For better, for worse, we are Liverpool

It is pretty hard to find the words and talk about what happened today. I’ve never done anything like this on the blog and for those who don’t like my partiality, I am sorry. But I feel that talking about this team and these players will make me feel better. I hope it will.

It was a great journey to get to this point and I will forever cherish the memories that these fans, these players, this manager and this club me. I will tell the story of this season to my future children, a story of how a team surrounded by unbelief, managed to exceed all the expectations and remind everybody that we are one of the biggest teams in the world. The end of the story isn’t happy, it’s one that ends with tears and emotional pain. But it happened and things always happen for a reason.

Today, the story might be about defeat. But surely, somewhere in the future, the story will be about glory.

I will always remember the atmosphere our fans brought to every game we played. From Anfield to Moscow, from Manchester to Kiev, we were there and made our presence count. It was magnificent, a lesson on how to support your team with all your heart and love. I will always remember this and with love and gratitude.

I will always remember the goal Trent Alexander-Arnold scored on his Champions League debut against Hoffenheim, a goal that announced one of the most promising players to the world. I will always remember that great goal Emre Can scored after one of the best counter-attacks I’ve seen in the return leg against the Germans.

The demolition against Maribor that broke records. How we managed to qualify in first place in our group with a 7-0 win against Spartak Moscow, who were Russian champions. How we were unbelievable attacking, it was like a blitzkrieg, we were just running riot.

The win against Porto away from home in the round of 16. It wasn’t any win, it was another destruction, with the game ending 5-0, Sadio Mane scoring a hat-trick and booking our place in the quarter-finals on our return to Europe.

A big one against Manchester City in the last eight. We were facing one of the best teams in Europe and we beat them convincingly. Three goals in the first-half, with Mo being decisive once again, Ox scoring a scream and Sadio Mane heading home from a Mo cross and giving us an incredible lead to take to the Etihad.

How brave we were when visiting Manchester City. We were under immense pressure, it was a very tense game for the players, for the manager and for the fans. Once again, we defied the odds and won at their home, with Bobby and Mo scoring.

The first-leg against Roma was unbelievable. Yes, I’ve watched from Brazil and of course I wasn’t at Anfield, but even so many miles away, I felt the atmosphere and it was rocking, it still gives goosebumps. It was an almost perfect performance, playing attacking football once again, breathtaking and untouchable football. We scored five goals past an opposition that were decent defending, we destroyed them.

The game at Stadio Olimpico was so special. We visited a place where we raised the trophy once and our chances of getting to the final were so big. Just like every place we went this season, you could see a sea of red. Allez Allez Allez rocking around the stadium, the excitement on the face of the fans. We lost the game but we were back, Liverpool were back in the Champions League final and the whole world knew it.

And we get to today. As I said before, it is pretty hard for me to find to words to talk about this game. It just hurts so much that we’ve come so far and for a series of unlucky events, we lost. Our start was brilliant, we were attacking Madrid and annoying them, they were so annoyed.

Then the turning point came. I really, really hope that Ramos didn’t have the intention to take Mo off the game and I understand how everybody feels. The challenge was dirty, unresponsible and incautious and Ramos should’ve at least received a yellow card. Mo is our best player and the impact on the team after he went off was visible.

The way Mo went off is sad. He gave everything for this team the whole season, he is our king, our idol, he means a lot to every one of us. Seeing him crying was just too heartbreaking for me and I expect the other fans to feel the same way. It is a scene that I don’t even like to remember, it makes me sad immediately.

I need to talk about Mo now. I always had faith in him, since day one from his arrival. It might have looked too much money for a player that had difficult time when he played in the Premier League, but I’ve always had faith in him.

He is not just a player that scored 44 goals this season. Yes, he is an idol for me by doing that, it is still unbelievable to think. But Mo united every one of us, not just Liverpool fans, but football fans around the world. In days with so much intolerance, Mo united people from different religions, beliefs and races. We should be thankful for his goals, but we should NEVER forget the impact he had on the world as a person.

Coming back to the game. Karius was the main figure on the night, nobody can deny. His mistakes gave Madrid the win. But we should not forget that Loris is human and humans make mistakes. The hate I’ve seen towards him is completely unnecessary and the people who say these things towards him should be ashamed. It is humanly impossible to not feel sorry for Loris, we should remember that he didn’t do that on purpose, it was a mistake and mistakes happen. What the fans should do is stand behind him in this difficult moment.

I am pretty sure that the players feel the same that we are feeling. It might be even worse for them. They ran to the limit, they gave everything and those who didn’t see it are possibly blind. We got there as a team, football is about collectiveness. And when we lose, it should also be as a team, this is how it works.

These players and this manager are unbelievable, they are my heroes. I feel so proud of this team, we reached a point that nobody expected us to reach. We played the best football I’ve seen Liverpool play and this will continue until Klopp is our manager. We lost this final but we keep our heads up high with proud.

We were unlucky to lose our best player in the first-half. We were unlucky that our goalkeeper made mistakes that costed the result. We were so unlucky.

Today is about the tears, the pain, the sadness and disappointment. But I’m pretty sure that when the pain goes away, every time we think about this team and this season, it will bring a smile to our faces. Our guys gave everything for the red shirt, they did their best, I’m pretty sure of that. They did their best, but this time it wasn’t good enough.

We should be thankful to every one of these players. Karius, Trent, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robbo, Hendo, Gini, Millie, Mo, Sadio, Bobby, Lallana, Can, Clyne, Moreno, Migs, Matip, everyone. The moment they stepped on the pitch and represented us, they gave their best and gave us memories that will stay with us forever.

I don’t know if the piece is good and I don’t really care. This one is different from everything I’ve written before. I just wrote everything that popped into my mind and this reflects how I am feeling right now. I don’t know if I chose the correct words, because it is difficult when you’re sad or disappointed. I am hurt, obviously, but I am sure that once Liverpool is playing again, everything will get back to normal.

In the meantime, all we should do is feel proud, be thankful to this team and rejoice on the memories they created throughout this season. We will be back and we will be back stronger.

We should keep our heads up high because, at the end of the storm, there’s a golden sky.

 

How the best game of the Premier League season unfolded

Liverpool ended City’s 30 games unbeaten run in a famous win at Anfield (Photo: Liverpool FC)

Manchester City’s hopes of an unbeaten season finally came to an extraordinary and electric end. It was meant to be this way.

The best two attacking teams in the league going against each other. Two teams that don’t settle for other thing, they attack don’t matter what. Everybody knows if there’s a way to beat Liverpool is frustrating them by playing men behind the ball. Guardiola knew it but his philosophy is totally the opposing.

This was the reason that this game is the best of the Premier League season. Liverpool knew the only way to beat Manchester City was playing football, attack them, irritate them, being annoying. And City knew their way too, but Liverpool were so much better, from start to finish.

They pressed right from the first whistle and this was the way of beating City. They hate being pressed, they hate being attacked. It’s known how Guardiola always sets up his teams to play from the back, patiently creating space and putting bodies forward. This ended up being City’s mistake, they were stubborn and this cost them the game.

Pressing City’s build-up was one of Liverpool’s main weapons to win the battle

The shape on the picture above was often seen during the match. Liverpool’s three attackers positioned in a line, to make sure they have a player wherever City passed the ball. Also, midfielders went forward to help with the pressing and often positioning as a block, covering almost every space available to Manchester City.

The tenacity that Liverpool players pressed the ball and managed to complete their task was unbelieavable. Many people questioned Klopp for rotating the team so often, but yesterday it paid off. Despite winning the tactical battle, Liverpool only did it because they had a lot more legs than City. They didn’t took the foot off in any minute.

Liverpool were consistent in their midfield shape through the game

Again, Liverpool pressing Manchester City’s building up. In the picture, the midfielders positioned in a block, protecting the spaces that City could have used to move forward and make the transition. Mané dropped into the midfield area, trying to cover Kevin De Bruyne, who ofter drives the ball in City’s counter-attack, with Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino blocking the options that Fernandinho had backwards.

This ended up in Mané’s goal. Klopp is known for the pressing but the players need commitment and concentration to do that and, yesterday, they were spot on.

Jürgen Klopp told Sky Sports: “We played pressing from another planet. It looked like they were insecure but it was our first press that was really brilliant.”

I mentioned it before, Liverpool were brilliant and outrun Manchester City. They made Manchester City look insecure, shaky and average for a big part of the game.

In the book “Pep Confidential”, written by Marti Perarnau (great read), Guardiola said some words towards Jürgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund: “They’re like a steamroller, unstoppable. They are completely focused for 90 minutes, waiting for you to mess up a pass so that they can set their sprinters on you.”

Yesterday Liverpool were like that, pressure after pressure, going after every ball.

it’s no accident that Klopp is the manager that defeated Guardiola more times in his career. Pep’s teams usually struggle against Jürgen Klopp.

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Liverpool often used this triangle shaping when they were pressing. It really was pressing from another planet as Klopp said. In the same way they had players to annoy City playing from the back, they forced City to the wide areas and make their job easier on the counter-attack.

Klopp’s side had a lot of good counter-attacking opportunities using this shape to win the ball back. They didn’t necessarely they recovered the ball and started playing instantly, but often slowed City down and made them restart the build-up.

Last point that was huge for Liverpool winning the battle was second balls. They were at all of them. It’s a big part of Klopp’s play, winning the ball quicker, playing quick. It worked wonderfully in this game.

Liverpool scored two goals from second balls and in both, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was the man responsible for them. The former Arsenal man was outstanding, looking a totally different player under Klopp. Many thought it would be difficult for Ox to step into Coutinho’s shoes in the midfield, but he didn’t feel the pressure at all. He was powerful, showed a lot of desire and was possibly one of the most influential players at Liverpool’s style of play.

The picture above showed what Liverpool did in the second balls. They always had men positioned to get the ball back. In this case, they had three, with Lovren, Wijnaldum and Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Liverpool showed what they are capable of and their win against Manchester City was good for football. City won’t go unbeaten in the season and apart from that, the match was exciting and electric from start to finish. It’s worth mentioning that Liverpool did that without Van Dijk, their best defender, and Phil Coutinho, who was their star player.

The Premier League situation will not change. Manchester City will still win the league, they are too good to do anything other than winning it. They are the best team in the league and probably in the world, and rightfully so. However, the good thing is that they can be beaten and Liverpool did it in a brilliant manner.

It was the match of the season and that will hardly change.

Well done Liverpool!

Gabriel Coelho

The drought continues for Everton

Joy for Liverpool, worries for Everton (Picture: Liverpool FC)

Sadio Mané’s injury time goal gave Liverpool their first win at Goodison Park since 2011, putting them back into 2nd, six points bellow table toppers Chelsea.

After substitute Daniel Sturridge went past Everton’s defence, his shot hit the woodwork. However, Sadio Mané took the opportunity to get the rebound at put Liverpool ahead with four minutes remaining in the game. It wasn’t Liverpool’s most brilliant performance but it was good enough to beat their rivals, keeping a run of 12 games without losing to their neighbours alive.

Liverpool came unchanged from the 3-0 win at Middlesbrough midweek, with Klopp opting to keep Mignolet on goal once again. As for Everton, Funes Mori replaced suspender Phil Jagielka, after he received a red card against Arsenal.

Everton dominated the game in the first 20 minutes, covering the spaces where usually Liverpool creates chances. Liverpool wasn’t agressive enough and the chances were hard to come. Their first chance came after a good pass from Lallana, Sadio Mané let the ball go through his legs to Wijnaldum, who made a pass to Clyne and he made cross to Origi, however his shot went wide.

Origi’s reaction after missing a good chance (Picture: Liverpool FC)

It was a cool first half, with limited chances and both teams approaching a very physical game, especially Everton. As always, Klopp went running to the dressing room, giving a glimpse of big changes for the Liverpool side. Liverpool came into the second half with a totally different approach, being more agressive and trying to open Everton up with kick passing and playing in the flanks with Mané and Origi.

Forward Roberto Firmino had a big chance at the start of the second half, after a direct pass from Milner. Roberto made a good job holding Ashley Williams but in the time to finish the move, he tried to chip goalkeeper Marteen Stekelenburg and missed a big chance to put Liverpool ahead.

Eventually, Maarten Stekelenburg picked up an injury and was replaced by Joel Robles. Ross Barkley was lucky to receive a yellow card after a bad sliding challenge on Jordan Henderson.

Henderson lying on the pitch after a bad challenge by Barkley (Picture: Liverpool FC)

After some minutes without no chances, James Milner’s corner found the feet of Roberto Firmino who struck a volley in, which substitute goalkeeper Robles kept it out of the net, meaning that the game would have a dramatic ending.

Romelu Lukaku made a good run, holding Liverpool’s defenders really well but Nathaniel Clyne was quick enough to get back in defense and take the ball from Lukaku, allowing Mignolet to hold the ball and keep the danger out.

Referee Mike Dean decided to give eight minutes of added time, due to Stekelenburg’s treatment. After four minuted into injury time, Sturridge made a good job holding Baines and Barry when he finally found an opening for a shot, which hit the post but Mané reacted quickly and put the ball into the back of the net giving Liverpool the lead.

For many, Everton’s keeper Joel Robles made a mistake on Sturridge’s shot. His reaction was to slow and when he finally jumped the ball was too close to him and there was no chance of saving the shot. Also, the reaction of Everton’s defenders could have been better but all the credit to Sadio Mané.

Liverpool had a final chance of doubling the lead, with Mignolet clearing the ball to Firmino, who did well to find Mané, he went past Everton’s defence and passed back to Firmino, whose shot was cleared off the line by Seamus Coleman.

Liverpool finally came away with a victory at Goodison Park, after four seasons of getting draws. The win gives a big boost of confidence to Reds, who have some tough fixture against Manchester City and Manchester United coming up. Also, the clean sheet really reflects on Liverpool’s defensive performance tonight, Lovren and Klavan did really well to keep Lukaku marked and giving no space for the belgian.

Man of the match: Sadio Mané

The senegalese not just scored the Merseyside Derby’s winning goal but had a really good performance. He did really well against Leighton Baines, getting past him with his speed and strenght. He also tried to create chances for his teammates, pushing the markers out of position and trying to find the killer pass.

Score: 9/10

 

Five talking points on Liverpool’s 5-1 win against Hull

This Saturday, Liverpool have defeated Hull in a 5-1 win at Anfield. After three consecutives victories, many people thought that Liverpool might be a team to beat this season. They have been playing really good football recently, but today we will talk about five talking points of today’s win.

 

Team chemistry

After Jürgen Klopp’s arrival, it seems that team have been put together and the chemistry between the players is growing a lot. So far this season, we have been given true examples of it, with the passing and the communication between the players.

Today, we saw this in abundance. If you take a closer look at Liverpool’s goals you will see that the passing moves are lot better, it seems that the training practice has been really effective and that’s all thanks to the team chemistry.

Jürgen Klopp is someone that cheers the players every time and this passes a lot of confidence, a big reason to the way we’ve been playing so far.

 

The players are understanding Klopp’s style of play

Klopp is well known in Germany for his intensive style of play, called gegenpressing. The gegenpressing consists in apply the pressure on the player with the ball, get the ball further on the pitch and set a quick counter-attack. At the start of Klopp’s time as Liverpool manager, this style of play were not well assimilated, but this has changed.

In today’s game, especially in Lallana’s goal, Milner got the ball really quickly by applying pressure and he passed the ball to Coutinho who found Lallana. With the way we’ve playing and with Klopp’s strategies well assimilated, we can go really far this season.

 

New signings doing the job

Liverpool raised eyebrows when they signed both Sadio Mané from Southampton and Gini Wijnaldum from Newcastle, on deals worth of £36m and £25m respectively. Mané had two good seasons for Southampton and Wijnaldum was one of the best things that happened to Newcastle in a difficult campaign, but it was still a lot of money.

However, not just Mané and Wijnaldum, but Matip, Klavan and Karius too, all have been doing a great job. Mané is one of the most creative and dangerous players we have at our attack, Wijnaldum is learning his new position but has been really impressive and Matip and Klavan made a good partnership.

It shows that Klopp’s eye on recognizing the positions a team need is really good. He improved where we needed the most and it’s been working really well. Apart from that, the new signings deserve a lot of credit.

 

Anfield is becoming a fortress once again

Anfield is known as a magical place in the world of football, but in recent years, Liverpool haven’t been able to make Anfield a fortress as it was. But recently, after the redevelopment of the Main Stand, it seems that Anfield will become a fearful place for the opposition.

The fans are excited with the way Liverpool have been playing and this is huge for the club success. In the big games, the Anfield is a spetacular place, but in the regular games like today, we have been able to destabilize our opponents, something that lacked last season.

If we can turn Anfield in a cauldron and a fortress this season, half of what we need to be successful is done.

Winning important matches

Last season, Liverpool lost too many points by drawing or losing to teams that were below us on the league table, and that cost us an European competition this season. But we showed today that we are taking any opposition seriously and don’t matter in which situation or place they are at, we need to defeat them.

In today’s game we played like we were facing a big club and this not just show respect to the opposition, but shows that we are up to winning the league and if we want to win it, we need not to drop silly points.

Euro 2016- Groups C, D and E review

 

(Photo by Evrim Aydin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

As we approach the final games of Euro 2016 first round, groups C, D and E played their first games on their groups. Germany exercised their superiority over a tough rival, Spain got a lucky late winner and Italy proved to a lot of people what they are capable of.

Group C:

Poland 1 v 0 Northern Ireland

With Will Grigg on fire, Nothern Ireland was looking to get crucial victory against the stronger rivals and, a possible victory, would put them into the fight of going through the knockout stages.

Poland’s side with Robert Lewandowski, Kamil Glik and Grzegorz Krychowiak, was looking to make a good campaign over this year’s Euros. And as you noticed, they did their job. Ajax’s top scorer Milik, gave the lead to Poland in the 51st minutes.

The technical superiority from the polish players was clear on the pitch, despite amazing form from Northern Ireland recently. They were unbeaten in the last 12 games and Michael O’Neill was looking forward of keeping this invencibility on the Euros.

Northern Ireland have shown some positives. Their defending on the majority of the game was superb, they looked sharp when QPR’s striker Connor Washington was brought into the game. He gave the pace that Northern Ireland needed upfront and supported really well their star player, Kyle Lafferty.

Germany 2 v 0 Ukraine

(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

According to the betting odds, Germany are the favourites of winning the tournament. Their quest for the fourth European Championship started against a tough Ukraine team, with the likes of Andriy Yarmolenko, Yevgen Konoplyanka, among others.

Germany’s superiority earned to Joachim Low his 88th win as the Germany manager, turning him the 2nd most victorious manager in the Germany national team history.

An amazing performance by Real Madrid’s midfielder Tony Kroos and Jerome Boateng’s brilliant clearence off the line, were key factors of Germany’s success in this game. An early header by defender Shkodran Mustafi, from a free-kick and a counter-attacking goal by United’s midfielder Bastian Schweinster, sealed the win for Germany.

Ukraine had the chances of getting at least a goal, as they had three shots on target and forced Manuel Neuer to make difficult saves. That is a positive for Ukraine, their main rival in the group is Poland and I believe, if they play like they did against Germany, they have a good chance of going through.

 

Group D:

Turkey 0 v 1 Croatia

(Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

A lot of people, including myself, look at Croatia as a team that can surprise a lot of people, as well as Turkey. Croatia have a real quality midfield pair, with Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic controlling the middle of the park. Their forwards are also good, with former Bayern Munich player Mario Mandzukic and Ivan Perisic hoping of getting the goals needed.

Luka Modric’s volley from 25 yards gave the win to Croatia. They have lost several chances of adding to their lead, but hitting the post twice and good work by Turkey’s keeper Volcan Babacan kept the scoreline at 1-0.

Croatia’s chances just got bigger after an important win against a really tough rival and, like I said on the start, they can surprise a few.

 

Spain 1 v 0 Czech Republic

(Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images)

Vincente Del Bosque’s Spain team got a hard earned victory over Czech Republic. Del Bosque left a lot of decent players out of his selection and the absence of players like Diego Costa and Santi Cazorla, made things hard for them.

Gerrard Pique’s header on the 87th minute has broken the heart of the Czech fans. Petr Cech has made a brilliant work to keep things at 0-0 and when they have the chance of equalising the match after Pique’s goal, the keeper on the other end made a good work to save Vladimir Darida’s volley.

Spain will now face Turkey and this will be really tough. The patience they showed on the game against Czech Republic could turn into a fatal thing to their success in the tournament, but scoring the goals is key as well. They have missed 18 chances on the game and got lucky of getting a win.

Group E:

Republic of Ireland 1-1 Sweden

(Photo by Chris Brunskill Ltd/Getty Images)

Ireland and Sweden kicked things off in the group of death. In game at the Stade the France, Ciaran Clark’s own goal rescued a point for Sweden and made things more difficult for Ireland.

Having being supperior in the 1st-half, Sweden were surprised by Ireland. After great play from Seamus Coleman, he whipped in a cross right to Wes Hoolahan, who hit a beautiful volley to put Ireland in front.

But when everyone was expecting Ireland to win, great movement from Sweden’s star Zlatan Ibrahimovic ended up as an equaliser for Sweden. Ibrahimovic’s cross was supposed to be cleared by Clark, but he headed the ball into the back of his own net.

Ireland had the chances of winning the game. Jeff Hendrick had a late chance of winning the game for Ireland and great work by the goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson kept the game level.

Belgium 0 v 2 Italy

On the biggest game of the night, Belgium were looking to start the Euros with the front foot, but they were facing a difficult rival, Italy. Belgium have a squad capable of winning the tournament, their squad depth is brilliant and, if you look at their squad, there is not a single average player on each position, all of their players are stars.

But Italy have the fame of turn unexpectable things into expectable, as they did against Belgium on this group game.

Emanuelle Giacherini’s goal from a master pass by Bonucci, put the pressure on Belgium. Romelu Lukaku had an amazing chance of leveling the game for his team and missed, as well as Divock Origi did, after being brought into the game.

In the dying embers, Italy played a brilliant counter attack and a great cross by Antonio Candreva put Graziano Pelle in a great position to score. He pulled out an amazing volley to seal the game for Italy.

Italy have beaten the tougher opponents of the group and now they need to do their job against Ireland and Sweden. No one was expecting Italy to be strong in this tournament, but they surprised us once again.

 

Euro 2016- Group A and B first round review

(Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

The Euro 2016 has arrived. The tournament that is hosted in France, will have 24 teams for the first time in history. These teams are separated in six groups of four teams. The 1st placed team in each group go through to the knockout stages, together with the 2nd placed teams and the four best 3rd placed teams.

The groups A and B have already played their first games and in this article I’ll be reviewing each game.

Group A:

France 2 v 1 Romania

(Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

The first game of the whole tournament was played at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis. As the hosts of the tournament, France came to the game as one of the favourites to win the Euros. They have quality players, with experience of playing in big teams.

Payet’s cross and Romania’s keeper mistake, earned to Giroud an easy header to put France in front. But seven minutes later, former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra conceded a penalty, that Romania has taken well to equalise the match.

On the end of the match Payet played a good passing move with his teammate and ended up with a spetacular goal by Payet, who blasted an amazing shot into the top left corner, just before of being brought off in tears.

Romania made the game really difficult for France. Their marking were effective, they didn’t commit too many fouls and thanks to a brilliant moment by Payet, France won the game.

If France wants to keep their favourites status, they need to have a change of mind quickly. They weren’t criative, the manager made some silly changes, but one thing that was explicit in this game was the lucky of France, who got a brilliant late winner.

Albania 0 v 1 Switzerland

(Photo: Shaun Botterill/ Getty Images)

A game full of emotional events. The Xhaka brothers faced each other for the first time playing for their national teams and that was the first time that brothers have met up in the Euros’s history.

Switzerland are the favourites to take the 2nd spot in group A and they could surprise a few, with their young and quality side. Albania, on the other side, are the dark horses of the group and would surprising if they get to a 3rd place.

Fabian Schar’s early goal for Switzerland, after a corner whipped in by Xherdan Shaqiri and Erit Berisha’s miss punch, put a lot of pressure on the albanians. Former Sunderland defender Lorik Cana sending off have made things harder for Albania, after receiving his second yellow card for a handball.

Arsenal’s new signing Granit Xhaka impressed every Premier League fan who was watching the game. His pass accuracy of 88%, great movement and workrate gave us a hint that he could be the stand out that Arsenal needs.

 

Group B:

Wales 2 v 1 Slovakia

(Photo: MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP/Getty Images)

After 58 years, Wales finally qualified for a continental tournament. The welsh players are full of hope and thinking that they can go far in the tournament. Their side includes the likes of Real Madrid’s star Gareth Bale, midfield pair Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen. Ashley Williams hopes that his experience could be a key thing on Wales’s progress.

No one was expecting too much from Slovakia, but their 3-1 win against World Champions Germany, caught the eye of too many people. They have good players, with Napoli’s midfielder Marek Hamsik and long-serving Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel.

But Slovakia’s star players were not enough to hold Wales. Gareth Bale’s brilliant free-kick gave to Wales the lead, after 10 minutes. In the second-half, substitute Ondrej Duda equalised the match just after being brought on for Hrosovsky.

On the dying embers of the game, Wales’s manager Chris Coleman has brought on the Reading striker Hal Robson-Kanu, with the hope that he could change the destiny of the game. After Aaron Ramsey’s good attacking play, Robson-Kanu took advantage of a lose ball and with his shot, he gives Wales a late lead.

Slovakia’s striker Adam Nemec headed on the post late on, but this wasn’t enough to deny Wales’s win. They are the first UK side to win the Euros debut and this result puts them ahead on the group A.

For Slovakia it is a disappointing result and this just makes their chances of getting through even harder.
Wales will face british rival England on Thursday, while Slovakia face Russia, on Wednesday.

England 1 v 1 Russia

(Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

England came up to the game as favourites of winning the group, while Russia were looking to surprise the stronger opponents. A fixture that was marked by the violence in the city of Marseille, as the russian fans reportedly attacked the english fans at the Old Port, the game didn’t have the greatest friendly atmosphere.

Roy Hodgson’s young selection put hope of a good tournament on a lot of english fans. The pressure from his team on the first-half, have shown to everyone that the english players were commited of going far into the Euros. Loads of missed chances by England, left them with a scoreless first-half.

But in the 73rd minutes, Spurs’s midfielder Eric Dier gave England the lead, after a brilliant free-kick in the edge of the area.

All seemed to be going well for the Three Lions, but the header from Russian skipper Berezutski, equalised the match late for the russians. A lot of dissapointment within the English players showed to everyone that Roy Hogdson isn’t a great manager. His decisions of bringing James Milner on, instead of bringing Leicester’s Jamie Vardy to finish the game were awful.

The russian fans have thrown a bomb on the direction of the english fans and after the final whistle, the russians rushed into the England fan section, forcing the english to jump above the security barriers.

The Russian Football Union will be charged by the violence and in a document by UEFA, was said that if any type of violence happen involving both sets of fans, both teams will be out of the Euros.

Hopefully this can end all the violence we saw in the past few days and people can remember that football is about bringing people together, not put them against each other.

 

Slip ups may cost- Liverpool 2-2 Newcastle Report

Another slip up by Liverpool this season, despite really good form recently they were leading 2-0 before the half-time and let Newcastle equalise the match after defensive mistakes.

An early volley by Daniel Sturridge after really good control on the ball, gave everyone a hint that Liverpool would win the match easily.

Newcastle couldn’t create chances and they were sitting on the counter-attack despite needing to go forward.

Lallana’s top corner shot after a good pass by Alberto Moreno demonstrated the superiority of Liverpool in the opening 35 minutes and looked like they would go to the break with a comfortable lead and a win in the hands.

But second-half header by Papiss Cissé after Mignolet’s miss punch and Jack Colback’s deflected shot earned Newcastle an equaliser in the second period.

Accommodating on the result

I think that was Liverpool’s biggest mistake in the game. Obviously, they were with the match on their hands but they shouldn’t come up for the second half like the game was already won.

This attitude is really bad and it’s a lot different from what Liverpool have been showing recently.

We should come up for the second-half with the same thought we had against Stoke and Everton, we were leading but we didn’t settle in the result.

Defending

Key point on today’s game. If we defended like we did previously we might have won the game. The players looked to be extending the rest from the half-time to the second-half, they weren’t concentrated and committed for the team’s success and this was key.

Newcastle may have a chance

Differently from Liverpool, Newcastle’s character today was brilliant. They started the second half with another attitude from the first half and Rafa really fixed the team’s defence and midfield.

Obviously, the mistake from Liverpool’s defence made a huge difference for the result, but if Newcastle continue to play like this, fighting till the end, they may survive.

Fighting spirit is key

Now Newcastle are level on points with Sunderland and just 1 point below 17th placed Norwich.

Take a point at Anfield after coming from 2-0 down was something that no one really expected.

Newcastle’s remaining fixtures are against Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Tottenham, playing against Palace and Tottenham at the St. James’s Park.

To be honest, I think that these three games are winnable and the fighting spirit they showed today is one of the main attributes you need to show if you want to escape from relegation.

 

What the managers said:

Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp speaking to Sky Sports:

“No, I’m not angry. It doesn’t feel like we won a point. It feels like we have lost it. It’s not our best day.

“It was an intensive game. Newcastle had two shots and two goals. We had a few more shots and could have scored more goals but didn’t and have to take what we can get.”

 

Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez speaking to Sky Sports:

“I’m really pleased because of the passion and fight they showed. We changed two or three little things but we were still working hard and believed we could do it. A draw is fine for us at the moment.

“When you are bottom of the table and can still see this spirit and fight you have to be pleased. It’s a bigger step for us because we can keep believing. every game now for us is massive. I have the Geordies and the Scousers on my side.”

MOTM: Jack Colback

Movement and passion were great but scoring the equaliser earned him MOTM

Smashing the rivals- Liverpool 4-0 Everton review

What a game, what a result and what a performance. Liverpool smashed Merseyside rivals Everton with a 4-0 win and put Liverpool 2 points behind 6th placed West Ham.

The headers from Origi and Sakho from Milner’s crosses gave Liverpool a 2-0 lead at the end of the first-half.

In the second half, Everton’s dirty player Ramiro Funes Mori was sent off after stamping on Liverpool’s Divock Origi. Goals from Sturridge and Coutinho gave Liverpool a huge score line and another boost of confidence.

 

The Klopp Efect is real

The Klopp Effect is real

What Jürgen Klopp brought to Liverpool is a lot more different than what any other manager in recent times did. The intensity of his game is unreal and Everton couldn’t deal with it in the game tonight. At the start of the game they have done well but after the 30th minute things have gone so bad.

But all the credits is for Klopp. The way he builds the team on the pitch and the way he gives confidence to the player in the dugout, is something that is really hard to see in any other manager.

Liverpool’s change during recent times is thanks to him and it was showed in today’s victory.

 

Unity is strenght

Another thing that was explicit in today’s game was the unity between the players. They have a lot of chemistry with each other and this is the biggest reason to the results we have been getting.

The players stick together when they are losing and when they are winning, this is such an important attribute for any team.

Confidence is hitting the skies

12 goals in 4 games, four wins in a row. Confidence couldn’t have been better than that. This is Liverpool’s best time of the season and everyone at the team should take advantage of that.

Winning a derby against your arch rivals, scoring four goals, creating 37 chances just emphasizes that. Tonight’s performance was just brilliant and I’m really happy with the team.

Will he get sacked in the morning?

Just one win of the last six matches, a 4-0 defeat in the derby just puts pressure on Roberto Martinez’s shoulders. Everton seems not to know how to defend, the midfield isn’t creative enough and this may cost Martinez’s job.

MOTM: James Milner

 

Provided two assists and was one of the most influential player on the pitch

 

 

The game overall was solid. We created big chances and we could have won the game with a 5 or 6 goal margin. Defensively we were solid and Sakho scored a goal. Milner is Liverpool’s most creative player this season and he earned another two assists today.

I hope you did enjoy the review. I will be back tomorrow with The Transfer Target.

Goodbye.

Gabriel Coelho

 

Blowing up the Cherries- Bournemouth 1-2 Liverpool review

Sturridge was really important on today’s win

After Thursday’s dream comeback against Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool got another win and another chance of getting an European competition as they are just 5 points away and with a game in hand on 5th placed Manchester United.

Firmino’s rebound goal and Ibe’s cross for Sturridge’s header gave Liverpool a 2-0 lead in the end of the first-half.

In the second-half Liverpool played more of a counter-attacking football as they went into it with a comfortable lead. Debutant Danny Ward needed to show some of his goalkeeping skills and he was one of Liverpool’s best players in the game, with good kicking, good reflexes and helping his teammates to position themselves.

Danny Ward’s good game wasn’t enough to deny Joshua King’s goal. After a sloppy first touch he managed to keep the ball on his feet and fired the shot into the bottom left corner in the end of the game.

 

Liverpool’s future is really bright

After a really intense game on Thursday, Jürgen Klopp obviously needed to rotate the squad and he did it. Only Roberto Firmino played against Dortmund and stayed in the starting 11 for today’s game. Welsh keeper Danny Ward and right-back Connor Randall were given a first Premier League start and they’ve done well and have taken the chance.

Jordon Ibe also featured in the team after a good time without playing and fellow winger Sheyi Ojo started again in the right wing, and showed good skills and speed.

Jürgen Klopp has faith in his youngsters and it’s a really good thing to see. When needed to rotate the team we can develop the youngsters, and put them into play on a higher level and that is why Jürgen Klopp has been using them a lot.

Putting good performances and boosting confidence

I think something that we can see at Liverpool right now is confidence. They have won three straight matches in all competitions, and going into the next matches with this confidence is something really good.

Liverpool’s next three games are against Everton, Newcastle and Villarreal . They are really tough games and keeping the confidence will help us to get important wins ahead these matches.

 

MOTM: Daniel Sturridge

Good movement, hit the post twice, scored a goal and helped Liverpool to get three points with another good performance. I will give him an 8 out of 10

 

What the managers said:

Jürgen Klopp: “They’ve never played together. They could have defended better, played a bit more football in the first half – but it was really, really good.

“Danny Ward was brilliant. Let the self-confidence grow of goalkeepers, they’re normal human beings.”

 

Eddie Howe:  “The goal came too late for us. We felt in the second half had we got that goal earlier it would have made an interesting end to the game.

“We were missing that spark, especially in the first half. You have to give Liverpool credit.”

 

That is the review, thanks for the read. I see you on Tuesday for the Merseyside derby preview.

Goodbye.

Gabriel Coelho

From doubters to believers- Liverpool 4-3 Borussia Dortmund

Coutinho’s form has been amazing and he showed that

I simply don’t have any words to describe this game. I will say sorry now for doing this article with such a fan view, but when you support a team that were 2-0 down, getting knocked out and in the second half turn things around, scoring 4 goals in 45 minutes, I can’t do it in another way.

Feeling the atmosphere at Anfield, even watching from Brazil, I knew this game would be different. The mosaic for the Hillsborough victims was one of the best I’ve seen in my entire life watching football. The minute of silence was the best I’ve seen in my life. The fans from both teams singing You’ll Never Walk Alone was of the most beautiful things I’ve heard.

If I would write all my feelings about this game, it would be an immense text, so I will start the review now.

The players really felt the pressure in the first half:

It was one of the most shambolic first half I’ve seen from Liverpool this season, the defence was terrible and Aubameyang took advantage of that. He created the first goal having a shot from outside the box well saved by Mignolet, but on the rebound Mkhitaryan scored to put Dortmund in front. Minutes later, Reus played a through ball to Aubameyang who caught Sakho from behind, and he finished really well in the near post.

My friend is a Dortmund fan and when they made it 2-0, I said to him that it would be really hard to come back from 2-0 down and win the game, but I said that we still were in it.

Liverpool created some chances everyone could feel that but Liverpool wasn’t keen on getting back into the game, and I never wanted a half to end like I wanted today.

I don’t know what Klopp said to the players, but it was good:

Liverpool came back from the break with another attitude. Divock Origi was the first person to show that. After a good pass that put Origi through on goal, he finished in good composure and put Liverpool back in the game. But just before Marco Reus fired in for Dortmund and restore the two goal advantage.

Philippe Coutinho scored another goal for Liverpool, in a Coutinho style goal, curling the ball into the bottom right corner. In this moment I celebrated quietly, and my attitude in the whole game was to believe until the end and I kept it.

Mamadou Sakho equalised the game from a corner, after being left alone in the box, all he needed to do was to head the ball in. Honestly, I screamed really loud and the whole game was starting to pass in my head, like a movie and I thought: Can we win?

Moments later, my question had an answer when James Milner put the ball into the box, and Dejan Lovren became the hero of the night and the hero of a possible Europa League title. It was the best comeback of Liverpool’s history since Istanbul, and will be a day that will stay with me forever.

 

 

There was negatives, but the positives are more valueable:

Obviously there was negatives, and a lot of them. Our team is not one of the best, so we make mistakes. But what we can take from positives in this game is much more valuable. We have seen that our players are real warriors, even with the bad things they show in each game. Even if we don’t have the players we had in other days, this team still has the Liverpool spirit.

 

The fans:

The fans were amazing. They gave the belief to the players and seeing the result and how the game ended, it worked. If I needed to choose a man of the match, I couldn’t do it, because all of them were amazing.

 

What the managers said:

Jürgen Klopp:

“It is difficult to explain. A wonderful, wonderful night at Anfield and to be honest the game was strange.

“When we brought Daniel Sturridge and Joe Allen on we gave them the message, ‘we have to show character.’ I don’t care if we lose, we have to show them and we did even more. This is European football at its best. It’s hard to believe. Congratulations to all of the lads.

“At half-time it’s difficult to stay brave but we agreed that the we had to go the hard way. It is a game that all fans – even not of Liverpool or Dortmund – can say, OK, football is a nice game.”

 

Thomas Tuchel:

“I can’t explain it, it was not logical. It was very emotional. At the end at 3-3 everyone here believed it was meant to be, it was destiny.

“If you have such a strong belief then things can happen. We had a goal and we have not achieved it. Sport is about wining and we did not make it. You have to accept it and be an honourable loser so congratulations to Liverpool. You have to take defeat like a champion.”

 

 

 

All the credit to the players for showing an amazing character, to our brilliant manager, and to the Dortmund fans and players for making this night even more special.

I see you in the next post,

Goodbye.

Gabriel Coelho