More Liverpool Posts

Liverpool Article 27 Nov 2025
Liverpool v Nottingham Forest A Liverpool Perspective







First thing to point out is that 3-0 flattered Liverpool and even 4-0 would have probably undersold just how badly beaten they were. I know a lot are pointing to Forest's first goal and claiming it should have been disallowed because Liverpool's goal against Manchester City was, but I disagree with that. The issue is that the goal against City should have stood as well, rather than that the Forest goal should have been chalked off.



It did start off a bit brighter, the first 30 minutes Liverpool looked a lot better, played some decent combinations, but still the same problems of too many touches, too many side to side and backwards passes when there were better options. It was better though, with Forest having to defend well and requiring a couple of blocks. Then Forest scored. Liverpool just disintegrated at that point, confidence evaporated and it was already almost certain Forest would win at that point as they just did not look like they had anything to offer to turn it around.



The worst thing is that Slot, who seemed to have all the answers last season, looked utterly clueless as to how to respond and weakened the midfield even further by dropping Gravenberch into defence. It is hard to understand how he fails to spot that the weak midfield is the biggest problem in this Liverpool side. It was the weak link last season, with teams able to bully it at will, but the ability of the team to lift itself and just overrun teams at the end of games due to superior fitness and attitude is no longer there. The failure to address the weakness in the summer is really telling badly now though, with every team exploiting it. The biggest issue is Slot's refusal to accept the need for anyone physical in there, which is making the problem worse. Put a Rice or a Rodri in this team alongside Gravenberch, instead of the lily-livered Mac Allister whose main skill is to flop around on the ground like a goldfish that has got out of its bowl, and they would be immediately massively improved.



Adding that to the complete lack of fitness that the team has right now, and lack of intensity to their play, it is a recipe for the disaster we are currently witnessing. The only question is whether Slot can take the right lessons from what he is seeing and turn it around. I hope he can, but I fear he is unable to.







Nottingham Forest





Forest were excellent, they defended well early on and then picked Liverpool apart at will and fully deserved their win. They will be extremely annoyed about the goal that was wrongly ruled out, and rightly so, it was clear to see the ball hit well above the sleeve line and I have no idea what the VAR officials were looking at if they could not see it. Not that it made a difference to them getting the points, but when the league is as close as this season's Premier League is, goal difference and even goals scored could make a genuine difference to where you finish at the end of the year. VAR is becoming a burden on the game, rather than a help.



What they did well was not to just sit back and hold on, they could have easily just taken the lead and held onto it as they were defending so well but they did more. They kept looking for opportunities to extend their lead and exploit the space in midfield. While Slot got his tactics and subs completely wrong, Dyche got his spot on and that was the difference. He is quickly turning them back into the team they were last season, but with a little more attacking thrust and they should quickly climb the table over the next few months if they continue to play like this.







Liverpool





Alisson - not even the brilliant Brazilian could do anything about the Forest goals.





Szoboszlai - playing a bizarre right-back/midfield hybrid role, in an almost job-sharing set up with Jones, he worked hard but it is just a waste of his talents. Also the lack of confidence is palpable, the constant back-passing to Jones when there were options forward and the unwillingness to take a shot early when it is on, instead electing to take an extra touch or two, they are all signs of a player lacking in confidence. Just shoot when it is on!





Konate - another abysmal performance. Once again he wilted under pressure and folded like a cheap suit when it mattered. It is a shame as he started out looking up for it, but as soon as he made a mistake he just fell apart. He simply does not have the mentality for the top end of the game, he is too weak and loses his head at the slightest thing.





van Dijk - a poor game, he is meant to be a leader but he is not standing up when it counts. He does not drive the team forward, nor does he lead by example by putting in extra work on the pitch to make up for the lack of confidence in the team. He needs to stop whining about what critics say and start proving them wrong by doing what he used to do - work harder and be better. He needs to stop being 'effortlessly cool' and put in some effort, starting with moving around to create a passing option, rather than allowing himself to be marked out of the game when Liverpool are in possession.





Kerkez - he is taking a lot of criticism this season, though I fail to understand how he is being singled out as the problem. He was given a bit more freedom to attack and looked better because of it, his strengths are as an attacking full-back, he needs to be let fully off the leash.





Mac Allister - his fitness can no longer be used as an excuse for his horrifically bad performances, week after week. Questions need to be asked about why he is still first choice despite being abysmal every time he plays this season. It is embarrassing to watch him flop to the ground any time anyone brushes against him.





Gravenberch - he was fairly decent on the ball, but defensively he is just not protecting the defence like last season, drifting too far forward when Liverpool are in possession. There is no cover behind him, there are no defensive midfielders in the side, he needs to sit deeper and provide a bit of protection. For all his good work on the ball, off the ball teams, including Forest, are exploiting the space left in behind him.





Jones - he spent large periods of the game sat in at right-back, while Szoboszlai and Salah were in front of him down the right, in an odd hybrid right-back role. I get the desire to have cover there, but he could have just as easily provided a passing option and cover there from a more central position further forward. There was no Forest player looking to make a run into the space at the times, which is when he should move out there. I know he was trying to do what Milner and Henderson did for years, but they did not just sit out in the full-back position while the rest of the midfield were pushed up the pitch, they did it when there was cover in the centre. All that Jones achieved was to leave a hole in the centre, where it is much more dangerous.





Salah - he is definitely getting back to something like his best, linking up well down the right, particularly with Szoboszlai in the first 30 minutes. But he needs a little help, someone actually attacking the box, rather than all in a horseshoe shape around it, to draw away defenders and open spaces or for him to play the ball to.





Gakpo - had a poor game, seemed to have no idea what he was actually meant to be doing after the substitutions began to be made.





Isak - he is a mile away from being even close to match sharpness and consequently offers absolutely nothing as a starter. A terrible decision to drop Ekitike for him. He should be a substitute coming on to work his way towards sharpness, rather than being carried from kick off. You simply cannot carry players when you are in bad form.





Ekitike - replaced the hapless Konate in the 55th minute. Received no service as Forest defended extremely well. He was not helped by the tactics, which seemed to have degenerated into just putting as many attacking players on the pitch at once and hoping something would happen.





Chiesa - came in for Isak in the 68th minute. At least offered energy and urgency, but there was no space for him to operate and he ended up dropping deep most of the time. I just do not understand the consistent misuse of an asset like Chiesa.





Robertson - took the place of Kerkez in the 68th minute. Seemed a waste of a substitution when you are losing to take off an extremely attacking full-back in a like for like sub. He did not offer any more to the game.





Ngumoha - was brought on for Jones in the 78th minute. Just another ridiculous, desperate sub emptying an already weak midfield to bring on yet another attacker, when there was no space for them to operate. He did nothing, but he had no chance as Forest could just mass their defence and not have to worry about Liverpool doing anything different to draw them out.

Liverpool Article 12 Nov 2025
Manchester City v Liverpool A Liverpool Perspective







A shambolic performance by Liverpool, with Slot reverting to the terrible style of play that had been failing miserably this season, despite having had two wins in a row playing a different way. It does beg the question, why change a winning formula? If the players are struggling for fitness, that is what substitutions are for. What is worse is the refusal to budge from just slowly rolling it around the backline, even at 3-0 down. What are they seeing on the bench that made them continue to play it for 90 minutes?



There is little that can be said for Liverpool, it was an abysmal showing, Slot got it all wrong and it is now on him to fix it before the next game. The constant return to this slow, boring way of playing does suggest that the issue is Slot himself and that he has not understood the Premier League, even after a year in charge. The issues at Liverpool are not just the same as last season, they have been amplified by the recruitment and tactics, rather than rectified.



I do not understand how anyone watching the Reds last season could not have spotted that the midfield needed more bite as a priority, nor that Konate was a weak link and an accident waiting to happen every single game. Somehow, no one at the club spotted either issue and so did nothing about rectifying those two big problems. Even more bizarre when it was so obvious that the midfield trio was running on empty at times last season. It was understandable signing the two strikers, who were desperately needed as the three players who played up front last season were no longer available, but when you are spending that amount of money, you surely have to deal with the obvious weaknesses next?



That aside, there is no excuses for the mess we are seeing on the pitch right now, with a team that is definitely underperforming. The quality of the players is much better than the results being achieved and that is down to the tactics, which are failing miserably and do not even have the mollifying effect of being enjoyable to watch. Everything about it is terrible and needs to be addressed. Why buy a pair of attacking wing-backs and then put shackles on them? Why buy the best young attacking midfielder in Europe last season and then push the rest of the midfield in front of him so there is no space for him to operate?



Nothing that we are seeing this season made sense until the Aston Villa and Real Madrid games, so why on earth would you then revert back to the stupidity of the rest of the season? There is so little to even enjoy about watching Liverpool right now and that makes it difficult to back Slot, even though he won the Premier League at a canter last season.



That is probably why LFC are making such a fuss about the Virgil goal being chalked off. Well that and it smacks of refereeing bias when that same referee decided an almost exact same goal scored for Man City against Wolverhampton Wanderers last season was not offside. I think that no one would really be talking about it if that had not happened. It certainly does not help that the referee lives in Greater Manchester, so should not be officiating games involving the Manchester sides anyway. I do not understand this insistence by PGMOL of appointing Manchester-based officials to games involving Manchester sides, it is arrogance on their part to think that is acceptable. It does not matter whether the officials are biased or not, they are immediately under mental pressure that is not needed simply by being chosen for those matches. It is not like we have any competent officials to begin with, so why put them under unnecessary pressure as well?







Manchester City





It is very difficult to know what to say about Man City's performance, they had it so easy that they had very little to worry about, they did not even need to play particularly well. The one thing that did stand out as having understood how to stop Liverpool when they play this way, apart from just turn up as that seems to work fine for everyone else, was to use Haaland to man-mark van Dijk when Liverpool had the ball and wanted to slowly roll it back and forth between him and Konate. That blocked that off and left the ball at Konate's feet, where the big Frenchman moronically just gave it back to them. It certainly made their day even easier.



The fact they won so easily is even more worrying, from a Reds perspective, when you consider just how badly Cherki played. If Konate had not been so catastrophically bad (again), a lot more notice would have been taken about just how dire Cherki was. But it matters little when your team strolls to victory. Also, it helps when Doku is such a shining light that no one really notices anything else. Doku, like Haaland, has come on in leaps and bounds for this season. You can not fail to be impressed by the massive gains he has made, from a player who had the pace and skill to beat anyone but would then just launch the ball aimlessly (usually into row Z) to a player that still has the good bits but has added end product. He has turned into a quite simply brilliant left winger.







Liverpool





Mamadarshvili - an improved performance from the Georgian, even his kicking looked a lot better and he continued with his extremely impressive penalty save record. However, he still does not fill me with confidence, it was more likely that Citeh do not play a type of game that puts his weaknesses under pressure, hence the improvement.





Bradley - was absolutely tortured by Doku, particularly early on. There were signs in the second half that he was beginning to get to grips with the winger, but the game was over by then. You just have to question why he was given no help at all by Salah, who has the experience and intelligence to see that the lad needed help. What was pleasing was Bradley's attitude, he just kept going and did not react to the lack of genuine help from his teammates by throwing a strop. Despite the problems caused by Doku, he was probably Liverpool's best player overall.





Konate - he has stunk the place out all season, yet this still managed to plumb new depths for him in just how badly he played. How bad does he have to play before he gets dropped? It is getting embarrassing to watch now and it is clear that teams are targeting him because he is such a weak link. I lost count of the number of times he just aimlessly lumped out into touch in a panic, despite being under no real pressure on the ball. His lack of intelligence is seriously disturbing. City stood off him and just let him have the ball, so why just pump it into the stands? Carry it forward until they do engage, which will open up someone to receive the ball.





van Dijk - showed his limitations as a captain with his inability to make on pitch changes to improve what is happening. In particular, why just allow Haaland to mark you out of the game? Surely the answer is to stop giving it to Konate and then standing there being neither use nor ornament and instead pass it forward himself when he got it. Or perhaps try moving to drag Haaland around. What he did was just stand there and allow himself to be put out of the match. I expect better of a player with his experience.





Robertson - looked a game too far for Robertson and he seemed leggy.





Mac Allister - failed to make an impact on the game, other than picking up a booking.





Gravenberch - should have done more to help Bradley and got closer to him. Had a poor game overall.





Szoboszlai - he was the only outfield player in a red shirt other than Bradley that had any real positive effect on the game.





Salah - awful game, was poor offensively and non-existent defensively. He can be excused not working back when he is racking up goals and assists, but this season he needs to start tracking back and putting in the work for the team first and foremost.





Wirtz - his teammates are simply not picking him out when he is in better positions than they are. When he did get the ball it was in positions with no option to pass to, with no one showing for him and he was usually quickly surrounded by three or four players. It is clear Guardiola did not want to let him have a moment to produce anything.





Ekitike - poor game, even his work rate was terrible. Failed to close down for one of the goals as well, which is unforgivable as he had plenty of time to do so but made no effort.





Kerkez - replaced Robertson in the 56th minute. Did Slot even watch him play last season? It is incredible how badly he has been used. Not once has he been asked to play to his strengths.





Gakpo - came in for Ekitike in the 56th minute. An incredibly stupid substitution, to take off the main striker and go with no striker when you are already getting battered. I am not sure what the thinking was behind it but it failed miserably.





Jones - took the place of Mac Allister in the 74th minute. Made the midfield a little more secure defensively.





Chiesa - was brought on for Wirtz in the 83rd minute. At least he showed desire and willingness but he got no service.





Gomez - was subbed on for Bradley in the 83rd minute. Just a pointless substitution, basically Slot had thrown in the towel long before and was just worrying about keeping players from getting injured.

Liverpool Article 04 Nov 2025
Liverpool v Aston Villa A Liverpool Perspective









A return to very much what worked last season produced a similar result to the ones Slot was getting all last season, a fairly routine victory. Is that proof that Slot just needs to return to playing that way and give up on his new approach? Hard to say, especially as Villa very much played into Liverpool's hands by trying to play out from the back and making it possible to apply a high press. It certainly does feel like Slot just tried to change too much, with so many changes to the playing staff, perhaps it would have been better to just start off playing like the vast majority are used to and then gradually begin to introduce the new style over the course of the season.



The big question now is whether or not Liverpool have turned the corner or if this is just another false dawn like the Eintracht Frankfurt game? Both teams played right into the hands of the Reds and suffered for it, but how many other teams this season will do the same?





Aston Villa





I was very surprised at Villa's chosen approach, I know they were on a good run, but I would have expected Emery to make some tweaks to the set up to get at Liverpool. You have Robertson, who is clearly a step short of what he used to be, and struggles to deal with balls in behind, but Villa failed to use the space behind him at all. They did play some good stuff at times, when breaking the press, but it was few and far between. When it did work, that was when they created their chances, but they really should have looked to mix it up more rather than playing into Liverpool's hands. Emery has his style of play and he sticks to it, which is fine most of the time, but he needs to look to get some pace in wide areas against teams like Liverpool and use the longer ball over the top for that pace to run onto.



They were very disappointing, passing it around at the back but without enough pace most of the time and so playing themselves into trouble. I know some are calling Martinez's mistake a bit of luck, either good for Liverpool or bad for Villa, but it was hard work by the team closing down the options and putting him under pressure that caused it. Martinez suffers from arrogance, thinking he is better than he is, which often leads to mistakes when he is pressured. That is not luck, that is a weakness in his game that was exploited. However, it was also a mistake by the players around him to keep passing it around slowly and roll it back to him, increasing the chance of a mistake like that happening.







Liverpool





Mamadarshvili - had very little to do, the only real shot on target was at a comfortable height and very close to him, so there is no judgement that can be made on his performance, other than he did nothing wrong.





Bradley - he grew into the game as it went on, having a much better second half than first as his confidence grew playing a way he understood. There were times that he, Szoboszlai and Salah linked up very well down the right and it was clear that returning back to a set up he understood particularly helped him. One thing that is always in his favour is work rate, but it was particularly evident in this match when he sprinted back after losing the ball to challenge for it back. It is always good to see a player run as hard back towards his own goal as he does when getting forward. Far too many (just look at Djed Spence's performance for Tottenham Hotspur against Chelsea over the weekend) barely put in any effort defensively, while busting a gut to get forward for the chance of a bit of glory.





Konate - a much better performance from the French defender, who finally looked like he remembered which team he was playing for this season and attempted to hit teammates with passes and headers, rather than opposition players. He has been comically bad this season, but this was a good, solid performance from him.





van Dijk - the captain also stepped up his game against Villa, which does lead me to believe that a lot of the problems have stemmed from the change in tactics for this season leaving the defence exposed. The attack and midfield were able to press and so relieved a lot of the pressure on the defence.





Robertson - while still showing signs of not having the pace he had, he looked a lot better with a return to tactics he was comfortable with and up against opponents who tried to be muscular, rather than looking to use pace up against him.





Mac Allister - finally looked like he was on the same planet as the other players, rather than one with a gravity many times that of earth, dragging him down and slowing him up. Not a particularly good game, even if you exclude the cringeworthy play-acting after Onana pushed him by the throat, but also not a bad game, so much better than the rest of the season.





Gravenberch - while this was not a game at the levels he can hit, he had a good solid game and was key to Liverpool's set up tactically. His ability to receive the ball and turn out of trouble is extremely important to the way of playing.





Szoboszlai - best player on the pitch, popping up just about everywhere. He is having an excellent season and this performance was one of his better for the season. He does so much for the team, from breaking up play to leading the press and linked up really well with Salah and Bradley down the right.





Salah - a much improved performance, he roasted Digne time and time again. He is so strong and able to take the ball in under immense physical pressure (usually while being blatantly fouled) in game after game, but this game saw him also beating Digne and getting away from him.





Gakpo - not at his best, but still part of a much better overall team performance.





Ekitike - the one new signing who has stood out as being good right from his first appearance, once again he was causing the opposition defence problems. He is good in the press and works hard for the team, as well as being a genuine goal threat.





Wirtz - replaced Ekitike in the 77th minute. Still looks to be finding his feet and playing out of position once again was not really helpful for him.

Liverpool Article 18 Sep 2025
Burnley v Liverpool A Liverpool Perspective









A terrible watch, not helped by the way Liverpool play it slowly around trying to tempt the opposition out for long periods, particularly early in the match. Burnley had no intention of coming out to play, they were always going to just sit there and hang on for dear life, so it was just wasted time. When a team is sat in, the ball needs to move much more quickly to move them around and create gaps. It only takes one man to be a bit slow reacting, maybe he is looking the other way to check on the man he is marking or is distracted for a moment by a runner, to leave a gap that can be exploited. When you are just moving it around slowly, they have plenty of time to shuffle over. The other thing that would be good is to have full-backs flying down the wing and hitting the byline at pace before crossing the ball in, but instead they constantly underlap the widemen and just clog up the space in the centre.



It means the full-backs are just running into the packed defence, rather than potentially pulling someone out of position trying to track them, which allows the wide defenders to concentrate on Salah and Gakpo. When Robertson came on and did make some runs out wide, it created the opportunities for Gakpo to really attack and beat Walker to get a ball in. Unfortunately, until Chiesa came on, there was no one in the centre to even try to get on the ball. Wirtz and Ekitike both want to drop off and get the ball to feet, rather than looking to get in on the end of crosses. Mac Allister's injury meant he was unable to be the one that broke into the box, something he has proven to be good at, and Szoboszlai and Gravenberch are both similar to Wirtz and Ekitike and want to receive the ball on the edge of the box, rather than charging in to get to a cross.



That is why it ended up being a grind, rather than picking up an early goal and forcing Burnley to ditch their game plan. With the slow ball movement and lack of players attacking the ball when it did come in, there were very few real chances created. I am sure Slot will be looking carefully at it and I would hope that he will give more freedom to the full-backs to attack, but most of all to get them to overlap, rather than underlap all the time. Underlapping is more useful when the defence comes out to engage, leaving gaps. When there is no gap, there is no point in them running into traffic. At the end of the day though, what matters most is the points. It is three more points and how it was achieved is really not as important at the end of the season, just that those points are on the board.







Burnley





Burnley had a plan, but no ambition of even snatching a win despite being at home and so got what they deserved - nothing. It is not like this is something unusual, they played this dross football week in, week out in the Championship last season, so I have no sympathy for them when it fails them. Their whole tactical plan was to sit in with everyone behind the ball and defend their own penalty box - it says a lot that their supposed main striker spent what felt like most of his game in his own penalty box in open play. They did work hard and gave their all, but it made little sense to just keep dropping deeper and not have at least one player up to give them an out ball. It turned the game into a boring attack against defence training session, rather than a true football match.







Liverpool





Alisson - a very easy day out for Alisson.





Szoboszlai - he needed to be getting down the flank in this match, rather than inverting, to try and drag the Burnley defence wider and stretch the play. This would have been an ideal game for Frimpong's style of play really. Once he shifted into the centre after half-time, he was much better, but I would have liked to see him try a few more shots on the edge of the box to force the Burnley defence to push out to him and close him off. It might just have created a gap in behind.





Konate - with Burnley providing little attacking threat, he spent most of the game deep inside their half. The problem was that he is the one getting furthest forward, getting on the ball in areas he could do damage, rather than van Dijk. It is the wrong way round, as Virgil is much better on the ball and needs to be the one pushing up. Unfortunately, Konate cannot be trusted to defend one-on-one, so it has to be him that pushes further on. Otherwise, you just know he would end up not reading the run because he is sleepwalking through the game, as usual, and getting a red card due to pulling someone down who had just run straight past him without him noticing.





van Dijk - very rarely had any kind of threat to deal with, but what he did have to do, he did in his usual calm unflappable way. I would like to see him drive forward more from defence in these games. Maybe hit a shot or two from range as well, he has an excellent long range shot on him.





Kerkez - he is playing with so little confidence at the moment, not helped by his shockingly bad dive. He just needs to relax a bit. I would like to see him let off the leash in games like this, to just be given the freedom to attack down the flank at will. I also think a few games of playing without having to worry about the instructions he has been given would help him lift his confidence and help him perform better when he does have to play in a more limited way. What was badly missing against Burnley was having the two full-backs bombing down the wing, overlapping their wideman, to allow the wingers to attack the box.





Mac Allister - bit difficult to judge his performance, as he got crunched on his ankle and came off at half time. It might be that he is still off the pace, or it could be just that he was struggling with his ankle.





Gravenberch - the man of the match for me. He was able to get further up the pitch without worrying about Burnley breaking, as they were refusing to commit bodies forward even on a break. In matches like this, maybe there is a case to be made for him to be looking to break into the box for crosses, as his height should enable him to cause problems, even if he does not get on the end of balls played in.





Wirtz - improving with every game, he is starting to have a genuine influence now. Not the easiest game either for the more creative players, like him, as there was simply no space between Burnley's packed ranks to pick a pass or run through.





Salah - not his best game, but I am not sure what people expected him to do. He is always watched by at least 2 players, usually with a third covering, he got very little chance to run inside, particularly after Bradley was brought on, as Bradley constantly cut inside him and just congested the space. That left Salah with chalk on his boots, which is not where you want him and is not helpful for the team. He needed an overlapping full-back or midfielder, drawing away a defender so he could actually get some freedom and move more central, where he can threaten. What you do know is that, when the chips are down and you need someone to step up and win the game for you with a late penalty, Salah is the man to do so.





Gakpo - needed to see more of the ball in dangerous areas. When he did, he was mostly able to get past Walker and cause real problems for the Burnley defence. Then the issue was a lack of numbers for him to pick out in the box, which was packed with defenders. He was very lucky to escape a yellow card for a dive that was almost as embarrassing as Kerkez's.





Ekitike - a decent game, a few good moments, but he just did not get enough service to really impose himself on the game and often ended up drifting deep or wide looking to get involved. What I did not like was that he did not get himself into the 6 yard box enough when the ball was wide. There was no one getting in there looking to get on the end of crosses to cause a bit of danger for the Burnley defence.





Robertson - replaced Kerkez in the 38th minute. Where Kerkez was nervous and looked to be trying far too hard to make an impression, Robertson just slotted right in and played well. Admittedly, he was never under any pressure defensively but he got forward well and caused a few problems in the opposition half.





Bradley - was brought on in the stead of Mac Allister at half-time. He provided energy and direct running, worked hard defensively and did well in that aspect, but was poor going forward. He gave the ball away cheaply a couple of times, plus his runs were always inside Salah, which did nothing to create any space. Salah was being doublemarked all game, he needed someone overlapping him to create some space, but never got that until Frimpong came on. Bradley needs to vary his runs, instead of always just looking to get into the box.





Chiesa - replaced Ekitike in the 72nd minute. Showed energy and desire, plus the lift his song provides among the fans, but really should have scored with unchallenged header. At least he did get into the box and look to get on the end of things, which made a huge difference.





Frimpong - took the place of Konate in the 87th minute. His arrival, along with Ngumoha's, really improved Liverpool, simply by allowing Salah to shift more centrally, that opened up all the space on the wings for him and Ngumoha to utilise. Just having him running wide and looking to attack down the flank caused so many issues as their defence on the left side were all focused on Salah.





Ngumoha - came on for Wirtz in the 87th minute. Showed some pace and trickery, just needed to see more of the ball.

Liverpool Article 04 Sep 2025
Liverpool v Arsenal A Liverpool Perspective









A game that really lacked entertainment value but still managed to produce drama at the end. It was an odd game, with Liverpool really struggling to get their forward line into the game. There were a number of reasons for it, poor passes into them was probable the biggest, as it took until the second half to produce any decent accurate balls into their feet. Another issue was the movement, which saw a lot of replication of runs - particularly the deeper midfield pair Gravenberch and Mac Allister, who made the same run a number of times, reducing the available options to the man on the ball. Worse was their tendency to both run forward, forcing Wirtz to drop deep to cover for them, which happened a lot and he was forced to act like a defensive midfielder a number of times. That is not getting the best out of any of them.



Unless the team is losing late in the game, those two should never ever both be forward at the same time. Not just because it then requires Wirtz to be alert and his attacking threat is nullified, but because they tend to just get in each others' way. They both think along similar lines, spot similar openings and make the same run to take advantage. Over time, as they get back used to playing together, I am sure they will work it out so that only one makes the move forward at a time, but right now it is the main cause of Liverpool's disjointed play. As the players gain match sharpness and familiarity with each other's game in their new roles, I am sure that be sorted out.



As usual though, Slot's ability to tweak the team during the game to crank up the pressure on the opponent was impressive. He is like a boxer, feeling his way into the fight, sizing up his opponent in the early rounds and then all of a sudden takes charge of the fight. The first half slow, patient passing around at the back to try and bait the opponents into leaving gaps can be a bit dull to watch, but it is incredibly effective. It is pulling the opposition around and making them work, tiring them so that there are gaps to exploit in the second half. It is actually incredibly reminiscent of the Liverpool of the early 1980s, who won everything and they did it by grinding the opposition down over the 90 minutes. Slot's team is the same.



You could see it in this match, as Liverpool started to control more of the play after about 60 minutes, helped by the arrival of Jones in midfield. But there is still a lot of work to be done on bringing the unit together and building the innate understanding that the players need to have of each others' runs and movement. There is still a looseness to the passing at times that also needs to be ironed out, something that usually just needs match sharpness to get rid of. Overall though it was a close game, but Liverpool just about deserved the victory due to actually having the ambition to go out there and try to win it, rather than looking for a point.







Arsenal





Arsenal were very disappointing, I know they lost Saliba after 5 minutes to injury, but that is not the reason they lost. In fact, his replacement was one of their better players in the match. The reason they lost was down to one man alone - Arteta. For all the talk of him being a disciple of Pep Guardiola, he is producing performances that suggest his real icon is Tony Pulis. When he first took charge, Arsenal under him played good football, they were exciting to watch and they were improving. But recent years seem to have taught him the wrong lesson and instead of looking to keep playing good football and getting some gains from good set pieces, he has just thrown out the good football and is playing for set pieces.



The problem is that, apart from the constant recruitment of full-backs that are a threat from set-pieces and are actually centre-backs who can play there, the players Arteta adds to the team do not suit the way the Gunners are playing. And that is where it all fell apart. The midfield, apart from Rice, was poor. Zubimendi was all at sea trying to play like this. He needs to be in a ball-dominant team to get the best out of him, not a team that looks to win corners in the hope of making something happen. He is not physical enough and ends up just getting bypassed by opposing attacks. Merino is so lacking in mobility that his only real use in this system is to be a big body at set pieces.



Added to that, Arteta lacks Slot's ability to tweak things to take control of games. He just seems to throw on players with little real plan. The fact that, even at 1-0 down in the final minutes of the game, you still had the embarrassing spectacle of Jurrien Timber time wasting and refusing to get off the floor, even after Gakpo twice tried to help him up, tells you a lot about what they are getting instructed to do. It is the lack of ambition after coming up to 6 years in charge and a billion pounds spent that would bother me if I was a Gooner. But they seem to 'trust the process' even if that process is not apparent to anyone else!



It is odd that a team with such a solid backline is afraid to push forward a little more. They have such a solid base to operate from that they could afford to be a lot more attack minded without leaving themselves wide open, even against the better sides. If they keep being so negative, it will end up in yet another negative result at the end of the season.







Liverpool





Alisson - had a much easier game than against ten man Newcastle, which tells you a lot.





Szoboszlai - the best player on the pitch, even without that free kick. He was exceptional, getting up and down at pace, playing an exquisite 60 yard cross field pass to Wirtz's foot (incredible touch by the German too) and he inverted at the right times and also got down the flank when that option was right. His ability to pop up all over the pitch from right back and pick passes was like some kind of cross between Gerrard and Alexander-Arnold. Bradley and Frimpong actually have a real fight on their hands to hold onto the right-back slot, he genuinely looks like he could be better than either there. Though he is also badly missed from the centre of midfield! All that and managing to look nearly as good as me while doing it. His movement caused Arsenal so many problems, he was able to find himself space in dangerous areas high up the pitch, but had the work rate and pace to get back into his defensive position when the ball was lost. He also got forward at the right times, other times he would drop in between the two centre-backs to create a passing option when the ball was being passed around at the back to try and bait Arsenal in. He was a right-back when the ball was lost, but when Liverpool had possession, he was free to roam. The key thing was that he had the intelligence to use that freedom to help the team.





Konate - a much better performance, but he is still making basic errors which could cost the team. A number of times he was far too busy grappling with the man he was marking to just deal with the ball being played in, like he should have, and it sailed over his head into a dangerous area. So a step forward, but far from a great performance.





van Dijk - an excellent performance from the captain. There was no header that went unchallenged in his area because he was too busy with the opposition players - he remembered what he is there, to deal with the ball. And win it he did, again and again and again.





Kerkez - a very good game from the Hungarian international. Madueke has the ability to beat anyone, but he never gave him a moment's peace, even when beaten he was right back at him again straight away, harrying him.





Mac Allister - still a long way off the pace and struggled badly, but he needs to play to get back to sharpness. Luckily he was not put under any real pressure to take advantage of his lack of match sharpness. I would have liked to see him play with a bit more caution, with him not being at his best, instead of charging forward at every opportunity. Now there is Wirtz up there, he just ended up crowding the space and not giving Wirtz any room to play in. Plus Gravenberch often made the same run, which is something they need to work on, a bit more communication would not go amiss.





Gravenberch - a decent game, though he did get forward a bit too much for my liking, which forced Wirtz to drop off and end up protecting the defence. It is clear the trio in midfield are going to take a bit of time to come to an understanding of each others' games, but at least the three of them are all conscientious enough to be able to cover for each other.





Wirtz - showed some moments of genuine quality, including that beauty of a take from Szoboszlai's cross field pass, but often ended up as the deepest lying midfielder, which is not ideal. However, you cannot fault his effort for covering and how well he did when in that position. There are definitely signs that he will come good.





Salah - he took a bit of stick for his performance, though I am not sure why. Not just was he up against the meanest defence in the Premier League, but he got no service until near the end of the game when he must have been tiring. Considering he kept Gabriel pinned back and unable to double up on Ekitike, allowing him more space to operate, I would consider it a decent game.





Gakpo - decent game, but the lack of service gave him little chance to do more than he did.





Ekitike - got no service, but put himself about as much as possible. New boy Mosquera gave him little time or space to work in.





Jones - replaced Mac Allister in the 60th minute. Bringing him on helped Liverpool to step up their game, he played very well, mostly sitting in and allowing Wirtz to just stay up high and operate where he is most effective.





Gomez - was brought on in the stead of Konate in the 78th minute after Konate pulled up. Had an excellent game, he made sure not to get caught up in a personal battle and instead concentrated on the ball.





Chiesa - replaced Ekitike in the 78th minute. Like Ekitike he never got the service to really affect the game.





Endo - took the place of Wirtz in the 88th minute. Closed out the game in his inimitable, combative, abrasive style.

31 Aug 2025 21:53:54
Chuffed with the win (as we all are) but what I’m more chuffed with is the fact that we are 3 games into the season and we are already 4 points up on respective games from last season 👍🏻.

{Ed025's Note - the result was great AH but what a dire game of football, it was disgraceful that the supposedly 2 best teams in the country could serve up such a load of S**** mate...it was embarrassing..

Liverpool Article 28 Aug 2025
Newcastle United v Liverpool A Liverpool Perspective







It was not a particularly good performance by Liverpool, not in the slightest, but once again they found a way to win it when it matters. That is a great habit to get into while you are trying to get your football flowing. There were long periods in the second half that it looked like it was Liverpool that were a man down, as they allowed themselves to be overrun and pushed back. In the main though, they did deal well with the aerial onslaught from Newcastle. It was two bad basic errors that gave the goals away. I think I have to agree with Arne Slot on this though, games like this, especially this early in the season, you just have to get through and get the result. It was the same when Stoke were in the Premier League, games against them were never pretty but all that mattered was coming away with the result.



It does continue a worrying trend though of Liverpool's midfield being bullied out of games by a more physical opponent. So far it has not cost the team and so it is not a problem, but long term you would have to think the opposition will target this more and more. One thing is for sure, I have faith that Slot will find ways to deal with whatever is thrown at him. He has the ability to adapt and overcome, no matter how ugly it can be at times.



Once again in this game, Slot showed his ability to bring on substitutes, change the play and get that win. It may not be doing much good for my heart, but it is working. It was clear that he expected Newcastle to do exactly what they did and was just looking to soak it up and try and take the sting out of the game. You could see that by the way Liverpool took their time in everything they did, when they are usually looking to restart quickly all the time. Instead they were looking to frustrate Newcastle's team and fans. And it worked. Yes, it was unable to lower the crowd volume but instead it saw a number of the Toon players lose their heads. If the referee was not so weak, the man advantage would have been either more or the Newcastle team would have had to back off a bit. Unfortunately, Hooper is the weakest (and probably the worst) of the Premier League officials and he folded under the pressure. He seemed a lot more concerned with just trying to get good pictures on that stupid bodycam, than actually dealing with the problems.



But, the key thing is that, from a Liverpool point of view, it was three more points in what is likely to be a long, difficult season. The performance may not have been great, but it usually takes a while for teams to get up to speed and it is rare teams that start playing well in the first few games maintain it. And, if you can't enjoy a moment like Rio Ngumoha's last gasp goal in a difficult away match to win it, well then you may as well stop watching football. That is the kind of moment that makes the sport so special. It is a moment that will be remembered for years to come.



One last thing, I saw a piece by an ex-referee saying that this game needs to be investigated because of the amount of time the ball was in play. It was the least amount of time in a Premier League match since the days of Stoke City. However, he immediately tried to remove any blame from Simon Hooper for that, when he is mainly responsible for it. It was his weakness that led to so many free kicks being given. It was his inability to tell the time that led to him not putting enough added time on the end of each half. It was him that allowed the game to degenerate into a slugfest. Hooper set the tone from the outset by not clamping down hard at the beginning. I agree it needs to be investigated by the PGMOL, but not with the mindset that the officials did no wrong. Instead they should purely be interested in what the officials can do to improve matters. Instead they are only interested in covering their own arses and claiming they got every decision right, when everyone watching saw them get it hopelessly wrong!







Newcastle United





It was clear last season that Howe had decided the way forward for Newcastle was to utilise power and try to bully the opposition. This season he has doubled down on that. In this game, Howe decided to go full 1980s Wimbledon and just pump everything possible into the box and hope for a break. He seems to have become fixated on how effective Burn can be, with his height, and is just building everything around that as his tactics. It is quite worrying at the start of the season that a number of teams seem to be going back to the old long-ball tactics of lumping it up to a big man and looking for bits and pieces. Newcastle looked so much more effective when they play the ball out wide and crossed it in. Yes, they were still using longer balls, but it was not just for someone to fight for, but an actual pass into an area a wide man should be able to collect it first if they are alert. It does seem like Howe has panicked with no Isak and Wilson to play up front and is not confident that the current front three will get the goals.



The intensity had been cranked up for this game, the Newcastle players were really up for it, but that manifested a lot of the time as intentional fouls. From the start it seemed like they were far more interested in leaving something on a Liverpool player than getting the ball. Trippier launched himself in studs first at Wirtz within the first few minutes set the tone. They were lucky that Simon Hooper is a weak referee as Guimaraes could easily have already had a number of yellows before being booked and afterwards continued to tackle wildly. Even after Hooper gave him a final warning, he went in over the ball and made numerous reckless challenges that would normally have been a yellow. That did the Toon no favours though, as, apart from the red card, they picked up injuries with their reckless challenges and Tonali managed to hurt his shoulder after a couple attempts to foul failed and he threw himself to the ground looking for a free kick. I think that one was karma!



That intensity and bullying style did allow them to put real pressure on Liverpool and keep them from getting on the ball and playing the way they want to. So I would think Howe will probably see his tactics as being successful, despite the defeat. Personally, I just feel that they could have paired the intensity and physicality with a bit more brains, rather than just going for more brawn and going down easily looking for free kicks to launch into the box. Just a little bit more variety in their play could have been the difference for them. After all, there is a reason why Stoke City under Tony Pulis, though always competitive never actually competed for league titles. I am not sure this style is the way to move the club forward, but it seems to be the style favoured judging by the attempts to sign 6ft 4inch tall Strand-Larsen from Wolverhampton Wanderers.







Liverpool





Alisson - was put under some severe pressure at times and mostly dealt with it well. Between him and Virgil, most of the aerial bombardment was dealt with safely. There were a couple of times he got crowded out when coming for the ball, but mostly he was very good.





Szoboszlai - had an excellent game at right-back, despite it being an unfamiliar position to him. He kept Barnes quiet. Then he popped up at the end, after moving back to midfield, with a lovely dummy to draw away the defender to give Ngumoha time and space to place the winner.





Konate - another rank rotten performance. This season he has played like a player whose head is elsewhere. His 'defending' on the second goal was embarrassing. He simply cannot handle physicality, despite being such a big, powerful guy. His head goes and he starts grabbing and pulling. He was lucky that referees are now looking to see whether a forward is going to get on the ball or not before giving fouls, as he would have been picking up a second yellow in previous years. This season however, we have seen it already a few times with penalties not given as the player held was not going to get on the ball. Not convinced it is a good idea, it just seems to be another excuse for weak referees to avoid making a decision or for VAR to hide behind.





van Dijk - a proper captain's performance. I lost count of the times he headed the ball away, even though he was usually giving away a few inches in height to Burn or up against multiple Newcastle players. He looked back to his best. His timing was there and his positional sense saved Liverpool a few times. Man of the match in my opinion.





Kerkez - was badly at fault on the first goal turning his back before the ball was played in. He is still young though, so that is something that can be worked on in training for the future. Play the ball, not the man. Other than that, he had a restrained game trying to contain the threat of Elanga, rather than being given the freedom to bomb forward.





Jones - put in a shift but struggled to get on the ball and make anything happen. Newcastle were working so hard that it was difficult for him to play the way he likes to.





Gravenberch - despite picking up an early booking, he was able to mix it in the midfield for the rest of the game. Had a good game, but never really got to do much more than defend, so never got to play to his strengths enough. Despite that, he was able to pop up on the edge of the Newcastle box to score his first goal of the season.





Wirtz - he has not yet made the hoped for impact in English football, but it is little surprise that he struggled in this match. This was not a game for skill, the referee made sure of that by allowing Trippier to stud him on the very first challenge he received. He was not given a moment to do anything, though he never stopped trying. His work rate was excellent.





Salah - found it difficult to impact the game until right at the end when he popped up with the ball across for Rio to finish. However, as usual he was handicapped by the opposition being allowed to manhandle and kick him at will, but the moment he so much as breathes in the direction of a defender they are given a free kick. There has always been an odd bias against from referees, but it seems more pronounced this season.





Gakpo - despite being very closely marked, he ended the game with 2 assists. Worked hard, but needed some help on the wing when getting forward, which he barely received.





Ekitike - a very good game and showed he has the physicality to deal with attempts to rough him up. It did not phase him at all and his finish for the second almost right after half-time was very cool. Ekitike is impressing me more and more each game.





Bradley - replaced Wirtz in the 80th minute. Had a fair bit of the play, but did not do well. Gave away a silly needless foul which gave Newcastle a chance to put it into the mixer and they equalised from it.





Chiesa - was brought on in the stead of Ekitike in the 80th minute. Was unable to really get involved, though he worked hard to try and do something.





Elliott - replaced Jones in the 90th+5 minute. Struggled to make any impression on the game, as Newcastle were missing out midfield and just lumping it forward into the mixer.





Ngumoha - came on in the 90+5th minute, taking the place of Gakpo. Despite him and Elliott having to wait a good five minutes to get on, Ngumoha showed no signs of nerves at all and played with freedom. Great finish for the goal as well.





Endo - took the place of Salah in the 90+11th minute. I am not even sure if he touched the ball, he barely got on the pitch before it ended.

30 Aug 2025 00:16:18
Great summary, pretty much my thoughts on the game from a fellow Bootle boy 😎.

Liverpool Article 19 Aug 2025
Liverpool v Bournemouth A Liverpool Perspective







An exciting and entertaining way to open the season, against a team that are looking strong despite an almost entirely new backline. The clearest thing to come out of that game, for me at least, was how many Liverpool players are not quite ready yet for the season. There are still a number of them, for various reasons, that are nowhere near match fit and even further away from being match sharp. It used to be that teams would expect to need 5-6 games to get up to speed, but modern sports science has meant that these days most players come back almost match fit and ready to go. Even so, while players get match sharp in the early season there is always the potential for a surprise result, which makes this part of the season just about picking up results, rather than performing well.



Once again Slot showed a willingness to alter things tactically, starting the game with a new-look 4-2-3-1 formation, but he kept it similar to last season at the back, holding the left-back in position most of the time. Frimpong was given much more freedom to get forward, but Kerkez was sitting back, covering against Semenyo for the first half. That all changed at half-time, with the full-backs both freed up to get forward at will and it changed the game. Suddenly the Cherries were pinned back and a second goal quickly came. It looked like Liverpool would go one to build a bigger lead the way it was going. But it was that point that Slot made the subs on the 60th minute.



Frimpong had been feeling his hamstring at half-time and had to come off and Kerkez was running on empty. The mistake was, in my opinion at least, to bring on Endo at right-back. Once Gomez came on to play there and Endo moved into the centre, the team looked much more comfortable, even though they did get caught by a break. That was down to the central mids both getting forward at the same time. As the attack was building by Endo, Mac Allister should have dropped back in and protected the back line. It is just the kind of mistake teams make early on, as they get used to each other and a new style of play. These little things getting punished but not costing the points can be a good thing, as they are there now to remind the team to work as a unit and not all just charge up field at once.



I do understand why Slot was unable to bring Gomez on initially, as he is still working his way back to fitness following an injury, but moving Szoboszlai over would have been a better option in my opinion. Someone with the pace and energy to get up and down the flank was needed and Endo just is not that. Having said all that, more of the problem was the shift in emphasis, with the team being more disjointed defensively, most looking to just drop off, rather than press. A lot of that was probably just tiredness, but certainly it was also the factor of going two goals ahead, which naturally sees players begin to be a bit safer with their choices, choosing to hold on to what they have.



There is also a natural lowering in care over what they do, which shows in sloppy passes and also the players all getting caught up field as none of them were taking the time to check where the others were. In a normal course of play, players have partnerships that they build up and they work in tandem, one attacking, one sitting back or dropping off to cover. That is something that develops over time, so it is understandable that at times that was not happening in this match, but I expect it to improve over the course of the coming weeks. Liverpool are clearly looking to be a little more attacking this season, but I would not expect them to be as open every game as they were in this one, even if Gravenberch is out.



And, on top of all that, this game was also extremely emotional for the players, the first home game since the sad passing of Diogo Jota and that has to have an effect on players. Mo Salah's tears at the end as the Kop belted out Jota's song told a story. This was a game that was just about getting 3 points on the board, players feeling their way back towards match sharpness and yet it was done in style, with an exciting game and some moments of sheer joy to savour. You can't really ask for much more.



Well, actually I can think of one more thing that could be asked for - decent match officials. It was not just the blatant hand ball they missed, it was a whole series of decisions that Anthony Taylor messed up. He truly is an abysmal referee, not fit to referee anywhere near the professional game. I used to put it down to him being a Mancunian under pressure (or biased) when officiating Liverpool games, but I have noticed that it is every time I see him in charge of a game he is hopeless. One of the worst referees in the modern era, which is a hell of a high bar to reach, considering how low the quality level has dropped. Taylor is the kind of official that the Premier League should be ashamed of.







Bournemouth





it is very difficult to judge Bournemouth on this game. They were second best, but they gave a very good account of themselves, however the defence looked extremely ropey without their two centre-backs from last season. That would worry me over the course of the season. Also, they were extremely fortunate with a terrible decision by VAR to decide the blatant hand ball was not enough of a hand ball to make a decision. Senesi will no doubt still be wondering how he got away with that one, the moment he did it, he must have thought his evening was over. There is no question it was deliberate and no question it stopped a goalscoring opportunity as it stopped Ekitike from breaking through one on one, with no defender near him. With his pace, no one was going to catch him. Once again VAR fails to do its job in the most clear and obvious situation possible. It really is tiresome how badly the set up is affecting the game in such a negative fashion.



On this showing, I think Bournemouth look like a team that will be safe from relegation and probably in the chase for Europe once more, though the defence will need to tighten up if they are to qualify. They press so well that they are going to get a lot of goals from winning the ball back high up the pitch. Unfortunately though, they are going to concede a lot as well. Senesi looks weak and was all over the place at times, he will need to improve massively if they are to improve on last season's placing.



They also lack a bit in midfield, lots of hard work and industry but little else, they lack a player with the ability to break out with the ball like a Baleba can for Brighton & Hove Albion, or who can pick a pass like Wharton does for Crystal Palace. That is why Evanilson, for all his hard work, got no service. They are overly reliant on players, particularly Semenyo, breaking at pace with the ball. Teams that sit in against them will be a problem if they do not find a way to get Evanilson more of the ball in better areas. Semenyo will not often get the space he did in this match, and when he does it will usually be against teams like Liverpool that are able to take the risks due to creating chances themselves.







Liverpool





Alisson - not a lot he could do with the goals, other than maybe give a few players a kick up the arse to wake up. Some of his passing was sublime, the little round the corner balls with the outside of the foot were lovely, but he will not be happy without a clean sheet.





Frimpong - got forward well at times, though the understanding is not quite there yet with Salah. Showed good pace getting back but struggled physically and was bullied a few times, which is something he will need to work on. Some provision will need to be made to deal with long balls played high into his area as that is going to be targeted by some teams. A big forward will be able to physically cut him off and stop him even attempting to head it, unless he works on building up his strength.





Konate - I am not even going to try and list all the mistakes he made, he was partly at fault on both goals, his positional sense was abysmal all game. It was a disastrous performance, something he is sadly quite prone to. On a good day, Konate is one of the better centre-backs in the game, the problem is that he does not have enough good days, and even on a good day he is still likely to do something stupid and rash. I have seen excuses made for him, about him just having it too easy because there is no pressure on his place, but he knows there is pressure on his place as Liverpool just bought a player considered the best young centre-back in Europe by Serie A observers and are trying to buy Guehi as well. So he is playing for his place, but he just has not got the mentality. Konate loses his head far too easily, allows players half his size and strength to bully him and knock him about, he will throw himself into needless challenges and when they fail he will grab and grapple. His performance level is far too dependent on having someone alongside him to talk him through the game for a top flight defender who should be coming into his peak years.





van Dijk - was also having a bad day, but he is coming into the season undercooked after missing a couple of late preseason games through illness. He looks a little off the pace right now. The only worry is that just maybe it is age catching up with him, but I am of the opinion that he is just a bit ring rusty at the moment and will get better as the season goes on.





Kerkez - struggled up against Semenyo, who gave him a really difficult game, but it is telling that the goals only came after he went off. While he did struggle, he was always there to make sure Semenyo never had time and space. I just felt he was trying too hard as it was his debut up against his old team.





Mac Allister - clearly miles away from match sharpness and really struggled to start with. As the game went on, he got better and better though. He just needs some minutes in his legs to shake off the rust. While it was not a good performance from him overall, I have no worries that he will improve as he gets his match sharpness. You could see his timing was off as he has had so little game time ahead of the season. I am looking forward to him being fresh later on in the season after a much needed extended summer break.





Szoboszlai - very mixed game, broke up play well at times, did some good stuff in attack but also gave the ball away a couple of times. Looked like he is still coming to terms with his new role in the team.





Wirtz - struggled with the physicality. Bournemouth were able to get away with a couple of early fouls on him, which stopped him getting any momentum and he was struggling to adjust to the pace as well. There were some nice flashes, some lovely touches and passes but it was just not coming off in this game.





Salah - had a quiet game, like Wirtz (and in every game he plays in the Premier League to be honest) the Cherries were able to foul him with impunity to keep him off his game. If he challenged back, a foul was given against him, it is little wonder he gets frustrated. Showed a bit of fire and got his customary opening day goal, so not a bad day all in all.





Gakpo - one of the better players on the pitch. Tracked back well, was always dangerous going forward and scored a goal as well.





Ekitike - the more I watch Hugo Palindrome play, the more I like what I see. When Liverpool were first linked I was unsure, but since then I have been watching a lot of footage of him and I really liked what I saw. Seeing him in a Liverpool shirt, I am even more impressed. He works hard, has height, pace, skill and is an intelligent footballer too. A goal and assist on his home debut which were well deserved.





Endo - replaced Frimpong in the 60th minute. Struggled at right-back when he first came on, then got caught up field on the second Bournemouth goal. Settled in after that and was fine, but he did look rusty at first.





Robertson - was brought on in the stead of Kerkez in the 60th minute. Has an extremely poor game, was absolutely hopeless on the first goal and then caught up the pitch on the equaliser. Maybe it is rustiness for him as well, but he is really looking like a player whose legs have gone.





Gomez - replaced Ekitike in the 72nd minute. Had a solid game and made a big difference at right-back.





Jones - came on in the 72nd minute, taking the place of Mac Allister. Did ok, maybe even helped solidify the midfield a little.





Chiesa - took the place of Wirtz in the 82nd minute. Finally got his goal. Already a cult hero with a great song, maybe this is the springboard for him to finally make a place in the team his own? He has certainly never lacked for effort and causes problems for the opposition whenever on the pitch, but the quality he once had does not look to be there right now. Perhaps a boost in confidence can help bring that back?

20 Aug 2025 02:40:40
Excellent write up. To a great season.

13 Aug 2025 15:25:54
Not heard many calling Richard Hughes now the way they were 6 months ago.

24 Jul 2025 14:55:50
Is it just me or is anyone else loving this window, only problem is choosing favourite signing. Every few days there are new possibilities.

04 Aug 2025 11:05:40
Even if we get Isak, Wirtz is the most exciting for me. Really looking forward to seeing him play.

Liverpool Article 20 Jul 2025
Former Liverpool Managers - Part 12 - The King Of The Kop





Kenny Dalglish 30th May 1985 - 21st February 1991 & 8th January 2011 - 16th May 2012





It was on the 4th March 1951 in Dalmarnock, in the east end of Glasgow, that arguably Liverpool's greatest ever was born. He was initially brought up in the Milton area, to the north of the city, where he began playing as a goalkeeper while attending Miltonbank Primary School. Dalglish moved up to High Possil Senior Secondary School, where he won the inter-schools five-a-side and inter-year five-a-side competitions, and represented both Glasgow Schools and Glasgow Schoolboys. as well as being called up for Scotland Schoolboys. He was part of the team that went undefeated in a Home Nations Victory Shield tournament. He played as a right-half when making his debut at under-15 level for Scotland Schoolboys, scoring twice on his debut in a 4-3 win over Northern Ireland. His second game for them was against England, where he was referred to by The People newspaper as "a brilliant ball-player" in a 1-1 draw.



His family moved into a newly built tower block in Ibrox, overlooking Rangers ground, the team young Kenny had grown up supporting, in 1965. The following year he travelled down south for unsuccessful trials with two English clubs. The first was West Ham United where, according to Harry Redknapp, a session with the first team players saw them all stop and applaud him: "One of the lads laid a ball to him and it was like fast-forwarding through the next 20 years of British football - he took it perfectly, dropped a shoulder, turned and curled it into the far corner of the net. Our reserves didn't know what had hit them. Both sets of players just stopped and applauded."



The second of those trials was with Liverpool in August which ended after the young Dalglish turned down the chance to extend his trial period, telling the Reds that he had another trial lined up. He had played just one B team match against Southport Reserves in the Lancashire League, which Liverpool won 1-0. The truth was that the 15-year-old just wanted to get home in time to watch the Old Firm match that night!



It was less than a year later that Celtic assistant manager Sean Fallon visited Kenny and his parents at their home, which was decorated with Rangers-related pictures on the walls. It took him 3 hours to persuade the Dalglish family that the young Kenny should sign with Celtic, which did not please his wife Myra, who had been left outside in the car with their 3 kids while he just 'popped in' to get Kenny's signature on a playing contract. She was particularly annoyed as it was the couple's wedding anniversary!



Dalglish was sent off to Celtic nursery side Cumbernauld United for a season on loan. He scored 37 goals that season, also working as an apprentice joiner. Celtic's legendary manager Jock Stein wanted Kenny to spend a second season with Cumbernauld, but the youngster was determined to turn professional. It was Stein who backed down and the youngster joined Celtic's reserve team, which was nicknamed the Quality Street Gang due to all the highly rated players in it. A number of them, including Dalglish, Danny McGrain and Lou Macari, would go on to become Scottish internationals in time.



Early that season he made his competitive first-team debut for Celtic, coming on as a substitute in the second half of a 4-2 Scottish League Cup win over Hamilton Academical in September. The rest of the season he spent playing for the reserves but managed just 4 goals in 17 games. Dalglish was moved into midfield for the 1969-70 season with great success. The reserves won their league and cup double, with Kenny notching 19 goals in 31 games. He also managed to get 4 more first team appearances over the course of the season, but failed to get on the scoresheet, even when he made his first start in a 7-1 win over Raith Rovers in October 1969.



The following season he was in the stands during the January 1971 Old Firm match at Ibrox, witnessing the Ibrox disaster at first hand as 66 Rangers fans sadly lost their life. It did not stop him continuing to impress in the reserves, scoring 23 that season, as well as scoring in both legs of the Reserve Cup final against his boyhood club Rangers, as Celtic won it. The season did have a high point for him personally though as he played in a testimonial against Kilmarnock for long serving Killie midfielder Frank Beattie. Celtic won the game 7-2 and Dalglish scored 6 of the goals.



It was the 1971-72 season that Kenny broke into the first team properly, playing 53 games and scoring 29 goals as Celtic won the league for the 7th successive season. The first of his goals, and the first competitive first team goal for Celtic that Dalglish was to score, was at Ibrox Stadium against Rangers in August 1971. It was a penalty to complete the scoring in Celtic's 2-0 win. November brought him the first of his Scotland caps, as Tommy Docherty introduced him as a sub against Belgium in a 1-0 win in the qualifiers for the 1972 European Championships.



In the 1972-73 season Dalglish was Celtic's top scorer with 39 goals in all competitions. Celtic made it 8 league titles in a row. He also notched his first international goal in a 2-0 World Cup qualifier win over Denmark at Hampden Park. It was 9-in-a-row in the 1973-74 season, with Celtic also winning the cup to make it a double. The team also reached the semi-finals of the European Cup where they faced Atletico Madrid in games that have gone down in football folklore for Atleti's brutality. In the first leg in Glasgow, the Spanish side had 3 sent off and Dalglish later said of it that it was "without doubt the worst game I have ever played in as far as violence is concerned."



The summer was spent in West Germany playing in the 1974 World Cup for Scotland, but he did not give a good account of himself as the Scots were sent packing at the group stage, even though they remained undefeated. The year did improve for him personally as he married Marina in November. The football season ended without the elusive 10th league title in a row, something Celtic have still not managed to do to this day, but they did lift the Scottish Cup once more.



Dalglish was handed the club captaincy for the 1975-76 season, but it was not a successful one for the club under his leadership. That is not down to him though, as the manager, Jock Stein, was badly injured in a car crash and missed most of the season recuperating. Stein was back for the next season and the Celtic fans witnessed another league and cup double with Kenny scoring 27 goals in all competitions. It was to be his last in the hoops as he had decided it was time to move on: "I had to know if I could make it somewhere else," he explained. "I did not want to go through the rest of my life wondering what might have been without putting myself to the test."



That was music to the ears of Liverpool manager Bob Paisley, who had been chasing Dalglish's signature for a while to be the partner to Kevin Keegan. Unfortunately, Keegan was also moving on to SV Hamburg and Dalglish became his replacement rather than his partner, for a record transfer fee for the time of £440,000. He moved to Anfield with 320 appearances for Celtic and 167 goals, plus 5 Scottish league titles, 4 Scottish Cup wins and a Scottish League Cup in his trophy cabinet. Bill Shankly, who had failed to sign Dalglish after his trial, said: "It's the most unbelievable thing I've ever known, I would rather have quit and got out of the game altogether than sold a player of his brilliance."



His impact was almost immediate, as Dalglish scored on his league debut at Middlesbrough on 20th August 1977, just 10 days after he signed. Three days later, on his Anfield debut, Kenny made a big step towards replacing former hero Keegan in the hearts of minds of Liverpool fans as he scored again in a 2-0 win over Newcastle United. Later that season he did completely overtake Keegan when Liverpool faced Hamburg in the European Super Cup and Dalglish ran the game as Liverpool thrashed Hamburg, with Keegan, 6-0. In total, Kenny played 62 times that season and scored 31 goals, including the winner in the European Cup final at Wembley against Bruges.



Once again the national team brought him back down to earth with a bump as he travelled to Argentina with the 1978 World Cup team. It was a disaster for Scotland, who lost the opener 3-1 to Peru and winger Willie Johnston was sent home after failing a drugs test. A 1-1 draw with a very weak Iran side followed. They did finally get a win, a complete shock win, against Holland, with Dalglish scoring at last in a 3-2 win. The manager Ally McLeod was sacked after the tournament and Jock Stein was brought in to replace him. One of Stein's first acts as national team manager was to appoint Dalglish as captain. However, just 4 games later, three of which were defeats, Archie Gemmill was appointed team captain in his place.



Dalglish returned to Celtic Park that August, to play in a testimonial match for Jock Stein, but he was not received warmly at all, in fact he was soundly booed by the home fans, who were unhappy that he chose to leave. It did not seem to affect him too badly though, as he went on to score 21 league goals and win the FWA Footballer of the Year award for the 1978-79 season.



The Scotsman was an ever present in the Liverpool side until the 1980-81 season, when he missed his first league game since joining the club. He played in 34 of the 42 league games, but he only managed 8 goals as Liverpool surprisingly finished just 5th in the old Division 1. They did make up for it to a degree by winning the European Cup and Football League Cup that season. The 1981/82 season was back to normal, with Dalglish an ever-present as Liverpool won their 13th English league title, Dalglish's third. Dalglish had developed a deadly link up with Welsh striker Ian Rush, becoming more of a provider than a goalscorer, as he dropped deeper to take advantage of the space in behind Rush.



Scotland brought him more disappointment that summer in the World Cup, this time in Spain. Despite scoring in a 5-2 opening match win over New Zealand, his performance was so bad, by his own admission, that he was dropped to the bench for the second group match against Brazil. By the time he was brought on, Scotland were already 3-1 down. The final game was a 2-2 draw with the Soviet Union, but he never even made it on to the pitch.



That disappointment was quickly forgotten as Dalglish once again excelled for Liverpool in the 1982-83 season, as he helped the team to retain the league title with 18 league goals. He was once again named FWA Footballer of the Year and also chosen as the PFA Players' Player of the Year and won the Ballon d'Or Silver Award.



Joe Fagan replaced Paisley as Liverpool manager in 1983, but he was not to last long, telling the players on the eve of their European Cup final against Juventus in 1985 that he was retiring after the game. The Liverpool board had already chosen Dalglish to be his successor as a player-manager at the age of 34 years old. Unfortunately, the changeover took place after a tragedy in the Heysels Stadium, the second Dalglish had witnessed at a football match. Fighting broke out between the fans in a dilapidated stadium and as Juventus fans tried to flee a charge from Liverpool fans, a wall collapsed. 39 people died and 600 were injured. Despite the events, UEFA forced both teams to play the game, which Juve won 1-0, but it was a result that mattered nothing at that moment.



Dalglish's first signing was one that had eluded Bob Paisley previously, former Everton captain and Everton fan Steve McMahon from Aston Villa. Paisley had offered to double whatever Villa offered McMahon when he left Everton but he felt it would not be good to move straight across Stanley Park, despite leaving because of his anger at his treatment by the Toffees. McMahon became just the second man to ever captain both Everton and Liverpool, the first being Andrew Hannah way back in the 19th century.



Liverpool went on to win the league by 2 points from Everton, despite Dalglish picking himself just 21 times in the league. He did play in the final day away win over Chelsea and scored the only goal to win the league. He also started himself in the FA Cup final, when they once again beat Everton to win the club's first ever double. According to Mark Lawrenson, Dalglish "was still undeniably our best player".



In the 1986-87 season, he also made just 21 appearances, but looked to transition the team over to younger players. That season he played his final game for Scotland in November, a 3-0 win over Luxembourg in qualifying for Euro 88. Another last came in April, as he scored his last ever goal for Liverpool in a 3-0 home win over Nottingham Forest. Despite the late season arrival of John Aldridge, brought in to replace Ian Rush, who was heading off to Juventus in the summer, Liverpool finished the season without a trophy, losing the League Cup final to Arsenal 2-1.



Despite the loss of Rush, Dalglish put together a fear-inspiring attack for the 1987-88 season, as Peter Beardsley arrived from Newcastle United and John Barnes from Watford, to join Aldridge and Ray Houghton also came in early in the season from Oxford United. It was a completely new-style for Liverpool, no longer was it about possession and grinding down the opposition, this team had flair and were entertaining. It pretty much ran away with the league title from day one, going unbeaten in their first 37 matches in all competitions and lifted the trophy with 4 games still to play, Dalglish featuring just twice. It was not all good though as they suffered the biggest shock defeat in FA Cup final history to Wimbledon.



According to Paul Gascoigne, that summer Dalglish tried to sign him from Newcastle: "I was sitting with my dad and the the phone went and it was Kenny Dalglish first. He said, 'hi, it's Kenny Dalglish' and I looked at my dad, I went, 'dad, it's Kenny Dalglish!' He said, 'I want you to play for Liverpool,' so I spoke to him for half an hour and I put the phone down. And my dad said, 'what did he say?' and I went, 'dad, to be honest, I did not understand a word that he said!' My dad called me an 'f-ing idiot!'"



While Gascoigne may not have understood Dalglish, journalists understood him well enough (though failed to spot his tongue firmly in his cheek) to quote him that Ian Rush had said being in Italy was like living in a foreign country as the Welsh striker returned to Liverpool. It has become a quote that still dogs Rush to this day, despite him never actually saying it.



The 1988-89 season was one that will live forever in the minds and hearts of Liverpool fans, for all the wrong reasons sadly, with even a Wembley win over Everton in the FA Cup final being largely forgotten. This season will forever be remembered for two things, one a real world disaster as the Hillsborough disaster took 97 Liverpool fans from us during the FA Cup semi-final match against Nottingham Forest. That left the club shut down in mourning and all games postponed as it tried to come to terms with what had happened. When they were ready to restart playing, the postponed matches had to be shoehorned into a very short space of time, leaving the players with no chance for rest and recovery. Even so, no one could have expected or predicted the final day against Arsenal at Anfield, with Liverpool just needing to avoid losing by 2 or more goals to lift the title and make it another double for Dalglish. An emotionally and physically drained Liverpool were just unable to hold on and a last gasp Michael Thomas goal made it 2-0 to Arsenal to give George Graham's Gunners the title.



It is little wonder the Liverpool team were emotionally drained as the aftermath of Hillsborough took a massive toll on them all, but none more than Kenny Dalglish, who tried to attend as many of the funerals as possible himself, one day he even managed to attend 4 different ones. He also organised the team to ensure every funeral had at least one player there to represent the club: "We made sure somebody with Liverpool connections was at every funeral and I think the families really respected that. The boys weren't obtrusive in any way, they sat back and let the families get on with the grieving but they were there, their presence was there." The disaster affected him deeply and he never even spoke publicly about it until March 2009, when he admitted his regret that the police and the FA had not considered delaying the kick-off to give fans time to get into the stadium in an orderly fashion.



"They supported Liverpool. Now it is the turn of Liverpool Football Club to support them." - Kenny Dalglish in the days after Hillsborough.



The following season it seemed, on the outside, that things were returning to normal as Liverpool won their third league title under Dalglish. There were some outstanding performances, such as the 9-0 demolition of Crystal Palace. Though the Eagles did get their revenge later that season by winning 4-3 in extra time of the FA Cup semi-final. Despite not appearing at all in the league in the previous season, Dalglish did sub himself on against Derby County on 5th May 1990 for his final ever Liverpool league appearance at the age of 39. As well as his 3rd league title, Kenny also won his third Manager of the Year award.



While outwardly all was fine, inwardly the stress of dealing with the third football tragedy he had been unfortunate enough to be in attendance at, was telling on Dalglish. It all got too much for the King of the Kop after seeing his LFC side lose the lead 4 times to Everton at Goodison Park to draw 4-4 in an FA Cup 5th round tie. Two days later, on 22nd February 1991 Dalglish quit. He had told the board he needed a break but they were reluctant to consider allowing him to have the rest he needed. Instead the board accepted Dalglish's resignation, something that set LFC back years. Liverpool were 3 points clear at the top of the league, as well as still being in the FA Cup, at the time Dalglish left.



Liverpool's loss was Blackburn Rovers gain as, after a few months off to recharge the batteries, Kenny missed football too much to stay away and he took charge of Rovers in October, who were then in the second tier. By the turn of the year, they were top of the table. They did suffer a dip in form, which saw them drop down the placings but they recovered to qualify for the play-offs and beat Leicester City in the final to return to the English top flight for the first time since 1966.



Their owner and benefactor, Jack Walker, who had brought Dalglish to the club, bankrolled a spending spree as Rovers broke the British record transfer fee with the £3.5m arrival of Alan Shearer from Southampton ahead of the 1992-93 season. Unfortunately, the new man suffered a serious injury that ruled him out for half of the season, but Rovers still managed to finish in 4th on their first season back in the big time. Dalglish looked to strengthen ahead of the next season, bringing in England international duo Tim Flowers and David Batty, but failing to get Roy Keane. Rovers finished the season in second behind Manchester United.



The transfer record was shattered again ahead of the following season as £5m was spent on Chris Sutton to create what became known as the SAS partnership up front. Going into the final game of the season, both Rovers and Man Utd could still lift the title, with Rovers set to travel to Dalglish's former home Anfield to face Liverpool, while the Red Devils were travelling down south to take on West Ham United. All thoughts of Liverpool doing their legend a favour went out the window as Rovers were beaten 2-1, but they still won the title as Man Utd failed to get the win they needed against the Hammers. Dalglish was just the 4th manager ever to win the English top flight with 2 different clubs, following on from another former Liverpool manager in Tom Watson, Herbert Chapman and Brian Clough.



That June, immediately after the euphoria around Rovers had settled down, Dalglish stepped down as manager and took up a role as director of football at the club. His assistant Ray Harford took charge in his place, but it was not a success and they both left soon after. Kenny then had a very brief spell as an international talent scout at his boyhood club Rangers, where is reported to have been instrumental in the signing of Chile international Sebastian Rozental.



January 1997, Dalglish was back in management, inheriting Newcastle United from Kevin Keegan, but under very different circumstances from the way Keegan had been able to operate. Gone were the days of big spending, which meant that the team he inherited in 4th place and led to finish second, had to be dismantled in the summer, despite qualifying for the Champions League. Forced to break up the team, which Keegan had walked out rather than do, Dalglish sold fan favourites such as Peter Beardsley, Lee Clark, Les Ferdinand and David Ginola and replaced them with a mixed bunch. The new players were either ageing (and cheap) veterans such as John Barnes, Ian Rush and Stuart Pearce or young with potential, such as Des Hamilton, Gary Speed and Shay Given. The Toon finished the season in 13th and then started the 1998-99 season with 2 draws, which was enough to put an end to Dalglish's reign there.



With a bit of time on his hands now, Dalglish headed over to Darlington to help out his old teammate David Hodgson by doing a bit of coaching for him. Then Darlo goalkeeper David Preece said afterwards that, even though he was 47 years old, he was still a class above his teammates! In fact, Hodgson at one point had to take the players aside to tell them that they could not be expected to be able to use shadows to judge opposition player's positions to give them an edge, like Dalglish was trying to teach them to do. A few months later Preece got a move to Aberdeen and met Kenny, who was now working as director of football operations at Celtic, as he was going out to warm up. With a broad grin on his face, Dalglish said to him: "See Preecey, son. A couple of training sessions with me and you get a move. I'm not bad, am I?"



Dalglish's spell as director of football operations at Celtic was short-lived. John Barnes had been appointed head coach under him but was what can only be termed a disaster. In February 2000 he took over from Barnes as manager and went on to win the Scottish League Cup. Despite that, in June 2000, a year after his appointment as director, he was sacked as new manager Martin O'Neill did not want to work with a director of football. It led to a brief legal battle and Celtic ended up paying a £600,000 settlement to Kenny.



Once again his life was turned upside down in 2003, when Dalglish's wife Marina was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was treated and recovered, but the pair launched the Marina Dalglish Appeal in 2005 to raise money for cancer treatment equipment for UK hospitals. The charity has since gone on to raise millions and continues to do so to this day.



The king was finally back in his kingdom in April 2009 as Rafa Benitez invited him to take a role at the academy. The appointment was confirmed by the club in July and he was also given a role as club ambassador. It was to be Rafa's last season as manager and, when Benitez was sacked in June 2010, Dalglish is asked to advise the club in its search for a new manager. The very first name he puts forward is his own. He was not chosen, but was brought in as caretaker manager by new owners New England Sports Ventures (later to become Fenway Sports Group) after the chosen man Roy Hodgson was sacked in January 2011.



He began his spell as interim manager with a 1-0 defeat against bitter rivals Manchester United in the 3rd round of the FA Cup at Old Trafford. Liverpool, who had looked to be facing a relegation battle under Hodgson, lost their next game, a Premier League match against Blackpool. Despite the results, Dalglish publicly confirmed his desire to take on the role on a permanent basis once again. A week later, new Liverpool chairman Tom Werner stated that NESV were in favour of Kenny taking over on a permanent basis. Despite still being a caretaker, Dalglish was able to bring in Andy Carroll from Newcastle United and Luis Suarez from Ajax in a deadline day double deal, to replace star striker Fernando Torres, who had headed off to Chelsea.



After stabilising Liverpool in the league in the second half of the season, Dalglish was appointed permanent manager in May 2011. However, the 2011-12 season was clouded over by Luis Suarez's actions in October. The Uruguayan was accused of racially abusing Patrice Evra. After Suarez promised he had not done so, Dalglish and the squad stood behind Suarez, making the mistake of wearing t-shirts in support of him at the next match. Suarez then went on Uruguayan TV and told them he had abused Evra, admitting that he had responded to the French player using a racial slur against South Americans in Spanish by calling him the N word repeatedly. That led to embarrassment for Dalglish and Liverpool and Kenny was reprimanded for backing Suarez so publicly.



Liverpool did win their first trophy for 6 years, the League Cup, and reached the FA Cup final, but could only finish 8th in the league. Suarez had continued to be a problem, refusing to shake Evra's hand in the return Premier League fixture, despite having promised to do so. In the end, Dalglish's inability to control Suarez led to his dismissal as manager on 16th May 2012. He was not long away from the club, returning in October 2013 as a non-executive director.



Dalglish's influence still continues to be felt in football, as he, at least according to Andrea Radrizzani himself anyway, started Radrizzani on the path to buying Leeds United when the pair met at a social gathering ahead of a European Champions League quarter final between Man City and PSG: "It was a casual chat at lunch with friends, it was my first time meeting him," says Radrizzani. "We were talking about many things and for two minutes we talked about Leeds, the sleeping giant, the opportunity for someone coming here. He mentioned about the great opportunity if someone had a concrete project with a vision to bring back the passion. He also mentioned about how the city is passionate about the club and this is what I'm finding out."





To read Part 11 - Uncle Joe please click HERE

24 Jul 2025 23:36:55
Great read Ed ta.

{Ed001's Note - glad you enjoyed mate.}

28 Jul 2025 20:41:37
Ed, there is no disputing the impact and eternal affect left by Dalglish on both the club and the city as player and figurehead.

I have always been on the fence with regard to Dalglish the manager. His 87-89 period was phenomenal and included arguably the only transfer window to rival this current one. If next year's team can match the swashbuckling swagger, style, panache and lethal finishing of that one, we're in for a treat! But I think that was the high point and it started to unravel from there. Subsequent recruitment was always a step down from what we had instead of up, presumably with the idea that the players would become like many of previous eras, good players that would form a great team, but it never looked like turning out like that. After his departure, the Souness era failed on many levels but he inherited a squad that, as far as I remember, needed a lot of work.

He obviously did well with a well-backed Blackburn but, as your article points out, other managerial posts never looked like matching the mid-late eighties heights.

The return to Anfield may have given us a fuller picture if it wasn't for Suarez.

Always controversial to say something a bit negative about the great man- and he is the epitomy of that phrase- but curious as to others' thoughts.

Although I suspect I should probably hide in an underground bunker for this.

28 May 2025 15:26:09
Decided to look at Isak compared to Ekitike.

Now Newcastle brought Isak in 2022 for £58m. He was in La Liga and his stats were:-
2020/ 2021 played 34, goals 17,assists 2.
2021/ 2022 played 41, goals 10 assists 3.


At Newcastle from age 23
22/ 23 played 29,goals 11 assists 3
23/ 24 played 40,goals 25 assist 2
24/ 25 played 42,goals 27 assists 6.

Ekitike is now at the same age Isak was when Newcastle brought him.
Frankfurt had him on loan last year and he scored 4 goals in 17 games. This season he's been the main man and has played 48 games scoring 22 goals with 12 assists. He's rarely injured and completes the full 90 aswell. Similar to Isak with less Injuries. If we could get him for £50-60m then it would be worth it.