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  1. These 5 Youngsters Could Be Liverpool’s Future If you are a club with a huge reputation like Liverpool, you want to win all the games and lift all trophies. Unfortunately, that often means there isn’t a lot of room for youngsters and talented players to get an opportunity to prove themselves. Guessing which one will regularly feature in the future is like guessing all correct numbers in Virgin Bingo and winning the grand prize. On the other hand, Jurgen Klopp loves giving young players a chance on the field, which is a part of what makes him a great coach. But what about Liverpool’s future when it comes to players? The truth is that the club has plenty of youngsters with huge potential. They often get a chance in domestic cup competitions, and here is a list of those to focus on in the future. Curtis Jones If anyone was ever slated to be the next Steven Gerrard for a reason, it is Curtis Jones. He played great in pre-season games, but it is not easy to give him room to play next to Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum, Naby Keita & co. The good news is that whenever Jones is on the field, he shows his skills like heavy-style pressing and desire to control the play. You will remember Jones for that great strike that sealed the victory against Everton in the fourth round of the FA Cup. It is a shame that there isn’t more room for this great player to demonstrate his capabilities. The good news is that time is on his side since he only turned 19 in January. Harvey Elliott If Mohamed Salah plays in your position, it is quite obvious you won’t get plenty of opportunities on the pitch. That is true for Harvey Elliott, who dreams of replacing Salah in Liverpool’s starting lineup. Nobody denies that Elliott has the required potential. If that weren’t the case, the staff wouldn’t insist on his signing from Fulham. It seemed that that transfer could get more media attention, but maybe it is for the better because it won’t burden the young talent as much. Harvey Elliott is only 16 years old, but he played for Liverpool in the League Cup and the FA Cup. His assists in youth squads and performances for the first team make us believe that he will be a decent replacement for Salah one day. In the meantime, Elliott needs to train hard and prove he should be the best choice after the Egyptian player for that position. Neco Williams We have to be honest and say that Liverpool doesn’t have fierce competition at the position of the right-back. Fortunately, Alexander-Arnold has been doing a magnificent job. The alternatives include Joe Gomez and Nathaniel Clyne, although injuries have affected the latter’s career and he will be departing soon. Klopp might have a great alternative in Neco Williams, the future star of Welsh football. Williams is a right-back with an attacking mindset. He already plays in both domestic cup competitions, which proves that the German manager seriously considers him for the right-back position. Nathaniel Phillips Phillips might not be a total youngster anymore, but since he is 22 years old, it is obvious that the best lies ahead for the centre back. The reason why he is most famous now is his height, but Phillips once to prove himself a defender that Klopp can rely on in the future. Both will have to be patient because Phillips is at Stuttgart on a season-long loan. For now, he and his new team are on the right path to getting Stuttgart back to the Bundesliga. As we mentioned, Liverpool is struggling for depth in the backline, which is why Phillips could be a serious consideration for next season. That is especially true since Joel Matip struggles with injuries and Dejan Lovren's future is far from clear. Phillips performed well against Everton in the FA Cup and if he can impress in pre-season he might have a shot at that fourth centre back spot. Rhian Brewster The entire country expects a lot from Rhian Brewster since he is the hero of the England U17 national team. He helped the squad win the World Cup with a hat-trick scored against Brazil. Unfortunately, Brewster suffered knee and ankle injuries and didn't play at all for over a year. That is how Divock Origi took a spot that may have initially been reserved for him in the squad. Now, the forward needs to prove himself and return to form. That is why Klopp sent him on loan to Swansea, and it seems that Brewster is playing well there. However, he will need to be patient before he plays for Liverpool again.
  2. This Saturday sees top play bottom as the Reds make the trip to East Anglia to take on Norwich City. Despite their current position on the table, the Canaries have held their own against some of the big hitters in the division. Video producer for Total Football NR @ben_ambrose23 gives a detailed rundown of their season to date and explains why Daniel Farke is still seen by the fans as the man to lead them up the table. It has been six months since the two teams opened the Premier League season, so how have assessed your campaign and what has been the high and low point so far? As crazy as it sounds, I have been genuinely impressed with Norwich this season. If you look at the table you’d naturally assume that I’d be slightly more negative, but for me to assess the campaign so far you have to look deeper than that. The performances of the pitch have, in the majority, been excellent from Norwich. You look at games such as Newcastle at home, Man City, Spurs, Chelsea, Wolves and a few more and our performances have been superb. We’ve played with confidence, created some free flowing attacking moves that are very easy on the eye and scored some fantastic goals. But sadly not enough, which I’m sure I’ll speak about more later on. Beating Manchester City at home has got to be the highest moment of the season for me. How could it not be? This was a Norwich City team plagued with injuries, most noticeably with only one fully fit centre back. But, very fittingly, Norwich showed no fear and took the game to a Manchester City side that had just dominated England for two seasons, and quite comfortably might I add. The game was the best atmosphere I’ve ever been a part of at Carrow Road. Norwich set-up to play on the counter, but with style, and they absolutely nailed the plan. Obviously there was some luck in Man City wasting a couple of decent chances, but it was a fantastic and deserved win. For me, the lowest point was losing by a goal to nil away at Aston Villa. The game came towards the climax of what was a really unlucky spell for Norwich where we would take the lead in games, but not see it out. Of course, in that game we created some fantastic chances in the first half, some of which leaving me scratching my head as to how we didn’t lead by three or four at the break; again, much like the games prior and a few following. Given where Villa were at the time, it made it hurt more as it was a sign that we couldn’t even beat the teams around us. Fans closely dissect decisions made by their manager on a game to game basis, so how would you view Daniel Farke's performance across this season and has he maintained the faith of the supporters? If there’s one thing 99% of City fans agree on, it’s that we love Daniel Farke. The guy has come into this club, and worked absolute wonders with his colleagues on and off the pitch. His style of football, for me, is the way every team should strive to play, consisting of being brave with the ball and playing through the opposition, rather than over. That said, he’s not immune to criticism, of which there’s one piece I and a few others continue to give which is his substitutions. For me, he leaves them too late. If you look at the context of some of our defeats this season you’ll notice that we concede in similar periods within the second half, which has been costly this season. To address this I think Daniel needs to be looking to make more proactive substitutes to prevent this from happening, rather than reactive subs in the 80th minute and sometimes even later. You could argue it’s because of a lack of depth due to our financial situation, as well as the injury crisis that I’ve already alluded to. But every manager is open to criticism. Overall, Farke has our full support and will continue to for a very long time.. Can you talk about some of your players, which have greatly impressed the Canary fanbase in adapting to Premier League Football, and perhaps a couple who you need a lift from? There’s a handful of players that have impressed. You’ve got the likes of Emi Buendia, Teemu Pukki, Tim Krul, Ben Godfrey, Todd Cantwell and Max Aarons. I’ll pick out Buendia & Pukki as the two for me, for the same reason. That being they're two fantastic footballing minds. They might play in different positions, but the way they read the game is something that I haven’t seen with my yellow glasses on for a while. Their movement on and off the ball is what has been fundamental to the scoring of goals both this season and last season. Buendia is definitely up there as one of the best dribblers in the league, when you see him with the ball at his feet you get the sense that the man is destined for greatness. It’s almost crazy to think that he’s still only 23 years old. If he could add finishing to his game a little more, he’d be one of the best attackers in the league. Players who I think need a lift? That’s a tough one. Onel Hernandez would be one, and also Marco Stiepermann. It’s tough to say that as they’re both players who were so important last season and two of my favourite players coming into this season. But that said, it’s just not really worked out for them this season. Both play with little confidence, which shows on the pitch as they don’t look to offer the team much at this point. However, it can be argued that neither have had a fair run in the team, as well as enough time to be able to adapt to what is the biggest step up in football. Is there an opposition team that have impressed you more than anyone else this season and if so, what made them stand out? Well, I could take the easy road and say you boys; that I shall not and will instead opt for Sheffield United. Chris Wilder has done an unbelievable job and it’s important to stress that it’s no fluke either. For the past two or three years they’ve been knocking on the Premier League’s door and they finally find themselves here and my God they are taking advantage of it. Some of the business has been key this season, but it’s worth noting that before the season started most would’ve called Wilder crazy for some of it! You look at £15m on Mousset, who’d never scored in the Premier League and Oli McBurnie who was bought for £22m after a decent season in the Championship. But they’ve proven to be decent signings. Although, the most impressive aspect of their team has to be the players who’ve been kept in the team from the championship and done so well. John Fleck, Dean Henderson, Ollie Norwood, John Egan, George Baldock. It’s a credit to both themselves and the manager for finding a way to, not only adapt, but to thrive in the Premier League and I genuinely wouldn’t be surprised to see them finish in the top six by the end of the season. Any promoted team will testify to how difficult life can be in the top league. So in saying that, how do you view the performance of Sheffield United and do you think they can be the template for teams coming from the Championship on a seemingly low budget compared to their rivals? I wouldn’t say Sheff Utd have a low budget, as they have splashed out on a few aforementioned names, but they’re definitely a team to study and to learn from. I’d look at the way they play instead, in that their speciality is not conceding which at any standard is vital; especially in the Premier League. Wilder quite clearly focused on that in the season, which saw them promoted, and they are reaping the rewards of it now. They have a clear no-nonsense approach to defending, which is as simple as the fine balance between clearing the ball and playing your way out. It’s as simple as that. It was then a matter of if they could add goals and with a few decent signings, they have. Currently seven points from safety, is there a belief among your fans that Norwich can produce the great escape? ‘The great escape’ is a phrase ringing around Carrow Road both in the mouths of those with genuine belief and those who mock the idea. Football is a funny old game and it would be naive to just write Norwich City off, despite no team ever coming back from this position before. Although it’s worth mentioning back in the 04/05 season Norwich almost pulled off the unlikely in the PL until we got battered on the final day of the season at Craven Cottage. However, given our consistent conceding of cheap goals I think it’s fairly unlikely, although that said if we were to take a few more of our chances, which is easier said than done, then I couldn’t see why we wouldn’t have a good go. What are the games left on your fixture list that you have earmarked as potential 'six pointers? Every single game for the rest of the season is a must win, given our position. It’s as simple as that. While many would see this fixture as an insurmountable challenge for Norwich, it can also raise a team to inspirational heights. What you you like to see from your team and from those supporters wearing yellow and green colours inside Carrow Road on Saturday evening? From the team, I would love to see bravery on the ball, much like we saw at Anfield, back when the sky was more blue than grey. From the fans, I’d like to see relentless support through a fantastic atmosphere. Of which is a given. Norwich’s support at Carrow Road over the past two seasons has been the best it ever has. I genuinely believe we’ll see another fine display from the fans in the ground, as well as a performance to match it on the pitch. Best of luck to you guys for the rest of the season, you deserve everything that you’re going to win this season. View full article
  3. This Saturday sees top play bottom as the Reds make the trip to East Anglia to take on Norwich City. Despite their current position on the table, the Canaries have held their own against some of the big hitters in the division. Video producer for Total Football NR @ben_ambrose23 gives a detailed rundown of their season to date and explains why Daniel Farke is still seen by the fans as the man to lead them up the table. It has been six months since the two teams opened the Premier League season, so how have assessed your campaign and what has been the high and low point so far? As crazy as it sounds, I have been genuinely impressed with Norwich this season. If you look at the table you’d naturally assume that I’d be slightly more negative, but for me to assess the campaign so far you have to look deeper than that. The performances of the pitch have, in the majority, been excellent from Norwich. You look at games such as Newcastle at home, Man City, Spurs, Chelsea, Wolves and a few more and our performances have been superb. We’ve played with confidence, created some free flowing attacking moves that are very easy on the eye and scored some fantastic goals. But sadly not enough, which I’m sure I’ll speak about more later on. Beating Manchester City at home has got to be the highest moment of the season for me. How could it not be? This was a Norwich City team plagued with injuries, most noticeably with only one fully fit centre back. But, very fittingly, Norwich showed no fear and took the game to a Manchester City side that had just dominated England for two seasons, and quite comfortably might I add. The game was the best atmosphere I’ve ever been a part of at Carrow Road. Norwich set-up to play on the counter, but with style, and they absolutely nailed the plan. Obviously there was some luck in Man City wasting a couple of decent chances, but it was a fantastic and deserved win. For me, the lowest point was losing by a goal to nil away at Aston Villa. The game came towards the climax of what was a really unlucky spell for Norwich where we would take the lead in games, but not see it out. Of course, in that game we created some fantastic chances in the first half, some of which leaving me scratching my head as to how we didn’t lead by three or four at the break; again, much like the games prior and a few following. Given where Villa were at the time, it made it hurt more as it was a sign that we couldn’t even beat the teams around us. Fans closely dissect decisions made by their manager on a game to game basis, so how would you view Daniel Farke's performance across this season and has he maintained the faith of the supporters? If there’s one thing 99% of City fans agree on, it’s that we love Daniel Farke. The guy has come into this club, and worked absolute wonders with his colleagues on and off the pitch. His style of football, for me, is the way every team should strive to play, consisting of being brave with the ball and playing through the opposition, rather than over. That said, he’s not immune to criticism, of which there’s one piece I and a few others continue to give which is his substitutions. For me, he leaves them too late. If you look at the context of some of our defeats this season you’ll notice that we concede in similar periods within the second half, which has been costly this season. To address this I think Daniel needs to be looking to make more proactive substitutes to prevent this from happening, rather than reactive subs in the 80th minute and sometimes even later. You could argue it’s because of a lack of depth due to our financial situation, as well as the injury crisis that I’ve already alluded to. But every manager is open to criticism. Overall, Farke has our full support and will continue to for a very long time.. Can you talk about some of your players, which have greatly impressed the Canary fanbase in adapting to Premier League Football, and perhaps a couple who you need a lift from? There’s a handful of players that have impressed. You’ve got the likes of Emi Buendia, Teemu Pukki, Tim Krul, Ben Godfrey, Todd Cantwell and Max Aarons. I’ll pick out Buendia & Pukki as the two for me, for the same reason. That being they're two fantastic footballing minds. They might play in different positions, but the way they read the game is something that I haven’t seen with my yellow glasses on for a while. Their movement on and off the ball is what has been fundamental to the scoring of goals both this season and last season. Buendia is definitely up there as one of the best dribblers in the league, when you see him with the ball at his feet you get the sense that the man is destined for greatness. It’s almost crazy to think that he’s still only 23 years old. If he could add finishing to his game a little more, he’d be one of the best attackers in the league. Players who I think need a lift? That’s a tough one. Onel Hernandez would be one, and also Marco Stiepermann. It’s tough to say that as they’re both players who were so important last season and two of my favourite players coming into this season. But that said, it’s just not really worked out for them this season. Both play with little confidence, which shows on the pitch as they don’t look to offer the team much at this point. However, it can be argued that neither have had a fair run in the team, as well as enough time to be able to adapt to what is the biggest step up in football. Is there an opposition team that have impressed you more than anyone else this season and if so, what made them stand out? Well, I could take the easy road and say you boys; that I shall not and will instead opt for Sheffield United. Chris Wilder has done an unbelievable job and it’s important to stress that it’s no fluke either. For the past two or three years they’ve been knocking on the Premier League’s door and they finally find themselves here and my God they are taking advantage of it. Some of the business has been key this season, but it’s worth noting that before the season started most would’ve called Wilder crazy for some of it! You look at £15m on Mousset, who’d never scored in the Premier League and Oli McBurnie who was bought for £22m after a decent season in the Championship. But they’ve proven to be decent signings. Although, the most impressive aspect of their team has to be the players who’ve been kept in the team from the championship and done so well. John Fleck, Dean Henderson, Ollie Norwood, John Egan, George Baldock. It’s a credit to both themselves and the manager for finding a way to, not only adapt, but to thrive in the Premier League and I genuinely wouldn’t be surprised to see them finish in the top six by the end of the season. Any promoted team will testify to how difficult life can be in the top league. So in saying that, how do you view the performance of Sheffield United and do you think they can be the template for teams coming from the Championship on a seemingly low budget compared to their rivals? I wouldn’t say Sheff Utd have a low budget, as they have splashed out on a few aforementioned names, but they’re definitely a team to study and to learn from. I’d look at the way they play instead, in that their speciality is not conceding which at any standard is vital; especially in the Premier League. Wilder quite clearly focused on that in the season, which saw them promoted, and they are reaping the rewards of it now. They have a clear no-nonsense approach to defending, which is as simple as the fine balance between clearing the ball and playing your way out. It’s as simple as that. It was then a matter of if they could add goals and with a few decent signings, they have. Currently seven points from safety, is there a belief among your fans that Norwich can produce the great escape? ‘The great escape’ is a phrase ringing around Carrow Road both in the mouths of those with genuine belief and those who mock the idea. Football is a funny old game and it would be naive to just write Norwich City off, despite no team ever coming back from this position before. Although it’s worth mentioning back in the 04/05 season Norwich almost pulled off the unlikely in the PL until we got battered on the final day of the season at Craven Cottage. However, given our consistent conceding of cheap goals I think it’s fairly unlikely, although that said if we were to take a few more of our chances, which is easier said than done, then I couldn’t see why we wouldn’t have a good go. What are the games left on your fixture list that you have earmarked as potential 'six pointers? Every single game for the rest of the season is a must win, given our position. It’s as simple as that. While many would see this fixture as an insurmountable challenge for Norwich, it can also raise a team to inspirational heights. What you you like to see from your team and from those supporters wearing yellow and green colours inside Carrow Road on Saturday evening? From the team, I would love to see bravery on the ball, much like we saw at Anfield, back when the sky was more blue than grey. From the fans, I’d like to see relentless support through a fantastic atmosphere. Of which is a given. Norwich’s support at Carrow Road over the past two seasons has been the best it ever has. I genuinely believe we’ll see another fine display from the fans in the ground, as well as a performance to match it on the pitch. Best of luck to you guys for the rest of the season, you deserve everything that you’re going to win this season.
  4. Not much of a weekend as all of the relevant teams had the week off due to the winter break. Ok, I said ‘teams’ there when I really meant ‘team’. We had the week off and no-one else really matters now. No-one else is relevant other than Man City, who are still just about clinging on to relevance, but their game fell foul of the weather so both Match of the Day shows this week were pretty grim. So grim they had to lead the show with Everton. Imagine giving the Blues top billing. Jesus. They did their best to hype them up by pointing out that over the last ten games the only team to pick up more points than them are the Mighty Reds, but they failed to quantify that by saying that since Don Carlo came in they’ve played the Dog & Duck, Slapdick United, Jabroni Albion and Nomark Athletic. And Crystal Palace, who I’ve been telling you all season are fucking dreadful and had been in the falsest of false positions. Palace being in the top half is like Boris Johnson being Prime Minister. You look at it and go “just how the fuck is this happening? That can’t be right.” Sadly, Johnson is still Prime Minister and will be for some time, whereas Palace have long since dropped from the top half and are back in something approaching their rightful place. One day Johnson will be in his. Burning in hell with Thatcher. But anyway, to get back on topic. I imagine this week will have been MOTD’s lowest ever viewing figures, but those who swerved it missed out on yet another Jordan Pickford ‘moment’ as well as an event that has become so rare in recent years. No, I’m talking about Bernard scoring. No, I’m not talking about Walcott setting one up with a great cross either (yes, that actually happened). I’m referring to Benteke finally getting a goal. It was a strange old day at Goodison. As I said, Everton took the lead through Bernard from a Walcott cross. No-one could have predicted that but good old Theo at least reverted to type soon after by going off injured. He was replaced by Sidibe, but not before he had to make a quick dash back to the dressing room when he realised he was missing a sock. Seriously? How the fuck does that happen? I know I say this all the time, but I could never be a manager because I just couldn’t tolerate that kind of shit. How hard is it to put a fucking football kit on? I don’t understand how you can put a kit on and forget to put on a fucking sock. Did he not realise when he put his boot on, that the foot he was putting the boot on didn’t have a fucking sock on it? He only realised the sock was missing when he went to pull it up and grabbed a handful of nothing. He was stood next to the fourth official ready to come on, and he then had to run back to the dressing room. I’m irrationally livid about this. Really, it shouldn’t matter to me at all, yet it does. I’d never play him again if it was me, but that’s as much to do with the fact he’s shit as it is the missing sock. If he was any good I might give him a second chance, but then again I might not. Can you imagine James Milner doing that? Exactly. It’s inexcusable. Anyway, Benteke equalised when his tame shot went right through Pickford. On a day of so many rare sightings Pickford’s howler was the only thing you could have predicted beforehand (along with Walcott’s injury of course). Fucking clown. I’ve got to hand it to Benteke though. For one thing it’s impressive that he even remembered what his celebration was after all this time, but the thing I really need to tip my cap to him for is that he was acting like this was perfectly normal, just another day at the office. He’s a £30m striker who hadn’t scored for a year. If that’s me, I’m probably going down the route of the Newcastle fan at Oxford. Not Benteke though, he’s like “yeah, just gonna bust out my old shitty thigh slap celebration. Nothing to see here, just me back in the old routine”. Have to admire his chutzpah. Maybe he felt that it wasn’t a big deal because it was only against Pickford? Probably felt like scoring against one of his kids in the back garden. This is just a teaser, click to view the full article Please note that PL Round Ups are only available to website subscribers. Subscriptions cost just £2 a month (you need to register first) and can be purchased here.
  5. Not much of a weekend as all of the relevant teams had the week off due to the winter break. Ok, I said ‘teams’ there when I really meant ‘team’. We had the week off and no-one else really matters now. No-one else is relevant other than Man City, who are still just about clinging on to relevance, but their game fell foul of the weather so both Match of the Day shows this week were pretty grim. So grim they had to lead the show with Everton. Imagine giving the Blues top billing. Jesus. They did their best to hype them up by pointing out that over the last ten games the only team to pick up more points than them are the Mighty Reds, but they failed to quantify that by saying that since Don Carlo came in they’ve played the Dog & Duck, Slapdick United, Jabroni Albion and Nomark Athletic. And Crystal Palace, who I’ve been telling you all season are fucking dreadful and had been in the falsest of false positions. Palace being in the top half is like Boris Johnson being Prime Minister. You look at it and go “just how the fuck is this happening? That can’t be right.” Sadly, Johnson is still Prime Minister and will be for some time, whereas Palace have long since dropped from the top half and are back in something approaching their rightful place. One day Johnson will be in his. Burning in hell with Thatcher. But anyway, to get back on topic. I imagine this week will have been MOTD’s lowest ever viewing figures, but those who swerved it missed out on yet another Jordan Pickford ‘moment’ as well as an event that has become so rare in recent years. No, I’m talking about Bernard scoring. No, I’m not talking about Walcott setting one up with a great cross either (yes, that actually happened). I’m referring to Benteke finally getting a goal. It was a strange old day at Goodison. As I said, Everton took the lead through Bernard from a Walcott cross. No-one could have predicted that but good old Theo at least reverted to type soon after by going off injured. He was replaced by Sidibe, but not before he had to make a quick dash back to the dressing room when he realised he was missing a sock. Seriously? How the fuck does that happen? I know I say this all the time, but I could never be a manager because I just couldn’t tolerate that kind of shit. How hard is it to put a fucking football kit on? I don’t understand how you can put a kit on and forget to put on a fucking sock. Did he not realise when he put his boot on, that the foot he was putting the boot on didn’t have a fucking sock on it? He only realised the sock was missing when he went to pull it up and grabbed a handful of nothing. He was stood next to the fourth official ready to come on, and he then had to run back to the dressing room. I’m irrationally livid about this. Really, it shouldn’t matter to me at all, yet it does. I’d never play him again if it was me, but that’s as much to do with the fact he’s shit as it is the missing sock. If he was any good I might give him a second chance, but then again I might not. Can you imagine James Milner doing that? Exactly. It’s inexcusable. Anyway, Benteke equalised when his tame shot went right through Pickford. On a day of so many rare sightings Pickford’s howler was the only thing you could have predicted beforehand (along with Walcott’s injury of course). Fucking clown. I’ve got to hand it to Benteke though. For one thing it’s impressive that he even remembered what his celebration was after all this time, but the thing I really need to tip my cap to him for is that he was acting like this was perfectly normal, just another day at the office. He’s a £30m striker who hadn’t scored for a year. If that’s me, I’m probably going down the route of the Newcastle fan at Oxford. Not Benteke though, he’s like “yeah, just gonna bust out my old shitty thigh slap celebration. Nothing to see here, just me back in the old routine”. Have to admire his chutzpah. Maybe he felt that it wasn’t a big deal because it was only against Pickford? Probably felt like scoring against one of his kids in the back garden. Palace then hit the post and Everton were wobbling, but a long ball out of defence was flicked on by Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison ran through to score a nice goal to restore their lead. He almost bagged a second late on when his towering header hit the bar but Calvert-Lewin was on hand to put the rebound in from a yard out. There’s a lot of talk in the media suggesting Calvert-Lewin should be leading the line for England this summer. God I hope so. He’s shite. You’ll never convince me otherwise and it doesn’t matter how many goals he scores. Darren Bent scored loads of goals and he was shite too. Make it happen, Gareth. Calvert-Lewin at one end and Pickford at the other. You know it makes sense. Speaking of Pickford, what a piece of work he is. He’s actually got the fucking cheek to be claiming he’s being hard done to and he’s only getting criticised because he plays for England. Well firstly, yeah, if you’re England’s first choice keeper then you will be under more scrutiny than the average bear. Just ask Joe Hart. That’s missing the point though. The reason he’s getting criticised is because he keeps making comedy errors. He’s had an easy ride until now because he plays for Everton. It’s almost like their irrelevance cancelled out the whole England spotlight thing, but that was never going to go on indefinitely. England players at big clubs are under the microscope but when you’re at Everton or Burnley or West Ham it’s a whole different ball game as no-one (and by that I mean the main sports writers and TV pundits) is paying much attention. Pickford has been shite for a long time and I’ve been writing it in here every week. I even asked the question “am I the only one who sees it?” because he was getting away scot free when it came to the media and the football public at large. Why? Everton, that’s why. If he’s making those errors for Liverpool, City, United, Arsenal etc then he’d have been pulled up on it long before now. It’s pretty funny that it took a weekend when no other fucker was playing for people to finally turn their eyes to Everton though. Pickford’s been throwing them in for two years and nothing has been said. Suddenly there’s no other games and the national press are having to watch Everton and all of a sudden the narrative is “Do England have a goalkeeping problem”. Saving a couple of pens in the World Cup earned him way more benefit of the doubt than he was entitled to, so the England thing works both ways. He’s used up all of that credit now though and he’s rightly being called out for being a fucking bum. You know how I know I’m right about him being shit? Because loads of Everton fans also think he’s shit and a bad knobhead. He needs to wind his fucking neck in because you can’t make the kind of blunders he’s making and then go on the attack against people who are pointing it out. Stop making fuck ups and people will stop calling you out on it. Simple. I tell you what the real issue here is. We broke him. I said the other week he’s now become a walking meme like Phil Jones, and that’s mostly because of us. And Origi. The little arms thing has caught on and other fans are singing it to him. He’s become a joke and he’s going to have to be extremely strong mentally to be able to turn that around. If he wasn’t so unlikeable I’d be rooting for him, but he’s a tit so fuck him. Outside of us, the league is so evenly matched this season it’s ridiculous. The Blues are on the cusp of a top four challenge now. Two months ago they were in the bottom three. It’s all so bunched up and only 15 points separate 5th from 19th. I can’t bring myself to show any interest in all the bums bumming around in the ‘race for top four’ but I do find the relegation battle really interesting. That might go down to the last day as there are a group of teams bunched really close. Two of them met in the other Saturday game as Brighton took on Watford in the good old fashioned ‘relegation six pointer’. It ended in a draw which isn’t great for either but equally it’s not too damaging either. Watford led through Doucoure but threw it away with a needless own goal 12 minutes from time by Mariappa, who mistakenly thought he was under when he could have just left the ball as there was no-one near him. After the game MOTD interviewed Nigel Pearson on the pitch and Clinton Morrison revealed that Pearson is the only man in football he’s scared of and that he has the hardest handshake ever. Pearson stood there and did absolutely nothing to put Morrison at ease! I always talk about how fucking intimidating Pearson seems and my mate Julian pegged him over the handshake thing years ago when he described him as looking like “one of those fellas who hold onto a handshake a little bit too long”. Good to hear ol’ Clinton confirming it. When Doucoure scored he ran to the bench and hugged two of the coaching staff but didn’t initially go to Pearson, not until he was given the go ahead by him. Pearson said he was upset that Doucoure went to everyone else except him, but what the fuck does he expect? He’s not really someone you’d randomly go up and hug, is he? You don’t walk into a zoo and cuddle a lion, because you don’t know if it will rip your head off. Doucoure had just scored so he was probably on safe ground, but you can’t blame him for being cautious. Sunday now, and Sheffield United’s bid for a European finish is still going strong after they came from behind to beat Bournemouth. Callum Wilson opened the scoring with a rebound after that Dan Gosling jabroni had blocked Harry Wilson’s goal bound shot. Gosling almost blocked Callum Wilson’s shot too, the big dope. The Blades bombarded them with crosses after that and Bournemouth were hanging on desperately, but seconds before half time Billy Sharp scored from close range after a scramble. It all kicked off in the second half when Gosling and Egan went for a 50-50. Both went in with their studs up, both were just going for the ball and there was fuck all wrong with it. Egan won the ball, Gosling went down like a sack of shite and the next thing you know Andrew Surman is pushing Chris Wilder on the touchline. It was the kind of thing you see in European games more so than in our domestic footy. Any time someone goes in with a raised boot in a European game you know that whoever wins the ball is going to be yellow carded and a foul is going to be given. It does my fucking head in. Both players do it, but the one who actually gets the ball inevitably ends up being punished. Anyway, things eventually settled down and my boy Ryan Fraser went close to restoring Bournemouth’s lead only to be denied by a good save by Henderson. He’s miles better than Pickford by the way. I know that’s a low bar, but still. The only clanger I remember him dropping all season was against us, so thanks for that, Deano. Lundstram won it late for the Blades with a superbly taken goal, and they moved up to fifth spot. Bournemouth are still in deep trouble but they can take some heart from how they played in this one. The fallout from this game is still going on now. That Dan Gosling jabroni was not happy with comments made by Fat Jon Moss during the game. He labelled the official ‘a disgrace’ and demanded an apology for the lack of respect shown by Moss towards Bournemouth players. I’ve got mixed feelings on this but based on the information available I’m going to side with Moss. That might surprise you considering the contempt I have for him, but I struggle to sympathise with footballers who spend 90 minutes giving the officials all sorts of shit and who then start crying when they get a bit back. Put it this way, I’ve absolutely savaged Jon Moss at times, but if he were to read what I’ve written about him and responded with “yeah, well your match reports are fucking shite” I’d be fine with that. So without knowing the exact specifics of what was said between him and the Bournemouth players, if he’s had them in his ear ripping him for his performance and he’s said ‘yeah, well you’re not that great yourselves, you’re the ones battling relegation’ then what’s the big deal? Refs are supposed to be above all that, but come on, they can’t just allow players to harangue them over every decision. If the alternative is to just start handing out cards then I’m all for them giving a bit back. If I’m a ref and I’m having to listen to Dan fucking Gosling giving me shit, sorry but that’s not going to fly. I’m hitting back at him and any of his team-mates with “Listen dickhead, my Premier League spot is secure for next season so I’m doing a better job than you fuckers”. Moss supposedly said “I’m not the reason you’re fighting relegation” as well as telling Gosling and one other team-mate that that “you’re having one” and “your team’s having one”. I’m fine with that, as long as the other team-mate isn’t Harry Wilson, obviously.
  6. Football is complex and very difficult to predict. This is largely because there are so many factors that have a significant impact on the game. It’s not a repetitive sport which takes place under near-identical conditions each match — like darts. Every game of Football is entirely unique. Then outside of the game, there’s the rumors, touchline dramas, paper-talk, speculation, injuries, transfers, bust-ups, bans, sackings — and of course the fans — which all play a part in altering our perception of teams and their players. It’s not easy for any football fan to remain rational. So how can you dismiss the noise surrounding Premier League football and start betting with your head? Here’s some general advice for any Premier League bettor. Football is an entertainment business. It’s all about hyping up matches, signings and the trivial little dramas from the pitch or touchlines. It sells. But I’m a believer that this is one of the reasons why value presents itself in the betting markets. Football (soccer) is the world’s most popular sport. Millions around the globe tune in to celebrate, agonize, and wager over scores and you can check out the latest betting offers at Max Free Bets for the upcoming game/match/round / results, and championships. Experts suggest that worldwide the sports betting industry is worth up to 1 trillion USD. With so much money at stake on the outcomes of football matches, being able to accurately predict a team’s results using past data is a tantalizing prospect. Using past results from the English Premier League, the most lucrative league competition in the world, let’s see if we can build a model that correctly predicts enough results to beat the bookies and record a profit across a season of betting. This is a feature that intends to incorporate mentality and team confidence into the model. We might expect that when a team wins a game, their odds of winning the next game are improved due to the team being in ‘good form’. Of course, this could also be a pure observation or confirmation bias. In particular, it might be related to the NBA hot hand hypothesis that has been consistently disproved. Implementing this feature should not turn out to be too difficult. In much the same way as above, we’ll have to iterate over a list of all the teams, pull out a slice of all their games, update a ‘Streak’ column, and concatenate all the updated slices together. Using an inner for loop and the data frame method .iterrows() will allow us to initialize a streak counter, check our team’s result, append that value to a list, and update the counter. After iterating over every row in our slice, we’ll have a list that contains the win streak for our team of interest (resets to 0 if the team loses or draws). This list can be translated directly to the ‘Streak’ column as it is the same length. Let’s also do a quick check to see if this feature will have any amount of predictive strength. In the plots below I’ve looked at 8 teams and their respective win percentages during a win streak and all time. The first plot shows 4 of the most successful teams in Premier League history and the second plot shows 4 of the less successful teams. What we notice is that the number of wins in a streak likely doesn’t have any bearing on win percentage. That is, a team will not win more games after a 3 win streak than after a 5 win streak. However, most teams win at a higher rate during a winning streak, as compared to their all-time percentage. This feature looks to be somewhat predictive.
  7. Summer Transfer Window: Who Are Liverpool’s Targets? The season has been going great for Liverpool FC. The Reds are close to finally winning the Premier League title, and they still have the chance of lifting the trophies in the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. You could bet that Liverpool would win at least one competition or play at Roulette77 if you prefer table casino games that are fun and exciting. It doesn’t sound as strange that Klopp didn’t want to change the structure of the team significantly during the January transfer window. The Reds acquired Minamino from Salzburg, and that was the only change made to the team. However, the rumour is that Liverpool is planning on signing several players during the summer, especially as long-term targets. It might be a bit early, but let’s take a look at how the squad could look next season. Is Diego Carlos a Realistic Transfer Target? Brazilians play a huge part in the success that Liverpool enjoys these days. Roberto Firmino is an important piece when attacking, and Fabinho is there to keep the midfield organised. On top of that, Alisson proved on numerous occasions that he is a trustworthy goalkeeper. It seems that the Reds are only missing a defender of Brazilian nationality. That is a gap that Diego Carlos could fill. The center-back currently plays for Sevilla, but he changed several clubs throughout his career. In Europe, Carlos played for Estoril and Nantes before joining the Spanish club. Although it took a while for Diego Carlos to establish himself as an amazing defender, the robust Brazilian is now one of the key players in Sevilla. According to reports, Liverpool would like to sign him during the summer transfer window. The only problem is that Real Madrid is also considering Carlos, and they consider him to be a replacement for Sergio Ramos, who will be retiring soon. Can Klopp Return Jadon Sacho to England? Jadon Sacho is a 19-year-old who already has 11 appearances for the English national team. Although his parents are from Trinidad and Tobago, he was born in Greater London. Sacho spent his youth career in Watford and Manchester City, but none of these clubs realized the gem they had in their academies. That is why the winger moved to Borussia Dortmund, where he was given a chance to play regularly. Sacho used that opportunity, and the award came in the form of being a part of the Bundesliga Team of the Season in 2018-19. Jurgen Klopp is not only of German nationality, but he worked in Borussia Dortmund for years. The manager and the player’s time there didn’t overlap, but we do not doubt that Klopp is aware of this amazing talent. Liverpool will try to bring him back to England during the summer transfer window. However, the fact that Sacho was a big fan of Chelsea growing up might become a problem. Who Else Could Liverpool Acquire in the Summer Transfer Window? Everyone is talking about Kylian Mbappe, but there are two problems. The first one is that it will take a lot of cash to acquire him, and we are not sure Klopp wants to spend that much. The second is that the German manager would have selection problems because the attacking trio seems flawless at the moment. Liverpool is reportedly interested in Sandro Tonali, the Italian midfielder playing for Brescia, as well as Leon Bailey, the Jamaica international playing for Bayer Leverkusen. Bailey could be an alternative if Sacho doesn’t pick Anfield as his next destination. Who Could Leave Anfield in the Summer? It wouldn’t come as strange if Nathaniel Clyne is the first one out the door. The right-back has been struggling with injuries, which affected his entire career. He still hasn’t played for Liverpool this season, and it seems obvious that Clyne is not a player the Reds need at the moment. Although Georginio Wijnaldum said he loves the club on multiple occasions, he didn’t deny the option to leave the team during the summer. The good news is that we expect him to stay because Liverpool isn’t keen on letting go of a player who fits in that well. Another player who Klopp might want to get rid of is Xherdan Shaqiri. It seems that his performances aren’t quite up to the standard of a big club like Liverpool, which is why he might be moving to Sevilla or Roma during the summer.
  8. The season is well on its way, and no one knows what level of success Liverpool will achieve this year and next. Even though there are some uncertainties, the anticipation and excitement are growing as fans start to speculate on what will occur during the summer transfer window. And if you are a sports bettor, you will be following this news even more closely than the average fan. Understanding what changes will happen and be able to place your sports bets early can mean a big payout for you. To successfully place bets with Casumo, you’ll have to know the answer to the question: Will Liverpool be able to hold up the form for next season? Unstoppable Squad Currently, Liverpool seems to be unstoppable. On Boxing Day, Liverpool demolished Leicester—who has been undefeated at home—in a 4-0 performance. In the first 18 games of the season, Liverpool hasn’t lost yet. With one draw and 17 wins, it seems like the club is on top of the world. But can Liverpool hold on and get their first title in 30 years? During the match against Leicester and the second half against Salzburg during the Champions League, we were able to get some insight into Liverpool. We truly saw the impact of coach Jurgen Klopp and his management of the games. This was the first time we really saw the squad working together and performing to their full potential. The ability to keep believing in the club and keep finding last-match goals might be the key to Liverpool’s continued success. Constant Worry of Injuries Virgil van Dijk is one of the biggest worries currently because of the impact he has had on the squad for the past two years. If he were to be plagued with injuries, it could have a huge impact on the team because the club doesn’t have a deep midfield. That means if he or any of the other valued midfielders were to be injured, it could have a seriously negative impact on the success of the team. Possible Moves Right now, Liverpool is one of the most attractive teams for a footballer to end up on next season. Jurgen Klopp has achieved impressive levels of success at Liverpool, which is helping to further attract the top talent. In fact, Klopp recently stated that he has “never seen the consistency of Liverpool in [his] life.” However, the team can’t take everyone, and of course, the club doesn’t have the budget to welcome many of the best of the best. Currently, the three players that keep getting linked to Liverpool as possible trade options are Kylian Mbappé, Kai Havertz, and Jadon Sancho. These three players are all wildly talented, young, and ambitious and could help continue to keep Liverpool at the top. But because of their success on the pitch, it means that they won’t come cheap. Havertz is worth a reported £80million ($103million) by Bayer Leverkusen, and Sancho and Mbappé could go for two or three times that figure. Maybe even more after Euro 2020. So if Liverpool wants them on the team, the club will have to pay quite a bit. Other than the initial fees to acquire and sign these top players, Liverpool will also have to budget for their huge salaries. But this goes against Liverpool’s current strategy. So far, Klopp and his management team have been very shrewd with their spending and spend just £74.5million ($96million) on the squad of players. In addition to the smart budgeting of the team, the recent success Liverpool on the field has meant that they have enjoyed more commercial success as well and have almost as much financial power as the other top football clubs. While they can afford to attract some of these top talents, the question is if Liverpool even wants to pay? The old adage is “don’t fix what isn’t broken,” so should Liverpool spend a lot of money to attract more talent, when their current formula on the pitch is doing just fine? Chances are, we won’t see Liverpool making any huge jumps and blowing their budget on acquiring just one or two powerhouses. Their current strategy of carefully budgeting and spending has worked for them, and it is likely that they will continue using this method in the future. If our speculations are correct and they don’t acquire Havertz, Sancho, or Mbappé, who might they take? Our best guess is they might take a young player who has flown under the radar so far who could be acquired at a lower fee and salary. This player will continue to help build a strong Liverpool team for years to come. Will Liverpool be able to hold up the form for next season? It seems that Liverpool can’t do anything wrong right now. If we were to place our own spots bets, we would think that Liverpool will overcome any injury woes and continue making smart trades to continue to hold up the form for next season.
  9. The thing I’ve enjoyed most about Jamie Carragher’s podcast is the incredible forthrightness of the interviews. The shared context, friendship and experiences with his guests provides an incredible platform for honest conversations – far exceeding the cookie cutter Q&As we hear in the vast majority of interviews conducted by actual journalists. Carra’s standing, and aversion to sugar-coating anything, enables him to frame questions in a way that would be downright insulting coming from a reporter. It’s what made the recent episode with Michael Owen such a startlingly brutal and uncomfortable listen. If you came out of that interview still unwilling to bury the hatchet with Michael Owen and finally welcome him home, then I’d advise you to contact someone with a stethoscope. Michael’s story, as told on The Greatest Game, sounded like the clichéd sports movie, charting the incredible highs, then the depths of despair. It was set-up for the final act – the inevitable, uplifting redemption, but in Owen’s case, there is no feel-good ending. If the Robbie Fowler story could draw comparisons to Rocky, Owen’s could be likened to the end of Raging Bull. Put it this way: Michael Owen, who scored 158 goals for his club and thrice tried to get back home after his initial departure, now feels intimidated when he walks into Anfield. “Any Liverpool fan has the power to break my heart,” he said. Jesus, I don’t know about any of you, but hearing that just about broke mine. It’s not right. Owen brought as much joy to the old stadium as any individual in the last quarter century; that much is indisputable. Yet, as Carragher brutally pointed out, Owen gets no love, his career and contributions are glossed over. Or, to use Carragher’s word “dismissed”. I’ll be honest with you. Michael was my guy. At the time I’d have argued “Michael over Robbie” with anyone. My best mate and I still joke about it to this day (how lucky were we to have those two to playfully argue over by the way?). I’d never really resented him for leaving, but it did break my heart. I never hated him for signing for Newcastle because I was privy to information he desperately wanted to come home and was distraught to be going there. I wasn’t among those screaming “where were you in Istanbul?” in his face, because what was the point? It wasn’t even as if I felt signing for United was unforgivable given his predicament. For me, a fissure tore into a gaping crevasse the day he scored the winner in that Manchester derby (as unreal a finish as it was). I hadn’t seen him celebrate quite so exuberantly in a decade. I hadn’t seen that joy since he was a teenager and, as he raced behind the Stretford End goal, hadn’t seen him run that fast either. How could he be that happy doing that, there, for them? At the time when we were in the utter depths of the Gillet and Hicks era, with Rafa’s tenure coming to an end, it was an absolute sickener. For many, it confirmed what they had felt all along. It was the first time I believed it too – that Michael Owen cared only about Michael Owen. It didn’t matter which shirt he was wearing. On that day he was happy for himself, not for Man United. And now, in the context of his interview with Carragher, it’s a little bit easier to see why. Many will still feel like Owen got what was coming, that he made his own bed and thus doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as other Liverpool greats. That’s fine. But there’s also a staggering hypocrisy here that’s bothered me for decades. It seems you can be terrible, as a man and a footballer, but as long as you’re pushed out of the door, rather than leave on your own terms, you’re welcomed back to Liverpool with open arms. The ovations afforded to a returning David James down the years, for example. Here’s someone that made an absolute mockery of us, his manager and the entire club, quantifiably costing us a title during his time on his PlayStation, or modelling, or whatever else he was doing while flailing around between the sticks. James and Owen both broke my heart. Michael for leaving us when he did, James for being abjectly terrible at his job and causing us to lose football matches. One of the two feels intimidated walking into Anfield for fear of abuse, the other would probably get a standing ovation if he turned out for one of those Liverpool Legends games. More recently, the reverse is somehow true. It seems a player can force his way out in the most egregious manner and still be remembered fondly. His recent roasting at Anfield aside, the esteem in which Luis Suarez is held absolutely staggers me. Carra mentioned this too. Some of my best mates have him in all-time Liverpool five-a-side teams. I can’t scream this loud enough, but to Hell with Luis Suarez. This bloke went on strike to force a move to Arsenal (to Arsenal), bit opponents and racially abused others. Our reputation is yet to fully recover from our association with that ‘loveable little scamp,’ as evidenced by the recent, long overdue apology to Evra and the coverage it received. I feel ashamed for supporting him at the time. Between Owen and Suarez, which is the club annually falling over itself to wish a happy birthday? Here’s a clue: It’s not the one who ran himself into utter physical degradation before his mid-20s, while wearing the red shirt. Nor is it the one who won a Ballon D’Or in the same year he helped us to a cup treble. Owen’s contribution to the modern history of Liverpool far eclipses Suarez’s season or so of giving a damn. Even Stan Collymore enjoys a higher standing than Michael Owen among some Liverpool fans on social media. Seriously. Even the aversion to Fernando Torres has faded these days. Everyone seems alright with him again with the club often commemorating his contribution more and more often. I promised myself I’d never love another footballer again after he went to Chelsea; then Klopp’s lads came along and now I’m besotted with the lot of them, but that’s beside the point. Speaking of Chelsea, remember when Steven Gerrard tried to force a move there? If Gerrard’s explanation for how that situation came to pass (Papa Rafa didn’t show him enough love, etc.) is understood then why can’t Michael’s reasons for heading to Real Madrid, when all along his plan was to just “do a Rushie” and come back after a year? The answer’s rhetorical, if we’re honest with ourselves. After developing an Alan Shearer-like reputation for bland, guarded interviews during his playing career, Michael has been an open book since his retirement. Especially regarding his injuries and his self-professed rapid decline. We’ve had a window into Owen the person. Maybe that’s what has me warming to him again? The fact that, away from his horses, his millions and his media career, he’s a guy with insecurities, with regrets, with fears and apprehension. It’s a great leveller. I don’t know how the current impasse changes. Maybe it starts with the club affording him the same respect it does to other, less deserving folks, through its constant content output? If they can get off Suarez’s lap for five minutes that is. For all their talk about the “LFC family” they aren’t half choosy about who is treated as such. People shouldn’t need reminding just how good Michael Owen was, but if that’s what needs to happen, it should. There’s no reason for this continued antipathy or, perhaps even worse, utter apathy. That might be the hardest thing about this for Owen. Right now, he doesn’t matter. He’s not loved, nor particularly hated. Just irrelevant. Some will say that’s his punishment. After listening to his side of the story, I’d counter by saying, “for what exactly?” Carragher brutally pointed out that, while he finished his career with a guard of honour and a Kop mosaic, Michael went out coming off the bench for Tony Pulis’ Stoke. Wasn’t that punishment enough? Enough is enough. It’s time to recognise Michael Owen’s contribution for what it was. On the stat sheets, to the numbers on that increasingly-active “Wall of Champions” and in our mind’s eye. “One-nil down, two-one up, Michael Owen won the cup.” Remember that? Like many others, the story isn’t straight forward. There are complications. But Michael Owen is unquestionably a Liverpool great and deserves to be spoken of as such. It’s time to end the story in the right way. Chris Smith @ByChrisSmith View full article
  10. The thing I’ve enjoyed most about Jamie Carragher’s podcast is the incredible forthrightness of the interviews. The shared context, friendship and experiences with his guests provides an incredible platform for honest conversations – far exceeding the cookie cutter Q&As we hear in the vast majority of interviews conducted by actual journalists. Carra’s standing, and aversion to sugar-coating anything, enables him to frame questions in a way that would be downright insulting coming from a reporter. It’s what made the recent episode with Michael Owen such a startlingly brutal and uncomfortable listen. If you came out of that interview still unwilling to bury the hatchet with Michael Owen and finally welcome him home, then I’d advise you to contact someone with a stethoscope. Michael’s story, as told on The Greatest Game, sounded like the clichéd sports movie, charting the incredible highs, then the depths of despair. It was set-up for the final act – the inevitable, uplifting redemption, but in Owen’s case, there is no feel-good ending. If the Robbie Fowler story could draw comparisons to Rocky, Owen’s could be likened to the end of Raging Bull. Put it this way: Michael Owen, who scored 158 goals for his club and thrice tried to get back home after his initial departure, now feels intimidated when he walks into Anfield. “Any Liverpool fan has the power to break my heart,” he said. Jesus, I don’t know about any of you, but hearing that just about broke mine. It’s not right. Owen brought as much joy to the old stadium as any individual in the last quarter century; that much is indisputable. Yet, as Carragher brutally pointed out, Owen gets no love, his career and contributions are glossed over. Or, to use Carragher’s word “dismissed”. I’ll be honest with you. Michael was my guy. At the time I’d have argued “Michael over Robbie” with anyone. My best mate and I still joke about it to this day (how lucky were we to have those two to playfully argue over by the way?). I’d never really resented him for leaving, but it did break my heart. I never hated him for signing for Newcastle because I was privy to information he desperately wanted to come home and was distraught to be going there. I wasn’t among those screaming “where were you in Istanbul?” in his face, because what was the point? It wasn’t even as if I felt signing for United was unforgivable given his predicament. For me, a fissure tore into a gaping crevasse the day he scored the winner in that Manchester derby (as unreal a finish as it was). I hadn’t seen him celebrate quite so exuberantly in a decade. I hadn’t seen that joy since he was a teenager and, as he raced behind the Stretford End goal, hadn’t seen him run that fast either. How could he be that happy doing that, there, for them? At the time when we were in the utter depths of the Gillet and Hicks era, with Rafa’s tenure coming to an end, it was an absolute sickener. For many, it confirmed what they had felt all along. It was the first time I believed it too – that Michael Owen cared only about Michael Owen. It didn’t matter which shirt he was wearing. On that day he was happy for himself, not for Man United. And now, in the context of his interview with Carragher, it’s a little bit easier to see why. Many will still feel like Owen got what was coming, that he made his own bed and thus doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as other Liverpool greats. That’s fine. But there’s also a staggering hypocrisy here that’s bothered me for decades. It seems you can be terrible, as a man and a footballer, but as long as you’re pushed out of the door, rather than leave on your own terms, you’re welcomed back to Liverpool with open arms. The ovations afforded to a returning David James down the years, for example. Here’s someone that made an absolute mockery of us, his manager and the entire club, quantifiably costing us a title during his time on his PlayStation, or modelling, or whatever else he was doing while flailing around between the sticks. James and Owen both broke my heart. Michael for leaving us when he did, James for being abjectly terrible at his job and causing us to lose football matches. One of the two feels intimidated walking into Anfield for fear of abuse, the other would probably get a standing ovation if he turned out for one of those Liverpool Legends games. More recently, the reverse is somehow true. It seems a player can force his way out in the most egregious manner and still be remembered fondly. His recent roasting at Anfield aside, the esteem in which Luis Suarez is held absolutely staggers me. Carra mentioned this too. Some of my best mates have him in all-time Liverpool five-a-side teams. I can’t scream this loud enough, but to Hell with Luis Suarez. This bloke went on strike to force a move to Arsenal (to Arsenal), bit opponents and racially abused others. Our reputation is yet to fully recover from our association with that ‘loveable little scamp,’ as evidenced by the recent, long overdue apology to Evra and the coverage it received. I feel ashamed for supporting him at the time. Between Owen and Suarez, which is the club annually falling over itself to wish a happy birthday? Here’s a clue: It’s not the one who ran himself into utter physical degradation before his mid-20s, while wearing the red shirt. Nor is it the one who won a Ballon D’Or in the same year he helped us to a cup treble. Owen’s contribution to the modern history of Liverpool far eclipses Suarez’s season or so of giving a damn. Even Stan Collymore enjoys a higher standing than Michael Owen among some Liverpool fans on social media. Seriously. Even the aversion to Fernando Torres has faded these days. Everyone seems alright with him again with the club often commemorating his contribution more and more often. I promised myself I’d never love another footballer again after he went to Chelsea; then Klopp’s lads came along and now I’m besotted with the lot of them, but that’s beside the point. Speaking of Chelsea, remember when Steven Gerrard tried to force a move there? If Gerrard’s explanation for how that situation came to pass (Papa Rafa didn’t show him enough love, etc.) is understood then why can’t Michael’s reasons for heading to Real Madrid, when all along his plan was to just “do a Rushie” and come back after a year? The answer’s rhetorical, if we’re honest with ourselves. After developing an Alan Shearer-like reputation for bland, guarded interviews during his playing career, Michael has been an open book since his retirement. Especially regarding his injuries and his self-professed rapid decline. We’ve had a window into Owen the person. Maybe that’s what has me warming to him again? The fact that, away from his horses, his millions and his media career, he’s a guy with insecurities, with regrets, with fears and apprehension. It’s a great leveller. I don’t know how the current impasse changes. Maybe it starts with the club affording him the same respect it does to other, less deserving folks, through its constant content output? If they can get off Suarez’s lap for five minutes that is. For all their talk about the “LFC family” they aren’t half choosy about who is treated as such. People shouldn’t need reminding just how good Michael Owen was, but if that’s what needs to happen, it should. There’s no reason for this continued antipathy or, perhaps even worse, utter apathy. That might be the hardest thing about this for Owen. Right now, he doesn’t matter. He’s not loved, nor particularly hated. Just irrelevant. Some will say that’s his punishment. After listening to his side of the story, I’d counter by saying, “for what exactly?” Carragher brutally pointed out that, while he finished his career with a guard of honour and a Kop mosaic, Michael went out coming off the bench for Tony Pulis’ Stoke. Wasn’t that punishment enough? Enough is enough. It’s time to recognise Michael Owen’s contribution for what it was. On the stat sheets, to the numbers on that increasingly-active “Wall of Champions” and in our mind’s eye. “One-nil down, two-one up, Michael Owen won the cup.” Remember that? Like many others, the story isn’t straight forward. There are complications. But Michael Owen is unquestionably a Liverpool great and deserves to be spoken of as such. It’s time to end the story in the right way. Chris Smith @ByChrisSmith
  11. Saturday Feb 1: L 4 Southampton 0. Imagine being an opposition manager trying to prepare a team to face us right now, especially at Anfield. It’s virtually impossible. Usually, even with the really good sides, there’s a weakness you can identify and try to exploit. Maybe they aren’t good defending crosses, or they’re susceptible to pace. Or perhaps the left back isn’t the best or one of the centre backs gets dragged out of position too easily. These are always things the analysts would spot and you’d try to take advantage of, but so many knowledgeable people are saying this Liverpool side has no weaknesses and we’re seeing this on a weekly basis. How the fuck do you beat us? The only way a team is going to beat us is if we have a huge off day (like at Old Trafford), and even then they’d have to produce their best game of the season to still win (unlucky, United!). Southampton were superb today. I couldn’t have been more impressed with them. They had a go, they played on the front foot and they were really well drilled in what the coach wanted them to do. For 45 minutes they gave us all we could handle. And then they lost 4-0 because that’s what we can do. At least they went in with the approach that they would stand or fall by doing what they do. One of things that isn’t really talked about but for me is one of the key factors in why we’re able to do what we do, is the level of analysis we do on the opposition. The Southampton boss said we’re so great because we never underestimate anyone, and that’s true. It’s also true that we study the shit out of everyone we’re going to play. I guess those two things are linked together. Look at today. Southampton caused us so many problems in the first half, but Klopp says that at half time his boy Pete picked out three examples of passages of play where we just needed to do something a bit different to open them up. This no doubt involved changing how we used Fabinho when playing through their press, and lo and behind in the second half we were just popping it around them and then finding space to run at them. This is what I mean. No stone is left unturned when it comes to preparation and as a result of that we can adjust to overcome any type of tactics or style. Of course it helps when you’ve got world class players all over the park, but other teams have had that too. They’ve never been able to do what we’re doing right now though. Meanwhile, the Hendo for POTY campaign is really rolling now. Shearer threw his weight behind it on MOTD tonight, Lineker agreed and Ian Wright offered up no argument against either. It might actually happen you know. Sunday Feb 2: What’s this bullshit? Juve ready to bid £150m for Virgil, apparently. Biggest load of clickbait shite since… since… well since that Richarlison story last week. Who in their right mind is swapping us for Juve, especially after seeing what happened to Big Sexy who is now at Dortmund. You don’t leave us and better yourself. Not any more. Meanwhile, City lost again. I’ll be covering this in the Round Up so won’t dwell on it here. One thing I want to mention though is how fucking frazzled Guardiola is. His post match interview with Sky was really uncomfortable viewing as he had that weird kind of forced smile you see from movie bad guys before they slit someone’s throat. He then went off on one about something Peter Scudamore said two years ago. Even leaving aside the way he’s twisted what Scudamore meant, this was fucking nuts. I’ve been telling you for ages how there are people behind the scenes at that club who are utterly obsessed with Liverpool and this is just the latest example of it. There’s no way Guardiola thought of that by himself. He’s not someone who sits there reading all the papers to see what’s being said about his team and I doubt he even knew who Scudamore was before today. For him to have said what he did after the game just tells me he’s been fed that by someone else there. Probably in the press office, as if you talk to anyone who’s had dealings with them they’ll tell you that they’re batshit fucking mental over there. So someone has told him he should bring that up and they’ve made him look like an absolute fucking tool. Not that he needs much help, but still. I reckon he’ll quit at the end of this season as he knows he’s beaten and unless he’s given another billion pound to spend (which he won’t be, as the FFP scrutiny on them is such that not even they would dare to be so brazen again) that City squad is not closing the gap on us any time soon. We’ve broken him like we broke Barcelona. Maybe he’ll go back and they can try to fix each other while sharing their traumatic experienced at the hands of the Mighty Reds. This is just a teaser, click to view the full article Please note that the Week that Was is only available to website subscribers. Subscriptions cost just £2 a month (you need to register first) and can be purchased here.
  12. Saturday Feb 1: L 4 Southampton 0. Imagine being an opposition manager trying to prepare a team to face us right now, especially at Anfield. It’s virtually impossible. Usually, even with the really good sides, there’s a weakness you can identify and try to exploit. Maybe they aren’t good defending crosses, or they’re susceptible to pace. Or perhaps the left back isn’t the best or one of the centre backs gets dragged out of position too easily. These are always things the analysts would spot and you’d try to take advantage of, but so many knowledgeable people are saying this Liverpool side has no weaknesses and we’re seeing this on a weekly basis. How the fuck do you beat us? The only way a team is going to beat us is if we have a huge off day (like at Old Trafford), and even then they’d have to produce their best game of the season to still win (unlucky, United!). Southampton were superb today. I couldn’t have been more impressed with them. They had a go, they played on the front foot and they were really well drilled in what the coach wanted them to do. For 45 minutes they gave us all we could handle. And then they lost 4-0 because that’s what we can do. At least they went in with the approach that they would stand or fall by doing what they do. One of things that isn’t really talked about but for me is one of the key factors in why we’re able to do what we do, is the level of analysis we do on the opposition. The Southampton boss said we’re so great because we never underestimate anyone, and that’s true. It’s also true that we study the shit out of everyone we’re going to play. I guess those two things are linked together. Look at today. Southampton caused us so many problems in the first half, but Klopp says that at half time his boy Pete picked out three examples of passages of play where we just needed to do something a bit different to open them up. This no doubt involved changing how we used Fabinho when playing through their press, and lo and behind in the second half we were just popping it around them and then finding space to run at them. This is what I mean. No stone is left unturned when it comes to preparation and as a result of that we can adjust to overcome any type of tactics or style. Of course it helps when you’ve got world class players all over the park, but other teams have had that too. They’ve never been able to do what we’re doing right now though. Meanwhile, the Hendo for POTY campaign is really rolling now. Shearer threw his weight behind it on MOTD tonight, Lineker agreed and Ian Wright offered up no argument against either. It might actually happen you know. Sunday Feb 2: What’s this bullshit? Juve ready to bid £150m for Virgil, apparently. Biggest load of clickbait shite since… since… well since that Richarlison story last week. Who in their right mind is swapping us for Juve, especially after seeing what happened to Big Sexy who is now at Dortmund. You don’t leave us and better yourself. Not any more. Meanwhile, City lost again. I’ll be covering this in the Round Up so won’t dwell on it here. One thing I want to mention though is how fucking frazzled Guardiola is. His post match interview with Sky was really uncomfortable viewing as he had that weird kind of forced smile you see from movie bad guys before they slit someone’s throat. He then went off on one about something Peter Scudamore said two years ago. Even leaving aside the way he’s twisted what Scudamore meant, this was fucking nuts. I’ve been telling you for ages how there are people behind the scenes at that club who are utterly obsessed with Liverpool and this is just the latest example of it. There’s no way Guardiola thought of that by himself. He’s not someone who sits there reading all the papers to see what’s being said about his team and I doubt he even knew who Scudamore was before today. For him to have said what he did after the game just tells me he’s been fed that by someone else there. Probably in the press office, as if you talk to anyone who’s had dealings with them they’ll tell you that they’re batshit fucking mental over there. So someone has told him he should bring that up and they’ve made him look like an absolute fucking tool. Not that he needs much help, but still. I reckon he’ll quit at the end of this season as he knows he’s beaten and unless he’s given another billion pound to spend (which he won’t be, as the FFP scrutiny on them is such that not even they would dare to be so brazen again) that City squad is not closing the gap on us any time soon. We’ve broken him like we broke Barcelona. Maybe he’ll go back and they can try to fix each other while sharing their traumatic experienced at the hands of the Mighty Reds. Monday Feb 3: Saw a City fan account on Twitter today clutching the straw that the way we’re winning the title isn’t as satisfying as their “Aguerooooooooo” moment. Gary Neville mentioned something similar a few weeks ago, but I don’t get it at all. This is way better and way more satisfying. It literally does not get any better than this, I wouldn’t swap this for the world. Take last season for example. Those last few months were torture, both for us and for City. It wasn’t enjoyable at all. It was for them in the end because they won on the final day, but it’s as much relief as anything else at that point. To win it on the last day, even with an ‘Aguero moment’, means months of stress beforehand. Yes, you get that incredible moment of elation at the end of it, but frankly I can do without that. Maybe it’s an age thing, but I’m enjoying this season way more than last because we’re miles ahead. We can save the drama and iconic moments for Europe. The league is about getting it won as soon as possible. It always has been. Tuesday Feb 4: L 1 Shrewsbury 0. That was FUCKING BRILLIANT. I loved it. From first minute until the last the kids were incredible. There was no let up, no dodgy spell, it was just utter dominance from the opening whistle until the closing one. Shrewsbury never had a spell in the game where they were on top. I thought we’d win the game but i never expected it to be as one sided as this. It really shouldn’t be when you take everything into consideration. A team of kids, talented as they are, should not be taking a League One team to school like this. It shouldn’t happen. But it did. Part of that is because Shrewsbury’s manager is clearly a bum. How can you set a team up so negatively to play against a load of teenagers? And the first corner they got they took it short and ended up back near the halfway line! Honestly, I’d have sacked him on the spot for that. You know what I was saying about our preparation and how good we are with that stuff? This is the opposite end of that scale. They were up against Sepp Van den Berg and the Ten Dwarfs and they took a short fucking corner. Honestly, he should be sacked immediately for gross incompetence. What about our lads though? Incredible performances right throughout the team. Neco Williams is a fucking machine, he absolutely owned that entire side of the field and could have scored four goals. From right back. He’s brilliant. Hoever is class, Sepp - who I’ve not been sold on at all - had by far his best game for the club (like a young ginger Sami!), Adam Lewis had a storming game at left back, Pedro was his usual classy self, Cain and Clarkson (who I’ve been raving about for for the last 12 months) acquitted themselves very well, Jones oozed quality, Elliott was boss and Miller ran himself ragged without really getting any joy. For all the shite we’ve had to listen to about how we’re ruining the magic of the cup and disrespecting the traditions etc I just think it’s funny how once again we’ve delivered a massive ‘fuck you’ to everyone. Klopp wasn’t there and he’s getting stick for it, but what would have been more ‘magical’. Klopp turning up with a load of senior players and knocking the living shit out of the minnows, or a team of kids managed by an unassuming, hard working coach who has spent his entire career trying to improve young players, going out there and performing like THAT and setting up a mouth watering tie with Chelsea. Oh and by the way, there were more people at Anfield tonight than there were at the other three replays combined. So instead of slagging us off, the traditionalists should kissing our hairy beanbags for single handedly saving this season’s FA Cup and making it interesting, because without us this tournament would be dull as shit. Wednesday Feb 5: Saw an interview with Curtis from last night and the lad absolutely fucking cracks me up. There’s this completely unintentional, endearing cockiness about him where he says things that seem completely normal to him but make you stop and go “what???” He did it the other week after Everton when he said that it can be frustrating that he isn’t playing. He’s a teenager who thinks he’s good enough to play in the best team in the world. He’s right actually (he is good enough) but the problem is there are six or seven top class, experienced, full internationals ahead of him! Anyway, in this interview he was talking about how proud he was to become the club’s youngest ever captain last night, and he said “I never thought I’d get the opportunity so early to captain the team”. Hahaha you’ve got to love that “so early” part of it. It’s completely unintentional and he’ll have no idea how that sounded, but he’s just told us that he’s always expected to one day be captain of Liverpool and the only thing that has surprised him is that it came so soon. I love this kid, he’s got that Robbie Fowler Toxteth quality where he just believes he’s the greatest, but not in an arrogant, dislikable way. Jurgen needs to find a way to get him some meaningful minutes, and I don’t mean the token garbage time minutes that Phil Foden gets at the end of City games. Id expect him to get half a dozen league starts between now and the end of the season because we’re so far ahead and will eventually prioritise the Champions League. Also, I think Jones and Williams should start every FA Cup game even if we go all the way to the final. The way they’ve played they deserve to see this competition through to the end. Thursday Feb 6: The final podcast of Carra’s brilliant series dropped today, and it was the best of the lot. That’s saying something because some of them have been absolutely fantastic (the Bellamy one was probably my favourite until now, although Hendo, Stevie, Southall and Merson all ran it close) but this one was just compulsive listening. So much so that I’m going to listen to it again later in case there’s anything I didn’t fully catch the first time around. It was Michael Owen, and never before has Michael been grilled like this. It’s what he needed too as finally he was able to get across exactly what his mindset was and the thought process he had when he was leaving for Madrid and then signing for Newcastle, and later the Mancs. Everyone will have their own opinion as to whether he was able to justify the moves he made, but the one thing I’d say he did is shine a lot more light on what was going on at that time and why he arrived at the decisions he did. So many times I’ve heard him asked a question, answer it and then there being no follow up. It’s done my head in because the interviewers seemed to be missing the point. I’d hear him say something and my reaction would be “yeah, that’s all well and good but what about x, y and z?” But no-one ever pressed him into answering x, y and z. Until now. Only Carra could probably get away with that line of questioning without Owen becoming overly defensive. Because it was two mates chatting it worked and Owen was able to describe, and in my mind at least, go a long way towards justifying a lot of the things that happened. I’m not even going to go into the specifics here as it’s been done time and again, but if you haven’t listened to it then I can’t recommend it highly enough. Have a listen, it’s well worth it, and if you still bear a grudge towards him after this then you must have a cold, cold heart! Seriously though, I understand people not loving him, I understand them not even liking him. Indifference is probably the most common feeling for most fans, but the one thing I can’t really wrap my head around is the active dislike and in some cases hatred towards him. Life’s too short. Fucking hell, some of the best days we’ve had as fans came because of him. How can you hate him? Ultimately, Michael himself even admits that the lack of love he gets from fans of the clubs he played for is largely of his own making (although he only seems to care what we think of him), but I just think it’s sad that any time he comes back to Anfield he feels on edge in case someone shouts abuse at him. I think his quote was “There are 60,000 people there and any one of them has the capacity to break my heart”. That just made me feel sad, because as I say, ultimately this fella is directly responsible for some of the best days of my life. They wouldn’t have happened without him and for that I’ll always be grateful. I don’t necessarily agree with everything he ever did, but life’s too short for holding grudges over petty shit like this. If I were to see him on the street I’d go over and hug him and just tell him thanks for the good times. And I’d also tell him to stop referring to United as ‘we’ when he’s on telly. Hopefully Carra already did that, as that’s what mates are for. Friday Feb 7: I don’t tend to pay much attention to European footy these days, but there are some interesting rumours coming out of Barca at the moment. They’re a dumpster fire. They have been since we broke them. Now there’s a lot of talk about Messi wanting out, which I don’t really buy but who knows. Messi is incredible and although I doubt I’ll ever concede that anyone is better than Maradona, I’m not going to argue with anyone who says Messi is the greatest ever. The whole Messi / Ronaldo thing was never even a debate ifor me because, irrespective of the numbers they both put up, my eyes always tell me that Messi is just by far the more gifted footballer, even though Ronaldo does have the edge over him in certain areas. One thing you have to say about Ronaldo though is he’s never just remained in his own little comfort zone. He’s tested himself and gone out and done it in the top three leagues in Europe. He’s also led an average Portugal side to major championship success, something Messi has not been able to do with Argentina. So Messi now has a really big decision to make. He can stay at Barca in his comfort zone, complaining about how they keep buying shite players and no longer have the money to push the rest of Europe around in the transfer market, or he could move on, to the Premier League, and show that he can be the greatest regardless of who he’s playing for. I think he’ll stay put, but if he were to come over here he’d end up at City or United because I don’t think Klopp would be interested in him and the Manc clubs are the only ones who would come close to matching the wage he’s on. Obviously there’s the Guardiola link too, but I’m not sure how much weight that carries as having worked with ‘Pep’ for several years Messi probably thinks he’s a bad weirdo. I’d love to see him over here (and if it was for us then I’d be buzzing like you couldn’t even imagine) because I think it would be fascinating to see if he could have the same impact in this league as he’s had in Spain. I don’t think he’s got the balls to try it though, and I also think he’s smart not to. If he came to play for us then Klopp would bring the best out of him because that’s what he does, but if he went anywhere else then we’d see the Argentina Messi rather than the Barcelona one. Finally today, Ashley Young flew his favourite barber out to Milan to give him a haircut. Now this story annoyed the fuck out of me far more than it should. If it had been Pogba for example, it wouldn’t have bothered me because he has his own unique (another way of putting it would be shit) style where he wants something different. I could see why Pogba would want his own guy, but Ashley Young has a fucking number one all over!!!! It’s bad enough he did this, but what makes it worse is he’s broadcasting it. Flaunting his wealth, the massive helmet. and that was the week that was….
  13. Watford’s revival has ground to a shuddering halt after successive stoppage time defeats. They lost the Z-Cars derby 3-2 despite leading 2-0 and despite Everton having to play a large part of the second half with only ten men. Watford’s opening goal was a work of art. Absolutely sensational football from front to back, it had back heels, glorious crossfield passes, stunning control and eventually a fine finish from Messina. It was a Liverpool goal, and I can pay them no higher compliment than that. Their second was decent too, capped by a lovely finish by Pereyra. The first half was all Watford and they were well in control. Then they gave up two goals to Yerry Mina in stoppage time and went in at 2-2. Crazy stuff. Delph then saw red after two quick bookings. The second one was fairly soft but when you’ve been booked already you just don’t dive in like that unless you’re a fucking moron, which of course he is. The problem with Delph is that everything about his entire demeanour screams out ‘book me, ref’. He’s permanently snarling and aggressive, he’s always fouling and he’s a mouthy prick. He’s just not getting the benefit of the doubt. I'd book him in the tunnel before the game just to save time. Watford couldn’t take advantage of the extra man and got caught in stoppage time when Richarlison got away down the left and picked out Moise Kean who as usual completely fluffed his lines. Unfortunately the ball rolled perfectly into the path of Walcott to present him with a chance that not even he could squander. Several Watford players have spoken recently about how Pearson’s disciplinarian approach was just what they needed. I don’t expect to hear any of them talking like that now though, as it’s hard to talk when you’re wearing your own tongue as a tie. Big Nige isn’t going to stand for that kind of ineptitude. Any more of that and I can see him marching into the dressing room dressed like Stallone in First Blood, complete with the big fuck off knife. This is just a teaser, click to view the full article Please note that PL Round Ups are only available to website subscribers. Subscriptions cost just £2 a month (you need to register first) and can be purchased here.
  14. Watford’s revival has ground to a shuddering halt after successive stoppage time defeats. They lost the Z-Cars derby 3-2 despite leading 2-0 and despite Everton having to play a large part of the second half with only ten men. Watford’s opening goal was a work of art. Absolutely sensational football from front to back, it had back heels, glorious crossfield passes, stunning control and eventually a fine finish from Messina. It was a Liverpool goal, and I can pay them no higher compliment than that. Their second was decent too, capped by a lovely finish by Pereyra. The first half was all Watford and they were well in control. Then they gave up two goals to Yerry Mina in stoppage time and went in at 2-2. Crazy stuff. Delph then saw red after two quick bookings. The second one was fairly soft but when you’ve been booked already you just don’t dive in like that unless you’re a fucking moron, which of course he is. The problem with Delph is that everything about his entire demeanour screams out ‘book me, ref’. He’s permanently snarling and aggressive, he’s always fouling and he’s a mouthy prick. He’s just not getting the benefit of the doubt. I'd book him in the tunnel before the game just to save time. Watford couldn’t take advantage of the extra man and got caught in stoppage time when Richarlison got away down the left and picked out Moise Kean who as usual completely fluffed his lines. Unfortunately the ball rolled perfectly into the path of Walcott to present him with a chance that not even he could squander. Several Watford players have spoken recently about how Pearson’s disciplinarian approach was just what they needed. I don’t expect to hear any of them talking like that now though, as it’s hard to talk when you’re wearing your own tongue as a tie. Big Nige isn’t going to stand for that kind of ineptitude. Any more of that and I can see him marching into the dressing room dressed like Stallone in First Blood, complete with the big fuck off knife. Speaking of ineptitude though, the Moyes effect is in full swing now at West Ham, who are in deep shit after being held at home by Brighton despite twice holding a two goal advantage. Diop put them in front and my boy Snodgrass added a second with a deflected volley. Ogbonna’s unfortunate own goal (Fabianski punched it against him) allowed Brighton to pull one back before Snodgrass bagged another deflected goal to restore the Hammers’ two goal lead. Moyes then tried to shut up shop with a defensive substitution but it backfired spectacularly as Gross took advantage of hesitation between the centre backs to give Brighton hope, before Glenn Murray bagged the equaliser despite initially looking like he handled it. Michael Oliver wasn’t going to give the goal but after a lengthy VAR check it was (correctly) decided that he didn’t handle it, but the big screen showed the one angle that made it look like he defo handled it which made the crowd go mad. I’m not a fan of replays being shown in the stadium as no good is ever going to come of it, especially if they’re not going to show the right ones. This was a huge result for Brighton as although they might still get caught up in the relegation mire, this keeps them above water for the time being. West Ham on the other hand are sinking fast. They’re in the bottom three and they’ve got a brutal run of games coming up in which they are unlikely to even pick up a point. Their run in is quite soft but by then they might be dead and buried. Let’s hope so anyway. Them and Villa going down would do me nicely. Villa also had a massive setback this weekend as they were beaten by ten man Bournemouth. Billing (who I’m fairly sure that this time last year had ‘my boy’ status) fired Bournemouth into the lead and Ake’s close range effort made it 2-0 six minutes later. Then Jefferson Lerma got sent off for a second booking and it was all hands to the pump for the rest of the game. Lerma gets booked every time he plays but the second one he got here was a joke. Grealish popped the ball off for a one two and ran into Lerma, who couldn’t get out of the way. It’s a foul, but the booking was really harsh. When you watch it closely you can see Anthony Taylor give a free-kick but he only goes for his pocket after Grealish appeals to him that it should be a booking. Poor refereeing, but it’s Anthony Taylor so it’s par for the course. Lerma gets so many bookings though that, like Delph, he’s never going to get the benefit of the doubt. New signing Samatta headed Villa back into it with 20 minutes to go and Grealish went close to an equaliser, but Bournemouth just about held on for a massive three points. Villa look like they might go, and if that’s the case Grealish is definitely going to have a new club next season. He won’t be short of offers as he’s been fucking brilliant this season. He’s won me over. He looks like a twat and for that reason I really want to dislike him, and for years I have done. Now though? The more I watch him the more difficult I find it to hold the haircut and stupid rolled down socks against him. He’s quality and he works his balls off. He loves Villa and he’s giving everything he has for them because it’s his team. I respect him for that, and until he inevitably ends up signing for United or Spurs, I’m going to err on the side of “I don’t mind him, he’s a good player”. The Mancs drew 0-0 at home with Wolves. They’re just so utterly irrelevant these days that I can’t even be arsed saying any more about them. I’m not even going to take the piss out of them signing Ighalo, because they aren’t worth it, the irrelevant shit cunts. One thing I suppose I can’t let pass is the hilarious, Hodgson-esque type comments Solskjaer keeps churning out. The latest being “nobody breaks Wolves down” even though they hadn’t kept a clean sheet in fucking ages. The other one was when he responded to a question about Wolves being difficult to play against by saying “they’ll say we’re difficult to play against. We’ve played them three times lately and they haven’t scored”. Great, when’s the “We didn’t let Wolves score against us” parade? Fucking losers. The only thing worth mentioning about this game is that my boy Traore dislocated his shoulder and just had the physio pop it back in so he could carry on. What a badass, like Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon. That game would surely have been last on MOTD if not for Newcastle and Norwich serving up an equally dire goalless draw at St James’. A frustrating afternoon for Newcastle as there was nothing to cheer or get your cock out to in this one (was that the most Newcastle fan thing ever by the way? I think it might just be). Moving swiftly on, third faced fourth as Leicester played host to Chelsea in the early game on Saturday. I watched the first fifteen minutes or so of this before I headed off to Anfield and it looked like Chelsea were going to run away with it. Every time I looked up they were running in behind only for Kevin Abraham to take a fresh air shot or fall over his own feet. I quite like him, he’s a good player, but he looked like he wearing someone else’s feet on Saturday. Rudiger headed Chelsea in front but Barnes equalised with the aid of a huge deflection. Chilwell put Leicester ahead but another Rudiger header tied things up. Wonderful header that one. Barnes should have won it late after being brilliantly found by Vardy, but his shot rolled agonisingly wide and it ended honours even. Interesting that Chelsea have dropped the world’s most expensive keeper. Understandable, because he’s fucking rubbish, but still interesting because usually when you pay that much for a player you have to stick by them. It won’t be long before he’s back in because Willy Caballero isn’t the answer. Not unless the question is “Name a shit, bald goalie who has been a back up for his whole career and is only actually any good in penalty shoot outs”. Yeah that’s right, I’m still bitter about the cunt denying us in the League Cup final in Klopp’s first season. Fuck WIlly Caballero. While we’re on Chelsea, I have to mention how surprised I was to see they sold Tariq Lamprey to Brighton. I’ve seen him a few times against our Academy sides and he looked absolutely fucking dynamite. Apparently he didn’t want to extend his contract and would have left in the summer so they sold him now. Brighton might have themselves an absolute steal there, and if not then they’ll be able to sell him to Bournemouth for £20m in a year. Selhurst Park now where Palace were beaten 1-0 at home by Sheffield United at the weekend in a game that could have gone either way. Baldock was lucky to stay on after flattening Zaha when already on a yellow. Terrible decision that really as it’s as obvious a yellow card as you’ll see. Joel Ward was then sent off only for the VAR to ask Andy Madley to take a look at it on the pitched monitor. He did, and he decided it was only a yellow. That’s how it should be done. It was a subjective call and he was within his right to give a red, but it would have been harsh. By telling him to look at it himself it removes the scenario where you have one referee over ruling another. Unless its a black and white issue just let the fellas on the pitch have a look at the replays and decide if they want to change their mind or not. The winning goal was something of a farce as the Palace keeper caught a corner and then came down behind his own line. I’ve been begging him up for weeks and he goes and does that to make me look stupid. Nice one, soft lad. This result made me happy because as well as having a soft spot for the Blades, all season I’ve been saying how bad Palace are and how annoying it is that somehow they were so high in the table despite seeming to be outplayed virtually every week. I’ve said they’re a definite bottom six team and now all of a sudden the natural order seems to be being restored. They’re currently seventh from bottom, and if and when Bournemouth or Brighton overtake them then that will be about right. Defo a bottom six calibre squad. Sheffield United are strange. They barely seem to score any goals and yet there they are in 6th place pushing for a top four spot. It feels like every week they either score one or none, but they’re such a well coached, hard working team they are able to overcome that. Ok so I’ve just checked and they’ve scored 26 goals in 25 games. It’s actually remarkable they are where they are when their forwards are Billy Sharp, Eddie McGoldrick and Ollie McBurnie. I think they have five goals between them. Then you look at the teams around them, such as Chelsea (Abraham) Wolves (Jimenez), United (Rashford), Spurs (Kane), Arsenal (Aubamayeng) and Everton (Calvert-Lewin). If the Blades had any striker scoring with the regularity of those mentioned they’d surely be fourth. Chris Wilder is a miracle worker. Palace don’t have a goalscorer either because Zaha has reverted back to the player he was a couple of years ago when he’d score four or five a season. Still, that’s three years work for Benteke. Onto Sunday now and Arsenal recorded yet another draw. Their game at Burnley was fucking dire. Burnley fans are used to dull as shit games but this was so bad it would put a glass eye to sleep. Arsenal started with Aubameyang, Lacazette, Martinelli and Ozil and they still didn’t look like scoring. It’s hard to actually process just how fucking shite the likes of Arsenal, United and Spurs are right now. We’re probably going to finish 50 points ahead of all of them. Imagine if a couple of years ago someone had told you that. Hell, imagine if six months ago someone told you we’d be 22 points ahead of City at the end of January. It’s fucking mental. It’s beyond anything I could have even dreamed of really. Being top? Yeah I could see that. Being top by a comfortable margin? Yeah, probably. Being so far ahead of the other members of the ‘big six’ that some of them need a NASA telescope to even see us? Nope, I’d never have dared to think that. Yet here we are, as Man City lost yet again. Some of the games they’ve lost have been well deserved. The four points they’ve dropped against Spurs though have been daylight robbery. The draw at the Etihad earlier in the season was one of the most one sided games you’ll ever see between two top teams. City fucking murdered Tottenham that day. Absolutely destroyed them, but somehow contrived to miss about a hundred chances and concede from the only effort on goal Spurs managed. This one wasn’t that different, only they actually managed to lose this. Spurs were shite but they rode their luck and then City imploded. That being said, it could have been a lot different if Sterling had been sent off when he caught Deli Alli’s ankle. He got the ball and caught him with the follow through. Personally I thought a yellow was just about the right decision but it could easily have been red as we’ve seen other players dismissed for similar. City were unfortunate in that they caught Lloris on one of his world class days. He made a brilliant save to deflect an Aguero shot onto the post and then he saved a penalty. What a farce that whole thing was though. Mike Dean initially didn’t give it, which was kind of fair enough because from where he was he couldn’t have had a clear view of it. So the game went on. And on. And on. And eventually VAR told him he’d made a mistake and it was a pen. The crowd went mad, Guardiola was annoyed at how long it had taken for them to give what was actually a pretty clear penalty, while Mourinho slouched back in his seat and was sarcastically laughing like a goon. So anyway, the spot kick was eventually awarded and Lloris saved from Gundogan. Then Sterling got to the rebound first and went down under the keeper’s challenge. Actually he went down BEFORE the keeper’s challenge and the keeper didn’t touch him. Dean this time pointed to the spot, and once again VAR over-ruled him. Hilarious scenes. A melee ensued in which Alderweireld and Zinchenko were booked, but it could have been any two of about a dozen players. Those two were no worse than anyone else really but Mike Dean is always going to make an example of someone in that situation. Mourinho was laughing again, until his assistant pointed out that if it was not a penalty then Sterling should have been given a second yellow. I’m sure you’ve all seen the clip, it’s an all timer. One of the funniest things I’ve seen all season. Mourinho is a showman. Most of what he does is an act and never was it more evident than with this. So funny. There’s no way he was as mad as he looked. It was pure WWE stuff and I loved it. I spent most of that evening watching it over and over, it’s just fucking hilarious. It’s amazing how little Mourinho bothers me now that he is barely even a spot of dirt in our wing mirror. He’s no threat to us so it’s easier to look at his various shenanigans and find them funny. There was a time when seeing him carry on like would have sent my blood pressure into orbit. It wasn’t healthy how much I hated him. Now I see him in the same way I see Pardew and Sherwood. He’s a clown. He amuses me. City continued to pile on the pressure and Aguero missed a sitter just before half time. Just after half time Alderweireld cleared off the line to deny Aguero and Gundogan ballooned the rebound over the empty net. Spurs were just not in the game at all and their goal was leading a charmed life until Zinchenko was sent off when he picked up a second yellow for a tactical foul and everything changed. He actually had the nerve to argue about it, the gormless looking shitbag. Fair to say I don’t care for him much. He’s got a hugely punchable face. Almost immediately Spurs took the lead with a terrific finish from new boy Steven Bergwijn. Son then made it 2-0 with a deflected finish from the edge of the box. Two attempts, two goals. Hilarious. Along with Wolves and Palace, Spurs are defo Man City’s bogey team. And us as well, obviously. Actually, if you have four bogey teams then you’re kind of in trouble, right? No wonder they’re so far behind us. This result got me thinking. Remember that famous interview in which a smuggest of smug Noel Gallagher was running his mouth about us? One of the things he said has actually proved to be spot on, but not in the way he meant it. He said that the Reds were “rivals” with City “for about five minutes”. You know who City’s main rivals are? Spurs, that’s who. They’ve failed to beat them twice this season and they were knocked out of the Champions League by them. My advice to City would be to stop obsessing about Liverpool and concentrate on trying to beat Tottenham. Once you’ve done that and actually look like worthy adversaries again, then we can talk. Until then, pipe down. Spurs followed up that win by accosting Southampton and stealing an FA Cup win from them in midweek. I watched most of it and the Saints fucking battered them only to be undone by two late goals, one of which came from the penalty spot after a blatant dive by everyone’s best mate, Son. It winds me right up how everyone seems to love that fucker. He’s top three in terms of biggest divers in the league, he’s a fucking cry baby and he’s a snide cunt. And what the fuck is all this “Sonny” shit from the TV interviewers lately? Geoff Shreeves was doing it on Sunday, and the bird on BT was at it after the cup replay as well. It’s ‘Son’, not ‘Sonny’. He’s not your mate, you absolute fucking cringey bastards. I’m sick of everyone tonguing his balls. He’s an absolute cunt but because he’s got a friendly, smiley face (when he’s not crying that is) no-one calls him on it. As I wrote earlier in the season, my mum was onto him before anyone else and she absolutely nailed it. He’s a sly, snidey, cheating little fucking shithouse. Fuck him, and fuck anyone who calls him “Sonny”.
  15. Who’s disrespecting the cup now, eh? I really hope we win thing now, not just because it would be part of an historic double or hopefully even treble (or quadruple if we’re counting the World Club Cup), but because it will be a big ‘fuck you’ to all those who threw shade our way for fielding such a young side. Disrespecting the cup? No, you disrespected our kids, because they’re fucking boss. All this overly nostalgic bullshit we hear about the ‘magic of the cup’ does my head in. The FA Cup has changed. Football changes. Shit, everything changes. THIS is the new magic of the cup. Not Ronnie fucking Radford scoring a screamer on a ploughed field in the 70s, and not Shrewsbury fans invading the pitch after drawing with a Liverpool side minus all of its regular starters. What is more magical than a group of talented teenagers being given the chance to play for the biggest club in the country, in front of a sell out crowd, and playing like THAT??? Nothing, that’s what. This is the new magic of the cup, embrace it. I’m made up I went to this game. I wasn’t going to bother but a mate couldn’t make it and offered me his ticket so I thought why not. So glad I did, because it was so much fun. I walked out of Anfield with a massive grin on my face and it’s still there now as I write this. What a fun season this has been so far and it’s not just because of the senior lads running away with the league. Some of the most enjoyable moments of the season have been in the cups where the kids have just been sensational. I don’t think the club has every been in a healthier state than it is right now. Everything is running exactly how you’d want it to. It’s mad really when you think about what we’ve done in these cups. Up until now, the impressive cup wins were achieved with a sprinkling of experienced players mixed in with the most talented youngsters. The one time the kids had been left to fend for themselves they lost 5-0 at Villa, but even that game was enjoyable in a lot of ways. The boys were the better side that night but Villa just had more experience and physically at both ends of the pitch. Not to mention we were without some of our best youngsters that night, as Jones, Brewster, Williams, Lewis and Larouci were all unavailable. This was different. Larouci and Brewster weren’t there but it as an altogether stronger looking side than the one that lost at Villa. Besides, Shrewsbury didn’t have the quality that Villa had. Even so, they had given us all we could handle at their place so on paper it looked like a tough game. Not that anyone wanted to talk about football in the build up to this. It was all about Klopp staying away, disrespecting the cup, screwing Shrewsbury out of money and all sorts of other nonsense. Lost in all of it was that Neil Critchley genuinely thought his lads could win the game. You could see it in his press conference. The little glint in his eye when he was told that people had been writing his boys off. “Have they?” he said. He never said it but it was obvious he was thinking “ok well we’ll fucking show them”. I wasn’t bothered that Klopp left Critchley in charge. It made sense as these are his boys, not Klopp’s. He coaches them, he knows them and what makes them tick, so let him take charge. One of Klopp’s greatest strengths is he surrounds himself with the right people and he’s happy to delegate responsibility. I was on board with him leaving Critch to run the show, but I would have liked Klopp to be there even if it was just to offer a word of encouragement here and there and to give the boys a lift. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t feel strongly about it and I can’t say it bothered me that he didn’t show up, but personally I felt it would have been nice for the lads if he had been there supporting them. He wasn’t, but James Milner was. What a guy. If he’d had a few more days training under his belt I bet he’d have been begging to play. I love the togetherness of everyone at the club right now. Loads of the senior lads were watching the game on dodgy streams and posting their support for the kids on social media, but Milner wanting to be involved as much as he could, being in the dressing room giving pep talks like he does with the first team, I just fucking love that. “The message was simple. Just go out there and play like a Liverpool team”, said Critchley afterwards. Message received loud and clear. This was exactly like watching the first team. It was uncanny. Obviously the quality of the individuals isn’t the same, but in terms of the set up, patterns of play, movement with and without the ball, bravery in possession, work rate out of possession and everything else you want to mention, it was the same. I can’t get over it to be honest. A team full of teenagers just went out and played a League One side packed with seasoned pros off the park. The scoreline doesn’t tell the story of this game at all. It wasn’t a close game. It was complete domination. Our goalkeeper did not have to make a single save of any note. Think about that for a second. Not one save. The two things that I take from this game are that the kids were absolutely phenomenal, and that the performance in the first leg from the more experienced players was actually far worse than I originally thought. They let this team score two goals against them and but for Adrian it would have been double that. Matip, Lovren and Fabinho should be throughly embarrassed because they made Shrewsbury look good when in reality they’re actually pretty terrible. We saw that in this game as they were throughly outplayed by what was almost a youth team. I keep seeing references to the “under 23 team” which is technically correct, but it’s an u23 team in name only. Half of the side could still play in the u18s and most of the others are only a year too old for that. Pedro Chirivella was the only player over 20. I don’t think enough is being made of what an achievement this actually was, because they went up against a team of grown men who play a more physical style than most of these kids are used to facing, and they played them off the park. It was 36 minutes before Shrewsbury even managed any kind of spell of possession. I know because when it happened I actually checked the time and made a note of it. It was staggering. Up until then I don’t think they were able to put more than three or four passes together before we took the ball off them. I don’t know if they were overawed by the occasion or what, but Shrewsbury’s performance baffled me. They parked the bus. They had five strung across the width of their box and everyone else behind the ball. Did they think they were facing our first team? It was weird. And they were just fouling constantly too. Foul after foul after foul. As great as our kids were, I thought Shrewsbury were embarrassingly bad and their manager is clearly a massive shithouse if he sent them out to be that defensive. What was he thinking? They had a great chance to go through and instead they looked like they were playing for penalties right from the start. Beforehand I thought we’d win the game but I definitely didn’t think it would go the way it did. I thought it would maybe end up 3-2 with us riding our luck and the crowd giving the kids that little push they needed to get over the line. It was nothing like that though. It should have been 3-0 on the balance of play. Right from the first whistle the boys took charge. They passed it around comfortably, the full backs were flying forward, the midfielders kept things moving and picked up all the second balls. As I say, just like the first team. It was perfect right up until we reached the box and then it stuttered. The lack of a recognised centre forward didn’t help. Liam Miller is a decent player but when I’ve watched him most of his best work has been coming from the left. He isn’t the most natural centre forward but in his defence he was up against three centre halves so there was no space to play in. He ran himself ragged all night but offered no goal threat. Not that too many others did either. As well as the lads played, they found it tough to create clear chances. The biggest goal threat by far was Neco Williams. What a fucking player he is. He had four or five attempts at goal and had a similar impact on the game that Trent has so often had. “Running the game from right back” is something we’ve heard said about Trent, and it more or less applied to Neco in this game I thought. He went close to a goal a couple of times in the first half and again after the break. Jones looked a threat too and at times Shrewsbury couldn’t get near him. He played the game at his pace and made the Shrewsbury defenders follow. They couldn’t get the ball off him and often resorted to just crude fouls to stop him. He’s going to be a great player and probably very soon. The first half couldn’t have gone much better other than if we’d scored. It was complete dominance of the ball so I was staggered when I saw that the possession was only something like 65% in our favour. It felt like it should have been nearer to 90%. Shrewsbury were a little more positive after the break and I can only assume that they felt embarrassed by their pitiful first half display. At least now they looked like they might venture out of their own half a bit. They definitely wanted to be more attacking but they weren’t really allowed to. The organisation and pressing, the fighting for second balls, it was just top drawer all night and Critchley must have been the proudest man inside Anfield seeing all the hard work he’s done on the coaching field pay off so spectacularly. The most surprising aspect for me was how well the defence played. Other than the disallowed goal (which I’ll get to shortly) they didn’t allow Shrewsbury anything and the two Dutch kids in the middle were Van Dijk and Gomez like. Sepp Van den Berg hasn’t really convinced in his previous appearances and hasn’t even really looked that good for the u23s. That didn’t concern me in terms of his overall prospects because this is his first season here, he’s still very young and playing centre back is probably the toughest position on the pitch for a youngster. That said, I did wonder how he’d be able to cope against League One strikers that would be looking to bully him. He couldn’t have looked more assured though. I honestly don’t think he put a foot wrong all night. I couldn’t have been more impressed with him. Obviously Hoever was top class too but I expect that as he’s a special talent and he has much more experience. Van den Berg deserves massive credit for how he played. Both full backs were brilliant too. I really like Adam Lewis, always have. He’s had to wait a long time for this but he took his chance with both hands. He’s competitive, energetic and he’s got a magic wand of a left foot. I’d love to see him develop into Robbo’s understudy in the same way Neco has with Trent. Even the disallowed Shrewsbury goal reflects well on the back four because look at how disciplined they were pushing out and holding the line to catch the lad offside. And he was offside. I could see it at the time as I was sat in line with it, but I wasn’t sure VAR would save us because of how far back it was in the build up. You know what the problem was with that whole situation? The linesman didn’t want to make any decisions all night. He gave an offside just after that, but then he went back to doing nothing and relying on VAR to sort it if needed. That’s all well and good when it leads directly to a goal, but what about when it ends up being a corner, or it’s the third passage of play and the defence has reset. VAR can’t do anything about that, so just do your fucking job and put the flag up. In these situations the longer the delay the better the chances of the goal being ruled out, especially with offside. If it’s onside then they can spot that quickly. When they have to start getting the lines out then there’s a decent chance it’s not going to count, and so it proved. A massive kick in the balls for the Shrewsbury fans, especially the one who threw the yellow flare onto the pitch! We were maybe a little lucky with that as the lad who was offside didn’t out the final cross in. I get why some feel that it was harsh, but if we’d had VAR in the first game they’d never have been given a penalty so it’s swings and roundabouts. It was no more than we deserved for the way we played anyway. That was the first meaningful attack they’d had and if they’d scored from it then it would have been one of the biggest smash and grab acts of all time. Some of the football our kids played in the second half was sensational. The little give and goes with Elliott and Jones were a particular highlight, while Chirivella was just a joy to watch all night. Such a lovely footballer him, and he was ably assisted by Clarkson and Cain, two kids I’ve loved watching in the 18s as they dovetail so well together in midfield. We must have forced a dozen corners in that second half. The problem was other than Van den Berg we didn’t have any height to threaten from them. That was the one real disadvantage we had and it was the only thing I was worried about. If Shrewsbury had been able to force a few set plays it might have cost us, but they had so little of the ball they were rarely able to put us under any pressure The weird thing is that from the first corner they got they took it short and ended up going backwards. What the fuck is that all about? I couldn’t believe they did that. It defied all common sense as they should have been putting it right on top of Kelleher and attacking it at every opportunity. Staggeringly inept and you’d have to point the finger at Sam Ricketts again for that. Despite all the nice approach play the ball just wouldn’t go in for us. Jones went close and Williams was denied by he keeper after a spectacular move that the first team would have been proud of. Then we finally broke the deadlock in the most comical of circumstances. Williams did brilliantly in defence and then fired a diagonal ball looking for the run of Elliott. The defender covered the run but at full stretch could only head the ball past his own keeper into the net. We benefitted from an own goal in the first game too, and once again it was a former Man United player. Might be a lesson there. Stop signing shite mancs. We should have wrapped it up late on when they had thrown everyone forward for a set-piece and we broke on them. It looked all set up for a ‘red arrows’ goal as we charged out, but Elliott badly overhit his pass when all he needed to do was just knock it into the ptah of two unmarked players. It may have hit his hand when he won the initial challenge though so I don’t know if it would have counted anyway. The way the boys saw the game out was hugely impressive. It felt like they kept the ball in the right hand corner for about five minutes. Such maturity and composure. They never really looked in any danger and Shrewsbury didn’t seem like a side who had any belief that they could force an equaliser. I’ve got nothing against Shrewsbury at all and hopefully the money they earned from this helps them. It was becoming irritating though hearing about how they lost out on half a million because of Klopp fielding the kids (it should be pointed out though that Shrewsbury did not blame him for that) and because the club lowered the admission price accordingly. I understand why that’s a big deal and why lower league clubs wouldn’t be happy about the situation, but this isn’t a black and white issue. Firstly, it was the FA who scheduled the replay in the middle of a winter break, so any grievance should be taken up with them, not us. Secondly, the club’s sensible ticket pricing ensured a full house and allowed loads of parents to take kids to a game, in many cases for the first time. Had we fielded a stronger side and increased the ticket prices, it might not have been a sell out. It may, however, have persuaded one of the TV companies to pick up the game, which would have meant more revenue for both clubs I expect. The TV companies missed a trick not picking the game up, because this was the most intriguing game of the night. A side packed with promising teenagers taking on a team of hardened, hairy arsed League One cloggers in front of 50odd thousand fans? Why the fuck wouldn’t you want to televise that, especially considering that the viewing figures would have been massive due to the number of fans we have. The FA and the TV companies cost Shrewsbury money. Not us. And without being too insensitive, I’d also have to say if you wanted that money so badly then show some fucking ambition in your performance and tactics. There was a huge money spinning tie at Chelsea on the line and all they had to do was beat a team full of kids. Yet they came here and parked the bus. So no, under the circumstances I don’t really have any sympathy for their ‘lost revenue’, especially as they brought 8,500 to Anfield when usually they get a couple of thousand less for their home games. I have to say though that in general I’d like something to be done to help ensure the lower league clubs get more cash as football is definitely weighted too heavily in favour of the top flight. It’s basically a reflection of modern society. The rich get richer and fuck everyone else. It is not the responsibility of Liverpool FANS to be financing it though, which would have been the case if ticket prices had been higher. It’s like how fans are helping to feed the hungry by donating to food banks, when really this situation should not be happening if the fat cats in power were looking after those less fortunate. But anyway, enough of that, back to the celebrations at the end. Critchley was loving it and rightly so. What a night for him. He was asked if it was the highlight of his coaching career and he paused before the realisation of what he’d done hit him. “Yeah I suppose it is”. Made up for him as he comes across as a really nice fella. The lads were loving it too, doing a lap of honour and milking every second of it. So they should. Some of these boys may never play for the first team again, but then again they might. So many of them look like they might actually. They’ve renewed my enthusiasm for the cups this year because frankly I haven’t been arsed about them for years. Picking a star man wasn’t easy as so many of them stood out. Pedro was class, as usual, while Jones was a class above once again. I could easily have given it to Van den Berg and part of me wants to because he was so much improved on previous outings, but the best player on the pitch was my boy Neco and I can’t overlook him. I’d have no hesitation in starting him any time Trent needs a rest because he’s already good enough to start for half the teams in the Premier League. The only negative I can see in all of this is that we got Chelsea away in the next round. They will make changes but not too many, meaning that Klopp will have to go ‘relatively’ strong too. The perfect scenario would have been to draw someone shit so we could give a lot of these kids another run out, but I expect Williams and Jones to probably start regardless of who we were playing as they’ve been that good. One final point. I was thinking afterwards that the first team lads have an awful lot to be grateful to these kids for. They’re off sunning themselves on beaches while the kids are holding down the fort and ensuring there’s still an FA Cup to be won when they get back. They should all throw in a week’s wages and split it between the kids. In fact, Matip, Lovren, Fabinho and Origi should throw in two weeks, as a thank you for tidying up the mess they made. Up the mini mentality monster Reds! Team: Kelleher; Williams, Hoever, Van den Berg, Lewis; Chirivella, Cain, Clarkson (Boyes); Elliott (Dixon-Bonner), Miller (Hardy), Jones:
  16. Report by Dave Usher Who’s disrespecting the cup now, eh? I really hope we win thing now, not just because it would be part of an historic double or hopefully even treble (or quadruple if we’re counting the World Club Cup), but because it will be a big ‘fuck you’ to all those who threw shade our way for fielding such a young side. Disrespecting the cup? No, you disrespected our kids, because they’re fucking boss. All this overly nostalgic bullshit we hear about the ‘magic of the cup’ does my head in. The FA Cup has changed. Football changes. Shit, everything changes. THIS is the new magic of the cup. Not Ronnie fucking Radford scoring a screamer on a ploughed field in the 70s, and not Shrewsbury fans invading the pitch after drawing with a Liverpool side minus all of its regular starters. What is more magical than a group of talented teenagers being given the chance to play for the biggest club in the country, in front of a sell out crowd, and playing like THAT??? Nothing, that’s what. This is the new magic of the cup, embrace it. I’m made up I went to this game. I wasn’t going to bother but a mate couldn’t make it and offered me his ticket so I thought why not. So glad I did, because it was so much fun. I walked out of Anfield with a massive grin on my face and it’s still there now as I write this. What a fun season this has been so far and it’s not just because of the senior lads running away with the league. Some of the most enjoyable moments of the season have been in the cups where the kids have just been sensational. I don’t think the club has every been in a healthier state than it is right now. Everything is running exactly how you’d want it to. It’s mad really when you think about what we’ve done in these cups. Up until now, the impressive cup wins were achieved with a sprinkling of experienced players mixed in with the most talented youngsters. The one time the kids had been left to fend for themselves they lost 5-0 at Villa, but even that game was enjoyable in a lot of ways. The boys were the better side that night but Villa just had more experience and physically at both ends of the pitch. Not to mention we were without some of our best youngsters that night, as Jones, Brewster, Williams, Lewis and Larouci were all unavailable. This was different. Larouci and Brewster weren’t there but it as an altogether stronger looking side than the one that lost at Villa. Besides, Shrewsbury didn’t have the quality that Villa had. Even so, they had given us all we could handle at their place so on paper it looked like a tough game. Not that anyone wanted to talk about football in the build up to this. It was all about Klopp staying away, disrespecting the cup, screwing Shrewsbury out of money and all sorts of other nonsense. Lost in all of it was that Neil Critchley genuinely thought his lads could win the game. You could see it in his press conference. The little glint in his eye when he was told that people had been writing his boys off. “Have they?” he said. He never said it but it was obvious he was thinking “ok well we’ll fucking show them”. This is just a teaser, click to view the full report Please note that Match Reports are only available to website subscribers. Subscriptions cost just £2 a month (you need to register first) and can be purchased here.
  17. Report by Dave Usher I don’t even know what to say any more. Could this season possibly go any better? It feels as though we increase our lead every week. When we led by 14 or something not so long ago, there were still fans not wanting to count their chickens. Understandable, but not really based on anything other than an irrational fear of what has happened before. At no point this season have Manchester City looked like a team capable of going on one of their trademark winning runs, and at no point this season (Old Trafford and Villa Park apart) have we looked like losing a game. The more likely scenario back then wasn’t us being caught, it was us increasing our lead. And lo and beyond, here we are 22 points clear. And the scenario hasn’t changed. It’s far more likely we extend the lead than see it reduced. It’s not a matter of will we win the title, it’s just how soon will we win it. We’re making it look easy but it really isn’t. Just because we can win games when not playing at our best doesn’t mean that this shit is easy. If it was easy, a side as accomplished as Man City wouldn’t have lost six games. It’s not easy doing what we do. Winning games in the Premier League isn’t as routine as we make it look. Just ask Arsenal, who have won only six games all season. The claim that this is the weakest league in years doesn’t hold water. Most of the traditional ‘big six’ aren’t as strong as usual, but even if they were they’d still be miles behind us. Only Man City in their ‘Centurion’ season would be capable of keeping it close, but don’t tell me that the standard of the rest of the league is any worse now than it was. Even the shite teams have squads packed with international players. Klopp said prior to this game that the two teams you don’t want to face at the moment are Wolves and Southampton. I’d probably add Sheffield United to that too, but you can see why he said that. Southampton are a right fucking handful at the moment. They play with now fear and hold nothing back. In that first half they gave us all we could handle and they probably should have led at the break. They were more positive than any side we’ve faced all season. They pushed high up the pitch, they played with two strikers and two out and out wingers and it felt like they had about 20 attempts at goal in that first half, half of them in the last five minutes when they just kept taking the ball off us and peppering our goal. We definitely contributed to our own problems but I don’t want to take anything away from Southampton’s performance because it was their aggressive pressing that forced us into those mistakes. Ultimately it counted for nothing and they lost 4-0, but we are so good these days that no matter what the opposition do at Anfield they’re almost certainly going to lose anyway. Sitting back doesn’t work and although the Saints ultimately got hammered, their positive approach could easily have yielded better results on another day. And it definitely would have against another team. This is just a teaser, click here to view the full article Please note that Match Reports are only available to website subscribers. Subscriptions cost just £2 a month (you need to register first) and can be purchased here.
  18. I don’t even know what to say any more. Could this season possibly go any better? It feels as though we increase our lead every week. When we led by 14 or something not so long ago, there were still fans not wanting to count their chickens. Understandable, but not really based on anything other than an irrational fear of what has happened before. At no point this season have Manchester City looked like a team capable of going on one of their trademark winning runs, and at no point this season (Old Trafford and Villa Park apart) have we looked like losing a game. The more likely scenario back then wasn’t us being caught, it was us increasing our lead. And lo and beyond, here we are 22 points clear. And the scenario hasn’t changed. It’s far more likely we extend the lead than see it reduced. It’s not a matter of will we win the title, it’s just how soon will we win it. We’re making it look easy but it really isn’t. Just because we can win games when not playing at our best doesn’t mean that this shit is easy. If it was easy, a side as accomplished as Man City wouldn’t have lost six games. It’s not easy doing what we do. Winning games in the Premier League isn’t as routine as we make it look. Just ask Arsenal, who have won only six games all season. The claim that this is the weakest league in years doesn’t hold water. Most of the traditional ‘big six’ aren’t as strong as usual, but even if they were they’d still be miles behind us. Only Man City in their ‘Centurion’ season would be capable of keeping it close, but don’t tell me that the standard of the rest of the league is any worse now than it was. Even the shite teams have squads packed with international players. Klopp said prior to this game that the two teams you don’t want to face at the moment are Wolves and Southampton. I’d probably add Sheffield United to that too, but you can see why he said that. Southampton are a right fucking handful at the moment. They play with now fear and hold nothing back. In that first half they gave us all we could handle and they probably should have led at the break. They were more positive than any side we’ve faced all season. They pushed high up the pitch, they played with two strikers and two out and out wingers and it felt like they had about 20 attempts at goal in that first half, half of them in the last five minutes when they just kept taking the ball off us and peppering our goal. We definitely contributed to our own problems but I don’t want to take anything away from Southampton’s performance because it was their aggressive pressing that forced us into those mistakes. Ultimately it counted for nothing and they lost 4-0, but we are so good these days that no matter what the opposition do at Anfield they’re almost certainly going to lose anyway. Sitting back doesn’t work and although the Saints ultimately got hammered, their positive approach could easily have yielded better results on another day. And it definitely would have against another team. It can’t just have been me that was a little concerned at half time? I still thought we’d win, because that’s what we do, but I wasn’t sure of it and there was a part of me thinking that this might be the day when the winning run ends. We just hadn’t been at it in the first half. We had some good moments but mostly I’d say Southampton had us exactly where they wanted us. They wanted us to play it out from the back so they could press, and too many times we weren’t sharp enough or the man in possession took an unnecessary risk and lost the ball. They hunted in packs and it was all very co-ordinated, as they ferried us into areas where they could press and nick the ball. They played us at our own game and in the first half they did it better than we did. Thankfully we have Alisson for when situations get sticky. He didn’t make a load of spectacular saves but he did what he does better than anyone else. He just kept the ball out of his net. Most of the stops looked routine, as usual, because he’s just so fundamentally sound. I saw a stat that he’s saved 50 of the last 54 shots on target. That’s incredible. There was one iffy moment though when he picked up what looked like a clear backpass from Robbo. At the time I was convinced it was a backpass and couldn’t believe it wasn’t given. It seemed so obvious that maybe Kevin Friend thought “no, my eyes must be deceiving me here. There’s no way that just happened”. It was one of those ‘what the fuck was that?’ type moments. It was just weird because why would Robbo attempt a backpass in such a confined space? Looking at the replays I now don’t think he did. I think he was trying to hit it off the Southampton player to win a goal kick but he missed and it went through to Alisson. Irrespective of that, Friend should have penalised us for it because Alisson picking that up was almost like he was taking the piss and daring the ref to do something about it. I’d have been massively pissed off if that had happened at the other end. Friend was actually pretty good for the most part, but there were three major decisions and he got them all wrong. The backpass was the first one, but then Bobby was denied a clear penalty when Long bundled him over to prevent him heading in Hendo’s cross. It was such an obvious foul that I assumed it hadn’t been given because Bobby wouldn’t have reached the ball. Then I saw the replay and I now have no idea why that isn’t a penalty because the ball was right on his head if he hadn’t been taken out by Long. It was a clear penalty and VAR should have intervened, but then I feel the same about the one Southampton didn’t get after the break. Ings was tripped by Fabinho. In fairness to Friend I can see why he didn’t give it because it looked in real time as though Fabinho won the ball and that Ings just stumbled over after the initial challenge. It’s easy to criticise the ref but in this case I don’t think there’s any way he could have seen the actual foul. That’s what VAR is supposed to be for though. The replay shows Fabinho had a second nibble after the first challenge and he tripped him. Ins had ridden the initial challenge and it was the second bite that got him. Clear and obvious error and a penalty all day for me. Ings was livid, which was also a bit of a give away that it was a foul as he’s one of the most honest players in the league. What made it doubly cruel for Southampton was we went up the other end and scored immediately. Brilliant goal, superbly worked. Robbo’s back heel to Bobby. Bobby’s flick to Ox and then Ox making space for the shot and burying it. Lovely stuff, but cruel on Southampton. Whether or not we’d have produced that stunning second half performance had we not scored so early I have no idea. I suspect we’d have won the game though even if we’d fallen behind because the way we approached the second half was vastly different to the way we’d stumbled through the first. At half time it was obvious something needed to change. Not specifically personnel, but definitely tactics. Southampton’s press was catching us out time and again but the ball over the top looked like it might cause them some issues. We were badly missing Sadio, not because Ox was playing badly but just because Mané is that x-factor who teams can’t really gameplan for. He can get in behind teams or he can come deep and get on the ball and make things happen. His link up with Robbo is devastating too. Ox is better breaking from midfield but he was doing alright on the left. I wouldn’t have taken him off but I didn’t want him on the left either. So my plan for the second half would have been to stop passing it around at the back so much, play more long balls and to not wait too long before bringing on Origi for Wijnaldum, and moving Ox into midfield. Shows how little I know. Klopp did the exact opposite of all of that. Ox stayed on the left. We hit very few long balls and instead we just passed our way through their press time and again, rendering it completely ineffective. Klopp had obviously changed things though. I didn’t know exactly what but he’d definitely done something because instead of us losing the ball repeatedly, we were just popping it around, taking out their front six and leaving their defence exposed constantly. Klopp revealed afterwards it was about changing the way we used Fabinho. Makes sense, as Fabinho came into the game a lot more after the break and was the fulcrum for most of our passing moves. Maybe because he’s been out so long the players had forgotten how to use him? The difference between the two halves was night and day. Southampton were brave and attacked us in a way few other sides dare. It gave us all kinds of trouble for 45 minutes but the thing when a team presses high with six players like that, is that if you can play through it and get players turned in space, then it’s a nightmare for the four lads at the back who then have to deal with it. And it happened so many times in the second half. We passed through the press and then Bobby or Ox or Gini would get turned in space and we were off and running, while Salah was constantly making runs in behind to stretch them. Irrespective of how he’s playing, the one thing about Mo is he continually tests the defence by those runs. He never stops, and he’s rarely given a rest either. He’s an incredible physical specimen. The second goal was brilliantly crafted. Hendo had charged forward to close down the keeper and was miles offside when we collected the clearance, so Trent drilled a half volley across the pitch to Firmino instead. Bobby’s first touch was glorious as he collected the ball and set off down the left. Hendo was now back onside, Bobby cut the ball back to him and the skipper did the rest. Usually he puts those into the Kop so it was nice to see him find the net for a change. Goal number three saw Hendo play an inch perfect ball in behind to find Salah’s run. I thought the keeper was going to smother the shot but Mo cleverly flicked it over him. He didn’t celebrate because he wasn’t sure if he was onside or not. I sit right inline with it and was confident that he was on, but that means nothing as I was equally convinced he was onside for the one that was disallowed soon after. To his credit, the linesman was right on both occasions and I was one for two. That disallowed goal though, fucking hell. It would have been an all timer if that had counted. We were in trouble at one end, but Alisson passed it out calmly and it was bump bump bump, a few first time passes and suddenly we’re flying at their defence. Mo was a fraction offside but if he could have held his run another second, or if Bobby could have released it just a bit sooner, we’d be talking about one of the greatest goals Anfield has ever seen. Mo did get his second when he exchanged passed with Bobby and bundled the ball in from close range. He’s come right back into form over these last couple of games. He was brilliant in that second half. Just sensational. He ran Southampton ragged but I think my favourite bit of play from him wasn’t either of his goals, it was the way he spurned the chance of a hat-trick to put one on a plate for Minamino, who unfortunately fucked it right up. I loved that though. Such unselfishness from a player who isn’t exactly known for that. At no point was he ever thinking of anything other than trying to get his new team-mate his first goal. He also seemed desperate to get Bobby a goal as well. That Minamino miss pissed me off because it would have been a great moment for him. The thing I noticed from seeing him alongside the first teamers is that he really stands out as not being at the same physical level as everyone else. It happens with a lot of our new signings. Getting used to the speed and intensity we play at isn’t easy. Our lads aren’t always the biggest, but they’re all physically very strong and they’re all quick. Minamino will get there, but it probably won’t be until after he’s had pre-season with us. Any minutes he gets under his belt now though is all money in the bank for next season. The scoreline seemed harsh on Southampton but maybe it wasn’t. As well as they played we could have scored six or seven. They were terrific in the first half but were taken to the cleaners after the break. Part of it was that we stepped things up so much and part of it is because they probably got tired. It’s impossible to play like that for 90 minutes which is why you need to score while you’re on top. They didn’t do that and paid the price. What this team is doing is just incredible. There’s no let up. Klopp summed it up when talking about Hendo, saying he didn’t look like the captain of a team that was 19 points clear, he looked like he was playing to try and keep his team in the league. That’s one of the reasons these lads are so great. They don’t cut corners or try to take things easy. Every game is seen as being the most important game of the season. We just continue to break records or close in on them. We’re one home win away from equalling our own record for consecutive home wins. We’ve just gone joint second with Forest for the longest unbeaten run of games in top flight history and we’re closing in on Arsenal in first place on that list. I saw something about most consecutive games with at least one goal scored too, and there are so many milestones that it’s impossible to keep track. We’re living through history. In 50 years time there’ll be a team having a great run and people will be saying “yeah but they aren’t as good as that 2020 Liverpool side”. Not everyone is willing to accept that and there are still plenty in denial. Interestingly though, it’s not the football media or the countless number of pundits who are pouring scorn on our achievements. Far from it. Praise has been more or less universal when it comes to the various media outlets, but rival fans are completely losing all sense of perspective about it. It’s great, we’re absolutely doing their heads in and we’ve destroyed every single argument they’ve put up so they’re now reduced to embarrassingly whining about VAR and how it’s been brought in to help us finally win the league. I love that argument because not only is it completely ridiculous (last time I checked we were somewhere in the middle when it comes to benefitting from VAR) but it’s effectively saying “you’re only winning the league because officiating mistakes are now being corrected”. Or another way of putting it would be “you’re only winning the league because refs can’t screw you over as easily as Martin Atkinson and Anthony Taylor did last season”. Funny how it wasn’t a #TaintedTitle last year when City won by one point due to highly questionable refereeing. We’re TWENTY TWO fucking points clear and some are suggesting it’s because of some conspiracy to let us break our thirty year hoodoo. Some people really shouldn’t be allowed to think for themselves. We’re watching the greatest side of the modern era, and not only that, they just might actually go on to become the greatest side in any era, on any continent. I’m not taking the piss, it’s genuinely within their grasp to do it if they continue at this pace. They get a well earned break now and hopefully they won’t be too rusty when they return. The good thing is that our first game back is at bottom club Norwich and we should have a couple more of the injured lads back for that. The squad is going to be back at full strength just as the Champions League resumes again, so Klopp will have the luxury of mixing things up a bit to keep everyone fresh. Star man is Bobby but it could just as easily have been Mo, as the pair of them were sensational in the second half. Respectful nod in the direction of the skipper too for another top drawer display capped by a rare goal. Finally, how great was that at the end when all the players and Klopp were hugging Ings? They absolutely love him don't they? He must be such a sound lad to have everyone react like that. It wasn't just the British lads (who you'd expect him to be closer too) either. Look at Mo and Bobby's love for him. And Virg too. Just a really heartwarming moment I thought. Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson (Lallana), Wijnaldum (Minamino); Salah, Firmino, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Keita):
  19. Saturday Jan 25: Charlie Adam says Hendo should be player of the year. Now it’s fair to say that what Charlie Adam says about the Reds doesn’t carry much weight, but I thought this was interesting just because there really seems to be momentum building towards this now. Half the reason players end up being put up for these awards is because the voters are often swayed by public and media opinion. The more people in the media discussing it, the more likely it is to happen. Adrian Durham has been banging the drum on Talksport and I’ve seen a few journalists also suggesting it. The maddest part for me is that the first person I heard putting Hendo’s name forward was my Dad during one of our home games several weeks ago. He said Hendo should be player of the year but he’s got no chance because it always goes to the goalscorers or fair players. Thing is, Virg got it last year so maybe the tide is turning on that. Hendo is a really popular figure with his peers and also with most of the national media. He might win it you know. And if he did, I don’t think there’d ever have been a more worthy individual to get it, as he’s such a fucking great lad. Layton Stewart bags a hat-trick for the u18s today. He’s a big talent who is apparently really highly thought of within the club, but it;s interesting that unlike some of his team-mates he isn’t being fast tracked into the 23s. In fact, rather than rush him they went out and signed Joe Hardy to replace Brewster. Stewart is class though, defo one to keep an eye on. Sunday Jan 26: Shrewsbury 2 L 2 That was everything the Everton game wasn’t. The senior players didn’t lead the way today, they let the kids down. The kids were hit and miss. Jones was good, Williams was alright, Elliott very quiet, Pedro had a great first half and a quiet second, while Larouci struggled. Still we were 2-0 up and that should have been game over. Then Matip, Lovren and Fabinho took it upon themselves to continually invite pressure by arsing about by their own box and giving Shrewsbury hope. I put this result 100% on those three. Origi was shite too but he’s not the reason we blew a 2-0 lead. Klopp must have been so pissed off that he had to throw Bobby and Mo on there to try and win it late. They should have been given the day off completely, but you can maybe see now why they weren’t. Now Klopp is insisting that he and the squad will take no part in the replay and it’s going to be an Aston Villa type situation with Critchley and the kids taking on Shrewsbury. I get that he’s trying to make a point, but it doesn’t really sit right. I’m not especially arsed either way, but I think he’s got this wrong. I’m all for Hendo, Virg, Bobby, Mo and the rest getting a week off, but Klopp should be here and so should some of the squad players who need playing time, not least those who were so fucking shite today. He’s going to get shit from the usual talking heads but for once it’s difficult to argue his corner. Anyone trying to suggest an FA Cup replay should take priority over the players getting a break can fuck off. That’s just a stupid take and I’ll fight our corner all the way on that. If someone wants to say that Klopp should be taking charge of the game and that the likes of Keita, Shaqiri, Lovren, Matip, Lallana etc should all be playing, then that’s at least worthy of a discussion. I can see why Klopp wants to honour the break and why he doesn’t want to operate the squad and have some stay behind. I don’t necessarily agree with it, but I can see the logic in his thinking. I’d rather he was there for the game but only if he’s going to be picking some senior players. If it’s a team like the one that faced Villa then there’s no point him being there as they aren’t his players. They’re Neil Critchley’s players. He works with them every day so if that’s the team that faces Shrewsbury then Critchley may as well be in charge and Jurgen can go and sit on a beach somewhere with a few beers. This is just a teaser, click here to view the full article Please note that the Week that Was is only available to website subscribers. Subscriptions cost just £2 a month (you need to register first) and can be purchased here.
  20. Saturday Jan 25: Charlie Adam says Hendo should be player of the year. Now it’s fair to say that what Charlie Adam says about the Reds doesn’t carry much weight, but I thought this was interesting just because there really seems to be momentum building towards this now. Half the reason players end up being put up for these awards is because the voters are often swayed by public and media opinion. The more people in the media discussing it, the more likely it is to happen. Adrian Durham has been banging the drum on Talksport and I’ve seen a few journalists also suggesting it. The maddest part for me is that the first person I heard putting Hendo’s name forward was my Dad during one of our home games several weeks ago. He said Hendo should be player of the year but he’s got no chance because it always goes to the goalscorers or fair players. Thing is, Virg got it last year so maybe the tide is turning on that. Hendo is a really popular figure with his peers and also with most of the national media. He might win it you know. And if he did, I don’t think there’d ever have been a more worthy individual to get it, as he’s such a fucking great lad. Layton Stewart bags a hat-trick for the u18s today. He’s a big talent who is apparently really highly thought of within the club, but it;s interesting that unlike some of his team-mates he isn’t being fast tracked into the 23s. In fact, rather than rush him they went out and signed Joe Hardy to replace Brewster. Stewart is class though, defo one to keep an eye on. Sunday Jan 26: Shrewsbury 2 L 2 That was everything the Everton game wasn’t. The senior players didn’t lead the way today, they let the kids down. The kids were hit and miss. Jones was good, Williams was alright, Elliott very quiet, Pedro had a great first half and a quiet second, while Larouci struggled. Still we were 2-0 up and that should have been game over. Then Matip, Lovren and Fabinho took it upon themselves to continually invite pressure by arsing about by their own box and giving Shrewsbury hope. I put this result 100% on those three. Origi was shite too but he’s not the reason we blew a 2-0 lead. Klopp must have been so pissed off that he had to throw Bobby and Mo on there to try and win it late. They should have been given the day off completely, but you can maybe see now why they weren’t. Now Klopp is insisting that he and the squad will take no part in the replay and it’s going to be an Aston Villa type situation with Critchley and the kids taking on Shrewsbury. I get that he’s trying to make a point, but it doesn’t really sit right. I’m not especially arsed either way, but I think he’s got this wrong. I’m all for Hendo, Virg, Bobby, Mo and the rest getting a week off, but Klopp should be here and so should some of the squad players who need playing time, not least those who were so fucking shite today. He’s going to get shit from the usual talking heads but for once it’s difficult to argue his corner. Anyone trying to suggest an FA Cup replay should take priority over the players getting a break can fuck off. That’s just a stupid take and I’ll fight our corner all the way on that. If someone wants to say that Klopp should be taking charge of the game and that the likes of Keita, Shaqiri, Lovren, Matip, Lallana etc should all be playing, then that’s at least worthy of a discussion. I can see why Klopp wants to honour the break and why he doesn’t want to operate the squad and have some stay behind. I don’t necessarily agree with it, but I can see the logic in his thinking. I’d rather he was there for the game but only if he’s going to be picking some senior players. If it’s a team like the one that faced Villa then there’s no point him being there as they aren’t his players. They’re Neil Critchley’s players. He works with them every day so if that’s the team that faces Shrewsbury then Critchley may as well be in charge and Jurgen can go and sit on a beach somewhere with a few beers. Monday Jan 27: Fucks sake, if we beat Shrewsbury we have to go to Chelsea. Other than City that’s the last game I wanted, because it makes it difficult to play the kids. Klopp is probably on the phone to Neil Critchley now to inform him that Barry Lewtas and the under 18s will now be taking on Shrewsbury. I already suspected that Klopp doesn’t want to go through because he doesn’t want the headache of the extra games, but now that we’ve got a draw where we’d have to go stronger than he’d like I’m absolutely positive he wants to lose that replay. Meanwhile, and who could have predicted this shocking turn of events, Fiorentina have had enough of Bobby Duncan and want him out. He refused to play for the u19s because he thinks he should be playing for their first team. Are we still blaming the agent for this? Because he was sent packing a couple of months ago. Maybe now people will come to realise that although the agent was obviously a right piece of work, Bobby Duncan is indeed a fucking helmet with ideas way above his standing. He wasn’t good enough to be playing for our first team and he isn’t good enough to play in the top flight in Italy either. That’s not to say that one day he wouldn’t be, but that day is not today yet this fucking jumped up little gobshite seems to think he’s the second coming of Robbie Fowler. I called this when he left us. He’s got ‘Jerome Sincair’ written all over him. A career as a lower league journeyman who’ll do a stint in a few random European Leagues awaits, and in 10 years time he’ll be doing an interview with the Athletic on where it all went wrong. Tuesday Jan 28: The fallout continues. The Reds set ticket prices at a sensible level but understandably lower league clubs don’t like the precedent being set because less gate receipts means a smaller share for Shrewsbury. Interestingly, it isn’t Shrewsbury who are complaining. In fact, their boss said he fully understands Klopp’s actions (and having watched him explain his position in today's press conference, so I do now and I'm fine with it). Of course, the prospect of a money spinning tie at Chelsea should they beat our team of kids may well be a contributing factor in Sam Ricketts' support, but the point is, Shrewsbury aren’t being dicks about this even if others are. The Accrington chairman was running his mouth throwing words like “disgrace” about. Take one look at him and you can see he’s got ‘Gammon’ written all over him. Bet his actual day job is a professional audience member on Question Time. The thing is, he kind of has a legitimate point but when you start shouting and balling like he is it undermines it. It’s mostly fans of other teams who are up in arms though, which just makes me want to do an about face from what I actually feel about this. I even saw a Tranmere fan weighing in and demanding a ten point deduction. Pipe down son, your team just conceded goals to Phil Jones and Jesse Lingard. You therefore don’t get to have an opinion on anything. Why are Tranmere fans such fucking weirdos? Liverpool (and Everton) fans always root for them to do well and many go along to watch them when possible. Not as many as back in the day when they played on Friday nights and had Aldo managing them. but still, most Liverpool fans wish Tranmere nothing but success. Yet loads of them fucking hate us. I understand why loads of other teams hate us, but the hostility from Tranmere has always just seemed fucking weird to me. Also tonight, Villa beat Leicester to reach the League Cup final. Not ideal because Villa zero chance of beating Man City, but on the plus side when they get webbed everywhere it will allow us all to go on social media and post that photo of their fans on the train to Wembley celebrating Stevie’s birthday. Wednesday Jan 29: West Ham 0 L 2. West Ham didn’t stand a chance tonight. For one thing, Moyes had no interest in anything other than avoiding a hiding, but the truth is that no matter how they approached this game they didn’t have a hope. We’re so good now that the only chance most opponents have is if they play out of their skins and we have a huge off day. Not just a regular off day, as we’ll still win against most teams. It has to be a real stinker where half the team are awful, and even then there would also have be elements of luck involved. This was second gear stuff but it was comfortable. West Ham were in way over their heads but somehow still ended up with three or four really good chances. That’s where Alisson comes in. Even if you create something against us you still have to beat him, which is almost impossible at times. There are some teams who can give us problems. Teams who are hard working, well organised and pose a threat on the break. Wolves spring to mind, and Southampton who we have this weekend. Most of the league don’t stand a chance now though, which is really hard to get my head around considering all the years we spent dropping points to some of the worst teams in the league. We don’t do that anymore, but United, Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea are doing it on a regular basis. They are all what we used to be, but look at us now, the best team in the world and on the way to being the best team in the history of the world. Not even kidding, there’s every chance that by the end of this season these lads will have staked a massive claim for that honour. Also tonight, United beat City again but it wasn’t enough for them to reach the final. City just aren’t at it at all though are they? I reckon they’ll lose at Spurs this weekend as they just aren’t that good anymore. They’re still the only long term threat to us because none of the other ’top’ teams have a hope in hell of challenging any time soon, but they need to spend on that squad and I’m not sure they can just keep blatantly taking the piss out of FFP so it won’t be as easy for them as it has been. Especially if Pep keeps spunking it all up the wall on dosgshit full backs signed at £50m a piece. Thursday Jan 30: What’s this nonsense? Barca having a €100m bid for Richarlison turned down? Fuck off. Not having it. Firstly, they don’t have €100m. Secondly, if they did have €100m they wouldn’t spunk it on that deadbeat. Thirdly, if you completely disregard points one and two and pretend for a moment it’s true, there’s no way Everton are turning that down given the shit they’re in with FFP. None of the press in Spain reported this by the way. So what’s all this about then? Either it’s Sky doing one of those ‘create a transfer rumour and then post odds on skybox’ things, or it’s Everton swinging their dicks trying to convince their fans they mean business even though they’ve done fuck all this window and are stuck with the same shit squad that has been so bad this season. Funny thing is, so many of those deluded fuckwits will swallow it. Meanwhile, when I said Bobby Duncan’s career was going to go down the same path as Jerome Sinclair, I didn’t think it would be this quick. He’s just joined Sunderland on loan. Sinclair was there on loan last season. Every time I think about this kid I just hear Del Boy’s voice saying “what a plonker”. Also today, the club unveiled a Paisley statue at Anfield and it’s brilliant. Not before time either. We need more of these things based on iconic photos. Kenny’s celebration at Stamford Bridge…. Stevie and Carra holding number five… Billy Liddell emerging from the tunnel… Robbie sniffing the goal-line…. Divock nodding past Pickford. Get them statues built! Friday Jan 31: Ok, so Duncan isn’t going to Sunderland because they pulled the plug on it. When that news came out one of the lads on the whatsapp chat dryly quipped “Probably wanted to be manager”. That might be a tad strong, but who would be shocked if he was making some kind of outlandish demands? Maybe he wanted a stand named after him? Quiet deadline day for us, but there was a complete clown show going on at Old Trafford where Solskjaer tried and failed in bids for Josh King, Teemo Pukki and ended up with that Ighalo lad who was at Watford and fucked off for a boatload of dough in China. Reminded me of when we failed with bids for Mario Gomez and then Carlton Cole when Hodgson was in charge. Grim times. And United are living through that now. Brilliant isn’t it? Meanwhile, Ings says that Klopp wanted him to stay and offered him a new contract, but he knew that he had to leave in order to get his career going again. Loved him before we signed him, loved him when he was here, still love him now. But him leaving when he did was perfect for both parties. His departure opened the door again for Divovk, who would probably have gone out on loan had Ings stayed. And if that had happened, no Derby winner, no Barca goals and no final goal. Strange the way things turn out sometimes. Danny Ings is a top fella though and I hope he scores every week from now until May. Except this week. And even then, as long as we’re scoring three or four then I don’t even mind if he slots tomorrow because I’d be made up if he won’t he Golden Boot. ...and that was the week that was.
  21. The Premier League is widely regarded as the best football league in the world after English teams have dominated the Champions League and Europa League in recent years. For a while, Manchester City was the team to beat, but Liverpool has just set the bar much higher. They dominate the top division with an iron fist, and halfway through the season they have virtually secured the title. Top bookmakers listed at the holymoly casinos UK website have them almost locked as winners. With the trophy secured, the only question left to be answered is whether Liverpool is the best Premier League team in history. A Story of Rags to Riches It is almost ironic that a team that has never won the Premier League is quite likely the best team to have ever played in the English top-flight. To win their first trophy in such an emphatic manner can seem almost as surprising as Leicester’s shocking title run two years ago. For anyone who has paid attention to Liverpool’s surge under Klopp, this imminent victory was inevitable, rather than unexpected. The Reds were amazing last season when they lost a single match in the strongest football league in the world. Finishing second behind Manchester City was heartbreaking, especially with the reigning champions prevailing by the odd point. Liverpool was the only undefeated home team, but a couple of sloppy away games have cost them their Premier League first title. Lessons were learned, and in 2020 they will claim what is rightfully theirs and likely extend their dominance in the years to come. Hard Work and Discipline Wins Trophies The reason why Liverpool is quite likely the best Premier League team of all time is the mix of hard work and discipline bought by Klopp. The German manager has turned this talented team into an unstoppable football machine, but the players have their undeniable merit. Salah, Mane, and Firmino make an incredible attacking trident, immensely gifted but also diligent and 100% committed. Never before did Liverpool have such a fantastic offensive lineup and so many worthy alternatives upfront. Strikers can win games single-handedly, but such a long invincible run can only be maintained with a flawless backline. Robertson and Alexander-Arnold are the best fullbacks in the world, capable of stopping even the most talented strikers in their tracks, while making unprecedented contributions at the other end. Van Dijk is head and shoulders above any other centre-half in English or European football and a deadly player in front of the net. On those rare occasions when they get outplayed, Allison is more than capable of protecting the goal. Klopp has also transformed the midfield, which was traditionally Liverpool’s weakest link. Fabinho, Henderson, Milner, and Wijnaldum are a force to be reckoned with, and Keita grew a lot in 2019. The Premier League is an incredibly competitive championship, and English teams also have plenty of domestic and international cup games. Luckily for Liverpool, the team has plenty of depth, with a bench and reserve squad overflowing with talented players that can always substitute the starting formation. Liverpool vs. Manchester United 90’s Team Football pundits frequently say that form is temporary, while class is permanent, and trophies weigh the happiest in the balance. In the 1990s, Manchester United won five league titles, including a dominant performance in the 1993/94 season when they amassed 92 points. On the other hand, they competed against 22 teams, and that record will most likely be broken by Liverpool this year. This is not a fluke either, as last season they won 97 points and still came in second behind Manchester City. Sir Alex Ferguson has the merit of creating several exceptional Manchester United teams. Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp took command of a group of gifted players and helped them make the most of their talent, while also adding to it with shrewd recruitment. This is likely only the beginning of a memorable story, full of domestic and international trophies that will confirm Liverpool status as the best Premier League team ever.
  22. Report by Dave Usher 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. This is just a teaser, click to view the full report Please note that Match Reports are only available to website subscribers. Subscriptions cost just £2 a month (you need to register first) and can be purchased here.
  23. 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):
  24. 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:
  25. Report by Dave Usher 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. This is just a teaser, click to view the full article Please note that Match Reports are only available to website subscribers. Subscriptions cost just £2 a month (you need to register first) and can be purchased here.
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