Mentality Monsters

It's been a while since I've written a post about my team, the current World Club Cup Champions, Liverpool FC and I'm not sure why because there is so many reasons to talk about this team. The rival fans are fuming and using every conceivable excuse to convince themselves that our team isn't the greatest but are doing well because of forces that are out to doom their team. Since the introduction of VAR this season, one has to say it has it's ups and downs but as many articles on the topic have shown that there are a number of incorrect calls being made by the referee's of which VAR is making right. Yes Liverpool have had a helping hand with VAR but all of which were legitimate cases and no one can argue with that but the team have had it's fair share of bad luck with technology as this past weekends game against Southampton showed with Firmino being clearly fouled off the ball on the goal line but VAR chose not to allow a spot kick. 

But I'm not here to dwell on the naysayers but rather celebrate a team that has shown a desire like no other to always leave the pitch with nothing less than a win. Our only dropped points this season in the league came in the form of an away game to undoubtedly our biggest rivals, Manchester United, if we go on this amazing winning streak for the rest of the league, those in the Red part of Manchester will remind us of their great success of getting a point from us, such is how low that team has sunk. We've been there though, in the dark days, it was not easy and as fans of the club, we have suffered a lot but it's been oh so worth it because what we are witnessing now is extraordinary. Klopp labelled this team as "Mentality Monsters" last season in a game against Southampton where we fought back to win the game 3-1, this was shown again in our second leg defeat of Barcelona in the Champions League. The German has managed to inject this winning mentality into each of his players, where they know every time they put that shirt on, it's their duty to give 110%. 

The beauty of this football story is that the everything has worked in such harmony, with the clubs owners picking out Klopp, listening to his plans and vision, trusting him 100% and allowing him to take this club to the level we are now. We have taken average players and made them the best in their categories, not searched the world for the best players and pay exorbitant prices for them in order to build a team of greats. Yes Alisson and Virgil were two players that did cost us a lot but with the sale of Coutinho, it brought our net spend down a lot. While the team is sort of complete, you can't help but note Klopp wants to add little by little when the time is right to make sure this consistency is kept for years to come. The sneaky addition of Minamino is proof of this, while the Japanese international is still finding his feet in the English game, you know under the guidance of Klopp he will do well. 

One player that I've backed since the get go, a player who has been through the mill, had large amounts of hate thrown at him but he kept on grafting, kept on doing what he was asked and is now bearing the fruits of his work, that player is our captain, my captain, Jordan Henderson. I think the majority of the fans felt this expectation of a Steven Gerrard successor and Hendo didn't fit the bill. Lets face it, there never is going to be another Stevie G and making comparisons with Jordan isn't going to help the cause. While Jordan Henderson will be the first Liverpool Captain in 30 years to life the League Trophy, lets not try to shadow this mammoth achievement by bringing Stevie into this. Yes, I just said Jordan is going to the lift the trophy come May. I think the writing is on the wall, 22 points ahead of Man City in second place, with just 6 more wins needed from 13 remaining games, only something drastic could cause this team of mentality monsters to derail them from glory. I too was cautious the whole of December, waiting for that tricky January, a month which always made us wobble, get silly draws or loses, which usually pulls the breaks up on our title charge and has us rethinking what is going on, but this year? We just kept steam rolling on. 

It's the first time the English FA have implemented a winter break and judging by Klopp's reaction to pull the first team away for their break and not partake in the FA Cup replay against Shrewsbury (that worked out quite well by the way). It shows that the boss knows how much effort each individual is putting in and deserves this time off. The season isn't over though and the players will have that in the back of their head, they're so close to the finish line they can almost taste it, as much as their bodies are enjoying the relaxation period, their minds must be wanted to come back even stronger to complete the jobs. This team has tasted victory in the Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup and now they want more. Thanks to the Under 23's heroics the other night at Anfield, Liverpool are still in three competitions in the run in, with the FA Cup, Champions League and Premier League to go for. Knowing them, they will want all three and we as fans wouldn't expect anything less even if all we crave is that League title. Whatever it is, just sit back and enjoy the wonderful football this team of mentality monsters, that don't know the meaning of defeat is, play week in and week out. 

Monday Choon: Above & Beyond Acoustic - Sun & Moon (Live At The Hollywood Bowl)

Four years ago Above & Beyond, left their DJ booth and played a live acoustic session to a small crowd at Porchester Hall in London. The show was recorded and then uploaded to YouTube, I don't think they could imagine the type of attention it drew. With a full orchestra playing along to some of their classic trance tracks with live vocals left chills in the spines of many of their fans and made the hair on the back of you neck stand. Since then, people have been wondering if they would do it again, and last month they did. Above & Beyond Acoustic was back, this time playing at a much larger venue, the Hollywood Bowl. It's an open air amphitheater, keeping the trend from ABGT250 which they played at the Gorge Amphitheater. Today we bring you  one of the tracks from this years session, a cult classic from them, Sun & Moon. Enjoy. 

Silly Season is Over

As the door slammed shut on the summer transfer window last night, it brought much relief to many clubs out there who were trying their hardest to hold onto their star players. Over the years the game has changed and the money has escalated, I mean it's quite ridiculous in some cases. This transfer season saw the record price for a player being smash, previously it was held by Paul Pogba who's transfer from Juventus to Manchester United cost the English club a cool £89 million but a year later saw PSG come in to shatter that price by triggering a release clause in Neymar's contract with Barcelona to lure the Brazilian to the French side for a whopping £198 million! With clubs prepared to fork our insane amounts as those, it just blew the costs per players out of proportion. 

Smaller clubs who had players who gained interest from bigger clubs had exorbitant price tags slapped to them, just so the club could make a great profit from the sale but what that actually did in most cases was scare the prospective buyers away, ultimately ruining chances for the players. Then in certain instances you get players who wanted a change, and tried forcing moves but were unsuccessful. One case which is close to home is of Philippe Coutinho wanting to switch to Barcelona. Understandable it was a life long dream for him and I agree with the player that he tried to be reasonable and respectable about it with the club but when Liverpool didn't budge, he played the transfer request card which didn't go down well with the club nor the fans, thereafter faking injury to make matters worse. 

While we might be livid with the player and can't understand why he would want to move away from what seems like an exciting future for the club, we can't tell what his ambitions or aspirations are. Like Stevie Gerrard said in an interview, it might have been a dream for him to play for Barca as a kid and they could have threatened him and said this would be his one and only chance to join. So you can sort of understand the predicament he was facing. It's quick for supporters to get angry at situations like this but this where football teachings come into it, there is no player bigger than the club. For me, it was a tough pill to swallow when I heard it but if he doesn't want to stay, let him go. Virgil van Dijk faces a similar fate with Southampton but yet with just 2 hours to go in the window, both Coutinho and van Dijk still remain servants to their club, whether it be loyal ones remains to be seen. 

While there was plenty of drama, there still was a lot of sales going on, so who do you reckon did the best business in the Premier League? Many say City, getting their players in before or during preseason, they spent a lot, got in some quality players, prices on some of them remain questionable but at the same time you got to see how the market reacts. Chelsea made some clever purchases but would it be enough for them to defend their title? I personally don't think so but they should still be putting pressure on whoever is. Spurs, finishing second last year and still have a squad which is probably the same as last years may find things a bit different this season, as it is they haven't had the greatest first 3 games but I feel their lack of desire in the transfer market may come back to bite them. Arsenal? The less said the better, for them it's all about holding down the gates and making sure there isn't a max exodus. So far Oxlade-Chamberlain managed to break-out and sign for Liverpool. A signing which confused me a bit seeing that we didn't really need him but who am I to judge. 

I personally think the cleverest deals were done by Jose, he's a shrewde guy and gets what he wants. Signing Lukaku and Matic proved to be the last pieces in his jigsaw puzzle that is Manchester United. They have been unbelievable since the first kick of the ball this season and really look like the United of old, with Zlatan declaring himself fit again and rejoining the Red Devils for one more season for "unfinished business", who knows what this team who looked destined for 6th place again can achieve. My only concern if I was a United fan, is what happens if players get injured, what then? We saw how sides could frustrate United last season and we saw how United could frustrate teams by not wanting to play football in fear of losing. Overall, this Silly Season has been one that certainlly riled up emotions from many and most of us are glad to see its over so we can concentrate on the real matter at hand and that is the football!