Player Ratings As Much Changed Liverpool Fight Back In Style
Jurgen Klopp made an array of changes for Liverpool's midweek trip to Burnley, with Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino all out of the starting eleven while Divock Origi was rewarded for his last-gasp winner against Everton at the weekend.
Cork's opening goal for the home side put the Reds on the back foot, from which it looked incredibly hard to fight back and earn three points to keep up pressure on Manchester City. However, a mixture of sheer …
Why so serious? Confessions of a negative Liverpool fan
Since the 2013/14 run-in specifically, but probably far before that, there has been a sect of Reds supporters who have not felt safe to embrace positivity. There have been peaks and valleys where the legions of the negative have ebbed and flowed. If you’ve been so kind to have listened to me on various Anfield Index podcasts, you’ll know that while I have celebrated “the project” and our progress under Rodgers and then with Klopp, I have been reticent to …
Adios, Mi Amigo - Almost Time To Say Goodbye to Alberto Moreno
The international break is typically a time for everyone to take a break and recharge the batteries during a long season. The most you can usually hope for during the week off is having all your players return healthy (which rarely happens for Liverpool) and avoiding any bad news. Yet, a piece of Liverpool transfer news dropped on Monday when it was reported that Alberto Moreno would not be getting a new contract with Liverpool and would be allowed to …
The lesson Fabinho should learn from Andrew Robertson
Liverpool fans are dying to see more of their £39 million man Fabinho Tavares, with sightings of the imposing Brazilian still surprisingly rare after his summer switch from Monaco.
While everyone has been quick to quash any negativity surrounding his lack of game time, citing the arrivals of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Andrew Robertson as perfect examples of Klopp ensuring that his new men are ready, tactically and physically, before throwing them into the starting XI.
These are two good examples …
Red Relationships and Lilywhite Hearts
Sometimes a relationship blows up and both parties end up locked in a contest to show the other what they could have had. The last time Liverpool faced Spurs in London the Reds were thoroughly and unmercifully dumped. Since that painful day, the main source of the drama, Dejan Lovren has been buried, resurrected and replaced. The man taking over for him was the right back on that October afternoon, Joe Gomez.
Simon Mignolet was the man in goal, was …
A Plan of Adaptation: Fabinho Edition
Having spent £40m on Fabinho this summer, some fans would’ve expected him to come straight into the starting eleven and offer a blanket to the back-four we’ve not seen since the days of Javier Mascherano.
Crunching into tackles and feeding the ball to his teammates higher up the pitch, his inclusion would bring Liverpool to new heights amid hopes of a title challenge.
However, the Brazilian hasn’t featured in the opening three games and didn’t even make the bench against …
Liverpool 5-0 Napoli: Player Ratings as Liverpool humble Napoli
Liverpool laid down a marker with the new season on the immediate horizon as they thrashed Napoli 5-0 at the Aviva Stadium.
James Milner, Georginio Wijnaldum, Mohamed Salah, Daniel Sturridge and Alberto Moreno were all on target for the rampant Reds in their penultimate pre-season friendly.
Jurgen Klopp's side flew out of the blocks and built a lead which was never threatened, dictating the tempo throughout.
Here's a look at how the 21 players fielded by Klopp fared in Dublin.
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Sturridge Steals The Show - Liverpool 5-0 Napoli
Liverpool’s pre-season continued in fine fettle as the Reds put Napoli to the sword in Dublin for their penultimate match. The 5-0 rout featured five different scorers, as Milner, Wijnaldum, Salah, Sturridge and Moreno piled the pain on the Italian side.
Liverpool started as they meant to go on, 2-0 up inside ten minutes with Milner the key man. First, he rounded off a decent move between Keita and Mané after Clyne’s pressing won the ball high – Milner’s lashed …
Liverpool Player Ratings From Stoke Stalemate
A performance that makes you wonder why you bothered getting up for it in the first place.
Yes, Liverpool have got bigger fish to fry at the moment, but in a season that's been defined by European nights it seems a little odd that we're not more worried about making sure we're in the Champions League next season.
Onto the ratings where I was tempted to give them all 'N/A' which would today stand for 'Not Arsed'.
A clean sheet, …
An Ode to Liverpool's Flying Full-Backs
It's been a remarkable season for Liverpool, who are likely to secure consecutive Champions League qualifications since 2007-08/08-09 and have had a fantastic run in the Champions League thus far. Instead of merely consolidating the club's top four position, there have been clear signs of improvement and development across both the club and the squad. Two areas, in particular, have been addressed, to most supporters' surprise, with minimal transfer expenditure: the full-back positions.
After a season on the substitution bench, …