Tony Evans: Missing Out On Bellingham Could Be A Blessing
The international break gives everyone a chance to take stock. Where do Liverpool go in the final third of the season?
The ideal scenario would be to knock Manchester City out of the title race and then bring them back into play by beating Arsenal – dispatching Chelsea on the way. It is a tricky run of games, though. The season could be over very quickly.
Is there any reason to be optimistic? It’s still hard to believe that a …
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. …
Potential Ward Replacements: Dave Fallows
In our final instalment of the series (https://anfieldindex.com/53170/potential-ward-replacements-paul-mitchell.html) which has seen us scour world football far and wide, the latest news and rumours see us looking internally for a solution to Liverpool’s Sporting Director search. With recent reports coming out of Holland suggesting that Julian Ward has all but practically agreed to replace Marc Overmars in the same role at Ajax, there has been a surprise amongst most reds that we’ve not heard more developments about our own search. The …
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
…
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 …
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, …
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. …