Injecting Forward Passing Into Liverpool's Midfield
In his first ever press conference as Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp was asked about the style of play we should expect to see the team play during his tenure, ‘Umschaltspiel’, he replied. This is a German footballing term but it roughly translates to ‘shift game’, which essentially means ‘transition game’ in England. Two full seasons later, it’s safe to say that Liverpool is now a side that thrives on exploiting moments in transition using speed, energy and the ability to …
The Strange Case of Liverpool Fans Enjoying the Summer
Jurgen Klopp has done it - he made us (most of us, including me) believers. For the first time in ages, I was able to enjoy my summer without worrying about Liverpool football club. And I have to admit it was strange. I didn't feel the need to read rumours, I didn't F5, didn't track flights or vans - I finally trust the people making the decisions. And that is the overwhelming feeling among the supporters, which has never been …
Faith and Football: Liverpool's Muslim Men
What do Mo Salah, Sadio Mané, Xherdan Shaqiri and Naby Keïta have in common? Besides their football club, of course. The answer I'm looking for though is their religion, Islam.
It's very rare in my writing that I stray away from tactics, statistics or areas in which I feel well-versed in, indeed, identity and faith are aspects rarely covered by sporting literature in general. Exceptions do stand out - take Muhammad Ali as a physical manifestation of a religiously-centred sportsman, …
Has Klopp built a stronger back-up squad to the XI he inherited?
This summer's been a bit of a whirlwind, hasn't it? We've had the highs and lows of England's World Cup campaign, with ironic jeers of 'it's coming home' appearing more and more realistic as the Three Lions reached the semi-final. The dramatic use of VAR to keep pulses racing as modern technology enlarges its grip on football. The widespread appreciation of Jordan Henderson and his importance to the national side in Russia.
I could go on.
As far as the …
Two Beaches, One Red Bum? LFC's World Cup Summers
Four weeks remain until the transfer window slams shut and Liverpool have added one senior player. One. Is it time to panic or is this just business as usual during a World Cup summer? The only logical thing to do, painful as it may be, is to get in the way-back machine turn the dial back to the summer of 2014.
By this point in that summer, the Reds were ahead of the pace, having already raided Southampton twice and …
How James Milner Became an Unlikely Liverpool Hero
Monday saw Liverpool’s non-World Cup players return to Melwood, with much of the pre-season focus on Naby Keita and Fabinho’s first day with their new teammates.
Various photos and videos were released to give an idea of what the day entailed - Keita meeting Jurgen Klopp on the stairs and receiving a giant hug was a great moment - but one clip stood out more than anything.
James Milner, pouring with sweat and pacing around, surrounded by colleagues sat on …
Liverpool's Change of Striking Options for 2018-19
With the World Cup in full swing, it’s been wonderfully quiet on the LFC front. Indeed, if the club needed to negotiate a bad story through a usually vigilant media, it could do no better than to do this of all months. The footballing world is caught up in Diego Maradona, VAR and Chris Sutton’s constant tone of confusion and disappointment.
But one thing has come out this week. Danny Ings has announced, having received no guarantees about his first-team …
Edwards' Golden Boy Image Depends On His Next Move
Rewind a couple of weeks and Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards was being suggested as the next Red to be knighted. Michael and Edward were the most common baby names on Merseyside. Local sculptors were providing sketches for bronze statues... of his laptop.
The surprise signing of Brazilian midfielder, Fabinho, raised enthusiasm for the transfer window and the season to come to levels that haven’t been seen on Merseyside for a generation.
The move was a brilliant one on the …
Jordan Henderson's Progress And How It Might Be Halted
After a commanding performance for his country, Jordan Henderson is finally beginning to get the level of recognition he deserves.
Lining up as the midfield linchpin for his country, Henderson has been presented with an excellent opportunity to impress a significantly broader audience and dispel lasting, and indeed frustrating, misconceptions about his game.
For many who don’t watch Liverpool on a weekly basis, Henderson is synonymous with mediocrity, inefficacy and, above all, his sideways passes. Those individuals tend to assume …
Liverpool FC - Getting Smarter
Liverpool football club is not at the top of the transfer food chain. It's an unpleasant fact but we need to accept it. There are clubs that are richer, stronger and can offer guarantees that LFC just can't. So it's natural that some players will use the famous red jersey as a stepping stone to get to supposedly better clubs. This has been happening for years. Even Steven Gerrard considered it at on point. Just in the past 10 years, …