Klopp is not to blame, capitalism is

liverpool_klopp

First of all, Good evening to all of you. After I thank George Koukoulis for hosting me in his website, since lately I’ve been “homeless” (for a while), I would like to testify my humble view on Liverpool’s current run this year.

At regular basis I was doing the same on the previous site I was writing, but now and because I have long time to write, I will go on and write in a more “spiritual” way.

I will not start with the latest news, which are, about, as almost all of you might know, VVD’s transfer from Southampton to LFC. But, I will talk firstly for the playing run of the team.

Viewing the Liverpool’s roster, you have to admit that is not even the 5th best in the league. You will not notice it now, or you won’t comparing the players as individuals. How you will do it? Comparing just the lines. Example, is the duo of Lovren and Matip better of any other one? If in the summer period someone have told you to exchange the trio of Mane – Salah- Firmino, to get Laca – Sanchez – Iwoby, which would you choose? Telling me today that Salah is world class, is like telling me nothing. Would you say that, with the same excitement in the summer that we bought him with 30+ million? Let me remind you that he was the “Chelsea reject”. And I insist, he is not a good finisher. He scores half of the goals he could score. He doesn’t do himself justice.

In the midfield, instead of Coutinho (who is going to say goodbye to Liverpool, and I will write for his career in Anfield after that) we have the basic definition of mediocrity, going by the name of Gini Wijnaldum, and Henderson, who is not playing well at the moment. So who are you just competing? United of Herrera, Pogba, Mata or Soton of Boufal, Ward-Prowse and Lemina? In which of the two teams is our midfield closer quality wise? Also, do not forget to mention the big crap listening to the name of Simon Mignolet. The difference between Simon and a top class goalkeeper (eg Cech) is that in the game against Arsenal the two goalies make two fatal errors. Simon, however, drowns and the game becomes 2-2. And it is the only thing that we remember from the Belgian in that game, while on the contrary, Cech, chokes a goal and the game becomes 3-3 instead of 3-7. Got it?

Is the current position and potential of this team a success or not?

About the other things now. From this point of the article and below, you don’t count Man City as a possible reply. City is something different and is out of competition. You have to compare with only the other 18 teams of the league.

I have written some time ago

liverpool1

I’ve seen the team with Sevilla, Burnley and Leicester and I didn’t write a word, mainly because I was dissapointed. Although, I’m gonna tell you something. All of you that mock Jurgen Klopp, be cautious. This exact team, in only one month from tonight, and with the help of the international break which is in 10 days, can perform super football. Am I out of space and time? I may be.

The manager is responsible for a lot of things. It’s his fault that the players that were necessary for the team’s defense weren’t bought, it’s his fault when he doesn’t make the best selection for the starting XI. But the coach is not on the pitch. He cannot score the penalty and all those chances that were spoiled against Sevilla, he cannot do the same with Burnley and of course he cannot field his regular team on a game like the one yesterday, against Leicester.

I can accept that the team in yesterday’s match was bad, especially in the second half. But I will ask you this; if you see the highlights of the two games against Sevilla and Burnley, and someone said that he has deleted the goals from the video and you had to guess the final score, what would your answer be? Did we play a bad game of football? Didn’t we create and spoil a load of chances? What could Jurgen Klopp do? Could he score a goal by himself? When a team has in a game more than 30 chances and in 3 consecutive games has in total 84 chances and only 3 goals, then I’m sorry, but it’s not the manager’s fault.

 

Today Liverpool boasts the best attack of the league (we’ve already said it, City doesn’t count here) scoring 46 goals so far. Most shots, Most on target shots. That means, we have the best chance creation. In short, if our players were more proficient in decision making and finishing, with the first and about 50% of the second being more mental skills, we could be speaking now about a “goal machine” team. That, would be in case Liverpool had instead of Bobby, let’s say Suarez. And here comes the article’s title. Liverpool could not have the Uruguayan, because they just don’t have the money! Is Klopp guilty of this? Unless he pays the transfers from his bank account, then no, he is not the one to blame. Does he pay for them? No. Who is to blame? The capital. Because if you want to have a very good (or potentially very good) player you must pay. You must pay a lot.

I also have written within the summer

Klopp is not to blame, capitalism is

The Virtue of being selective

You cannot image how much I can relate with a man that is selective. Being selective is an obsession that when done right and your wishes come true, it can guide you to real happiness and vindication. I don’t want a car, I want THAT car. I don’t want a center back, I want THAT center back. Believe me, I can totally understand that state of mind because I’m one of these guys. A man that puts his needs into context and is not settled with anything less or anything that comes in his way. He shows character and tries to have the total control of his life, in order not to be manipulated by external factors just in order to satisfy those needs only for the sake of satisfying them. That’s why I can understand why Klopp wanted CERTAIN players. He didn’t want a midfielder, he wanted Keita. He didn’t want a center back, he wanted Van Dijk. He wanted Salah, Lemar etc. He had in his mind a master plan with certain option, something I can totally justify and respect.

A big advantage of being selective is that when it comes to people, understanding that they are the “chosen ones” amongst a bunch of other candidates, makes them feel “charmed” and in the end they tend to succumb. Something that was made clear in all of the past cases of players we wanted to sign.

The point is that when you have obsessions like that you have to, at least in several occasions, surpass yourself in order to conquer those targets. You have to make sacrifices, or at least whatever it takes.

Let’s see: Ox chose us instead of Chelsea. Salah was imposed by Klopp. VvD chose us, instead of bloody football machine of City, which are already champions and in next season’s Champions League, for sure. But why? Why us? Because of money, or for titles? Probably we are doing something well. From the amount that we gave to Southampton, VVD is taking a piece of nothing, just his wage. He could get more in contract money if he has chosen Pep’s team.

I also have written in summer period:

liverpool3

I want to talk as well about the case of Virgil Van Dijk. For this particular player I would bet my whole fortune that he is going to come to Liverpool. As I’ve written in the past, as long as the players wants it that much and as long as Liverpool wants him and is going to pay a good load of money to get him, then Southampton is virtually not even an obstacle. This player is the best CB in Premier League and that’s not something I state, it’s proven by facts and stats. Liverpool has Clyne, Robertson and Milner as its full backs. That’s the reason why Klopp wants VVD, because whenever there’s a cross in the box Liverpool is going to have a huge issue in covering the far post. That’s why it is essential to have a person clearing away those crosses before they get there, a skill that the Dutchman has mastered.

Let’s take a look at it. First of all, if you can get the courage to sit down and count how many goals we have conceded by crosses in the far post. If we count Lovren’s crap against Sevilla at Anfield then we are counting about ten lucky ones that I can get in my mind right now. Leicester, West Ham, Arsenal etc.

Klopp has decided that the player should be bought. So, if one of you is not, either an accountant in the club’s budget management department, or a shareholder, or, it’s you Mr. Henry that have the great pleasure of reading my article, please DO NOT GIVE US A HEADACHE about money. The signing of Vvd is absolutely fucking right. We don’t give a shit about money. They do not leave our pocket, lads. No one of you is ever going to see that money in his whole life. IT’S A SHAME, But true. Only in that way we could build a really strong squad. And if you don’t do anything to fight as individual this disgust that is called Modern football – and capitalism – that urges a club to give for a footballer an amount that could change the life of several families, do not bark and just wait to judge the player on the holly pitch. And judging doesn’t mean “Ooooh he is not good valued for 75 m quids” Judge him if he can push the ball away from our box, otherwise you do not watch football, but numbers and sums. Do not worry about money, until Klopp comes out and say “We can not afford to get Goretzka.” As long as this system works that way, and you don’t do anything (really, can you do something?) do not complain about money that you will never see. We should not even learn about them. For us, they are imaginary. Just complain about the tactical part of the transfer. Is VVD a right choice, finally?

The problem, dear supporter of Liverpool, is not Klopp, is that he has to reform the roster into a new one. The overhauled roster is not possible to be built in 2 summers, especially when ALL of your players are mediocre. You want money. And you want a lot of it. Money that you don’t have. Why am I talking now for money? Because Klopp wants that certain player, nobody else, and he is going to give every damn penny he can afford to in order to get him and not an alternative. When Southampton – or another team – wants 70 million pounds and this looks reasonable in today’s standards, then it’s not your fault, that you are going to pay this amount of money, but AGAIN this is what modern football has become. When you give that amount of money, make sure they’re going for the right piece. Is the Dutchman the right piece? Until today it seems like it. So, his transfer is the right move, even if those 75 million seem like a huge waste after a while. If the team needed a player like Dybala and the team got Dybala would you be happy? Of course you would be. If Dybala was a huge fail as a transfer, would he still be the right choice to make? OF COURSE HE WOULD BE. That’s how transfers work. That’s how football is today. As long as we don’t pay or as long as we don’t fight it, commiserating about this is like those people arguing about politics, despite voting for the people they ultimately judge and get disappointed by. It’s the same system guys, you either fight it or judge with its standards, not yours.

To conclude.

Arguing all this time about the team “not performing” is rational until a certain point. But for the team to perform better under Klopp’s guidance, better players need to be bought. How is this possible? In the way this thing called modern football orders. So, because of that, judge only by what you see on the pitch and not in the team’s accounting books. Liverpool finally looks, with Jurgen Klopp as a manager, like a team that has found its way. And you will see it as time goes by. Being miserable in every single bad result, making accusations and mocking every other player of the team is easy, but is it that easy when we’re considering what are we asking for this certain bunch of players? Man Utd has given 1,5 times more the money that the best team of their City has spend in order for us to read articles like “Man Utd survived against Burnley”, while at the same moment, when we had a draw against the same team we were in crisis. This is what sells papers and clicks, to make memes and make fun of Liverpool, that’s what they do. It’s not irrational to get carried by it but it is unfair. What has anyone said about the 100 million pounds United spend for Pogba? Nothing. The only thing we were reading was “Pogback”, for a player that, in his 1,5 year in Manchester, has given to his team ABSOLUTELY NOTHING and yet he’s considered a star. A star for the same reason Beckham was one, because they can sell shirts, bring sponsor and give the club money. So who am I to judge Pogba, if those “credible journalists” consider him the best midfielder in the league? It is what it is. So just keep the judgement in what you see on the pitch and on the pitch only and not on the bank accounts and the stock market, unless you want to lose the magic of the game. And the magic of the game is the game itself. It’s not those 220 million spent for Neymar, or the 75 mil spent for Van Dijk. It’s to score 3 goals against Leicester without conceding 4. In my opinion, Liverpool is going to finish either 2nd or 3rd. Also I will challenge you to bet that we’re going to be crowned European Champions for the 6th time. I will write another time about it. I’m not certain, but I’m certain that it pays well to bet on it and I’m certain Liverpool has a chance to do it.

P.S. I want everyone that reads this to watch the french movie “Ares”. You are going to understand how football and sports in general are about to become in a few years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=lgiYUC5tj4I