The Normal One: Klopp - Must Not Be Put On A Pedestal
Jurgen Klopp’s arrival at Liverpool has certainly caught the imagination of our fans. English football followers will be well versed with the charismatic German manager – the Klopp cult has translated across borders. His popularity comes from his electric interviews, his effortless charisma and the terrifying intensity of football his teams attempt to play. Backing up all these attributes are trophies and success that give his public demeanour a credibility that Brendan Rodgers frankly lacked.
However, it was not all …
The Committee Has Done Some Good at Liverpool
For the sympathisers of Rodgers in the media Liverpool’s problems owed more to the much vilified transfer committee than the Northern Irishman. It is the mitigating factor in Rodgers’ performance at Liverpool and it is spread as a blanket over his own failings. Rather than facilitate the work of a promising young British manager, the transfer committee shackled the Brendan Rodgers, his supporters argue. That does not stand the truth test. The “defence team” have repetitively demonized the structure and …
Can Adam Lallana Buck Up His Ideas?
Adam Lallana is something of a head-scratcher when it comes to Liverpool Football Club and even disregarding his £25 Million fee entirely there is still debate over his transfer. A player who neither fits in with the titillatingly direct and pacey football of 2013/14 or the slower, possession based approach that Brendan Rodgers wished to implement when he was first appointed. The England International would appear to fit somewhere in between. To assess his potential for transition and growth there …
Klopp Vs Rodgers: The Aggressive Unknown
I’ll start-off slow.
Over the last few decades there’s been a sense that we should aim to repeat the past. We tried. And, in 2013/14, we came close: but this was never a realistic ambition.
The club placed itself under the self-inflicted tyranny of “the weight of the shirt” – a philosophy Brendan Rodgers was only too happy to reinforce to our players. “Don’t forget who you’re playing for”, “it’s an iconic club”, “the shirt is heavy”, and other seemingly …
Gegenpressing at Liverpool - Could It Work?
Gegenpressing has become a buzzword in football. It's one of those words that makes people think you're a football hipster if you know what it means
"Why are you saying Gegenpressing? Why not just call it pressing?"I'm sure many of you are familiar with the term now but for those that aren't the term Gegenpressing in English means counter pressing. It's a pretty simplistic idea with a foreign name and this is what makes it sound complex. …
From Doubters, To Believers
“I am the normal one” - the words that endeared every Liverpool fan to Klopp. Not that it was needed. Jurgen had already arrived with much acclaim. It’s been a long time since a Liverpool manager was so revered.
The smile, the turned up jeans, the funky glasses. The moment he grabbed Ian Ayre and Tom Werner like the hulk catching his prey. You begin to understand just why this man is so loved by those associated with BVB.
Part …
A New Era - A Chance For Forgotten Liverpool Players
Jürgen Klopp. Wow, a breath of fresh air has been breathed into our recently stale club. The ideas and excitement of the possibilities. The belief that this charismatic German will give the club another chance at success. To wake up the sleeping giants. But does that account solely for the club and fans? No. When Monday morning comes there will be a different atmosphere within Melwood (Liverpool’s training facilities), there may be doubts from some players, there may be excitement …
Klopp's arrival - Rafa Parallels & Battle Cries!
At White Hart Lane on Tottenham’s High Road, Liverpool’s latest hotly anticipated football revolution will begin again. Perhaps not in the sparkling splendour of the blistering sunshine of August 2004, when a trim and sharply dressed Rafa Benitez first stepped out into the away dugout as the new LFC manager, embarking on his mission to return the Reds to domestic and European success, but a revolution nonetheless. It’s not a season opener this time around either, but it sure as …
Green-Eyed Monsters - Klopp and Coutinho Are Subjects Of Envy
Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on. Iago, Othello Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind. Buddha Envy blinds men and makes it impossible for them to think clearly. Malcolm XWhen Moses wandered back down off Mount Sinai with a pair of stone proto-iPads emblazoned with his surly deity's house rules, he …
Klopp - The Appliance of Science!
I’ll start by saying he’s not a Zanussi washing machine!
What can make us different from our competitors? We have the same view of all the players, managers, staff and other things out there as the next club so what are the dividing lines that make us what we are? Theoretically, it is a combination of how we do things and what we do that builds a rich culture that makes the difference. Behaviour is shaped by it. I once …