Liverpool FC Thread #165:- We are Liverpool

[lukeber]

Liverpool is constantly winning by 1 goal margin. Just as Klopp said before, he prefers to win 8 games with 1 goal margin, rather than winning 1 game by 8 goals. Is this also a way to keep players fresh ?

[NI KI]

[NI KI]

Jurgen Klopp admits Liverpool haven't yet decided how they will cope with playing two games in 24 hours in two different continents next month.

The Reds must play their Carabao Cup quarter-final at Aston Villa on Tuesday, December 17 – the day before they play their semi-final in the FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar.

Liverpool accepted the date after it emerged there were no other realistic alternatives to alleviate their fixture congestion, with the Premier League visit to West Ham United yet to be rearranged.

And asked about how Liverpool will manage the situation, Klopp said: “We asked Aston Villa if they would come to Qatar and we could play the game there!



“No, we don't know exactly yet, we have an idea how we do it but it's too early to speak about that.

“We had to make a decision, and we've made a decision now because all the other alternatives were more problems than solutions and didn't work out.

“We said, that's how we can do it as good as is possible for us.

“All the rest, we have a bit of time to think about that. We have more important things to do, we had a game to concentrate on today and the next game to concentrate on.

“But in these next couple of weeks we will make a decision how it will exactly look. But in the end we will play a Liverpool team, 100%.”

Klopp had said after last week's Carabao Cup fourth round win over Arsenal that Liverpool could withdraw from the competition if a suitable date for the Villa tie was not found.

And the Reds boss, speaking after his team's 2-1 Champions League win at home to Genk on Tuesday night, was asked if the club were put under pressure by either FIFA or the Football League to play in the competition.

“Did they say we must do it? Kind of... Do you want to be really in trouble with FIFA? I'm not sure. Do you want to really be in trouble with EFL? Probably not,” said Klopp.

“We respect the competitions. It sounds like we don't want to play in the Carabao Cup, but that's not true. What I don't like about the Carabao Cup is two legs in the semi-final

" I don't understand that. It's in a busy period, I don't like it. All the rest is a nice competition. We don't play the FA Cup in the first part of the season, that's all okay.

“The Club World Cup you play in only if you win the Champions League. That doesn't happen in your life five million times, and that means we take the opportunity.

“Is it the best time of the year? No. It's pretty busy. But we're going there. We try to play all the games we have with all what we have.

“Now there is the situation where nobody had an idea. You should really think about things like this before you start, because this isn't the only problem here for the Carabao Cup.

“If you have a replay in the FA Cup – which I don't like, honestly – and you go through in the Carbao Cup to the final, we had that three or four years ago when we were at West Ham in the FA Cup, and people were hoping we didn't go through.

“You can't work like that, that you hope somebody goes out (of a competition) so everything is fine.

“Maybe it's a reason why the teams are going out because nobody knows how it works.

“We tried to ignore that this time against Arsenal, the boys just wanted to play football and that's why we qualified for the next round.

“But before the game it was clear it would be really difficult.”

Klopp added: “I don't want to cancel competitions. I'm from Germany, why would I want to cancel English competitions? But it should still be possible to talk about the problems, and that's what I did.

“Some people don't like that, but I can't change that. The problems are obvious. Every year we do the same thing again and some people find it funny 'look at that, they have to play five games in three days and let's see how that works out'.

“We cannot carry on like this. Come on. That's why I ask for us to sit at the table and find a solution, because these solutions so far sound to me like another problem. That's not a solution.”

[NI KI]

Pep Guardiola clarifies Sadio Mane diving claim and reveals what he tells his children about Liverpool

Pep Guardiola has appeared to backtrack on comments made about Liverpool forward Sadio Mane.

Guardiola has been speaking ahead of the Champions League at Atalanta and gave a detailed answer when asked why he'd taken aim at Mane in the aftermath of Man City's win over Southampton.

Mane scored the all-important winner for Liverpool against Aston Villa at the weekend as the Reds came from behind to win 2-1 and retain a six-point lead over City at the top.

This led to a bizarre dig by Guardiola at Mane following the match as the City boss accused the Liverpool forward of 'diving' ahead of the clash between the two sides this weekend.

Guardiola said: "Sometimes he's (Mane) diving, sometimes he has this talent to score incredible goals in the last minute. He's a talent."

Guardiola clarified the comment when speaking in Italy, and appeared to backtrack on his claim about Mane.

"My son and my daughter always when Liverpool win in the last minutes say Liverpool are lucky," Guardiola told the MEN.

"I tell them not. What Liverpool has done this season and last season many times is because they have this incredible quality to fight until the end.

"That’s why I said to my players - not just my son and daughter- that it is not lucky. Sometimes at 94 against Leicester with the penalty it was like ‘wow’.

"That was the intention for my comment but it was far from my intention to say that Sadio Mane is that type of player. Even with that, the referee and the VAR said penalty. Maybe I was wrong to think it wasn’t a penalty.

"I was the wrong guy to think it wasn't a penalty, like Jurgen says he knows Sadio better than me. With Jurgen he tries to be positive, when he says it’s not like this."

[lukeber]

"Good teams keep going. They wear you down, they have that belief," Shearer said this week. "It happened to Man United under Alex Ferguson all those years ago, it's not a coincidence they scored all those late goals."

So this is the heavy metal said four years ago ?

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Fabio Capello outlines 'unique' difference between Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool and Pep Guardiola's Man City



Former England boss Fabio Capello has named the key difference between Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool and Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.

The two sides will meet at Anfield to wrestle it out in a crucial Premier League showdown on Sunday.

Liverpool currently sit six points ahead of Man City, and Capello has revealed what makes the Reds so special.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Capello admitted: "Klopp he made something magic for me. The atmosphere of Anfield is fantastic, the team is like the fans.

"The connection is fantastic between the team, Klopp and fans, it's a unique thing."

The Italian continued: "Guardiola is different. I think he plays the team like a theatre. The fans a theatre. The show is really good but it's a theatre."

Capello retired from management in 2018 after spells in charge of AC Milan, Real Madrid, Roma and Juventus.

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Critchley in line to take charge for Carabao Cup quarter-final

Liverpool U23 manager Neil Critchley could be in line for the biggest night of his career if he is given the responsibility of standing in the dugout for the Reds’ Carabao Cup quarter-final.



Jurgen Klopp has not yet made up his mind as to whether he will travel with the team taking part in the FIFA Club World Cup match in Qatar or attend the tie with Aston Villa.

If Klopp chooses to fly out to Doha then Critchley could step in, assuming assistant manager Pep Lijnders is required alongside his boss.

A number of the academy players are likely to play against Villa so it could make sense to give Critchley the chance.

[NI KI]

Who are Liverpool likely to name in the 23-man Club World Cup squad and why?

The Reds have to name three goalkeepers in their CWC squad. Alisson and Adrian will certainly be on the list, while a third choice will be made between youngster Caoimhin Kelleher and veteran Andy Lonergan.

Lonergan is likely the choice because Kelleher is very likely to be named in the starting XI for the League Cup match and the Liverpool U23s have a Premier League International Cup game against Wolves on December 22 - the same date as the CWC final.



Other than that, and provided every player has recovered from injury minus Nathaniel Clyne who is a long-term absentee, then it could be a general first-team squad named, leaving two spaces available.

It appears, after his appearance on the bench for Liverpool's Champions League clash with Genk , Curtis Jones for his recent performances and versatility to play in midfield or with the attack is currently top of the youth team list to step up so he comes in.

The final spot is tricky, because you have some seriously talented youngsters snapping at the heels of the first-team stars like Rhian Brewster, Harvey Elliott, Sepp van den Berg and Ki-Jana Hoever.

It is possible, the latter of that talented quartet in Hoever will be included due to the fact there are already four attackers, four centre backs, plenty of midfielders and he has the ability to cover for the full-backs and in the heart of defence.

Possible 23-man Liverpool squad for Club World Cup: Alisson, Adrian, Lonergan, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Matip, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson, Hoever, Milner, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lallana, Shaqiri, Keita, Jones, Salah, Firmino, Mane, Origi

Who could Liverpool field in the League Cup and who might play in the CWC?

This is where it gets really interesting.

As per the FIFA rules, it appears not all 23 players have to be over in Qatar for the first game.

So, Liverpool could leave some senior players at home to play in the Carabao Cup on December 17 with a very strong team out in Qatar to play the semi-final of the Club World Cup on December 18 before then flying out the remaining players on the squad list to play in either the CWC final or third-place play-off on December 21.

We know, from the EFL that Liverpool are "committing to fielding a team that is largely consistent with those that have participated in earlier rounds of this season’s competition".

While we also know that none of Liverpool's most consistently named players this season have started a League Cup match.

Goalkeepers: Flying out for the CWC could be Alisson and Adrian, with Kelleher staying behind with Lonergan for the League Cup.

Defenders: Flying out to Qatar could be Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson. Gomez provides cover across the backline so gets the nod ahead of Lovren who stays behind for the League Cup match alongside Hoever out of the recognised defenders on the possible 23-man squad list named above.

Midfielders: On the plane to the Gulf could be Milner, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita while from the list Lallana, Shaqiri, and Jones stay to face Villa. Milner is in to provide cover at both full-back and midfield while Oxlade-Chamberlain flies for his ability to cover in midfield and attack. It was a tight call between Lallana and Keita but the England international stays to lead the youth in the League Cup as a better fit than the Guinean.

Forwards: Heading to the Middle East is Salah, Mane, Firmino and Origi, with the Belgian flying to provide cover for the front three and making sure the consistent first-team players are adequately covered.

Starting XI for CWC semi-final: Adrian; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Henderson; Salah, Mane, Firmino. (Bench: Alisson, Gomez, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Keita, Origi)

Starting XI for League Cup quarter-final: Kelleher; Hoever, Lovren, Van den Berg, Larouci; Lallana, Chirivella, Shaqiri; Elliott, Brewster, Jones

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