Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants - Roma 4 Liverpool 2
It's 22.19 on 2nd May and my head's gone.
Seriously. I’m all over the place. Logic has left the building.
I feel like the character Red at the end of The Shawshank Redemption when he says “I find I’m so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head.”
I'm on the Tube going home as I type this. The couple next to me are discussing Silvio Berlusconi and how he escapes prosecution. I'm dying to …
Anfield Index Writers' EPL Predictions - 2017/18
Here are the predictions you've all been waiting for... The Anfield Index writers have put their forecasts on the record for all of you to judge in May. Let us know what we got wrong in the comments below.
Adam Petruccione (@adampetruccione)
Top 4:
1. Manchester City
2. Arsenal
3. Spurs
4. Manchester United
Relegation:
18. West Brom
19. Burnley
20. Brighton
POTY: Alexis Sanchez
YPOTY: Tommy Abraham
Champions League: Real Madrid
Pep Guardiola will prove to be the best… …
Alternatives to Virgil van Dijk – Part 2
In Part 1, I analysed why Benedikt Höwedes of FC Schalke 04 should rank highly on Liverpool’s list of alternative centre-backs to Virgil van Dijk. Before reading this Part 2 article, please also see Part 1 for an overview of Liverpool’s defensive weaknesses and the profile of centre-back needed for Klopp’s current style and systems of play. You can find it here.
Nota Bene
At the time of writing this Part 2 article, recent unfortunate events affecting my primary target …
The Shadow of Steven Gerrard
Two seasons on from Steven Gerrard's last competitive game for Liverpool, and the iconic number 8 shirt remains unoccupied. For Liverpool fans, the number 8 shirt retains an almost religious significance. Steven Gerrard was not just the captain of Liverpool: for years he was a symbol of hope. He embodied, represented, and understood the club like the great King Kenny. Littered across Gerrard's career are moments of brilliance, goals, and assists, spanning all competitions, in all manner of games - from league matches against Aston Villa, …
Liverpool Must Avoid Repeat Of 2002/03 Finale
Liverpool have been famed for some fairly spectacular disappointments over the years, especially since the Premier League era got underway.
The end of the 2002/03 season was one of the Reds’ most disastrous conclusions to a campaign, and it actually altered English football forever in the process.
With two matches remaining, Liverpool remained right in the mix for a top-four finish, sitting level on points with fourth-place Chelsea - a team improving under Claudio Ranieri, but a far cry from …
Klopp Says The Reds Will Get What They Deserve
With exam season almost upon us, I was reminded of an old teacher of mine who, when presented with a sea of anxious faces, used to say, "pressure is for tyres, lads." Now, plainly, he wasn't the most insightful or sensitive of gents, and no doubt he felt as though he was imparting something of great profundity, but that is the kind of trite guff that actually means nothing and makes people feel worse. Learned critics have maligned me for "verbosity" but …
Carragher, Neville And The Cult Of The Pundit
Regular visitors to these paragraphs will know that profound analytical breakdowns of systems and tactics are anathema to this columnist. It's not that I don't appreciate the folk who do that sort of thing, you understand. They provide us all with a valuable service, bless 'em. How many times have you drunkenly thrown out a stat or tactical observation that had been painstakingly compiled by one such hard-working analyst - their slaving over a hot laptop serving only to earn …
Solving LFC's Number Six Position and Four Perfect Transfer Targets
In this article:
Understanding the Dutch 'number six’ midfield position & specialist roles today
The Liverpool history of Jordan Henderson
Liverpool’s attacking & defensive failures and how to resolve them
The perfect transfer targets for 2017/18
Understanding the Dutch 'number six’ midfield position & specialist roles today
On face value, Jordan Henderson has done surprisingly well this season as a player you would describe as a ‘known known’. As a symbol of consistency amidst the years of flux in footballing …
Liverpool Must Create A Shakespearean Tragedy
You all know the predictable narrative for Monday night. Your world-weary mates and naysaying Twitter gurus have already told you what will happen. Leicester City, following their remarkably cynical decision to axe Claudio Ranieri, will benefit from the 'new boss bounce,' or at least some sort of 'caretaker convalescence,' as the delightfully monikered Craig Shakespeare takes temporary control of first team affairs.
Liverpool, needing desperately to build upon the foundations of the win against Tottenham, will come immediately unstuck against …
Chinese Investment - An opportunity too good to miss for LFC?
Back in December of 2015, Manchester City announced that CFC, a Chinese group had purchased a 13% stake in MCFC for £265m. This marked the point at which Manchester City had truly become a rival to Manchester United in financial terms. How is this relevant to Liverpool? We need only cast our minds back to the end of the 1980s, where following two decades of domestic domination and European success, Liverpool's owners and the board decided against investing heavily in …