Anfield, Europe, Liverpool - Here We Go Again
Liverpool, Anfield, Europe. It’s a combination that has a real history of magic. How many great teams have come to Anfield, expecting to get a result, and been summarily turned over, the sheer force of the stadium, the crowd and the team pulling through.
To be fair, in my lifetime, at least, that has certainly been helped by managers that have thrived in European competition. Rafa Benitez was an absolute master of the two-legged knockout, and Jurgen Klopp has a …
Why Liverpool Were Wrong To Loan Nathaniel Clyne
Today, it was announced that Liverpool had agreed a deal with Bournemouth to loan out Nathaniel Clyne until the end of the season. The deal will not come with an option to buy for the south coast club – with the deal merely understood to be put in place for the 27-year-old to play more first-team football.
Clyne joined Liverpool in July 2015, who were then managed by Brendan Rodgers. Joining from Southampton for a fee worth £12.5million, many Reds …
Jurgen Klopp & The Price For Style
There is no correct way to play football no matter how much we may hear the phrase “Play the right way” across the media. The uber-pragmatic style which epitomized the mid-noughties could not be further from the pressing dominant, possession styles of the modern era.
Both Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp employ styles which don’t necessarily adhere to the bulk possession ethos demonstrated by the likes of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City and Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea, however, comparing the …
Can Momentum Be Liverpool’s Greatest Title Weapon?
No team thrives more with momentum behind them than Liverpool.
We are an emotional fanbase and when things are going well, the Reds can become an unstoppable force, as we have witnessed throughout history.
Using modern examples - I know, football existed well before 1992 - nothing stands out more than 2004/05 in that respect.
Nobody even gave Liverpool the slightest chance of glory in the Champions League that season, with countless teams ahead of them in the favourites' pecking …
Deconstructing Steven Gerrard's Start at Rangers
As Rangers fans celebrated luring Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard to Ibrox for a maiden senior management gig this summer, those at Anfield watched on with intrigued eyes.
How would a man that had only experienced management at Youth Academy level fare when thrown in at the deep end, with limited funds, at a club where the expectations and pressure are through the roof? Will it one day be the stepping stone that lands Gerrard the hot-seat back on Merseyside or …
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 …
The Unfair Alberto Moreno Witch-Hunt Returns
First things first: I have been one of Alberto Moreno’s biggest critics over the last few years.
The horrendous performance in the Europa League final essentially cost Liverpool a trophy - he was not the sole reason for the defeat, but the key reason for it - and too many lapses in concentration and a perceived lack of focus have irritated the life out of me.
That footage of him flipping a bottle on the sidelines last season, instead of …
Two Years of Jurgen Klopp
October 8th, 2015 was the day Jurgen Klopp stepped into his role as Liverpool F.C. manager. Considered a real coup, the club had brought in a manager of established quality to try and end a frustrating trophy drought.
It's been a whirlwind of a two years - has Klopp turned doubters into believers?
Positives
When Klopp walked into Anfield, he took up a distinctly average team without an identity. Having come sixth in the 2014/15 Premier League season, Liverpool were …
Alberto Moreno: Will he be vindicated?
Alberto Moreno’s endured a pretty gruelling time since becoming a Liverpool player in 2014. Arriving from Sevilla, the Spaniard joined as a very attack minded, promising left-back with pace to burn. His defensive abilities, however, have always come under scrutiny. Take a look back at the 2016 Europa League final against his former-club Sevilla for example, with the left-back’s error filled performance at the heart of Liverpool’s second-half capitulation.
Caught out of position, Moreno left a gaping hole down the …
Make-Or-Break Season For Divock Origi
Footballers go in and out of fashion all the time, and any slight lull can see them in danger of being cast aside to the scrap heap in no time.
It wasn’t long ago at all that Divock Origi was almost walking on water at Liverpool, earning acclaim from every corner of Anfield and looking like a striker of gigantic promise.
That was in the second-half of 2015/16, when a string of dominant performances leading the line helped the Reds …