Defending Set Pieces - A Statistical Analysis
It's silly season again. Time to double click on that football manager icon and see who the next football wunderkind is. Time to test your f5 button's durability. And most importantly time to complain about FSG and their transfer policy. I was thinking about writing on the hot topic but I as I have said before - I just hate narratives. So let's have a look at something positive that has been going on for a few months now - …
Coutinho January sale would be stupidity of the highest order
Selling Philippe Coutinho in the January transfer window would be a brazen, stupid act of the highest order, even for the standards of Liverpool FC.
After a summer-long saga of the Catalan giants attempting to prize Liverpool's Golden Boy away from the ground where he's picked up repeated Golden Samba's, the Reds stood firm and moved past the autumn transfer deadline with Coutinho in their ranks.
Since then he's embarked on a run of form practically unprecedented on a personal …
FSG Out? Be Careful What You Wish For
There is no doubt that Fenway Sports are investors first and sports fans second, but new owners would be far less likely to bring the riches of Gulf oil or Russian politics to the table and much more likely to take the club in the same direction as Aston Villa, Cardiff City and Portsmouth.
Mo Chatra wrote for The Anfield Index an article called “Follow The Moore’s and Cash In”. It essentially made the case that Fenway Sports should sell …
FSG – Follow The Moores and Cash In
When the Moores family put their majority stake in Liverpool Football Club up for sale in 2003, it was largely driven by an acceptance that they simply could not compete with rivals’ riches. Writing to The Times in May 2010, just over three years after his ill-fated decision to sell to Tom Hicks and George Gillett, David Moores explained, “The decision to sell was taken in 2003, when it became clear that greater investment in the club was needed than …
Liverpool's Transfer Committees, Sporting Directors and the need to Step Up
Since FSG have come into the club, transfers have been a mixed bag. There have been some resounding successes in the likes of Sturridge, Coutinho, Mane and Salah. There have also been some real flops like Lovren, Lambert, Balotelli and others. Michael Edwards has had to play a big role in all of this.
Edwards arrived as Head of Performance and Analysis and, more recently, worked with Brendan Rodgers as part of the now infamous Transfer Committee. This was one …
FSG & Why 'Net Spend' is Irrelevant and Misleading
Today, I read a popular article on the Echo website titled 'FSG - how much have Liverpool's owners really invested in players?'.
It's undeniably an interesting read, but one that is misleading - though I do not hold the writer culpable for this. The very nature of the premise 'how much have Liverpool's owners really invested in players' is unfortunately caught up with a great deal of misinformation that stems from the transfer orientated reporting of club business.
The result …
Klopp the Tactician: From Dortmund to Liverpool
Following on from my three-part series "The Klopp Project" which took a longer-term view on things (select the links for part 1, part 2 and part 3), I thought I would assess where Jurgen Klopp is in the present moment. Klopp the innovative tactician in Germany has been well documented. But what about Klopp the tactician at Liverpool? In assessing his time at LFC, we have to throw the conventional rules out the window.
Klopp's system does not rely on …
Liverpool in Crisis? Really?
One thing that identifies Liverpool supporters and possibly sets us apart from others is the sheer range of emotions when it comes to following the club. For example, you’ll often hear talk of us ‘being by far the greatest team the world has ever seen’ even when we languish in 7th place with a solitary victory in seven games. On the other hand, there are people who are talking like this is the worst Liverpool side/manager/owners the club have had in …
The Klopp Project (Part 3): Challenging for the title
In my previous pieces, you can also read part 1 and part 2, I discussed the challenges facing Jurgen Klopp, or indeed any Liverpool manager, in landing the league title. Namely, the issue of finances and the sensible "restrictions" FSG pose on spending money; also, the issues that Klopp's tactical approach has had in overcoming the proverbial parked bus. This series is a look at what it takes to win a title so I will look at various options available …
The Klopp Project (Part 1): Great Expectations
So. Liverpool Football Club. This great club of ours. Steeped in history and tradition, but in many ways still a sleeping giant on the biggest stage. A club that hasn't won the top domestic prize for 27 years, a club whose fans have developed a perhaps unhealthy obsession with winning league title number 19 and the club's first league title in the Premier League era.
The question everyone wants to know is how long do we have to wait? Of …