The Return of Thiago, A New Hope
When Liverpool signed Thiago Alcántara from Bayern Munich, any games where we struggled, pundits would start making all sorts of weird claims. Despite needing an elite controlling midfielder, he would commonly be accused of slowing down our play, or some other strange rhetoric. What his arrival actually did, was enable far more invention against the low block, as teams happily sat on their 18 yard lines for ninety long minutes. That 2020 acquisition was a huge requirement in order to …
Klopp Must Be Banned from The Recruitment Process
Much of the Reds' recent success has been garnered due to the brilliance of Jürgen Klopp. His galvanising of a footballing squad is key to his methods, whilst his coaching abilities helped to revolutionise the way we view modern football. There is no doubt that he was right manager at the right time (when appointed), with the achieved silverware to back up that claim. Despite all of this, he was far from alone in achieving the success that followed his …
Trent Alexander Arnold & Lacklustre Attitude
When Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool were at their rampaging best, they were the world's most feared football club. The system and its components were designed to undertake their bespoke tasks, with opponents commonly beaten into submission. Whenever the Reds lost the ball, they would merely take it back and resume their assault. There was a time when the opposition would be limited to just a couple of half chances, which would inevitably cause Virgil to get angry at having to defend. …
Which Italian Players Would Improve the Reds?
With yet another international break upon us, I was keen to look at which countries players could improve this Liverpool team. I chose to concentrate on England’s upcoming opposition, Italy, who they face this coming Thursday. Their trip to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona will be an intriguing watch, with two European giants often producing a decent spectacle.
Below is a selection of players from Roberto Mancini’s 30-man Italian squad, that I believe could improve the Liverpool ranks.
Giorgio Scalvini
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How Liverpool Should Prepare for Manchester City
With this seasons Champions League run now officially over, the Reds have a short break in which to recalibrate their stuttering form. Though the international break will take many of the players away from the club, it can still be a moment for the coaching team to really evaluate and establish a way of improving. With twelve games remaining (in Liverpool’s Premier League schedule), there is still much to play for, despite the recent (and hefty) two legged defeat to …
Potential Ward Replacements: Tim Steidten
It’s all gone a bit quiet on the western front in regards to this one. With recent news suggesting that Julian Ward is now the front runner for the Sporting Director role at Ajax, we revisit our series on potential candidates for his role at Anfield. The latest name which has come from nowhere is that of former Bayer Leverkusen Sports Coordinator and Chief Scout Tim Steidten. Whilst the 43 year-old won’t be a household name to many reds, he …
Bellingham Blow-Up: Hold….For Now…
For anyone familiar with tune, the Boomtown Rats had it right when news comes through in the morning like it does. If you’d believed that the international break would be a quiet and calmer period after all the turbulence of the current campaign, David Ornstein did his best to dispel that myth with his news that Liverpool are looking ‘increasingly unlikely’ to sign Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham this summer. One glance at social media will show you a variety of …
Scouting Report: Mason Mount
Ahead of the summer window, we’re bringing back the Scouting Report series and this is the one that just won’t seem to go away. There was an expectation that Mason Mount would have renewed his contract with Chelsea by now, but for whatever reason that hasn’t happened. The links to Liverpool continue on a weekly basis and for any rumours around his father being a guest at Anfield to being name-checked by the likes of Neil Jones and Paul Joyce, …
Could Enzo Le Fée Become the Thiago Understudy?
I’ve always loved the idea of senior and highly established players mentoring young talents. This season, we have heard that Stefan Bajčetić has been taken under the wing of his fellow Spaniard, Thiago Alcantara. Our number six is one of the world’s finest central midfielders, therefore it is heartening to hear that he is using his experience to help the next generation of Liverpool player. So often we have heard of players, such as Cristian Ronaldo, trying to create avenues …
Hopes For The International Break
There’s more than a few reds who would happily just end the season this second if it was offered to them right now. Out of the Champions League at the last 16, suffering from an injury-plagued campaign and with the top four looking an outside hope rather than expectation. April starts with two tough away games at Manchester City and Chelsea, which may see it get worse before it gets any better so we may need to strap ourselves in. …