Steve McManaman – The Empire of The Kop

One moment from £120k-p/w Liverpool player had Steve McManaman’s blood boiling last night

Liam Togher — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 06:24:25 +0000

Steve McManaman was unimpressed with a ‘lazy’ moment from one Liverpool player during the futile win over Atalanta in Bergamo on Thursday night.

The Reds won 1-0 in Italy but never truly looked like salvaging a Europa League tie which was ultimately put beyond their reach in a costly 0-3 first leg defeat at Anfield a week ago.

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Speaking on co-commentary for TNT Sports, the ex-LFC winger was annoyed at Cody Gakpo when, after being moved to the left wing in the second half, the 24-year-old tried to backheel a ball through two opposition players to the onrushing Andy Robertson, only to lose possession and see the home side break up the pitch.

Upon viewing that passage of play, McManaman raged (via TBR Football): “That was Gakpo giving the ball away, with a lazy flick in midfield. Liverpool have to be so much more careful because the way Atalanta play, you will be punished.”

That passage of play perhaps summed up Gakpo’s night against Atalanta – while the £120,000-per-week Dutchman diligently dropped deep into midfield and troubled the opposition at times with his running, ultimately he didn’t do enough when he had the ball.

As per Sofascore, he completed just 17 passes out of 24 attempted (71% success) during his 90 minutes on the pitch and didn’t record a shot all night, while his tally of 17 losses of possession was the third-highest among the Liverpool team.

That moment when he audaciously tried to play the ball to Robertson was overly casual and not what the Reds needed when they were still in search of two goals in the final half-hour of the tie.

While Gakpo most certainly shouldn’t be the fall guy for his side’s gross underperformance throughout both legs of the quarter-final – he was actually one of our better players in the thrashing at Anfield – errors of judgement like the one which enraged McManaman summed up LFC’s sloppiness.

It’s something that Jurgen Klopp’s side will need to correct in their final six games of the season if they’re to give the manager a happy send-off to his time at Liverpool next month.

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‘He’d be a wonderful choice’ – McManaman hopes Liverpool can lure ‘standout’ manager to Anfield

Liam Togher — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 16:17:17 +0000

Steve McManaman is hoping that Liverpool can lure one ‘standout’ managerial candidate to Anfield as Jurgen Klopp’s replacement.

Almost as soon as the German announced in late January that he’d be leaving at the end of the season, Xabi Alonso was installed as the firm favourite to become his successor.

However, the Reds’ pursuit of the 42-year-old has been complicated by simultaneous interest from Bayern Munich, whose 11-year stranglehold on the Bundesliga title looks set to be ended by the Spaniard’s Bayer Leverkusen side.

In an interview with the Liverpool Echo, McManaman made the case for the former LFC midfielder, saying: “Xabi is doing great, isn’t he? I know Xabi very well. I’m a bit biased towards him. He’s 10 points clear. They’ve never won the league at Leverkusen.

“I don’t know whether it will be a bit too soon for him, I don’t know whether he fancies the Liverpool job as of yet, 18 months into his career, I don’t know. I certainly wouldn’t ask him that, I’d leave it to him. But he’d be a wonderful choice, wouldn’t he? Of course he would be.

“The standing he’s got at Liverpool, he knows Liverpool the city, he worked here, he lived here more importantly. He’s doing an incredible job at the minute, undefeated. What more can you say?

“They’ll do their due diligence. People have spoken about [Julian] Nagelsmann, people have spoken about Ruben Amorim at Sporting, but of course Xabi is the standout character because he knows Liverpool so well. Knowing the city really, really helps you win the people over.”

A combination of Alonso’s previous as a sublime Champions League-winning midfielder at Anfield, and the extraordinary work he’s done as Leverkusen boss, have naturally made him many Liverpool fans’ preferred option to take over from Klopp.

Unfortunately, Bayern’s concurrent search for a new manager to replace Thomas Tuchel has given the 42-year-old a decision to make, and nor is it unthinkable that he may wish to maintain the status quo and lead his current club to even greater things.

That’s why FSG won’t put all their eggs in the Alonso basket, and the two alternatives namechecked by McManaman are reportedly both in line to be interviewed by LFC chiefs in the near future (Football Insider).

It’s good to know that Liverpool appear to have a Plan B at the ready if their pursuit of the Leverkusen boss proves unsuccessful, but they must do everything in their power to try and entice the Spaniard.

Any manager will find it challenging to follow immediately in Klopp’s footsteps, but the 42-year-old would be given ample time and patience by the fan base to weave his magic in the dugout at Anfield, having done so on the pitch as a matter of routine in the 2000s.

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‘They’d be playing’ – McManaman says on-loan Liverpool duo have ‘missed out’ on Anfield game-time

Liam Togher — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 15:26:34 +0000

Steve McManaman has named two Liverpool loanees who he believes would’ve enjoyed game-time under Jurgen Klopp recently had they remained at Anfield.

A near-unprecedented injury list has deprived the Reds of numerous first-team stalwarts in recent weeks, but that has led to opportunities for academy youngsters such as Conor Bradley, Lewis Koumas, Bobby Clark and Jayden Danns in the senior side.

The 52-year-old – who currently works within LFC’s academy setup – is delighted to witness those players getting their chance, and he also highlighted a couple of on-loan youngsters who probably would’ve received the call from Klopp had they remained on Merseyside.

McManaman told The Mirror: “You have to talk about the ones who are on loan like Tyler Morton and Fabio Carvalho. They’re on loan at the minute and doing really well but unfortunately for them, they’ve just missed out on this opportunity because if they were here they’d be playing.”

It’s fair to say that Klopp would almost certainly have called upon both Morton and Carvalho in recent games if they were still at Liverpool rather than out on loan with Hull City.

However, at the time that their respective loans were agreed, it would’ve been impossible to realistically forecast the extent of the injury crisis which has enveloped Anfield in the first two months of 2024, and the two 21-year-olds are benefitting greatly from their time at the MKM Stadium.

The defensive midfielder has started 27 Championship games for the Tigers this season, scoring three goals to aid their promotion push (Transfermarkt), with Liam Rosenior’s side currently occupying the final play-off berth.

Meanwhile, since joining Hull in January, the attacker has struck three times in 10 matches (Transfermarkt), making the most of the opportunities that he wasn’t getting at either Liverpool or RB Leipzig, where he had an abortive loan spell in the first half of the campaign.

You can see why McManaman has said the duo may have missed out on first-team minutes for their parent club given the circumstances of recent weeks, but it still made plenty of sense to grant them temporary moves to somewhere that they’d play regularly.

If Morton and Carvalho continue to impress with the Tigers, they could both be retained at Anfield as senior squad players for next season.

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Steve McManaman hints at how likely Michael Edwards is to return to Liverpool after speaking to him

Liam Togher — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 10:23:47 +0000

Steve McManaman has revealed that he recently spoke to Michael Edwards regarding the possibility of the latter returning to Liverpool FC in a sporting director capacity.

The 44-year-old has been linked with a return to the role that he held from 2016 to 2022 (and in which he enjoyed enormous success), with the position currently vacant after Jorg Schmadtke’s departure at the end of the January transfer window.

Speaking on the Blood Red podcast, the former Reds winger said that he discussed the situation with Edwards – who happens to be his neighbour – but played down the likelihood of him coming back to take the job for a second time.

McManaman said: “They should try to bring Michael back, of course they should. Funnily enough, I spoke to him the other day about it because he lives by me. In what capacity they would bring him back, I don’t know.

“I think Michael has moved on from being a sporting director. I don’t know if he could go back to the same role he had. It would be great if he could come back, but I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes.”

McManaman probably shares the sentiments of many Liverpool fans who’d love to see Edwards returning to the club as sporting director, considering his track record from his previous spell at Anfield.

From overseeing transformative additions like Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker, to negotiating handsome fees from the sales of peripheral players such as Dominic Solanke, Rhian Brewster and Jordon Ibe, the 44-year-old earned a reputation as one of the best in the business at his job.

Alas, a variety of reports indicate that he has no great desire to come back to LFC in as much of a hands-on capacity, so FSG may need to look elsewhere in their search for a new sporting director.

To that effect, Richard Hughes could become a viable candidate, having confirmed that he’ll be leaving his current post at Bournemouth at the end of this season.

Even if Edwards doesn’t return to his previous job at Liverpool, it’d certainly seem wise for the Anfield hierarchy to try and involve a man of his expertise in some capacity.

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Steve McManaman heaps praise on 25y/o Liverpool man who was ‘excellent’ against Forest

Max Rudd — Sun, 03 Mar 2024 16:50:03 +0000

Liverpool earned a much needed three points thanks to a late Darwin Nunez goal at the City Ground but it’s the man who set up the winner who’s been singled out for praise by Steve McManaman.

Nottingham Forest thought they’d earned a point against Jurgen Klopp’s side until our No.9 rose well to head in from Alexis Mac Allister’s delicate cross in the 99th minute.

The result leaves Liverpool four points clear at the top of the Premier League with Manchester City currently trailing Manchester United by a goal to nil at the Etihad (at the time of writing).

It was a bit of class from our No.10 to put it on a plate for Nunez and the midfielder has been immense since signing from Brighton in the summer for just £35m.

“I thought he had an excellent game,” said McManaman on Premier League Productions (via HITC). “Sometimes, it gets lost when it’s 0-0.

“They dominated possession and I thought he hardly gave the ball away. He was one of the most impressive players for Liverpool.

“His cross for the goal was fantastic – a brilliant day and a brilliant result for Liverpool.”

Our midfield let us down massively last term but with a major overhaul completed in the summer, including the signings of Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch and the exits of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and James Milner, we look like a brand new side this season.

The Argentine has been the pick of the bunch from the incomings with his ability to control the tempo in the middle of the park and produce moments of magic like he did yesterday.

There’s still a long way to go this season but wins like that at the City Ground can prove the difference between winning the title or not.

We’re delighted to see the former Boca Juniors man thriving in our midfield and long may his strong performances continue.

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Steve McManaman left ‘slightly bemused’ by what ‘exceptional’ Liverpool player did last night

Max Rudd — Tue, 02 Jan 2024 20:35:56 +0000

Steve McManaman has admitted he was left ‘slightly bemused’ by what one Liverpool ace did last night.

The Reds defeated Newcastle 4-2 at Anfield to go three points clear at the top of the Premier League thanks to a brace from Mo Salah and strikes from Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo.

Salah’s second of the game came from the penalty spot after Martin Dubravka was adjudged to have brought down Diogo Jota who was on the receiving end of an exceptional pass from Alexis Mac Allister.

It appeared our No. 20 could’ve stayed on his feet and slotted home but instead hit the deck allowing the Egyptian King to take his goal tally to 18 for the season (across all competitions).

“It was a lovely ball by Mac Allister,” McManaman told Premier League Productions (via HITC). “Firstly, I just don’t know why he [Jota] doesn’t score himself.

“There is contact by the goalkeeper, but then he goes down two strides too late. Once it’s given, because there is contact there, and there is contact, but he stays on his feet and then falls over.

“I don’t know what was going through his mind. It would be interesting to see what he says. Once Anthony Taylor has given it, then it’s not a clear and obvious error because there is definite contact.

“I am slightly bemused myself because the contact is there, why doesn’t he fall over there?! He has two more steps and then jumps. I thought he could have tapped it in.”

Jota replaced Luis Diaz just after the hour mark and made a brilliant impact as he put it on a plate for Curtis Jones and also won the penalty.

The Portugal international, who Jurgen Klopp has previously labelled as ‘exceptional’ (via TNT Sports), is now back fit and pushing for a place in our German tactician’s starting XI.

He could’ve been on the scoresheet himself had he stayed on his feet but he clearly felt the contact from the Newcastle stopper was enough to ground him.

Next up for Liverpool is the trip to the Emirates to face Arsenal in the FA Cup – a team the former Wolves man likes facing with seven goals against the Gunners since his move to Anfield in 2020.

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Ex-Red ‘would be gutted’ to see ‘sensational’ player leave Liverpool as comparison to Madrid duo is made

Max Rudd — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 08:25:09 +0000

Steve McManaman has admitted he ‘would be gutted’ to see one player in particular leave Liverpool – labelling the 26-year-old as ‘absolutely priceless’.

Following the departure of Jordan Henderson to Saudi Arabia in the summer, Joe Gomez is now the Anfield outfit’s longest serving player and has been in fine form of late.

The versatile defender was signed by Brendan Rodgers from Charlton in 2015 and has since won every major trophy possible during his time on Merseyside.

Our No. 2 has deputised for the injured Kostas Tsimikas at left back recently and ex-Red McManaman believes Gomez is ‘just as important as the superstars’.

“I would be gutted if he left because people like Gomez are absolutely priceless to you at a football club,” he told Liverpool Echo (via Rousing The Kop).

“If you go back to Real Madrid, they’ve got Lucas Vasquez and Nacho, who have both been at the club for over ten years. If you speak to any of their team-mates about what they think of them, they adore them. That’s why they’re still there.

“Teams need players like that and they are just as important as the superstars.”

The London-born ace is a brilliant player on his day and we’re delighted to see him performing well at the moment.

He’s always willing to help the team out wherever needed and McManaman is right to praise the England international.

He’s played in each position of our backline so far this term and with both Tsimikas and Andy Robertson sidelined at the moment he’s our only senior option available who can operate at left back.

Gomez, who Jurgen Klopp has previously labelled as a ‘sensational footballer’ (via Liverpoolfc.com), is yet to score for the Reds but he’s been getting closer and closer in recent weeks with the full-back position seeing him enter dangerous areas further upfield.

It would be a brilliant start to 2024 if he could help us to a victory over Newcastle on New Years Day – let’s just wait and see!

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Steve McManaman explains why ‘exceptional’ Liverpool player is ‘unfortunate’

Max Rudd — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 22:01:56 +0000

Steve McManaman has explained why one Liverpool player is ‘unfortunate’ despite being ‘exceptional’ ever since joining the Reds.

Caoimhin Kelleher was handed another start by Jurgen Klopp this evening as Liverpool fell to a 2-1 defeat to Union SG in the Europa League.

The result didn’t matter too much to the Anfield outfit with top spot and qualification through to the knockout stages already confirmed, however.

Kelleher was making his ninth appearance of the campaign in Brussels and after making a superb save to keep the game goalless in the first half ex-Red McManaman explained why he’s got some sympathy for the Irishman.

“Great save from Kelleher. He has to be strong,” McManaman told TNT Sports (via The Boot Room). “I mean, he’s almost a number one, isn’t he, Kelleher. He’s just so unfortunate he’s got Alisson Becker in front of him. But he’s been exceptional since he’s been at Liverpool.”

McManaman is right to claim that Kelleher is unfortunate because the Cork-born talent is not playing anywhere near as much football as what he’d like and what he deserves.

The Ireland international, however, is lucky to train alongside Alisson Becker each day and is clearly learning a lot from our number one because he impresses whenever called upon.

Klopp admitted recently that he prevented our No. 62 from leaving the club in the summer but the longer the shot stopper remains second choice to Alisson and the older he gets, the more likely it becomes that he’ll push for a move away from L4.

The 25-year-old is likely to earn more minutes in the knockout stages of the Europa League and in the domestic cup competitions so let’s hope he can continue to impress as we aim to pick up some silverware this term.

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‘Poor’ – McManaman not impressed by Liverpool man who ‘allowed the opposition to get into the game’

Max Rudd — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 08:10:03 +0000

Former Liverpool man Steve McManaman was not impressed by the performance of one of Jurgen Klopp’s stars in particular last night as the Reds suffered a 3-2 defeat to Toulouse in the Europa League.

It was the first time the Anfield outfit have dropped points in Europe this season.

Liverpool struggled to find any rhythm against the Ligue 1 outfit and although they were denied a late equaliser following a VAR check, ex-Red McManaman claimed Kostas Tsimikas ‘just fell asleep’ in the build-up to Toulouse’s opening goal in the first-half.

“It was poor from Tsimikas, just fell asleep and allowed the opposition to get into the game,” McManaman said on TNT Sports (as quoted by The Boot Room). “Caiomhin Kelleher has no chance with the deflection, flies off Jarell Quansah’s leg into the net.

“A very unlikely lead for the home side, and not a good look at all from the Liverpool left-back.”

Steve Nicol was also critical of the Greek international’s performance last night.

The 27-year-old was miles off the pace, as were many others in a red shirt, with Klopp making nine changes from the side that drew with Luton Town on Sunday.

We only started to play football once we were 2-0 down and although an own-goal offered us brief hope with 20 minutes remaining, Toulouse regained their two-goal lead just two minutes later.

We were nowhere near solid enough defensively and it was no surprise to see Tsimikas substituted at half-time.

With Andy Robertson currently sidelined with a shoulder injury this was our No. 21’s chance to prove he’s got what it takes to be in the starting XI.

He’s struggled, however, and we therefore wouldn’t be surprised to see Joe Gomez start at left back against Brentford on Sunday.

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‘What on earth’ – Steve McManaman left ‘astounded’ by decision to disallow Quansah’s late goal

Max Rudd — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 22:15:04 +0000

Steve McManaman was left ‘astounded’ by the decision to disallow Jarrell Quansah’s late equaliser during Liverpool’s clash with Toulouse this evening.

The central defender slammed home in injury time to equal the scoreline at 3-3, only for referee Georgi Kabakov to visit the pitch side VAR monitor and decide to disallow the goal for a handball by Alexis Mac Allister in the build-up.

It did initially appear that the referee awarded the goal after pointing to the halfway line before he then made his way to the monitor and rule out the goal – much to the bemusement of ex-Red McManaman.

The 51-year-old told TNT Sports (via Daily Mail): “This was seven or eight movements before the goal even happened. He’s given handball! What on earth. Talking about re-reffing the game. That happened… I’m astonished. Chest onto the arm but then the game carries on and there’s a thousand things that happen after that.

“Astounded by that. This reffing in Europe has not been seen in its greatest light over these last couple of days at all.

“I get if it’s handball then right into the back of the net but the referee has just missed it and the game carries on and a thousand things happen.”

It must be admitted that we were far from at our best against Toulouse but we still showed great character to battle until the very end.

We feel that a bizarre refereeing decision has cost us, not for the first time this season, but we must react in the right way against Brentford on Sunday.

We’re still top of our Europa League group and just three points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City at the moment.

Let’s hope for a big performance at Anfield this weekend to get the feel-good factor back amongst the club and the fans.

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Steve McManaman hammers £11.75m Liverpool player who ‘fell asleep’ during Toulouse clash

Farrell Keeling — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 19:07:18 +0000

Steve McManaman was far from impressed with Kostas Tsimikas in Liverpool’s Europa League meeting with Toulouse.

The Greek international (signed for £11.75m in 2020) was directly at fault for the opener after being caught ‘asleep’ at the wheel.

“It was poor from Tsimikas, just fell asleep and allowed the opposition to get into the game,” the former Red spoke on TNT Sports (via BBC Sport).

“Caiomhin Kelleher has no chance with the deflection, flies off Jarell Quansah’s leg into the net.

“A very unlikely lead for the home side, and not a good look at all from the Liverpool left-back.”

Evidently, Jurgen Klopp felt it wasn’t the former Olympiakos man’s night either, substituting his fullback at the half-time break.

Poor from Kostas Tsimikas

We’re huge fans of Tsimikas generally, however, his latest display in France leaves us with questions over who should be our first-choice left-back once we return to domestic action.

It’s worth pointing out that we looked a more threatening side following the 27-year-old’s arrival on the pitch against Luton Town.

That said, with a big meeting at the Etihad on the horizon after the international break, one might imagine Klopp will want a relatively settled option.

Barring any surprises, we’d imagine whoever begins the game against Brentford will also be favoured on 25th November.

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‘Quite impressive’: Steve McManaman wowed by what £34m Liverpool player did vs Union St-Gilloise

Farrell Keeling — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 20:42:00 +0000

It wasn’t the most special of finishes from Ryan Gravenberch to put Liverpool ahead in their Europa League encounter, though few can deny that the Dutchman has enjoyed a strong start to life at Anfield.

Steve McManaman praised the ‘quite impressive’ midfielder for his contributions in a praiseworthy first-half showing at L4 against Union Saint-Gilloise.

“It has been a low-key goal. It had to be a goalkeeping error to calm the nerves of everyone in the ground,” the TNT sports pundit said (as relayed by BBC Sport).

“They break quick and Union Saint-Gilloise get people back, but this is nothing more than a goalkeeping error.

“He has been quite impressive this evening, Gravenberch, and he earned that little bit of luck.”

Two assists and a goal in his first six games for Jurgen Klopp’s men at the half-time mark (209 minutes) means the 21-year-old is registering a goal or assist every 69.66 minutes.

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Make no mistake, this is a player (signed for a reported £34.2m, according to Sky Sports) with kinks in his game to iron out and much in the way of developmental potential to realise.

We’d be remiss not to point out the startling difference in performance levels between his brief stint at the Allianz Arena compared to his first handful of outings with Liverpool.

Gravenberch was a force to be reckoned with in the first-half of action at L4 and has hardly put a foot wrong when granted minutes, so far mostly coming in the cups and Europe.

Could it yet be time to trust him with game time in the Premier League amid Curtis Jones’ three-game match ban?

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‘I have no idea’ – TNT pundit absolutely can’t believe ‘dreadful’ thing 24-year-old Liverpool player did v USG

Farrell Keeling — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 19:30:51 +0000

Steve McManaman was almost at a loss for words when trying to dissect Darwin Nunez’s first-half miss.

The Uruguayan found himself with a peach of a chance in front of goal after being fed in the box by Mo Salah, with the former sweeping wide.

“I have no idea. That was as easy as they come,” the former Red told TNT sports (as relayed by BBC Sport).

“He must have taken his eye off the ball. He could have gone left foot, right foot, anything he wanted.

“But that was dreadful, to be perfectly honest.”

The Merseysiders face Royal Union Saint-Gilloise at Anfield after securing a 3-1 win in Austria against LASK.

It’s not something we’ll be particularly worried about, frustrating as it is, given Nunez’s propensity for whipping out the extraordinary, even if sometimes he doesn’t quite manage to handle the simple.

Don’t get us wrong, we want the former Benfica man to be putting similarly gilt-edge chances away in future, though it’ll be one step at a time with the 24-year-old.

His all-round play has already enjoyed a huge step upon from the prior campaign and a tally of six goal contributions in eight games is far from appalling this early in the season.

If Jurgen Klopp can help coach our £64m 2022 summer signing to cut out such mistakes from his game… boy do we have quite the offensive monster.

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Two pundits terribly wrong with Liverpool claim and latest stats prove it – opinion

Farrell Keeling — Sun, 17 Sep 2023 09:04:53 +0000

Peter Schmeichel and former Liverpool star Steve McManaman were apparently in agreement that Jurgen Klopp’s backline is likely to leak a lot of goals this term.

The Merseysiders did little to dispel that notion in the first-half of their encounter with Wolves at the Molineux stadium and were objectively fortunate to keep the scoreline down to just the one goal registered against Alisson Becker.

“I don’t think anyone can stay with Man City, we were just looking at that line-up today and you look at their back four, how are you gonna compete with that? Walker, Dias, Akanji and Gvardiol – how can you compete with that?” the former Manchester United goalkeeper told the Premier League’s matchday live (as relayed by the Liverpool Echo). “You can’t match it, and Liverpool for sure can’t match it. I agree with you [Steve McManaman], they are very, very vulnerable at the back.”

The Dane was met with some agreement from his fellow pundit and ex-Red: “When you look at Liverpool it’s clear to see the way they play they’re gonna score goals. But they are going to concede them.

“They’re going to get interesting exciting matches because they are vulnerable at the back.

“It’s gonna be a ride watching Liverpool this year because it’s gonna be a lot of ups and downs. They’re going to concede goals aplenty.”

Despite a torrid first 45-minute showing in the West Midlands, however, one might feel inclined to question the narrative that Liverpool’s defence is utterly appalling.

It’s first worth noting that Klopp’s men have been without first-choice centre-backs Virgil van Dijk (suspension) and Ibrahima Konate (injury) for their last two fixtures, with the former sent off within the first-half of action at St. James’ Park and the latter returning to the side for a brief cameo against Wolves in the dying stages of the game.

Virgil van Dijk was forced to watch on as he served the final game of his suspension – (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

Beyond that point, a simple glance at the Premier League table (courtesy of BBC Sport) will clearly show that the Reds have the joint-second-best defence in the league along with Arsenal with only four goals conceded (one more than table-toppers Manchester City).

But such numbers can, admittedly, be misleading. So, let’s take a dive into the stats, courtesy of Sofascore, and see if they agree with Schmeichel and McManaman:

Chelsea 1 – 1 Liverpool: xGA: 1.35

Liverpool 3 – 1 Bournemouth: xGA: 1.29

Newcastle 1 – 2 Liverpool: xGA: 1.99

Liverpool 3 – 0 Aston Villa: xGA: 0.66

Wolves 1 – 3 Liverpool: xGA: 0.63

Liverpool’s avg xGA: 1.18

Arsenal 2 – 1 Nottingham Forest: xGA: 1.18

Crystal Palace 0 – 1 Arsenal: xGA: 1.01

Arsenal 2 – 2 Fulham: xGA: 0.56

Arsenal 3 – 1 Manchester United: xGA: 0.94

Arsenal’s avg xGA: 0.92

Burnley 0 – 3 Man City: xGA: 0.33

Man City 1 – 0 Newcastle: xGA: 0.29

Sheffield United 1 – 2 Man City: xGA: 0.67

Man City 5 – 1 Fulham: xGA: 1.45

West Ham 1 – 3 Man City: xGA: 0.94

Man City’s avg xGA: 0.73

What do the stats say about Liverpool’s chances?

So there you have it. As expected, Manchester City have a freakishly positive expected goals against score that will no doubt keep them in the frame as title favourites, should they maintain their early form.

However, to imply that we’re miles behind the Sky Blues and Arsenal with an xGA score of 1.18 is simply wide of the mark, even should the Gunners have the possibility of improving their score in their upcoming trip to Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon.

Indeed, even assuming we maintain our current xGA score over the course of the league season, we’d be projected to finish with 42.94 goals conceded – just under Arsenal and Manchester United’s 43 goals conceded each in 2022/23, not to mention our accumulation of 47.

Liverpool were four points off Newcastle in fourth last term – (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Keeping up with either outfit over the long run, of course, may come down to how well we manage to keep both Van Dijk and Konate fit and readily available for the first-XI throughout our league campaign.

To be fair to the aforementioned pundits, that task alone could massively complicate our hopes of securing a second league title under Jurgen Klopp.

#Ep90 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Steve Kay – Goncalo Inacio NEXT?

The post Two pundits terribly wrong with Liverpool claim and latest stats prove it – opinion appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

Ex-Red explains how Declan Rice’s Arsenal move could impact Liverpool’s remaining summer transfer business

Max Rudd — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 10:30:24 +0000

Steve McManaman believes Liverpool will not pay the £100m transfer fee that Brighton are demanding for Moises Caicedo this summer.

The Reds have already raided the south coast outfit for the services of Alexis Mac Allister during the current window and as well as signing Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig Jurgen Klopp is believed to be eager on further strengthening his options in the middle of the park.

Ecuador international Caicedo is one of the players being linked with a move to L4 and with Arsenal recently signing Declan Rice from West Ham in a deal worth £105m McManaman believes Brighton will now use that transfer to ‘set the benchmark’.

“No, they [Liverpool] won’t pay that money,” McManaman told Betfred (via The Kop Times). “I understand what Brighton are doing and if it’s true that Arsenal offered them a lot of money in the January window and they said no, then now his price tag would have gone up even more, so I don’t believe that any team would pay £100million for him.”

“He’s a good defensive midfielder, but the prices we’re talking about are ridiculous aren’t they? I presume that Declan Rice’s move to Arsenal has set the benchmark now.”

“Clubs can play the game now and claim if one defensive midfielder is worth £100million then their player is also worth that too. I very much doubt that Liverpool would pay £100million for Caicedo.”

Alongside our new No. 10, Caicedo looked the real day at the Amex Stadium last season.

As well as impressing in midfield with his dynamism and quality on the ball he also showed his versatility by operating as a right back on numerous occasions for Roberto De Zerbi’s side.

The price of transfers nowadays really is staggering so the fact that we signed Mac Allister for just £35m emphasises how good a deal we struck with Brighton.

We’d love to see his fellow South American head to L4 this summer but believe Klopp and Co. will instead target cheaper options such as Romeo Lavia or Ryan Gravenberch, for example.

#Ep76 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: Liverpool Transfer Committee Show!

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