Ole Gunnar Solskjær, having leapt several steps of the managerial ladder, does not have a preferred style and it showsO n this weekend four years ago, Jürgen Klopp got off the bus at White Hart Lane before his first game as Liverpool manager to an extraordinary clamour. Fans packed the street outside the car park just to see him, and journalists packed the opposite pavement just to see them. The sense of excitement and expectation was palpable – and it has been justified. Liverpool have undergone a remarkable transformation since.Liverpool went into that fixture 10th in the Premier League table; they go into Sunday’s game at Old Trafford as league leaders and European champions. Of Klopp’s 18-man match-day squad four...
City are serial winners with a great manager and squad but their short price is unusual when they have never reached the finalThe second week of Wimbledon is probably far too early to be thinking about football and what may happen at the business end of next season, unless you happen to be an ante-post gambler looking for some value in the long-term market before the competitions get under way.In which case you may be disappointed and surprised to find Manchester City priced as low as 4-1 to win the Champions League next season. Most bookmakers and betting exchanges have the English champions as clear favourites, with Barcelona offered at around 6-1 and Liverpool, Real Madrid and Juventus a little...
The Champions League final carried echoes of the scrappy showpieces at which English teams triumphed in 70s and 80sFor Liverpool this has been a season of two extraordinary statistics: 11.7mm and 64%. It was the former that denied them a goal (albeit a freakish one via John Stones and Ederson) away to Manchester City in January, and it was with the latter they won the Champions League. Neither makes much sense. That games can be swayed by margins as fine as that defies comprehension. But it feels at least as incredible that Liverpool could win a Champions League final with only 64% pass accuracy.Liverpool are a team who worry about pass accuracy far less than many sides. Their pass completion...
Manager’s transformation of side over four years is sealed with first trophy after Champions League final defeat of TottenhamJürgen Klopp predicted one title within four years on his first full day as Liverpool manager in October 2015. He never promised it would be pretty but he has delivered on schedule. Just. From doubters to believers, nearly-men to champions of Europe; his transformation is complete.The architect of Liverpool’s sixth European Cup triumph was the only member of his technical area not to cavort in celebration when Divock Origi sealed Tottenham’s fate in the 87th minute and confirmed Old Big Ears was heading back to Anfield. He was not best pleased when Liverpool substitutes took off their tracksuit tops before the final...
Attacking Barcelona is not wrong given it can unsettle them but it leaves teams exposed and Liverpool found that can be fatalContemplating his side’s Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City last season, Jürgen Klopp said that to sit back and look to absorb pressure against such a side was in effect to try to “win the lottery”. Against the very best, he believes there is no point – at least for a team of Liverpool’s ability – in curling up like a hedgehog and hoping the threat somehow goes away. He vowed to attack, and did, and his reward was three goals in an extraordinary 20-minute spell that settled the tie before half-time in the first leg. Related: Incomparable Messi...