Mane

Tactical Breakdown: Manchester City 1-1 Liverpool

As I have grown up, I have witnessed titanic clashes between footballing behemoths. Games for which the world would stand still for 90 minutes in order to witness the spectacle. In the early noughties, it was Arsenal and Manchester United; then Chelsea and United; Liverpool and Ferguson's side followed briefly, before the rise of...

Tactical Breakdown: Atalanta 0-5 Liverpool

“I don’t think any system could have defended tonight Sadio, Mo & Diogo, the way they played, with the support of the others.” In his post-match presser, Jürgen Klopp was bubbling with praise for his entire team, championing the manner in which the team defended with concentration and discipline, and attacked with synchronicity and fluidity....

Exciting Jota looks the perfect fit for Liverpool

For so long, Liverpool have been crying out for top class quality behind Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino. The Reds' front-three have been the best attacking unit in world football over the past three years, but if one of them is missing, their absence is felt hugely. Taking out one of the trio has...

Tactical Breakdown: Liverpool 2-1 Sheffield United

With Manchester City dropping points in the early kick-off, and Liverpool denied a late winner in last week's Merseyside Derby at the behest of David Coote, the pressure was on for the champions to regain some momentum after the hammer blows of injuries and disappointing results. Jürgen Klopp made a surprising tactical change, playing four...

Shaqiri’s the odd man out as Klopp’s Liverpool squad evolves

There were quite rightly a few eyebrows raised during Liverpool's recent Champions League victory over Ajax when Klopp decided to rotate his entire front three. Mané, Salah and Firmino were replaced by Minamino, Jota and the lesser spotted Xherdan Shaqiri in the vital 1-0 win. Both Jota and Minamino turned in bright displays, with the former...

He’s Not Perfect, But He’s Ours

I just want to make a point, a point that should be obvious to all Liverpool supporters, but something that seems to be lost in the reactionary atmosphere in which we live these days. Adrian. Adrian is our back-up keeper. If he was good enough to be a top-6 keeper elsewhere, he would be. But he's...

Virgil Loss Will Be a Huge Blow But Liverpool Are Still Brilliant

Let's get the captain obvious statement out of the way at the beginning, shall we? Liverpool will miss Virgil van Dijk during his injury lay off, which, per reports, could last anything from six to nine months. If you could manufacture the perfect centre half in a lab, equipped with elite physical, mental, technical and leadership...

Tactical Breakdown: Everton 2-2 Liverpool

Liverpool's goalless draw against Everton back in June - the first game of the restarted league season - was an intriguing affair in which Everton posed a number of tactical questions to Liverpool, and was able to slow down the red juggernaut. With Ancelotti's coaching clearly making a difference to Everton's performance, this game...

Observations as Liverpool robbed against Everton

Liverpool drew 2-2 at Goodison Park in a typically tempestuous and controversial Merseyside derby. Sadio Mané and Mo Salah twice gave Liverpool the lead, before goals from Michael Keane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin snatched a point for the Blues. But it was two marginal offside decisions that decided the game, as Jordan Pickford avoided a...

Liverpool Robbed By VAR In Goodison Derby

VAR controversy abounded as Liverpool were robbed of a late 3-2 victory over Everton at Goodison Park. With the game squared at 2-2 going into injury time, a perfectly good Jordan Henderson goal -- supposedly because Sadio Mané was offside, an assertion that had no evidence in tv pictures -- was disallowed and Everton hung...