Well, I'm dead chuffed not only with the hard-earned point from last night's game against what was one of the world's great clubs but also in the manner in which we came back in the second half. There was much greater urgency and pressing and this earned us the point and could have won us the game - we squandered three very good chances and Bamford's lob would have been a contender for goal of the season had it gone in. For that turnaround and SO MUCH ELSE, we can thank our wonderful coach.
It's been such a weird season, not least because our play has attracted such praise. Thank you Marcelo. What a great man, we can all agree. This man truly has integrity. Gifting Villa that goal in the playoffs was THE proof of this particular pudding, but there are countless other examples, as we know. We also have to give a lot of credit to Victor Orta and Andrea Andrea Radrizzani, of course, for the way in which both the football and the commercial culture of the club has been transformed. The Myanmar tour had me worried for a bit but that sort of nonsense seems to have since been dropped.
Jurgen Klopp is also a great coach and Liverpool a great team with some fantastic players, even if they have been struggling a bit recently. He indicated he was unhappy with the ESL development last night while the great James Milner said what all the players under contract to those six PL clubs need to say. Credit to both of them.
Marcelo Bielsa also publicly condemned the ESL. Andrea Radrizzani supported Gary Neville's strong criticism earlier in the day and good old Klichy and Paddy Bamford also stood up. Of course, it's very easy for those excluded to criticise, but not so easy when it's your club that is driving this crass development - this degeneration.
Tonight Klopp complained about the t-shirts - not just the Leeds players wearing them, but also the fact that his players were also invited to show their solidarity with their fellow professionals. Jonty has described this as a "cheap shot" but I'm not so sure it should be so quickly dismissed.
All professional players, everyone involved in the clubs, including their directors, etc., all the fans of every club, should reject this ultimate and final degradation immediately. However, the players and coaches really do have great power - they produce the goods that are sold, after all. If Liverpool's players had worn those t-shirts, a very clear and powerful message would have been sent to the Glazers, Henry, Kroenke, Levy, Mansour and Abramovich.
Because of the development of globalisation and technology, and precipitated by the global pandemic, those behind the ESL believe they can dispense with the traditional local fan base structure. They can't, however, dispense with the players and their coaches. EVERYONE in this business should be standing up immediately.
LUFC gave Liverpool's players and coach the chance to do that yesterday. Those t-shirts wouldn't have been placed in the away dressing room without Bielsa's knowledge and approval, I'm sure, and if they had, he would probably have said something about it. Far from being a cheap shot or tawdry Fergusonesque mind games, which Bielsa simply doesn't bother with, the t-shirts were an invitation to express solidarity with those who resist this degradation.
The players and their coaches are really the only people who can stop this ESL degradation, in my view - they ALL need to stand up right now and condemn it in no uncertain terms, following James Milner's excellent example. After all, this game is more important than life and death, as Bill Shankley famously said.
Apologies for the long post! VERY pleased with last night's performance - it's clear now that we really do have nothing to fear when playing any of the so-called Big Six.
cheap shot?
posted on 20/4/21
comment by Fred Klopp (U3979)
posted 22 seconds ago
comment by 2020VisionofLeeds (U15914)
posted 36 minutes ago
comment by Fred Klopp (U3979)
posted 18 minutes ago
comment by VOF - Its all about believing .... (U17124)
posted 41 minutes ago
The only great american sporting teams play in there own "world" series' ....
Sorry Jonty i think you're wrong about the T-Shirt stunt. I sympathise with Klopp and the Liverpool players themselves, caught up in this as much as everyone i suspect. But i do think a clear, united, message to the owners and world was needed.
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Do you know why it's called the world series?
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no please tell us
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Was originally sponsored by the World Newspaper and the name stuck.
Also the Americans call it football because the ball is a foot long.
Amazing how people in this country scoff at ignorant Americans and don't take the time to learn this stuff.
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Actually Fred yes I did. I spent many years working with and around US military, joining them watching these sporting events - and enjoying them by and large. I learned about the origins of baseball and i was corrected about my assumption - that was all back in the 80's/90's. But what a lot of the guys/girls watching, and indeed the commentary before, during and after games, was about how these were "world" events/tournaments.
Just because the model for sport works in the US, doesn't mean it would apply here.
posted on 20/4/21
"Both soccer-style football and rugby-style football eventually found their way to America. What resulted was an American combination of the two games. It was until much later (1906) that forward passing was allowed. So because the American game was really just another form of the European football games, it too became known as football."
I think a little research is needed before posting assumptions.
posted on 20/4/21
Didn't know about the "Foot" ball thing though. Never heard that before.
posted on 20/4/21
Klopp how are any of those teams performing in global competitions, and by the way I have American relatives and spent a good deal of time there.
posted on 20/4/21
Oh, and an American football isn’t a foot long, so probably best to button it.
posted on 20/4/21
Crikey the more I look at this, the more it stinks, Glazer is to run the ESL. What next, these clubs become franchises which relocate wherever the most money is?
posted on 20/4/21
comment by Legacy Fred (U3979)
posted 58 minutes ago
comment by 2020VisionofLeeds (U15914)
posted 36 minutes ago
comment by Fred Klopp (U3979)
posted 18 minutes ago
comment by VOF - Its all about believing .... (U17124)
posted 41 minutes ago
The only great american sporting teams play in there own "world" series' ....
Sorry Jonty i think you're wrong about the T-Shirt stunt. I sympathise with Klopp and the Liverpool players themselves, caught up in this as much as everyone i suspect. But i do think a clear, united, message to the owners and world was needed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Do you know why it's called the world series?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
no please tell us
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Was originally sponsored by the World Newspaper and the name stuck.
Also the Americans call it football because the ball is a foot long.
Amazing how people in this country scoff at ignorant Americans and don't take the time to learn this stuff.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
more amazing is you seem to know nothing about it.
posted on 20/4/21
Well, it's a shame that my long post has not stimulated debate on its central point: what must the players and coaches do now? Klopp and Bielsa, Milner and Bamford all stepped up - will others follow?
The clubs won't be able to stop this. Neither will the government - Johnson and Dowden are total incompetents in any case. You're having a larf if you think UEFA or FIFA will save European football as we've know it.
Only the players and coaches can stop this by refusing to participate and squashing it from the outset. We need ALL those high profile rich players of the six clubs concerned to put their jobs on the line.
Every man has his price, it is said, but not Marcelo Bielsa. His words last night were spot on, as one might expect. Same with James Milner.
posted on 20/4/21
Well, it's a shame that my long post has not stimulated debate on its central point: what must the players and coaches do now? Klopp and Bielsa, Milner and Bamford all stepped up - will others follow?
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Maybe you got the title wrong.
posted on 20/4/21
Ha, yes, maybe...but I wasn't taking a pop Jonty. Of course you can say what you like, but I disagree that Bielsa would have allowed anyone to take any cheap shots!