The Curious Case of Dejan Lovren
It’s good to be a Liverpool supporter right now. The team is top of the table after the first matchweek, and the opener could not have gone any better. The additions in the summer appear to be spot on, and the team looks truly up for it this season. But it’s not 100% sunshine and rainbows for Liverpool at the moment as the club seems unable to go too long with some drama. While Salah’s multi-tasking driving skills may be …
Rating Liverpool's Transfer Window
The new Premier League season is finally upon us, and after last season's changes, the transfer window slamming shut comes with it.
Liverpool were the biggest spenders in England this summer, and fans and pundits alike are touting Klopp's men for a big season. But just how good was their transfer window?
In:
Following the Champions League final on the 26th May Reds fans weren't in the highest spirits. Salah's injury coupled with Karius' blunders (no matter what caused them), …
Klopp's Liverpool and Doing Things the Fun Way
Playing the Liverpool way.
It’s a fairly common trope, perhaps an oxymoron when every football club seems to have a “way” these days – there’s even a “Norwich way”, apparently. For Liverpool fans, however, identity is everything. Football is bound together by its unique fan culture, the interconnectedness of the football landscape means stories are perpetuated, and Liverpool’s story is one of decorated trophy cabinets and an envied atmosphere.
Perhaps Anfield’s atmosphere hasn’t lived up to its hype recently.
But …
A Back Four Ready to Compete? - Liverpool FC Squad Analysis
Liverpool kicked off the season with a delightful 4-0 win on Sunday, conceding only two shots on target and rarely looking in trouble.
The back four was among the youngest seen in recent memory during a Premier League game and played together like a group of players ready to kick on this year. Virgil van Dijk anchored a defence with an average age under 23 years old, continuing to prove himself the most gifted leader the defence has seen since …
Liverpool 2018/19: A Tactical Preview
How do Liverpool play? It's a simple question, but with the arrival of both Naby Keïta, Fabinho and Alisson, as well as the progression of Liverpool's tactics under Jürgen Klopp since he joined in 2016, the answer requires a more detailed response than the question initially indicates.
There are three main tactical phases in football: on-ball, off-ball and the transition. With Liverpool's signings and their skillsets, the on-ball phase may be the one most different this season. Hence, we'll start …
Why Liverpool Must Find Their Coutinho Replacement
Liverpool’s pursuit of Nabil Fekir looks to be over (for the time being), and with it has come another question: do Liverpool currently have their optimal squad? Or should they return to the market once more, with the intent of finally replacing the man who formerly practised his magic at Anfield?
Well, quite simply, yes. It might not be Fekir, nor might it be someone who will fit what Coutinho did immediately, but the Reds aren’t a complete team: at …
Leon Bailey and that "Concrete Interest"
With the breaking news this morning that Bailey himself confirmed Liverpool have a “concrete interest” in him, I decided to follow on from my pieces on Fekir & Pulisic with a look at the Leverkusen star, Leon Bailey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfzKDAPd9VY
Above: Reliable Bundesliga journalist, Old Gregg, hinting at a move to Liverpool.
My mind wandered this morning to that exact moment I fell in love with him, as a player. I had seen him a few times, mostly in cameos or a …
Should Liverpool Persist with Injury-prone Players?
It's a debate that rumbles on every summer surrounding Daniel Sturridge and whether his injury record can see him as a reliable squad member - and the question has once again reared its ugly head this week.
Injuries to both Adam Lallana and Joel Matip saw them head home to miss Liverpool's final part of pre-season, leaving us asking as to whether both can be trusted members of the unit Klopp takes into the season.
As I've just mentioned, this …
Team Management and Squad Depth All Point to Success
In my last piece, which you can read here I discussed the potential for Liverpool to be genuine league title contenders. I still stand by that. The current squad, as it stands, is good enough.
No Excuses
The encouraging thing is that Jurgen Klopp has continued to defy the critics throughout his tenure at Anfield. He doesn't always do things in a way that perceived "popular" thinking would expect. That's natural as he is the man who sees everything on a day-to-day …
Div or Dom, it's time to move on
Pre-season is a time for players to either pick up where they left off the previous campaign or gain a fresh start, putting a turbulent season behind them and trying to stake a claim in the first-team. Dominic Solanke and Divock Origi fall into that category, facing a crucial summer in their Liverpool careers after a mixed time of it in the Premier League and Bundesliga respectively.
A year ago, it was Solanke who won the battle between the two, …