Your morning Liverpool headlines for Tuesday, August 22.
I want Paul Tierney taken off Premier League duty this weekend after Liverpool error
The main thing for me is that we’re scoring goals. Although we only got one at Chelsea, we are creating chances and we will continue to get better. When Klopp gets the midfielder he wants, you will see Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister pushed further up the pitch.
The balance in attack can get better when there are three players up there instead of our current approach of three with Cody Gakpo dropped back. I thought Gakpo played pretty well on Saturday, to his credit, but he is not fully used to that midfield role and sometimes doesn’t know where to go. The holding midfielder area, we’ve had problems in the last couple of games and the club are looking for that type of player.
As for the red card decision, I am really not sure what can be said as to how Alexis Mac Allister was sent off. I am baffled by that call.
Completion of the Anfield Road End redevelopment remains shrouded in uncertainty days after the build’s contractor, Buckingham Group, filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators.
At the start of the summer Liverpool had been working towards the initial plan to open the redeveloped stand, which has come at a cost of around £80m, in time for the new Premier League season, where the first home game was Bournemouth last weekend.
But financial issues suffered by Buckingham Group, who were also working on both the Northampton Town and Birmingham City football stadiums, have seen them forced to cease trading as of last week, although the firm has not yet entered administration.
A statement from the firm last week read: “It is with immeasurable regret that the Buckingham board has to announce that rapidly escalating contract losses and a sharp reduction in liquidity, together mean the company is unable to continue trading at this current time.
“We emphasise the company is currently not in administration. Our main aim at present is to seek to protect jobs, and to preserve as much of the business as possible.”
Liverpool were able to operate the first phase of their planned opening on Saturday after successful test events last week saw them awarded a safety certificate to open the lower part of the stand, although capacity was limited well below the planned 61,000, with 49,699 in attendance for the win over the Cherries.
The club have some time to try and find a solution for what happens for the next home game against Aston Villa on September 3, but it is likely to be some weeks yet before the stand is fully operational and up to full capacity given the need for Liverpool to clarify a plan for how to move forward. That is further complicated by the fact that it is still Buckingham’s site – and they are the appointed contractors who have yet to enter administration.
Buckingham’s statement hinted at a continuation of the business as it tries to save it from liquidation. Whether it is they who press ahead or whether that work, which is close to the end stage, is passed on to sub-contractor to complete remains to be seen.
