A team built prudently to Jürgen Klopp’s designs and geared to thrive on fine margins have lacked wiggle room in adversityThe story of Liverpool FC’s wild, thrillingly committed Premier League collapse has been told mainly in numbers so far. And to good effect. Deprived of crowds, staging or a wider emotional palette, that basic outline – 38 points down on last year; 68 home games unbeaten versus six defeats in six – has captured the starkness of a complete sporting immolation. This is a train that has simply stopped.Better to burn out than fade away, and it has to be said no one has ever won and then lost the Premier League title quite like this. It is easy to...
Liverpool’s manager is glad to have Fabinho and Diogo Jota back for a game that could be pivotal in Champions League raceIn an uplifting tribute to Ian St John, the latest legend Liverpool have lost, Jürgen Klopp spoke of the almost child-like sense of awe he feels when meeting the old greats who shaped Anfield’s history. “To understand the club you have to meet as many as possible,” he said. “It is one thing what people inside or outside the club tell you, but you get completely different information from the players of the past. They know how it feels when you go out on the pitch and tell you these wonderful old stories. That is the petrol of dreams.”Klopp...
October’s bruising derby may have shaped champions’ season and Ancelotti is wary as Everton face wounded foes at AnfieldEverton should fear Liverpool. Their abysmal record in the Merseyside derby would suggest that is a given but, surprisingly, it was Carlo Ancelotti who called for Everton to approach Anfield with trepidation as he discussed overcoming the mental block that has contributed to the club’s failure to win there for 22 years or win any derby in any competition since Roy Hodgson managed Liverpool in 2010.“A derby is a special game,” said the veteran of local spats in Milan, Madrid and now Merseyside. “If you think it is a normal game then you are wrong. Special games bring more pressure, and sometimes...
With Liverpool stuttering, RB Leipzig’s bright young acolyte of the German press must see Tuesday’s Champions League game as a chance to claim another major scalp Football, Brian Clough used to complain, is not a world that ever lets you enjoy your success. There’s always another match, another season, another threat. The past three seasons at Liverpool have been a story of remarkable achievement: a Champions League final, then Champions League success, then the end of the 30-year league title drought. But the fireworks had barely dimmed in the sky over Anfield before Jürgen Klopp found new opponents rising against him. Related: RB Leipzig v Liverpool relocated to Budapest due to German Covid rules Continue reading...
The Brazilian forward delivered nothing overtly spectacular against Ajax but, in his brief time on the Anfield pitch, made his presence feltJürgen Klopp is too busy, bothered and generally bad-tempered these days to play silly games with selection just to prove a point. So it cannot be the case that he left Roberto Firmino on the bench for more than an hour against Ajax in an attempt to demonstrate exactly what it is he brings to the team that so many others seem unable to see.Nevertheless, for just about an hour at Anfield, that was what it looked like. Until a callow mistake by the visiting goalkeeper André Onana gifted Curtis Jones a neatly taken winner, Liverpool were, unusually, almost...