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 …
Naby Keita is Showing Exactly Why Klopp Waited so Patiently for Him
Jurgen Klopp's first game in charge back in October 2015 saw Adam Bogdan, Kolo Toure, Connor Randall, Joao Texeira, Joe Allen, Jerome Sinclair and Jordon Ibe feature on the bench - none of whom are still at the club.
In contrast, the bench against West Ham on the opening game of the 2018/19 Premier League season contained Fabinho, Henderson, Lallana, Shaqiri and Sturridge - five players capable of changing the outcome of the contest.
Key to such a strenuous rebuild …
Liverpool 4-0 West Ham: A Tactical Breakdown
Liverpool picking up where they left off at the end of the 2017/18 season would have been the perfect way to kick start a league season, and Liverpool did just that. There were 92 days between Liverpool's last home league game against Brighton and the opening fixture against West Ham, but the results were identical: 4-0 drubbings. However, while the results may have been the same, the personnel and the tactics were certainly not.
Alisson and Keïta were the only real …
Brilliant (but not enough) signings leave LFC riding on luck in title charge
Liverpool’s aggressive and early dealings left many, not least usually sceptical fans impressed. For so long “monitoring of targets” and “staying in conversations for top players” defined the club’s dealings in the transfer market. The swiftness and efficiency that characterised the summer was therefore received with a welter of joy and shock. In Alisson, Fabinho, Naby Keita and Shaqiri, the club’s decisiveness in dealing with some key weaknesses in the squad was been self-evident.
However, with Liverpool, there is always …
Why this is a defining season for Jürgen Klopp
On the dawn of Liverpool's 2018/19 Premier League campaign, excitement could not be more palpable.
A solid season last year with some exquisite performances saw Reds fans treated to some fine displays which led them all the way to the Champions League final and to a second consecutive fourth-place finish in the league.
Last season's final in Kiev was Klopp's third major final since he took charge of Liverpool back in October 2015, but his side are yet to win …
Football Religion - Liverpool FC
‘Good afternoon,’ the tall bespectacled man beamed, his thinning sandy hair shifted in the breeze. ‘Please take a seat for today’s paean.’ His hands indicated left or right, seating arrangements of little concern, the emphasis is on being present – the only thing of importance here. A congregation, worldwide, lusting for today’s eulogy.
Around the country – and the world – there are many such temples, a spectrum of different shapes and sizes. Yet there is a difference here, minor, …
Liverpool v West Ham United Preview - Key Battles
The World Cup is over. The transfer window has, to use a particular cliché, slammed shut. Now it’s time for the actual thing – the real football. For nine months across the length and breadth of England (and a little bit of Wales), 20 teams to fight it out for one prize. Before a ball has been kicked in the season, Liverpool are seen as closer to that prize than they have been for quite a long time. But that …
Premier League 2018/19 Season Preview
After an enormously entertaining World Cup full of drama and decadence, we the football faithful have been cast into the darkness of a month without the beautiful game. This has not stopped the majority of the big Premier League clubs from making money moves in anticipation. Ahead, we preview what to expect from them this season.
Arsenal
Arsenal’s relatively early business in securing the tenacious Lucas Torreira (aptly auto-corrected to terrier), supplemented with the earlier additions of Borussia Dortmund’s spine, …
Time For Gini Wijnaldum To Be Unleashed
Remember the player we all thought we were getting when Gini Wijnaldum signed for Liverpool two years ago?
It was a transfer that came out of left field, with the Dutchman rarely linked with a move before becoming the seventh permanent signing of Jurgen Klopp's reign.
Wijnaldum had blown hot and cold at Newcastle United, with some Magpies fans critical of his limp, almost disinterested performances away from St James' Park, but his attacking quality was undeniable.
During the one …