Alisson, Van Dijk & Keita: Liverpool’s New Game-Changing Spine
This time just over a year ago, imagine being told Liverpool would sign Alisson, Virgil van Dijk and Naby Keita in the 12 months that followed.
It would have felt like the most beautiful of pipe dreams, even if Alisson wasn’t the world-renowned goalkeeper he speedily blossomed into at Roma.
Great teams have great spines and Liverpool have lacked one for a rather harrowing amount of time.
For too long we have had to watch the likes of Simon Mignolet, …
Sturridge and Lallana - What Next?
A lot has been made in pre-season of the form of Daniel Sturridge, who has played very well and made a good impact. Once again, we’re in July and Sturridge is still, now at the age of 28, a Liverpool player, despite almost constant speculation about his future at the club for the last three years under Jürgen Klopp.
Meanwhile, Adam Lallana is looking to get a full pre-season under his belt as he looks to finally re-start his Liverpool …
Faith and Football: Liverpool's Muslim Men
What do Mo Salah, Sadio Mané, Xherdan Shaqiri and Naby Keïta have in common? Besides their football club, of course. The answer I'm looking for though is their religion, Islam.
It's very rare in my writing that I stray away from tactics, statistics or areas in which I feel well-versed in, indeed, identity and faith are aspects rarely covered by sporting literature in general. Exceptions do stand out - take Muhammad Ali as a physical manifestation of a religiously-centred sportsman, …
Jordan Henderson: Starter or Sub?
In the age of hot takes and constant critics, any player or team can divide opinion. So, when a player comes along who is given a central role at a big club but does not fit neatly into preconceived notions of what a star should do, then controversy instantly follows. Enter Jordan Henderson, Liverpool captain and England vice-captain. For experienced observers, Hendo’s game and quality aren’t that big of a mystery. For Liverpool fans, we know what he is at …
Why Liverpool Can Win The League (Redux)
Last summer I wrote a piece on how I thought it was possible Liverpool could win the Premier League title. I felt most of the points that I made in that article were largely valid, although of course things didn’t pan out the way we hoped. Overall, the lack of a centre-back signing, Phil Coutinho turning into a huge snake and Man City going full cheat mode were the big reasons we didn’t end up winning the league, but here …
Xherdone - Shaqiri is a Red
So Xherdan Shaqiri is a Liverpool player. This has been one that has threatened to run for most of the window, but in the end, LFC wrapped it up with little fuss and little mess, courtesy of a £13m release clause in his contract after Stoke were relegated from the Premier League last season.
It’s been a strange summer for Liverpool, one that started in earnest with Fabinho’s signing on top of the already incoming Naby Keita, threatening to completely …
Xherdan Shaqiri: A Multi-Faceted Low Risk, High Reward Buy
With England now out of the World Cup and the impending realisation that football will in fact not be coming home, attentions will return to the summer transfer window with fans desperate for further incomings.
Naby Keita and Fabinho drew widespread optimism amongst Liverpool fans, enhancing belief that Klopp can secure his first piece of silverware and mount a real challenge on the Premier League title.
Shaqiri meanwhile, seems to have polarised opinions; a mixture of buoyancy and despondency, the …
The FSG Spending Myth
With Liverpool in the middle of a critically important transfer window (aren’t they always?), it seems like a perfect time to revisit a recurring myth amongst the Liverpool fanbase: FSG refuse to spend the money to compete for trophies. As an American Liverpool fan, I scoff at the notion that Fenway Sports Group is a bunch of cheapskates who do not like to put money into their teams. This is because FSG also just happens to own the Boston Red …
Sadio Mané - Still Liverpool's Main Man(é)?
Sadio Mané has been an absolutely integral player to Liverpool since his move to the club two summers ago. Across two seasons, Mané has started 54 games for the club in the Premier League, scoring 23 goals and notching 12 assists, not to mention his double-digit Champions League season for the Reds as they surged to the Champions League final.
But I wanted to take a look at just how important Sadio Mané is to this Liverpool side. In many …
Chelsea's Academy: The Gift that keeps on giving… to Liverpool
Is it the red-headed stepchild, the rented mule, the red-headed mule…? Whatever analogy you choose, Liverpool keep going back window after window to raid Chelsea’s academy for standout stars anxious for first-team opportunities.
The London club has been fantastic at recruiting and developing talent to a certain level and has, for all intents and purposes, a farm club in Vitesse that they can use to get players first-team appearances as a stepping stone to Stamford Bridge. On paper, the way …