Set-Pieces and Dark Arts: Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool
Liverpool managed to extend their 100% record with a win over Chelsea on Sunday, and while the result deserves praise, the Reds were quite poor with and without the ball. It seemed obvious amidst the second half that Liverpool were shattered, both mentally and physically. Loose passes and leggy ground covering showed that the trip to Naples had taken its toll. What's important, though, is that Liverpool managed to pick up 3 points in a fixture that ended the very …
Klopp's Still Got an Ace Up his Sleeve
It’s cliché to say it. It really is.
“Player (x) returning from injury, he’s practically a new signing!”
It’s tired, it’s worn out, it’s ostensibly untrue and it’s essentially trying to justify, rightly or wrongly, inactivity.
Yet, it sort of does feel like Naby Keita is a whole new signing.
Not in the conventional sense, because Liverpool fans have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of Naby Keita for a long, long time. Since he was first announced – a season …
Liverpool Must Improve
Absurd title, isn’t it? Allow me to explain...
Every Premier League game these days feels like a ‘must win’ for Liverpool Football Club. Such is life when you’re effectively chasing perfection and trying to outdo this Manchester City outfit.
The opening five (admittedly kind) league matches have been expertly navigated by Jürgen Klopp, yielding the perfect 15 point return that Liverpool fans dreamed of when the season began.
Now though, as summer ebbs away and the Champions League kicks off …
Four From Four - Business as Usual for Liverpool
We are four games into the Premier League season, so naturally, it’s time for an irritating international break. International breaks, of course, have their benefits: being able to focus on the Ashes, the slight increase in quality in David Squires’ cartoons, managing to go a whole weekend without having some sort of stress-induced heart attack, and for those of us that actually enjoy it, the prospect of seeing your national team play.
There are some benefits for Liverpool and its …
Roberto Firmino could be even better this season
Roberto Firmino has started the season like he means business. It isn’t something Liverpool fans are used to with the Brazilian usually looking off the pace when he returns to pre-season after a summer break.
It’s by no means comparable to a Sunday League player trotting round the pitch after a heavy Saturday night but it’s safe to say Firmino tends to enjoy his summer breaks. He picks up the pace after a few weeks but fans have got used …
Why Keita could be key to Liverpool becoming English Kings
In the context of a football match, a midfielder receiving the ball, dawdling on it, eating a few seconds of time before laterally recycling it is no big deal. It happens umpteen times in the course of every game.
In the case of Naby Keita’s Liverpool career, however, it could be symbolic of the Guinean fully acclimating to both Jurgen Klopp’s tactical demands and the pressure’s associated with playing for a worldwide footballing institution such as the Reds.
In a …
Has Oxlade-Chamberlain Become Over-hyped?
Jurgen Klopp has assembled arguably the most likeable Liverpool squad in memory.
Whereas in the past, supporters would have a small selection of genuine heroes to choose from, they are now spoiled for choice.
Everywhere you look, there are superb, Champions League-winning footballers who are also warm, down-to-earth characters, from Alisson in goal right the way through to Sadio Mane in attack.
One player who manages to even stand out from this crowd is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: a loveable person and …
Why Liverpool Must Spend This Summer
In any other era of football history, a 97 point haul in the league would guarantee the league title. Unfortunately for Liverpool, this is the era of Manchester City and their state-sponsored, law-flouting spending and their club record points tally wasn’t sufficient to claim the clubs first league since the 1989-90 season.
Liverpool’s squad, as the league table indicates and the Champions League victory further reinforces, is excellent. It is, however, not deep enough. Until the required quality is added …
Four Falls of Klopp
‘Fight on my men, sayes Sir Andrew Barton, I am hurt but I am not slaine, Ile lay mee downe and bleed a-while, And then Ile rise and fight againe.’JIM KELLY IS stood looking out over a national landmark, a waterfall so vast and colossal it attracts twelve million visitors a year. Niagara Falls, a beautiful and impressive natural phenomenon which flows between the border of North America and Canada. The year is 2015 and Kelly has …
Why Madrid Must Be Liverpool's Crowning Moment
This Liverpool team has to be remembered.
This has been the main thought going round my head in recent weeks, during what has been one of the most emotionally draining seasons in memory.
For anyone under the age of 40, I doubt I'm alone in saying a Reds side hasn't felt this special before - none have left you feeling so connected and in love with it.
There have been some top class teams since the glory days, but this …