Christmas crackers

Merry Christmas troops, I hope everyone had a good one, whatever Christmas means to you personally.

I want to start by apologising for my absence and lack of post match articles recently. Those of you who have been around for a few years will know that I’m always busy at this time of year but have probably noticed it’s not usually as bad as this and so deserve something g of an explanation….
Basically, a few experienced engineers at my work have left over the last few months and my company in their staggeringly short sighted wisdom, decided they could save a few quid by replacing them with guys straight out the college that they can pay less. It is of course a false economy as they don’t have a clue what they’re doing, so multiple visits to jobs that should be easily boxed off and the scatter gun approach of ordering loads of parts in the hope one of them will fix the issue has already obliterated what they’d have saved on wages. Anyway, I’m the senior engineer in my area and part of my job is dealing with problem jobs and complaint jobs. These have gone through the roof in the last couple of months for the aforementioned reasons and when I say ‘my area’ you probably envision that being Dundee and the surrounding area. Alas, my area for anyone who knows Scotland covers the whole of Angus, Tayside, Fife, Perthshire, and the central belt. It’s a massive area and I’m regularly driving 2/3 hours between jobs. To that end, I’ve been working 12-15 hour days, have missed a number of our games and just haven’t had time for articles. On the odd day I’ve had a decent finishing time, I’ve just been exhausted and collapsed on the couch. I’m hoping it will get better in the new year as one of the experienced guys who left has come back and I’ve been given another good lad who was working in Glasgow but actually lives closer to my area so I’m hoping to be able to spread the work load a bit between them and make my life a bit less mental.
Anyway, I know you probably couldn’t give a monkeys about my work dramas but I just wanted to offer an explanation to why I’ve somewhat dropped off a cliff, both in the comments section and article writing. It’s short term and hopefully the worst is behind me now.

Anyway, on to the footie and we’ve simply been a joy to watch over this festive period. Unlike the last couple of years where we never really knew what we were getting from the boys, I trust this team now. I was supremely confident when we were going to Spurs. They play such naive football and without their first choice CB’s, they can’t defend for shit but still go gung ho in attack every game. I knew we’d score plenty against them and the 6-3 score line massively flattered them, as it was so easy we got complacent and conceded a couple of silly goals. If we’d gone at them 100% for the full 90 minutes, we could easily have stuck 10 past them.

Boxing Day I was at my missus sister’s house and when we conceded the early goal to Leicester, they were all winding me up and giving me stick. Now normally I’m one to bite at such things and get wound up but this time I was relaxed. I calmly and confidently informed them we’d win the game 4-1 and if not for Darwin ‘I don’t understand the offside rule’ Nunez, I’d have been right. As it was, despite a slightly laboured first half, we still won the game comfortably.

Last night was men against boys. I told my missus before the game that I expected us to pump West Ham. Their fans demand attacking football but they’re not good enough for it and we were creating chances at will from the first minute and actually missed some glaring chances. If that game had finished 8-0, West Ham could’ve had no complaints.

I think Slot deserves huge credit for the way he has Diaz playing down the middle. I’ll admit to being very doubtful the first time he liked us up like that, thinking that both Salah and Gakpo would be better suited, both having played the position a number of times before. Slot showed his tactical nous with that decision though and it’s paid dividends. A hat trick in his first outing at CF and I believe he’s scored every time he’s played the role since, while Gakpo is also excelling in his natural LW position.

That brings me to Salah. Just…wow!! I have to say that for me, he’s the best player in the world at this moment in time. I don’t say that lightly and most of you will know that I’ve been highly critical of Salah at times over the years. His numbers were always good but I found his all round game incredibly frustrating at times. Erratic first touch and passing and his decision making used to have me throwing things around the room at times. This season however, everything has finally clicked into place for him and he’s not just become the finished article as a player but every aspect of his game has gone up a level and the displays he’s putting in this season are nothing short of sensational, as demonstrated by his goal and assist stats breaking the previous record for this stage of the season. If he can keep this up, it won’t just be the golden boot he’ll be nailed on for, it’ll be the Ballon D’or. The club might want to get his contract sorted well in advance of that, or he’ll he wanting another 350 grand a week, plus John Henry’s yacht with Michael Edwards as his waiter and Linda working the stripper pole.

The maturity Salah is now showing is spread throughout this team though. Mac Allister in the middle – the epitome of composure, his decision making is excellent and he rarely makes mistakes. Virgil back to his imperious best, Trent finally showing some in game IQ in defence as well as attack, Konate was formidable before his injury and after a bit of a rocky start to the season, Robbo has been much more like his old self recently.

We have Jones finally realising his potential, Gravenberch is probably the most improved player in Europe and as I mentioned earlier, Gakpo and Diaz have developed into the players we knew they had the potential to be and are now consistently delivering the goods week after week.

Alas, the odd one out here is Darwin who hasn’t really kicked on at all. He’s the only one of our regular starting forwards not scoring regularly and even his biggest fan (looking at you Oscar 😉) would have to admit by now that we’re a significantly better attacking unit with one of Jota or Diaz playing instead of him. There’s a lot to like about Darwin but the lack of development in two and a half seasons is stark and unless he makes some dramatic improvements in the second half of the season, I suspect it will ultimately be his downfall at LFC. He’s 5th choice at best now and I would even suggest that position is under threat, should Elliot or Chiesa be given more opportunities to show that they can do, not to mention young Jayden Danns who impressed so much last season when given a chance. Darwin is a squad player when everyone’s fit. He’s this squad’s version of Origi and Minamino basically. Decent players who can do a job but aren’t really suited to the system. They’ll have some memorable moments but aren’t going to seriously challenge the players ahead of them for their place in the squad. The thing is that’s fine when you cost £10 million (Origi) and £7 million (Minamino). When you’re the club record signing and cost a whopping £85 million however, it’s a problem and I suspect played a significant part in Klopp’s exit and the restructuring of the whole footballing operation.

Anyway, enough negativity. Up to now this season has been the stuff dreams are made of and Slot and the boys have exceeded our wildest. It’s been the season that keeps on giving and I really think we’re nailed on for the league title now. It would take a calamitous drop off that we’ve shown no signs of, while our competitors have simultaneously shown no signs of being able to find the kind of consistency needed to catch us. We’ve a 100% record in Europe – notable results being when we battered the holders Madrid – the 2-0 score line massively flattering them and destroying Leverkusen who were viewed as one of the hottest teams in Europe, with Slot somewhat putting the young pretender Xabi in his place and showing he’s maybe not as fashionable but is without doubt the real deal. Beating Leipzig and Milan away from home is not to be sniffed at either.

To conclude then, I pose a question and will make an attempt at adding a poll to the article if i can figure out how. As much as we loved Klopp’s first great team that won us the CL and our first league title in 3 decades, does anyone actually think they were better than the team we currently witness? For me it’s a resounding no. Now granted, this team still need to get over the line and put the trophies in the cabinet that the players they succeeded did but for me, our current team is superior to that team in almost every way.

What do you think then troops? Klopp’s CL and PL winners or the Slot machine that’s currently destroying all before them?

Happy new year troops! Walk on!!