Liverpool Football Club

A Left-Back, Wide Forward and Value for Money the Priority In January

Liverpool head into the January transfer window safe in the knowledge that their start to the 2016/17 Premier League season has reached, and possibly surpassed, the expectations of the majority. Coming out of the Merseyside derby on Monday night, Liverpool find themselves 12 points better off than after the same amount of fixtures last season -...

Roberto Firmino: A New Breed of Striker

While not a natural striker, Roberto Firmino has been at the heart of everything good from Liverpool this season, grabbing the plaudits on a continual basis. Jurgen Klopp’s description of the Brazilian as nothing short of a bargain is therefore hardly surprising. Slow Start Arriving for a fee of £29million, Firmino initially seemed to struggle at...

Tactical Analysis – Liverpool’s Overloads too Much for Middlesbrough to Handle

Liverpool fans represent both the best and worst of the club. In terms of backing and loving their club there is no better in World football, in terms of overreacting to a loss or setback there can be no worse. Losing a commanding lead at Bournemouth and coming away with a 4-3 loss was of...

The Other Side of Liverpool’s Win at Middlesbrough

At the Riverside Stadium, I was able to enjoy what is sadly a rare pleasure for me: getting to attend a Liverpool match in person. It was a good match and a very positive performance, so I could write about how Liverpool comprehensively outclassed Middlesbrough and were, in no way, flattered by the 3-0 score...

Nathaniel Clyne: Do Liverpool Need More From The Reds’ Mr Consistent?

Make no bones about it, Nathaniel Clyne has been one of Liverpool’s best signings of this decade. He may even be one of their best since the turn of the century, when you weigh up how hit-and-miss the Reds have been in the transfer market. Clyne has been hugely dependable ever since joining from Southampton...

Decisive December? – Crucial Month for Liverpool’s Season

Everyone always says that nothing is won in December, and they'd be absolutely right, but things can certainly be lost over the busy Christmas period. Between now and the FA Cup Third Round on the first weekend in the New Year, the Reds will play six matches - including the visit of West Ham...

Liverpool vs West Ham Preview: Can Reds Bounce Back Against Hapless Hammers?

Liverpool entertain West Ham United on Sunday in a bid to haul themselves back towards the top of the Premier League table, having lost ground on Chelsea last weekend. Having not beaten the Hammers in any of the four previous meetings between the two teams, Liverpool fans will have some understandable nerves heading into the...

Do Liverpool Really Need to Strengthen Their Defence in January?

After the capitulation at Bournemouth, questions marks once again hang over the Liverpool defence. Will that area of the team once again be the reason the Reds can't sustain a title challenge? Is it a personnel problem or just a systematic issue that needs time to be ironed out? Was it simply just one of...

Liverpool – A Squad in Crisis?

A mere few weeks ago Liverpool were well and truly flying, yet a flurry of injuries, including one to Phillipe Coutinho, suddenly dampened the mood around Anfield, and the recent humiliating defeat to Bournemouth only sought to worsen the atmosphere surrounding Liverpool FC. But with the January transfer window approaching, and with Mané soon...

Where Data Meet Tactics: Ball Retention and Loss of Possession

These words were written to accompany the following graphic, and provide further context to the data. https://twitter.com/AIUnderPressure/status/804631753591816192 Working Out The first important piece of context regarding this graphic is that it’s not based on passes. It’s based on losses of possession due to a poor touch or an unsuccessful dribble. The numbers were calculated by dividing losses of...