Why Liverpool Should Return for Julian Draxler
Following a superbly eye-catching Confederations Cup, the stock of one former German wunderkind turned peripheral star seems to have not been higher.
Julian Draxler, formerly of Schalke and VfLWolfsburg, is a name hitting the rumour mill once again, with the news that Paris Saint-Germain are set to continue on their path to utter and total supremacy via the purchase of Monaco’s Kylian Mbappe. A forward arsenal of Mbappé, Neymar, Edinson Cavani, Àngel Di Maria, Lucas Moura, Goncalo Guedes and Javier …
Liverpool's Uncharted August
Early in July we all had our favorite Liverpool writer we looked to for transfer intel, but those usually clued-in were mostly silent. Into the void stepped a new batch of ITK’s with exotic ties to unnamed “sources” from far away lands. We quietly hoped they had it right. They didn’t.
Curiously, they were all telling similar tales, that Liverpool would at least have the second of their top three targets leaning on walls and swapping stories about their Istanbul …
A Banquet Without Wine - Book Review
A Banquet Without Wine by Anthony Stanley
Book Review by Shane Clancy for AnfieldIndex.com
This was a monumental undertaking for Anthony Stanley. The book provides a fast-moving, yet brilliantly detailed history of our great club in the Premier League era.
First things first - there is only one specific requirement to guarantee your love of this book; you must be a Liverpool fan. Jeez, even if you’re just a football fan that should do it.
Anthony has made a pretty …
What Has Happened To Liverpool's Fanbase?
Liverpool supporters pride themselves on being one of, if not the best, fan base in the world.
It is something that has been associated with the Reds throughout history, and while a certain level of bias will always be involved, I have often thought no set of fans are quite as passionate, intelligent and proud of their team.
Anfield creates European nights like no other, supporters come together tremendously in moments of adversity and managers and players across the globe …
Peter Moore: The CEO We All Need
Football is a divisive topic by its very nature. Most people would have hoped Twitter, Whatsapp, Facebook and the like would have brought fans together, settling differences and squabbling. Instead, echo-chambers developed and Twitter is now one of the most toxic, reactive and fickle forums - add in some frustration with the club's performance, a transfer saga, or even a rival club signing a good player, and suddenly the typical Liverpool fan's timeline goes into meltdown: as memes, quotes from …
Silence at Anfield
It's all gone eerily quiet around Anfield. Not long ago the mood was euphoric; Liverpool had secured Champions League football, and were heading the race to sign Van Dijk. Rather uncharacteristically for Klopp's Liverpool, the news regarding Van Dijk was out in the open, before the player had put pen to paper, or even before Liverpool had submitted a formal offer.
After that almighty omnishambles, which played out for the entire football world to see, Liverpool have shut-up shop. In terms of transfer …
A Fickle Fanbase & the van Dijk Repercussions
For too long, Liverpool have placed far too much emphasis on talking about transfers, and have subsequently lacked the dynamism in the market to back that talk up with meaningful actions. Liverpool over the years have consequently developed an extensive list of missed targets that the club widely reported our interest in. Such an approach has left the Liverpool fan-base disappointed and embarrassed on countless occasions, as we’ve expected to sign a player, and embraced the hype surrounding that player, …
The Seven Year Itch | FSG - A Review
In October of 2010, Fenway Sports Group purchased Liverpool FC for £300 million. In his first statement as owner, John Henry claimed,
'We're here to win and we'll do whatever is necessary.'Fast-forward almost seven years later, and fans are still divided as to whether FSG have been good owners for the club, and whether the club has progressed, regressed, or simply remained stationary for this period. Under FSG, Liverpool FC have had four managers: Roy Hodgson (sacked January 2011), Kenny …
The Boston VVD Party
A few weeks ago I wrote a piece for Anfield Index, urging the club to be step up the quality of its transfer targets. No more, I claimed, should we shop at the local grocers when we can afford to stroll the aisles at Harrods. After all, we’ve entered the porches of the elite now and are allowed to move away from the discount section.
Because the title involved the acronym ‘FSG’ the comments were crammed with people either defending …
Deja Vu All Over Again: Liverpool's Summer Madness
Ah, the Summer of 2014… World Cup fans on Copa Cabana beach were lining up in front of a poster of Luis Suarez and Liverpool were lining up new signings for our return to the Champions League.
The moment Giorgio Chiellini pulled down his shirt to reveal a Suarez shaped bite mark on his shoulder we all knew El Pistolero would be among the outgoings. Though Suarez could never truly be replaced, surely the club would do whatever it took …