Liam Togher – The Empire of The Kop

‘What does that tell us…’ – Carragher takes aim at two PL clubs in riposte to Liverpool’s critics

Liam Togher — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 08:20:26 +0000

Jamie Carragher has bitten back at accusations that Liverpool are ‘bottling it’ in the run-in to the season by comparing the Reds’ overall performance for the campaign to two clubs in particular.

It was just over a month ago that Jurgen Klopp’s side were still in contention for four trophies this term, but subsequent exits from the FA Cup and Europa League, in addition to slipping behind Manchester City in the Premier League title race, threaten to see the German’s reign peter out to an anti-climax.

However, in his latest column for The Telegraph, the 46-year-old insisted that his former club and Arsenal deserve praise for how they’ve competed with Pep Guardiola’s side, pointing to how that duo have performed in comparison to Manchester United and Chelsea, who sit seventh and ninth respectively.

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Carragher wrote: “If Arsenal and Liverpool are ‘bottling it’ in April and May, what does that tell us about Manchester United and Chelsea for the rest of the season?

“They are clubs which have made so many poor decisions they are nowhere near the required level, albeit Pochettino is in the process of trying to fix previous mistakes.

“Arteta and Klopp are being judged to the ultimate standard in taking on Guardiola. City are so freakishly good with resources beyond Arsenal and Liverpool, the fairest reference point is with United and Chelsea, especially, who have spent mega millions for a watching brief in the race for the top four at this point in the season.”

Liverpool fans know better than anyone that there’s no shame in coming up narrowly second best to Man City when their financial resources are vastly superior (and when they can rack up 115 Financial Fair Play charges without a care in the world!).

Rival supporters will inevitably indulge in tribal nonsense on social media whereby they try to label the teams who fall slightly short of winning the Premier League as ‘bottlers’, when in the cases of United and Chelsea they may be best advised to get their own houses in order first.

It’s not wholly implausible that those two clubs could miss out on European football altogether for next season, even with the Red Devils accruing a net transfer spend of more than £1bn since 2014 but having not so much as a title challenge to show for it, and the Blues posting just over £650m for the same metric in two chaotic years of Todd Boehly’s ownership thus far.

Annoyingly, Liverpool won only one of their four league games against that pair this term despite being a far superior team, but even if we miss out on domestic glory again, at least we can be thankful that our club is much more competently run than the Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge basket cases of recent years.

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‘Put him in Liverpool’s team’ – Ex-Arsenal striker says EPL ace would be an upgrade on Reds 24y/o

Liam Togher — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 07:44:45 +0000

Nicklas Bendtner has taken aim at one Liverpool player who he accused of being ‘so slow on the ball’ and believes that the Reds would find an upgrade from within the Premier League.

The former Arsenal striker was speaking on the Stolpe Ind podcast when he gave a withering assessment of Ibrahima Konate, with the ex-Denmark international citing his compatriot Joachim Anderson of Crystal Palace as a superior centre-back.

The 36-year-old said of the Eagles defender: “Now, I like to make [a proposal] where we put him in Liverpool’s team instead of Konate. [Konate] is so slow on the ball and has no idea where to play it. There, you can argue for what he is doing there versus the fact that Joachim could play there.”

Andersen – who’s lost just once in his four visits to Anfield with Fulham and Palace – was superb for the Eagles in their win away to Liverpool last Sunday, making a whopping 13 clearances for Oliver Glasner’s side (Sofascore).

It comes as no surprise that he ranks among the top 8% of centre-backs in Europe’s five main leagues for that particular metric over the past year, averaging 5.3 per game (FBref).

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Although the Denmark defender is someone we’d certainly welcome if he were to be linked with the Reds, we don’t go along with Bendtner’s criticism of Konate’s use of the ball.

The 24-year-old has the joint-fourth best passing success rate of anyone to start a Premier League match for Liverpool this season (WhoScored), while he’s among the 91st percentile of positional peers in Europe for progressive passes per 90 minutes with 5.54 (FBref).

In a post-Virgil van Dijk world at Anfield, we wouldn’t argue against a possible Andersen-Konate partnership at the back for LFC, but we wouldn’t be tossing the Frenchman out the door just to make way for the Palace defender, despite what Bendtner might say.

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Jurgen Klopp admits 90-touch Liverpool wizard ran ‘out of gas’ during second half v Atalanta

Liam Togher — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 06:57:50 +0000

Jurgen Klopp admitted that one Liverpool player who ‘set the tempo’ during the first half against Atalanta on Thursday night ultimately ran ‘out of gas’.

The Reds bowed out of the Europa League after failing to overcome the 3-0 deficit from last week’s clash at Anfield, but it wasn’t for the want of trying from Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was making his first start since 10 February after two months out through injury.

Speaking after last night’s match, the manager conceded that his team were unable to keep up the pace they’d shown prior to half-time, with the vice-captain’s influence waning as the minutes ticked by.

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Klopp said (via liverpoolfc.com): “The biggest problem for us in the second half was that we couldn’t keep that tempo. For us, you saw tonight in Trent Alexander-Arnold which player we didn’t have for a while now.

“As long as he was fresh, together with Macca [Alexis Mac Allister] he set the tempo, the rhythm, the direction of the game. Obviously he was running a bit out of gas [after half-time].”

Trent’s 72-minute appearance last night was his longest involvement in a match since he played the entirety of the FA Cup win over Arsenal on 7 January (Transfermarkt), and with Liverpool going all-out in the first half as they tried to reel in Atalanta, it was understandable that the 25-year-old ultimately faded.

He was one of the main instigators of the revival that the Reds threatened in the early stages, winning the penalty that Mo Salah converted and bypassing the Nerazzurri press with some pinpoint long-range passing.

As per Sofascore, the vice-captain took 90 touches at the Gewiss Stadium, executing one key pass and finding a teammate with seven long balls. In the words of Paul Gorst, he provided ‘what Liverpool have missed’ recently with his wizardry on the ball.

It was a shame that Trent couldn’t keep up that early tempo beyond half-time as he naturally tired in only his second game back from his two-month injury layoff, and unfortunately the rest of his teammates also seemed to wilt after they re-emerged from the dressing room at the interval.

We now face into a frantic week containing three crucial Premier League fixtures in seven days, but the 25-year-old’s influence should grow even further with each passing appearance as he seeks to deliver a winning send-off for Klopp at Anfield over the next month.

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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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‘If you look…’ – Ex-Liverpool duo were left raging over first-half moment v Atalanta tonight

Liam Togher — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 21:44:18 +0000

Liverpool bowed out of Europe with a whimper as their 1-0 win away to Atalanta tonight wasn’t enough to undo the damage of last week’s 0-3 defeat at Anfield.

However, some Reds fans may be left wondering if things might’ve worked out differently had the referee taken a different view of one moment in the first half at the Gewiss Stadium.

Shortly before half-time, Isak Hien was booked for handball as he cut out what could’ve been a gilt-edged chance for Luis Diaz, who argued that the Nerazzurri defender ought to have been sent off for denying what he felt was a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Speaking on punditry duty for TNT Sports, ex-LFC striker Peter Crouch raged (via Liverpool Echo): “I was screaming for a red card straight away. You can see he leans into the ball.

“There was a definite move of the arm, and I think Diaz is going in here. I think he takes the touch across him. I think that should be a red card. If you look here, he leans right into it and I don’t think the player is covering behind him.”

Fellow pundit and former Liverpool player Gary McAllister shared the Englishman’s indignation, saying: “I think it is denying a goal-scoring opportunity. If it gets to Diaz without the handball, I think his first touch is taking it towards the middle of the goal and away from the covering centre-back. You could argue that it should be a red.”

Referee François Letexier would’ve been within his rights to have sent Hien for an early bath, as the Atalanta defender quite deliberately handled the ball and prevented Diaz from being put through clean on goal.

Had the Sweden international been shown a red card, or had the Liverpool attacker got to the ball and gone on to double his team’s lead on the night, the second half could’ve had a very different feel to it. Imagine if the home side were trying to hang on with 10 men, or the Reds needed only one goal after the interval.

That incident has left a sense of ‘what if’ over our Europa League exit, but the harsh truth is that we simply didn’t do enough over the two games to deserve anything other than quarter-final elimination, having only played well during the first half tonight and been downright putrid at Anfield a week ago.

We could argue all night that Hien should’ve been sent off, but LFC still had 45-50 minutes to find two more goals and frankly didn’t look like scoring even one.

Europe is done – let’s make sure we don’t have any regrets over the final six matches of our Premier League campaign between now and 19 May.

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At long last: Klopp may be quietly satisfied with one part of Liverpool’s night despite Europa exit

Liam Togher — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 21:11:27 +0000

Liverpool’s Europa League campaign has ended with a sobering anti-climax as they were eliminated by Atalanta in the quarter-finals tonight.

The Reds won the second leg in Bergamo but it wasn’t enough to take them through after they left themselves too much to do in losing 0-3 at Anfield last week, and the second half performance in Italy was that of a flat and tired team.

However, once the disappointment of the result subsides, Jurgen Klopp may be privately pleased with one aspect of his side’s 1-0 victory at the Gewiss Stadium.

It meant that Liverpool kept their first clean sheet in 10 matches since they won by the same scoreline – in far more joyous circumstances – away to Nottingham Forest on 2 March.

On a personal level, Alisson Becker will be quietly satisfied with managing a shutout in just his second game back from injury, and he was credited with two saves in ensuring that Liverpool didn’t concede in Bergamo.

He also produced one exquisite stop during the first half when reacting sharply to keep the ball out of his net after Virgil van Dijk inadvertently skewed it, although any goal from that passage of play would’ve been disallowed as there was an offside in the build-up.

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In the overall context, the 1-0 scoreline will be of no comfort to the Reds as their hopes of reaching the final in Dublin were ended, although those were effectively extinguished by their turgid performance in the first leg a week ago.

If Liverpool were to bow out of Europe, at least they did it by winning and keeping a clean sheet. That offers something to build upon for our final six matches of the season, all of which will be in the Premier League, in which we’re still in the title race despite a couple of recent setbacks.

Let’s go all-out to give Klopp one last trophy next month!

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Paul Gorst hails ‘unbelievable’ player who’s providing ‘what Liverpool have missed’ v Atalanta

Liam Togher — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 20:00:40 +0000

Paul Gorst was wowed by an ‘unbelievable’ moment from one Liverpool player during the first half of their Europa League clash against Atalanta tonight.

The Reds have shown a drastic improvement from recent games and pulled back one of the three-goal deficit from last week’s first leg with an early Mo Salah penalty.

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The match in Bergamo sees Trent Alexander-Arnold making his first start in over two months, and the vice-captain has looked like he’s never been away, as illustrated by one chance to set up a chance for the visitors.

Half an hour into the game, Gorst tweeted: “Unbelievable ball from Alexander-Arnold to get Gakpo away but Salah can’t find Diaz with a threaded ball. That’s what Liverpool have missed while their vice captain has been sidelined though, defence to attack in one pass.”

Unbelievable ball from Alexander-Arnold to get Gakpo away but Salah can't find Diaz with a threaded ball. That's what Liverpool have missed while their vice captain has been sidelined though, defence to attack in one pass. https://t.co/zQYkFTXsN1

— Paul Gorst (@ptgorst) April 18, 2024

The difference that Trent makes to this Liverpool team has been evident in the first half at the Gewiss Stadium.

As per Sofascore, the 25-year-old completed six accurate long passes before the interval and took a team-high 60 touches, getting involved at every opportunity and regularly unlocking the Atalanta defence.

That ability to create attacks from seemingly nowhere is just what the Reds have been lacking in recent games, and as Gorst says, the vice-captain has quickly provided a string which has been missing from our bow in his absence.

After Liverpool’s slump in the first two weeks of April, Trent’s return from injury could hardly have been more timely. He looks set to have a massive impact on the team in the final month of the season.

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(Video) Alisson well and truly back as he pulls off incredible save; didn’t know it’d be offside

Liam Togher — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 19:24:48 +0000

Alisson Becker is playing just his second match tonight since returning from a hamstring injury which sidelined him for two months, but Liverpool fans certainly don’t have to worry about the goalkeeper being rusty.

Shortly after the Reds took an early lead against Atalanta through a Mo Salah penalty, pulling back one of the three goals they require to cancel out the first-leg deficit, they were almost caught out at the other end.

After Gianluca Scamacca flicked the ball on to Teun Koopmeiners, the Dutchman put in a low cross towards the edge of the six-yard box. His compatriot Virgil van Dijk got a leg to it but looked like he was about to turn it into his own net until the Brazilian stopper somehow adjusted his footing and got back to claw it away from danger.

The offside flag then went up for an infringement earlier in the move, but Alisson wasn’t to know that when he miraculously reacted to stave off a real scare for Liverpool. That’s why he’s the best goalkeeper in the world, bar none!

You can view Alisson’s stupendous save below, taken from beIN SPORTS’ match coverage and shared via @AlmedaDufo75613 on X:

تابع الحساب الاساسي :@iT7HD pic.twitter.com/cL6bh9j7LR

— ليالي الابطال (@AlmedaDufo75613) April 18, 2024

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‘Tantalising…’ – Liverpool journalist intrigued by Reds team news for Atalanta clash

Liam Togher — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 18:44:20 +0000

Jurgen Klopp has made it clear from his Liverpool team selection for tonight’s Europa League quarter-final second leg against Atalanta that he doesn’t think this tie is irretrievable.

The Reds have a mountain to climb after losing 3-0 to Gian Piero Gasperini’s side at Anfield last week, but the German has opted for a strong starting line-up for the clash at the Gewiss Stadium.

One intriguing change in attack sees Cody Gakpo come in for Darwin Nunez, with the Uruguayan and Diogo Jota among the substitutes.

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Reacting to the team news on the Liverpool Echo‘s live matchday blog, Paul Gorst stated: “I am surprised a little bit to see Cody Gakpo start, even though the Netherlands frontman has been in decent form of late. In full fairness, he has scored a decent number of goals in this competition this term. Only Darwin Nunez has more than Gakpo’s four.

“It’s a first start since early February for Trent Alexander-Arnold too. How they will need his creativity from deep tonight. Jota and Nunez in reserve is tantalising.”

Jota is still waiting for his first Liverpool start in two months, although he’s appeared off the bench in the Reds’ last couple of matches since returning from a knee injury (Transfermarkt).

Nunez drops out after a run of just one goal in six matches but he’s already had a telling impact as a substitute this season, coming on to score twice in the dramatic win at Newcastle in August and also getting the 99th-minute winner away to Nottingham Forest a few weeks ago.

The pair have scored 32 times between them in the current campaign, certainly a nice luxury to have in reserve if we need a goal or two during the second half tonight.

Hopefully the starting front three of Luis Diaz, Gakpo and Mo Salah can do the business and rescue Liverpool’s first-leg deficit, but having Jota and Nunez to call upon off the bench is indeed a tantalising prospect if it’s needed.

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(Photo) Liverpool’s travelling fans will be left disbelieving at away end for Atalanta clash

Liam Togher — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 18:17:50 +0000

Liverpool fans attending the Europa League clash against Atalanta tonight will have been in for quite a shock when they first laid eyes on where they’ll be situated.

Anfield Football shared an image of the away end at the Gewiss Stadium where the travelling Reds will hope to see their team pull off a remarkable comeback from 3-0 down from the first leg, and to say that it isn’t the lap of luxury would be an understatement.

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The stand is positioned behind a fence, which isn’t a welcoming feature to begin with, and it looks for all the world like temporary seating which was wheeled in for this match, with metal poles around the sides and back and seats which don’t exactly scream comfort.

Of course, Liverpool supporters couldn’t travel to Bergamo when we last played Atalanta away during the global pandemic in 2020. Their base for tonight’s match has a ramshackle appearance to it, for sure, but hopefully the Reds will give their fans a night to remember nonetheless.

You can view a photo of the away end below, via @AnfieldFootball on X:

The away end at Atalanta pic.twitter.com/b0jCqtQHWB

— Anfield Football (@AnfieldFootball) April 18, 2024

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James Pearce urges Klopp to consider using ‘brilliant’ teenager in Liverpool’s season run-in

Liam Togher — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 13:03:01 +0000

James Pearce has made the case for Jurgen Klopp to give one talented youngster at Liverpool some first-team minutes during the final month of the season.

A series of injuries to key players earlier this year led to Jayden Danns being called up to the senior side, with his four appearances including a substitute outing in the Carabao Cup final and two goals in the FA Cup win over Southampton.

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In an article for The Athletic in which he discussed the Reds’ ‘wayward finishing’ in recent games, the journalist called for the 18-year-old to be utilised off the bench as a possible solution to the team’s attacking woes of late.

Pearce wrote: “There is also an argument to be made that young Jayden Danns should be used as an impact sub. The teenager did not look out of place when used earlier in the campaign and scored a brilliant back-heel for the under-21s against Manchester United last Friday.”

Klopp has nothing to lose by trusting in Danns over the final few weeks of Liverpool’s season, especially at a time when several of our senior forwards are misfiring.

The teenager has shown that he can score at this level, and as Pearce referenced, his goal in the under-21’s victory over United last week was a thing of beauty.

The 18-year-old trained with the Reds’ squad today ahead of the Europa League clash against Atalanta on Thursday night, and imagine what an effective wildcard option he could be off the bench if we stage a revival after the 3-0 battering at Anfield six days ago.

Even if the tie gets away from us, it could be worth throwing Danns into the fray to give him further minutes with an eye to possibily utilising him across our final six Premier League matches of the campaign.

He came good a few weeks ago in Liverpool’s hour of need during the injury crisis. He deserves to be given another shot amid the ongoing fallow period in the final third for our senior attackers.

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Liverpool player’s exit now seems inevitable after what he’s said to his agent – report

Liam Togher — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 12:35:18 +0000

With just over a month remaining of the 2023/24 season, the curtain will soon come down on Jurgen Klopp’s reign as Liverpool manager, and some members of his current squad could be following him out the door.

Adrian, Joel Matip and Thiago Alcantara all see their contracts expire this summer, and the latter’s exit now seems inevitable judging by a recent report.

According to Football Insider, the midfielder has instructed his agent to find him a new club, with the 33-year-old unlikely to be offered an extension at Anfield due to his persistent injury problems.

The former Spain international is determined not to retire at this early age, instead seeking to continue his career elsewhere.

It’s been an almighty shame that a player of Thiago’s phenomenal ability has been reduced to the periphery at Liverpool due to his seemingly never-ending injury problems.

He was a tremendous coup when we signed him in a £25m deal in autumn 2020 just one month after he won the Champions League with Bayern Munich, and moments such as his scintillating 25-yard goal against Porto in November 2021 will ensure that he’s fondly remembered by Reds fans.

Unfortunately, his body has continued to let him down, with the 33-year-old playing just five minutes all season, a cameo appearance towards the end of the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal in February (Transfermarkt).

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With just a few weeks remaining on his £200,000-per-week contract (Capology), and having proven unreliable in terms of his fitness, it’s impossible to make a case for Liverpool offering him fresh terms.

Thiago seems to know that himself, hence his reported instruction to his agent to look for a club who might take him on after he departs Merseyside.

It doesn’t feel right that such a distinguished player will slip out the back door at Anfield, but such is the hand that he’s been cruelly dealt. Hopefully he can enjoy an Indian summer elsewhere; goodness know he’s due a change of luck soon.

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‘I spoke to someone…’ – Journalist has heard great things from inside Liverpool about 20y/o wiz

Liam Togher — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 12:02:50 +0000

Dean Jones has issued a glowing assessment of one Liverpool youngster, having received the inside track on him from a source at Anfield.

The journalist was discussing Conor Bradley during a recent appearance on the Ranks FC Podcast, and he couldn’t speak highly enough of the 20-year-old mentality as he eyes up a long-lasting career at the top level in England.

Jones said: “It’s interesting when you look at Conor Bradley’s upbringing. He grew up playing Gaelic football and being a great cross-country runner.

“When you understand those things and watch the way Conor Bradley plays football, it all comes together. He’s so tough and he has this other side to him where he seems very down to earth.

“I spoke to someone at Liverpool who says he’s genuinely such a good lad and he wants to be the best version of himself that he can, and that’s really encouraging in a 20-year-old footballer.”

An in-dpeth article in The Athletic last month detailed how Bradley had an elite mindset even in his childhood, along with how he’d soak up information and advice from his coaches across the various sports that he played.

That determination for success, along with a humility and desire for constant learning, should stand him in very good stead throughout his career, and those endorsements come as no surprise when you look at how he’s performed for Liverpool this season.

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Thrust in at the deep end after Trent Alexander-Arnold got injured during the winter, the 20-year-old took to the Reds’ first team like a duck to water, with his first senior goal for the club in the 4-1 win over Chelsea a deserving reward for his tremendous performances.

Bradley’s mental toughness was also borne out in how he’s continued to impress even after the personal tragedy of his father’s death in early February.

When footballers break through at a high level before they turn 21, it can be easy for them to fall into the trap of believing their own hype and displaying undesirable traits on and/or off the pitch.

Liverpool won’t have to worry about that with the Northern Ireland youngster, who from everything we know about him is already a model professional.

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‘Definitely’ – Micah Richards says ‘really intelligent’ manager could be perfect for Liverpool

Liam Togher — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 11:32:13 +0000

Micah Richards has shared his thoughts on Ruben Amorim amid the 39-year-old’s links with the Liverpool manager’s job.

Discussions are reportedly underway about the potential appointment of the Sporting Lisbon boss as Jurgen Klopp’s successor, and he’s been given the seal of approval by the former Manchester City defender.

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Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, the pundit said of Amorim: “I think the way he plays tactically he’d be good. In terms of could he be good for Liverpool? Definitely. He’s really intelligent. He plays attacking football. He has evolved as a manager as well because he was at Braga I think. He did okay there.

“The thing is though, can he do it in the Premier League so soon? That’s the one question mark you would have. I’ve heard Liverpool fans saying they would like him. They like his style of football, so you just never know.”

Although Richards cited Amorim’s lack of Premier League experience as a possible ‘question mark’, the Sporting manager has proven his worth on the European stage as well as in Portugal.

His side reached the Champions League knockout rounds two years ago and the Europa League quarter-finals last season, eliminating Arsenal from the latter, while he’s also overseen victory over Tottenham and a draw against Manchester City in that time.

In 207 matches in charge of the Lisbon club, they’ve scored 446 goals (2.15 per game), a testament to their prolific nature and penchant for attacking football, and their phenomental tally of 84 goals in the Portuguese top flight this term is 19 more than the next-best team in that regard.

Going from Sporting to Liverpool would be a step up for the 39-year-old, but the evidence of his managerial career so far suggests that he could be ready for such a move.

Two decades on from his compatriot Jose Mourinho announcing himself in the Premier Leauge in style, Amorim appears to have the qualities to do the same.

EOTK Insider with Neil Jones: Niko Kovac rumours, what if Amorim stays at Sporting? Summer contract calls, Crystal Palace review and much more!

The post ‘Definitely’ – Micah Richards says ‘really intelligent’ manager could be perfect for Liverpool appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

Analysis: Exploring the numbers and trends behind Liverpool’s shot conversion and xG this season

Liam Togher — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 10:55:05 +0000

If you were to look at the Premier League table, you’d think that Liverpool were among the most efficient teams in the top flight.

The Reds’ tally of 72 goals in 32 matches is the third-highest in the division, consistent with their actual position, with an average of 2.25 goals per game. All five of Jurgen Klopp’s senior forwards are into double digits for the season in all competitions, with Mo Salah and Darwin Nunez netting 41 times between them.

And yet, the Merseysiders now stand accused of being one of the most wasteful teams in the Premier League, all too often spurning chances that you’d expect them to put away easily.

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Having scored in all but one of their first 49 matches this season, Liverpool have registered zero goals in their subsequent two games. One of the most lethal teams in England has suddenly forgotten how to execute that most straightforward of football principles – sticking the ball in the back of the net.

Is our recent profligate nature a curious blip, or is there an underlying trend which should seriously worry Klopp? We’ve delved into the numbers in search of patterns to the Reds’ shooting efficiency and xG performance in the 2023/24 Premier League, analysing data from FBref.

Liverpool shot efficiency in 2023/24 Premier League

Take one look at those two most recent games. Two goals from 48 shots, and only one point to show for it. It’s quite the contrast from the efficiency Liverpool showed in February, when in three consecutive matches they netted 11 times from 69 attempts at goal.

The Reds were generally clinical in their first 16 league fixtures of the season, usually netting at least once from eight shots or fewer, with outliers in trips to Chelsea (1-1), Tottenham (1-2) and especially Luton (1-1) where we dropped points.

Indeed, we had only one shot fewer at Kenilworth Road than we did in our subsequent two games, which yielded four goals.

In a startling snippet of how football can be a downright illogical sport sometimes, Liverpool took more than twice as many shots in drawing 0-0 at home to Manchester United in December as they did in scoring four times at Bournemouth just five weeks later.

From Boxing Day to the end of February, the Reds were efficiency personified, with 10 or fewer shots per goal in eight consecutive games. Our first seven Premier League matches of 2024 saw us net 24 times.

In six outings since that hot streak, only once have Klopp’s side kept their shots-per-goal tally to single digits, and even that was borderline with three goals from 29 attempts (one every 9.67 shots) in the home win over rock-bottom Sheffield United.

The tables below reflect Liverpool’s best and worst six matches for shooting efficiency in the league this season:

The dates of the half-dozen games in either column are as striking as the corresponding numbers. Three of Liverpool’s five most clinical matches in terms of shot conversion were in the first five weeks of the season, while five of the seven worst for the entire campaign have been from their six most recent outings.

It’s mind-boggling to think that the Reds scored seven goals in their two clashes against Brentford from a combined tally of 32 shots, two attempts fewer than they recorded in the goalless draw against Manchester United in December.

Liverpool’s shot conversion for the season overall is mapped out below, with the red line only once dipping below 10 since the beginning of March:

Liverpool xG performance in 2023/24 Premier League

Ah, expected goals (or xG for short). An obsession for some football observers, an unnecessary evil for others.

Ultimately, all that counts is the tally you’d see when clicking on the Results tab and scouring through the list of final scorelines, but in this era of data, data and more data, the more curious of fans can’t help but delve deep into the underlying numbers behind the simple 0-0, 1-0, 2-2 or whatever the scoreboard might read.

From Liverpool’s xG figures for the season, we can see that the Reds have tended to have prolonged imbalances rather than a constant fluctuation.

They went from underperforming on that metric for five consecutive games in the autumn to overperforming on it in the next five. After a brief up-and-down spell over the festive period, Klopp’s side exceeded their xG in six successive matches before underperforming on it for five of the next six.

Another trend to emerge from our xG performance this term is that the disparity of actual goals to xG has tended to be much more pronounced in the second half of the campaign.

Only once in Liverpool’s first 10 league matches was there a difference greater than one (and even that was +1.1 in the win at Newcastle in August).

Compare that to our eight most recent games, where the xG disparity has been one or greater in six of those – and the two exceptions were +0.7 in the win over Luton and -0.8 in the victory against Brighton.

The tables below reflect Liverpool’s best and worst six matches for xG performance in the league this season:

Of the 12 games with the biggest xG disparity (for better or for worse), five of those have been among our eight most recent league matches, thus highlighting how the differential has generally widened from earlier in the season.

While three of the five worst xG performances have come in our last five games, one match in that period actually features among the best five of the campaign, namely the win over Sheffield United at Anfield.

Curiously, our biggest xG underperformance of the season actually came in the 4-2 win over Newcastle on New Year’s Day.

Liverpool’s xG for the season overall is mapped out below, with the disparities clearly greater in the rightmost half of the graph:

Conclusion

While the eye test would tell you that Liverpool have been far too wasteful in recent games, the underlying numbers also prove it.

Ever since the beginning of March, the Reds have needed an exorbitant number of attempts to even manage one goal, and the xG figures don’t make for pretty reading throughout that period.

When we were scoring 11 goals in the space of a week against Sparta Prague in the Europa League round of 16, you wouldn’t have thought that, little more than a month later, we’d be here analysing problems in the final third for Klopp’s side.

However, with Liverpool’s European adventure on the brink of ending at the quarter-final stage, and their Premier League title hopes in danger of slipping away, the Reds need to get back to their clinical and efficient best as their legendary manager enters the final month of a reign which began way back in October 2015.

EOTK Insider with Neil Jones: Niko Kovac rumours, what if Amorim stays at Sporting? Summer contract calls, Crystal Palace review and much more!

The post Analysis: Exploring the numbers and trends behind Liverpool’s shot conversion and xG this season appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.