Four Years Of Jürgen Klopp - Part 1 Belief & Unity
Next week will mark four years since Jürgen Klopp took charge at Anfield and began the process of transforming the Reds from Premier League also-rans into one of the dominant teams in world football.
Over the next few days I’ll be reminiscing about some of the crucial games and moments that have stood out along that incredible journey. We begin with this:
Liverpool 2-2 West Bromwich Albion - 13 December 2015
Liverpool XI: Mignolet, Clyne, Lovren, Skrtel, Moreno, Henderson, Can, …
Team of the Year Crystallises Liverpool's Progress
So Paul Pogba eh? What a huge shock and weird selection to the PFA Team of the Year that was! In this essay, I will…
Just kidding. Whilst I do think it’s strange he’s been selected despite an inconsistent season, I could see how getting shoehorned into a 4-3-3 formation with a clear lack of individual central midfield candidates could end up with Pogba potentially getting in the team, maybe even with less votes than both Hazard and Salah, both …
Time to ditch the agendas in Liverpool's quest for glory
With five games to go in the Premier League, and with one foot in the Champions League semi-final, Liverpool's season is finely poised with glory tantalisingly close.
It's so close, in fact, that you can almost taste it. The long 29 year wait for a league title is as close to coming to an end as it has been since the ill-fated 2013/14 season.
Following last season's disappointment in the Champions League final in Kiev, the Reds stand a very …
Lucky Lucky Liverpool?
Lucky, lucky Liverpool eh? Comments about all the circumstances in which luck has favoured the Reds this season are out in force after their late goal against Spurs, courtesy of Hugo Lloris punching the ball onto the back of Toby Alderweireld, and there are a lot of frustrated opposition fans, as well as journalists, keen to jump on the Reds’ lucky streak.
First things first, we were lucky against Spurs. No two ways about it. On balance, the second half …
Liverpool 0-0 Bayern Munich: Who was man of the match?
It may not have been another great European night Anfield, but it's hard for Liverpool fans to be too disappointed with a goalless draw against a Bayern Munich side who issued a reminder of their class.
Aside from a rather frantic ten-minute spell just before the break, the Reds struggled to fashion out many openings against their cautious and regimented opponents, who executed their game-plan well.
Importantly, though, there were relatively few nervous moments at the other end, even with …
Is it time to reconsider Jordan Henderson in a midfield two?
The selection of Jordan Henderson in a midfield pivot has long been met with derision by Liverpool fans, but is it time to reconsider the skipper's capabilities in the position?
Henderson was often the main midfield driver during his earlier years at the club, moving in from right midfield to partner Steven Gerrard in the title run of 2013/14, often described as 'doing the running for two' whilst Gerrard sat back and pinged balls around the pitch in his twilight …
The Bizarre Case of Jordan Henderson's Daft Sending Off
If you could name one player at one point in the history of Liverpool whose sending off would produce the most hysterical reaction, Jordan Henderson in 2018 would be right at the top of the list.
The Reds skipper was shown his marching orders for a stupid second yellow card at Watford on Saturday, leading to the usual deafening criticism in his direction.
Few individuals live quite such a soap opera-style existence through their own fans as Henderson, with his …
Deconstructing Steven Gerrard's Start at Rangers
As Rangers fans celebrated luring Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard to Ibrox for a maiden senior management gig this summer, those at Anfield watched on with intrigued eyes.
How would a man that had only experienced management at Youth Academy level fare when thrown in at the deep end, with limited funds, at a club where the expectations and pressure are through the roof? Will it one day be the stepping stone that lands Gerrard the hot-seat back on Merseyside or …
Liverpool FC Summers: Four Meaningful Trips
Being a Liverpool FC supporter living in America is a different kind of commitment. You have to be an early riser to catch matches on weekend morning, you have to block out your work calendars for Champions League afternoons, and most of all you must seize any opportunity offered to you to see the Reds play if they are ever anywhere near you. Such has been the case for me since 2012 when LFC began their regular pilgrimages to North …
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, …