A Back Four Ready to Compete? - Liverpool FC Squad Analysis
Liverpool kicked off the season with a delightful 4-0 win on Sunday, conceding only two shots on target and rarely looking in trouble.
The back four was among the youngest seen in recent memory during a Premier League game and played together like a group of players ready to kick on this year. Virgil van Dijk anchored a defence with an average age under 23 years old, continuing to prove himself the most gifted leader the defence has seen since …
5 Centre-Backs Liverpool Could Target in January
A sour taste may be left in the mouth of Reds fans after the proposed deal for Nabil Fekir fell through despite what has been the best transfer window in recent history at Anfield. However, with four outstanding additions bolstering Jurgen Klopp’s side to compete on all fronts, it appears that Michael Edwards and co are not quite done yet in their grand plan to take Liverpool to the top.
Attention now moves to the winter window and beyond for …
Liverpool 4-0 West Ham: A Tactical Breakdown
Liverpool picking up where they left off at the end of the 2017/18 season would have been the perfect way to kick start a league season, and Liverpool did just that. There were 92 days between Liverpool's last home league game against Brighton and the opening fixture against West Ham, but the results were identical: 4-0 drubbings. However, while the results may have been the same, the personnel and the tactics were certainly not.
Alisson and Keïta were the only real …
Liverpool Need to Take Advantage of World Cup Hangovers
The Premier League season starts in just a few days. And the spectre of the World Cup still hangs over the Premier League’s top six. This was a World Cup in which the Premier League’s top teams all had plenty of players not just participating but going the distance – and certain teams will benefit from that.
Liverpool need to be one of the beneficiaries.
It’s expected that Roberto Firmino and his Brazilian teammate Alisson Becker will start against West …
Liverpool v West Ham United Preview - The Magic is Back
The Details
Venue - Anfield, Liverpool
Referee - Anthony Taylor
Date & Time - Sunday, August 12th @ 13:30
Current Odds - Liverpool 1/5, Draw 11/2, West Ham 12/1
Form
Liverpool Form
Liverpool's form table looks poor but we can remember how the wheels just came off a little towards the end of last season. The Chelsea and Roma defeats were mainly down to energy-preservation. Brighton were well-beaten at Anfield in the last league game and then Real Madrid ruined our dream with that …
Liverpool 2018/19: A Tactical Preview
How do Liverpool play? It's a simple question, but with the arrival of both Naby Keïta, Fabinho and Alisson, as well as the progression of Liverpool's tactics under Jürgen Klopp since he joined in 2016, the answer requires a more detailed response than the question initially indicates.
There are three main tactical phases in football: on-ball, off-ball and the transition. With Liverpool's signings and their skillsets, the on-ball phase may be the one most different this season. Hence, we'll start …
Why Liverpool Must Find Their Coutinho Replacement
Liverpool’s pursuit of Nabil Fekir looks to be over (for the time being), and with it has come another question: do Liverpool currently have their optimal squad? Or should they return to the market once more, with the intent of finally replacing the man who formerly practised his magic at Anfield?
Well, quite simply, yes. It might not be Fekir, nor might it be someone who will fit what Coutinho did immediately, but the Reds aren’t a complete team: at …
Leon Bailey and that "Concrete Interest"
With the breaking news this morning that Bailey himself confirmed Liverpool have a “concrete interest” in him, I decided to follow on from my pieces on Fekir & Pulisic with a look at the Leverkusen star, Leon Bailey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfzKDAPd9VY
Above: Reliable Bundesliga journalist, Old Gregg, hinting at a move to Liverpool.
My mind wandered this morning to that exact moment I fell in love with him, as a player. I had seen him a few times, mostly in cameos or a …
Should Liverpool Persist with Injury-prone Players?
It's a debate that rumbles on every summer surrounding Daniel Sturridge and whether his injury record can see him as a reliable squad member - and the question has once again reared its ugly head this week.
Injuries to both Adam Lallana and Joel Matip saw them head home to miss Liverpool's final part of pre-season, leaving us asking as to whether both can be trusted members of the unit Klopp takes into the season.
As I've just mentioned, this …
Team Management and Squad Depth All Point to Success
In my last piece, which you can read here I discussed the potential for Liverpool to be genuine league title contenders. I still stand by that. The current squad, as it stands, is good enough.
No Excuses
The encouraging thing is that Jurgen Klopp has continued to defy the critics throughout his tenure at Anfield. He doesn't always do things in a way that perceived "popular" thinking would expect. That's natural as he is the man who sees everything on a day-to-day …