[Mikus LFC]

It’s no longer a club game now, but a players one. Clubs are so paranoid about losing out to players abroad or to their rivals, they’ll pay them whatever it takes. And the players know this so they can name their price and they’ve got the club over a barrel. And the TV revenues are now making all this sustainable. So we’re the mugs that pay for it all because the clubs have got us over a barrel because loyal supporters will have to go along with it if they want to watch it all.

It’s a long way from the community football club it all grew out of. Yes, the bar has risen in terms of the quality of play but we’ve traded that off for a vastly higher price whilst also tossing our youngsters (the real heart of a team) aside so promoting a more clinical corporate type club culture as opposed to a community one. The quality may be better but the heart has long gone.

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[Mikus LFC]

Nine, the early kick off ain’t just superstition. We’ve played 28 early kick off games under Klopp, winning 10, drawing 9 and losing 9, so we drop points in 2/3 of these games. In fact last season the record was even worse: played 8 games at 12:30, won 1, drawn 5, lost 2.

Sean, agree fully about Keita. Think he could be huge for us this year and there’s still been more than enough signs in his games for us so far that there’s a player there. Just think it’s taking him a bit of time to settle personally at the club, which is why Klopp has hooked him a few times.

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[Mikus LFC]

Agree with Sean, our record is terrible in early kick offs. Had the game been late afternoon on a Sunday, or on Monday night, I’d be a lot more confident. Draw looks the obvious prediction as Nine said, but if Keita can start delivering for us, we may just have a chance to edge out a win because we’ve really missed that kind of presence and impact in midfield.

As for Man Utd, I wouldn’t say there’s a crisis yet, but even though they look to be starting to turn a corner, I just don’t see enough harmony in that side. They have some good effective proven league players and they may well steady the ship in coming weeks, but will that be enough to keep the pressure off José??

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[Mikus LFC]

If England want to reach Spain’s level they need to invest heavily in coaches and the grass roots the way Spain did some years ago. It was another reality check last night after the summer’s “success” (which was ridiculously labelled as success). Yes theres a few bright sparks there with England, but there always has been and such players are then put on a pedestal as though they could single-handedly carry us to glory. Rinse and repeat for each new generation.

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[Mikus LFC]

I know it’s only a friendly, but it really irks me that tonight’s game is only on sky and hence pay per view. England games should never be pay per view, particularly given how little live football is left on terrestrial TV.

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[Mikus LFC]

This video may (or may not!) help explain things:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn3pWjave3A

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[Mikus LFC]

It says something that clubs like Chelsea and Arsenal no longer categorise their managers as managers but as “head coaches”. Chelsea seem to be showing the way in the modern era in that they do not build their teams around their managers, hence when they regularly chop and change them, there is more of a seamless transition because the club are buying the players and the manager is “simply” coaching them. So money or no money, (and to follow on from Brian’s point above) the modern coach or manager still ultimately has to work with what he has, not necessarily what he wants . That is still the main criteria of where a manager is judged because even if a club fails to bring in new players for a new season, if the performance level of the team still drops, the manager will still be the fall guy.

Moyes was sacked not because he didn’t get who he wanted but because he failed to get the best out of what he had.

Key question for the United board then, is Mourinho getting the best out of what he has?? That is what will ultimately decide his fate over the coming months. I know he came second last year, but he was helped by the fact that Arsenal and Chelsea had poor seasons and also that Liverpool got distracted by the CL.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 7 months ago by Mikus LFC.

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[Mikus LFC]

Spurs under Pochettino match all their rivals in many of the qualities needed for success. They are extremely solid, well disciplined and effective. But they just seem to lack an edge to get one up on their rivals. They just lack that panache and swagger to really go and grab a game. Are they too disciplined or do they just need a bit more star quality?

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[Mikus LFC]

Perhaps not Nine, but I’m just very impressed the way they perform so seamlessly through managerial changes, and they’re looking pretty good at the moment.

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[Mikus LFC]

Chelsea really have mastered the art of putting together one of the best and most robust playing squads in the league, in that regardless of whether the manager is changed, the team and new manager don’t seem to need a long transition period to settle in. There seems to be an incredible stability there that ensures they can challenge for the title on a regular basis as they don’t build their teams around a manager.

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[Mikus LFC]

I’d say Abramovich’s takeover of Chelsea in 2003 was the deal that changed the premier league and football landscape forever.

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[Mikus LFC]

Klopp should have brought on those subs earlier than he did. Missed Keita getting a hold of it in midfield today. Instead he waited until we conceded. Regrettably it was always going to be a case of when Allison got caught not if and it shouldn’t have taken him conceding to wake up to it. Obviously great to still win and every fan can live with winning whilst not being at their best, but if we’re going for the title, we have to nitpick.

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[Mikus LFC]

In some ways relieved that Liverpool didn’t get Moscow or Donetzk as you want to avoid those long trips. Want us to prioritise the league this year.

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[Mikus LFC]

A problem for the board is they’ll feel they have to keep all these players they’ve invested so heavily in. So that will dictate their decision making with regards to the type of manager they want for sometime to come because they’ve rowed so far down that river, it will be hard to turn around. I think Mourinho was always a temporary solution to try and win a title on the quick and that he’d find a way with the players bought. Now that he looks to be struggling, what do they do now?? I think unless Man Utd’s poor run continues, they’ll keep Mourinho on for the season whilst looking for a long term manager better suited to the players to install next summer. Though if Barca came in for Pogba, what then? There’s all sorts of things in the pipe work that could alter the course ahead.

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[Mikus LFC]

I think neither the board nor Jose even knows what now comes next. Man Utd have been all over the place at board level, so it’s not surprising to see that now reflected on the pitch. I think the reason why Jose still won a title during his second spell at Chelsea (something that no doubt further influenced Man Utd’s decision to hire him with his relatively quick turnaround) was because Chelsea’s recruitment, regardless of the manager, has always been quite strong whereas Man Utd’s has been quite desperate and all over the place.

They need to decide what their strategy is before they even decide on the manager.

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[Mikus LFC]

Keita should prove to be a pivotal player for Liverpool but he’s not quite settled into the club yet and I do think we lack that player with a bit of arrogance who can grab a game by the scruff of the neck when a game is drifting (or we’re stuck in front of a well drilled side). There were still some elements to our play today from previous seasons where we almost started reverting to taking pot shots to find a way through. Thought Shaqiri would have been the better substitute today than Sturridge as most of our play was in front of Brighton and we needed more of a runner to drive at them.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by Mikus LFC.

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[Mikus LFC]

Every season there’ll usually be someone at one of the big clubs who is either under pressure for whatever reason or there is some kind of discord and the media/press goes after them. There’s also obviously a big element of schadenfreude going on here and so the public are a big part of this because the media is tapping into this mood. And people can’t get enough of it and it sells papers. Like soap opera on TV, it is all designed and dramatized to provoke an emotional responses to draw more people in and get the popcorn out and people prefer that to reading about more serious issues. Just look at all the celeb stories on Mail online and the huge traffic it generates.

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[Mikus LFC]

Can’t exactly remember when I started posting on TT but it was around sometime in the Houllier era with Liverpool I think around 2002/2003. TT in its day was just great, not just the club forums, but the main site was a real hub where the whole setup just encouraged you to read and engage with all the latest stories and conversation and you really felt a part of the fan community from all the clubs (even lower league clubs). Some great characters and hilarious comments and reactions on many of the articles and stories. And by moderating and refreshing new posts every few hours, it generally stopped anything getting too out of hand (though it could still get heated) so it kept a lid on it and things just moved on with the next news stories. It was certainly more fun, (though this new instant posting is a lot better when having more constructive discussions). The new format has killed much of it and I can understand why posters have left it in droves and what’s left of it has retreated to the bigger teams club forums. Still enjoy the club forums and this site which is good for more serious debate and thrashing things out.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by Mikus LFC.

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[Mikus LFC]

Paxton, some fair points. I’ll just say a few things:

I think Liverpool undoubtedly got distracted by the CL particularly in the last few months of last season and obviously had a weaker squad than they do now. Without that distraction, I think they could well have finished 5-6 points better off, which would have had them close to second with Man Utd. Now obviously, that’s still 20 points to make up on City, but it’s a start.

As for the attack last season, they were still 2nd highest in terms of goals scored in the league. I don’t really this side of the game was the major problem for Liverpool last year (I will certainly agree with you that whilst that front 3 is incredibly effective together, if you lose anyone out of it, particularly Mané or Salah, it would lose quite a bit of its edge, so there is a vulnerability there which is why Liverpool wanted another attacker and why they went in for Fekir, though they could obviously revisit this area in January).

The main problem as we know was the defence and that didn’t get rectified until half way through the season. I hear what you say about the defensive stats only being over the calendar year, but the point is the defence was a big issue and has now clearly turned a corner and has been further strengthened over the summer. That should be worth at least another 10 points to Liverpool over the season, so there’s 15 points potentially made up to City.

Also, as well as VVD, I think Keita will prove to be a huge signing – I think the club has finally found a replacement for Gerrard and that will have a huge impact on the club at both ends of the pitch. Obviously no player is like for like, but we saw what difference a player like Kante made to Chelsea. Another 5 points made up to City potentially? And City may get a bit distracted by the CL this year if they get further so who knows.

It should be said it could still be close with the other challengers, and there may well be an element of the blistering way both City and Liverpool play that has got the media a bit carried away. But given the above, there is still good reason to believe these two will be the two main challengers.

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[Mikus LFC]

Man Utd obviously hugely changed tack when they installed Mourinho and as was mentioned by Carragher last night, Jose generally does not coach young raw players, he is all about the now and coaches ready made already established star players. But the transfer strategy and philosophy of the club have not yet caught up with Mourinho and there’s still somewhat of a residual older philosophy at play which is probably why he’s not been fully backed because that desire to coach and build is still probably at the back of the boards minds (as CM alluded to about the legacy of Ferguson).

• This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by Mikus LFC.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by Mikus LFC.

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