Bramall Lame in late September, Jurgen Klopp and his players would have known that this game was going to be anything but a walk in the park.

    However, Liverpool were at their controlling best throughout the contest setting the marker early with a goal to Mo Salah after being set up by Andy Robertson while the Egyptian proved provider midway through the second half playing in Sadio Mane who converted at the second attempt.

    The win marked one whole year without defeat in the league, but speaking after the game, Klopp said there are definitely things to work on.

    Sky Sports reported the manager as saying:

    “We know there is room for improvement it’s important for us.

    “We care only about ourselves, we can do things better and we have to. 

    “Each player wants to do better and knows [they can] do better. There were some things we did better than the last game which helped tonight."

    Klopp said the best thing to come out of the win was their ability to nullify their opponents and didn’t allow them to play to their strengths.

    “We played in the exact way you have to play against Sheffield United.

    "I don't think there were a lot of games like this against Sheffield United in the last year.

    “That was the best thing the boys did tonight, they didn't let them get anything out of the game, which is really difficult.

    “We played really well; our passing was very good, we broke lines, our positioning was exceptional, and the discipline offensively was exceptional.

    "We didn't let them have the moments they wanted, we controlled the game and [the win] was very well deserved.

    "It's an intense period of the year but in terms of an overall performance it was as good as anything, really, really good. That makes me happy.”
     


    Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder is one of the biggest straight talkers there is in the game.

    While some would see a 2-0 defeat at the home of the European Champions as credible in the current environment, Wilder was having none of that.

    “ That was very unlike us.

    "Look at both parts of game, we didn't lay a glove on them.

    “We didn't do anything that has got us into this position. 

    “They were outstanding but didn't have to get out second or third gear.

    “People talk about academy coaches and all this nonsense about technical and tactical stuff. 

    “At home we laid a glove on them and made it difficult for them.

    “Here, they won every first ball, every second ball, ran forward and ran back and they did that better than us.

    “We need to dust ourselves off after this.”

    It was clear that Wilder was sending a message to his own players that they can’t be satisfied with what they have achieved to date this season and used Liverpool as the perfect example.

    “The run they've been on, you just look at the appetite and the desire of everybody around the football club, it's got a feeling of a relentlessness about them and the supporters as well, the way they drive their players on.

    "I love everything about them. The physical and mental part of it is amazing.

    "They realise what a huge, important season it is and a fantastic position they're in. It'd be a very brave man to bet against them being the champions of this division.

    “I wish Jurgen all the best.”


     
     
  • After a memorable 2019, the Reds get back to business with their first game of the new decade against Sheffield United. on Thursday evening. The Blades have been one of the great stories of the 2019/20 season to date. 
     
    Through impressive manager Chris Wilder, the pre-season relegation favourites have refused to take a backward step against any opposition they have faced with their outstanding record away from home in this campaign being true testament of that.
     
    The fans from @Blades_Mad gave TLW an insightful description into the impact that Wilder has made to the club in his tenure and what players have taken to Premier League football like a duck to water.
     
     
    Can you talk our readers though the job that Chris Wilder has done since his appointment and what do you see as his key strengths as a manager?

    To put it simple; he's dragged this club off the canvas and propelled it back into the big time and in such a short space of time as well. He took the club over three and a half years ago, when it was at its lowest having finished a paltry 11th in League One under his predecessor.
     
    46 games and 100 points later, United had romped to the League One title in style, meaning an end to six years of hurt, languishing in English football's third tier. A season of consolidation in the Championship and a top half finished followed, and then a promotion charge which couldn't have been foreseen by many, with United still recording one of the lowest budgets in the Championship. 
     
    United managed to stave off competition from Leeds United and secure an automatic promotion spot alongside fellow unfancied outfit - Norwich City. The start to life back in the Premier League has been nothing short of remarkable really. We were tipped by many to be a dead certainty to go straight back down and although many Blades fans felt that was unjust, this ridiculously terrific start by Chris Wilder's men couldn't have been foreseen. 
     
    The gaffer has many strengths. He's a huge motivator and passion certainly is one of his traits if you like, but underneath all of that is a revolutionary football manager. United play in a way which has never been seen before, keep an eye out for the overlapping centre-backs if they get the chance at Anfield! He's one of our own. He's the greatest manager in this club's history.
     

     
    We often see the usual suspects being linked with managerial posts (case in point David Moyes and West Ham), do you think there will come a time when clubs come calling for Wilder?
     
    What I would say is that quite a few "high profile" jobs have become available recently and Chris Wilder (thankfully for us) was never genuinely linked with the managerial hot seat at any of those clubs. Surely if he was ever to be offered a job at one of the country's top clubs it would have been now as his stock has never been higher. 
     
    So long as the board at Sheffield United are on the same page as Wilder, in terms of continuing to levitate this club, then he has the dream job and don't see any reason he'd want to leave. Wilder has never stood still in his managerial career, and now he and Sheffield United are in the dizzy heights of the top half of the Premier League, I'm sure he wants to put no stop to that.
     

    In his early days at Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp coined a phrase that he wanted to turn the fans from doubters into believers. Do you think the remarkable exploits of last season in winning automatic promotion has carried over to this campaign giving everyone associated with the club a new sense of confidence?

    I think that's a fair comparison, for sure. There's certainly some momentum there, if you like, but we've been on an upward curve since Chris Wilder took over back in 2016. We suffered our first defeat on the road at Man City on Sunday (in controversial circumstances may I add), and that run stretched all the way back to January.
     
    The lads have certainly settled to life in the Premier League, and certainly look a lot more comfortable as the games are ticked off. Bear in mind this is the first real taste of top flight football for many of these lads. 
     
    I think the reverse fixture with yourselves at Bramall Lane in September gave the boys a huge amount of confidence, because we proved we can put it up against the big boys in this league. Arguably we should and could have got something out of that fixture. Add victories over Arsenal and Everton, and draws against Chelsea, Spurs and Manchester United into that and that proves we are capable of matching it up against the very best.


    Which of your player(s) have pleasantly surprised you in their ability to adapt to Premier League Football?

    You could say all of them, to be honest! There's a few we knew could adapt to Premier League football, but they've all gone way and above beyond that. I'll go for John Lundstram. He was out of the picture last season and played only a bit part in our promotion campaign from the Championship.
     
    This season, he's started every game up to last Sunday (missed due to injury), and has really given us a new dimension as we altered to a flat midfield three. He’s Fantasy Premier League God, also! Haha.
     

     
    What do you believe should be your obtainable goals in the second half of the season?

    It's a tough one. For now, still get to that magical 40 points mark. And then take it from there really. Without trying to put the mockers on it, I do feel as though we'll comfortably survive. Blades fans have been singing about going on European tours and away trips to Napoli, and whilst most of it is said in jest, who knows what we can achieve? I'm not sure what the ceiling of achievements are under Chris Wilder. I wouldn't rule anything out.


    This one is a general question especially as it has been over a decade since you were last in the top flight. Is there anything different you have noticed in terms of strength of depth in the Premier League, the quality of player that teams sign nowadays and indeed the style of football that teams play?

    Absolutely. It was 12 years ago since we were last in the Premier League. A lot has changed. Just the exposure it gets is ridiculous to be honest. And the arrival of the world's best managers into our league, particularly Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola to name a couple, has really propelled football in this country.
     
    Some of the best teams ever to grace our leagues have been present in these past 12 years, none more so than the current crop you have at Liverpool right now. It's a great league to be a part of, VAR aside, and we are loving the journey!


    Is there a particular opposition player or team which has impressed you most this season?

    Opposition player is an easy one. Virgil Van Dijk. And I'm not just saying that because I'm chatting to a Liverpool fan site. I thought we played phenomenally well against Liverpool earlier in the season, but I just seem to recall Van Dijk getting his body in the way of every ball that came near him. He just seemed to be there all the time, which was increasingly frustrating for us, but very impressive at the same time. 
     
    Team wise, I wouldn't say there's been a stand out one to be honest. Wolves are a tough nut to crack. Manchester United turned it on for 10 minutes and we couldn't do much about it for that period of time. But we've coped well against pretty much every side this season.
     
     
    The Blades certainly gave Liverpool a real test at Bramall Lane early in the season, do you think the manager will set the team up in a similar way in this fixture?

    The set up will be pretty familiar, yes. Whether we "go for it" as much remains to be seen. I find that unlikely. Lys Mousset will start this one you would imagine, and will provide United with a real threat on the counter. He caused Man City all sorts of problems at the weekend and could have had a hat trick but for VAR and some unfortunate finishing.


    You have not been daunted by any opposition you have faced so far, so as a fan how excited are you to come to Anfield in such a confident frame of mind? 

    Very excited to come to Anfield! This is one of the games I've been looking forward to the most, and I reckon I vouch for most Blades fans with that one. Can't wait to see how we cope against the European champions on their own patch. Under the lights. I think we'll put up a real fight and effort. Can't wait!


    Is there a particular Liverpool player that you would love in Blades’ colours if money was no object.

    I do think Van Dijk is a colossus, but I'm pretty happy with our centre-halves to be honest haha! So I'll say Sadio Mane! Fantastic player. Great finisher. Has really blossomed this season.


    What is your score prediction for this clash?

    I'm going to back us to get something! The odds are unlikely, but if we play anything like we did at Man City in Sunday and the ref doesn't decide to assist the opposition for their opening goal, then I fancy us for a draw. Let's say 1-1!
  • Liverpool added further silverware to their trophy cabinet by winning the Club World Championship by seeing off Flamengo in Doha. The Reds are becoming the most dominant side in the game after adding the world title to their Champions League crown. 
     
    Jurgen Klopp’s men are on course to end their title drought in England after 30 long years without the trophy. Everything is perfect at Anfield at the moment, and the prospect of the January transfer window will allow the German to plug up any potential holes in his squad – or better yet plan for the future to ensure that the club remain at the top of the Premier League.
     
    The Championship has a mine of young quality players available to the Reds, and here are three players that could appeal to Klopp to become part of his squad.
     
    Kalvin Phillips (Leeds)
     
    Phillips is one of the most-sought players on the market in the second tier due to the quality of his performances for the Whites. However, the 24-year-old has insisted that he will remain at Elland Road, especially considering that Leeds are the leading contenders in the Championship betting odds to be promoted to the Premier League. Having come through the academy at the Yorkshire outfit, Phillips won't be easily swayed. 
     
     
     
    Liverpool should be in the market for a midfielder as Jordan Henderson is approaching his thirties, while James Milner is nearing the end of his career at the top. Phillips provides the same energy and combative edge needed to thrive in the middle of the park. It might take a fee in the region of £20m to lure him to Anfield, but it worked in the past for Henderson.
     
    Eberechi Eze (Queens Park Rangers)
     
    Eze is a player on the rise in the Championship, offering a goalscoring threat from the midfield. The 21-year-old has taken a huge step forward in his development under the tenure of Mark Warburton at Loftus Road. Eze has come through the ranks with the club and has found his form with devastating effect, leading the R’s in the goal column at time of writing by scoring nine strikes in 21 appearances this term. 
     

     
    He has made three appearances for the England Under-21s and will still be a work in progress should the Reds move for him, but there is undoubted potential and is a different player from what Klopp currently has in the middle of the park. They could face competition from Tottenham, pressing the need for Liverpool to be assertive.
     
    Ollie Watkins (Brentford)
     
    Watkins has developed this season, adding a clinical edge to his game that was in need of refining in his previous two years at Griffin Park. At the age of 23, he’s ready for the step up to the top flight, and he has been linked with Sheffield United and Crystal Palace. However, Watkins has a lot of potential and has the ability to play across all three spots in the front three. 
     

     
    That could appeal to Klopp to provide Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane with respite at times, especially the latter, who has played a lot of matches this term. Watkins has scored 13 goals in 23 games in the second tier and he should have no problem elevating the level of his game for the Premier League.
  • So much to get through here to get this out before the New Year games, so I’ll dive straight in to the Boxing Day fixtures and start at Old Trafford where the Mancs were given several late Christmas presents by Steve Bruce’s Newcastle.
     
    Matty Longstaff had all but disappeared after scoring against United earlier in the season, but Newcastle wheeled him out again for the return fixture and he scored again to put them in the lead. Lightning couldn’t strike twice, surely? No, it couldn’t, unfortunately. 
     
    Solskjaer’s side were given gift after gift after that and ran out comfortable 4-1 winners. Dubravka’s error allowed Martial to equalise, then Schar’s howler allowed Greenwood to make it 2-1 with a thunderous shot. United’s third came via the head of Rashford from a Wan-Bissaka cross. 
     
    The ginger Longstaff had been smashed in the face by a McTominay elbow in the build up but as we know VAR won’t disallow Manchester United goals at Old Trafford for clear fouls in the build up. Maybe that elbow gave him a concussion as not long after he played a backpass straight to Martial to send him clear for the fourth.
     
    Basically three of the four goals were handed to them by Newcastle and the fourth was a present by the officials, but to be fair they were all finished superbly. United do have quality in the final third, even if they’re massively flawed everywhere else on the pitch.
     
    United twitter was cock a hoop with the Wan-Bissaka assist (his first of the season, for the record). Cries of “Trent who?” and “this is England’s best right back” rang out all over social media. Trent v Wan-Bissaka is actually a thing, believe it or not. Granted, it’s only a thing on United Twitter and nobody else gives it the time of day, but if you don’t believe me just do a search and enjoy. You can thank me later.
     
    The jist of their ‘argument’ seems to be that Wan-Bissaka is a ‘proper’ full back who can defend, and if he can just improve a little going forward then he’ll therefore be miles better than our boy. Here’s the thing. I’ve had a theory on this type of thing for a while. If you’re a full back who is shit going forward (Wan-Bissaka, Eric Pieters, Paul Dummett etc) then the general consensus is that you must a boss defender.
     
    Conversely, full backs who specialise in going forward (Dani Alves, Trent, Digne, Marcelo etc) are all seen to be lacking defensively. In some cases it’s true but it also tends to be wildly exaggerated on both ends. Ashley Cole would be the most obvious example I suppose. Believe it or not, there are people (mostly Evertonians) that don’t think Robbo is a good defender. 
     
    It’s very rare you get someone who is lauded for his play at both ends. Generally though it’s just lazy, stereotypical analysis. Good going forward = shite defender. Shite going forward = strong defensively. 
     
    Yet this so called elite defender Wan-Bissaka gave away a stupid penalty at Watford with a wild lunge last week. I also remember him being embarrassed by Josh King for Bournemouth’s winner. There’s two howlers just off the top of my head and I don’t even watch them every week. So he’s not that great at defending, is he? And he gives you fuck all going the other way.
     
    Trent isn’t perfect defensively but he’s better than he’s given credit for (he’s been a mainstay of the best defence in Europe for the last two years) and he’s by far the best attacking right back in world football. Trying to compare Wan-Bissaka with him is laughable, but this is where United are right now. Always looking for these little ‘victories’ that they can claim because they’ve got fuck all else to shout about.
     
    I even saw one of their fan accounts tweeting the goal totals for Martial, Rashford and Greenwood compared with Salah, Firmino and Mané. The United trio have scored more, which apparently means something (even though half of those goals have come against farmers and plumbers in the Europa League). You can have your little ‘win’ there lads, good for you.
     
    We’ll just completely gloss over the fact that the rest of our team have scored shitloads more than the rest of yours and we aren’t completely reliant on three forward players. We’ll also completely gloss over the 24 point lead we’ve got over them with only half a season played.
     
    You sit there knocking one out to your one assist right back and your three strikers who are apparently better than Sadio, Mo and Bobby. Good for you, Man United fans. Good for you. *condescending pat on the head*
     
    Meanwhile, Chelsea lost at home to shite again. What a weird team. They won at Spurs but have recently been beaten at the Bridge by Bournemouth, West Ham and now Southampton.
     
    “This kind of inconsistency is what happens when you play youngsters”. Fuck off. It’s not like they’re sending out a side like we put out in the League Cup. They’ve got some boss young players (who are all well experienced from loans at other clubs) and a load of seasoned internationals like Azpilacueta, Willian, Kante, Jorginho and others.
     
    Their struggles at home have nothing to do with youth, it’s just one of those things that good (but not great) teams often have problems with. We’ve been there ourselves for most of the last 30 years. Chelsea can raise their game when they play the better sides and they look very good when it’s an open game and they have space to play in. When they face a defensive team and the onus is on them to make all the play and break them down, they struggle.
     
    If Lampard is the real deal he’ll figure it out. If he isn’t, he won’t. At the moment it’s too early to tell. Might be an idea to play Giroud in these type of games and look to get wide and get crosses in to him, because what they’re doing at the moment sure as hell isn’t working. It’s not like they’ve deserved to win any of those games.
     
    Southampton were well worth the win and have gotten themselves on a bit of a roll of late. Not before time. I’ve been saying for ages they shouldn’t be as shit as they have been because they have some good players there.  
     
    They rested Ings for this one and his replacement, some cat named Obafemi (never heard of him before) scored the opening goal. Well taken it was too. Chelsea huffed and puffed but couldn’t find a breakthrough and Southampton added a second through Redmond. That was a fucking great goal. It felt like there were about 50 passes and the ball went all around the pitch and back before they worked it forward and played Redmond in. Seriously brilliant goal that.
     
    Across London, Spurs were lacklustre in a fortuitous win over Brighton. Kane thought he’d put them ahead only for VAR to rule it out for offside. Really close one but it was off. Brighton were then awarded a free-kick when that full back who looks like a pirate took a dive over a challenge from Winks. Definitely no contact, but Winks was booked which earned him a suspension, and Brighton scored from the free-kick when their centre half Webster thumped in a header.
     
    Kane equalised when he scored from a rebound after his initial shot had been saved, and Alli won it with a clever lobbed finish. Mourinho’s arrival doesn’t seem to have had any immediate impact. Spurs don’t really look much different and they’re leaking a lot of goals, which is surprising. The only obvious improvement is that Alli has decided to pick up the tools he downed 18 months ago.
     
    MOTD showed an incident where Kane went down holding his face after the faintest of contact from the arm of a defender. Lineker bemoaned how social media complains that they don’t look at incidents like that when they involve England’s golden boys like Kane and Sterling, so they would take a look at this one. 
     
    The verdict? Murphy said “he got a whack”. Ian Wright said “everyone goes down for that kind of contact” and Lineker said “much ado about nothing”. He then added “Happy now?”. No, Gary. I’m not happy actually. Social media was clearly right. In future you may as well not bother if you’re going to just whitewash Kane’s cuntery like this.
     
    Next up, Palace and West Ham. Two dogshit teams, one of whom has been masquerading as something better. I keep saying that Palace are woeful and they keep fucking winning. It’s doing my head in. Mind you, everyone is beating West Ham these days. Things got so dire for them they eventually turned to Davie Moyes. More on that later though.
     
    My boy Snodgrass put the Hammers in front with a lovely finish but West Ham old boy Kouyate equalised. Palace won it when another West Ham old boy (I think, it may have been his brother who played for them?) Jordan Ayew scored a sensational individual goal in stoppage time. Beautiful goal that, great balance and technique.
     
    I see that Connor Wickham was playing for Palace. It’s funny, every time he plays I think the same thing “fucking hell, I’d forgotten all about him”. It’s because every time he plays he then disappears for ten months. I’ll be writing the same thing this time next year probably.
     
    Mark Noble completely lost his shit with Ogbonna and had to be held back by team-mates, including Antonio. If he’s holding you back then you’ve got no chance of getting anything done. I don’t know what Ogbonna did to incur Noble’s wrath but that’s not something you would normally see from Noble and it shows what a fucking mess West Ham are in at the moment.
     
    Another of the claret and blue sides, Aston Villa aren’t doing much better either, although they did scrape a rare win over Norwich. 
     
    Hourihane broke the deadlock when he fired in after good work by Grealish. Norwich had missed loads of chances before that and they squandered a great one after it when Heaton pulled off a great save. I feel like Norwich are just really fucking unlucky you know. They’ve had loads of games where they deserved more than they got. I’m rooting for them, I want them to get out of it.
     
    Greasily is Villa’s one shining light and he knows it. “I love that the lads rely on me and I thrive off it”. Classic big fish in a small pond mentality that. He’s good but maybe he’s more of a Matt Le Tissier than a Jordan Henderson.
     
    Ancelotti got off to a winning start as Everton edged out Burnley in a game that was only marginally less shit than their draw with Arsenal a few days earlier. Calvert-Lewin scored again. He’s clearly shit, and most Blues even seem to think so, but somehow he’s finding the net nearly every week. He’s the new Darren Bent, only with tighter shorts. 
     
    He was linked with Man United this week which would be the funniest transfer of all time if it happened. The likelihood is that it was just his agent putting it out there to get him a new contract, and it looks as though it worked too.
     
    I hate that big lump Chris Wood you know. The more I watch him the more I hate him. Nothing personal, it’s not like he comes across as a bad lad or anything. I just hate watching him as he’s a big yard dog. I saw him miss an easy header in this game and it infuriated me. It’s the one thing he’s meant to be good at. You have one job, you big useless fucking dope.
     
    That Dan Gosling jabroni put Bournemouth ahead at home to Arsenal but they couldn’t hang on and Aubamayeng equalised from close range. Callum Wilson thought he’d won it but he was just offside when he converted a rebound from a Harry Wilson shot.
     
    Arsenal are so fucking shit. Absolute bunch of losers. Arteta claimed they’re the biggest club in England it’s time they started acting like it. Another cunt who thinks nothing outside of London matters. How can anyone make that claim with a straight face? Mind you, he played for Everton and he coached at Man City, so the bitterness is strong in that one.
     
    Aubamayeng reportedly wants out in January. Of course he does. Who wouldn’t? He should never have signed for them to begin with though. Why would you leave Dortmund to join Arsenal? Money, that’s the only reason. Still, he couldn’t have imagined they’d be as bad as this. He’s got China written all over him I reckon.
     
    Watford’s improvement under Nigel Pearson continued as they picked up a battling point at Sheffield United. Deulefeu ran through to give them the lead but Will Hughes brought down Baldock and Norwood equalised from the spot. 
     
    The Blades were the more likely winners but they came up against Ben Foster on one of those days he tends to have now and then where he looks like the best keeper to have ever played the game. Such a strange one him. I don’t think there’s anyone in the league who makes more incredible saves than him but he’s also prone to massive clangers. He’s the English Hugo Lloris.
     
    The day after Boxing Day saw a cracking game at Molyneux where Wolves came from 2-0 down to beat ten man Manchester City. This is almost too good to be true now, isn’t it? It wasn’t that long ago when City never lost any games, now they’ve lost five in their last 12 or something. It’s fucking great.
     
    This loss will have really hurt them because they put so much into it and for a while it looked like they were going to pull off a hugely impressive win against all the odds. Ederson was sent off early doors but they took the lead from the penalty spot soon after. It took over five minutes from when the incident took place to when the ball ended up in the net though. What a farce that was.
     
    Initially the referee didn’t give the penalty but VAR intervened and over-ruled him. A lot of people weren’t convinced but to me it’s a stonewall pen as the defender stands on the foot of Mahrez as he’s running. Definite pen, but let’s also make a point here of drawing attention to VAR benefitting City as it seems to have been lost on some people (most notably City’s fucking deluded conspiracy theorist fanbase).
     
    Sterling stepped up to take it and was denied by the keeper. Then VAR intervened again to rule that Conor Coady had encroached and because he cleared the ball, the kick needed to be retaken. Coady wasn’t in the box but he was in the ‘D’ and that’s not allowed. Even as a schoolkid I knew that, but as we’ve discovered over the last couple of days poor Conor struggles a little bit when it comes to understanding the rules of the game.
     
    So anyway, Sterling got another chance and this one was saved too. Not surprising at all to me, as honestly, he’s probably the last person in that Man City team I’d be letting anywhere near a penalty kick. I couldn’t believe they let him take it as despite the amount of goals he scores, his ball striking is shite. He scored from the rebound of course, as six yards out in front of an open goal is very much his comfort zone.
     
    In fairness his second goal was finished superbly. Good run, lovely linked finish over the keeper. 2-0 at half time and I stopped following it at that point as my phone battery was low, so I plugged it in in the kitchen and forgot all about it. I had a nice pleasant surprise when I checked the phone at full time!
     
    My boy Traore had gotten Wolves back in the game with a powerful blast from 20 yards into the bottom corner, and then he robbed the hopeless Mendy to put one on a plate for Jimenez to equalise. A draw would have been great, I’d have been made up with that, but it got even better when Doherty won it in the last minute by dancing around the traffic cone that is Otamendi and beating Bravo. 
     
    There was still more drama as City were awarded a free-kick in the dying seconds and Sterling hit the bar with it. Defeat was probably harsh on them all things considered but they can’t defend so they keep losing games they normally never would have. Turn out the lights, the party’s over for Man City.
     
    Onto the next round of fixtures now. Leicester traveled to West Ham without Vardy and with Brendan making sweeping changes. Only Schmeichel and Evans kept their places and everyone else was rested. If West Ham were ever going to get a result to ease the pressure on Pellegrini then this was the time. And they couldn’t do it, the fucking bums. 
     
    Leicester’s reserves got the win with goals from that Iheanacho cunt and Demarai Gray to stay in second place and maintain their lead over Man City. I had been hoping for a West Ham win to put Leicester even further back. I’m not actually worried about being caught by them but the bigger cushion we have the better. 
     
    On the flip side, if they finish ahead of City then that will send Brendan’s ego soaring into another stratosphere and it will be a blow to Guardiola that might send him scuttling off back to Europe to look for another job where the deck is stacked in his favour. After all, ‘Pep’ doesn’t like competition. Don’t know why he doesn’t just go to PSG or Juventus and be done with it.
     
    West Ham reacted by ditching Pellegrini (an obvious call they should have made a while ago really) and bringing in Davey Moyes. It’s a mad one that, as he was there before and they didn’t want to keep him as they thought they could do better. Now they’ve gone crawling back.
     
    Moyes is seen as a joke figure by most people but I think he’s an obnoxious twat, just because of how arrogant and deluded he is. Look at these comments he made when he took the job:
     
    "They are getting a very experienced Premier League manager. I think there's only two or three managers with a better Premier League win record. That's what I do, I win. I'm here to get West Ham wins and get them away from the bottom three."
     
    I mean fucking hell, who talks about themselves like that? Mourinho maybe, but when you’d got a CV like his you can boast all you like. Yeah, it makes you look like a right big headed bastard, but no-one is actually going to dispute the validity of it. Moyes has won fuck all but acts like he’s God’s gift to footy management purely on the basis of the job he did at Everton. 
     
    Ask Sunderland fans if they think he’s a winner. Or Real Sociedad fans. Or Man United fans. He’s lying his arse off as there are loads of managers with a better win record than him. If he had an ounce of humility or self awareness I wouldn’t have a problem with him, but such levels of arrogance from someone who has achieved so little just makes him an unlikeable prick.
     
    He’s like Tim Sherwood and Alan Pardew only without the fun aspect. Yeah, they’re both wankers but those two at least have a ‘wrestling heel’ persona about them. They know they’re twats and they play up to it. Moyes is just a charmless, dull, big headed bastard who doesn’t even know he’s a wanker. I really hope he takes them down.
     
    Anyway, moving on. Norwich’s bad luck continued as they fucking battered Spurs but ended up drawing after conceding a late equaliser. Vrancic (whoever the hell he is) put them ahead after Foyth was caught in possession. Norwich do that high press very well and they caused Spurs a lot of problems with it.
     
    My boy Pukki thought he’d made it 2-0 only to see it ruled out by VAR. It’s just bullshit this. Under the stupid fucking rules they have now, technically he is offside, but as I keep saying, look at the feet as that gives you a much better reflection of what ‘should’ be offside and what shouldn’t. His feet are well onside because he bent his run to get onside, but because he’s leaning forward as he’s sprinting, and the defender is standing more upright, his shoulder is an inch or two offside.
     
    In terms of the cruelest VAR offside calls we’ve seen, this might be number one. I just feel bad for Norwich as they deserved to win this game and morally that should not be offside. Morals have nothing to do with it though unfortunately.
     
    Eriksen’s free-kick drew Spurs level but an own goal from Aurier restored the Norwich lead. He’s shite that Aurier but there was nothing he could do about that. Didn’t stop social media from savaging him of course.
     
    Kane then went tumbling in the box to win a pen, which of course he buried with the minimum of fuss. Not everyone thought that was a penalty but as much as I’d like to accuse him of diving (again) I just think that was clever play. The defender launches himself into a tackle and slides right across him. To me, Kane is an idiot if he tries to avoid that. Spawn point for Spurs to go with the undeserved three they got against Brighton.
     
    Watford smashed Villa at Vicarage Road as my boy Troy enjoyed himself against the side he hates more than any other. He grew up a Birmingham fan and loves scoring against Villa. He reacted first to a loose ball to put the Hornets 1-0 up. Mariappa was then sent off for two quick yellows but it didn’t make any difference.
     
    Deeney won a pen and smashed it home to make it 2-0 and Sadio’s ‘shy boy’ Sarr added a third. Watford are off the bottom now and have a decent run of games coming up. Things are looking up for them it seems.
     
    Villa were unhappy that Watford didn’t put the ball out before the second goal as one of their players was on the floor with a pulled hamstring. Villa had the ball and could have put it out themselves, but Grealish tried to nutmeg a Watford player and gave it away. 
     
    Deeney said “They lost the ball. Are we then supposed to put it out? It is what it is, we’re in a relegation battle, we’re not here to shake hands and be nice”.
     
    I agree with him, as I usually do because he talks a lot of sense. This is different to the Iheanacho thing the other week and Watford were within their rights to do what they did. They probably SHOULD have put it out, but when Grealish didn’t do it that gave them the justification to play on. When you watch the replay though Grealish has no idea his team-mate has gone down, but you can’t expect Watford players to be aware of that at the time.
     
    Villa also thought they should have had a free kick in the build up to the third when Grealish appeared to be caught late. The ref saw it and gave nothing so VAR didn’t want to over-rule and the replays suggest that Grealish made a meal of very little (if any) contact because he’d given the ball away. It’s immaterial anyway as Watford were well deserving of the win and should have scored more than they did.
     
    Dean Smith said as much to be fair. “I was frustrated with that (the non-foul on Grealish) but I was more frustrated with how my team played”. I like him. He’s the only thing about Villa that’s decent.
     
    Ancelotti’s winning start continued as the Blues went to Newcastle and won. They went in front when the ball broke kindly for Calvert-Lewin to finish from close range, but Carroll had the ball in the net after Almiron’s shot hit the post, only he was a yard offside. Didn’t need VAR to spot that one.
     
    Carroll then nodded one down for Schar to equalise but Calvert-Lewin restored Everton’s lead from a couple of yards. He almost fucked it up, completely missing his kick only for it to trickle over the line. Like I said, the new Darren Bent.
     
    Somehow Newcastle were denied a late penalty when Sidibe shoved Carroll in the back with two hands as he attacked a set-piece. How is VAR not giving that? I can understand why Lee Mason missed it because he’s shit, but when you can clearly see the defender shoving him with two hands in the back while Carroll is in the air, I just don’t know how you can not give that.
     
    Obviously I wanted Everton to lose but I’m fine with how this played out as their winning goal came right after the Geordies had been singing “Feed the Scousers”. Fucking have some of that you clueless, Tory enabling wankers. 
     
    Speaking of which, you know how irrelevant the Mancs are now? I didn’t even know how they got on at Burnley until just now as I’m watching it on MOTD. That’s how irrelevant they are, I’m not even looking out for their scores as it means fuck all. 
     
    For the record, they won 2-0 as Burnley followed Newcastle’s lead and gift wrapped the opening goal for Martial, before Rashford finished it off following a late counter attack. 
     
    Brighton beat Bournemouth as Dom Solanke’s scoreless run stretched to 29 games. Some lad I’d never heard of put Brighton in front and then started crying because it was his first goal. Dread to think what Solanke will do if and when he ever scores, but chances are it’s going to be NSFW. 
     
    Dan Burn had a goal ruled out for another one of those comical offsides. His chest was maybe an inch ahead of the defender’s chest. It’s so shit this isn’t it? It didn’t cost Brighton because my former boy Mooy made it 2-0 and gave them three valuable points.
     
    There was another of those infuriating disallowed offside goals as Palace had one ruled out purely on the basis that Zaha has bigger feet than the defender. Tomkins did put them in front with a powerful header but Ings seized on a terrible pass from Martin Kelly to equalise. He nearly won it with a sharp near post header that was well saved.
     
    That Palace keeper is sneaky good. No-one ever talks about him but he’s boss on the sly. He made three great saves in this one to earn them a point. Not a bad result for either side though.
     
    Sunday’s game at the Emirates that saw Chelsea do what Chelsea do, and Arsenal do what Arsenal do.
     
    The Gunners murdered Chelsea early on and deservedly led through an Aubameyeng goal. Lampard saw what was going wrong and made a change before half time, bringing on Jorginho to give them an extra body in midfield. 
     
    That made a big difference but Arsenal still led at half time. I said to my Dad as we were on our way to Anfield though that there is zero chance of Arsenal holding onto it and they’d probably lose but might just sneak a draw. I’m generally shite at predictions and I never bother betting on games because it would be a complete waste of time. 
     
    One thing I do know though is that Arsenal are fucking spineless and shit. They conceded twice in the final seven minutes, the absolute shithouses. The normally reliable Leno completely flapped at a cross and left Jorginho with an open goal for the equaliser, and then they got done on the counter attack with the kind of goal they’ve specialised in conceding over recent years. 
     
    Really well executed from Chelsea’s point of view and it was nice play between Kevin Abraham and Willian, but Arsenal do this so often. Every time they attack they look like they’ll concede.
     
    Chelsea brought on a kid at right back who I’ve mentioned in the diary a few times as I’ve seen him playing against our Academy sides and he’s fucking brilliant. Tariq Lamptey is his name, defo one to keep an eye on as he looks dynamite. Now that their ban has been lifted all these kids will be up for grabs in a year or so.
     
    Finally, ManchesVAR City (not as catchy as LiVARpool but I’m making a point here) edged out Sheffield United at the Etihad to end the Blades long unbeaten away record. It could have been so different though if Mousset’s goal at 0-0 had been allowed to stand. Again, he was off by about an inch.
     
    It was goalless at half time which shows just how tough Sheffield United are to play against. They were the better team in that half and Mousset missed a sitter before his disallowed ‘goal’ and another great chance after it. It’s just so easy to get in behind City these days.
     
    City eventually took the lead in controversial circumstances when the referee obstructed Fleck causing him to lose the ball to De Bruyne who sent Aguero in for the finish. If the ball had touched the official he would have had to blow the whistle and award a drop ball, but he dummied it so he was able to play on.
     
    The ref was Chris Kavanagh, from Manchester. Just sayin’.
     
    I think that’s everything covered now but it’s been so mad over the last week that if I’ve missed any games then I’m not going to apologise because it’s New Year’s Eve and I’ve spent all day watching three episodes of MOTD and writing this, so just be grateful for what you have.
     
    Only messing, Happy New Year. I love you all.
  • Liverpool are believed to be a number of Premier League sides keeping tabs on left-back Max Clark who is currently playing for Vitesse Arnhem.

    The 23 year-old who came through the ranks at Hull City has represented England at U/16 and U/17 level and also spent some time at Cambridge United before venturing off to play in the Dutch top flight on a free transfer. 

    Since making the move, Clark has made 43 appearances in all competitions for Vitas and won admirers with the quality of his pin-point delivery from wide areas and his tackling ability and is known to be on the radar of England manager Gareth Southgate as competition for incumbent Ben Chilwell.

    The Mirror reports that Liverpool are closely looking at the progress of Clark as they consider a back-up option for the tireless Andy Robertson.

    While Clark has 18 months left on his current deal, it is believed the current sixth placed side in the Eredivisie are bracing for bids in the January window.

    Ironically, Robertson and Clark were at Hull together and the latter replaced the Scottish captain when he departed to come to the Reds in the summer of 2018.

    At the time, Robertson was delighted for his understudy getting his chance to fill his shoes.
     


    Speaking about the move to Holland, Clark recently told Sky Sports:

    “ I had seen others go abroad and do well, kicking their career on, so I thought I would take myself out of my comfort zone and give it a go.

    “A lot of people were surprised because I was leaving my hometown club, a club I had grown up supporting. 

    “All I had ever known was life in England so it was a big step and I was a bit nervous at first wondering how it would be But I challenged myself to do it.

    "I don't have the distractions that I had at home.

    “Coming here on my own away from family and friends has changed my routines.
     
    "I am just focused on the task ahead. Everything about it."

    After pulling off a masterstroke in signing Takumi Minamito, don’t be surprised to see another ‘under the radar’ type signing like Clark arrive at the club in the near future.

     
  • Good old VAR eh? Slag it off all you like, and God knows I have, but without it we’d have dickheads like Anthony Taylor and Martin Atkinson shafting us without impunity. Put it this way, if we’d had VAR last season we’d have won the league. 
     
    Unfortunately there was no video to over-rule Taylor when he failed to send Vincent Kompany off at the Etihad, or to correct the errors of Atkinson when he didn’t send Harry Maguire off and later waived away a blatant penalty when Keita was upended against Leicester. 
     
    We’d have been screwed in this game too without the video cleaning up Taylor’s mess. Manchester’s finest did his best to screw us over again when he scandalously tried to disallow a perfectly good Sadio Mané goal. His whole performance was exactly what you'd expect if you put someone from Manchester in charge of a Liverpool game.
     
    I'd be the same if you let me loose at Old Trafford or the Etihad, only I'm not a qualified referee and even if I were they wouldn't let me anywhere near those games, and rightly so. Taylor is allowed to have his fun with us a few times a year though, for some reason. 
     
    It was 40 minutes before he awarded us a free-kick. Is that a record? He only gave us three free kicks in the entire game. THREE!!! Again, that has to be a record, surely? A foul every half an hour of play in a game in which we dominated possession. Dodgy little baldy twat. 
     
    Most refs are shit and Taylor falls into that category for sure, but just like Atkinson there’s more to it than that. I’m not suggesting he’s been paid off, I’m just saying that consciously or subconsciously, he’s out to do us over.
     
    Let’s look at the Mané goal for example. Firstly, even I could see from my seat on the other side of the ground there was no handball there. It was obvious it was Lallana’s chest with a little bit of shoulder to assist with the controlling of the lay off. If it had come off his arm the flight of the ball would have been vastly different.
     
    So that was never a handball in a million years. That being said, if Taylor thought there might be a hint of an arm, that’s fine, let VAR check it. The one thing he should not be doing in that situation is making that call himself and blowing his whistle. Yet he did. Interesting.
     
    The VAR check took ages, which made me believe that Taylor’s decision would be upheld because if there is doubt they are supposed to side with the on field decision. The delay suggested there was doubt but it turns out there wasn’t. They knew immediately there was no handball. 
     
    So why the delay? Because that cunt Taylor blew his whistle, that’s why. If he’d managed to get that whistle blown a split second earlier then VAR wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it. Thankfully the ball was in the net before he blew.
     
    So again, why is he getting involved in that situation when there is quite literally no need for him to do anything? If Lallana had handled VAR would pick it up and there’s no harm done by him not interfering. By him getting involved though the whole thing could have been fucked.
     
    He’s a disgrace. Mind you, so were the Wolves players, led by Conor Coady (more on him later). Why exactly were they surrounding Taylor before and after the VAR decision? He fucking disallowed the goal you soft cunts. He’s on your side! Some fella in Stockley Park overturned him, but the Wolves players were giving Taylor grief. Gang of mings.
     
    It seems part of their unhappiness stemmed from what they thought might have been a 'handball' by Van Dijk prior to the ‘handball’ by Lallana. Virgil didn’t handle it but even if he did VAR isn’t allowed to go back that far to check. The attacking handball rule change only applies to a player who scores or who provides the assist for the scorer.
     
    Wolves can cry about that all they like, but that’s the rule so tough shit. Besides, there is no replay that shows the ball hitting Virgil’s hand anyway.
     
    I’m annoyed that we were robbed of the chance to celebrate the goal but for once it wasn’t the fault of VAR. We couldn’t celebrate not because of the fear it would be ruled out, but because Taylor himself disallowed it. By the time the decision was reversed I was just relieved more than anything. The moment was ruined. 
     
    The Wolves fans were kicking off and giving it the “Fuck VAR” chants, but this is 100% on Taylor. He’s the reason they got their hopes up thinking it wasn’t going to be a goal and the whole ‘controversy’ is because of him, not VAR, the fucking gimp.
     
    So that got the Wolves fans and players all riled up and a couple of minutes later that fury was magnified tenfold when they thought they’d equalised only for Stockley Park to intervene again. 
     
    Firstly I should say that I’m sick of goals being ruled out for these marginal offside calls. There have been at least half a dozen this season where you look at it and the immediate reaction is “there’s no way goals should be getting wiped out for THAT”. We’ve had two of them ourselves, but the worst I’ve seen was probably Sheffield United at Spurs or maybe Teemu Pukki, also against Spurs, this weekend.
     
    This one was marginal too but I don’t see it as being anywhere near as contentious. Not because we benefitted from it, but because it was the lad’s foot that was offside and it wasn’t some egregious line being drawn to make his nipple look a centimetre ahead of the last defender. 
     
    His standing foot is a few inches offside so that goal can’t be allowed to stand. Wolves can bitch about it but it’s not like the officials in Stockley Park got it wrong. The fact is they could not allow that goal to stand based on the technology they used. His foot is ahead of Robertson’s so what are people wanting them to do here? They had NO CHOICE but to disallow that, it’s not like they did us a favour.
     
    It doesn’t feel right though does it? Forget that we’re involved in this one and just imagine it’s two teams you don’t care about. Do you want to see goals disallowed for that? I don’t. Equally though, I don’t really have an ideal solution to it other than scrap the whole thing, which they aren’t going to do.
     
    The first thing that needs to be done, as I keep saying, is you judge it based on where the feet are. Forget everything else, just use the feet. Then, maybe there needs to be a 30cm buffer zone until they have technology that is exact. Currently it isn’t, so the Wolves ‘goal’ might actually have been onside for all we know as the technology can’t identify the exact moment the ball leaves the player’s foot. That’s where the 30cm variance comes in.
     
    The Wolves player was offside based on the technology we currently have, but it isn’t exact to the exact millimetre so some of these marginal calls we’ve seen this season might actually have been onside. This kind of thing is not why offside was brought in and we’re all sick of seeing goals ruled out on such marginal calls.
     
    But I don’t know why we’re getting so much grief for this. As I said, they HAD to disallow that goal. VAR did the job it’s supposed to do. Complain about whether we should have it or not all you like, and if it were up to me I’d drop it like a bad habit, but this “it’s been brought in to favour Liverpool” horseshit is just embarrassing. 
     
    The worst for that are Man City. The same Man City who only two days earlier were awarded a somewhat contentious penalty by VAR, missed it and were allowed a retake because of VAR spotting a marginal (at best) encroachment. 
     
    The same Man City who this very same day were spared going a goal down against Sheffield United by a VAR call that was every bit as close as the one that saw Wolves denied. But sure, ignore those and continue to cry conspiracy, you delusional, bitter fuckwits.
     
    The decision was correct but Wolves were always going to feel hard done by, especially as they’ve been on the wrong end of more VAR decisions than anyone. They’re currently net -6 on VAR calls, which is the worst in the league. I didn’t think they handled this well at all but when you take that into account it’s easier to see why their toys came out of prams.
     
    For the record, Brighton have had seven decisions go their way, Sheffield United have had seven against. Wolves are yet to have any go in their favour and have been on the receiving end six times, so yeah, that will have gone a long way towards what on the surface looked like over the top behaviour from them.
     
    Part of the problem was that nobody even thought for a second that their goal may have been offside. None of our players appealed and everyone just went back to prepare for the restart. To have that called back completely unexpectedly tipped them over the edge.
     
    I’ve said before that I’m usually shit hot with potential offsides but even I didn’t suspect there was anything untoward with this one at all. When the Wolves players were all celebrating right in front of where I sit, I lost my shit and was yelling all sorts of obscenities at them, and at Taylor for standing back and allowing them to incite the crowd like that.
     
    It wasn’t my finest hour and if there was a camera on me I’d be mortified watching myself. I feel as though it was partly justified though as that little Neto cunt was bang out of order. Who the fuck does he think he is giving the Main Stand all that shite? I don’t even accept it when Jurgen does it so there’s no way I’m having it from this little fucking nomark!
     
    Honestly, that celebration was so far out of line. He’s giving us loads and then he’s trying to get to the Kop to taunt them as well, only his team-mates were holding him back. Who the fuck are you, you little shitbag? And Taylor’s just stood there letting it happen. I’m only surprised he didn’t join in.
     
    Then as the teams are ready for the restart, we get the news that there’s a VAR check. “Oh please let this be disallowed, just because of how the fuckers celebrated”. I’m looking at my phone to see what the lads watching on TV made of it and they were undecided as it was that close.
     
    Then eventually Taylor starts walking back towards the box and we realise that it’s not been given. We didn’t exactly celebrate like we’d scored a goal, but there was a huge cheer and it was funny seeing the reaction of the Wolves players again. That Neto prick launched the ball into the stands and should have been booked.
     
    Nuno Holy Spirit had been yellow carded before the verdict was even in. I don’t know what he said or who he said it to, but Taylor walked over and booked him while he was waiting for the VAR check to come in.
     
    Wolves had lost their heads at that point, which was understandable given their history with VAR. Again though, why are they on Taylor’s case? He didn’t disallow the goal and was doing all he could to help them out. I’ll say again, it was 40 minutes before he gave us a foul, and we only got two more after that.
     
    Hell, almost immediately after the disallowed goal he gave them a free-kick in a shooting position and booked Lallana. There was fuck all in that, it was just a foul nothing more, and it smacked of him wanting to put Lallana in his place after his protests about the ‘handball’. Thankfully the free kick from Neves hit the wall.
     
    I haven’t mentioned anything else about the first half other than the two VAR incidents, but not a great deal else happened. I thought we played ok and had control of the game up until the Taylor brought by chaos unsettled everyone. We weren’t creating much but if anyone was going to score it always looked like it would be us.
     
    Despite all their changes Wolves were dogged and well organised and we were finding it tough to create anything clear cut. There were one or two moments when we might have done better, but generally it was a bit of a slog.
     
    And the second half was worse, as we clearly began to look goosed. Wolves have played more games than us and they went into this one on less rest, so I’m not making excuses here. It is a fact that we looked more tired than they did though, and the worry for me before the game was that if we didn’t put daylight between us and them in the first hour, they had Traore and Jimenez to bring on.
     
    I’d have preferred them to start because the thought of Traore running at us when we’re tired worried me. He was a threat from the moment he came on but generally we did a good job on him. One of the best moments of the game was when he picked it up for his first run and Lallana sprinted across and tackled him. Hell of an effort, and he was doing that all day. He was fucked by the time he went off and it’s fitting that his last involvement was a long chase back followed by a flying block.
     
    It was interesting how we handled Traore I thought. Sadio dropped in really deep to help out Robbo, which made sense considering he’s our fastest player. He made life so difficult for Traore that he switched over the opposite flank to try and get at Trent. When that happened, Klopp made a change to get Origi on and Sadio then moved over to the right to continue to help with Traore.
     
    I like Traore, so much so that he’s even been granted ‘my boy’ status in the round ups. He’s been brilliant this season and has completely transformed his game. He’s not just fast now, he can play as well. 
     
    When he had the ball we surrounded him with to or three players to block off his running lanes, but I thought it was really impressive the way he was able to shift the ball quickly in tight spaces to pop it off to team-mates and then look for the return pass. If he’s added guile and skill to his game (and it looks like he has) then he could become virtually unstoppable. Klopp seems to love him, so who knows what the future might hold there.
     
    Wolves piled on the pressure in the last ten minutes but thankfully they kept putting their shots into the top tier of the Anny Road. It looked like we’d weathered the storm but then Traore picked the ball up out wide and began cutting inside across the box trying to find room for a shot. He seemed to go past three or four challenges until it opened up and he struck it, but thankfully Van Dijk was in the way. I think Alisson had it covered anyway but Virg didn’t know that.
     
    That should have been the last action of the game as the four minutes of stoppage time were up, but obviously Taylor was always going to let them take the corner to see if they could equalise. The ball came in, and Virgil’s massive beautiful head rose highest to power it away. Now the whistle went and we had three more huge points.
     
    This was a sweet victory on many levels, but after the way Wolves fans carried on here last season on the final day it was especially nice to stick it to them. And even more so given the nature of it. “It’s not football anymore” they chanted. I agree, but if those decisions had gone in their favour I’d bet everything I own that the dopey cunts would have been ‘bantering’ us by singing about VAR.
     
    I had sympathy with Nuno afterwards. Clearly he doesn’t like VAR and who can blame him? He was dignified about it though. Which is more than can be said for his captain, who “couldn’t get his head around” the decisions. Listen soft lad, if those decisions were wrong then you have every right to kick off about it. But they weren’t wrong.
     
    Interviewer: “Why were unhappy about the goal?” 
     
    Cody: “Apparently Van Dijk might have handled it but Anthony Taylor said he’s too far back to check. He played the pass that led to the goal.” 
     
    Firstly, he didn’t handball it. Secondly, even if he did VAR can’t get involved in that because of THE LAWS OF THE GAME. if you don’t understand the laws, Conor, then that’s on you mate. And again, Virgil didn’t handle it. Neither did Lallana. So what exactly is the problem again?
     
    Not sure if I’ve ever gone on the record with this or not, but I don’t care much for Conor Coady. I’ve felt that way for a long time but didn’t say anything because I don’t like criticising one of our own and I really wanted to like him. I watched him come through our Academy and always thought he was a good player (albeit a right fucking big head) and he’s a Red, so yeah I wanted to like him. 
     
    I don’t like him though. Any time I see him interviewed I just think “fucking hell he’s so full of himself”. He’s too cocky and I just can’t take to him, never have been able to. It’s fine though, Conor loves himself more than enough to make up for those of us who don’t have much time for him.
     
    There’s a lot to not like about Wolves, not least their fans. Gobshites. I like the manager a lot though (seems a top bloke) and they’re clearly a good side. They might even grab that fourth spot because they look every bit as good as anyone else outside of the top three. They made a load of changes and still gave us a tough game and with my boy Traore in the form he’s in they’ll be tough for anybody to face. That kid who played left wing back was good too.
     
    We had an extra day to prepare but that was negated by Wolves making so many changes. That weakened them to a degree as some of their best players were left out, but it also freshened the legs and made them very difficult to break down. We couldn’t really do that because we were down to 13 fit senior outfield players plus the kids.
     
    It won’t be much different against Sheffield United on Thursday but there’s a reasonable enough amount of time between this game and that one and I expect a strong team before a lot of changes for the Everton game. 
     
    You could make a reasonable argument for resting everyone on Thursday and going full strength against the Blues, but personally I don’t think that will happen. It’s a tough one though. Ordinarily I’d be in favour of just prioritising the league games, but we’ve got such a massive lead that we could rest people for Sheff Utd and go all out to beat Everton. I’m glad I don’t have to make that decision.
     
    Star man is Joe Gomez. He was brilliant again and over the last few weeks he’s recaptured his very best form, which is great to see. 
     
    I thought Hendo was terrific again (the way he’s filled in for Fabinho is a credit to what a great footballer and leader he is), while the work rate of Lallana and Wijnaldum was commendable. Sadio was dangerous as well, but everyone else seemed a bit off key. Even Robbo wasn’t at his sharpest (and Virgil looked human for once), but they all battled and ensured we got the win.
     
    2019 was a hell of a year, here’s hoping for even better in 2020.
     
    Happy New Year, Reds!
     
     
    Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Wijnaldum (Milner); Lallana (Keita), Firmino (Origi), Mané; Salah:
  • Milestone man Virgil Van Dijk praised the resilience of his teammates after they had to dig deep to grind out a 1-0 win over a extremely committed Wolves outfit at Anfield on Sunday evening.

    After playing some beautiful free flowing football against Leicester on Boxing Day, this contest was tight, tough and tense against the Midlands side who were on a high after a outstanding victory against Man City.

    A Sadio Mane goal was all that separated the sides which was scored on the brink of half time and speaking after the game to the Official site, Van Dijk was delighted to claim the three points after a huge workload for both teams.

    “It was [tough]. Wolves are a good team, made it very difficult for us and have good players.

    "It's never easy for both sides to play in the circumstances – last week and this week a lot of games, travelling for both sides. 

    "They made it tough for us and we're obviously very happy that we kept the three points. 

    “We kept the ball for a while and were very patient, I think that's the most important thing. 

    “It's not always easy because you want to score goals as quick as possible but you had to be very patient today because they were defending well and when they had the ball they did good things as well. It was tough."

    Some replays after the game seem to show that the Dutchman handled the ball in the lead-up to the winning goal.

    But when asked about the incident, he could not remember the specific details.

    “I need to see it back I can't remember it.

     "I heard from you guys about handball. I thought it was complaints about the handball for Adam Lallana. 

    “The game is over. What can we do? The goal stood."

    The win was the perfect end to what has been a special 2019, with hopefully more exciting times to come in the new year.

    However, Van Dijk is certainly not thinking too far ahead.
     


    “ Obviously we can be positive about the situation we're in, but we can't be satisfied. 

    “So far we're in the middle of the season, halfway through, so we want to achieve more and more. 

    “The only thing we can do now is make sure we focus on the next game and it will be a tough one again.

    Van Dijk was proud to achieve the three points in what was his 100th appearance for the club since arriving from Southampton in January 2018.

    “From my debut until now, I've been playing a lot of games and I'm very proud that I've been playing so many games and stayed fit.
    . 
    “Most of the games I've been on a consistent level as well, so I'm very happy about that. 

    “Obviously sometimes you could always be better but I'm not a robot, I'm not perfect.
     
    "So, I'm just enjoying the ride and we'll see where it ends."

     
  • Saturday Dec 21:
     
    L 1 Flamengo 0 We never do it the easy way do we? The only surprise is it didn’t go to penalties. Watching it live I wasn’t particularly impressed with our performance, especially in the first half, but I watched the whole game again later and with the nerves and emotion removed it was much better than I initially thought.
     
    Firstly, they’re a good side. Steamrolling them was never going to happen. They had a good go but we took their best punches and eventually just overpowered them. Andy Robbo’s handling of Rafinha was brilliant. I couldn’t possibly love him any more than I do. He’s a little bastard and every team needs one of those. Funny how they’re often Scottish!
     
    Hendo was great as well, and you’ve gotta love his trademark trophy lift. All those years he had to battle to win people over and he had all kinds of shit thrown his way, and now he’s lifting the biggest prizes in the game as our captain, and he’s doing it in his own unique way. 
     
    I’m just made up for him. There are still some weirdos out there on social media who want him replaced, but every trophy he lifts makes them look more and more ridiculous. I only wish his brilliant shot in the last couple of minutes had gone in so he could have scored the winner. That was an incredible save actually.
     
    So pleased for Bobby as well. It’s always about Sadio and Mo as they get the goals, and this season especially Bobby has struggled to score. But this tournament is a massive deal in Brazil so for him to score the winner in both games will have meant the world to him.
     
    As much as Flamengo were bad shithouses, I like the fact we’ve played the South American Champions and wish we could do it more often (in other words let’s win more European Cups!). It should be seen as a bigger deal than it is really. Even some of our fans weren’t really on board with it, but seeing how much it meant to the lads probably swayed their opinion.  
     
    Finally, I have to tell you this as you’ll love it. At the start of the game when the camera showed Jorge Jesus, I laughed and said to myself “look at the state of that Peter Stringfellow looking prick”. A bit later on, Adrianna comes in to see how the game is going. He comes on the screen and she goes “he’s got hair like you”. “You cheeky get, his hair is nothing like mine”. “What about it is not like yours? Name one thing that’s different?”. “The colour for a start”. She didn’t say anything, she just gave me the Ancelotti eyebrow, shook her head and walked out. The lack of respect I get in my own house is almost as bad as it is on here.
     
    Sunday Dec 22:
     
    Some sections of the media still talking about it like it’s some glorified friendly. Makes me laugh really. You know why no-one in this country gives a fuck about this tournament? Because our teams our usually not good enough to be in it, and when they are everyone else wants to talk about how shit it is. 
     
    It’s understandable really. If City or Chelsea had been playing in this, I’d have been downplaying it too. No-one wants to see another English side crowned ‘World Champions’ so of course the importance of it is going to be dismissed. Fans of most other teams will never ever see their team competing for it, so why would they attach any importance to it?
     
    If the competition were expanded and there were 32 teams from around the world involved it would be viewed differently, but hopefully that never happens as nobody needs that. Bottom line is we’re the European Champions and we just beat the best team in South America, so now we’re officially the best team on the planet. 
     
    I don’t care if some chin stroking journos on Sunday Supplement are pontificating about it not being a big deal. Look at how our players have reacted to it. Their joyous celebrations tells me all I need to know.
     
    Meanwhile, while we’re basking in the glow of becoming World Champs, the Mancs were losing 2-0 at bottom club Watford and Mourinho was getting schooled by Frank Lampard. Great stuff. These really are halcyon days.
     
    Monday Dec 23:
     
    Got nothing to say about footy today as there’s not really anything happening. I did go to see the new Star Wars movie though so I can talk about that if you like. No spoilers, obviously, so you’re fine to continue reading.
     
    I’m a massive Star Wars nerd but I wasn’t looking forward to this as I thought “the last Jedi” was mostly terrible. I’m not one of those fanatics who want to pick holes in everything, I don’t want to be disappointed by these films so I’ll turn a blind eye to a certain amount of shite, but TLJ wound me right up. Not wound up like the final season of Game of Thrones, but it was a disappointment.
     
    This one was boss though. Me and Adrianna loved it. I have no complaints, there’s nothing I’d change about it and we’re going to go again before the end of the school holidays. Jumanji 2 is great as well, we saw that the other day. Frozen 2 was a big let down though (I loved the first one), defo wouldn’t recommend that.
     
    Tuesday Dec 24:
     
    Christmas Eve, no idea if anything interesting is happening as I’ve spent my day putting together a cross trainer we got for Adrianna. I had three spirit meltdowns which involved me swearing at the top of my voice and belting fuck out of the thing with a hammer. The dog shit itself and hid under a chest of drawers but I make no apologies for it. 
     
    The meltdowns were justified. I’m actually boss at putting stuff like this together, but when the holes aren’t lined up properly and it’s impossible to get the bolt in there, it’s fair game to lose your temper and shout and swear. The way I see it, it’s part of being a Dad and as long as your kid isn’t there to see it then it’s fine. 
     
    Wednesday Dec 25: 
     
    Christmas Day so fuck all happening footy wise. So here’s a list of some random ‘Best of 2019’ awards for you.
     
    Best Game: Easy - Barca at home.
     
    Best Goal: So many to choose from. I’ll go with “Corner Taken Quickly Origi!!!!!” even though there were plenty of goals that were probably better, including all of the first half goals against Everton the other week.
     
    Best Moment: Impossible to choose one. Hendo and his Dad in Madrid. The Trent corner. Robbo calling Suarez fat at the Nou Camp. Robbo hitting Messi on the head at Anfield. Milner crying at full time after we beat Barca, while at the same time Hendo was collapsing with exhaustion. There's loads I haven't even mentioned. What a year.
     
    Worst Moment: Anthony Taylor not sending Kompany off at the Etihad, closely followed by Martin Atkinson doing likewise with Harry Maguire. If either one of those fucknuts did their job properly we'd be Champions.
     
    Best Player: Toss up between Virgil, Fabinho and Mané. Wait, and Andy Robbo and Trent too. Shit, this is really hard as any one of them could get it. I’ll go Sadio but if you pick any of the others you’d get no argument from me. You can even throw Alisson in if you want and I’m good with that. Jesus, how good is this fucking team?
     
    Best Visiting Performance: Bon Jovi. Not even close. 
     
    Best Visiting Fans: Barcelona. Despite the absolutely soul crushing defeat they showed a lot of class and applauded us off at the end. I don’t like them as a club but I’ve got respect for those fans who were at Anfield.
     
    Worst Visiting Fans: It’s Man United every year but if we exclude them then it’s Wolves on the final day of the season. Unfunny, small time, banter obsessed jarg Brummy cunts.
     
    Worst Visiting Performance: I think I’m going with Arsenal this season. Instead of attacking us and getting battered, they chose to defend and get battered instead.
     
    Best Opposition Player - Minamino at Anfield is up there, but I’ll go with Messi in the game we won 4-0. He was actually on top form that night (which made Fabinho’s display agains him even more impressive), but it’s completely overlooked because we won the game. Honourable mention to Lewis Dunk the other week as well. No, I’m not kidding.
     
    Worst Opposition Player - So many to choose from, I’ll need to have a think. Fuck it, my memory is so bad these days there's no way I'll get this right, so I'll let you decide. Post your suggestions underneath and see what jogs my shitty memory.
     
    Thursday Dec 28:
     
    Leicester 0 L 4 Holy shit, that was incredible. I was mildly concerned about this game, in part because of the tiredness factor and in part because Leicester are good. We made it look easy though. It was complete and utter dominance from start to finish and it was probably the biggest statement win of the season. Even more than when we beat City, because this was away from home and was a game that everyone will have looked at as a real chance of us dropping points. And we played like THAT! How disheartening for the rest of the league.
     
    One thing I hadn’t counted on tonight though that I really should have, was Brendan’s ego giving us a helping hand. He won’t compromise his style at all even though he was playing into our hands by trying us beat us with ‘Rodgeball”. What he should have done is gone old school Leicester and tried to just play on the break. His ego wouldn’t allow that though, he had to try and play out from the back and as a result of that Jamie Vardy didn’t get a kick. Thanks Brendan.
     
    The Leicester fans picked up where they left off at Goodison the other week. Chants supporting Boris Johnson and the S*n. Just embarrassing. It’s a minority and many of those inside the stadium will have been fuming, as Leicester is actually a labour supporting city, but this is modern footy for you. “Bantz” is king. Won’t surprise me if Wolves do the same this weekend. Football fans throughout this country are for the most part, tribal, banter obsessed wankers.
     
    Friday Dec 27:
     
    Holy shit part two, City lost again! None of us want to say that it’s over and we've won, but if someone else was this far ahead and playing the kind of football we’ve been playing for the last couple of years, not one of us would be saying there is still a chance of someone catching them.
     
    If City were to win every game then there’s a slim chance they might catch us but they’re not going to win every game. This is not the Man City of last year or the year before. I do expect them to be much better in the second half of the season than they have been in the first, but it’s not going to be enough. 
     
    Some might say that’s tempting fate or being over confident, but it’s really not. If I’d been giving it the beans a month ago then maybe so, but we’re 14 points ahead of them with a game in hand. It's no over-confidence, it's just reality. I could make a case that anyone saying it’s not over is showing under-confidence not to mention a serious lack of belief and trust in a team that would have to completely fall apart to not win it now.
     
    Let me put it another way. What do Klopp and his team have to do to make you trust them enough to not blow a potential 17 point lead? So now, it’s not being cocky or arrogant, it’s just having enough faith in this team that they won’t lose it from the position they’re in. If you don't think it's over then you're basically saying you think this team might completely bottle it and lose six or seven games between now and May.
     
    Caution is understandable and if the lead was single digits I'd be exactly the same. This lead is fucking massive though and we've lost one league game in 18 months, so my take would be that I have enough faith in them to not completely shit the bed.
     
    Meanwhile, Luke Shaw says that United’s squad is just as good as ours. So, given that they’re 24 points behind us, he must be saying that it’s Solskjaer’s fault then? Unless he's going down the Blue Moon forum route and blaming VAR and the Premier League. 
     
    Staying with the Mancs though. Scholes made some disparaging remarks about the World Club Cup, saying it means less than winning the darts in his local or something. That’s fine, unlike most who are doing likewise he’s actually won it and if that’s how he feels then he’s entitled to say it. I’d be interested to know if that’s what he said at the time like, but whatever. 
     
    I’m sure the European Cup meant something to him, and the league title definitely will. So he can downplay us winning in Qatar all he likes, we’ll just have to shove the other other trophies in his pasty little round ginger face.
     
    that was the week that was….
  • James Milner believes that Trent Alexander-Arnold can become one of the best full-backs in World Football.

    The veteran has seen plenty of players come and go during his professional career which is now into its 18th season.

    So when he says someone has some special qualities that can go all the way to the very top, you certainly take note.

    The talent of Alexander-Arnold has been well documented for a while, but it was his outstanding all-round performance against Leicester on Thursday evening where he produced two pin-point assists for Roberto Firmino and a glorious strike of his own that the discussion over how far he can go in the game went to another level.

    The Daily Mail reported Milner as saying:

    “He [Alexander-Arnold] will keep improving and if he keeps doing what he's doing now for the foreseeable future, given how young he is, he'll have people talking about him for a long, long time.

    'There's a long way to go and we don't want him to get a big head, but he won't because there's plenty of people around him in this dressing room that if does they will pop it straight away.

    The midfielder believes that the mentality and big-game experience of the 21 year-old is a couple of his biggest strengths.
     


    “One of the most impressive things about him is his mentality. 

    “ You can admire him ability-wise but his mentality is great. He's got a great attitude.

    “I think there's a lot more to come from him and he will keep on improving and be a massive player for Liverpool for many years to come.

    'When you see the amount of games he's played, occasions he's played; Champions League finals, big games, pushing for the league title games, it's just massive experience playing alongside these guys.

    "He's going to make mistakes and will have to bounce back from them. 

    “Can he become one of the greats in that position? One hundred per cent.”

    In terms of the strong position of the team in the league at this current point of time, Milner does not believe they can afford to listen to the outside noise and assume the job is done.

    “'Every time you open your phone there are bulletins and newspaper articles and social media. 

    “You have to be even better [than before] at dealing with that and this squad is really good at it. 

    “We have to keep doing it."

     
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