Archive for July, 2018

This result will have absolutely no bearing on the season ahead and everyone should be aware of it.  Forget Mourinho and his everlasting whinging because in the grand scheme of things at Liverpool he doesn’t matter.  The most pleasing thing about the performance should be how much better some of our younger players seem when surrounded by genuine quality; Jones, Camacho and Phillips being just three.  For the genuine Liverpool fans in a crowd of over 100,000 they’d have been satisfied having seen Manè, Sturridge, Ojo and Shaqiri scoring.

Well it just goes to show what class can do.  If we’re honest Manchester City seemed shorn of more top players than we were but good to see Mo and Sadio back in tandem. Immediate impact from the bench in the case of Mo Salah, ‘inspired substitution’ and all that. Penalty shhot out looked likely to determine the winners  and indeed that’s how it worked out only it was us that were given a penalty before the lottery could begin. Nice one Sadio. The result was worth waking up for. No it doesn’t mean a thing but good to see two of the Fab Boy Three back in tow.

All seemed to be going reasonably well until the final thirty minutes. 1-0 up and looking like we were in control. Then it all changed. Pre-season games are for more than getting players fit because footballers are professional sportsmen and therefore should be fit.  They’re also for players to show what they can bring to the show and sadly this pre-season more than any other in recent times has shown some of those we have just aren’t up to it. For the likes of Origi, Solanke and a few others the clock is ticking. I’m not going to say too much about the goalkeeper because it’s all been said before.

The news was finally confirmed, Alisson signs for Liverpool thus surely improving the quality of LFC custodians. Then we hear Danny Ward is probably going to Leicester which lessens the options. However, let’s hope the days of goalkeeper rotations are done with.

Pre-season games such as this are definitely games of two halves.  As is the norm Jürgen went for the twenty-two player option and we get told in the build up about players trying to impress.  In the first forty-five minutes of this game not too many actually impressed. James Milner missed a penalty five minutes into the encounter and just before halftime Adam Lallana hit the woodwork but Blackburn had been slightly the better side. The likes of Origi, Solanke and Ojo didn’t really stand out whilst at the back Moreno, Klavan and Matip continue to give as much cause for concern as they do optimism. The second half was different with Naby Keita pulling all the strings. He set up Sturridge on a couple of occasions but Dancing Dan’s finishing left a bit to be desired. The Danny himself created a chance for the Invisible man, Lazar Markovic who finally broke the deadlock. Then Keita set up Sturridge again and this time it was more typical finishing. The class of the second half stood out whereas in the first half there didn’t seem too much and the only highlights were the ones in Lallana’s daft haircut.

The digital version of Red All Over land land Issue 244 is now available. To subscribe click on the subscription link.

First and foremost about the trip to Bury we bring you the highlights…. And having covered them there’s not much more to say other than this was possibly the worst pre-season friendly I’ve ever watched. Jürgen mentioned apparently mentioned gruelling training sessions, the heat and the dry pitch which is his right. I’d add we looked disjointed and I can’t recall the opposing goalkeepers [they used two] making a save.