“If it was my choice, I would always go with two strikers. It’s the way I like to play, but Brendan asked me to play as the first striker.”
These are the words of Mr. Mario himself, back in October. Balotelli has been heavily criticised in recent months by practically everyone in football. Everyone has...
The dream was built on this.
I was in it, you were in it, we were in it
We were the makers, we were the protectors
Every Saturday, there was a bountiful
Every Sunday, till we were full
The frenzy, the passion and those innumerable feelings
Nobody stood a chance
Not that we gave them a chance
While some got success, some...
There was singing, there was cheering, and Adrian Chiles was made to look a bit of a spoon on live television; you'd be forgiven for thinking the Liverpool fans partying in the Spanish capital had just watched their side complete a memorable win over the European champions in their own back yard.
They hadn't.
As news...
It’s always been a personal belief of mine that no player is bigger than Liverpool Football Club. This motto has served me well when I thought I’d have died of a broken heart when players have exited the club, but Liverpool Football Club and I have always bounced back and gone from strength to strength....
Just under two weeks ago we saw Real Madrid come to Anfield and give Liverpool a lesson in what it’s like to play at the top level of European football. With four seasons out of the Champions League, and a group of players and staff with little experience of the competition, we saw a...
It was around this point last season that Liverpool were playing a back three. The basic idea behind it was to free up Sturridge and Suarez, allowing them to to play up front together whilst keeping a strong enough base behind them. This system lasted just over a month until the 2-0 loss to Arsenal at...
In Part I, I looked at the individual members of the back ‘5’ (including the GK), and the most likely rotational or still to return individuals, each with their own pluses and minuses. In Part II, I want to look at the midfield options and striker responsibilities relative to defence, the overall strategy and...
Last week, on the 'Jumpers for Goalposts' pod in one of our more serious moments, we took a look at the travails of the Liverpool defence...notice please, I specifically say 'defence', not 'back four', 'central pairing' or other, more targeted breakdown. There is a reason for this, and one that surprisingly perhaps, when having...
One of the Webster definition’s for Catch-22 goes like this ‘a difficult situation for which there is no easy or possible solution’. Does it sound vague? Let’s just make that simple by invoking Liverpool FC 2014/15. After all, the team this season is riddled with Catch-22 situations.
Let’s start with the building block of the...
After the past few weeks... well, for the majority of this season so far, actually, Liverpool's performances from the 13/14 season seem like a lifetime ago. The qualities going forward that overwhelmed every defence they came up against have dramatically fallen.
The defence has obviously been the talking point over the past few weeks. With...
