Unfortunately I’m doing this editorial after the shambles down at Bournemouth. I initially put it together minutes after the final whistle before coming back to it twenty-four hours later. Only twenty-four hours later, I’m still in a state of shock.
After so much good football this season it was a sorry state of affairs and the only people to blame are the players. It wasn’t because Matip was missing, nor Coutinho it was simply down to professional footballers not being capable of doing the basics. Credit to Bournemouth for their fight back but it was worse to watch than the 2014 night down at Crystal Palace…and don’t get me started on the goalkeeper. I don’t get how anybody, the manager included can defend him. Nobody should try to defend what happened and one thing that didn’t happen was defending.
Our defence has been a worry all season, in fact, and as we all know it’s been a worry since long before Jürgen Klopp arrived. There were signs of a little improvement but as was shown at Selhurst earlier this season teams don’t have to do a lot to get goals against us. I’d like to think it was only a blip and I hope we can do something about it. It was the worst nightmare come true. I feel like I’ve been hit by a juggernaut. However, I’ll get over it, just hope the team can.
So we move into the Christmas glut of fixtures and thinking about them doesn’t exactly fill me with cheer either. The most expensive time of the year and the fixture planners hit us with game after game and the TV boys move them around at their leisure without any consideration for us, the fans. Surely somebody somewhere could have had a word about shifting the Manchester City game to an evening kick off on New Years Eve. Few buses, few trains! Ah well, as supporters we just have to grin and bear it and after watching that show down on the south coast grinning ain’t easy.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone seasonal greetings. Every New Year brings new challenges and for Liverpool there will be many. However, this time around the future looks a bit brighter than some we’ve had during this Fanzines life span. We’ve the League Cup semi against Southampton and an FA Cup Third Round game at Anfield against Newport or Plymouth to set us on our way. There’s Ben Woodburn, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ovie Ejaria waiting to be called upon and we all look forward to seeing them again soon.
Welcome to the latest Issue and see you around what we all hope will soon be a happy hunting ground once again.
JJP
Still Wearing Black.