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    Another great season from the best right back on the planet. It’s incredible that there are those who doubt him and still question his defensive qualities. Trent defends really well. It’s just that he’s out of this world in the attacking side of the game and when you’re that good going forward there’s always a lazy narrative that follows you around.
     
    Every attacking full back gets saddled with it and any defensive mistake is highlighted as evidence that “see, he can’t defend”. Newsflash; full backs who are crap going forward also occasionally make mistakes or will allow crosses to come in too easily. It’s part of being a full back. Sometimes a winger will go past you. Sometimes you won’t block every cross. Occasionally you might not cover around the back post well enough and an opponent will steal in and score. It goes with the job.
     
    Whenever it happens with Trent it’s used to further this idiotic notion that he’s weak defensively. Trent is as good defensively as any right back in the league. And if he isn’t, he’s pretty close. But none of them are even fit to lace his boots when it comes to attacking. Not even Reece James, a world class right back in his own right.
     
    Part of the problem here is that Gareth Southgate doesn't really fancy him. He's been overlooked at various times in favour of James, Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker. Still, at least the "Wan Bissaka v Trent" twitter war has long since been consigned to history. The point is though, because Southgate doesn't have him as an automatic selection that has fuelled the narrative that he must be weak defensively, because why else would you not pick someone as lavishly gifted with a football at his feet?
     
    It's bollocks though. Southgate doesn't pick Trent because he isn't a good enough coach to get the best out of him and because his system has different requirements of a player in that position. Reece James is not a better right back than Trent Alexander-Arnold and never will be. He's probably a better fit for a Gareth Southgate coached team though.
     
    That's a distinction that few in the media seem to be able to grasp. You either have them completely at a loss as to why Trent is left out, or you have the lazy bastards peddling the "he's not good enough defensively" angle. It's tiresome and a couple of times this season Jurgen saw his arse when being asked about this perceived defensive weakness.
     

     
    Trent’s defensive qualities were on show in the Champions League Final when he had the unenviable task of trying to keep Vinicius Jr in check. Overall he did superbly but the Brazilian still popped up with the winning goal when he stole in behind Trent on the back post. I saw a lot of talk that Trent should have done better there and that was my initial thought. Having since watched it back (it was over a week before I could bring myself to do it) I don’t think he can do anymore. 
     
    He’s holding the line to play Benzema offside so he can’t drop in deeper to cut out the cross and prevent Vinicius reaching it. Benzema is offside but misses the ball despite making a play at it. If he had made contact with it then the flag goes up and we all say what a great job Trent did holding the line. So yeah, just unlucky there for me. 
     
    Trent has had a great season but he hasn’t been at his best in every game. He’s certainly had some below par games but he plays virtually every week for a team who play at an intense level for 90 minutes. It’s not like playing for Man City when you can just take long breathers while your team mates pass the ball around for 15 minutes at a time. There’s no respite playing full back for Klopp.
     
    Even iron man himself Robbo has had games where he’s looked tired too. So yeah, Trent had some games when he wasn’t at his brilliant best, but that isn’t reflected in his numbers. I don’t just mean assists as that’s a completely over-rated stat. Look at all of the other categories related to that though. Expected assists, chances created, all that nerdy stuff that I try to stay away from but can’t because there are so many stat geeks on Twitter and even in the podcast group chat.
     
    Seriously though, I do find those stats fairly interesting, if only to see where our players compare with those at rival clubs. I don’t need stats to tell me that Trent creates loads of chances, but they are useful if you want to know how he compares to Kevin De Bruyne for example. What does that say though? He’s our right back but we’re comparing his creativity with the most creative player in the entire league. Except he isn’t the most creative player in the league because our right back is.
     
     
    Previous Season Ratings:
     
    2020/21:   This season doesn’t count
    2019/20:   9/10
    2018/19:   9/10
    2017/18:   9/10 
     
    This Season’s Rating: 9
     
    Incredible numbers from him. 9 out of 10 in every season he’s played. To get a 10 he probably needs to be getting close to double figures in goals, which he can do considering the shooting opportunities he gets.
     
    Best Moment: 
     
    The filthy outside of the boot pass to send Diaz clean through in the FA Cup Final. If he’d put that away we’d be talking about Trent’s pass in hushed tones for the rest of our days. Not singing God Save the Queen last weekend is up there too.
     
    Worst Moment:
     
    Seeing Vinicius Jr come in behind him to score the winner in Paris. Not Trent’s fault but it will have been a sickening moment for him.
     
    The Future?
     
    More 9 out of 10s probably. I’d like to see him improve his free-kicks though, he’s massively over-rated in that department and I never expect him to score.
  • Monday May 30:
     
    Fucking hell, the fallout from Paris is mental. Horror stories from fans, brilliant reporting by journalists on the scene and outrageous lies from those trying to cover up their failings. It’s genuinely incredible what the French government is trying to do here. At least make your story a little bit believable. Initially the authorities tried to say the fans arrived late. That was quickly proven to be nonsense. Now they’re saying it was 30-40,000 fans without tickets or with forgeries that was the problem.
     
    Just think about that for a second. The capacity is 80k. If you add 40k onto that you have 120k fans at the stadium. So if the stadium was full you’d have 40k outside. The stadium wasn’t even full, as loads of Reds have shown by taking photos of empty rows of seats when the game kicked off. There weren’t 40k outside though, so how do they expect these lies to stand up?
     
    Then there’s the logistics of the whole thing. 40k forged tickets? How would they know that? Where are those forgeries? Are they including all of the genuine tickets that failed to scan because their system was fucking shit? Robbo has already told us about his brother being told his ticket was fake even though it came from the club. Loads of fans have said similar too. There are also tales of fans having genuine tickets taken off them by stewards at the gate and then being turned away. 
     
    And while all of this was going on, local rats were climbing fences and running into the stadium unopposed. The security risk there is scary as fuck. Any one of them could have had a fucking bomb or some kind of weapon and none of them were searched. The ones who didn’t bunk in were outside robbing and slashing fans (not just ours either, Madrid fans suffered exactly the same treatment by police, stewards and local gangs, just on a smaller scale). 
     
    There were potentially deadly crushes on the way to the stadium as well as outside the gates, and the police made that even worse by throwing tear gas canisters that caused panic in an already dangerously crowded area. Then they were randomly pepper spraying people as they just stood there doing nothing. This time it isn’t just our word that it was happening. In this modern era everyone has access to video so it’s easy to get the message out. 
     
    It helped that basically every big hitter in the English sports media were there witnessing it, and some of them were right in the middle of it. Jason Burt from the Telegraph got pepper sprayed, while Henry Winter was there handing out water to fans who had been tear gassed. He’s a pompous, annoying arse but I’ve always been told by people who have had dealings with him that he’s a really nice, genuine guy and he showed that here. He was also fighting our corner on Talksport this morning too. This time the lies won’t stick.
     
    Not just over here either. The French media are fucking slaughtering their government for the lies. The Spanish press aren’t blaming our fans either. In fact, there’s been a lot of media coverage praising the behaviour of our crowd under the extreme provocation they were under. Our own media are 100% in our corner too. It’s a weird feeling really, we’re not used to this.
     
    I spent most of today reading about all this and watching horrific videos and it’s just so depressing. I needed a palate cleanser so watched the footage of the parade. What a day that was. It started off a bit subdued but by the end of it everyone was having the time of their life. Hendo even described it as one of the best days of his life. 
     
    You could see how much some of the others were loving it too. Konate was dragged over for an interview and he wanted no part of it because he wanted to be hanging over the side of the bus interacting with the crowds. He was buzzing off it. Diaz at the front of the bus was having a blast too. 
     
    Days like this will stay with these lads and spur them on in the future. It was mad that they had Calvin Harris DJ’ing too. Apparently that was Robbo’s doing. Imagine that conversation in the group chat. Hendo: “Ok, the gaffer says he’s bringing the ale, we need someone to sort a DJ.” Robbo “I’ve got a mate who says he doesn’t mind helping out”.
     
    Tuesday May 31:
     
    Similar to yesterday really. More likes from the French authorities but no-one of any note is believing a word of it. Unsurprisingly, the only people refusing to accept what really happened are rival fans desperate to be able to score points by blaming our fans. There’s fucking loads of the cunts too, which is just depressing as we’re all in the same boat here and should be standing as one on this. 
     
    Don’t get me wrong, if they want us to lose 10-0 to Madrid because they fucking despise us, that’s fine. I don't want their support when it comes to football. But this isn’t that. It’s an entirely separate thing that effects us all. Or at least, it effects anyone that has to go abroad for a football match. The Blues have short memories considering what happened to them a few years ago in Lille. All of a sudden that's forgotten and this must be our own fault.
     
    Staying with the Blues, “Richy lad” has shown his true colours now that he’s back home in Brazil. He wasted no time talking about how he’s told Everton he wants a big pay rise if he has to stay, but that ideally he wants out. He’s a fucking cunt and I don’t even have the words to articulate my hatred for him. After the final he was on Insta mocking fans who’s coach left them stranded and who didn’t get to the game. He’s the fucking worst. He belongs at Everton as he’s made for them.
     
    The most disappointing thing he said today was that Alisson and Fabinho are his rivals but when they’re together for Brazil they’re friends and they will talk. I know Ali is the world’s nicest man but even so, I don’t want him having anything to do with this fucking scumbag. I reckon Fabinho probably fucking hates him though. Bobby too. 
     
    Speaking of Fabinho, I forgot to mention this yesterday but his missus tweeted out a picture of the trade and said something like “there are some things oil can’t buy”. That kind of shocked me. She’s pretty outspoken so I’m shocked she had a dig at City, but the nature of it was surprising because I wasn’t sure that the players (and by definition their families) saw things the same way we do. 
     
    There’s two levels to this. One is the thing that they’re well and truly aware of the difference in the passion of the fans and the parades, the other is the reference to ‘oil’ which tells me they’re resentful as fuck about City’s cheating. I’d love to see what gets said in the players’ group chat.
     
    Meanwhile, PSG are rumoured to want Naby and could pay £50m. That’s too good to be true. Getting our money back on him? I can’t see that, especially with one year left. If they’re willing to pay £30m that’s a great deal for us and we should snatch their hands off. Hell, I’d do a straight swap for Gini and feel pretty damn good about that. The club won’t, they don’t look back and will have a list of younger targets, such as the lad from Monaco and Bellingham, although he's not expected to be available for another 12 months.
     
    Wednesday Jun 1:
     
    Holy fuck, those two French ministers didn’t just double down on the lies, they quadrupled down. What they said today was far worse than anything that’s been said Saturday. I’m beyond angry. I felt sick reading those comments. Sick, disgusted, furious, upset, sad, you name it. I’m shocked too, although I shouldn’t be as politicians will do and say anything to save their own skins. This is so fucking bad though. Just outrageous lies with zero evidence to back any of it up. Whatsmore, there’s a fucking mountain of footage out there which completely disproves every single thing they’ve said.
     
    The rest of the senate weren’t buying their lies and gave them a hard time about it, and the French media aren’t swallowing it either. Our fans’ behaviour saved lives. There’s no denying that. Had they reacted the way normal people would then there would have been fatalities. The French are lucky it was us and not another English club, because it’s only our experience of these situations that saw fans remain calm and ensure the safety of themselves and those around them.
     
    Most other fans would have laid into the riot police or tried to force the gates to get out of the dangerous situation they were in, and I wouldn’t even blame them for doing so. That’s a natural human response in that situation. As I say, because we know about the dangers our fans were able to act in a way that ensured things did not escalate. The behaviour of fans all over Paris was exemplary and loads of French people are pointing that out.
     
    What those two ministers have said though, fucking hell. There must be something we can do. It’s slander for one thing. Can we sue the cunts? I want the club to come out firing again on this. They’ve been great so far but I want Henry and Werner going after these two rats with everything we have. I also want to hear from UEFA. They were quick to blame the kick off delay on “Liverpool fans arriving late” but we’ve heard fuck all since.
     
    They need to distance themselves from the lies being peddled by the French government and they need to apologise for their mistake, while publicly absolving our fans of any blame. Anything less than that is unacceptable. I know one thing, if UEFA don’t back us how can we possibly play in their showpiece tournament next season? We’d have to boycott it, and I’d be asking Real Madrid to stand with us and threaten the same, as their fans were treated similarly. Naive of me, probably. Money talks and therefore nobody will boycott anything.
     
    Elsewhere today, reports in Germany say Sadio wanted £390k a week to stay here. I’m calling bullshit on that. Mo is asking for that kind of money, but I doubt Mané is, although if he can get that then good luck to him because he gives most of it away to help his people back home and we’ve been underpaying him for years, relatively speaking. 
     
    Speaking of Mo though, the local beat writers are saying if he doesn’t get what he wants he’ll see out of his deal and is even prepared to stay in the Premier League. Sound, enjoy yourself at Newcastle then. See how many trophies you win there. It's "not about the money though" remember. The fans know what it's about, apparently. *shrugs shoulders*
     
    Meanwhile, Richarlison is charged by the FA for throwing a flare into the crowd in the Chelsea game. Un-fucking-believable this. Burnley should be all over this shit. Why was he not charged and (potentially) suspended immediately? Leaving this until after the season is outrageous. Is there a precedent for this, because I don’t remember anyone being charged so long after the actual event. Harvey got pulled up almost immediately after the League Cup Final and all he did was pick the thing up. He didn't lash it into the stands.
     
    Richarlison's response? To post a picture of himself holding the flare. Massive fucking cunt. The next logical step here is for him to sign for United. Let’s face it, he belongs there doesn’t he? They’ve got a vacancy for a massive cunt too because they need a replacement for Greenwood. Hard to believe they could find someone worse than a woman beating rapist, but Richarlison is. Ok, ok, in all seriousness if you ask me which one of the two I’d send to jail, it’s obviously Greenwood. Ask me who I’d most like to punch in the face though and it’s Richarlison. 
     
    Thursday June 2:
     
    It’s been tough this week. Social media is a cesspit but it’s also a necessary evil. I’ve been on there constantly this week just keeping up with what’s been going on with regards to Paris. It’s weird though, my timeline is brilliant. All the people I follow and all the things they retweet is just highlighting the heroics of our fans (I don’t use that term lightly either, their behaviour was fucking heroic and I’m incredibly proud of the restraint and common sense they showed) and the rank incompetence of UEFA, as well as the brutality and lies of the French police and government. It’s almost enough to restore your faith in people. I’m not seeing any of the nasty, ignorant shit we’re always subjected to. Until that is, I venture into the dark underbelly of Twitter - the fucking replies. 
     
    They aren’t so bad when it’s an LFC account that has tweeted the initial post as most of the followers are fellow LFC fans and the replies reflect that. When it’s a national journalist or someone like Carragher or Lineker (not Gary Neville, that little cunt hasn’t said a fucking word all week) who have a more varied following across clubs from all over the country, you see what’s being said in response and it’s fucking soul destroying. In the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, they’re still in there peddling the “turned up late” and “ticketless scousers again” bullshit. In some cases they know the truth but don’t care, they just want to try and cause shit. In other cases, they’ve already made their minds up as to what happened and will just ignore anything that contradicts it. 
     
    It’s fans from all over the country and you just know that “always the victim” chant is going to be ramped right up next season. The shit I’m seeing isn’t limited to just one fanbase but the most upsetting to me is when it’s Evertonians. I have no problem with them hating us. I don’t blame them for that in the slightest. Their existence is miserable as fuck and a big part of that is because we’ve always been better and, let’s be honest, we love rubbing their noses in it. When it comes to shit like this though, they should have our backs. Every football fan should, but Everton most of all because they know what we’ve had to deal with since 1989. Frankly it’s pretty devastating seeing other scousers shitting all over us like that.
     
    I have to say though that with at least half of the shit I’ve seen in the replies, when I click on the profile they’ve been Man City fans. There’s more of the cunts up in our mentions than there were at their parade last week. They’re actually worse than United fans for this shit now, which has really caught me off guard. The whole thing is so depressing though, we shouldn’t be having to fight against these kind of slurs again. We’re still fighting from the last time, but now we have to deal with it again? At least this time the media are on our side and are fighting our corner. That won’t last though as the news cycle will move on and we’ll be left to deal with the fucking slurs, insults and falsehoods due to UEFA and the French government slandering us.
     
    Friday Jun 3:
     
    Some weird quotes from Sadio again. They looked really bad initially (especially as some of the quotes circulating were completely false) but then a more exact translation came out that was nowhere near as disappointing. He’s trying to be light hearted and sarcastic about it but it doesn’t translate well when written down. The proper translation with context isn’t really anything out of line but it still didn’t really clarify anything though because everything he’s said could still just as easily point to him staying as leaving. 
     
    Not sure why “60-70% of Senegalese people want him to leave though”. If that’s true, FUCK THE SENAGALESE PEOPLE, the ungrateful twats. Could really do without Sadio being a dick though, I’ve always had him down as one of the last players to pull shit like this so hopefully he knocks it off.
     
    Meanwhile, UEFA finally issued an apology. Of sorts. It’s still nowhere near acceptable as they didn’t show any remorse for initially blaming the fans for the delay in kick off. And let’s not kid ourselves here, that apology wasn’t aimed at us anyway. We were included in it but the only reason they said anything remotely apologetic is because Real Madrid put a statement out this morning expressing their unhappiness at the way their fans were treated.
     
    Fucking hell, we’ve been fighting this shit since Saturday night and Madrid waited six days to get involved. And when they did, UEFA immediately shit themselves. We should give UEFA the Gillett & Hicks treatment now. Target the sponsors, give them hell and tell them they’re getting it in the neck because UEFA fucked with the wrong set of fans. I also think every fan with a ticket for that game should be able to sue UEFA for damages. It’s not something that ever happens, but if you pay to attend an event and the event organisers are so negligible that you are subjected to the kind of terrifying ordeals that so many of our fans went through, it’s an open and shut case. I don’t know how the logistics of that would work, but UEFA should be fucking sued for this shit. 
     
    In 1989 we went to Wembley on a Barnes Travel coach. The coach broke down and the replacement they sent just fucking drove past us as we stood on the side of the motorway at the entrance to services. They didn't come back for us either, just left us to fend for ourselves. All the passengers on the coach had a whip round and we hired a coach from a local company in the Midlands. We got to Wembley at half time and everyone agreed that we’d sue the arse off Branes Travel.
     
    My Dad collected everyone’s number and that week he went to a solicitor. It was a cast iron case that we would have won, but Barnes Travel offered a refund on the coach ticket and all the knob heads took it. My Dad was the only one who said fuck that, we want our match tickets refunded and we want compensation for the day being ruined. He ended up going to the small claims court and got a few hundred quid, but the solicitor said if everyone had stuck together they would have all got more than that.
     
    What the fans in Paris went through was far worse than we experienced at the 1989 final, and there should be legal action on a fucking massive scale. For too long footy fans have been treated like dog shit. This wouldn’t have happened at the theatre or at fucking Wimbledon. It’s footy fans though so everyone just shrugs as though it’s the risk you take.
     
    You know something interesting? I referenced it above but it’s been almost a week now and Gary Neville has said fuck all. The man who has an opinion on literally everything hasn’t said a fucking word about this. It doesn’t reflect well on him at all and I’m surprised to be honest. I thought he had more about him but I guess not. Next time he pipes up on something he needs pulling up about why he ignored this.  
     
    Meanwhile, the FA put a video out from England training where ‘Kev’ Abraham goes up to Trent and tells him “I’m joining you guys next season”. Probably just messing around, but Trent looked a little confused by it and clearly didn’t get the joke if it was one. I like Abraham, I thought he was good at Chelsea and got a raw deal when they jibbed him off to sign Lukaku. I wouldn't sign him though unless we’re tweaking our style. 
     
    I’m not against a bit of a tweak just to mix things up a bit though. We put loads of crosses in and having a penalty box finisher on the end of them isn’t a bad thing. He’s more Origi than Firmino though, and Origi barely ever played. Abraham would cost a fortune too unless there’s a release clause we don’t know about. Speaking of release clauses, can't we just go and rub Arsenal’s noses in it by taking Saka off them if Sadio is going?
     
    We've also been linked with Pulisic today among many others. Fuck that. He misses too many chances and he's always fucking injured. I do think he's a really good player but losing Sadio, who is fucking Iron Man, and replacing him with "Captain Papier Mache" would be stupid beyond belief. If we're shopping at Chelsea then test their resolve on keeping Conor Gallagher.
     
     
    …..and that was the week that was
  • Back in early April, Liverpool agreed on the transfer of 19-year-old Fulham star Fabio Carvalho. The deal was officially confirmed just before the Champions League final. Insider Fabrizio Romano reports that the sides have agreed on £5 million and £2.7 million in possible bonuses. Fulham will receive 20% of the future sale of the player.
     
    Let's take a brief look at a young soccer player's recent successes, because in today's world there is no such thing as "too little information," especially if you're into football wagers.
     
    The first news of Jurgen Klopp's serious interest in the midfielder came at the end of last year. In January the clubs almost agreed, Fabio even underwent a medical check-up, but it was not possible to formalise the documents in time, so the transfer was postponed. Klopp has no plans to keep the boy on loan: a five-year contract and straight into the main squad.
     
    The deal was profitable for both sides: Liverpool gets the brightest player in the Championship, while Fulham gets money for a player whose contract expires in the summer. Top clubs like Man Utd and Real Madrid competed for Fabio, but the Merseysiders were ahead of all of them.
     
    The interest is understandable: the 19-year-old Carvalho is a classy player and has scored 11 goals (while adding 7 assists) in 36 games. When Fabio was asked about a move to Liverpool, even before the official announcement of the transfer he got shy and blushed a little - even making his teammate Aleksandar Mitrovic laugh. It seems they both knew something already at the time.
     
    Carvalho's rise at Fulham has been swift: in 2020, when he turned 18, he was already a part of Fulham's main squad for the League Cup, and in May 2021 he played in the PL for the first time. Just two weeks later, the lad scored his league debut goal against Southampton.
     
    "Carvalho's performance doesn't surprise me. He's in the team because we're looking for someone to score goals and crash the nets," coach Scott Parker praised the kid. - "He gets on the field to make the magic happen. Fabio is doing well, and we're very happy for him. He's scoring goals at the adult level, he doesn't need any adjustment time at all. From this day forward, he is a ray of light at Fulham."
     
    In July, Parker, who couldn't keep the club in the PL, was replaced by Portuguese Marco Silva - and the compatriots quickly found common ground. Marco said he immediately hit it off with the frisky kid, and after his first training session he realized he wanted the youngster at the center of the project. It changed Fabio and his attitude toward his team - after the relegation he was ready to leave for the Portuguese championship, just not to play in England.
     
    "We wanted to give up the contract with Fulham and ask for a transfer back in the summer," the player's father recalled. - "We were worried about that, because we are grateful to the club for our son's career. But then Silva appeared and changed everything. He talked to Fabio and promised him a place in the starting lineup. Marco fascinated us and told us he was going to make my son a real star.
     
    Silva was not lying - Carvalho had been in the starting lineup since the start of the season and had not dropped out of it even after he broke down for a month. In the first round of the championship the Portuguese scored only 4 +1 . But since January he has hardly left the field and even scored against Man City in the Cup at the Etihad, although his team lost 1:4.
  • Liverpool may have enjoyed one of the most prolific front lines in world football but there is a clear need for reinforcements this summer. Divock Origi is already on his way and, if reports are to be believed, Sadio Mane is also looking for a new challenge.
     
    Assuming Mohamed Salah stays at Anfield, that still leaves room for new faces. A number of players are being linked but one seems to stand out from the rest.
     
    Klopp and Lewandowski Reunited?
     
    After eight years with Bayern Munich, Robert Lewandowski is set to call time on his career in the Bundesliga. He may be approaching his 34th birthday but he remains prolific at the top level, and he will leave the Allianz Arena with a stunning record of 344 goals in 375 games.
     
    Prior to joining Bayern, Lewandowski scored 103 goals in 187 games for Borussia Dortmund. During his time with BVB, the player was coached by Jurgen Klopp and that’s one of the reasons why Liverpool have emerged as a likely destination.
     
    The Polish international striker was guarded about his future when interviewed at the Monaco Grand Prix. It’s suggested that he prefers Barcelona but Liverpool’s sudden, pressing need may have put them in pole position.
     
    Lewandowski also stated that all would be revealed soon but is he the player that Liverpool need?
     
    Targets for Next Season
     
    It seems odd that a team that won two trophies would have ended their season in great disappointment. That’s the standard that Liverpool set themselves and it would have been a blow to have narrowly missed out on the Premier League title and the Champions League trophy.
     
    Klopp will make the necessary changes to his squad and the Reds will be up among the favourites once again. In fact, they are second favourites for both the Premier League and the Champions League at this early stage.
     
    Opening markets, as reported by the best betting sites associated with Arabianbetting.com, put Manchester City in front for both events with Liverpool close behind. There’s such a long way to go and plenty of scope for those odds to change but the same two sides are expected to go deep into both competitions once again.
     
    Any updates to the figures will be published by Arabianbetting.com while visitors to the site can also access breaking news stories and general blog posts. It’s also possible to study bookmaker reviews and to get directly involved with the markets.
     
    Each sportsbook mentioned on those pages will accept new players. Subject to eligibility and a secure sign up form, many will kick things off with a welcome promotion. Once that’s been used up, there is the potential to access other offers through the life of the account.
     
    Other benefits to being a customer are likely to include a range of deposit and withdrawal methods, fast and friendly customer service plus the ability to bet via a mobile app.
     
    It’s a useful site to follow for all football betting but would Liverpool’s chances be boosted by the arrival of Robert Lewandowksi?
     
    Looking to the Future
     
    While he remains one of the most prolific strikers in world football, Liverpool would be aware of Lewandowski’s limited shelf life. It may be true that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still banging the goals in at the age of 40 but there aren’t too many like him. 
     
    The Polish international can do a job but Jurgen Klopp will also have one eye on a longer-term future. A passing story linking Liverpool to Harry Kane has emerged but Spurs’ reported investment in their squad makes that seem unlikely.
     
    Canadian international Jonathan David has less experience at the age of 22 but he’s had a promising season with Lille and has been impressive at international level where he has scored 20 goals in his first 30 senior games.
     
    Uruguayan attacker Darwin Nunez is believed to be another target. The Benfica man is said to be attracting interest from Manchester United but could well be swayed towards Anfield with the promise of Champions League football.
     
    It’s clearly going to be an important transfer window but, in terms of an incoming striker, is Robert Lewandowski the best fit for Liverpool next season?
  • Soccer is arguably one of the most popular sports globally, with football betting matching the popularity. Many soccer fans support different clubs in leagues worldwide and use various online casinos to stream live soccer matches and play their football bets.
     
    In particular, Liverpool supporters in Vietnam love to play on Thabet. So if you are a Vietnamese soccer fan looking forward to the Champions League finals and subsequent games, then this is the platform to stream the live match and place your football bets. But what are the reasons why this online casino is popular among soccer fans? The following are reasonable explanations for the popularity.
     
    Multiple Fixtures And Markets
     
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  • This one isn’t about football; it’s about setting the record straight. We’ve spoken to TLW contributors and members about their experiences at the Champions League final in Paris.
     
    The travelling reds were victims of the woefully inept organisation, subject to barbaric treatment from the French police, left vulnerable to gang attacks, and were immediately blamed by the authorities. Here’s what people on the ground saw and experienced.
     
     
     
  • So near and yet so far. Having seen hopes of the Quadruple dashed a week earlier, the Reds missed out on the Treble too after being rope-a-doped by Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid in Paris.
     
    The bigger story on the night of course was the disgraceful treatment of supporters before and after the game and we'll have a special pod dedicated to that this week, but for this one we're just covering the game itself. What went wrong and where do we need to improve to go one better next year?
     
    Chris Smith is joined by Paul Natton, Julian Richards and TLW Editor Dave Usher to sift through the debris of a frustrating loss and look ahead to what is likely to be a big summer of ins and outs.
     
     
  • I said during the week that when we missed out on the title last weekend I was gutted far more for Klopp and the players than I was for myself and the rest of the fanbase. After this one, I feel the opposite. I’m gutted for us. Proper gutted and down in the dumps about it. We needed this after last week and it would have been fucking amazing to add number seven and parade it around town. 
     
    Last week the lads took care of business in their own game but they had no control over what happened elsewhere. They’d had an incredible season and did all they could in the run in but it wasn’t enough. That’s why I felt so bad for them. It wasn’t in their hands but they did all they could. There’s no regrets over the league, only resentment that we were beaten by cheats. 
     
    This was different. This trophy was in their hands. All they had to do was go out and beat a team who they are clearly superior to. Sadly they couldn’t do it and therefore it’s not really like last week. Our players can have no complaints after this because the bottom line is they just didn’t do enough to win. It’s not that they were outplayed, far from it. We dominated the game and Madrid offered virtually nothing in attack. But they scored and we didn’t.
     
    Even though we were clearly the better side overall, Madrid played exactly the way they wanted to and I don’t think we can say the same. It’s massively disappointing and it’s a missed opportunity because we haven’t lost to a great team. We should be beating them but it’s Real Madrid in this competition and for whatever reason (not going to get into the “aura of the competition again” but it is a thing) it’s much easier said than done.  
     
    Mind you, the whole night just had really bad fucking juju about it. There was the disgusting way the fans were treated which resulted in a delayed kick off, and all that drama with Thiago where it looked like he wasn’t going to play, then he was, then he wasn’t, then eventually he did. It just had a bad feeling before it even started.
     
    The most disheartening thing about the performance is that I never felt at any point in the second half that we would score. It wasn’t just me either, all the lads I was watching with had the same feeling. You could just tell we weren’t right in the final third and it was a tough watch. 
     
    Everything up until there was sound, but it was one of those games we have from time to time where the decision making in and around the box is just generally awful. We picked the worst possible time to have one those performances.
     
    Courtois was man of the match but he only really had to make three real saves. Considering how dominant we were, three decent efforts on goal just isn’t anywhere near enough and we have to be better than that if we want to seize the moment and win the trophy. The players only have themselves to blame for not winning this game and I’d imagine it will stay with them for ever because they know what a missed opportunity this was. You only get so many of these opportunities so when its a game you should win, you have to win it. 2018 was different, it wasn’t a game that we ‘should’ have won. We could have if circumstances had been different, but you don’t look back and think ‘that’s a game we should definitely be winning’. This one is though.
     
    It’s not that I don’t feel bad for the lads. Of course I do. I’m gutted for them. I just feel worse for me and for you and for especially everyone who went over there and had to endure what they went through. It’s left a fucking sour taste in the mouth and although we’ve had 10 incredible months, inevitably it’s the pain of the last week that will be the thing that lingers for a little while until perspective is fully restored. 
     
    Eventually we’ll look back on the season with real pride and fondness, but it will always feel like a missed opportunity because that’s what it was. We should be beating Real Madrid because we’re much better than them. We were much better than them in this game even though we did not play well at all. 
     
    If we had played well in attack we’d have fucking destroyed them and that’s what hurts. That’s why this will always feel like Athens to me. That was another one we clearly should have won but we blew it. We blew this one too. I hate saying that but it’s true.
     
    It’s so frustrating because we’d started the game really well and looked like we might blow them away if we could score early. We flew out of the traps and had some early chances. Not exactly clear ones but we were threatening and it felt like a goal was coming. We started the FA Cup final in similar fashion and didn’t score then either. It’s costly.
     
    Watching on a big screen in an arena isn’t exactly conducive to taking everything in and assessing a game properly. It’s not like being there in person or watching at home on TV when you are able to focus a lot better on what’s happening. So my view on the game might be different than if I’d been in the stadium or at home watching telly. 
     
    The commentary was on but I wasn’t really listening and tuned out to most of it. One thing I do remember though was Glen Hoddle saying after about 20 minutes that we needed to score while we were on top or we would regret it. I was annoyed at the time as it seemed like unnecessary scaremongering. We were in complete control of the game and the goal would come eventually. Sadly it turns out he was spot on. 
     
    In hindsight we absolutely needed to score in the opening half an hour when we had them on the ropes. Madrid weathered the storm and just dug in, waiting for their opportunity. It came just before half time with their first real attack of the game and it ended with Benzema putting the ball in the net. I’m not sure why it took so long to disallow it as it was clear from the first replay that it was offside.
     
    I actually thought he was offside from the initial pass too but they didn’t show any freeze frames on that so presumably it was checked and was ok. The second one though, he’s a yard offside and the ball is played forward by Casemiro. Open and shut case, but it took them ages to come to a decision. The commentary team were adding to the confusion too, and I can’t believe I’m saying this but it needed Peter Walton to come on and set everyone straight. 
     
    What’s the confusion? The ball bounces off Alisson and then Casemiro challenges for it with Fabinho and Konate. He plays the ball forward, it might have then taken a nick off one of our lads but that’s not relevant as they were simply making a challenge, not trying to make a play at the ball. It then falls to Benzema who is offside because Alisson is well out and Robbo is the only player between Benzema and the goal. It’s an easy decision that they made a right fucking meal out of.
     
    Even though it wasn’t a goal I felt that moment changed the game. It gave Madrid the confidence that their game plan would work. Keep doing what they’re doing defensively and wait for their one moment. It also maybe put the wind up us a little, as for all the dominance we’d had the closest either side had come to a goal was them from their one fucking solitary attack. It was jarring.
     
    The second half was basically the same only this time they scored from their one opportunity. I thought it was offside at the time and I haven’t seen any replays that convince me otherwise. That’s been noticeable in Europe this year. The threshold on offsides seems to be less tight than it is in the PL and we don’t always get the lines shown on TV either (we benefitted a few times from that). I don’t think that goal would count in the Premier League but I might be wrong. Until I see a replay showing that Vinicius Jr’s shoulder isn’t ahead of the last man though I’ll feel mildly aggrieved about that. I’m more aggrieved that we couldn’t score though.
     
    The worst part is that when that goal went in, deep down I knew we’d lost. Obviously you keep hoping, but I can’t explain why, I just knew in my heart that we weren’t going to score. It wasn’t just me either. Our entire group were the same. We all knew we were fucked if we conceded first as it never felt like we were going to score. Even when he had chances there was just no real conviction. And Courtois looked like he wasn’t going to be beaten by anything.
     
    He’d been running his mouth in the build up about how Madrid never lose finals. Carvajal made a jibe too about how he hopes Mo will be able to cope with losing to them twice or something like that. It pissed me off but it’s up to our lads to ram their words back down their throats and they didn’t do it. Courtois was right. He talked the talk but he walked the walk too. He did what Mo did except unlike Mo he backed it up with his performance.
     
    I’ve never liked that Postman Pat looking goon but he did go on social media this morning to say he felt bad for the Liverpool fans who were mistreated and he hopes everyone got home ok. He didn’t need to do that and I appreciate that he did. I also respect anyone who runs their mouth but then backs it up.
     
    It’s just so galling that we lost to a team who basically approached the game like Everton, Newcastle, Villa and all those other inferior teams do when they come up against us. This isn’t sour grapes as I’m more disappointing in what we did than what they did. 
     
    I’m not criticising Ancelotti for those tactics because it fucking worked and in a final winning the game is the only thing that matters. It’s no fluke either, he’s like Kryptonite to Klopp. He clearly knows how to stifle Klopp teams because he’s done it before with players who aren’t as good as he has at Madrid.
     
    I don’t know exactly what went wrong. We did create some chances but I think the writing was on the wall from the moment Courtois made a great save to tip Sadio’s shot onto the post, and then got incredibly fortunate when the ball bounced back and hit him but stayed out. They almost always end up in the net but it’s Real Madrid in the European Cup. Bad fortune just never comes their way does it?
     
    It’s weird that we had loads of shots but most of us probably felt that we were never going to score. There were too many bad crosses, the set-pieces were fucking woeful and when we did get good opportunities we just weren’t clinical enough. 
     
    The one moment when it looked like maybe this would be it was when Mo went through late on. His first touch was sensational and he did everything right. Actually going on the outside for once instead of cutting back in. Courtois made a great save and that was that. When that didn’t go in I knew it was all over.
     
    Mo had six shots on target apparently. I barely remember most of them. There was one when he arrived at the back post and was blocked by Courtois. That annoyed the fuck out of me because instead of just attacking the ball he adjusted his run to get on his left foot and that split second could be the difference between Courtois making the save or not.
     
    I don’t think the subs helped us at all either, although I understand the logic behind it as something needed to change. Thiago was never going to play 90 minutes but I wouldn’t have subbed Hendo. Certainly not for Keita, but that’s probably my bias kicking in. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a position where I’ve thought “bring Naby on, he’ll sort this out”. Maybe it’s just me though. I’m going for Milner all day when the stakes are this high.
     
    Tell you what though, when Keita fucking skied that shot I’d have subbed him on the spot, not just for Milner, but for Curtis or Harvey. Even Ox. I know that’s the meathead in me talking and that’s not the right thing to do and would never happen, least of all with Klopp making the decisions. But I was - and still am - disgusted at how shit that was.
     
    This is harsh based on that one moment, I know that and don’t need telling. Nevertheless, I really hope we sell him this summer. I know this is knee jerk and it probably seems like I’m making him a scapegoat. I admit I am definitely lashing out at an easy target, but I’m not making him a scapegoat for this. Far from it.
     
    Let me make this clear; we did not lose this game because of Naby Keita. On a list of reasons why we lost it, he isn’t even on it. I’m not blaming him for anything. I just want us to fuck him off as I’ve seen enough. I just can’t warm to him at all and it’s been four years now. After four years we shouldn't still be waiting for him to really show what he can do. We've seen who he is now and he's just ok. I want better than 'ok' for my fourth midfielder. I want someone amazing who will put pressure on or even displace one of the other three.
     
    That chance he put into orbit, did anybody actually think he would put that away? He’s literally the last person in the entire squad I would have wanted that falling to in such a big moment. Cometh the hour cometh the man, and he’s most definitely not the fucking man. The fact he’s wearing the number eight shirt just makes it more galling.
     
    We have a squad full of winners. Lads who delivered for us on the biggest of stages. Mentality Monsters. And then there’s Naby, who is an Arsenal player in all but name. A flakey, inconsistent, unreliable, lightweight, fair weather player who can look good when things are going well for the team but shrinks like a set of bollocks in the cold when the pressure is on.  As I say, he’s an Arsenal player. Get rid and bring in a top player who will deliver every week and put genuine pressure on the established three. A midfield version of the Diaz signing.
     
    Enough of that though, I don’t want to be singling Naby out when he is most definitely not the reason we were so disappointing in the final third. That's not on him, despite his heinous shooting. I always say that we’ll only go as far as the front three (whoever they are) takes us so therein lies the big problem we had here. 
     
    I say that because the rest of the team tend to perform virtually the same way every week. Our performances don’t fluctuate too much, we control almost every game we play, dominate possession and we’re really hard to play against. How successful we are largely depends on what happens up top and whether they take their chances.  So many times I can remember writing stuff like “we won 2-1 but this was really a 5-1 game”. Too often we let teams hang around in games where they've been played off the fucking park.
     
    When they don’t take their chances we often find it difficult and have to grind it out. Usually we find a way but our fate generally depends on if the front three are at it or not. They usually are but this time they just weren’t really at the races.
     
    Mo did what he’s been doing ever since he got back from AFCON. He’s had fucking loads of these games where it just hasn’t happened for him. He’s not glaringly bad and his finishing hasn’t been terrible, but for whatever reason he’s just not getting it done. With pre-AFCON Salah we win this game. No question about it. But he’s just been very average in front of goal now for four months. 
     
    And he looks a bit daft after all of his “revenge” talk. There was nothing wrong with anything he said but if you’re going to talk like that you need to deliver in the big game. The greats do that, in whatever sport. The greats say what they’re going to do and they do it. Bottom line, Mo just didn’t deliver. That might seem harsh but when you call yourself the best player in the world (as he has) then you have to show that in the biggest moments. Three finals, no goals. Hmmm. Not good.
     
    Diaz did even less. Seriously disappointing display from him against a full back who really shouldn’t have been able to live with him. Carvajal completely marked him out of the game though. Diaz is probably my biggest disappointment as I expected so much from him in this game. He’s shone in both cup finals prior to this but the game looked too big for him. It was his first CL Final though so that's his excuse. What's the excuse for the other two?
     
    Sadio wasn't great but he was easily the pick of the forward line. I’m damning him with feint praise there though. It’s like being the least bitter Evertonian. Not the swansong he wanted, although I'm still waiting for clarity on what the fuck he meant by "I have great news". 
     
    I had absolutely no faith in Jota bringing anything from the bench because he’s done nothing for months now. Bobby was sent on as a last roll of the dice but he was never going to do anything either. I thought he was alright in fairness. I don’t have any complaints about him but he’s just not someone I ever see as being a game changer off the bench late in games. In hindsight though if we could do it all over again I’d start him and have Diaz coming off the bench. God I wish Divock had been available. 
     
    The front five have been a huge reason for us going as far this season as we did and I love them all. But we’re at a crossroads now and there are questions that need answering. Firstly, Mo’s contract. His demands are beginning to look stupid now based on his form in 2022. You can ask for 350-400k a week when you’re doing what he did from August to December, but you’ll get laughed out of the room based on what we’ve seen since.
     
    Personally I’m probably not giving him what he wants, on principle as much as anything else. “You want to be paid like “the man” then fucking play like “the man” and deliver in finals like Gerrard did. Then we’ll talk about that massive salary”.  
     
    But if he’s adamant that he’ll be here next season no matter what then something has to give, either with him or with the others. My preference would be to call Mo’s bluff and give him a final take it or leave it offer. If he refuses then I’d invite bids for him. 
     
    I really want Mané to stay but if Salah is determined to do a Bosman then the club might look to recoup some cash by allowing Sadio to go. Bobby should go now too really, simply because we can’t extend his contract on the current terms as he’s no longer worth that kind of money. I'm happy for him to stay his final year though, especially as I doubt he'd bring in that much of a fee in the current market.
     
    Jota is worrying me slightly now. Which is the real Jota? Is it the Fowler clone we saw in the first half of the season, or the pale imitation of it we’ve had since? Ideally I’d want to keep all five but the contract issues make that impossible really. It must be giving Julian Ward sleepless nights but big decisions are needed now.
     
    This is going to sound ridiculous considering how many goals we’ve scored and how many games we’ve won, but we’re really not that clinical. We score so many because we create so much. It feels like we miss too many chances though, so in games like this one when we don’t create unlimited chances that can be a problem. That’s three cup finals in a row where we haven’t scored. In the two domestic ones we created fucking loads of chances and didn’t take any. In this one we weren’t at our best but still had loads of shots. No goals though.
     
    I feel like a twat for even bringing this up when we’ve had such an amazing season. I love this team. It’s the best we’ve had and I love watching them. It’s all about context really. What they’re doing is unprecedented but that’s part of the frustration. These lads should be seen as the greatest team to ever play the game but to do that they need the silverware.  
     
    They’ve won plenty but, and this will sound ungrateful when it really isn’t, they should be winning more. They should have won this, which would then have led to opportunities in the Super Cup and World Club Cup. Klopp will feel the same way, as will the players. They may never say it publicly but they will 100% be thinking they’re a better team than the trophy haul shows. Because they are. I’m by no means complaining about what they’re giving us, I’m merely talking about what is needed for them to get that little bit extra that would have secured a quadruple and made them immortals. Becoming more clinical is top of the list for me.
     
    Klopp has evolved the team every summer by making adjustments and improvements to the playing style as much as to the personnel. What is the plan this summer? There will be one, because Klopp and his staff are always looking to make tweaks and evolve our style. The uncertainty surrounding the original front three really complicates things and my gut feeling now is that we’ll probably break them up and bring in a clinical centre forward type. 
     
    It won’t be Kane despite recent rumours, but maybe it will be that someone like that Darwin Nunez lad, who looked like a good finisher when he played against us. The midfield also needs bolstering. Bellingham would be nice but that seems unlikely now Dortmund have lost Haaland. The lad at Monaco has been strongly linked but might be headed to Madrid. Clearly we need something there though because there’s no point keeping Ox as he never plays, Milner is not going to feature much and Keita either needs a new contract or he needs to be moved on for whatever we can get for him (please God be the latter).
     
    Those are questions for another day though really. I’m probably not in the right frame of mind to be objective on it either. I’m not thinking straight really. For example, I’ve got a downer on Mo right now, partly because it looks like Sadio is going to leave even though we’re no closer to getting Salah tied down. Haggling over money and having your agent act the twat when the goals are no longer flowing isn’t especially endearing, but if I’m honest then had we won this game I wouldn’t be arsed about the contract situation. We didn’t win the game though and he didn’t score, so yeah I’m lashing out a bit in his direction. 
     
    I may feel bad about that in a day or two but that’s how I feel right now. I hope Mo has learned a lesson from this. I know I have. I too was full of bravado and all that “I want Madrid, it’s payback time”. You know what though, fuck all that. I want no part of them ever again because there’s something intangible about them and this competition. There is with us too, it’s just stronger with them unfortunately. We’d have beaten anybody else in this final. Anyone. It might have needed penalties again but we’d have won. Not Madrid though.
     
    14 wins from 17 finals is mental, and it’s been obvious for months that their name was on this trophy. I dismissed it because we’re clearly a better team, but there’s something in it because they’re really not that good yet they somehow overcame PSG, Chelsea, City and us despite being outplayed by all of them. So forget all talk of “we owe them” and revenge missions. I’ve learned my lesson now, I want to avoid them if at all possible, the arrogant fucks.
     
    Of course now we’ll have to endure the mocking from all the sad little banter cunts throughout the nation. The worst will of course be the Bluesers. Bottom line here is we won half of the competitions we were in, we lost another by one point and we also got beat in a final. Some failure that, eh? These are rich people problems. We’ve been swimming every day in our indoor heated pool, while the next door neighbours look on enviously from the paddling pool they got from Lidl which they have to keep topping up with hit water from the kettle. Then they couldn’t even use the paddling pool because the dog shit in it. Instead they stood with their snotty little noses pressed up against our window, watching us having a great time for 10 months in our lovely, warm, private Olympic sized pool,
     
    Then the filter broke and we couldn’t swim for a week, and suddenly the neighbour is there banging on the window, pointing and laughing his scruffy little fucking head off. Sad cunt. I hope his house burns down next year. With Richarlison trapped in it.
     
    It’s not just Everton either, most of these other knobheads too. Our ‘failures’ would be their greatest achievement. So all of that is like water off a duck’s back. I don’t care about anything these dickheads want to try and throw at us as it means nothing. It’s like the mocking of the parade. No-one else would have had that and they know it. 
     
    Klopp knows it too, as do all the lads. And that just gives them more fuel for next season. They were on the floor, then 24 hours later they’re on a massive high because of the homecoming they got. Anyone trying to take the piss at that is merely highlighting the jealousy they all feel because they could never have that, either because their team would never be good enough or because their fans just don’t have that in them. In most cases it’s both.
     
    I’ve said nothing so far about the events before and after the game because what is there for me to say? It’s a scandal, we all know what happened and who is and who isn’t to blame, but that won’t stop the bellends around this country ignoring facts to try and smear us with shit.
     
    Thankfully there were so many journalists caught up in all that shit beforehand that the story is being reported far and wide and accurately. UEFA tried blaming the fans but they found it’s not so easy to do that when loads of journalists are present and there’s camera phone footage all over social media.
     
    When the proposed Super League thing came about the only objection I had with it was that they wanted a closed shop with the same teams playing every year. That was stupid and unworkable so I was out. The basic concept of it though, I could have got on board with that. A new league that has fuck all to do with UEFA, with much better ticket allocation for teams who reach the final, what’s not to like about that? That Super League could have worked if they hadn’t been such greedy self preserving dickheads wanting to prevent other clubs gaining access.
     
    Fuck UEFA, fuck the French police and fuck the local PSG rats who were at the heart of most of the shit that went down. This is why I have no interest in going to finals. Athens was bad enough, after that I’d rather just stay here and watch in town with my mates. More power to anyone who goes though, but it’s not for me as the potential for this kind of shit looms large.
     
    So what now? A summer that could have been the greatest ever, basking in the glory of four (or even ‘just’ three) trophies now feels pretty flat. It shouldn’t, because what we’ve done this year has defied belief really as we still have two pieces of silverware. But it’s human nature isn’t it? It’s also recency bias. We’ve had two disappointments in a week and we’re also having to deal with the probable departure of Sadio now, while Mo continues to fuck about with not signing a contract. 
     
    We should be buoyant, celebratory, but instead there’s a bit of a shadow over us this week. It will be lifted, Klopp will have something lined up to raise everyone’s spirits but I’m not really handling this well at the moment and just feel like licking my wounds for a bit. It’s been a long season and we all need a rest I think, not just the players.
     
    Just realised I haven’t done the star man. For me it’s Konate who was completely flawless. I’d have started Joel but that decision was vindicated spectacularly by that performance by Ibou. The kid is fucking amazing.
     
    Tell you what was weird about the game though. I barely remember even seeing Virgil. Has he ever had less to do in a game? Any defending we had to do came down the other side with Trent and Konate, who were both brilliant. Trent maybe got caught out on the goal but sometimes there’s really not much you can do. Usually he’s the one delivering crosses like that. Overall he defended Vinicius superbly I thought.
     
    As a team we did a brilliant job of not letting them counter attack. They hardly had any attacks but ultimately they didn’t any more because they scored from one. That’s what I mean about the performance was good aside from when we got in the final third. To restrict Madrid to as few counters as we did shows we did a lot right, but it’s fine margins in these big games and we’ve just got to find something to give us a little edge.
     
    We played Chelsea four times, City three times and Spurs twice. We also played Real Madrid once. Those were the best opponents we faced and in ten games we only won one of them. We only lost one too, so we’re really, really close to perfection here. That’s the only thing lacking really; in the tightest games against the best opponents we didn’t quite have enough.
     
    It’s not going to take much to tip the balance in the right direction for next season, but we need to get our business right and hopefully Klopp and the staff will add another wrinkle or two into our game to make us even better. They do that every summer. Whether it’s the high line, the introduction of Thiago or changing Trent’s role to get him on the ball more in dangerous areas, there’s always something and there will be again. We’ll see what that is, but I’m excited about it already.
     
    Reading this back, this report has probably been more downbeat than I’d like but the funny thing is that I don’t feel as bad at the end of it as I did at the beginning. I’ve watched the parade and seen the interviews with Klopp and the players and it’s taken a bit of the edge off the disappointment.
     
    I know in a few days I’ll be over it and looking forward to what we do over the summer, but this was a tough one to accept because as I said earlier, it’s just a huge opportunity missed. Klopp said afterwards to “get the hotels booked” for Istanbul next year.
     
    He has history for that kind of thing and it usually ends up going exactly the way he said. When they come back after their holidays Kloppo will have the squad absolutely fucking champing at the bit for next year and the hurt they’re feeling now will no doubt spur them on, as will the reception they got when they came back for the parade.
     
    So that’s it then, another season over with and it was a fucking long one. Two games a week for virtually the whole season. That’s a lot of reports and podcasts we’ve had to do this year but it’s been great fun. Only four defeats in the entire season is incredible really. Hopefully it’s a similar story next season.
     
    Thanks to everyone for reading / listening. Your support for TLW genuinely means a lot to me. Have a great summer and let’s go again in August.
     
    Up the Reds!
     
     
    Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson (Firmino), Thiago (Keita); Salah, Mané, Diaz (Jota): 
  • Monday May 23:  
     
    The aftermath. I’m still pretty gutted today. Yesterday was hard to take and was made even worse for me when I got home from Anfield and threw the golf on the TV looking for a distraction, only to have salt poured into the open wound as Mito Pereira, a 110/1 outsider I’d bet on to win the US PGA Championship, went the full Aston Villa and blew a lead playing the 18th by hitting into the water. So yeah, a shitty day and today doesn’t feel any better. I’ll be fine by tomorrow I expect but right now I’m just full of resentment, anger and disgust.
     
    Towards Villa, City, the Premier League, fans of pretty much everyone other than Palace and of course to Mito fucking Pereira. I’m just catching up on some of the other stuff that happened yesterday and the first thing I want to do is talk about that Richarlison tweet. He’s done that to trigger us, to get under our skin, to rub our noses in the ‘disappointment’ of finishing with 92 points and second to a team that has blatantly cheated.
     
    It hasn’t worked though. I’m annoyed at the tweet but it’s not for the reasons he intended. What annoys me is his lack of self awareness. This cunt just seen his team lose 5-1 and they survived relegation by the skin of their teeth. Yet he thinks it’s acceptable to poke fun at Liverpool for not winning the fucking quadruple!! I mean, even by Everton standards that’s something else.
     
    This is the same cunt who posted a picture of himself with the number 7 on his back after Villa beat us 7-2, and then went crying to the Brazilian media about how Liverpool fans are always mocking Everton. He’s the fucking worst. Biggest cunt in football and I’m including the rapists and nonces in that. I don’t think I’ve ever wished serious injury on a footballer but I’d gladly make an exception for him. I don’t think ever seen him smile. I know he plays for Everton so there’s not much to smile about, but even allowing for that he seems like a miserable, ornery bastard. Even when he scores there’s no joy. He just looks angry all the time, the horrible little fucking scrote. 
     
    The irony is that he’s doing all this shit to play to the gallery, but if another club comes calling for him this summer you won’t see him for dust (and whatsmore, he’d jump at the chance to come here if we were ever stupid enough to give him the opportunity). Then he’d tell the fans he had no choice and that the club forced him out to pay off their debts. They’ll believe it too, because “Richy lad fuckin’ loves us yeno”. 
     
    Meanwhile, City had their parade today. If you can call it that. There were more people in the guard of honour for Divock yesterday than there were lining the streets of Manchester. My first reaction when I saw the footage was to laugh. The more I thought about it though, it stopped being funny and it just annoyed me. Even most of their own fans realise how hollow the success is, that’s why the parade’s are so shit. Any other team in the country that won a title would put this to shame. Fucking hell, Sunderland took 75,000 fans to London last week for the League Two playoffs. If they ever won a title, literally every non Newcastle fan in a 50 mile radius would be lining the streets.
     
    I resent them having days like this because they don’t fucking deserve them. It’s wasted on them and I’m not buying the excuse that it’s because it’s become normal now so they take it for granted. We wouldn’t. United didn’t. Besides, wasn’t their first parade an abject embarrassment too?
     
    I looked at De Bruyne on that coach today, staring down at the sparsely populated pavement and I just thought “knobhead”. Some might feel that it’s a shame and that he’s wasted there. That he deserves better. He doesn’t. He fucking chose to be there. No-one twisted his arm. He chose to extend his contract so fuck him. Fuck all of those players on that bus and especially fuck the manager. This is exactly what they deserve, the sportswashing pricks. 
     
    When De Bruyne hangs it up he’ll be viewed as Aguero is. A great player who really shouldn’t have spent the best years of his career at a club not really befitting his talents. He’ll have medals of course, but its hollow success that means fuck all. Whatever happens in Paris on Saturday our lads will have one of the greatest days of their lives when the parade hits Liverpool next week. 
     
    You think City players will be telling their grandkids about the 20 minute bus ride they had around the Etihad in front of fewer people than you get at an Everton pitch invasion? Our parade is over 8 miles and it will be packed the whole way around. Theirs was less than one mile and most of it looked like a deleted scene from “28 days later”.
     
    Look, I get it. It’s understandable they don’t have a million people showing up like we do. They just don’t have the fan base. It’s not that they’re a small club, clearly they aren’t and never have been. They have more fans than most clubs but they aren’t anywhere near as passionate as most. They might be the most apathetic fans in the entire league and it’s completely understandable too. How would you feel if we were owned by Qatar, Abu Dhabi or the Saudis? I wouldn’t be going to any trophy parades either.
     
    Nothing City win is worth anything. It’s hollow and meaningless and no-one gives a fuck. Even loads of their own fans can’t even be arsed showing up to celebrate it. So the next time when Guardiola is crysarsing about a lack of recognition for their ‘achievements’, maybe he should look a bit closer to home. If even their own fans are apathetic about it why should anyone else care?
     
    The laughable thing is City are claiming to have the most commercial revenue of any club in the world. Seriously, Everton would have double the amount of people at a parade if they ever win anything again. Granted, there’s more chance of Ed Sheehan making a decent song, but you get the point. In fact, City would have had a better turnout if they’d gone down County Road. I’m not even kidding.
     
    Tuesday May 25:  
     
    I almost forgot, the Carvalho signing was made official yesterday and early reports say he won’t be loaned out. I’m not convinced by that at all and still expect him to go back top Fulham once pre-season is over, but then I suppose Divock won’t be here *wipes away tear* and maybe Taki goes as well, so there might be room in the squad for him. He’s apparently viewed as a front three player who could also play as a ten if we went 4-2-3-1. 
     
    I’m still not in “Champions League Final mode” yet and I’m finding Sunday’s irritation and sense of injustice tough to shake off. Not for me. Not for the fans in general. I’m feeling bad for Klopp and the lads more than anything. It’s 2019 all over again. They had a season that would have won the title in virtually any other year but they were beaten by a club playing with loaded dice.
     
    You know what the worst part of Sunday was, and I only actually seen it this morning? The video taken from the lower Kenny stand of the lads celebration when Mo put us in front. I could see from my seat on the opposite side of the field that they were really excited and clearly thought this might be the goal that wins us the title. They didn’t know about Villa shitting all down their own legs.
     
    It’s only when I saw the video this morning though that the extent of it really hit me. They’re all massively fired up and Joel starts shouting to the fans “What’s the score? What’s the score?” The fans tell them 3-2 and you can just see the air being sucked out of the group. Shoulders slump, they turn to run back for the restart and although Mo does his customary celebration he was probably gutted too.
     
    That hurt me because they deserve better. I know they’ll all go home to their mansions and their hot wives and their lives won’t be any worse off for this, but I don’t care. I want success for them because they’re just a brilliant group of lads. It’s not just that they’re incredible footballers. Klopp has assembled a squad of great people who I love rooting for. We don’t have any dickheads, they’re all relatable, nice lads who work their fucking nuts off for our club.
     
    I look around the league at some of the other big clubs and the difference couldn’t be more stark. Look at that United squad. Imagine rooting for that group of knob heads. Arsenal too. It’s different with them as they’re nowhere near as awful as the United squad, but they’re still mentality midgets who love them smell of their own farts. I’m so thankful for what we have right now, and I just wish them the success they deserve, for them even more than for myself. Not sure if any of that makes sense but I’m just trying to articulate how I’m feeling today.
     
    Wednesday May 26:
     
    Klopp is voted Manager of the Year by the LMA and also wins the Premier League Manager of the Year award. The only people arguing about it are City fans who have been brainwashed by Guardiola’s conspiracy theories, and of course Evertonians. Apparently “whoever wins the league should get it”. If that was the case why would there even be a vote?
     
    Interestingly, apparently there was a small spattering of booing when Guardiola’s name was read out as a nominee. That tells me that Nick Harris, Tariq Panja, Miguel Delaney and a few others must have been in attendance and probably had their drink on. Love it lads. It’s mental that anyone can even dispute Klopp getting it though given that this season he has done something that’s never been done before. It was an open and shut case.
     
    City fans are whining like mad on Twitter and it just further convinces me that these pricks don’t really want to win stuff for themselves, they just don’t want us winning it. The fume from them that Klopp gets more respect than Guardiola is just ridiculous. We finished just one point behind them but we won two cups and might become European Champions. It’s really not a contentious decision. Mind you, these twitter accounts are probably mostly bots anyway paid for by Abu Dhabi. Shame they can’t get them to attend the parade as well.
     
    Some interesting stuff from Sadio and Mo today on their contracts. Mo said that he won’t talk about it ahead of the final but that come what may he’ll still be here next season. He gave the impression that he doesn’t think there’s any rush to get it done as a result of that. 
     
    Sadio was asked about his future and said “I’ll tell you after the final” but didn’t give the same assurances that Mo did about being here. Some have taken that as a sign he’s leaving, but it didn’t look like it on the video. He was grinning when he said it and it didn’t look like someone who was saying “I’m off just as soon as this final is over”, but Sadio is a little bit of a strange cat and English isn’t his first language, so it could mean anything.
     
    I really hope he is close to agreeing a new deal and that it will be announced once they’ve finalised everything. I don’t think Mo is anywhere near agreeing anything but I don’t think he’s too bothered and I don’t think the club are either. He’s here next year and they’ll try to work the rest out as they go. If Mo is talking about leaving on a Bosman though that might be forcing our hand with Sadio if he is planning on doing the same. I can’t see the club letting both go for nothing.
     
    Bobby is an interesting one too though as he’s in the same boat but no-one ever talks about it. He told the Brazilian media he really wants to stay. He said it over and over in fact. I don’t think he’s getting a new deal but if he does it would have to be on reduced terms as he’s not the vital component he was when he signed his last one. It’s a fucking minefield, no wonder Michael Edwards is quitting.
     
    Thursday May 27:
     
    Paddy Power have a video of former Everton players ‘pretending’ to be Real Madrid fans. Some of it is quite funny actually. Reidy is sound, I like him and he’s just having a laugh. Kevin Campbell, who I really don’t like, was also pretty funny in fairness. Stubbs and Ball though, proper fucking bitter bastards them. They probably didn’t even want paying to do this. In fact, I bet they didn’t even need any lines, they were just being themselves. 
     
    My big takeaway from it is that I can’t imagine our former players doing shit like this. Not least because I can’t imagine Everton in a European Cup final, but even if they were, could you see any of our lads doing that shit? Maybe the likes of Ruddock and Babb I suppose, but I’m not even sure they would. Ok, Ruddock 100% would, but it’s the fact that this is so natural to Blues players that’s really damning. There were probably dozens of them auditioning for the roles, including half the current team. Give it 15 years and it will be Pickford and Gordon doing this shit. 
     
    The Sadio to Bayern thing is still being heavily reported in Germany and some weird rumours started here that we’re in for Kane to replace him. Couple of points here. Very few people despise Kane more than I do. Also, very few people rate him more highly than I do. He’s world class and would fit perfectly into our team with Mo and Diaz either side of him.
     
    That said, there’s no fucking way this is even remotely doable. Even City couldn’t afford him, so there’s no way we can and even if we could spend that, we wouldn’t. The idea of us spending 100m plus on a 29 year old is laughable. We’re not Real Madrid or Man United, that goes against everything that we do. Admittedly, I was really surprised when we signed Thiago but he only cost £30m.
     
    If we have £100m to spend on a player this summer, it would go on Bellingham who is 11 years younger than Kane. 
     
    Friday May 28:
     
    I see Stevie showed up to our training session today. I wouldn’t have let him in. Not unless he had the severed head of Tyrone Mings in a sack as a peace offering. He did a video for the club website too wishing the lads luck and predicting a 2-0 win. Feels a bit weird having the manager of Villa doing that. Not sure I’d like that if I was a Villa fan, especially after the shit few months they’ve had and the embarrassing collapse on the final day. 
     
    There’s been loads of good media stuff ahead of the game tomorrow. Trent and Robbo did a press conference, Sadio did a boss piece with Carra and Klopp has done various bits and pieces too. He’s done a sit down interview with Asif Kapadia (the guy who made the Maradona movie) which is more about the Klopp the man than the manager. It’s great, you should check it out.
     
    The Sadio stuff is really worrying me now as Klopp was even more cryptic than Sadio was on Wednesday. "I couldn't care less in the moment, we are all fully focused on this game. No concerns, completely normal - it's not the first time in my career before decisive games that Bayern Munich rumours come up!" Ok, so that was fine, I think. But then when he was pressed he said this…
     
    "This is the wrong moment to speak about that. Wherever Sadio will play next season, he will be a big player, definitely!"
     
    What the fuck? “Wherever he will play”. That really doesn’t sound encouraging at all. This is stressing me out when I should just be looking forward to the game and being excited about it. Instead I’m shitting myself that the game is going to finish, we’ll have lost and the Sadio is gonna reveal he’s off.
     
    The weird thing is that if you ask me who the club should keep if it’s a straight choice of Sadio or Mo, then I’d say Mo. If you ask me whose departure would upset me most on a personal level, it’s Sadio. I’ll be fucking gutted if he goes and it’s casting a bit of a shadow over the game for me. If we don’t win and then Sadio leaves, coming a week after what happened on the final day of the season, fucking hell that would leave a bad taste over the summer and make it hard to remember how amazing the rest of the season had been.
     
    And then just when it would seem things couldn’t get any more depressing, we might go and sign Kane…
     

     
    And totally redeem ourselves!
     
    Alright fucking hell, calm down, I’m not saying I’d be made up if we signed Kane*. 
     
    At least Thiago was in training and looked to be at full speed. Whether that’s enough for him to make the starting eleven we’ll have to see, but having him on the pitch is going to be vital. Fabinho too, not least because it will free up Hendo to be able to help out Trent and cover for him when he goes forward. I don’t want Naby having to help out against Vinicius Jr. He’s the only Madrid player that genuinely scares me. Although they will have Bale and Hazard on the bench probably, which really unsettles me. Hazard has done fuck all since he’s been there but it would be typical of him to turn it on against us. He always did. 
     
    I’ve been confident about this game all along but now that it’s upon us my arse is going a bit and I’m seeing all kinds of bad potential scenarios. I need to come down off the ledge because we are a much better team than them and ultimately if we perform we should win. I ask myself the question “do I trust Klopp and the players?” and the answer is that I trust them as much as it’s humanly possible to trust a sports team. So I need to focus on that and keep the negative thoughts out.
     
    Up the fucking Redmen, let’s do this.
     
     
    * I probably would be
     
     
     
    ….and that was the week that was
  • Tonight when Jordan Henderson leads Liverpool onto the Stade de France pitch their focus will be on one thing only and that is raising the European Cup for the seventh time.
     
    There will be difficult moments throughout the 90 minutes (and possibly beyond) that they will have to negotiate, but as a battle hardened group this squad has certainly been through plenty of those occasions.
     
    Arguably one of the most difficult periods in the modern era for Liverpool came last season amid a global pandemic, no crowds and a squad ravished by serious injury.
     
    Rather than building on the title win from the season before, Jurgen Klopp was flat out putting a fit and functioning starting eleven on the pitch, which included plenty of square pegs in round holes.
     
    But there is a saying that ‘from adversity comes opportunity’ and there is no greater example of that than Nat Phillips.
     
    In truth, the unheralded Bolton Wanderers junior and Liverpool academy graduate was way down the pecking order in a fully fit central defence. But after losing three key members of that collective in little over three months, it meant that the 25 year-old was now depended on to play a key role.
     
    Liverpool fans love a player who gives their heart and soul into a performance even if they are not blessed with technical skill like a Virgil Van Dijk style for instance.
     
    Phillips played every game like it was his last, throwing his body into every challenge and wearing bandages on his head like a badge of honour.
     

     
    In turn, he developed a cult following and while Liverpool were not playing for any honours, their quest for silverware in a metaphorical sense came in chasing a Champions League.
     
    In the run home he was teamed up with Rhys Williams and despite their inexperience, the performances they produced during the most tense of the season is a redeeming memory of that season.
     
    After spending the second half of the season on loan at Bournemouth, the next chapter in the Nat Phillips footballing journey is yet to be written, but despite being humble about his role with the Reds, he reflected to the Echo on the challenges they faced together.
     
    “In a way for Rhys and me it worked nicely because we were both going through the same thing together. Having been thrown in and having to perform and play at that level, with those expectations on us where neither of us would really have anticipated it at the start of the season.
     
    “There’s a fair amount of pressure to deal with and you’re also desperate to do well for your own benefit and for your team-mates and the staff as well because you know they’re relying on you so you want to do well for them. We were both going through that together and that probably helped our partnership.
     
    “It just meant we could communicate well with each other, we could help each other and we were just desperate to work well together and do a job in order to do the club, the fans, our team-mates and the staff proud.”
     

     
    As a professional sportsman, you get your fair share of plaudits but sometimes the greatest thrill comes from proving people wrong which is what the Liverpool dressing room set about doing at the time.
     
    But even the most optimistic Red would have been concerned heading deep into injury time at the Hawthorns last May.
     
    What happened next is something that vividly remains with Phillips.
     
    “The one that stands out and the one when the emotion came pouring out of me, I was so elated and ecstatic, was when Alisson scored at West Brom. The way the game was going, it felt worrying. You could just see the time ticking away.
     
    “You’re thinking we’ve got to get something and are desperately looking for where it would come from. Sure enough Alisson steps up and nods one in, and he managed to nudge me out of the way in the process!”
     
    Like any defender Phillips loves nothing better than challenging himself against the very best and he more than held his own when coming up against the likes of Karim Benzema and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
     
    While the Reds were knocked out by the Madrid giants last season, in a personal sense Phillips looks back at the second leg with a great deal of pride and big step forward in his football education.
     
    “That’s a game where I look back, and I’ve seen it back and seen my performance, and I’m happy with how I played. To have kept a clean sheet against Real Madrid and to have played well in that game is certainly something I do, and in future will, look back on with pride, even though the result didn’t go the way we wanted to and we didn’t progress.
     
    “That evening I certainly didn’t feel like that, I was gutted and still was in the days after. But as time passed and more time passes, it’s something I can feel more proud about rather than concentrating on the fact we didn’t progress.”
     
     While Football is a ruthless and unforgiving business, Klopp never forgets the human aspect and those who have paved the way for others to follow.
     
    On the night that Phillips was winning promotion with the Cherries, Klopp was negotiating stormy waters in Spain before guiding the Reds to this stage of the competition.
     
    Despite being involved in such a important fixture, one of the first people Klopp messaged after the win against Villarreal was Phillips.
     

     
    “It says a lot about him. It was a really nice surprise; quite a few of the Bournemouth lot mentioned it as well. It shows what he’s like as a manager and what he’s like to work for and why he gets so much out of the players because that is how he’ll treat you as a player and as a person
     
    “His text message was initially just congratulating me on the promotion. Even that, I was surprised to receive that to be honest because I was aware he had a big game that evening.
     
    “I was surprised that it had even crossed his mind that I had that game. I said “Likewise to you guys for getting to the final.
     
    "In response to that, he just said, “You played a big part in that.” It was really nice to hear and nice of him to say that. It’s something I can be proud of.”
     
    Phillips will be in Paris for the showcase event and is thrilled to witness this relentless team in action.
     
    “Anytime the club reaches a final and there’s an opportunity for success, I’m delighted for the club and delighted for all the staff and my team-mates. I see all the work that goes into it.
     
    “I’m so fortunate to be in a position where I can go and watch these games and go and support the lads. To see this standard of football and these moments first hand, I can’t wait for it.”
     
     
     
     
  • He was sitting in the stands as a fan four years ago, now Harvey Elliott is on his own quest to right the wrongs from that turbulent evening in Kyiv as the Reds get ready to take on Real Madrid in another Champions League final in Paris tomorrow evening.
     
    At the time, a 15 year-old Elliott was making exciting progress in his young career as he had already made his U/18 debut for Fulham and was a few months away from making his senior debut for the club in a Carabao Cup fixture against Millwall making his way in his football journey.
     
    The young midfielder was also on the radar of a number of Europe’s top clubs, and even toured the Bernabeu facilities but such was the distain that he felt about the conduct of a certain Real Madrid player on the evening, he declined to meet club captain Sergio Ramos, previously telling The Athletic "Yeah, that’s true. I turned it down because of what he did to Mo,”
     
    In his wildest footballing dreams, not even Elliott would have imagined that he would be in the squad for his boyhood club preparing for the re-match.
     
    And while the senior figures within the Liverpool camp have shied away from mentioning the ‘R’ word, Elliott has not hesitated in talking about his own experience per the Echo.
     
    “For myself, it’s my own revenge, I want to take that upset and disappointment as a fan and make sure I put it right at the weekend if I’m needed.
     
    “It's going to be a crazy experience to be able to say I've been there as a fan and then as a player and hopefully get a chance to play. We'll see. I'm just so excited, and hopefully we can put it right.”
     
    Regardless of whether he steps out onto the Stade de France pitch tomorrow evening, even being part of the playing squad is a hell of a achievement considering the serious ankle injury he suffered last September.
     
    Elliott has made one appearance in the competition this season, one that he recalled with a great deal of fondness.
     
    "To say I've played at the San Siro is an experience in itself. To play against Inter Milan in the knockout stages of the Champions League, I didn’t really know how to react because I hadn’t had that feeling (of starting a game) for a long time.
     
    “It was butterflies, “I played as well as I could – I didn’t really have my best game – but just the experience alone was very good for me.”
     

     
    Jurgen Klopp and his staff have taken a extremely cautious approach with one of most exciting young talents post injury, and the 19 year-old wanted to pay tribute to that particular collective as well as his loved ones for keeping his spirits high through the difficult times.
     
    “I don't think the coaching and fitness staff here get enough credit,” says Elliott. “You look at the likes of Virgil van Dijk’s injury and Joe Gomez’s injury, and they got them back playing and now they are absolutely flying.
     
    “The credit often goes to the player on returning, but at the end of the day it’s the (fitness) coaches who are here every day, working longer hours, planning extra sessions for us and planning drills in the gym and different opportunities and situations on the pitch to help players get back playing again.
     
    “Credit also has to go to my family to help me get through it, they helped me out when I was looking down, even when I wasn’t showing it they were always there to keep me going and keep me motivated to get back stronger and quicker than expected.”
     
    Having been through his share of ups and downs, Elliott knows the kind of position he is in presently and does not want to waste this opportunity.
     
    “The amount of kids out there wanting those kind of experiences of playing in a final for Liverpool, I can’t take it for granted. As a fan, to dream of those experiences and then to have them, you just need to take the opportunities. I’m very happy I can do that.”
     
     
     
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