Napoli (A) - CL, Wed 7th Sep 2022 (8:00pm)

[Trumo]

Back in Champions League action again. Our last appearance in this competition has no happy memories whatsoever, and on the pitch at least, our form in that game has carried on into this season. First-choice forwards that are not quite on it, and a midfield hampered by injury to the extent where it looks a bit as though none of them are playing at full pelt in order to avoid decimating the numbers still further. A trip to Naples isn’t the ideal place to start getting things back on track, but it has to start somewhere. For the fans, the shit they experienced in Paris and the shit English fans in general routinely face when travelling to watch their team in the city on the edge of Mount Vesuvius would lead me to think this is one game best swerved by the fans. The Diego Armando Maradona stadium (formerly the Stadio San Paolo) hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for the Reds. Anyway:

 

Sharpness. Tenacity. Accuracy. Bravery. Brightness. Yer ma. Class. Unity. Nous. Tactical flexibility. Strength.

 

I don’t ask for much.

 

Our best result in Campania actually came during the dark days of the Roy Hodgson era, when the team’s top players were all unhappy, the previous owners had been at war with the rest of the board and the fans were practically militant. Only a couple of weeks or so before this fixture in October 2010, the interim chairman Martin Broughton, with support from Ian Ayre and Christian Purslow, had approved the sale of the club to John W Henry’s US investment vehicle New England Sports Ventures (NESV, of course now known as FSG). It was a Europa League group match in a group that consisted of the Reds, Napoli, Steaua Bucharest and Utrecht. Liverpool would top the group and remain unbeaten, but performances were largely insipid. The Napoli game saw the likes of Jovanovic, Ngog, Konchesky and Poulsen in the starting line-up, with other stellar names like Brad Jones, Shelvey, Eccleston and Joe Cole on the bench. The Italians had a young Hamsik (he must have been born with Steven Tyler’s face and a mohawk) and Cavani in attack. The game finished goalless. No need to sit through footage of this one. Just make do with a pic of Babel missing our best chance.

 

 

In the run-up to Halloween, Paranormal Activity 2 topped the box office on 21st October 2010. I’ve only seen the first film which wasn’t that bad (the lead actress Katie Featherston was quite tidy), but apparently the second film is a prequel, telling the story of how all the demonic shit first started. Like with many films of this nature, it’s centred on some cursed deal-with-the-devil stupidity and things go wrong when the non-demonic side inevitably breaks the agreement. I’m using films in these threads yet it seems as though every time I write, it looks like there are loads I haven’t actually seen. I’ve seen plenty, they just never seem to coincide with topping the US box office around the time Liverpool once played our next opponent!

 

 

One of the big news stories on 21st October 2010 was a bus bombing on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. The authorities believed the attack, which killed at least 9 people, to have been carried out by a pro-Islamist faction called Al-Khobar. Just another example of senseless killing carried out in the name of religion then. We are all generally desensitised to this stuff precisely because history is littered with examples.

 

 

Thiago is supposed to be back in training now, but this game might have come round a bit too early for him to be considered for the squad. Hendo, Ox and Naby won’t be available. Curtis was absent from the matchday squad for the derby but might be a sub option for this one. Arthur Melo has his international clearance and might even see some involvement here, particularly as Phil 2.0 suffered a dead leg in the Everton game and might not be risked. Diogo is available in the attack again. We might be down on numbers but more importantly, we have lacked cohesion this season. We’ve also been out-worked by our opponents, and you wonder how much of that is down to us conserving energy, and how much is down to our players being physically undercooked.

 

Napoli lost 3 of their key players over the summer in Koulibaly, Insigne and Mertens but there is a growing consensus that they have bought extremely well. Kim Min-jae in defence has been as solid as Koulibaly, and Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is being talked up as the revelation of the Serie A season so far. He has looked electric - a real livewire whom we must keep an eye on. They all call him ‘Kvara’ and let’s be honest, that’s much easier than trying to pronounce (or spell!) his name.

 

I don’t think there is an issue with our players’ attitude or motivation, but application has been a real problem. Let’s start by addressing it now, being more mentally and physically attuned to the demands of the season, and get ourselves off to the best start in this season’s group stage. Despite what’s currently being written about us, we still have what it takes. Oh, and if any of you are travelling to Naples, stay safe.

[an tha]

Horrible place to go.

 

No easy place to play either.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

Cunt fans.

 

Just get these beat, Reds.

[VladimirIlyich]

I hope it's amore.

[HBenn]

Would stick with the same 11 as much as possible. Feel that consistency will give us a chance of building some fluency and that the 11 that started yesterday probably are the ones with the highest likeliness of being able to play game after game.

 

Subs wise it would be good to give Melo some mins later on and possibly Thiago as well. 

[Anubis]

Just look at the effect this season is having on Alisson.

 

 

“Spare a win for the needy, guv’nor.”

[chrisbonnie]

If they play as well as they did against lazio last night. I wouldnt be shocked if they turn us over. 

 

We're in a bad moment at the minute. 

[an tha]

2 hours ago, HBenn said:

Would stick with the same 11 as much as possible. Feel that consistency will give us a chance of building some fluency and that the 11 that started yesterday probably are the ones with the highest likeliness of being able to play game after game.

 

Subs wise it would be good to give Melo some mins later on and possibly Thiago as well. 

I'd be stunned if thiago is fit for this.

[FrenchEyeGlass]

Fuck me I couldn’t think of less of a fixture I could be arsed with right now. Can’t stand these cunts. 

[Jairzinho]

We're going to need to be considerably more solid than we've looked without the ball so far this season. We may have only conceded six in six in the league, but that's in no small part down to all six opponents being fucking terrible. This lot aren't, they'll be tactically disciplined and far more ruthless in front of goal. That wiry cunt Osimhen is a proper handful and they always seem to have about a half a dozen decent wide players that they can rotate. It'll probably be the Georgian lad and one of Politano or Lozano who start against us. If our fullbacks are 200 yards out of position they will bum us.

 

It'll be interesting to see what midfield Klopp goes with. Presumably it'll be a lot more pragmatic than yesterday's. Although I don't actually know is definitely available to play in midfield. Keita, Chamberlain, and Henderson definitely unavailable? Jones and Thiago maybes? Is Melo going to be chucked in this early? I would, but it's probably a last resort for Klopp as he likes players to have a fairly lengthy tactical bedding in period. Needs must though at the moment. Fabinho, and then two from Melo, Milner and Elliott? Fuck knows.

[Creator Supreme]

They'd be better off not turning up and taking the fine and the 3-0 defeat!

[George Costanza]

We'll get tonked

[Section_31]

Before the match I'm going go hoof it back to the Excelsior as I'll almost certainly need to take a wicked shit.

[House of Dirk]

 I suppose its nice to get the tricky away tie out the way first

[dockers_strike]

Not often I dont look forward to games but, this is one of them. Even when we played well, this lot seem a bit of a bogey side for us recently.

 

Who can forget that absolute shit show a few years back when we played them in Napoli, where we were absolute pants all game and Robbo gave away a needless pen with yet another wild swing in the last few minutes?

 

Then the next time we played them at their gaff, we were better but still got done 2-0.

 

Hoping for a win (yes, I know, ever the optimist!) but thinking we'll do well to get a draw on current form.

[alles ist gut]

1 hour ago, Jairzinho said:

.

 

It'll be interesting to see what midfield Klopp goes with. Presumably it'll be a lot more pragmatic than yesterday's. Although I don't actually know is definitely available to play in midfield. Keita, Chamberlain, and Henderson definitely unavailable? Jones and Thiago maybes? Is Melo going to be chucked in this early? I would, but it's probably a last resort for Klopp as he likes players to have a fairly lengthy tactical bedding in period. Needs must though at the moment. Fabinho, and then two from Melo, Milner and Elliott? Fuck knows.

Keita and Celebrity Boyfriend not even named in squad for group stage, so definitely unavailable.

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

Sit get a 0-0 and come home.

[sir roger]

Along with aways at Atletico this is the worst foreign encounter on the pitch, and out on its own off the pitch.

[Creator Supreme]

8 minutes ago, alles ist gut said:

Celebrity Boyfriend

Who?

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

Just now, Creator Supreme said:

Who?

Useless arse.

[sir roger]

The OC

[Creator Supreme]

1 minute ago, VERBAL DIARRHEA said:

Useless arse.

Ah, Oxo, got you!

[alles ist gut]

2 minutes ago, Creator Supreme said:

Ah, Oxo, got you!

Sorry, been talking with THE YOUNG PEOPLE too much

[Creator Supreme]

2 minutes ago, alles ist gut said:

Sorry, been talking with THE YOUNG PEOPLE too much

Arf, I should have got it really, my girls used to love little mix, so it should have clicked.

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

Celebrity Boyfriend I love it. A HAB.