
Being: Ian Ayre - A Parody
Ian Ayre sat across from me. A vast expanse of desk separated us. Outside, the Liver Birds eavesdropped on our conversation and inside, a portrait of Shankly lecturing his troops, in a Spartan Anfield dressing room, hung on the wall. Ayre began by outlining details of his, often tortuous, negotiations with Seville for Alberto Moreno, while he nonchalantly carved another notch in the solid oak finish. It was the eighth mark he had gouged this window, but, judging by the look of grim determination …

The Lucky Lucas Shirt
Rumours suggesting that Lucas Leiva could leave this summer may be music in the ears to some, in large part thanks to the massive regression in form shown by the Brazilian since the two long term injuries he suffered, and in some way has never truly recovered from.
Sorry to be the party pooper but I'm not one of them, the news makes me slightly unhappy.
It's not because I look at him and think he still has a lot …

The Psyche of Success | Liverpool FC
Following a season of unprecedented drama, excitement, and entertainment, Liverpool enters its third season under the guidance of forty-one year old manager, Brendan Rodgers. The former Swansea boss has grown and matured in correlation with the squad he has assembled over these two years, creating an attacking, dominant, and extravagant source of entertaining football: a joy for both Kopites and neutrals to behold.
But having sold arduous talisman Luis Suarez to Catalan giants Barcelona following a consecutive biting incident within …

Childhood, Canned Meat and a Liverbird | Liverpool FC
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Liverpool's Transfer Window Shopping
Less than a working week to go before the new season gets underway, and Liverpool have played their last two pre-season friendlies, in preparation for the big push. Games against Jürgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund and Sean Dyche's Burnley, provided Brendan Rodgers's team with their final two tests, in a summer which has taken the Reds to Ireland and the USA, via Preston, before returning to Anfield.
Two victories (4-0 against Dortmund at Anfield last Sunday, and 2-1 against Burnley behind …

From creators to converters: Who's going to step up for Liverpool FC?
Being at the Dortmund game on Sunday was truly the first time that I thought Liverpool were going to kick on from last season without Luis Suarez.
You hear all of the Twitter words of wisdom where people say that the world doesn't end just because Suarez has left - which is true, but still doesn't make you lose the "fear the worst" when you see clips of how many goals he scored last season.
It was said at the …

How the First 10 Games Could Define Liverpool's Season
Anyone who follows me on Twitter will have noticed that I like to break a season down into groups of five games. Why? Well it’s an easy way to monitor how Liverpool are doing in relation to their goals for the season.
2013/14 was all about getting back into the Champions league. I worked out that if Liverpool were achieving 10 out of the 15 points available in every group of five games, they would have a very good chance …

Captain Material | Who Has "Got It" for LFC?
You've got to have a certain type of character to be the captain of a football team - leadership, respect, protection of the team's players. The ability to drive forward when all hope is lost, and to celebrate when the time is right. Coming to the end of last season, we saw all this from Steven Gerrard. What else did we expect?
The whole of that team was driven to get him what he craves most in his football career. …

Liverpool FC - Fit for Purpose
Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool, having finished 2nd playing a breathtaking style of football, have been praised for various qualities – skill, pace, creativity etc but one quality - which they have that has received relatively little comment - is the fitness levels of the players.
With much of Liverpool’s success last season based on blitzing teams early with high intensity pressing – as evidenced by a certain podcast we know and love. (Gags made me add that bit in!)
Rodgers perhaps …

The Guinness International Champions Cup - What’s It All About?
With the Liverpool squad currently touring the United States, I thought it would be a good idea to look into the Guinness International Champions Cup.
This prestigious (if a pre-season kick-about can that) tournament is currently in just its second year after replacing the World Football Challenge twelve months ago, when Real Madrid won. The cup itself consists of eight high-end teams from Europe competing in 13 different venues (the old World Football Challenge had a more even split between …