Liverpool’s helter-skelter win over Leicester was a thrilling spectacle but suggested a side lacking the ruthless streak that defines title-winnersAs selection headaches go, it is not exactly as nagging as having to choose between Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert. Nor is it like living in fear of Fernando Torres picking up an injury that leaves David N’Gog as the squad’s only fit forward. Unlike his predecessors Jürgen Klopp is not weighed down by such concerns. Instead Liverpool’s manager has what he might describe as the rather cool dilemma of working out how to make the most of his enviable attacking options now that Sadio Mané is free from suspension and Philippe Coutinho is showing why Barcelona targeted him in the summer.Klopp...
Sadio Mané’s red card was not bad luck but bad judgment and Liverpool’s resultant collapse allowed Manchester City to show their best sideIf you can meet a 5-0 thrashing and a messy 1-1 draw and treat those two impostors exactly the same; well, there is a fair chance you will be a testy, process-obsessed Catalan super-manager, my son. Six months ago Pep Guardiola described Manchester City’s draw with Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium as “one of the best moments of my career”. Fast forward to Saturday lunchtime and City’s 5-0 shellacking of the same opponents on the same ground left Guardiola a little restless, a little cagey in his judgments.City’s manager was pleased and talkative but still rueful over the...
Liverpool’s trip to Manchester City pitches the team with the most goals from counterattacks against the side who top the list for possession and passes. It has the feel of a pivotal moment Enough of the false starts, the window-wangling, the angsty autumn qualifiers. After an early season spent crunching around in the high gears, followed by a 13-day Premier League hiatus just as things were starting to get interesting, Saturday lunchtime at the Etihad Stadium really cannot come quickly enough. Time for some ignition.The Premier League is no stranger to showdowns and face-offs, not to mention Judgment Days, Super Saturdays and all the rest. This is a sporting theatre where the needle only ever goes up to 11 and...
The Liverpool manager gave his No1 goalkeeper, Simon Mignolet, a break but his second choice got a rest too as Alexis Sánchez and co failed to threatenSir Alex Ferguson once galvanised Manchester United for victory with a team-talk that stretched no further than: “Lads, it’s Tottenham.” The same brutally dismissive thought may have crossed Jürgen Klopp’s mind before Liverpool destroyed their north London rivals. The Liverpool manager chose the perfect day and the perfect opponent to rest his first-choice goalkeeper. His second choice enjoyed a day of rest too, although Loris Karius was on the pitch against Arsenal.Any misgivings or judgment on Klopp’s decision to give Simon Mignolet a day off was postponed by yet another anaemic Arsenal performance at...
Barcelona want the Brazilian to follow Luis Suárez to Camp Nou, leaving Jürgen Klopp with a potential hole in his team just as the season is about to startAn unhappy transfer window for Liverpool has every chance of becoming more grim should Philippe Coutinho make a £100m-plus move to Barcelona and, though some well-rehearsed arguments are being heard from both sides over whether the club should make a stand or accept the inevitable, there is an unpalatable truth beneath all the posturing that is not being shouted so loudly.This is, simply and briefly, that Liverpool are a selling club. They might not see themselves that way, they might keep denying it and taking encouragement from Jürgen Klopp insisting that no...