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So that’s the game in hand finally out of the way and now we know where we all stand. It’s no longer a 13 point lead with two games in hand, or a 16 point lead with one game in hand. It’s a 19 point lead. 19 points. NINETEEN. Incredible. Of course nobody at the club is going to make any declarations about it being over. It would be unprofessional in the extreme if they did. They know it though. Everyone knows it now. Klopp knows it. The players know it. The reason they know it is because they know that they are far too good, and more importantly, far too professional and diligent, to lose the amount of games it would take between now and May for them to not win it. So yeah, it’s over. We’ve got the league title sewn up and it’s only a matter of ‘when’ it becomes official now. Talk has already started about where we’d like to win it. I’m not really thinking about that, I just want it done as soon as possible and ideally I’d like to clinch it at Anfield. The way things are going it will be sooner rather than later because this team is just relentless. They don’t just want to win the league, they want to win every game and smash every record possible. Again, they won’t say that, they’ll talk about “just winning the next one”. Games that used to be seen as tricky are now routine. Like this one. We drew here last year and those two points proved costly in the end. Lessons have been learned though. The lesson being ‘don’t drop ANY points at all and you’ll win the league’. It was clear from the opening kick off that this was just damage limitation for West Ham. I didn’t think for a second that we wouldn’t win this game because you could just tell that West Ham’s only intention was to keep the score down. They played five at the back and just strung them across the width of their 18 yard box. They were so deep that at one point I switched the TV on (I was watching the game on the laptop) and they were in Eastenders, lined up against the bar in the Queen Vic. We’ve had a lot of joy this season with the ball over the top but that was never happening here as there was no room in behind them at all. Counter attacking wasn’t really possible either, because to counter attack the other team actually has to attack, and they only ever did that with about three players. So there was no way we were losing the game and the only question was whether we could break them down. It wasn’t easy and I thought some our passing was too slow and the tempo wasn’t great, but we were still creating chances, especially when we were able to get Robbo round the back. He went agonisingly close when he ran onto a beautifully weighted ball from Salah but he didn’t get enough on the little dink and the Hammers were able to clear off the line. I have to confess that during the opening 10 or 15 minutes Mo had been doing my head in because it felt like he lost the ball every time he had it and it was frustrating me. That pass to Robbo was great though and after that he was just a constant menace. The breakthrough eventually came from the penalty spot after brilliant work by Firmino, who produced a wonderful piece of control before picking out Origi. The big man’s touch and turn was superb and he was hauled down before he could tuck it away. I find it incredible that there are people claiming that wasn’t a pen. That includes Moyes, obviously. But it’s not just him. The commentator on Sky’s highlights (former Midlands jabroni journeyman Don Goodman) wasn’t having it either. “Soft” he called it. What exactly would they have needed to do to him to make it not “soft” then, Don? Take an axe to his legs and chop him down like a big tree? I don’t think I’m being extreme when I say that he should never be paid to commentate on footy again. Seriously, if he doesn’t think that’s a foul then he’s in the wrong job. Simple as that. Fuck me. When you look at the reactions of the West Ham players you see Mark Noble complaining (has there every been a decision he hasn’t complained about?) but the lad who committed the foul knows and just walks away. It looked a stonewall pen in real time and it’s even more clear on the replays. In fact, it was probably two fouls. The young right back pulls him back and Ogbonna fouls him. There’s no argument here. Not unless you’re fucking mental. Moyes wasn’t disputing the actual foul, he was claiming a handball against Firmino, which is even more ridiculous. Just because VAR had a look to check if it hit his hand does not mean it did actually hit his hand. Frankly its pathetic. We’ve had a few of these this season and it’s embarrassing listening to the whining over them. There was Trent against City, when the City player handled first. Virg against Wolves, when it didn’t actually hit his hand. There was Lallana in that same incident and there was another one recently too but for the life of me I can’t remember it. Then this one. It never hit Bobby’s hand but even if it had it would have been because the defender was holding his arm. Have a search on twitter for LiVARpool though. It’s funny because it highlights just how desperate people are to cling to any little thing or perceived sense of injustice. There are some nonces out there who think we’re top because of VAR. It’s mental. There an awful lot of hard drives out there that need checking and I’d start with Moyes. Right after I’d dealt with the Man City press office, obviously. So yeah, penalty. I’ll be honest, I’m not usually too confident when Mo takes pens and this was no different. I needn’t have worried though as it was right out of the top drawer. Fantastic penalty. Unsaleable. The one thing about that wide run up he does is it makes it really difficult to know where he’s going to put it. He’s gone down the middle a few times, he’s gone to the keeper’s right, but this time he went to the keepers left and just hammered it into the bottom corner. Superb pen, and by mixing it up like that he’ll keep them guessing for his next one. Usually at 1-0 I’m always a little concerned that it won’t be enough. It only takes one freak incident or mistake for the opponent to equalise so you can’t relax until you get the second. I never felt like that this time because I didn’t think West Ham posed any threat at all. And yet they did actually have a few decent chances. It was weird. I thought they were fucking abysmal yet Alisson has still had to make two or three really good saves. I just think we were a bit sloppy. Most of their best moments were handed to them by us giving them the ball needlessly. They had a chance in the first half when Robbo gave it away, and they had two in the second courtesy of Gini and then Fabinho. The closest they came to a goal was when Trent smashed one against his own post. Like I say, all their best moments were gifts from us. At the other end we were rarely at our fluent best but there were enough moments of genuine quality to see us through. The second goal was a thing of beauty. You know how much I love those ‘Red Arrows’ goals, when we just swarm out from our own box and run the length of the field. This was right up there with some of our best. I actually look forward to position corners now because we score more goals from them than we concede. I don’t have stats to back that up but it would be interesting to know if that is the case. It certainly feels like it. You know how when we get a corner the crowd chants “Liiiiiiverpool, Liiiiiiverpool”. We should do that when the opponent has one now, because we’re fucking lethal from them. It usually follows a similar pattern too. We head out the initial set-piece and then Mo or Sadio charges out to pressure the last defender, who can only knock the ball back towards the box where everyone has sprinted out to try and win the second ball. And if we do win that second ball, look out. That’s what happened with this one. Mo pressured the defender, Hendo won the second ball and just knocked it into the space where the sprinters had already set off into. Mo collected it, but Bobby was there waiting if he didn’t. The control, touch, vision and then pass from Salah was glorious. I thought initially he’d slightly under-hit the pass but it was perfect. If he’d put more on it then Ox would have had to alter his run to get it. Any less and the defender cuts it out. The first touch from Ox to cut in front of his man was brilliant too, as was the strength and balance he showed to ride the challenge and then set himself of the shot. Just a brilliant goal, and trademark Liverpool. Those are defo my favourite type of goals, I can’t get enough of them. Glorious. The game was over at that moment as while there was an outside chance the Hammers might fluke one goal, they were never getting two. We should have wrapped it up as we had numerous chances. Firmino and Origi both forced Fabianksi into great saves while Salah hit the post with a lovely snapshot following a slick as fuck passing move. Bizarrely though considering how inept West Ham were, Alisson still had to make four saves. The first was an easy take after Lanzini mis-kicked on the volley 12 yards out. The second was a full length dive to tip a Snodgrass shot round the post after Gini had passed the ball straight to Lansing. The third was a flying stop to keep out a header from Rice following a free-kick, and the fourth was from Rice again, who collected a sloppy Fabinho pass and surged into the box before blasting the ball straight at Alisson. Trent then made a mess of the rebound and hit it against his own post. As I keep saying, some of these clean sheets we’ve been getting have been rather fortunate as the opposition seem to get clear chances every game. This was no different. West Ham probably deserved a goal but equally they were fortunate not to concede four. There’s little point in dwelling on these things though. I thought we played well within ourselves and had we needed to play better we would have. As has been the case for most of the season, we just played as well as we needed to to get the win. If we needed to go up another couple of gears we could have done, but we didn’t. We won at a canter because West Ham are shit and because Moyes didn’t even try to win the game. He more or less admitted as much afterwards when he spoke about the importance of not losing heavily and dropping into the bottom three on goal difference. For a self proclaimed winner he doesn’t half talk like a fucking loser doesn’t he? The cunt. Moyes is such a fucking dour shithouse. I’d stop watching football completely if he managed my team, as it’s just such a miserable existence having to watch his teams play and listen to the shite he comes out with. He’s the worst. On a list of people I wouldn’t want to be my manager, I genuinely think he’d come out as number one, because it’s not just that he’s shite (in fairness there are loads of managers as shite as him), it’s that he talks like he’s got a CV like Bob Paisley. Such an unlikable turd. There are other shit managers who have an equally high opinion of themselves, but at least the likes of Pardew and Sherwood are funny. Those two at least have charisma, their arrogance is entertaining in a WWE villain type of way. Moyes has none of that. He’s just a conceited, charmless, miserable cunt. West Ham have one player who I’d class as dangerous (Antonio), and Moyes left him out because he’s saving him for games that are more winnable. We’re so good now that the only hope most teams in the league of beating us if they catch us on a really bad day and they play out of their skins. It’s incredible how superior we are to everybody else now. I don’t think there has ever been a more dominant team take the field in this country. In fact, I know there hasn’t because nobody has ever done this before. We’re 19 points clear and we’ve already beaten every team in the league, and we’re still in January. The only negative on the night was a potential injury to Origi. He thinks it was just cramp and hopefully he’s right, because with Sadio out we could really do with Big Div fit and firing. Ox initially went to the left wing but I wonder if it was significant that Jones got the nod over Minamino to replace Ox late on? Maybe it meant nothing, but it did make me think that maybe Curtis might get a start against Southampton if Origi hasn’t recovered. If he does, it’s well deserved. Maybe it was just a birthday present from Klopp. We’ll see on Saturday I guess. The selections over the next few weeks are going to be interesting I think. Trent looks like he needs a rest as he’s not been at his sharpest lately. Robbo has been a little bit up and down too, although I thought he had a good game in this one. We’ve got some players coming back that should allow Klopp to freshen things up now, and with such a big lead it might be tempting for him to prioritise the Champions League games. It’s a difficult one really because I want us to keep winning every league game and not drop any points. Not if it comes at the expense of progression in the Champions League though. I do think it might be time to give the odd start in the league to the likes of Jones, Williams, Hoever and Elliott. Not at the same time, but I’d be looking to throw one or two of them in whenever possible now. I’d give Williams a start on Saturday for example, because we can’t afford Trent to pick up an injury due to overplaying him. Great to see Naby back on the field too. It might be too soon for him to go back into the starting line up but having him back just in time for the resumption of the Champions League is perfect timing. Same with Fabinho, although right now he’s definitely struggling to shake off the cobwebs. In fact he’s so covered in them he looks like Frodo Baggins after he was attacked by that giant spider in Return of the King. Having them back will allow Klopp to give Gini and Hendo a break now and then, because it feels like those two have been playing every game and they must be close to breaking point in terms of a hamstring or a calf going pop. Mo is another who seems to play all the time but with Sadio out there’s no way we can rest him any time soon. It’d be nice to get a few goals ahead in a game for once and be able to bring him off after an hour though. We never seem to be in that position though, despite the fact we win every single week. We’re just so dominant at the moment that the only thing I can see stopping us doing the double (and possibly treble if Critch’s kids can get us past Shrewsbury) is untimely injuries to key players. Hopefully Klopp can manage the squad well enough to avoid that. Star man is Salah just ahead of Alisson. Honourable mentions to Bobby, Gomez and Hendo as well. Ox too, just for that brilliant goal. Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold (Keita), Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Jones), Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Origi (Fabinho):

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain said that the team are keeping focused on the job at hand after another trademark performance on Wednesday evening.The Reds have now beaten every team in the Premier League this season after their 2-0 victory over West Ham, which is a first in the illustrious history of the club.The victory also saw Liverpool reach the 70 point mark from 24 games which is the quickest of any English top flight side. Even the best usa online casino would struggle to produce the number of wins the Reds have this season.Despite the accolades that are flowing their way, Oxlade-Chamberlain says it is business as usual for the players. The Official site reported Ox as saying:“That’s obviously nice but I think teams never get to those sorts of positions and have those accolades and records by thinking about those things.“They just go into every game, go to work and do the business. “You keep that mentality, you give yourself the best chance of coming away with wins.“There are a lot of tough games coming up so we’ve just to keep plodding along and keep doing what we are doing to first and foremost achieve what we want to do in the league. “That’s the most important thing – finishing as high up as we can – and we are in a good position." That's an understatement. Some sports betting companies have already paid on the Reds winning the title and it's almost impossible to envisage any scenario in which Liverpool's 30 year wait to become Champions.The attacking midfielder scored his seventh goal in all competitions this season when he produced an adept finish after being put through on goal by a Mo Salah pass which doubled the visitors advantage after a Salah penalty in the first half. “It was a great pass and I knew Lanzini was close to getting there, so I needed to get in front of him and even make him foul me.“There was a bit of contact but I managed to stay on my feet and just tried to stay composed and finish it, so it was nice to see that one go in.“I don’t always find myself in that position so it was nice and I think it set us up for a controlled performance to see the game out.”

Jürgen Klopp says that he does not have a particular points target in mind as Liverpool continue their march to a Premier League title.The Reds made it 23 wins from 24 games after a composed 2-0 victory over West Ham on Wednesday evening.With the win, Liverpool also achieved the full card of victories over Premier League sides which is a first in the illustrious history of the club and only becoming the second team in the history of the league to do so following Man City in 17/18. The victory also saw the club hit the 70 point mark in the shortest timeframe seen in English Football.Pep Guardiola made a deal about reaching the 100-point mark during Man City’s title runs but it is not something that Klopp believes in.Metro reported the manager as saying.“Not sure if I have to. I was never in that situation, to be honest. I didn’t do it so far.“Last year we had 97 points, I’m not sure if we could have had 100. Ninety-eight would have been possible, if we’d got a point maybe at City, so no, I didn’t do it.“In the moment when I see I have a problem motivating the boys then I will have to use different things, but so far it’s not necessary. We are Liverpool and we have a proper history and everybody knows what we have to do.“So the motivation is to reach that and not any points record. “If that will happen as a side effect, we will take it, but we are not only concerned about that.” Klopp also said he did not get extra satisfaction from beating every opponent.“Nothing like that. I don’t feel anything like that. It’s not about feeling satisfaction or whatever. I really don’t. ‘“I was in the game completely, wanted to win it, my boys wanted to win it desperately. “No-one thought before the game: ‘We’ve won against 18 different teams in the league so let’s make it 19.’“A season is like you have to dug in, and you don’t breathe pretty much, or you jump in the water and you don’t breathe and then you come out after 38 games and then you have a look at what happened.“So that’s how we really see it. "So nothing like that in the dressing room. I don’t want to be extremely – what’s the right word – boring, but it’s just it doesn’t feel like that.’

I’m more annoyed by this than I have a right to be. After the season we’ve had - actually make that two seasons - complaining about an under-strength side drawing away in the cup would make me seem like a bit of a grumpy bastard with a misplaced sense of entitlement. I’m going to do it anyway. Well, maybe a little bit. I’m conflicted on this. We’re still in the cup and an extra game presumably means more opportunities for Jones, Pedro, Neco and Elliott (unless Klopp sees them as ‘first team’ and gives them a week off). That’s no bad thing, as the more games they get the better. So a replay is a positive from that point of view. Also, I’d be lying if I said that either of the domestic cups are particularly high on my priority list. If we don’t win them, then *shrugs shoulders* whaddayagonnado. So the result itself didn’t bother me. It was the performance, especially after the break, that I found infuriating. After the way this side played against Everton in the last round I was really looking forward to this. The performances were like night and day though. We were great against Everton and we were utter garbage against Shrewsbury. There was no comparison between the two displays. Why was that? I think I can sum it up in three simple words - Matip, Lovren and Fabinho. There’s the problem right there. Those three. Top players who’ve been great all season, but they were all absolutely fucking shite. Not just below par, but genuinely terrible. Others didn’t cover themselves in glory either *looks disapprovingly at Origi* but to me it was glaringly obvious how we allowed Shrewsbury to get back into the game. It was down to three players who ought to have been leading the way but who looked like Sunday League lads playing with a stinking hangover. The common denominator with all three is that they’re all just back from fairly long term injuries. That goes some way towards explaining it, but their body language all evening screamed out “this is beneath me”. That’s probably harsh, but it’s how it looked. The last time I remember feeling this way was when we lost at Wolves last year. The senior players stank that night too (particularly Sturridge and Moreno), but Wolves are obviously vastly superior opponents than Shrewsbury. It’s not what I’ve come to expect from this squad as their attitude has been so good for so long and after the Arsenal and Everton games I had high hopes for this. In the last round Gomez and Lallana were both immense and showed the way for the kids around them. Where was that leadership from the senior pros in this game? It was non-existent, unless you count Adrian who did all he could. The kids acquitted themselves well in the first half but it became really difficult for them after the break, not least because what should have been the strength of the team - the experienced spine - performed as badly as I’ve seen any of them play in a red shirt. Ok, Lovren has probably had worse games than this, but the other two were definitely at an all time low. Fabinho was terrible even in the first half. He stank from start to finish. I know he’s had a lengthy lay off, but he looked fine in midweek when he came on against Wolves. I genuinely can’t get over how bad he was in this game. Matip too. He just got worse and worse until eventually he had to be subbed because he was going to cost us the game. The final straw with him was presumably when he passed the ball straight to an opponent in the middle of the field. He was under no pressure and there was no Liverpool player anywhere near it. It summed up his day. Lovren could easily have been hooked too. I don’t know what he was playing at either. These were league one strikers who kept getting a free run at Adrian. Seriously, what the fuck was going on? From the moment we went 2-0 up those three started fucking around by their own box, inviting pressure. It wasn’t the pitch for doing shit like that and all it does is gets the crowd into it and encourages the opposition players to think there might be something in the game for them. That’s exactly what happened. The game should have been over but we kept messing around at the back and giving the ball away. It gave Shrewsbury hope when there should have been none, and eventually it cost us. It should never have gotten to that stage as it wouldn’t have taken much to put the game away. We got the lead early on with a lovely goal created by Chirivella and finished by Jones. We should have built on it but the balance of the team looked all wrong. Other than Jones our attacking play was generally toothless and at the other end we needed Adrian to make a couple of big saves. We were given a present seconds after the restart when former Man United defender Donald Love hilariously put through his own net, but instead of spurring us on to a bigger win it seemed to be the signal for us to completely stop playing. It was just a dreadful performance all around, and while I lay most of the blame at the door of the senior players, Klopp didn’t help either with how he set up the front three. Minimino was a passenger again and couldn’t get into the game in the false nine position, while Origi was stinking it up hugely on the left. That’s how they started against Everton too, but even in that game we looked better after Minamino was subbed. Divock is a finisher. A penalty box player. A goalscorer. Occasionally he’ll do a decent job out wide but more often than not he’s crap out there. He spent most of his time with his back to goal, trying to control passes that were bobbling up off the pitch, and invariably he’d either lose the ball or have to take that many touches to get it under control that all he could do was pass it backwards. As early as ten minutes in I was saying we needed to swap him and Minamino. It just seemed the obvious thing to do, but we had to wait until late in the game when Elliott was brought off before we saw Minamino wide and Origi central. And within a couple of minutes of it happening Origi had had two shots on goal and suddenly looked like he was a threat. Who knew? Everybody actually, because it’s fucking obvious. Still, for all my complaints about the top end of the pitch, the real problem was at the back. Matip was weak as piss and Lovren must have left his brain back at Melwood. Either that or he’s been on a week long bender since he beat Mo at table tennis on LFC TV. That said, Shrewsbury’s first goal shouldn’t have counted as it was not a penalty. Larouci fouled the guy but he was outside the box. Those ones are always really difficult for refs to get right though so I’m not criticising the official. It’s one incidents like that when VAR shows it’s worth, but there’s no VAR at lower league grounds so it couldn’t bail us out. I have no real complaints on that, it’s a tough call to get right in real time. My complaint is with our poor defending. Their equaliser was even worse though. Fabinho gives away a simple pass and then just look at Matip’s pitiful attempt to win the header. As I said, weak as piss. This was the old Matip, the one before he became fucking ace. Then Lovren dives in and doesn’t win the ball, leaving their sub to drill the ball past Adrian for his second goal. That annoyed the fuck out of me, especially as just look at the fucking state of the lad who scored both goals. Letting someone with a haircut like that score against us seriously rankles. Letting him do it twice deserves some serious punishment. Like, oh I don’t know, the cancelling of a winter break for those involved perhaps? I’ll get to that shortly. Klopp decided there and then he didn’t want a replay and on came both Salah and Firmino to join Ox who’d been brought on earlier. It made a difference and we almost won it late when Jones looked like he was about to slide in to score from close range, but the defender recovered to make a great block. We didn’t deserve to win the game though. Shrewsbury definitely deserved a replay as this wasn’t a smash and grab. They had other chances in addition to the two they scored and I thought they played well. The lad playing in midfield who got man of the match on BBC was terrific. We didn’t get near him in that second half, which again is a poor reflection on Fabinho as usually his area of the field is a no go zone. The midfield completely disappeared in the second half. We had no control on the game at all. Chirivella was class in the first half but we didn’t see much of him after the break. Maybe I’m letting him off the hook too easily, but I don’t think there was much he could do about that. Lovren and Matip were either fannying around passing to each other, or hitting long hopeful punts up the field. Is it any wonder Jones and Chirivella faded from the game? Elliott did nothing all day. It was a really frustrating game for him as he hardly saw the ball. It’s not that he did much wrong, he just couldn’t get into the game. Williams was fine. He was better in the first half than the second, but he competed well enough and did nothing wrong. On the other flank Larouci found it difficult but that didn’t really surprise me. He’s not great defensively as he’s not been playing full back for too long, but he got very little help from those around him. I don’t blame him for the penalty because look where he is. He’s playing left back but he was so far over into the middle because he’d come across to cover. The failing there was no his, he was just the one trying to solve the problem created by others. So what now? Klopp says no senior players will be involved in the replay and whatsmore neither will he. Everyone is off on holiday and I suppose I’m ok with that. Mostly. I don’t especially begrudge Klopp having a break and I certainly don’t think the first team lads who didn’t play in this one should have to report in for the replay. Why should they be punished for that shambolic second half? However, based on this showing you’d have to say that Matip, Fabinho and Lovren clearly need games more than they need rest. They were so rusty that if you listened carefully you could probably hear them squeaking. Minamino also needs game time more than a holiday (although games with the kids probably isn’t going to do him any good really, in fairness). Then there’s Keita, Shaqiri, Lallana and Origi too.They’ve hardly played this season so why do they need a break? What’s the point in giving them a winter break at the expense of sacking off the FA Cup? If Klopp wants to take time off then he can, because he can do no wrong really. In all honesty though I think he should take charge of the replay. I don’t feel especially strongly about it and I won’t be kicking off if he goes through with his threat, but personally I think he should take charge of the replay and I also think that the ‘squad’ players should also be involved, especially those who contributed to the fact we needed a replay in the first place. The other issue in play here is the ticket pricing. If, like at Villa, Critchley takes charge and it’s his squad who play in the tie, then how can the club justify charging anything more than what they would for an u23 fixture? League One opponents, and a team full of teenagers, this is a tricky one for the club because anything more than a tenner is taking the piss. And if they do go down that road then it’s proper sly on Shrewsbury who could really use the money. This whole situation is a sorry mess. The Premier League tell the clubs to honour the break and don’t arrange any games, then the FA schedule cup replays slap bang in the middle of the break. What are we supposed to do here? Whatever Klopp does he’s not going to please everyone. The big clubs want to scrap replays but replays can be transformational for lower league clubs. Everything is tailored for the haves, but what about the have nots? Shrewsbury deserve a big pay day, but why should our fans have to pay for it when we’ll be watching a bunch of kids managed by the u23 coach? I don’t really have the answer but something needs to be done because this season we’ve effectively already had to forfeit the League Cup due to fixture congestion and now it looks like the same may be happening in the FA Cup. Losing with a second string team is fine. When it’s fourth and fifth string kids then something needs to change. With better scheduling we could have won it all this year, instead of having to prioritise. It needs looking at because we’re not the bad guys here, but that’s how it will no doubt be portrayed by many. Star man is Adrian, with a little nod of acknowledgement for Curtis Jones too. Team: Adrian; Williams, Matip (Salah), Lovren, Larouci; Fabinho, Chirivella, Jones; Elliott (Oxlade-Chamberlain), Minamino (Firmino), Origi: