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That was the most complete performance we’ve ever had against City. Granted, it’s also the weakest City team we’ve faced in many a year and they’re in an absolute mess right now, so that can’t be overlooked, but even so, given that magnitude of the game how can you not be absolute buzzing about this? We’re better than City now. They’ve lost Rodri and that’s killed them, but even with Rodri we’re still much better. Previously when we’ve had the upper hand over them it felt like we had to be 100% flat out to be able to do it. This time we did a lot of it in third gear. To be able to play in two completely different ways and completely control the game in both is something that stands us in really good stead for the rest of this season. This is oversimplifying it, but you could almost say that the first half was Klopp’s Liverpool and the second was Slot’s. The reason that’s oversimplifying it is because the first half is also Slot’s Liverpool of course. He wants to play like that, he just doesn’t want to do it all the time. I don’t necessarily think Jurgen’s side did it all the time either but there was always a danger that when we did let the pace drop we could be vulnerable. That’s probably why I wasn’t completely at ease in the second half. City had the ball, a lot of the ball, and a significant chunk of the game was played in our half. We’ve seen that movie before and it usually ends with them putting the ball in the back of our net. I always feel that to beat City we need to be the way we were in the first half. Smother them, use the crowd, get in their faces, run, run, run and runs some more until eventually they just can’t withstand it. That’s how we’ve had success against them and when the game slows down and they are able to breathe, it’s often a struggle for us and we have to be almost perfect to keep them out. And we have been, there have been games where we’ve withstood what they threw at us but often there’d be lots of close calls, great saves and bits of luck here and there along the way. This wasn’t that though was it? Ok, we needed one great save from Kelleher but it was 2-0 at that point and that chance had nothing to do with City playing through us, it was one lapse moment from the otherwise imperious Van Dijk. So yeah, this was different to what we’ve seen before because we did the high press, in your face run all over you football in the first half and it was incredible. Then in the second we let them have the ball and said “you won’t play through us” and they didn’t. Not once. View full article

It's been some week. Real Madrid were comfortably seen off in midweek and now City were despatched with the minimum of fuss as the Reds moved nine points clear at the top and eleven ahead of City. TLW Editor Dave Usher is joined by Paul Natton and Ian Brown to reflect on a hell of an afternoon at Anfield. View full article

Monday Nov 25: Mo’s interview has got everyone talking. I didn’t like it. Not one bit. I don’t want to make it seem bigger than it is though so let me say first of all that I don’t think it’s a big thing and I’m not losing any sleep over it. I’m not calling his names or slagging him off, I’m simply commenting on his decision to speak out yesterday and also what he said. It doesn’t change how I feel; I want him to stay and I think we should be doing all we can to keep him. However, that does not extend to “give him whatever he wants” because we don’t know what he wants. It’s the easiest thing in the world to just automatically side with Mo over FSG because we’d all rather believe that it’s FSG “being mingebags again” rather than “Mo is being greedy”. That doesn’t make it fact though. In fact both things can be true. They’ve already given him a 350k a week contract as he approached his 30th birthday so let’s not completely lose sight of that. Is he happy with that or is he wanting more? Given who his agent is I’m fairly sure of the answer to that. If it was just about length of contract I’m sure it would have been sorted by now as it’s much easier to reach a compromise on that. The answer to every question in sports is usually “money” and this is no different. A few months ago I’d have said the club are to blame for these contract hold ups. Virgil said they hadn’t spoken to him and I believe him. Trent has kept his own council the whole time so we don’t know what’s happening there. And Mo came out after the United game and, unprompted, to talk about how he thinks this is going to be his last season here. At that point I was willing to believe that they were dragging their heels and needed to get a fucking move on. Not now though. We know talks have been taking place with all three as there’s absolutely no fucking way Edwards and Hughes have just sat around since the summer doing nothing to try and get these deals done. So when Mo comes out with that tripe he said yesterday, it makes me sceptical about him and how much stock I’m putting into what he says. I also don’t see the point of it. What is he trying to achieve? To get the fans onside? They already are. To put pressure on the club? Not gonna happen, they won’t give a fuck about this interview or how the fans react to it. It’s a business negotiation, they aren’t going to be swayed in the slightest by this, so why do it? I’m not seeing Virgil or Trent pulling this shit. Mo says it’s December and no offer has been made. True but disingenuous. Why has an offer not been made? Because talks between the club and the agent haven’t gone well enough to get to that point. There’s obviously a disparity between what he wants and what the club is prepared to give, either in terms of salary, duration or possibly both. Contracts are only offered after common ground has been reached in talks. If Liverpool offered him a contract now he’d reject it because an agreement hasn’t been reached. He also said “its not in my hands”. Errr no, it absolutely is. I’m sure he said the same last time too. He has a number that he’s asking for. So either the club agree and he stays, or they don’t and then he has to decide if he lowers his number to reach an agreement, or whether to leave and get that number elsewhere. He’s perfectly entitled to do either and I’m not telling him to just accept whatever is being offered because I don’t know what that is, and even if I did it’s not my decision to make and he has to do whatever he thinks is right for him. Either way though it is entirely in his hands, so please spare us the “I love the fans and the club and I just want to stay”. I don’t doubt any of that, but ultimately the thing holding this up is money. Just be honest and say “we’re far apart at the moment so its a stalemate”. Because clearly that’s the case. Instead he’s saying it’s not in my hands and they haven’t offered me anything. Please. The only way it isn’t in his hands if if the club have said “we’re not going to offer you anything, thanks for your service, see you later”. And there’s no way that’s the case. I can well believe they’re trying to get him to accept considerably less than what he’s asking for. Of course they’re trying to lowball him at the moment. That’s how negotiations work. They’ll offer less than they’re willing to pay, he’ll ask for more than he’d be willing to accept and eventually they meet somewhere in the middle. This is all part of the dance and we’ve been down this road before. The last time he wanted a new contract it was played out just like this too. Ordinarily he never talks to the press and that’s why I don’t like this. It won’t achieve anything, it’s completely unnecessary for him do it as now you have the fanbase up in arms and talking about this when we’re playing Real fucking Madrid tomorrow night. We shouldn’t even be thinking about this at the moment. We are though, because Mo decided he wanted to put it out there. In seven years he’s stopped in the mixed zone to talk to them TWICE. It’s a running joke between the journalists that he won’t stop to talk but they’ll always ask him anyway just in case. This time he walked over to them because he clearly wanted to get all of this out in the open. That’s why I don’t like it. If he was someone who regularly spoke to them after games and had that kind of a relationship, I’d be a lot more comfortable about him doing this. He’s not though, usually he leaves that kind of thing to his team-mates as he sees this as beneath him. He refuses to do the press conferences before CL games too by the way, even though he’s on the leadership committee. He doesn’t do them and leaves them to others. Then when there’s something in it for him he’s making a beeline to go over and talk. Is it a big deal? No, it’s just white noise really. Does it change how I feel about him? No, because I’m not remotely surprised he did it as this is how he and his agent operate. It’s superstar behaviour and he is a superstar. This kind of goes with the territory, but it doesn’t mean I have to agree with it. I’d be willing to bet that after the game he got a text from his agent telling him to do it. It won’t have been pre-planned because if we’d lost the game there’s no way he does that. Coming off the back of scoring the two goals that won us the game though, Abbas defo wanted to strike while the iron was hot. It’s pointless though, it hasn’t increased the chances of him getting what he wants and the only purpose it serves is to make the headlines today all about him. So now everyone in the media (and me too, in here, I guess) has to comment on it as its the main story, and if you say something people don’t like then look out because the abuse is coming. So needless and self indulgent. Ultimately though it’s nothing, because it absolutely won’t affect his performance level and I doubt his team-mates give too much of a shit about it either. Slot will have to face questions about it tomorrow but he’ll just brush it off so it’s nothing in terms of the impact it will have inside the building, but the outside noise is going to be deafening now. In other news, there’s no Vinicius on Wednesday, which is good but a little disappointing too as it’s always good to see how your players stack up against the best. I said on the pod I’d go with Gomez for this one and keep Bradley for the weekend, but whoever plays is going to be up against Mbappe now rather than Vinicius. Bit of a frying pan / fire situation like, but it’s going to be a big game for whoever starts. Meanwhile, Carvalho’s Dad replies to a Brentford post on Instagram saying (in Portuguese) “Son you have to leave this club”. He must have thought he was sending a DM, the soft cunt! View full article

Another week another City loss. This time it was a fucking mauling too. By Spurs of all teams, who a week earlier had lost at home to Ipswich. Thing is though, for whatever reason Spurs are like Kryptonite to City. It feels like they always beat them, which obviously isn’t the case, but Spurs do have City’s number and this was second time they’ve beaten them this month. Spurs are to City what Ben Doak is to Josko Gvardiol. I wasn’t shocked that City dropped points, I could easily have seen a draw or if I was being wildly optimistic a narrow Spurs win. A 4-0 spanking though? That’s wild, the kind of result that sends shock waves around the league. We’re in completely uncharted waters here with Guardiola’s City. This shit just doesn’t happen to them. Five losses in a row is mad, but for the fifth loss to be an utter humiliation against a Spurs team missing both first choice centre backs, this is unimaginable. I’m a little giddy about it, I can’t lie. Are we witnessing the beginning of the end of those cheating cunts? God I hope so. It got even worse for them when they blew a 3-0 lead against Feyenoord by conceding three times in the last 15 minutes, causing Guardiola to self harm. His face and head were full of cuts as he kept scratching himself. He’s always been weird, and that was when they were winning. It’s understandable that he’s lost his mind because he’s never been in this situation and just doesn’t know how to deal with it. It’s like if Sean Dyche ever went on a six game winning streak, he’d end up looking like Freddie Krueger. What the fuck is happening here though, have we entered the twilight zone? This is absolutely wild. Guardiola’s City haven’t won in six games and they’ve lost five of them, some of them in embarrassing fashion. And next up for them is Anfield. Kinell. I’ve got a lot of thoughts about City but I’m saying nothing until after the weekend, I’m confident, but it’s making me a little anxious seeing so many Reds talking about battering them and putting them out of the title race. We barely beat Southampton so there are no guarantees here. City might rediscover something if we’re not right at it and a win against us would get them right back on track. If we do get on top of them early then we could well give them a beating for the ages, but it also feels dangerous to me as everyone is writing them off. I’m expecting a tough game and if it turns out to be easy then great. The main thing is to just win, I don’t care by how many. Seeing what Spurs did to them was very interesting though and you have to take confidence from seeing that. They played it perfectly. They defended really well but it was more the way they systematically picked their way through City at will that was most impressive. They did a lot of the things Fulham did to them the other week, only Spurs were clinical and didn’t give away goals at the other end. I don’t watch any live games other than us, but from time to time I will switch them on if it’s going the way I want (especially if its City or Arsenal losing) and often that has backfired on me as they score straight away. When I heard Spurs had gone ahead I resisted the temptation to put it on. When it went 2-0 though I sensed that something seismic might be happening. Spurs are well capable of remembering who they are and blowing that kind of lead, but equally they’re really fucking good on the break so there was a chance they’d just keep picking City off. So I switched it on at half time and I’m glad I did, because I really enjoyed that second half! They led 2-0 courtesy of a Maddison brace (on his birthday, he's 28!!! How did that happen?), but City had started really well and should have taken the lead through the cave troll. Maybe it would have been different if they had scored first, but I doubt it given how they looked throughout the game. City have been increasingly vulnerable this season to the point that they now look like a quivering mess when they don’t have the ball. There are gaps everywhere (presumably the Rodri factor) but they don’t have the legs to cover the gaps anymore. Gvardiol in particular is all at sea at the moment and seems to be suffering a severe case of PTSDoak. He defo hasn’t been the same since the two chasings he had from our wee boy. Spurs just ran all over them, while also using the ball intelligently to pick them apart. Their second half display was really measured and clever, just defending well and then picking their moments to attack. It was a masterclass in how to beat City, really impressive stuff. It’s hard not to watch that and think “if Spurs can do that, what will we be able to do to them?”. Hopefully we’ll find out on Sunday. Spurs are weird though. I always say goal difference is a good barometer of where a team should be. You can tell the frauds and the under-achievers based on goal difference, and right now Spurs are second only to us. Yet they’re 12 points behind us in 6th place. Why? Because they’ve thrown away some games they should have won. They should be finishing in the Champions League places but no-one will be shocked if they don’t, because they’re Spurs. View full article

Well that was fucking brilliant. What a performance. From start to finish we dominated Real Madrid and but for that Postman Pat looking goon in goal this would have been a mauling for the ages. We’ve had a lot of wins already this season, but some of us have been wondering when the “statement win” that would really put the stamp on this now being Slot’s era was going to come. You could have previously argued that it already happened with Leverkusen, but I don’t think you can make that argument now after this. Leverkusen was great but this was another level, because of who it was and how we did it. Beating Real Madrid so comprehensively in front of a raucous Anfield crowd, THAT is his statement win. We’ll remember this one for a while. Doesn’t matter that it was a group game. Doesn’t matter that they had a few players missing. It’s Real Madrid, our bogey team, and they still had some of the most famous players in the world in their line up. “Real are down to the bare bones” McManaman kept saying. Bare bones of Courtois in goal, Rudiger in defence, Modric, Bellingham and Camavinga in midfield plus Mbappe up front. Yeah bare bones. Vinicius Jr will have been watching this thanking his lucky stars for that injury so he didn’t have run the gauntlet of Bradley and Konate. Maybe he saw it coming and cried off! Had Vinicious been playing, Mbappe would have been in a different role, probably centre forward. The one time he ventured into that area Van Dijk hit him so hard he literally ended up standing on his head. Go and look, there are photos to prove it! Mbappe has struggled since moving there and the excuse was that he wasn’t getting to play in his preferred left wing position. Well here was his chance to shine, and what happened? Conor Bradley bullied him and stole his lunch money. We lusted after Mbappe for years. Not just the fans, Kloppo too. He was the ultimate fantasy signing, the one "if only we could get him". You know what though, I'll say it. He couldn’t play for Liverpool. He doesn’t have what it takes. I’m not talking about talent, obviously he has the talent to play in any team, past present or future. He’s ridiculously gifted both technically and physically. He’s a lazy cunt though and he’s not someone you want in the trenches. I know I’m biased, but give me my boy Darwin all fucking day. He’s a Liverpool player, because he works his fucking arse off and he feels it. He’s emotional, passionate, and puts the team first. Disagree all you want, that’s fine, you’re allowed to be wrong and I won’t hold it against you as we’re all friends here. We’ve seen Mbappe at Anfield a couple of times now and he’s been shite. The first time, with PSG, he was a fucking disgrace. Standing around, never chasing back and trying to outdo Neymar for the “biggest preening tit on the pitch” award. This time I don’t even think it was that. He didn’t do any defensive work but at least when he had the ball he was trying hard to make things happen. He just couldn’t do it because Bradley and Konate were right up in his shit the entire night. View full article

What a night! The Reds dominated Real Madrid at Anfield as goals from Mac Allister and Gakpo secured the points to maintain the 100% record in the Champions League and exorcise some of the Madrid inflicted demons. Chris Smith is joined by John Brennan and TLW Editor Dave Usher to reflect on the statement Arne Slot win we've been waiting for, and to look ahead to what will hopefully be another this Sunday. View full article

This is a massive three points in the context of the weekend, but bloody hell we sure made hard work of it. It was a strange game as it wasn’t like the Palace or Wolves away games where we just didn’t have it at all. This wasn’t that bad apart from the two stupid goals. We were well on top, didn’t give them much of a sniff for the most part but because we gave them two daft goals it made it much harder than it needed to be, and we were actually quite fortunate to win in the end, but I’ll get to why I think that later. The bottom line is that, as we’ve done many times already this season, we found a way. Good job too as I would have gone fucking nuclear if we’d failed to beat Southampton. It would have been unforgivable. The Forest loss was bad but that can happen, it’s football. Dropping points at Southampton though, that can’t happen. It’s a whole other level of unacceptable. They’re the worst team in the league and they’re absolutely tailor made for us. You can’t not win this game. They play out from the back at every opportunity, taking stupid risks that cost them goals virtually every week, and they’re the lowest scorers in the league. The only question is how many do you win by. Anything other than a win is a disgrace, barring some exceptional circumstances like a sending off or one of those games when you have a million shots and it just won’t go in. This wasn’t that, and therefore you simply have to win. That might sound disrespectful but it’s true. If you lose away to Palace, Forest, Bournemouth, Brentford, Wolves or other bottom half regulars that can happen. They’ve got good players who can hurt you if you aren’t on it, but I’m not having that with Southampton (or Leicester or Ipswich for that matter, but especially Southampton due to how they play). Look at the line up they put out. Ryan Fraser at full back, 50 year old Alex McCarthy with his Paulie Walnuts wings in goal, Manute Bol at centre forward….They had no fucking chance in this game. Or at least they shouldn’t have. View full article

It was a lot closer than we'd have liked but Mo Salah came through in the clutch again as the Reds overcame Southampton to extend their lead at the top of the league to eight points. TLW Editor Dave Usher is joined by Paul Natton and Stu Montagu to reflect on a strange game at St Mary's and to look ahead to a massive week as Real Madrid and Manchester City both come to Anfield. View full article

Monday Nov 18: Another assist for Doak and a stoppage time winner for Robbo as Scotland won in Poland. Bradley scored for Northern Ireland too, although they blew a 2-0 lead to draw in Luxembourg. I had a look at that group table as I was honestly wondering if that’s the first point Luxembourg had ever picked up. Turns out they have three now just in THIS group, let alone whatever they may have done in previous years. Not gonna lie, that blew my mind. That’s actually pretty impressive for a tiny country like that. It got me thinking though, have they ever won a game against someone other than the likes of San Marino or the Faroes? So I checked, and I was shocked. Get this; in their last Nations League campaign two years ago they played six, won three, drew twice and only lost one game. Their group was Turkey, Lithuania and the Faroe Islands, which means they must have had a draw and a win against Turkey and Lithuania. Is that not really shocking or is it just me? The campaign before that, they played six, won three, drew one and lost two in a group containing Montenegro, Azerbaijan and Cyprus. So my take away is that the Nations League is clearly dogshit, but it’s great for tiny countries like Luxembourg who have spent their entire existence previously getting fucking spanked in World Cup and Euro qualifiers. So then I checked the World Cup qualifying results to confirm…. Kinell!! Wrong again. They finished third in a six team group having won five of their ten games. What’s going on here, how is this not getting more recognition? They finished above Iceland, Bosnia and Herzogovina and… aaaahhhhhh, Liechtenstein!! That’s when it hit me. I was confusing Luxembourg with Liechenstein. That was a waste of five minutes of research. Also a waste of your time reading it, but it’s an international break with not much happening, what do you want from me? View full article