International week is over! Time to look forward to the weekend match…and the January transfer window, obviously.
Training ground taking shape
Looks like we’re definitely in our final months at Melwood—the redevelopment at Kirkby is coming along splendidly and Liverpool should be there for next season.
Today we have some pretty incredible (and exciting!) new images of the Kirkby site, the new building and the pitches.
There’s also some intriguing details released over the youth teams and first team, how they’ll work together…and where they won’t.
Definitely worth a close look, including a video.
Big end to international week
Take a bow, Gini Wijnaldum.
As if his recent strike record at international level hadn’t been impressive enough, he only went and banged in a hat-trick last night on his first-ever start as Netherlands captain, didn’t he?
Magnificent stuff and great to have him in such good form, as well as showing his undoubted leadership prowess—you can watch the goals right here.
Divock Origi and Harry Wilson headline four others involved on Tuesday, too.
News on site
Back at Melwood, meanwhile, attentions are turning toward the return of Premier League football, with the Reds facing Palace on Saturday.
- Klopp called up a massive host of youth players for training, perhaps with one eye on the League Cup quarter-final next month
- There is mixed news on the injured trio of Shaqiri, Salah and Robertson ahead of our weekend game, while Matip is still out too
- And ex-defender Jamie Carragher explains the approach the Reds will take to ensure a Premier League title remains the priority
Liverpool dominate ESPN awards
ESPN FC 100 is back for 2019 and our annual ranking of the best in men's football made one thing clear: Liverpool rule this year. https://t.co/KJMzsf0KGd pic.twitter.com/947DTAGQrH
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 20, 2019
Heads up: the Reds are really good. So good, in fact, that we’ve scooped another bunch of media awards—this time, the ESPN 100.
As you can probably guess, that’s their writers’ ranking of the top 100 players and managers in world football, broken down into groups of 10 in each position or role.
And the Reds take home a whole load of first-place finishes.
Jurgen Klopp, Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson all take top spot in their respective roles, while the likes of Mo Salah, Fabinho and Sadio Mane (and others!) all feature high in their areas of the pitch, too.
Quickfire LFC news
- The Reds are one of four clubs tracking £18m-rated goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir, according to his agent
- Spurs sacking Pochettino means Klopp is the fifth longest-serving manager now in the entirety of English football
- Gini has received praise for his anti-racism goal celebration as well as for his hat-trick
- And Shaq has a dream: winning the title with the Reds
Around the Prem
- Rafa Benitez says his feud with Jose Mourinho, a familar friction point in the Premier League during the mid-to-late 2000s, is over (FourFourTwo)
- Spurs are paying Mourinho double the salary which Pochettino earned…and which Klopp earns at Liverpool (Mail)
- Man United want to continue their much-vaunted focus on youth by signing ex-City striker Edin Dzeko, 33 (ESPN)
- Weekend opponents Crystal Palace have received a timely boost with the news that striker Christian Benteke wants to leave them in January (La Derniere Heure)
Stupid comparison of the day
There comes a time when all ageing folk simply find themselves out of touch with the way of the world, with the accepted way of talking, with the words and phrases they choose to use.
Today, that day came for Harry Redknapp.
Speaking on a radio show, the ex-Spurs boss suggested that Arsenal should take Mauricio Pochettino and the fans would love him as long as he won—suggesting anyone is fine as long as they win:
“If you go in there and start winning football matches, they would have taken Saddam Hussein in there when he was about, the fans don’t give a monkey’s! If you start winning every week, they’re singing ‘there’s only one Saddam’.”
Tweets of the day
see y’all soon? pic.twitter.com/KjB4uAnDTT
— Gini Wijnaldum (@GWijnaldum) November 20, 2019
Practised VAR offsides today, Hendo was off by a glove here ?? #notasbadasbeingoffbyanarmpit pic.twitter.com/II1EPYJzb2
— James Milner (@JamesMilner) November 19, 2019
What we’re reading
Obviously, we need a more in-depth look at the Spurs circus; this from the Athletic and a trio of writers discusses how Pochettino “sulked his way to the sack”.
Also, to close out the international break, BBC Sport have a wide-ranging discussion over whether Euro 2020 will be one of the most exciting tournaments of recent times.
Worth watching tonight
A game for those interested in Liverpool’s youth teams: our Premier League International Cup group contains Wolves, Athletic Club and Paris Saint-Germain, with the Reds’ U23s starting their games in December.
Tonight it’s Wolves and PSG meeting at 7pm.
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