Author: Soccerhuz
For some, it may have seemed as though Man City were enduring the most unfortunate of breaks in the domestic season. Five players pulled out of duty for their national teams due to injury, with Haaland joining Ederson, Nathan Ake, Matheus Nunes and Mateo Kovacic in returning to Manchester. Rodri also sat out Spain’s 3-1 win over Cyprus due to ‘discomfort’, before returning to play the majority of their subsequent 3-1 win at home to Georgia. Those issues added to injuries for Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones and Sergio Gomez, with Pep Guardiola’s squad looking thin for one of the biggest games…
It has been more than 2,925 days since Jurgen Klopp returned from the Etihad in the Premier League with a victory, and there is no better time to bring that to an end than on Saturday. The short turnaround between the international break and the 12.30pm kick-off leaves little preparation time, which places pressure on Klopp’s team selection. Who starts at left-back? Ibrahima Konate or Joel Matip? Who takes the left-sided midfield role? And what about the front three? Four big decisions to make across three different departments, and two Liverpool legends were just as split as fans when weighing up who should make the XI at…
Edwards has been out of football for over a year, having officially departed his role as sporting director at Liverpool in October 2022. After a lengthy break, the mastermind of the Reds’ recruitment success has moved into consultancy in sport alongside Ian Graham, who previously worked at Anfield as director of research. INEOS, led by Ratcliffe as CEO, will soon finalise a 25 percent stake in the Manchester club in a deal worth £1.3 billion. This will hinge upon the “distinctive condition of the minority owner taking full control of the sporting side of the club,” including transfers. That would…
Salah’s journey from Chelsea reject to one of the best players in Liverpool’s history is well known, with the Egyptian needing to rebuild in Serie A before returning to England. But the manner of his exit from Stamford Bridge remains baffling, with Jose Mourinho barely giving the young winger a chance. Like Kevin De Bruyne, Salah’s potential was fumbled by those at Chelsea, which proved to be Liverpool’s gain as he now resembles one of their biggest-ever bargains at £36.9 million. He initially left for a loan spell at Fiorentina in the second half of 2014/15, where he became team-mates with Micah Richards.…
Van Dijk’s reputation as one of the world’s elite centre-backs has been under scrutiny since a knee injury in October 2020 sidelined him for nine months and last season’s campaign only intensified the criticism. The Dutchman, who took over the captaincy from Jordan Henderson in the summer, does not back away from the fact he was well below his best as Liverpool finished fifth last term, but he believes there has been an upturn in his form and he is feeling “important” again. “Last year saw ups and downs, good games and less good games,” said the Netherlands captain. “I’m held to…
Arsenal channelling Atletico Diego Simeone gave an impassioned defence of his footballing philosophy on Spanish radio show El Larguero last week in which he bemoaned the standard of defending in the Premier League. “In English football, the games finish 4-4, 5-3, 6-2, 5-1,” said the Atletico Madrid boss. “It’s beautiful for the fans. Almost all the games are like that, end-to-end. But nobody knows how to defend.” It could be interpreted as a dig aimed at his old foe Pep Guardiola. He was speaking only days after Manchester City’s distinctly un-Atletico-like eight-goal draw with Chelsea. But another thought sprang to mind: he…
The U17 World Cup is underway in Indonesia, with Liverpool only seeing one of their high-potential youngsters called up. While the likes of Trey Nyoni and Amara Nallo were overlooked for England, Figueroa joined up with his USA team-mates for their second tournament of 2023. Having reached the final of the CONCACAF U17 Championship, losing to Mexico but scoring seven and assisting one along the way, the 17-year-old will have had high hopes. The US began the World Cup with back-to-back victories over South Korea and Burkina Faso to progress beyond the group stage, with Figueroa starting both and scoring…
Ibrahima Konate has hinted he will be available for Liverpool’s match against Manchester City on Saturday. The centre-back was nowhere to be seen for the Reds’ routine Premier League victory over Brentford before the international break – a surprise to many as he had been rested for the entirety of the Europa League loss to Toulouse three days prior. It turned out to be a reoccurrence of the hamstring problem that prevented the 24-year-old from linking up with his France team-mates last month, as national team boss Didier Deschamps provided clarity on the matter. “He had tests, but it’s not…
Tsimikas was among the 18 players called up from Jurgen Klopp‘s senior squad for November, joining Greece for their friendly win over New Zealand. But the left-back was not present for the 2-2 draw with France that rounded off his country’s Euro 2024 qualifiers, as one of many – including suspended manager Gus Poyet – absent. It initially raised concerns over a new injury, with Andy Robertson already sidelined for the long term, but This Is Anfield learned his withdrawal was to avoid a yellow card that would rule him out of a playoff against Kazakhstan in March. Speaking to the club’s official website, Tsimikas…
A lot has changed at Liverpool in recent years, with a number of Reds legends calling time on their Anfield stay for pastures new. Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Fabinho have all opted to test themselves elsewhere, as have James Milner and former captain Jordan Henderson. That is a lot of experience that has been drained from the Reds’ dressing room in a short space of time and Liverpool’s current crop could be excused for appearing rudderless, but the reality is quite the contrast. Virgil van Dijk dons the armband nowadays and much like every challenge he is faced with on the…