On field frustrations, off field appointments and a looming changing of the guard?

For a team that really doesn’t lose very often at all, we seem to have a habit of doing so in the game before an international break, leaving us to stew on it for a couple of weeks and this time it was exacerbated by the fact it was a rubbish United team we lost to. So often against them, we seem to underperform. Of course there have been notable exceptions like the 7-0 game, or the 5-0 where we saw an absolute masterclass from Thiago. There have been too many performances like the one we saw eight days ago however and it’s so frustrating.

First things first, we all love Klopp and he’s quite rightly forever written his name into Anfield folklore. Before he retires however and becomes St Jurgen who never did anything wrong, I have to question his decision making in both the lead up to the United game as well as the game itself, most notably the decision to go with such a strong team against Sparta on the Thursday, in a home game where we were 5-1 up from the first leg – the epitome of a dead rubber. The likes of Endo who has played constantly since his return from international duty with Japan, Diaz who despite missing a raft of chances against City the previous week, had run like a man possessed the whole game and can anyone explain the logic of Salah playing the full 90 minutes of a dead rubber against Sparta and then needing to be withdrawn against United? Some very strange decision making for a game that was not only over as a contest after the first leg but would also have been a great opportunity to reward some of the youngsters with a start, after their impressive showings in recent weeks.

I thought our in game management was extremely poor as well during the United game, encapsulated in the latter stages of the game when Antony was playing LB but for some reason we kept attacking down the opposite flank. Not only did we not expose that very obvious defensive weakness, we actually let the useless bugger score against us!! I was spitting blood at that point.

Our profligacy in front of goal has cost us in recent weeks, with Diaz being the main culprit for missing a number of gilt edged chances against City and he continued in that vein against United. I remember Gordon Strachan once saying about one of his players that he was a scorer of great goals but not a great goal scorer and I think that applies to Diaz. He scores some beauties but he really needs to work on finishing off the easier ones. He’d do well to ask Salah for some advice on that front, as he turned himself from an erratic finisher who missed tons of good opportunities, into one of the most lethal finishers in the world. Gakpo is another who’s been guilty of some poor finishing and questionable decision making in recent weeks. He looks a player devoid of confidence at the moment, 5th choice attacker and a player without a defined position or role in the team. The fact Elliot got the nod ahead of him to replace the injured Salah for the City game spoke volumes. It will be interesting to see how he finishes the season and what the new manager plans for him moving forward.

It was also apparent that we were trying to see the game out, rather than try and kill them off. That was fine the season we won the league when we hardly conceded but the past couple of years we couldn’t BUY a clean sheet. One thing this team is not is rock solid defensively and I have absolutely no faith in us being able to see a game out when only a single goal in front. Now this may have been due to fatigue rather than a deliberate plan, although that takes me back to my earlier point about team selection against Sparta. Anyway I’ll stop harping on about the game now, having belatedly aired my frustrations at that performance. Still angry about it though.

In other news, we have a new permanent sporting director arriving in the summer in the form of Richard Hughes. The jury is somewhat out on him in my opinion. Reading Michael Edwards statement about his appointment, it’s clear Hughes is his mate and has been for a long time. I trust Edward’s to be too shrewd an operator to just be handing out jobs for the boys but it does somewhat concern me when people start bringing in their pals.

Hughes has spent pretty much the last decade at Bournemouth and his recruitment record could be described as patchy. Now, that comes with the caveat that when you’re working with the financial constraints Bournemouth are, you’re unlikely to get every signing right and will always need to take a punt on players at times. In fairness to him, they’ve punched above their weight in that time but the money they spent on the likes of Jordan Ibe and Brad Smith must still keep Bournemouth fans awake at night. For a club like Bournemouth, you can’t afford to get your big money signings wrong and the likes of Ibe and Solanke were big money signings for them. Solanke at least has belatedly come good for them but Ibe was an unmitigated disaster and I don’t ever remember seeing Smith play for them.

We must have faith however that Edwards knows what he’s doing and he has enough credit in the bank to be afforded the trust of the fans, at least until proven otherwise. His next major appointment will be his most important however, arguably in his entire career as he chooses the candidate he feels most suitable to come into the unenviable position of trying to fill the boots Klopp leaves behind.

Finally, on the back of comments from former PL player and Egyptian international Mido, it’s been widely reported that a deal is already in place to take Salah to Saudi. The final part of the famous and feared front three of Mane, Salah and Firmino leaving would signify a complete changing of the guard, certainly in an attacking sense. He’s been a wonderful player for us and while I’m sure most would rather he stayed for another season or two, he’s into his 30’s now, has already lost a yard of pace and if the Saudis are offering an exorbitant sum to sign him as I suspect they are, it makes sense to take it now as he will have virtually no sell on value by the end of next season and I think we’d all rather avoid another transfer circus around a potential new contract, like we saw in the 18 months leading up to him signing his previous extension. A large transfer fee, as well as getting his massive salary off our wage bill will also provide a sizeable kitty for our new manager to bring in some of his own players and make his mark on the squad.

Busy and interesting times as a Liverpool fan just now then, as we see massive changes and a restructuring of the club, both on and off the field. Hugely important decisions need to be made between now and the end of the season, rumour and speculation will be rife but I think as fans, the best thing we can do is try and shut out the noise and just try and enjoy the last few months of the Klopp era. It’s gonna be an exciting and emotional ride, that’s for sure. Walk on!!