In the latest episode of the Scouser Tommies Podcast, Jim Boardman and Jay Reid have loads to discuss, including the Champions League draw, the trips to Man City and Newcastle, the games against Wolves and Villa, and some comedy from the neighbours.
It was hardly a surprise when the draw was made that Liverpool got PSG, and so Liverpool fans are facing another trip to a city that was the opposite of welcoming last time the club were there. Those were different circumstances, a final no less, but being back there will stir some unhappy memories that had nothing to do with football.
As for the football itself, Jay and Jim are broadly in agreement with Arne Slot about what the challenge will be, and how those trophies don’t win themselves. Our words not his.
Before any of that though there’s a trip to the far side of Manchester for the game against Pep’s faltering heroes. Fresh from embarrassment against Real Madrid, is this one of the worst times to play them? The league table suggests their hopes of silverware this season rests completely on the FA Cup, but they won’t want to make life easy for the team currently in prime position to take that Premier League title from them.
Recent games for Liverpool, whilst not including a single league defeat, haven’t exactly shown the Reds at their Arne Slot best. But is that not just been Liverpool’s way for years when playing against supposedly easier foes?
As Arne points out, unlike other European leagues, there’s quality all the way through the Premier League, but at times it does feel like that message hasn’t got through to the players, and, sometimes, the fans. By the time players have turned up and the crowd has turned it up the fight has already started and damage has been done. When it comes to the biggest games, there’s a version of LFC that is capable of beating anyone, anywhere. Here’s hoping it’s the one that turns up down the M62 this weekend.
Those last two games include a win against Wolves, albeit with a slightly nervy ending, and a draw against fellow members of the Champions League top eight, Aston Villa. Jay and Jim discuss those games, and as a result the injury list that is just starting to grow.
Despite Cody Gakpo missing through injury and Darwin Nunez just missing, there are still players to choose from up front, even without sticking Curtis Jones up there as an experiment. But it’s at the back where it feels like there may be worrying times ahead.
So far so good in terms of how well the squad has coped with the never-ending list of back-to-back fixtures, but it’s hard not to think Liverpool have been tempting fate by keeping their hands in their pockets during the most recent transfer windows. And it’s not just in terms of having cover and competition for the positions where the Reds have some of the world’s best players. It’s about having options when up against different types of team.
As for Darwin, is it time to accept he’s not going to become the player we thought he might, or is there still something there? And are we handling him right as a club?
Now we know when the Champions League games will be played we have a clearer view of how the fixtures are going to pan out for the Reds from now into April, and none of it looks particularly easy - but nobody ever said it was easy to win cups.
As always, that lot from across the park (soon to be that lot from the middle of nowhere down by the docks), provide us with plenty to chuckle about.
