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

Coutinho’s journey to Barcelona is finally over and Liverpool should move on

It’s over, at least a big part of Liverpool fans can say that with some happiness. The story of speculations, newspapers talking nonsense for a big part of the season and faked injuries is over. Philippe Coutinho had his wish granted and got his dream move to Barcelona, becoming the second most expensive player of all time, being sold for £142m.

Honestly, I can say this transfer was good for both sides. Barcelona got their man and Liverpool got the money they wanted, after holding the deal in the summer transfer window. Besides of the great player Coutinho is and the fact that he was adored by many Liverpool fans, we can say Coutinho was never the most decisive player in his five years at Merseyside. He played alongside Suarez, Gerrard and now with Salah and Mané, players who usually deliever in big moments. Not that Coutinho didn’t, but he went missing in many big occasions in his time at Liverpool.

The brazilian leaves Liverpool, after a whole season of speculation (Photo: Getty Images)

At the start of the season, Liverpool showed that they can get results without Coutinho. In fact, in stats shown by Sky Sports, Liverpool have won more games when Coutinho wasn’t playing. When he didn’t play, The Reds won 71% of their 14 games, compared to just 44% when he was on the field. It’s obvious that when Coutinho played, the midfield got more creativity and magic, but these qualities can be found in other players and this is how Liverpool think and hope to reinvest the money received from the transfer.

As I said before, Coutinho is a great player and possesses an ability hard to find, but he is also a player that can be replaced. The main name mentioned by the Liverpool Echo is Thomas Lemar. Despite Sky Sports claiming Liverpool won’t go for him, The Echo says he is top of the list to replace Coutinho. Lemar’s season has not been the greatest so far, with only four goals and four assists, but last season he was influential in Monaco’s title campaing, scoring nine goals and contributing with 11 assists.

According to the Liverpool Echo, Thomas Lemar is the main name to replace Coutinho, with Draxler and Brandt as options (Photo: Getty Images)

Other names mentioned are Julian Draxler and Julian Brandt, a player that interested Liverpool last season. Both, similarly to Coutinho, can play in midfield or as wingers. Draxler started 17 games for PSG this season, scoring seven goals and making four assists. The german is also known by Klopp, having played in the Bundesliga for Schalke 04 and Wolfsburg, being a player with similar playing of Coutinho.

Now going back to the transfer itself. The way Barcelona and the media, especially the spanish, behave in the whole journey was a disgrace. We saw Nike, Barcelona’s kit supplier, announcing Coutinho before he joined and newspapers creating stories through the whole season. After all that, we even heard Barcelona players speaking about Coutinho in public, something that can be seen as an illegal practice, once Liverpool didn’t give them permission to talk about Coutinho in the way they did and try to convince him to join them.

Many people questioned Liverpool about selling Coutinho midway through the season. There are a few differences that made Liverpool sell Coutinho now. Firstly, they got the wanted money, something that didn’t happened in the summer and held the transfer back. And also, Coutinho made it clear he wanted to leave now and, despite all eforts, Liverpool were not able to convince him to stay.

Anyway, this whole situation shows the power the player has compared to the club. Through the whole season, Klopp and Liverpool made it very clear that Coutinho was an important player and he wouldn’t leave. However, we saw that at the end, the player power prevail and that no player can be bigger than the club, as Klopp says in a declaration regarding the transfer on Liverpool’s website:

Philippe was insistent with me, the owners and even his teammates this was a move he was desperate to make happen. Despite that, we managed to keep the player here beyond the summer window, hoping that we would be able to persuade him to stay and be part of what we are looking to do.

I can tell the Liverpool supporters that we, as a club, have done everything within our means to convince Philippe that remaining part of LFC was as attractive as moving to Spain, but he is 100 per cent certain his future – and that of his family – belongs at Barcelona. It is his dream and I am now convinced there is nothing left at our disposal to change his mind.

Of course, it is totally understandable that supporters will be disappointed; this is always the case when you have to say goodbye to someone special. But, as hard as it is sometimes to accept, it is part of life and part of football – individuals have their own dreams and their own goals and objectives in life.

The club received big money from the move, making a profit of £133m. All Liverpool have to do now is reinvest the money smartly and bring more talent than what’s already available.

Coutinho leaves Liverpool having made 201 appearances, scoring 51 goals and became the brazilian with more goals in Premier League history. Liverpool is losing a big and key player for the team. We’ll miss his long range shooting, the passes to Salah, Mane and Firmino, the free-kick and magic, however, as I said before, no one is bigger than the club and Liverpool had to let him go.

Adios Philippe.

 

Van Dijk: Will he be the defensive solution for Liverpool?

Many raised their eyebrows when hearing the news that Liverpool had completed the £75m move for Virgil Van Dijk, from Southampton, making the dutchman the most expensive defender of all time. Many said that Liverpool could’ve signed someone better, that it was too much money. However, something that many people ignored is that Van Dijk was the man Klopp wanted, it was the man Liverpool were pursuing since July, it was Van Dijk or no one. And, after much persistence, he has arrived.

Van Dijk became the most expensive defender in football history, also The Reds’s club record (Photo: Liverpool FC)

Liverpool’s defence have been discussed and slated by the media and, I must say, it should. The Reds defensive line now are one of the best six in the league, just behind Tottenham, Burnley, Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City. The picture was totally different until the loss that ended up being a turning point in their season, a 4-1 defeat to Tottenham, at Wembley in November 22nd. After that, Liverpool are 16 games unbeaten, conceding just nine goals in the process, a significant improvement compared to the 24 conceded in the 16 matches previously.

Despite a big improvement, we’ve still seen lapses of their defensive fragilities, like in the 3-3 draw against Sevilla, a game that Liverpool had a three goal lead, and in the 3-3 draw against Arsenal, when they had a two goal advantage. To become a title winning team, these mistakes are often not acceptable, even if they are not frequent. Liverpool are close to become a top team, with explosive attacking power. However, the defensive fragilities shown through the season are holding Liverpool back. And it’s with this mentality that Van Dijk has arrived, to organize and stop Liverpool losing unnecessary points due to individual defensive mistakes.

It’s evident Van Dijk won’t fix Liverpool’s defense by himself, but it’s worth mentioning that the dutchman has been one of the best defenders in the league since his arrival from Celtic in 2015. In more than 60 Premier League games for Southampton, Van Dijk did not make a defensive error leading to goal, compared to Dejan Lovren’s three in the same period. Liverpool’s individual defensive errors were the main problem and Van Dijk is already proven as a more consistent player and less error prone than the defense Liverpool have now.

Captain at Southampton, it’s expected that Van Dijk be the commanding voice at Liverpool’s defense (Photo: Getty Images)

An important ability that the former Celtic man has shown in his time in England is the capacity of playing from the back. Van Dijk himself told Liverpool’s official website: ” I like to command the defensive line and have the ball as well. I like to play out from the back and be comfortable on the ball”. This quality is extremely important for Jürgen Klopp, because in many situations the centre-back will be the man responsible of starting the counter-attack when the team regains possesion.

Miracles in football don’t happen through just one man. However, Van Dijk has brought more quality than any other Liverpool defender at the moment. He was the man wanted by Klopp to command his defense. A leader, a vocal and imposing player. Only time will tell if Van Dijk is the solution, but the hopes are that looking back, this is one of the most succesfull transfers ever made by the club. The Dutch internation might make his debut in the Merseyside Derby, in the FA Cup , on January 5th.

Neil McGuiness, the man responsible of finding Van Dijk when he played for Groningen in Netherlands, spoke to BBC Sport: “I think he is in the top 10 centre-backs in the world – and I honestly believe he can go on to be a great at Liverpool”. McGuiness’s words are all what Liverpool fans hope to happen.

James Tarkowski: Most underrated player on the Premier League?

The defender is leading stats tables across the Premier League (Photo: Martin Rickett/ Getty)

When it comes to top class defenders in the Premier League, James Tarkowski will certainly not be the first that comes to your mind. However, the outstanding performances that the former Brentford star has been putting are slowly making him join the group of top class defenders.

Together with his centre-back partner Ben Mee, Tarkowski leads stats tables for almost every defensive atribute of the game, marking out his impact and contribution for Burnley. Sean Dyche’s side have conceded nine goals in as many games, making Burnley’s defence the 4th best in the competition, just behind Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and Newcastle.

Justifying their solid defensive work, Burnley also leads the majority of defensive stats in the league. They have made 63 blocks, 318 clearances and 37 saves, more than any team in the Premier League. Also, The Clarets have made 121 interceptions this season, ranking them 4th in the league.

Tarkowski’s contribution to Burnley’s defensive record is impressive. He made 16 blocks, same amount as Ben Mee, 85 clearances, more than any other in the Premier League, and 56 headed clearances. His defensive stats are solid, proving that he is one of the most realiable defenders in the league.

In Burnley’s 1-0 win against Crystal Palace back  in September, in which Tarkowski was man of the match, he proved how solid he’s been since the start of the season. He won five of seven aerial challenges against Christian Benteke, one the toughest strikers in the league. Also, he made 18 clearances and three blocks, all of them inside his own area, crucially performing these defense actions in key moments.

 

Tarkowski’s clearances against Crystal Palace

 

What can we take from all that?

For the team that makes the most defensive actions in the Premier League, Burnley are an outstanding defensive team. They have conceded just nine goals and as they stats show, they are excelent when defending, even when they’re on the back foot and allowing the opposition to have a go at them. James Tarkowski is in the center of all defensive actions made by Burnley, making him a reliable and one of the most underrated players on the Premier League.

What Liverpool’s summer signings can bring?

In the start of the summer, Liverpool fans expected a big transfer window. With Champions League football back at Anfield and with a big name manager, a bunch of top class players were linked with Liverpool, as the likes of Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk, Naby Keita and more.

As we all know, Van Dijk ended up not signing with The Reds and they really needed a defender. However, apart from that, Liverpool fans can look at this transfer window as a turning point, managing to sign some really good players and I’m going to take a look at each one of them.

Mohamed Salah

Liverpool fans can expect big things from the egyptian man (Photo: Liverpool FC)

Mohamed Salah joined Liverpool in June, for a fee of £36m that could rise to £43m depending on his performances. The egyptian already showed in his first few games in the red shirt, especially against Arsenal, what he is capable of. Salah is a tricky winger, who has bags of pace, creativity and has an eye for goal.

He really fits Klopp’s style of play, as he can run in behind the defenders, can press high on the pitch and drive Liverpool forward on the counter. We have already seen this season what Liverpool’s attack is capable of and part of that power and skill comes from Salah.

Last season Salah scored 17 goals and made 12 assists in all competitions, proving that he can be both a goalscoring threat and someone who can create chances. £36m these days isn’t a huge fee and Salah can prove to be one of the signings of the season.

 

Andrew Robertson

Robertson is looking to be a bargain by the end of the season (Photo: Liverpool FC)

For most Liverpool fans, signing a left-back this summer was a priority. Last season, James Milner did a brilliant job but Jürgen Klopp knew that someone natural in the position would be huge for Liverpool’s success this season. Andrew Robertson signed for Liverpool from Hull in late July, for a fee of £8m rising to £10m.

Robertson is player who is young and already has Premier League and international experience. He has signed for a fee that is not too significant and Liverpool made a great job bringing him in.

The scot made his debut for Liverpool against Crystal Palace in the Premier League and he was great. He made a lot of good crosses into the area, pressed really well when he was high up on the pitch and didn’t let too many spaces in behind. By the end of the season, Robertson can prove a lot of people wrong and show what a good player he is.

 

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

The england international rejected champions Chelsea in order to play for Liverpool. (Photo: Liverpool FC)

The Ox was linked with Liverpool since the beginning of the transfer window and had interest from Chelsea too. Arsenal offered him a new contract that was rejected and apparently Chamberlain was set to join Chelsea. However, the deal fell through because he wanted to play in midfield and Liverpool made a late bid and ended up signing the young englishman.

He is talented, skillful and versatille. He has joined Liverpool for £35m that could eventually rise to £40m and has been followed by Klopp since he was at Borussia Dortmund. Under Jürgen, Chamberlain can reach his potential, playing in his prefered position and can be part of something special that is building up at Anfield.

Ox has bags of pace, is really young, has a lot of Premier League and Champions League experience, and can play in multiple positions. Chamberlain was a starter at Arsenal, which means that Liverpool weakened a rival, which is good for them. We can expect Ox to be a great addition and I’m pretty sure that he will be a success at Liverpool.

 

Dominic Solanke

Signing from Chelsea, Solanke’s addition is a smart piece of business (Photo: Getty)

Dominic Solanke was Liverpool’s first signing of the summer, joining from Chelsea after his contract expired at Stamford Bridge. He is a youth England international, really talented and has a lot of qualities a top striker needs to have.

Dom scored his first goal with a brilliant finish against Crystal Palace in the Premier League Asia Trophy and have shown in pre-season what a great talent he is. In the summer, Solanke won the U-20’s World Cup with England, winning the golden boot award.

With Divock Origi out on-loan for the season, Solanke is expected to get game time at Anfield and show what he is capable of in the big stage. This will be a big season for the talented englishman

Hoffenheim: An analysis of Liverpool’s Champions League opponents

The Champions League play-off draw took place today, August 4th and saw Liverpool taking on german side Hoffenheim. This tie have everything to be a special one, with Klopp returning to his native Germany and Roberto Firmino returning to the club that made him the player he is today.

Nevertheless, facing Hoffenheim is trickyer than many people think. They play football in a pretty interesting way and Liverpool could absolutely face problems against this side. In this article, I’ll give a quick insight of the threats Hoffenheim could give to the Reds and tell you their chances of getting through.

 

The manager

Julian Nagelsmann, also called the mini-Mourinho, is the man who took Hoffenheim from relegation candidates to a Champions League side. He became the youngest manager in Bundesliga’s history, making his managerial debut aged 28. In his first season, he took Hoffenheim from 17th in the Bundesliga to safety, after winning 7 games of 14 remaining.

He started his managerial career after a big injury ended his playing career. Working under Thomas Tuchel at Augsburg, Nagelsmann took over Hoffenheim’s under-17 team and won the german title in the 2013/14 season. In 2016, after some games as an interim manager, Nagelsmann became the head coach of Hoffenheim.

Last season, Hoffenheim made a brilliant campaign. Until January, the german side were the only team unbeaten in Europe’s top 5 leagues and qualified for the Champions League for the first time in Hoffenheim’s history. The majority of people think this is overachievement, but Nagelsmann made Hoffenheim’s way into Europe’s top competition.

In the previous campaign, Nagelsmann used a 5-1-2-2, a formation that proved to be solid and versatille. With both central-midfielders drifting wide to create space and width, the defensive midfielder have power to protect both defense and the space in the middle. The wings-back also go very high in the pitch, trying to overload in the attack and increasing numbers, helping Hoffenheim break defenses down.

 

Players to look

Although Hoffenheim lost key players on Niklas Sule and Sebastian Rudy, both going to Bayern, they still have a squad with plenty of technical ability, something that is a big threat for Liverpool. We’ll take a look at some of this players.

 

Kerem Demirbay

Possibly, the biggest threat Hoffenheim possesses at the moment. Demirbay didn’t have a chance to shine while at Hamburg but he flourished at Hoffenheim, with 6 goals and 8 assists last season.

He is the most creative player on the side and all of Hoffenheim’s play will have a touch of him. He is a very skillful player and has the ability of driving the ball into spaces, something that might worry Liverpool. Also, his passing and vision are a key aspect of his game, as he averages 2 key passes per match. He has a really good passing range as well and impressive set-piece technique, making him the man Jurgen Klopp must stop.

 

 

Nadiem Amiri

Amiri is one of the most important players at Hoffenheim’s system. As they play possession football, the midfielders tend to be really important and Amiri is a really versatille midfielder.

He is responsable for the defense to attack transition and always drops into the spaces to receive the ball and drive it forward. Despite being a more attacking player, Amiri also has a big defensive contribution, making him one of the most important players of the team.

Just like Demirbay, Amiri also has the vision and quality of passing a midfielder needs to have. He made four assists last season and averaged one key pass per match. He is surely a player Jurgen Klopp needs to look at.

Andrej Kramaric

Most of you who follow the Premier League may remember this guy. Leicester broke their club record to bring the croatian to the Premier League in January 2015, but he only managed two goals and was sent to Hoffenheim on loan. After a successful loan spell, the german club bought him permanently and he was a key player for them last season.

He scored 20 goals and made 8 assists, becoming vital to Hoffenheim’s campaign. Despite being a striker, Kramaric is a player who eventually drops to the midfield and tends to be really creative. His passing and vision is really good, making him a bigger threat for Liverpool. He can start a quick counter-attack and Liverpool’s defenders must stop this guy somehow.

 

What to expect from this game?

Liverpool are obviously the favourites and I expect them to go through. They have better players in every area of the team and it would be a shock if Hoffenheim knocks them out. However, they are a dangerous team and Liverpool must be concentrated if they want to win this match.

Hoffenheim play a possession based football, something that Liverpool’s counterpressing is really good against. Of course, a tactical change could be on the cards, but Liverpool are the team that will dictate the way the game is played and they have a bigger pressure on their shoulder than Hoffenheim.

 

Is Andrew Robertson the answer for Liverpool?

A left-back is a position that Liverpool seriously need improvement. Last season, Klopp was fortunate enough and didn’t have many problems in that position, with Milner doing a great job. However, with The Reds in the Champions League and looking to be strong contenders for the title, a left-back is something that Liverpool must go for.

A few days ago, was reported that Liverpool agreed a deal to sign Hull City’s and Scotland international Andrew Robertson, for a fee of £10m, including add-ons. The 23-year-old could turn out to be a bargain, but some doubt if he is capable of playing a big part in Liverpool’s season and in this article, I’ll analyse him and give my opinion if he is good enough for the job.

 

Style of play

Something that may called Klopp’s attention is Robertson’s attacking desire and that he could be a valuable player in Klopp’s style of play. The scot likes to overlap and with his pace and fairly good technical ability, he could be another attacking threat for Liverpool and add more in the team than Milner is doing.

For a defensive player, Robertson creates a fair amount of chances and has great passing, something that could turn out to be great for Liverpool. He also has good defensive awareness and is a though tackler, not affraid of putting himself on the ball’s way.

 

Stats

The former Dundee United player was important on Hull’s relegation campaign and arguably, was one of the side’s best players. He scored once and gave two assists in a side that was one of the least scoring teams in the league.

He managed to do 17 key passes in 33 appearances in the Premier League and created 19 chances across the campaign. He completed 920 passes, with an accuracy of 76%, which is less comparing to Marcos Alonso’s and Danny Rose’s.

In the defensive side, Robertson is a good player and could be improved working with Klopp.  He won 36 tackles and completed 26 take-ons in the Premier League. He also had 59 interceptions, 15 blocks and didn’t make an error leading to a goal, an impressive stat considering he played in a relegated side. His defensive stats ranks him better than Danny Rose, who was in PFA’s team of the season, and Marcos Alonso, who won the title with Chelsea.

 

My thoughts

£10m doesn’t mean nothing for the Premier League sides, with the TV money and sponsorships. Liverpool are getting a pretty decent left-back, who could become one of the most important signings in Klopp’s era for a fee that is not significant at all.

Maybe Robertson won’t be able to make an impact right in his first season, but his stats and what I’ve seen him play show that he is a promissing and talented player, who could become a key part of a title contender Liverpool. He is an improvement and an option that Liverpool need to have, considering they are playing in the Champions League.

I would rate this transfer 8/10.

 

Sources: WhoScored and Squawka

Who can Liverpool sign?

During the whole season we read transfer rumors every day and, with the transfer window approaching, these rumors intensify and help us to picture how the top teams will look like next season. Liverpool’s transfer window already started, with the club announcing the signing of forward Dominic Solanke, formerly of Chelsea in a fee that will be decided by tribunal.

Aparently, Jürgen Klopp already has his transfer targets and in this article I’ll talk about the main ones.

 

Virgil Van Dijk

Van Dijk is one of Liverpool’s main targets (Picture: Sky Sports)

The dutch defender has been one of the best centre halves since his arrival at Southampton. As everyone knows, Liverpool have the habit of buying Southampton players and honestly, Van Dijk would be a great aquisition.

Liverpool’s defense wasn’t the best last season and it’s evident that an upgrade is a must, because they’re playing in the Champions League next season. Van Dijk is a great defender, he can play with the ball on his feet easily, is strong and has good pace for defender and even young, has great expierence.

However, Van Dijk’s signing won’t be easy to do. Liverpool is on a race together with Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United for his signature. The Liverpool Echo reported that Liverpool would be willing to match any bids from their rivals, with Southampton tagging him at £70m.

 

Naby Keita

Many people think Liverpool’s midfield needs an upgrade, and Keita could be the solution (Picture: Goal.com)

Naby Keita was one of the best players in a surprising campaign for RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga, where the club managed to finish 2nd and qualify for the Champions League. The guinean midfielder scored eight goals and made seven assists in the Bundesliga, being of the players that made most goals contribution.

One the things that lacked at Liverpool last season was squad depth. Many times during the season, Klopp had no option and had to put Under-23’s on the bench and this can’t happen next season. Most people that followed the Bundesliga knows what Keita is capable of and I believe he can be a great asset for the team.

According to many papers around England and Germany, Liverpool would be willing to bid £50m for the player. The interest in Keita is smaller if we compare to the interest shown in Van Dijk by other clubs and that can make Liverpool his next destination.

Mohamed Salah

Salah almost joined Liverpool in 2014 (Picture: ESPN FC)

Liverpool have shown a lot of dificulty during the absence of Sadio Mane last season, and Klopp is aparently on the search of a player on the standards of Mane or someone who can be a good substitute for the senegalese. A lot of targets have been discussed, incluiding Salah, who almost signed for Liverpool in 2014, before joining Chelsea.

Salah is obviously a player with a lot of talent. Although he wasn’t used while he was at Chelsea, his move to Rome turned out to be great for him. Last season Salah flourished, scoring 19 goals and making 12 assists in all competitions.

The rumors of a possible move to Liverpool increased, after his agent started following Liverpool on Instagram and posted a picture of a plane ticket to London. According to different sources, Liverpool have agreed terms with Salah and is in advanced discussion with Roma to sign the winger. It is said that the italian club wants £35m for the player.

That is it, I know that are a lot of other players linked with Liverpool but I just wanted to cover the main ones.

I see you in the next article.

Who can replace Arsene Wenger at Arsenal?

Arsene Wenger is one the people responsible for changing english football. Playing a possession based style, with attacking philosophy, Wenger turned Arsenal into one of the major forces in England. In his time at Arsenal, the french won three league titles, one of them unbeaten, six FA Cups, being one of the most successful in the competition and came so close from winning the Champions League in 2006.

With Arsene Wenger’s contract expiring and not a pretty good season, speculation over the frenchman future is everywhere. We see every day one manager name linked with Arsenal and in this article I want to give my opinion on the best managers that can replace Wenger after 20 years at Arsenal.

Ralph Hasenhüttl

The austrian started his career at Germany with Unterhaching, before going to VfR Aalen, in the german 3rd division. With Aalen, he completely changed the team and got a surprising promotion to the 2. Bundesliga. In his last season, the team finished 9th, the highest in history for a newly promoted team.

Following disagreement with Aalen’s sporting director, he then joined Ingolstadt, who were bottom of the 2.Bundesliga at the time. He took the team to a 10th place finish and got promoted in the season after. In Ingolstadt’s first season in the Bundesliga, he guided the team to a safe 11th place and decided not sign a new deal, joining RB Leipzig shortly after.

He then took over Leipzig by storm, going in an incredible 13 unbeaten run in the Bundesliga, an amazing achievement for a newly promoted side, being top of the table for a while, before Bayern Munich overtook them. After a vitory against Freiburg, Hasenhuttl’s Leipzig secured a Champions League spot for the first time in history.

I think Hasenhuttl can be a good option for Arsenal. The way he set up his team is really interesting. His prioritizes attacking power, with intense pressure that leads to errors from opponents and quick transition play to catch the opposition off guard. The defense solidity is another big factor of his game, the team jumps into every tackle and due to that, Leipzig is the team with most tackles in the Bundesliga.

The austrian can be a good fit for Arsenal, with plenty of fresh ideas and obvious talent to replace Wenger.

Leonardo Jardim

Jardim’s Monaco is having a great season. The french side is top of Ligue 1 with a three point gap over PSG and with a game in hand, and are also in the Champions League semi-finals to play against Juventus.

Scoring over 90 goals in Ligue 1, Jardim’s side is really powerful in the attack. With Falcao being the deadly striker, Mbappe droping into free space to make quick runs, Thomas Lemar being a quick and skillful winger and Bernardo Silva’s creativity, Jardim made incredible progress since joining Monaco in 2014.

The portuguese managed to get Braga into the Champions League in 2011, before moving to Olympiakos, where he only lost three games, winning the greek cup. After his stint in Greece, he joined Portugal’s giants Sporting, replacing Jesualdo Ferreira, leading the team to a 2nd place finish, scoring 18 goals more than the previous campaign, developing a young team.

Similarly to Hasenhuttl, Jardim’s style of play is really interesting for a team like Arsenal. The full-backs of his team join the attack every time and despite a really attacking philosophy, his teams are also solid defensively, something that really shows his consistency.

Thomas Tuchel

The german was the chosen one to continue the legacy Jürgen Klopp left at Dortmund, after his departure in 2015. He continued to develop Klopp’s style of play, known in Germany as gegenpressing. The idea of getting the ball high up the pitch, quick transition play and attacking overload have been with Tuchel since his days at Mainz.

After winning the german title with Mainz’s U-19 side, he got the job of the first team. He started incredibly well at Mainz, winning seven of his first seven games in charge and in his second season, Mainz finished 5th. In the 2013/14 season, Tuchel got offers to leave Mainz but opted to stay, guiding the team to an Europa League finish and terminating his contract at Mainz shortly after.

Following the departure of Klopp at Dortmund, Tuchel was the one to continue the work. In his first season he gave debuts to Julian Weigl and Christian Pulisic, with both of them becoming regulars at Dortmund and being linked with moves to Europe’s best clubs.

Tuchel can be a good fit for Arsenal due to his facility to work with young players and developing them into key part of the team. Just look at the progress that Dembele and Guerreiro made at Dortmund this season. Also, his attacking approach is really interesting in the Premier League, but it’s really unlikely to see him leaving Dortmund to join Arsenal.

Roger Schmidt

The german is one of the most talented managers that are available for Arsenal. Because of him, Pep Guardiola went down to Austria to watch his RB Salzburg play. As he is without a club, Schmidt could be a realistic target for Arsenal.

He made his name with RB Salzburg, winning the austrian league in his second season. At Salzburg he impressed in the Europa League, reaching the round of 16, managing the likes of Sadio Mané, André Ramalho and Kevin Kampl. After the 2013/14 season, Schmidt was offered the job at Bayer Leverkusen.
In his first season at the Bundesliga, he guided Leverkusen into a 4th place finish, defeating the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich troughout the campaign. His team also reached the round of 16 of the Champions League, losing to Atlético Madrid on penalties.

In his second season, he improved the team with the signings of Javier Hernandez, who had a great season, Charles Aranguiz and Kevin Kampl. He managed to get Leverkusen into the 3rd place, but was knocked out of the Champions League on group stage and losing to Villareal in the Europa League.

His last season wasn’t pretty good. He did manage to get them into the round of 16 in the Champions League, but Leverkusen were terrible in the Bundesliga and it led to Schmidt’s sacking in March, following a defeat to Borussia Dortmund.

In my opinion, Arsenal should target Schmidt to replace Wenger. His ideas are good and gave stability to Leverkusen, getting them into the Champions League twice in a row. His attacking philosphy, of heavy pressing to win the ball back and good defensive shape sound pretty good for a team like Arsenal and given the money that they have, he can make good additions in order to make Arsenal fight for the league title.

 

Merseyside is red

Expectations were big for today’s Merseyside derby (Photo: Liverpool FC)

Once again Liverpool came as winners in the Merseyside derby. The Reds have gone 13 games unbeaten against their bitter rivals, with Everton’s last win at Anfield in 1999. In today’s game, Liverpool showed that they really are the major force in Merseyside, winning their third game in a row against Everton.

The pre match was special. As usual, the Liverpool fans sang You’ll Never Walk Alone in a brilliant way as always and a minute of applause was held to Liverpool’s legend Ronnie Moran, who passed away last week and to the victims of London’s terrorist attack, that took the lives of four inocent people.

Sadio Mané opened the score for Liverpool, after a brilliant run. Youngster Matthew Pennington equalised for Everton from a corner. 177 seconds later, Philippe Coutinho got Liverpool back into the lead after a brlliant finish and substitute Divock Origi sealed the win for Klopp’s men.

Liverpool showed once more their capacity to win the big games, being the only team unbeaten against the Top 10 sides this term. Klopp really builds his players head to go big and direct to these big games, one of the reason why Liverpool are one of the favourites to keep a place in the Top 4. The win puts Liverpool in a great position, with 4 points of advantage if Manchester United defeat West Brom.

Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mané

The trio was effective once more for Liverpool (Photo: Liverpool FC)

Marking Liverpool is really hard. The forwards and midfielders make numerous runs, which makes the task of marking really difficult for the opposition. We can see that in the first goal, when Coutinho drives his markers into the middle to free space to Mané, who had a brilliant shot into goal.

Both Coutinho and Mané were great for Liverpool. Coutinho had one of the most effective appearances since he’s got back from injury, going forward, trying his trademark shooting and it paid off, scoring a big goal that came to be a turning point in the game.

As for Mané it was a big shame that he’s got injured, considering the impact he makes with his performances for Liverpool. He is always a big threat for the opposition, with his speed and cold blooded style of play that makes him an unpredictable and a letal player for Klopp. I don’t know what Klopp’s solution will be but Mané is certainly an imense loss.

 

“It is a man’s sport”

The dutch thinks horrible tackles are normal (Photo:Reuters)

These were Ronald Koeman’s words after the game. He complained about Klopp shouting at the fourth official for Everton’s tackles and that made Koeman furious. Everyone knows it is a derby, with high tempers and everyone wants to get a result out of the game. However, it doesn’t mean that players can get dirty and tackle whatever way they want.

Ross Barkley’s challenge on Lovren was really dirty and I think Klopp has the right to complain about the tackles to the fourth official. Lovren is one of Klopp’s players and Koeman has no right and no reason to say what the opposition manager should or should not do.

Also related to Koeman’s words I must be honest, I really don’t think he has watched the game. He said that after Liverpool scored the second goal, Everton dominated the match, that Liverpool defended all the time. Liverpool had at least four chances to score another goal, Everton wasn’t dangerous in the whole game. Sorry Ronald Koeman, but you better think before you speak.

Once again, Klopp was able to deal with the absentees

Lucas was a stand out for The Reds (Photo:Liverpool FC)

After Lallana got injured in the international break, Klopp was left with very few choices in the midfield deparment, considering the injury of Jordan Henderson. The possible solution was to bring Lucas into the midfield and it worked out.

Lucas had a brilliant game, with accurate tackling, good composure on the ball and also good leadership, to keep the team together with his experience. He fitted nicely with Wijnaldum and Emre Can on the centre of the park, controlling the play and giving very few spaces for Everton create.

Emre Can was another highlight in the match. He was the perfect box-to-box midfielder today, going forward and also winning most of the second balls. The german improved a lot from the poor form we were seeing at the start of the year and is turning out to be a vital player for Klopp’s style of play.

 

MOTD: Philippe Coutinho

A big performance from a big man (Photo: Liverpool FC)

The brazilian was brilliant for his national team against Paraguay, scoring a great goal and today he was also brilliant for Liverpool. Today we saw the energetic and lively player from the opening stages of the season, being effective with his skills, passing and shooting. He played a big role in Mané’s goal, scored the second in a brilliant way and assisted Origi to put the last nail in the coffin.

An absolutely brilliant performance by the little magician.