Football Season 2022-2023

[Zantera]

All games this weekend post-poned

ffs man

[Naoto]

It's a bit mental what's going on at Liverpool, we all know the wingbacks play a massive role in how they play yet you can't expect Robertson and Trent to perform like that every single game, they bring Tsimikas in to cover Robbo but he's played 20 league games in 3 seasons and who covers for Trent? both look flat at the minute which is no surprise to anyone then you've got the midfield which is bonkers at best as touched on by Valkyrst and to add insult to injury, you let Mane go and replace him with a striker who 4 seasons ago was playing in the 2nd tier of Spain, then scored 6 in Portugal the following season before 26 last season then Liverpool spunk a ton of money on him, after 1 good season in a fairly bang average league. Guy also has 2 goals in 11 games for Uruguay, one of them being in a friendly so he's obviously not fancied much by Uruguay either.

Also doesn't help you had one of, if not the best CB's in world football in VVD who since his injury is average at best as well as people like Gomez and Oxlade at the club who do almost nothing, add to the fact you've got a manager who refuses to change anything and thinks he's still got a prime red arrows team when he's got a very below average lacklustre and tired looking side at best, no wonder Liverpool are struggling.

It's hard to criticize a manager like Klopp after all he's done for Liverpool and the league but past achievements don't really mean squat, Bielsa was loved in Leeds yet he was as stubborn as Klopp and deservedly got the sack, seems like Klopp is heading down that same path unfortunately.

[DingDongKing]

It's a bit mental what's going on at Liverpool, we all know the wingbacks play a massive role in how they play yet you can't expect Robertson and Trent to perform like that every single game, they bring Tsimikas in to cover Robbo but he's played 20 league games in 3 seasons and who covers for Trent? both look flat at the minute which is no surprise to anyone then you've got the midfield which is bonkers at best as touched on by Valkyrst and to add insult to injury, you let Mane go and replace him with a striker who 4 seasons ago was playing in the 2nd tier of Spain, then scored 6 in Portugal the following season before 26 last season then Liverpool spunk a ton of money on him, after 1 good season in a fairly bang average league. Guy also has 2 goals in 11 games for Uruguay, one of them being in a friendly so he's obviously not fancied much by Uruguay either.

Also doesn't help you had one of, if not the best CB's in world football in VVD who since his injury is average at best as well as people like Gomez and Oxlade at the club who do almost nothing, add to the fact you've got a manager who refuses to change anything and thinks he's still got a prime red arrows team when he's got a very below average lacklustre and tired looking side at best, no wonder Liverpool are struggling.

It's hard to criticize a manager like Klopp after all he's done for Liverpool and the league but past achievements don't really mean squat, Bielsa was loved in Leeds yet he was as stubborn as Klopp and deservedly got the sack, seems like Klopp is heading down that same path unfortunately.

I don’t think Klopp will get sacked. Two reasons. He’s a top manager. And the owners of Liverpool know they won’t find anyone nearly good enough who will also tolerate their frugal attitude towards recruitment. Anyone they bring in will be a massive downgrade on all fronts. A friend of mine was commenting how he’d rather sell all the players including Salah than have Klopp go. Sounds about right. Everyone at that club is going to have to do something unheard of in the modern game. Trust each other. Not blink. And turn it around without imploding along the way.

There are these silly hot takes about how it’s Klopp having a ‘seventh season issue’. Which is stupid. In his final season at Dortmund, the xG style stats were all consistently placing the club 2nd behind Bayern. It just didn’t work out. With Liverpool, the only stat in their favour is possession. They’re being allowed the ball, so it’s irrelevant. Besides that they’re being out run, our muscled, conceding more big chances than before and failing to create enough themselves. It’s a combination of fatigue, injuries, mentality and a squad that’s incredibly old compared to what’s needed to play ‘Kloppball’. It’s an interesting one to observe.

[Naoto]

I don't think he will get sacked nor should he but we thought the same about Bielsa, Liverpool are a club used to challenging City for the title and doing well in the CL in recent years and if they suddenly start getting knocked out early and struggling to make top 4, you either sack the manager or pump money into the club and with the way Liverpool operate the latter is unlikely to happen. Biggest concern for me is Klopp himself, admittedly I'm not a Liverpool fan but I can't help but feel the guy looks mentally shot, he looks tired and moans a lot more often and he doesn't have that pop about him that made everyone love him, Liverpool fan or not.

Maybe the 7 year thing is true in the sense it's exhausting for him, I mean the way he is and the way he wants his teams to play will be exhausting for anyone especially as you get older as a manager, to put it bluntly neither the club nor the manager are physically capable of doing "kloppball" anymore and something needs to change, will it? probably not.

[DingDongKing]

I don't think he will get sacked nor should he but we thought the same about Bielsa, Liverpool are a club used to challenging City for the title and doing well in the CL in recent years and if they suddenly start getting knocked out early and struggling to make top 4, you either sack the manager or pump money into the club and with the way Liverpool operate the latter is unlikely to happen. Biggest concern for me is Klopp himself, admittedly I'm not a Liverpool fan but I can't help but feel the guy looks mentally shot, he looks tired and moans a lot more often and he doesn't have that pop about him that made everyone love him, Liverpool fan or not.

Maybe the 7 year thing is true in the sense it's exhausting for him, I mean the way he is and the way he wants his teams to play will be exhausting for anyone especially as you get older as a manager, to put it bluntly neither the club nor the manager are physically capable of doing "kloppball" anymore and something needs to change, will it? probably not.

Yep, I’ve got no horse in the race either. It’s just an odd club to be honest. Like you said, their owners won’t invest. Klopp will probably just be trusted to turn it around slowly. Now if he blinks before they do, then that’s different. He does look knackered and far less happy, but who can blame him? He’s spent all this time overperforning and then gets hung out to try by some pretty lazy owners. Most owners would die to have someone like him.

[eschatological]

Man, my Saturday is totally freed up with all the matches postponed. I might have to watch college football - gross. Just kidding, I'd probably check out La Liga before I do that, but those games are even earlier in the morning, usually.

[Zantera]

The main reason Liverpool have become used to success and CL every season is Klopp though. Yeah clubs usually tend to throw managers in front of the bus when things go badly but if Liverpool fire Klopp instead of backing him I would not be surprised if Liverpool fell down from 2nd to 5th or 6th in terms of the big6 teams and they might miss out on CL quite regularly.

[DingDongKing]

The main reason Liverpool have become used to success and CL every season is Klopp though. Yeah clubs usually tend to throw managers in front of the bus when things go badly but if Liverpool fire Klopp instead of backing him I would not be surprised if Liverpool fell down from 2nd to 5th or 6th in terms of the big6 teams and they might miss out on CL quite regularly.

Bingo. He is the reason for their success. Most managers would struggle to match the level of success he’s had. The owners of Liverpool know that, but they take advantage of his sentimentality. They know he’s alright to keep going again with the same bunch of players. Otherwise no one in their right mind would’ve given Henderson a 4 year old deal, Milner an annual extension and actually contemplate keeping duds like Oxlade and Keita. We’ve got little gems like Eze, and I can’t fathom that Liverpool’s recruitment team isn’t able to find players 30-40% better than him.

[rogoth]

Bingo. He is the reason for their success. Most managers would struggle to match the level of success he’s had. The owners of Liverpool know that, but they take advantage of his sentimentality. They know he’s alright to keep going again with the same bunch of players. Otherwise no one in their right mind would’ve given Henderson a 4 year old deal, Milner an annual extension and actually contemplate keeping duds like Oxlade and Keita. We’ve got little gems like Eze, and I can’t fathom that Liverpool’s recruitment team isn’t able to find players 30-40% better than him.

the problem here is, Liverpool dine at the big boy table, but never act like the bog boy clubs in regards to major player investment, they make 1-2 massive signings every now and then and fill in the rest with young talent or potentially rough diamonds, and that has been the Liverpool way since the Houllier days where the starting 11 was always pretty strong with 1-2 big names in there, but had very little in the way of squad depth, and now that teams have gotten wise to how they play coupled with an aging squad of players and poor quality in terms of backups, it's hard for them to really pivot away from what has previously been a tried and true playstyle and general management style for decades now.

[DingDongKing]

the problem here is, Liverpool dine at the big boy table, but never act like the bog boy clubs in regards to major player investment, they make 1-2 massive signings every now and then and fill in the rest with young talent or potentially rough diamonds, and that has been the Liverpool way since the Houllier days where the starting 11 was always pretty strong with 1-2 big names in there, but had very little in the way of squad depth, and now that teams have gotten wise to how they play coupled with an aging squad of players and poor quality in terms of backups, it's hard for them to really pivot away from what has previously been a tried and true playstyle and general management style for decades now.

Indeed. It's kinda mad when you think about it. I was reading some article about how City and Liverpool were stunned that Newcastle signed Bruno for defensive midfield for £40 odd million. City, I get. They can just buy whomever they want, so it's no big loss. Clubs like Liverpool would benefit insanely from someone like that. But they just have a very scatty recruitment policy once it's analysed through the lens of other teams consistently strengthening whilst they do not. Yes, they got their 90+ points recently 3 out of 4 seasons, but no Liverpool fan in good conscience can say that every other top 6 club was firing on all cylinders bar City. The rest of them were all in various forms of transition.

[Northern Goblin]

All games this weekend post-poned

ffs man

Saw an excellent explanation for this. Games each take a heavy amount of policing, with events in London right now, a lot of the already understaffed force is relocated to the capital.

[DingDongKing]

Saw an excellent explanation for this. Games each take a heavy amount of policing, with events in London right now, a lot of the already understaffed force is relocated to the capital.

Think it's also going to impact games taking place in London next weekend for the same reason.

The funeral is on the Monday, so they'll have a lot going on in the city in the run up.

[Northern Goblin]

Think it's also going to impact games taking place in London next weekend for the same reason.

The funeral is on the Monday, so they'll have a lot going on in the city in the run up.

It's almost impossible to police nearly 100 fixtures across the leagues at this time. European football will go ahead but that's a handful of games at a time by comparison.

[DingDongKing]

It's almost impossible to police nearly 100 fixtures across the leagues at this time. European football will go ahead but that's a handful of games at a time by comparison.

Yup. Tbh given how much teams were getting goosed in recent fixtures, the break will help them.

[jonnysensible]

Saw an excellent explanation for this. Games each take a heavy amount of policing, with events in London right now, a lot of the already understaffed force is relocated to the capital.

sounds like bullshit to me

[Zantera]

Considering the already crowded fixture list maybe the win-win scenario would be for England to step down from the world cup and take a stand against Qatar and also it would give some time to play those fixtures

[Nerph-]

Considering the already crowded fixture list maybe the win-win scenario would be for England to step down from the world cup and take a stand against Qatar and also it would give some time to play those fixtures

And stop all club players playing for their respective countries at the WC? I'd love to see it tbh.

[RobertoCarlos]

sounds like bullshit to me

Grass roots footy doesnt have a police presence and is also cancelled,

so yeah just another excuse to stop shit. I bet they'll cancel the boxing as well.

Cant have people battering each others brains out after a 90 year old died.

[jonnysensible]

ronaldo enjoying his time off. big oooof

this is further proof of my center forward theory. smoother the brain better the striker.

[DingDongKing]

ronaldo enjoying his time off. big oooof

this is further proof of my center forward theory. smoother the brain better the striker.

Saw that. He’s a bell-end. Side note, these hot takes trivialising the Queen’s demise are lame. No matter what people think of the monarchy in general, I’m proud to have called her our Queen. She was a stunning example of so many positive qualities in a person and leader, that it’s hard not to admire and respect her.