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Saturday Sep 19: Jota is unveiled. You’d think that there was nothing left for our fans to moan about but I actually saw some whopper complaining about how our social media team sucks because the signing videos for Thiago and Jota were too similar. At least it’s original I suppose. Also seen a lot of complaining about the fee and that if we can pay £43m for Jota why couldn't we pay £50m for Werner. *sigh*. Ok, here we go, I'm off again... Right, first of all the financial implications of both deals are completely different. Most of the Werner fee (maybe all of it?) was due up front. We're paying £4m this year for Jota. So there's no comparison. Also, Werner's wages will be double what Jota is getting. Secondly, Jota is a much, much better fit for how we play. I'm not telling you he's better than Werner and will score more goals. But he's a more natural fit for the wide attacking positions in our team than arl no finesse Timo. Werner is much more similar to Danny Ings than he is Jota, and you can't sell Ings for £20m and then pay two and half times that much for someone who is a marginal upgrade at best. I'd back Ings to outscore Werner this season but there probably won't be much in it. They'll both get more than Jota because they'll play more games and they'll be playing centre forward rather than left wing. Give me Jota over Werner all fucking day though, and I reckon anyone who is still crying over Werner will be signing a different tune by the end of the season. We're meant to be signing some kid from Motherwell too. A 16 year old defender. Totally on board with this because you always want a Scot in your side. He might not make it but it's worth the risk. I'd probably sign one Scottish kid every year just in the hope that one of them comes through. The current Scotland captain meanwhile, says that a Manchester United player will get a standing ovation at Anfield when fans are eventually allowed back in. I hope so, I'll certainly be applauding Rashford the first chance I get and I genuinely couldn't give a fuck who he plays for. I hate United but not to the point where it stop me from applauding one of their players if he deserved it. It's like the goalkeeper thing. The Kop will applaud the United keeper when he takes his place in goal. I'm not sure Schmeichel got it (he may have, my memory isn't that good) but all the ones in recent seasons have been applauded. United fans would NEVER do that for our keepers and that's the difference between us and them. Rashford is a top lad and he seems to be more popular with our fans than he is with his own at the moment, although judging by the replies to him on social media I'd say that United fans who are actually from Manchester are a lot more proud of him than those who aren't. It's fucking mad. Just look at the responses any time he tweets about how kids shouldn't be starving in this country. It's a mix of overseas United fans telling him "concentrate on your football because you've been crap for a year", Liverpool fans telling him "well in lad" and random Tories from other clubs complaining that they don't want their taxes used to feed kids "whose dads have done a bunk" or "whose mums are smackheads". Sunday Sep 20: Chelsea 0 L 2 Any time you win away at Chelsea it’s a good day. We’ve almost reached a point now whereby we’re so fucking good, even when we win games like this you find yourself over-analysing and thinking “well we probably should have been better at X and I don’t think we did Y very well” and if you wanted to you could probably do it here too. It wasn’t a perfect performance but it was pretty damn good and we were miles better than Chelsea even before the sending off. We don’t need to be at full throttle with everyone playing out of their skin to win games anymore, but on those occasions when we are there is literally nobody that can live with us. Maybe that’s why even teams like Arsenal and Chelsea are scared stiff when they face us? Chelsea were ultra defensive today. It might just be that we penned them back and they couldn’t get out, but it was probably a case of them not really wanting to come out either. We didn’t create too many chances in the first half but it always felt like we were well in control and that eventually we’d make it count. Without the ball we were brilliant and Chelsea couldn't really do anything. Their only outlet was Werner on the counter attack, but his bull in a china shop approach didn't faze Fabinho who just kept taking it off him like a bully nicking a little kid's lunch money. Still, at 0-0 its always up for grabs regardless of how much you're on top. The sending off right before half time though ended any hope Chelsea had of holding out for anything. Brilliant vision and technique by Hendo and Sadio was clever in the way he got himself in front of the defender to force the foul. Hilarious that Lampard tried to say it wasn’t a definite red. Tit. With VAR that is a red card 100% of the time. He was clutching at all kinds of straws though. “If the sending off doesn’t happen, and if Kepa didn’t gift them a goal and if we had scored the penalty then it’s 1-1”. Yeah, and if you didn’t have a big moonface I wouldn’t be able to call you moonface, would I, moonface? He seems like a man who feels under pressure already. But then Roman has always had a notoriously quick trigger finger with under-performing managers, and ‘Lamps’ doesn’t have the ready made excuse of a transfer ban hampering him and forcing him to bring through youngsters this season does he? Spending £200m brings a whole different level of expectation. I actually think he’ll get the push before Solskjaer does. Something I didn’t pick up on initially so it’s not in the match report, but I saw it on Twitter today. On the penalty save, Milner comes from waaaaay back to get there first to help Virg make the clearance. The desire is the first thing that stands out, but it’s also the professionalism. He had no idea if Alisson would save the penalty but he acted as though he would and that the rebound would need to be cleared. It’s little things like that which make him a fucking superstar in my eyes. What a man. It was funny listening to Klopp afterwards when he said that they didn’t tell Thiago anything about what to do. He just went out and figured it out for himself and controlled the game. Imagine what he’ll do when they do give him instructions on what they want from him. Even without really doing anything exceptional, Thiago just has that presence and swagger about him. He carries himself like a superstar and everyone around him seems to view him as one, even other world class players seem to look at him like he’s a level above. Monday Sep 21: Odd goings on today concerning Brewster’s future. The likes of Pearce & co reported that Palace were the front runners and were close to a £25m deal that also involved a buy back clause for us. Then Sky reporters that a formal bid had been made and a deal was close. Then Palace’s chairman took to Twitter to say that no bid, formal or informal, had been made and they had demanded Sky remove the tweet. Who knows what the fuck is going on there but it seems unlikely that they’ll sign him now after the chairman went so strong to deny it. Who tells Sky to retract transfer stories like that? Most clubs don’t give a fuck about speculation and just ignore it, but something about this has pissed Palace right off. On a similar note today, L’Equippe claim that Mbappe is in continued talks with us and Real Madrid about a move next summer. Liverpool didn’t demand they withdraw the claim so I’m drawing my own conclusions from that and assuming that IT”S ON BABY!! Meanwhile, fuck off Wolves. I had high hopes for you tonight and you let me down. Mind you, this Traore at wing back thing seems pretty bizarre to me, especially against better teams when Wolves are on the back foot a lot. He needs to be in the attacking third as much as possible. Nuno Holy Spirit being too clever for his own good there. Tuesday Sep 22: So last week it looked like Suarez was signing for Juve, but something about them having too many overseas players meant he had to take a test to become an Italian national. And it turns out, he cheated! Is that the most Luis Suarez thing ever? In fairness, it wasn’t just a case of him sneaking into the school office and stealing the test paper beforehand or just copying from whoever was set next to him. I expect he had a lot of help from his agent, Juventus and whatever other parties had a vested financial interest in the deal. As it’s Italy, I doubt it would have been too difficult to bribe whoever needed to be bribed. I was going to say we’ve reached peak Suarez but I think that might be premature considering he’s about to form a strike partnership with Diego Costa and his manager is going to be Diego Simeone. I feel like he’s just getting started. Atletico Madrid games are going to be must watch this year. Also tonight, the u21s got beat 6-1 at Wigan. I think it was Wigan’s first team rather than their kids, but still… ouch. You don’t expect that. Wednesday Sep 23: Ljinders is on press conference duty for the League Cup again this year. Some nice little soundbites from him today as usual. I liked what he said about why we signed Thiago. "This team deserves a player like Thiago, he will help us evolve. It's important that we stay unpredictable. We didn't buy a problem, we bought a solution." Sums it up nicely really. We signed him because to evolve we need to adapt and avoid becoming predictable. Something he said about Billy Kemetio got my attention too as it confirmed something I was thinking about why we allowed Hoever to leave. Hoever is class and could become a genuine star, but he isn’t tall enough to play centre back for us and he was third in line at right back. Why is his height such an issue? Because as Ljinders said today, teams hit a lot of long balls against us to avoid the press, so it’s really important for our centre backs to not only be good at winning the ball, but to also be able to head it to team-mates. Virgil is great at that, as is Matip. Gomez is probably a little too short for what Klopp would ideally want but because he’s quick and has a good spring he just about fits the bill. Hoever just didn’t have the physical tools to be a centre back in our set up. I liked what he said about Jota too. “A pressing machine with the technical ability of the rest of the front three”. That’s high fucking praise that. I do think he’s going to be boss though. I’m expecting him to elevate his game in the way Sadio and Mo did, virtually from the moment they stepped through the door. Can’t wait to see him play. On telly of course. It’s going to be a long fucking time before we get to see any of the new lads playing live in the flesh. It’s getting me down now. I miss going the match. I miss meeting up with the lads before the game. I miss walking up the steps in the concourse and seeing the green of the pitch. I miss YNWA. And I miss watching this team play. It’s just shit not being able to go to Anfield. Fuck this virus and fuck the government who basically wasted three months of lockdown. We should be preparing for life to be getting back to normal, but instead we’ve got another six months of this shit because these corrupt cunts handed out all the contracts to their mates instead of to companies who would actually get the job done. I don't think we'll get back into Anfield at all this season, which makes the club's attitude to transfers look extremely prescient now. Some of these other big spenders might be sweating in a few months. Meanwhile, this Wolves thing is just weird. I’m not sure if they’re breaking any rules, but ethically what’s happening there just seems fucked up. How is there not a conflict of interest in what Jorge Mendes is doing? For example, he represents Matt Doherty, who was sold to Spurs for a relative pittance (£15m). Spurs are managed by Mourinho, who he also represents. And guess what? He also represents Samedo, who is about to join Wolves from Barca for £37m as a replacement for Doherty. Barcelona fans can’t believe their luck getting so much money for a player they think is shite. How much of that fee is going to Mendes? How much of the Jota fee is he getting? How much did Spurs give him for orting the Doherty deal so cheply? All agents get boxed off with pay offs from transfers but in this case it’s the agent who is sanctioning the deals between the clubs too. Wolves paid huge money from that kid from Porto this summer (represented by you know who). It just seems shady as fuck. His influence is so great that it can’t be healthy for anyone other than him. I mean fucking hell, Wolves' third kit now is basically the Portugal shirt and the way it’s going their first team is going to be Conor Coady, Raul Jiminez plus nine Portuguese lads, all represented by Mendes. Thursday Sep 24: Lincoln 2 L 7 How much fun was that? Lovely goals, some terrific football and a completely stress free night. Don’t take this for granted because it wasn’t that long ago that fixtures like this would have given us the potential for all sorts of embarrassment. I actually like the policy of playing the kids and squad men. I realise that it’s necessary, but even if it wasn’t I’d do it anyway. If we had no games a week before or a week after a fixture like this, I’d still want the second string to play because they always play like they want to impress. Shrewsbury away last year was the only real exception to that but it was senior players who were the big problem that day. Matip and Lovren in particular from what I remember. Usually though, since Klopp arrived our cup games hve been really enjoyable and this was no different. Curtis and Taki were great, Tsimikas had a good debut, Shaq looked really good and my boy Grujic was quality. If we needed him to play in the first team he’d be up to the job as he’s a fucking good player. I like him a lot, always have. We don’t need him to play though as he’s got about nine players ahead of him in the pecking order. That’s how strong we are right now. Grujic would walk into at least half of the teams in the Premier League. So would Origi, Shaq, Wilson etc Next week's tie will be interesting. I think we need to go a little stronger against Arsenal because I reckon Arteta will put most of his first team out as he’ll be desperate to win that game. I wouldn’t make too many changes though, but Harvey might find himself on the bench and I doubt we’ll see Rhys Williams in the first team again. He did fine but I wouldn’t have him anywhere near next week’s team and his future opportunities might be limited too. Injuries gave him his chance tonight and whatever happens he’ll always have that. Good for him. Arsenal next week though is a different proposition. Wouldn’t surprise me if we saw something like that mad one we had last year. With the likes of Shaq, Jota, Origi, Jones and Taki on the pitch we’ll score goals. We might concede loads too though. Unless big Virg plays again of course, but I can’t see that happening. I’d like to see us win this cup but I’m not one of those miserable old timers who bang on about “we should take every competition seriously because we exist to win trophies”. Nah, you can’t be risking the bigger prizes by taking this little thing too seriously. I’ll never side with anyone complaining about fielding ‘weaker teams’ in the cups because it's just clearly the smart thing to do on every level. The importance of the cups is nowhere near as great as it once was and I only really want us to win it because I want to see the ‘weaker team’ get their hands on a trophy. If we got to the final with the kids and squad men, I’d want them to play in the final ahead of the big boys as they\d deserve it. I doubt that would happen, and if we were playing Man City I’d take a different view. In general though, if these players were to get us there then they should stay in the team. Imagine seeing Milner lifting the trophy and doing the Hendo shuffle! Friday Sep 25: Suggestions today that Origi and Shaqiri are both staying. I wouldn’t put money on it because I still think if a good enough offer comes in we’d sell either of them in a heartbeat, but this probably means that we won’t sell for the sake of it. Whereas with Wilson and Grujic it’s probably a case of getting as much as we can and letting them go, but Shaq is more than happy to stay and it would appear that, based on his inclusion and his efforts let night, Origi might be too. His chances of playing in anything other than the cups seem fairly slim but maybe he’d rather be playing a handful of games here than a full season at Villa or somewhere? He’s such a weird one is Div. Last night is a good example. Most people would say he was one of our worst performers on the night. For most of the game he just wasn’t really involved and he flattered to deceive, but when it’s all said and done he’d scored one and made one. That’s often the way. He rarely makes you think “Origi was boss today wasn’t he?” but when he has significant playing time he nearly always seems to score. I feel as though his time here should be up now but maybe there’s still another chapter to be written? I’d feel a lot happier if he grew his dreads back though. Dreadlocked Divock was a legend. Finally, the 23s had a mad one tonight away at United. They were 5-1 up and cruising but then it all got a bit nasty. Leighton Clarkson got sent off for an outrageously bad tackle where it looked like he was trying to chop the lad in half. Then one of their players was sent off for shoving Clarkson to the ground. It ended up 5-3 but that’s a good win for the boys. Jack Bearne scored two and he’s a nice little player to watch. Small and skilful with a great left foot. I like him. and that was the week that was….

It was 10 years ago this week that we were humiliated at Anfield by Northampton. Obviously the club has come a long way since those dark days and we’re now the best team in the land, but I thought it was quite fitting to see the second string perform like they did at Lincoln. Northampton wasn't a one off either. We’ve spent decades struggling in these type of cup ties when the big hitters were rested and we had to call on the kids and fringe players. Now? I actually look forward to these games as much I do the ‘proper’ matches. Some of the most enjoyable games we’ve had in recent seasons have been when the second string has played in the cups. Arsenal and Everton last season were great. So too was the Shrewsbury replay when it was a team full of kids. This was more of a mixed line up but we had a bit of everything really. We had the star quality of Van Dijk, we had the fringe players like Shaqiri and Minamino, the wonder kids Jones and Elliott, the unknown youth teamer unexpectedly thrown in at the deep end as well as a couple of new signings making their debuts (Tsimikas looked good I thought). We also had a couple of lads in Big Div and my boy Grujic who maybe won’t be here much longer. Everyone played their part though. It was a real mish mash eleven and in the past whenever we’d done anything like this it would usually end up in a risible performance and a cup exit. Spurs away jumps out at me for some reason. I couldn’t even tell you who played that night but I remember it was a real shitshow. Probably people like Degen and Plessis were involved but I’ve kind of wiped it from memory so can’t be sure. Generally in the past when we've thrown together a team of kids and misfits, they've played like total strangers. That doesn't happen anymore. Win or lose they always look like a Klopp team. This was great. Not perfect, and the second half wasn’t good defensively after Virg went off, but scoring seven times away from home with a second string against the League One leaders isn’t anything to be sniffed at. The quality of some of the goals was ridiculous too. Shaq’s free-kick to open the scoring was a belter. I saw that coming a mile off and called goal before he even took it. I watched it at my parents house and as I'm sure I've mentioned before, Shaq is like the son my Dad always wanted. I don’t mind that, I love Shaq as well and wish he was my little brother so I could playfully slap him in a headlock and ruffle his expensive new hair. Love that little guy, he's fucking boss. So yeah, anyway, as soon as the free-kick was awarded I said “This is a goal, Shaq will put this in the top corner”. And he did. I was on point with my predictions all night actually as before kick off I called goals for Jones and Grujic. The only one I got wrong was saying that there was absolutely zero chance that Jota wasn’t scoring when he came on. Other than that I was…. what do the cool kids say these days…. oh yeah I was FIRE!!!! But enough of that, back to the footy. Shaq’s opener was glorious but Minamino matched it with a fabulous first time hit to make it 2-0. He just looks so much more comfortable and settled these days, but that's hardly a surprise as new signings into this team generally take a few months to start showing their form. Some are so good they transcend that. Mané, Salah, Van Dijk and I'm pretty sure Thiago will be another. So that was a lovely goal that came about from Lincoln trying to pass it out from the back. Lads, you’re League One and we’re the World Champions. You really think you’re going to succeed where the likes of City and Chelsea have failed and play through our high press? Talk about delusions of grandeur. Jones then made it 3-0 with a superb finish after Origi had cleverly knocked down a long pass from Rhys Williams. Nice moment for Williams and the first half will have been most enjoyable for him. Playing alongside Virgil and basically not really having to do anything other than pass the ball around under no pressure was an ideal debut. The second half was much tougher for him but he did well all things considered. Jones made it 4-0 with a goal that just reeked of Phil Coutinho. That’s who he is turning into now. A tall, scouse, Coutinho. He shares so many of the same attributes as O Magico and that cut inside and bend it in the top corner thing that Phil had down to a fine art is something Curtis has down to a tee. In fact, I might just start calling him “Curtinho”. Yeah I’m pleased with that one. “Curtinho”. Nice. Feel free to use that if you like, I don’t mind. So yeah, 4-0 and it could have been more as we played some lovely football. Klopp said that if the lads were wearing a different kit he’d still know it was Liverpool based on how they played. They basically were wearing a different kit as that one we were wearing was nothing like a Liverpool kit. In general I’m not one for being arsed about kits and I don’t even mind this one even though I know loads hate it. What I don’t like is that the shorts are not the same colour as the shirt and that just makes it look shit. I’m sure you were all as surprised as I was that Virgil started the game. With Matip and Gomez unavailable it made some sense for him to play but it’s still not something you expect to see at this stage of the League Cup. I would have thought Nat Phillips was a more logical choice but he wasn’t involved at all, so must be close to a move and they didn't want him cup tied (same with Brewster). It will have been great for young Rhys to have that half alongside Virg, but the difference in our performance from first half to second was alarming. Was that just because we were so far ahead and took our foot off the gas? Or was it because Van Dijk wasn’t there after the break? I suspect it’s more the former really. We went 5-0 up within seconds of the restart as Minamino grabbed his second of the game. It wasn’t spectacular but it was a great goal because of the desire shown by Taki. He won the ball initially and then sprinted to get in the box and was rewarded when the loose ball fell to him for a tap in. He was really lively throughout and thrived in a rare outing as the number nine. He’s pushing hard for a starting spot at the moment given Bobby’s lack of goals. So it's 5-0 and I’m thinking we might get ten. And after that, it was a bit shit and all of a sudden Adrian was having to do stuff. He made a great double save and then followed it up with another good one. Lincoln were slicing through us at will and as easy as it is to put that on Virgil not being there, it has to have been more than that. I just felt as though the intensity of the whole team slacked off and that left the defence more exposed. Lincoln deservedly pulled one back when Neco was caught trying to do too much and then Rhys was unable to retrieve the situation. Fabinho didn’t cover himself in glory either. Neco didn’t have the best of games. He wasn't that bad but sometimes he needs to keep it a bit more simple and not try the stepovers and the chops or whatever they’re called. It’s the way of the modern game now that full backs are all trying to do moves like Ronaldo, but there’s a time and place. He hasn’t been at his best when he’s played the last few months but if he wasn’t the real deal he wouldn’t be getting these opportunities. We all seen what he could do in his first half dozen or so appearances and I’m sure he’ll come through this little dip. Apparently he’s had to delete his social media accounts because he was getting stick off ‘fans’. Honestly, I know I keep going on about this kind of shit but I get unspeakably angry about it. It’s bad enough abusing players after a loss, but what kind of despicable little fucking shithouse rat sends abuse to a teenage lad after a 7-2 win? A law needs to be passed whereby any fucker who does this can be exposed and some lads can be sent around to sort them out. I’m not even joking, these fucking shithouses need a good kicking or even worse. If I ruled the world then death row would be full of cunts who sent abuse to people on twitter. So Lincoln were making a game of it and they continued to look dangerous, but we did too and Grujic grabbed himself a goal with a low shot from the edge of the box to make it 6-1. Adrian then flapped at a corner to allow Lincoln a second goal before Origi ran clear to score at the death. Jota was inches away from a debut goal but otherwise couldn't seem to do anything right. I don’t know what to make of Origi’s inclusion in this game. Not just that he started, but that he got to play the full game whereas Elliott was subbed early (I thought Harvey played well and was disappointed to see him brought off). If Div’s going, why is he getting this playing time? The more I think about it, the more I think he might be staying you know. He probably shouldn’t, because he’s behind Minamino, Jota and possibly even Shaqiri now in the forwards pecking order. Maybe he’s ok with that and just likes being here? In fairness to him, there was nothing wrong with his attitude in this game. He took his goal well (he usually does, he’s a clinical finisher) and he had a nice assist. He’s a good player and would be a nice acquisition for someone. He just doesn’t really fit the profile of player we need for any of the forward places. By that I mean we’ve got Minamino now as the deputy for Bobby because he can play the role in a similar way. Jota will do the same with Salah and Mané. Origi is just completely different to all of them. Maybe that’s a reason to keep him around another year? I wouldn’t, but then I’m not Jurgen Klopp so there is that. Basically, I’m good with whatever they decide because clearly they know what they’re doing. If I had to bet on it though I’d say Grujic, Brewster and Wilson will leave and Shaqiri and Origi probably won’t. That should bring in a decent amount to help offset the Covid losses though. Going back to Klopp’s point about the identity of the team, I feel like that’s actually really important. It was the same last season in the cups. Even when none of the first team were playing you could still see the same shape and patterns of play. That Shrewsbury game was a great example. The midfield trio of Chirivella, Cain and Clarkson pulled off a fine impression of the senior lads. This was similar in many ways, but it was also different. Shaq was in midfield for one thing. We haven’t seen that before. We might not see it again considering we’ve got about ten players fighting for three spots, but he did well. Curtis was brilliant in there too and he’s got much more chance of getting regular minutes. It’s going to be hard keeping him out of the team at the rate he’s progressing. Probably the biggest indicator of how deep we are in midfield though is the performance of Grujic. He was fucking boss I thought. I’ve always liked him but how can you make a case for him playing when there are so many superior players ahead of him? Grujic could play for most teams in the Premier League and he deserves to play regularly. He’s been going out on loan but the time has probably come to just let him leave permanently now. Another loan is pointless as it’s not as though a midfield spot is opening up for him in a year or even two. He was a contender for the star man but really it came down to a choice between Jones and Minamino. I’m not even going to choose between them, they can both have it and I’ll just happily sit on the fence. We now have to play Arsenal twice in a week. I’m still pissed off about how we let them beat us in the league and that we didn’t put them back in their box in the Charity Shield. This is a chance to set the record straight and I expect a Thiago inspired rout on Monday. The cup game is a different story and anything could happen there. Last year’s game was a fucking belter and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw something similar. I actually can’t wait for it. It’s weird really. I put virtually no importance in the domestic cups these days in terms of actually winning them. We have bigger fish to fry and I’m fully on board with the selection policy we’ve had for the cups. In fact, it’s that selection policy that makes these games so much fun. I expect we’ll go a little bit more experienced next week and I wouldn’t expect to see Rhys Williams anywhere near the side for that one, but most of the other lads will be involved again. Maybe Grujic will have left by then but Milner can easily step in. I’m surprised he didn’t play in this one actually. Get him back in there and let him lead the reserves to Wembley. Be boss seeing Milner doing the Hendo shuffle. Team: Adrian; N Williams, R Williams, Van Dijk (Fabinho), Tsimikas; Grujic, Jones, Shaqiri (Keita); Elliott (Jota), Minamino, Origi: