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22 Aug 2024 23:38:06
U21 Watch
The under 21's started the season on Saturday with a fine 3-1 home win over Man City. The scoreline flattered the Reds somewhat as it could easily have gone the other way.
Harvey Davies made some good saves in what was a relatively inexperienced lineup (watched by half a dozen academy graduates including Ben Doak, Rhys Williams, Tyler Morton and Kaide Gordon)
LFC look to have a couple of fine prospects in Dominic Corness - midfielder with a wand of a left foot and excellent set piece delivery. Right Winger Kyle Morrison also caught the eye despite only graduating from the U18s.
On Tuesday evening they opened their European campaign against a very, very good PSV Eindhoven outfit, losing 4-0 at home. Plenty of changes from the weekend team in what looked a fairly weak starting XI. Corness was a second half substitute and again showed flashes of his potential.
Jay Spearing also raised his head as a late substitute in an attempt to keep a very young teams heads from dropping any further.
This was (on paper) the toughest opponent in the group and to be honest, was a steep learning curve.
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28 Aug 2024 18:10:14
Don't be surprised if he's ahead of Curtis Jones and/ or Endo by the end of the season.
28 Aug 2024 18:08:16
Darwin has got a 5 game ban - International matches only
Bentancur got 4 matches.
Good news for LFC as Darwin doesn't have to fly halfway around the World on International breaks.
25 Aug 2024 22:10:52
Another solid professional performance from the Reds. First goal was the type of goal we scored ad nauseum in the early Klopp years.
As I said after the Ipswich game, the first half seems to be about establishing control and giving very little away. Good to see the team defending as a team and not just leaving the defence to deal with everything.
The second half again saw LFC become more expansive as the space opened up. The second goal took any jeopardy out of the game and Liverpool now look capable of grinding out 1-0 wins when not playing well. Not necessarily great to watch but a 1-0 win playing badly is better than an exciting 2-2 draw.
In saying that this wasn't without high points and the score could have been three or four nil. I felt last week was a better performance and Gravenberch was my man of the match, putting out fires all over the field. His pace is a huge asset for a DM and his height is important for defensive set pieces.
Szoboszlai is getting closer to the player we saw when he first signed, he has a great engine and work ethic.
Salah, Jota and Diaz are a real nuisance for any defence, with Gakpo and Nunez offering a more physical presence if needed (either from the start or off the bench)
Trent is still my favourite player in this team, he just has magic in his boots, whilst having Allisson in goal is like coming home on a cold day and being wrapped in a warm blanket.
All in all, a seven out of 10 performance and perhaps a yardstick to be judged against. The home crowd seemed very muted throughout the game but the trust and passion will return in time - if results and performances remain good. Maybe the attending fans need some adversity in a game to truly get them fired up.
A tricky start to the season has been successfully negotiated, the United game looms large on the horizon for both Dutch managers - a key game and the first major test for Arne.
Fingers crossed Old Trafford is.
24 Aug 2024 11:08:27
Prediction time fellow Reds and Eds
Champions League: Man City
FA Cup: Arsenal
League Cup: Newcastle
Premier League: Liverpool
CL Places: Man City, Arsenal, Newcastle
5th-6th: Brighton, Man Utd
7th: Aston Villa
Relegated: Ipswich, Saints, Forest
First Manager sacked: Julen Lopetegui
Liverpool
EPL: Champions (more on hope than expectation)
UCL: Quarter Finals (probably to Real Madrid)
FA Cup: 4th round (disappointing home loss to a Championship team with Slot playing a weakened team underestimating the opponents)
League Cup: Semi finalists
Breakthrough player: Tyler Morton
I think West Ham will regress under Lopetegui, Chelsea will take a few months to bed down, start to pick up then sack Maresca, Crystal Palace are a dark horse who could run into a European place or have a strong run in one or both Cup comps.
Tottenham seemed to have been found out at the end of last season and will likely fall back a little. Everton will be bottom 5 or 6 with Leicester who I think will be the promoted team who buck the trend and survive. Which leaves Wolves who will be mid table and may have a good cup run.
What say you?
15 Aug 2024 10:36:12
Quick review of the window this far.
Frustrating.
GK: Doubts about the future of Allison, Kelleher and Jaros. Mamardashvilli is the sort of 'opportunistic' transfer Hughes spoke about IE player becomes available below his market valuation but improves the team/ squad.
Bringing in the Georgian and loaning him out is good succession planning -reminiscent of Courtois at Chelsea. If this does happen I would anticipate Kelleher going this season and Allison next Summer (or maybe vice-versa) will Jaros be happy as the #2 after a very good season last year.
Summary - lots of indecision here with so many moving parts. Interesting to see the path taken. Getting GM is not a priority (for me) but I understand the thought process behind it.
DEF:
RB: Bradley and Trent - sorted - get TAA on a long term contract and that will be solid business. I'm not sure Bradley is suited to being an inverted full back but happy to be proved wrong
CH: Bringing someone in relies on sending someone out. VDB to replace Matip leaves 5 very good options - Virgil, Konate, Quansah, Gomez and VDB.
Like at GK, this is a very fluid situation and if one goes, one will come in.
LB: Robertson and Tsimikas, I'm not sure either will be here much longer as they took don't strike me as being comfortable inverting - maybe there will be games when Slot chooses not to invert his FBs
Chambers and Beck haven't done enough to force there way in (my opinion) and I also think that Gomez, Quansah and SVDB could all be utilised as inverting FB's in a fluid system where CB, FB and DM rotate during the game.
More this evening.