The Arsenal duo, on opposite sides of the pitch, put in the sort of work that used to be Liverpool’s trademarkIt seemed fitting that the last significant act of this game should be Gabriel Martinelli veering and skittering about in the far left-hand corner of the pitch, still with that maniacal, ferrety energy in his feet, still picking away furiously at the Liverpool defence.He was relentless at the Emirates Stadium, a pest, a nag, a constant creative press, in a game that saw him torture not just one but two Liverpool right-backs, Trent Alexander-Arnold having left the field at the break after a collision in the first half. Continue reading...
As the manager begins to forge a new Anfield team, it’s clear they cannot overwhelm sides as they did at their peakFootball never stops. Brian Clough despaired of the exhausting churn, the sense you could never enjoy a win because there was always another game – and that was before European group stages, Covid-afflicted calendars and winter World Cups. And it never stops changing: there are always new ideas or ways to thwart the old ideas. Standing still, as Peter Reid observed, is moving backwards.That’s why the Hungarian double European Cup-winner Béla Guttmann spoke of the third year as being fatal for a coach. Your players get used to you, so your words lose their impact and minor irritations can...
The manager’s tactical changes for the win against Rangers showed how his side can kickstart their troubled seasonIt is plain for all to see that Liverpool are too good a team to be ninth in the Premier League, but however great a team is, they can not be expected to maintain their ferociously high standards week in week out, season after season. Jürgen Klopp is also too good a manager to let standards slip for a prolonged period.He has identified the reasons behind their relative struggles and started to correct them, beginning with the win over Rangers. Liverpool have kept two clean sheets in the league this season – Manchester City have double that. Klopp has looked at where the...
Thirty years after they beat Leeds, Rangers go from being biggest fish in a tiny pond to chasing shadows against LiverpoolFor Rangers, Wednesday 4 November 1992 was as good as it got in movies such as this. As Mark Hateley smashed the Scottish champions in front inside five minutes at Elland Road, cross‑border needle which had extended to the press box morphed into outright celebration. Rangers and their fans felt they were not sufficiently praised for a first‑leg victory in this Champions League clash with Leeds United. Hateley’s goal, later backed up by an Ally McCoist strike before Eric Cantona claimed a Leeds consolation, secured the tie for Walter Smith’s side – a side, that is, which was dominated by...
The derby draw with Liverpool was no great escape and many players are growing in stature former Chelsea managerIt was the plumes of blue smoke that gave the game away. As the Everton team bus inched its way up Goodison Road, the crowds reluctantly parted to allow it through. Shirtless children. Women with blue soot on their face.Men clutching their four-packs of San Miguel with one hand and shaking a fist with the other. A swelling, soaring, billowing wall of noise filled the narrow little terraced streets like a fever. A “Road Closed” sign was slapped by an Evertonian for the crime of being red. Continue reading...