*ARTICLE STILL UPDATING:
Now rumour has it that Liverpool has already planned the route for the victory parades as we may have a potential double on our hands. Normally it'll be for the trophies.
But having seen this article,
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/plans-two-victory-parades-liverpool-16243902?fbclid=IwAR2TdS7lUty7EoPNBjnbpO2LSiUhCn0UI5073r0qKncZ-CQ-Jc4qaOZj-ws#ICID=FB-Liv-main
I really feel regardless of the way that we lose the league title or the champions league trophy or both, I honestly feel that we should have at least one victory parade. From the way we pushed the boys pretty crazily for the last 3 months, a massive back and forth tug of war with Man City, and us gonna tango with Tottenham in June for the final, that is something. We're pushing all our opponents to the absolute limit here.
Believe me when I say that. We didn't have it easy at all, no sirree, in fact we had it plenty difficult on the road, especially for Champions League. PSG, Napoli, Bayern Munich double leg, and even freaking Barcelona to win 4-3, these are ultra tough teams which we gone through including those in the group stages.
This definitely should be celebrated, amazing season even though I honestly freaking hate to go back empty-handed.
But to debrief really about the season, even we still have 2 games to go:
THE GOOD
- Fort Knox. Nuff' said. All we needed really was a goalie and Alisson alone completely fixed our backline despite Karius actually drastically improved in the latter part of last season. We can have anyone at the back 4 and still won't leak that many goals. For a large portion of the game, we didn't have Joe Gomez, but who stepped in and did a colossal job? Joel Matip who really is having his best season in a Liverpool shirt. He's a perfect partner for Van Dijk. And it's greatly helped with Alisson Becker. This alone fixed the problem our backline had been plagued with.
- The Art of Transfers: We don't really need as much of a coffer as Man City to do the job but when we needed to spend, we did just that. In fact we did an awesome deal by selling Coutinho who is frankly speaking doing far worse in Barcelona than here, and got Alisson, Fabinho and Van Dijk, not counting Keita as the deal was already done and we're just waiting for him to show up.
- Fortress Anfield: Win or Lose, we celebrate with the squad and push them on. And we've never lost on home soil for ages. It is our 12th man. And face it, Anfield's crowd is like a mega-sized community.
THE BAD AND UGLY
- I was actually pretty angry that we dropped quite a lot of points in the beginning of the year. This would have otherwise stretched our open lead so far that catching up would have been impossible and would have secured the title as early as March.
- Something I feel that needs to be addressed is the jeering of snakes. I was actually rather appalled when we lay the boos and smacktalk on Suarez and Coutinho.
- Man Utd proved a formidable opponent for us with Ole Gunnar. But we can all still get a few laughs at the fact that we caused Mourinho to be sacked and in the end made it worse for ourselves!
PLAYER SEASON REVIEWS (D being the worst, A* (A-Star) being the best)
GK: Alisson Becker - A+
Verdict: He goes nowhere. Too valuable to lose to a transfer or through injury.
Contributions: 26 Clean Sheets, Premier League Golden Glove
Signed for almost 70 Mill pound in the summer to reunite with Mo Salah and to play with Firmino on a much more regular basis, something had to give for that penny. But he put where his mouth is, for Big Al had an amazing debut season in goal. 21 clean sheets in the premier league for a debut season is nothing to sneeze at. Sure he is no means perfect but he stepped up when needed. Should be handed the number 1 jersey number. That business with Coutinho and Becker, with former rotting in Barca and the latter now doing nicely holding the fort for us, looks pretty freaking sweet and it didn't take him long at all to show his class. Compared to the actual record transfer Keeper Kepa, I could very well give a case to spend that much on Al over Kepa. Another Keeper like him should be brought him though because I can't trust Mignolet.
RB: Trent Alexander Arnold - A*
Verdict: Keep. Young but extremely mature. One of the 2 Assist Kings
Contributions: 15 Assists, 1 Goal.
Age 20, youngest player to reach 2 Champions League Grand Finals. PFA team of the year, World class. Assist King with a hat trick of them against Watford, even after missing a period through injury. That says a lot of his maturity for someone this young. He doesn't score a lot but he doesn't need to. When he does though, his strikes are glorious, pulling some magic out of the hat similarly to what Coutinho would do. In fact he is I feel like Coutinho, but with also a defensive mindset while being a winger at the same time. With time, he'll get even better. That assist with Origi that caught Barca napping was what sent us into the grand final. Nobody else would have had the vision to catch an unmarked Origi in time because that itself was critical. He and Andy Robertson have each recorded double digits of assists, the only time where 2 defenders have each double figures in assist from the same team.
CB: Dejan Lovren - B-
Verdict: Keep as a backup for Joel.
Contributions: 1 Goal
Initially Lovren worked well with Van Dijk or Gomez and was primarily the first choice partner with Virgil. But for a while, some of the goals conceded were due to his errors sometimes. However with Van Dijk sometimes not around and Gomez out through injury, at least Dejan tries and does decently. However, since the return of Joel Matip, Dejan has fallen out of the pecking order, with the former, Joel proving himself at least as good a partner if not better than Dejan or Gomez.
CB: Joel Matip - A*
Verdict: A must-keep, Amazing Bargain now. An unsung hero. A Fort Knox with Virgil and Alisson. End of story.
Contributions: 1 Goal
Who would knew that we actually have someone that is now several times better than Lovren and even Gomez in form of Joel Matip. To think that we bought him as a freebie a couple years back and was not as good. But look at him now. The Cameroonian having his best season by such a long shot is something unheard of and his statistics show that he's far superior than Gomez and Lovren: https://www.planetfootball.com/quick-reads/comparing-joel-matips-2018-19-pl-stats-to-his-competition-at-liverpool/
Combined with Virgil, both were absolute tanks. It's like having a completely new Joel Matip 2.0. Although a world class center back would be better to partner Virgil, Matip as long as he's consistent, he'll be fine. And even without Virgil Van Dijk against Bayern Munich and in sometimes, he will pair well with whoever's he's playing with at Center Back. Moreover, even though he was only brought in for Gomez and Lovren, what this has done is stiffen the competition of center back slots since he has done this well. He's someone to keep an eye on, as he's proven himself worthy that getting a replacement center back is not a necessity right now although good to have.
CB: Virgil Van Dijk (2nd Vice Captain) - A+
Verdict: Must Keep. Use him whenever possible.
Contributions: 6 Goals and 4 Assists.
Didn't do well in Southampton, but a colossal tank in Liverpool. But Virgil can also be an offensive player in set pieces and it was nice to recently see him score on a more regular basis with 6 goals to his credit including one brace. 4 more assists then add up to a total of 10 Goal contributions, impressive for a center back. And for the last 400 days of using him, not one player has ever dribbled past Virgil, that says alot of his quality and reason why he deserved the player of the season award for 18-19. And also currently the Dutch Captain the 2nd Deputy / Vice-Captain of the Reds. But Virg doesn't really need the armband to be a captain, his presence is sometimes why he captains the squad over Milner and Henderson. He still doesn't get an A-Star from me haha as he's expected to do well which he did, but he's definitely a world class.
LB: Andy Robertson - A+
Verdict: Must Keep. The other of the 2 assist Kings and an absolute bargain of a World Class Left Back.
Contributions: 13 Assists.
Does what Andy Robbo does, provide both a defensive and attacking support for his fellow Reds. This season in particular is where he just amasses assists like nobody's business with fellow assist king Trent. No nonsense Scottish Captain, as he usually keeps things simple. His passing and times where he gave the ball away may leave much to be desired at times but otherwise an outstanding and indispensable Left Back and an unsung hero of of the squad.
CDM / CB / RB: Fabinho - A
Verdict: Must Keep as a first line of midfield defense and backup RB.
Contributions: 2 Assists, 1 Goal
He started the season slow but eventually got into the groove where he started to play very well. Defensively minded, he is the first line of defense and shield in front of the back 4. And when one of the backline is down with injury, Fabinho has been able to slot into the blank spot as a CB or a RB. As someone who only just joined us this season, it didn't really take too long to click. And barring his brazilian brother Al, Fab is definitely the outfield signing of this season.
CM / LB: James Milner (Vice Captain) - A-
Verdict: Keep as a backup for Robbo or any Central Midfielders. Play as long as he can till he retires.
Contributions: 6 Assists, 7 Goals.
He may be one of the oldest in the primary squad but he's still have some years because of his versatility and sheer endurance and fitness levels. He can play across in most midfield roles and step back to his Left Back role in a heartbeat when Robbo needs a break. He's one player that we should keep till he retires because he's that good in a pinch.
Naby Keita - B
CM: Jordan Henderson (Captain) - A
Verdict: Must Keep. Doubt that he's gonna leave anytime soon.
Contributions: 4 Assists, 1 Goal
I guess we can all agree, Jordan has got a bit of stick for not being the ideal captain in the opening stages of the season. One thing he has is his drive and passion to do the things required if not more. Actually he does have a knee injury which plagued him a lot during the first half. But it's during the 2nd half of the season we started to see him putting performances befitting of a captain, supporting attacks and controlling the midfield down the center. However he was able to even play through the full 90 during the comeback against Barcelona through the pain.
CM: Gini Wijnaldum - A-.
Verdict: Should keep him. Proven a Genie in Big games.
Contributions: 5 Goals
Gini can sometimes be a hit and miss affair. He can have some real bad games but when he does have good games, he performs very well. Despite his flaws of his slightly inconsistent impact and control, his presence has proven that Gini can be a devastating threat especially in big games which he seems to do best in for some dumb reason which is odd, considering he's a Central Midfielder. His impact against big teams like Man City, Tottenham and Roma and Barcelona is the reason why he is still here. His impact against Barcelona was the thing that enable us to remain in the hunt for a Champions League. There's gonna be talk for weeks not months to come for the Genie Gini coming out of the lamp for single handedly turning the semi final tie around.
RW: Xherdan Shaqiri - B
Contributions: 6 Goals, 5 Assists
Verdict: Keep him warm on the Bench.
Not exactly the bargain signing of the season, but at least he tries. He did punish Man Utd so freaking silly and performed well in the opening half of the season which is the reason he gets a lenient B or else his performances now would had gotten a C otherwise. At least he lead the line well against Barcelona while Salah and Firmino weren't around. He needs to step up to the plate and at least be allowed by Klopp to lead over Firmino or he's not going to improve.
AM / FW: Roberto Firmino - B+
Contributions: 16 Goals, 7 Assists.
Firmino was a bit of a less effective forward this year. But we can't deny his work rate that's up there with the rest of them. He just misses out on the A tier grade because the impact that he has caused wasn't as much as the last season. He does click well and forming the false 9 position for the midfield. Hoping for more goals the next season.
Sadio Mane - A+
Contributions: 26 Goals, 2 Assists.
This season was really his best season of his 3 years in the Red Shirt. Sadio is almost as level with Mo Salah in terms of goals even though he's more a winger than a forward. With Salah not firing sometimes, Sadio answered the calls and can still punish teams and can tee up with others on the field. He's near equal with Salah in terms of agility and he seems to have better ball control this season than Mo.
RW / FW Mo Salah - A
Contributions: 26 Goals, 10 Assists.
Not as good as the last season where he went all guns blazing and stirred the league pretty crazily, but he still brings the pain and breaks through defences very effectively. He still remains a deadly force when partnered with his strike team brothers. Still gets an A as he still is deadly enough to cause problems while also being adept in defence, often dropping back when it's time to shore up the backline and then break into a counterattack which is where his agility comes in handy. And his stats show that he contributed a healthy 36 goal Contributions of 26 Goals with 10 Assists.
Divock Origi - A*
Verdict: Keep, an ace up our sleeve.
Contributions: 6 Goals, 1 Assist
He may not be everyone's first choice. But has risen up to the occassion when it mattered so much to us. He has been so critical for many of our late game victories that as much as many of us hate him, we still need him. In a pinch, he can turn things around from out of nowhere. That brace with Barcelona? That alone deserves a renewal of his contract and an A-star review from me.
Daniel Sturridge - C-
Verdict: Sell, only just. We had been doing well without Sturridge.
Contributions: 4 Goals, 2 assists.
Because of how good our current frontline is, it's not surprise that little was Sturridge been used this season. Origi takes the mantle of Supersub now and we have enough firepower with everybody else. But he did score a few in those few matches he made an appearance in. He still doesn't really have a place in the squad, but only just barely, because who knows he can still pull some magics out of the bag.
MANAGER JURGEN KLOPP: A*
No one is perfect, but Jurgen Klopp with his fatherly figure and aggressively driven personality was what really pushed us. No other manager has guided us to 3 consecutive European Finals and no one else has brought us this close to many titles. It's just some sheer dumb luck that we lost some points lead but he still put his faith in his players. So much so even the new recruits that we had this year actually clicked with him quite well, especially Fabinho and Alisson. It's a far different spectrum compared to people like Mourinho. Still one of the best managers in world football and we all love what he has brought to the table this year, whether or not we win anything. And compared to other sides, Jurgen is an absolute master of grooming and getting the best and more of even the freebies and bargains like Robertson, Trent Alexander Arnold and especially Matip and we didn't really spend that much outside of Alisson and Van Dijk and Wijnaldum and Salah but that's Coutinho's sale hugely defraying the costs really which was actually an awesome move long term.
TRANSFERS I WOULD SELL THIS SEASON 19/20:
Then there's a question of who to sell and keep for some especially out of the pecking order.
Daniel Sturridge
Alberto Moreno
Adam Lallana
Simon Mignolet
SOME TO KEEP:
However those who are just coming back from Injury should be given a shot again and those who were out on loan.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Marko Grujic
Nathaniel Clyne (JUST)
All the young ones.
SEASON RATING: No Title or Champions League, still a failure.
As good as the rest of the season has been, trophy count is still ZERO. I am still not happy enough that we let the title slip thanks to the needless draws or points dropped and the loss at Manchester City Etihad. By now we have the tools we needed so by all rights we die die have to have a trophy. I don't think we'll ever have a shot at a title like this ever again unless FSG can splurge on 500 Mill on World class players. FSG will not have that budget but really that is the only way honestly that we can level the playing field with Manchester City.
We can only hope for Madrid I'm afraid.
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