Kickstart for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at the London Stadium
From 2007 until the last summer, Liverpool had no. 21 who divided opinion. A little-known Brazilian kid came from Gremio, the jeers from his own fans made him stronger, and when he left for Italy in the summer, the jeers turned into love.
No one has quite divided Liverpool fans' opinion in recent times like Lucas Leiva has, and the man who inherited Lucas's no. 21 jersey split opinion even before he kicked a ball wearing the famous red shirt.
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Lucas Leiva: Retire The 21 Shirt
“People just don’t know just how good Lucas is” – Rafa Benitez, 2009.
Well, I think this is it. He’s finally gone.
On Sunday, Lazio tweeted a photo of Lucas Leiva holding one of their scarves and unless he bought it at the airport and just happened to have been spotted by the Roman club’s photographer, it signals the end of his Liverpool career. After ten years and 344 appearances, he’s finally relinquished the number 21 shirt for good.
Of …
Another Crocked Liverbird: Liverpool's Knee-Hilistic Past
Some weeks make you wish God had come up with something other than knees - weeks when you can't wear shorts for fear of seeing your own knees in a mirror and losing all sense of what it means to 'be'. It has been a year since the beginning of one such week, when as a result of two Liverpool employees falling over in unconnected incidents, the phrase ‘anterior cruciate ligament’ achieved unprecedented frequency of use.
At the time, Danny Ings …
Adding Mettle & Metal to Klopp's Rote Maschine
Some parts of Jurgen Klopp’s Rote Maschine are still on the production line, but during the past few weeks there have been signs that some of the components are finally coming together.
Devils in the Detail
Following a run of games which saw Liverpool regularly playing twice a week, the week break between the two Europa League ties against Augsburg, and now Manchester United, gives the manager a rare chance to work with his players in more detail.
Rather than …
The Importance Of Jordan Henderson
So captain Jordan Henderson is injured AGAIN. Surprisingly enough I'm not that surprised. I mentioned it before the Stoke City match on Tuesday night that maybe it was a risk playing Henderson so soon after the Norwich City match, which as we all know was a high intensity match. With the reoccurring injuries it seems Henderson is going to be suffering from now on I think the club and especially the manager Jürgen Klopp needs to manage him and his …
Where are Liverpool's Leaders?
According to the dictonary a leader is the person who leads or commands a group, organisation, or country.
Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Javier Mascherano, Sami Hyppia, these were all players who were natural born leaders and Liverpool fans have been lucky enough to see these players grace the hallowed Anfield turf and Liverpool fans have been lucky enough to see exactly how much of a leader these players were on their day. For examples of how important a leader on …
Lucas Leiva - Tackles, Interceptions and Over The Top Praise
Liverpool fans are a sentimental bunch.
I often think supporters are quick to jump to the defence of long serving players Martin Skrtel and Lucas Leiva because they're the two remaining players from the Rafa days so kind of remind people of Istanbul. It's silly of course because neither player happened to be at the club when Liverpool brought ol' big ears back home for good but that link to Rafa perhaps gives these players some extra credit with fans?
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A Strong Case For A Strong Defensive Midfielder
It's been long debated (since the arrival of Rodgers, and probably before) that we needed a proper defensive midfielder in the team. And by this, I mean a midfielder who is defensive, not a midfielder who just happens to play his game in that space.
There are a few key differences. The 'Pirlo' role (regista); his job is to primarily receive the ball and launch attacks from deep, but not break up play (for Juve, Pirlo plays with three CBs behind him and …