The What Could Have Been Liverpool XI: The Defence
There have been several players in Liverpool's recent past who have enjoyed the best football of their careers at Anfield and inscribed themselves into the club's history with memorable performances.
Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Fernando Torres -- to name but three -- either spent all of their careers or, in Gerrard's case as good as, with the Reds or -- with Torres as an example -- enjoyed their career-best runs of form in a Liverpool shirt.
There have been …
5 Things Liverpool Should Try Once They've Won the League
It feels surreal, really, given absolutely no Liverpool fan is willing to actually say the words. You know the ones. The ones in the title of this article. Liverpool. Premier League champions. It all feels like a huge joke, really.
Then the numbers hit you. An unassailable lead. Not borne out of logic, but of history: no team has ever had a twenty-two-point lead in Europe’s top five leagues. This Liverpool side are the most feared in the world at …
Do Liverpool need a Christmas Caulker?
To a casual observer, Steven Caulker's six-month loan move to Liverpool in January 2016 represented the most bizarre of transfers.
It's very rare that top-six Premier League teams actually bring players in on loan, rather than sending them away, especially from a team - Queens Park Rangers in this case - floundering in the Championship.
However, the deal made some sort of sense when the context was added.
Caulker, a phoenix from the ashes
With Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren …
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 …
How Ragnar Klavan has become Liverpool’s new cult hero
Who else thinks Ragnar Klavan’s last-minute winner at Burnley has made it into their favourite 10 Reds goals of all time?
That may be both short-termist and an overreaction, but there was something special about it.
It was a goal that leaves you on top of the world for hours afterwards, feeling invincible. I could have knocked out Mike Tyson between approximately 4:50pm and 10pm, or cruised to victory over Mo Farah in the 10,000 metres.
There were probably a …
Lucas Leiva: The Intangible Benefits of Liverpool's Most Experienced Player
I’m pleased it was Lucas.
For all the talk of Jurgen’s ambitious new shavers coming in to kick start the FA Cup campaign, it took the oldest head in red to beat his man at the near post and thunder in from close range. A goal from the other end of the Woodburn/Leeds scale. Old man comes in and saves the day rather than a new buck makes a good start for Liverpool. As a man of advanced years I …
Liverpool's Late Winners
Learning to Love the Fat Lady’s Tune
When Sadio Mané reacted fastest to the rebound, breaking Everton hearts on Monday night, he unleashed the most primal act in all of us. If you weren’t at Goodison, then, like me, you were up off the couch, fists clenched with the most guttural of roars leaving your throat.
Relief, coupled with mild disbelief, takes over. You watch the players celebrate, dreading the linesman’s flag, then you hear Mike Dean’s whistle during the …
Damien Comolli and his Liverpool Flops
Damien Comolli decided to piggyback on the recent success of Jordan Henderson to once again get his name in the headlines. The ex-Director of Football at Liverpool has claimed the club's owners fired him after telling him that £16million man Jordan Henderson was a waste of money. In quotes taken from a report in the Daily Mirror the Frenchman went on to say:
“The day I got sacked they [Liverpool’s owners] told me I had made a big mistake …
Attack, Liverpool's best form of defence
Three games into the new Premier League campaign, Liverpool have conceded six goals, whilst scoring just five. Experiments with players operating in new positions, no clear preferred back five, or defined midfield protection, result understandably in questions being asked, even at this early stage. The mistakes and uncertainty will fail to alleviate fans fears, that the defensive frailties of seasons past, have once more not been addressed this summer.
When Jürgen Klopp arrived, the area I thought he'd address first …
Liverpool 2016/17 - Season Preview and Predictions
Going from “we’re going to win the league” after beating Barcelona 4-0, to the outlook being doom and gloom within just 24 hours after losing to Mainz by the same scoreline is precisely why I try not to read too much into pre-season friendlies. They are essentially just for fitness, integrating new players and coaches trying out things from the training pitch in a match situation. Some things can be taken from pre-season, good and bad, but the opening Premier …