Liverpool FC Thread #156 :- We Are Liverpool

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Cons



Work-rate

One of the fundamental reasons behind Liverpool's progression under Jurgen Klopp has been the players' ability to buy into the high-octane approach favoured by their manager.

The famous 'heavy metal football' and his gegenpressing philosophy isn't for every player. It requires them to expend huge reserves of energy and is hard work to sustain over the course of a season.

It remains to be seen if Shaqiri is able to cope with such a style of football.

Wage demands

It's been reported that Shaqiri has wages in excess of £100,000-a-week. An issue which could prove to be a sticking point at the negotiating table.

Inconsistency

For all the quality that Shaqiri has produced during his three years at Stoke, the Switzerland international has only managed to net 15 goals across his 91 appearances in all competitions.

Eight of those have come this season, and that perhaps hints at previous inconsistencies that have taken the player from the likes of Bayern Munich and Inter to Stoke.

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Assist Chart

That’s a nice big slice of pie for Mohamed Salah, considering he’s the only Egyptian in this Reds side!

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Roberto Firmino’s willingness to ‘work like a defender’ leaves Sadio Mane awestruck.

Liverpool’s No.9 contributed 27 goals and 17 assists in 54 club appearances last term, making 2017-18 comfortably the most productive of his career to date.

However, the tireless Firmino provides much more to Jürgen Klopp’s team than just his outstanding attacking quality - something that has not gone unnoticed by his teammate Mane.

“He’s a hard worker and an incredible player,” the Senegalese says on Liverpool’s official 2017-18 end-of-season DVD.

“He can see in his eye and what he’s doing all the time on the pitch, working for the team like a defender and he’s a striker!

“This is special for him and it makes him a very, very, very important player for us.”

Firmino’s goals are often followed by joyful, creative celebrations that Mane has taken to playfully imitating.

“Roberto is someone who likes dancing all the time and he always forces me to dance with him!” the No.19 laughs.

“I try my best but I’m not as good as him! He was talking to me, saying ‘why don’t you dance like we said all the time?!’ and I said: ‘Hey Bobby, I’m shy, I can’t dance like you!’

“He said ‘come on my friend, we have to do it!’ and we enjoy each one, so why not!”

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Mohamed Salah is set to return to action on Tuesday night as Egypt take on Russia in the World Cup.

The Liverpool forward is in contention to play a part in the Pharaohs’ crucial group-stage encounter with the tournament hosts, having sat out their opening fixture with Uruguay as he continued to recover from the shoulder injury sustained in the Champions League final.

Egypt coach Hector Cuper said: ​"Salah is fit. We always carry out a last physical test before we announce our line-up and today we will have an important test for him to see how he does. I think he will be able to play. He is an essential piece in our team."

He continued: "He's a great player, a crucial player, that much is perfectly clear. Salah is one of the best players in the world. For me there's no shadow of a doubt there. It's an honour and a privilege to coach him.

"On top of being talented, he is humble. He is a team player and that at least for me is extremely important now. He's an important player for us. Nobody can deny that. I say it with all due respect to the other players in the Egyptian squad... I think he'll be able to play."

Egypt take on Russia in Saint Petersburg, with kick off set for 7pm BST.

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Nabil Fekir refused to rule out the possibility of his move to Liverpool being resurrected as he remained tight-lipped over his future while speaking at a France World Cup press conference.

The 24-year-old whose transfer to Anfield fell through earlier this month after he had appeared to be on the brink of signing for the Reds, insisted that his future was a matter for a later date despite his agent claiming last night that the switch could still go through before the transfer window closes .

Fekir also revealed that Lyon's president had personally met him yesterday at France's training base at Istra, some 50km from Moscow, but claimed they didn't even talk about the deal.

He told reporters: “It was great to see Jean-Michel Aulas yesterday at Istra but we did not at all discuss my situation at Lyon.

“My knee is super-good. We work a lot on it, we reinforce it. But I honestly feel like before my injury.”

Get French Football News report that just one journalist asked Fekir about the Liverpool transfer and when asked about the Reds trying to lower the price following the results of his medical, he 'half sighed and half smirked' before replying: “You know I am here with France, I am happy, and I am not here to discuss my personal situation. We will see about all that later.”

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Relief over Real Madrid Mohamed Salah pursuit, World Cup goalkeeper linked and other Liverpool transfer rumours rated

Mohamed Salah



Who? Liverpool fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief because Real Madrid supposedly now favour a move for Chelsea's Eden Hazard this summer rather than trying to prise 44-goal Salah away from Anfield after just one season.

Where? Don Balon reckon that the Champions League winners for the past three seasons would prefer to go for Belgium international Hazard over Egypt star Salah as they plot their big move of the summer.

Perhaps it was the way he took mighty World Cup debutants Panama to the sword in a 3-0 win whereas a sidelined Salah – still recovering from the shoulder injury inflicted upon him by Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos in Liverpool's 3-1 defeat in the Champions League final – sat out his nation's 1-0 defeat to Uruguay?

What? Was Salah ever going to end up at the Bernabeu anyway? It's only a day since reports in Spanish outlandishly claimed that the Reds were offering him to Real and wanted the La Liga giants to throw in goalkeeper Keylor Navas as a makeweight.

While Real will no doubt try and make a splash in the transfer market this summer, there's no evidence to suggest that Liverpool would even consider parting with their most prized asset.

Kasper Schmeichel



Who? Yet another goalkeeper gets his name thrown into the Liverpool frame as Jurgen Klopp looks to upgrade in the number one department.

A surprise Premier League winner with Leicester City in 2016, the 31-year-old is a proven performer in the English top flight but is of course also the son of Manchester United legend, Peter Schmeichel, also a Danish international between the sticks.

Where? The bookies – who are seldom wrong of course – reckon that the Reds are clear favourites to land Schmeichel.

BetStars spokesman Ian Marmion told Starsport : “Liverpool have been priced at evens to be Kasper Schmeichel’s next club, after the Danish keeper put in a stand-out performance against Peru in Denmark’s opening World Cup game.”

Other clubs supposedly in the hunt for the Foxes custodian include Arsenal (3/1); Juventus (4/1) and Chelsea (5/1).

What? Schmeichel fits the bill as a safe pair of hands but how much of an upgrade is he on the goalkeepers already on the books at Anfield?

He was outstanding a couple of years ago but less convincing last season.

Daniel Sturridge



Who? The talented but injury-stricken Liverpool striker who it seems that Jurgen Klopp feels he can no longer depend upon because of his fitness issues.

After five-and-a-half years at Anfield, the Reds finally seem ready to cut their losses on the 28-year-old who spent the second part of last season on loan at West Bromwich Albion.

Where? The Telegraph reckon a move overseas beckons for Sturridge with Liverpool ready to take £15million for a player they were asking twice as much for five months ago given that he now has just one year left on his contract.

What? The time seems right for Sturridge to embark on a new challenge.

When fit he has an impressive goals to games ratio but physically he seems incapable of fulfilling the hard-running role Klopp demands from his forward players and those 24 goals in 2013/14 now seem a long time ago.

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Nabil Fekir's agent Jean-Pierre Bernes insists the Lyon captain could still join Liverpool this summer.

The France international's £53million move to Anfield dramatically collapsed when on the brink of completion earlier this month.

However, Bernes has indicated that the deal for the attacking midfielder could be revived after the World Cup finals in Russia.

Asked on French TV channel LCI on Monday night why Fekir didn't join Liverpool , he said: “He didn't sign because um... it is not over! This is not the end of the story.”

Liverpool sought a second opinion after his medical raised concerns over an old knee injury.

Initially, the Reds looked set to proceed with the transfer having already thrashed out a deal with Lyon and agreed a five-year contract with the player.

However, just hours away from an expected announcement, Liverpool ultimately decided it was too big a risk considering the size of the outlay.

Lyon insisted they weren't willing to renegotiate and released a statement stating that they had put an end to negotiations.

Fekir came off the bench in France's 2-1 win over Australia on Saturday and is likely to be back in action against Peru on Thursday.

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas claims he will stay with the club next season but Bernes' comments suggest that the saga could still be re-ignited.

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Henderson Hailed

With three minutes remaining of England’s World Cup opener with Tunisia last night, it looked like it would be a case of same-old-same-old for the Three Lions.

Fortunately for us, goal machine Harry Kane popped up with a late winner - but it was Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson who stole all the praise after the game.

Appearing on ITV, Ireland manager Martin O’Neill said: “I thought he was really, really brilliant. I have a lot of time for him because in his early days at Liverpool, he had a real struggle to win the fans over.

“He was playing side on the right hand side, then they moved him infield and it has taken him a bit of time. But I feel his experiences over the last few years for Liverpool, particularly playing Champions League football, has given him this confidence now.

“I thought he was excellent. He got off to a great start, played some great passes, great shots at goal in the opening few minutes of the game. Overall I thought he was excellent.”

Former England midfielder - and new Derby boss - Frank Lampard was equally as complimentary over on the BBC.

“He carried on his recent form for Liverpool,” Lampard said.

“With Jordan Henderson, I wasn’t properly sure what kind of midfielder he was a couple of years ago, he was a bit of an all-rounder. But he’s certainly a leader, he’s matured on and off the pitch and he’s used real intelligence to take that role.

“He’s got great drive in him. The one question you mentioned is can he get a pass a bit earlier and we saw that he can tonight.

“You need a passer and you need the movement between the lines and we had that both, particularly in the first half.”

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Jürgen Klopp has opened up on his 'spontaneous' decision to hand Virgil van Dijk a Liverpool debut against Everton in January, revealing he only made his call on the morning of the game.

Just four days after the Dutchman's arrival from Southampton was secured, the Reds faced their local rivals in an FA Cup third-round clash at Anfield.

Klopp admits he was initially wary about the idea of throwing Van Dijk straight into the cauldron of a Merseyside derby, but changed his mind in the hours before kick-off.

The boss was subsequently rewarded with an 84th-minute winner from his January signing, an outcome he described with no small degree of understatement as 'not too bad'.

"It was not a tough decision, it was only a spontaneous decision," he said during an interview for the club's official 2017-18 end-of-season DVD.

"In the morning, I actually thought he will not play. But we had one session in the morning and I came out on the pitch and [said], 'Ah, come on, why not?'

"It's not that I didn't want him to play obviously, we bought him so we wanted him to play. But it was the first game, against Everton, if something goes the wrong direction it's not a cool start and we want a good start for him.

"But then I thought he's ready for it, so we did it and it was a genius decision!

"He scored the first goal, in front of the Kop, so that's not too bad."

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Real Madrid sign goalkeeper Andriy Lunin - but what does it mean for Alisson and Liverpool?

Real Madrid have delved into the transfer market for a goalkeeper - but it isn't Alisson.

The Spanish side are on the verge of completing a deal for teenage stopper Andriy Lunin, with Marca reporting the European Cup holders have agreed a £12.3million fee with Zorya.

But despite the 19-year-old - who was also linked with a move to Liverpool - moving to the Bernabeu, Real are still expected to pursue a deal for Roma's Brazilian no.1.



Liverpool have watched Alisson over the course of the season, but despite interest, informed the player's representatives not to expect a bid earlier this year.

Roma's asking price for Alisson far exceeds the world record fee for a goalkeeper, and it is thought the low fee Liverpool secured for Mohamed Salah means the Serie A club are minded to not allow another to slip for their fingers on the cheap.

That puts Real in pole position for the 26-year-old, despite the arrival of Lunin, who will not be considered the club's no.1.

Thibaut Courtois has also been linked with a move to the Spanish capital, but Alisson remains their first choice.