Alan Shearer – The Empire of The Kop

‘Back to his best’ – Shearer says Liverpool tank who won 10 duels v Brentford is looking imperious

Liam Togher — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 20:31:13 +0000

Alan Shearer has said that Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk appears to be ‘back to his best’ as the Reds line up a potential Premier League title challenge this season.

The 32-year-old had a difficult 2022/23 campaign by his standards, as did Jurgen Klopp’s side as a whole, but the centre-back and his teammates look rejuvenated this season.

Speaking on The Rest is Football Podcast following the 3-0 win over Brentford on Sunday, the BBC pundit claimed that the Netherlands skipper is in imperious form ahead of the top-of-the-table clash against Manchester City straight after the international break.

Shearer said of Van Dijk: “He looked back to his best, he read the game very well. They are always going to score goals with the talent they have up top.”

The ex-Newcastle striker’s comments about the Liverpool captain are very similar to those made by Don Hutchison and Neil Mellor after the Brentford game, so the consensus appears to be that the 32-year-old is nearing the phenomenal levels he reached in his first couple of seasons at Anfield.

Van Dijk gave a masterful display on Sunday, with the statistics from that game backing up the widespread praise of his performances.

As per Sofascore, the Dutchman won an astounding 10 duels out of 12, completed 55 of his 62 passes (89% success rate), made three tackles, four clearances and two blocks and picked out a teammate with all 10 of his long passes.

His heroic goal-line clearance in the closing minutes against Brentford epitomised his display, with the skipper hell-bent on preserving a third successive Premier League clean sheet at Anfield for Liverpool.

A certain Erling Haaland is likely to provide Van Dijk with his toughest test of the campaign so far, but conversely, the 32-year-old could also prove to be the most imperious opponent the Man City striker has faced all season. What a duel that promises to be!

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Alan Shearer taken aback by what 26-year-old Liverpool ace did last night; every football fan will agree

Farrell Keeling — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 11:09:27 +0000

Alan Shearer appeared impressed with Luis Diaz’s strength of character after making himself available for Liverpool’s draw with Luton Town.

The Colombian international remarkably popped on late to supply a superb equaliser in extra time at Kenilworth Road.

“It was a really good header at the far post, good cross in and he climbed above the defender,” the former Newcastle United hitman spoke on The Rest is Football podcast.

“Might have taken a little deflection off the defender but good for him.

“I don’t know how he can get his head around to go out and play a game when he’s going through what he is.”

The former FC Porto attacker climbed highest for Harvey Elliott’s cross into the box, ensuring points were shared.

Jurgen Klopp put it best

It’s hard to focus purely on football when someone is going through such a terrifying ordeal.

Jurgen Klopp put it best in his post-match comments, noting the ‘real problem’ had not been sorted by Diaz’s heroics.

Alisson: “Football sometimes in dark moments can bring joy to people…” – (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

If it offered even the smallest distraction from the stress he and his family must be feeling – that’s worthwhile.

We’re just keeping our fingers crossed now that his father will be returned safely in the coming days.

EOTK Insider with Neil Jones: Andre ticks a box, Liverpool have a ‘real top player’ with Kevin De Bruyne gift, unfair treatment of Nunez and much more!

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‘I said at the time…’ – BBC pundit admits he got it wrong with his verdict on Virgil van Dijk

Liam Togher — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 08:38:48 +0000

Alan Shearer has held his hands up to have been proven wrong with his initial verdict on Liverpool’s acquisition of Virgil van Dijk in January 2018.

It’s now been nearly six years since the Reds paid £75m – then a world-record fee for a defender (BBC Sport) – to sign the Netherlands international from Southampton, with the transfer going on to be widely hailed as one of the greatest coups in LFC’s modern history.

Speaking on the BBC Match of the Day Top 10 Podcast, the Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer thought that the Merseysiders had paid over the odds at the time, a stance he’s now revised.

When Gary Lineker asked “That bring us on to Van Dijk, he’s given so much to Liverpool. What a signing from Southampton, wasn’t it?”, Shearer replied: “I think I said at the time that it was a lot of money for a centre-back. You can’t be right about everything, can you?”.

To be fair to the ex-Newcastle striker, a £75m transfer six years ago did represent a gamble from Liverpool, whose hierarchy realised that they needed to roll the dice in order to fix a hugely problematic position at the time.

Within 18 months, Van Dijk had repaid that fee with interest. In his first full season at Anfield (during which he played all but 35 minutes), the Reds conceded a miserly 22 Premier League goals – we’d shipped 28 by the time he made his top-flight debut for us just beyond the halfway point of the 2017/18 campaign.

In 2019 he scooped the PFA Player of the Year award and came second in the Ballon D’Or, while also winning the Champions League and famously going 50 league games without being dribbled past.

The effect that the Dutchman had on Liverpool’s defence was transformative, to put it mildly, and he’s now showing signs of getting back to near those levels following the serious injury which prematurely ended his 2020/21 season.

Shearer mightn’t have been the only one whose eyebrows were raised by how much the Reds paid for Van Dijk, but goodness the current captain has proven to be worth every last penny of that outlay, and more.

#Ep94 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones

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‘Klopp knew’ – Shearer left bemused by one decision during Liverpool’s derby victory over Everton

Max Rudd — Sun, 22 Oct 2023 15:00:06 +0000

Alan Shearer was left bemused as to why Ibou Konate did not receive a second yellow card against Everton yesterday.

With the scoreline at 0-0 and our No. 5 already on a booking, he was adjudged to have fouled Blues striker Beto just inside the Liverpool half.

Referee Craig Pawson awarded the visitors a free kick but did not show the Frenchman a second yellow card which would’ve evened things up following Ashley Young’s first half dismissal.

Analysing for BBC’s Match of the Day (via Liverpool Echo), he said: “Konate gets his first yellow card, an absolutely right decision, he knows exactly what he’s doing, a yellow card.

“But then, come on, what’s the difference to [James] Tarkowski? You can see he wipes him out, very, very fortunate.

“[Jurgen] Klopp knew that because he took him off right away, otherwise he would’ve been sent off.”

We have to admit that we were fortunate to remain with 10 men following Konate’s foul.

It wasn’t necessarily a bad foul, there was very minimal contact, but Pawson had booked James Tarkowski earlier in the game for a similar incident so the frustration for Everton fans will have been that there was a lack of consistency.

We’ve been on the end of some horrific officiating decisions recently, though, so it’s nice to see some decisions go our way for a change.

Jurgen Klopp was right to replace Konate with Joel Matip almost immediately because the former RB Leipzig man would’ve certainly been on his very last warning.

Anfield Annals: Jimmy McInnes; Liverpool defender to club secretary to suicide on the Kop

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‘Do me a favour’ – BBC pundit ridiculously hammers Liverpool player over valid recent complaint

Liam Togher — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 11:48:55 +0000

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk was given short shrift by Alan Shearer following his recent comments about modern elite footballers playing too many games.

The 32-year-old spoke out about the workload being piled on players at the highest level due to the expansion and creation of tournaments for both club and country, urging his fellow professionals to ‘contribute to a solution’ towards redressing the balance (The Mirror).

However, the Dutchman was shown no sympathy whatsoever by the BBC pundit, who argued that footballers in the current era have luxuries of which previous generations could only have dreamed.

When asked about Van Dijk’s comments, Shearer told The Rest Is Football podcast: “Nonsense. Nonsense. Players are playing too much football? What? I mean come on.

“I know you should never mention the money, but you’ve got bigger squads than ever, more substitutes than ever, getting paid more money than ever. You’ve got the best physios, the best technology, the best of everything. Do me a favour! Playing too much football? F***ing hell.”

It’s disappointing to see Shearer so volubly condemn Van Dijk over a fair grievance from the Liverpool captain.

Players with international commitments whose clubs also compete in Europe can routinely rack up more than 60 matches per year, being expected to perform to a high level under intense scrutiny while having comparatively meagre downtime.

For instance, there were numerous members of Jurgen Klopp’s squad (including the skipper) who played beyond the middle of June for their countries and had just three weeks off before reporting for pre-season training.

Say all you want about the wages that high-level footballers enjoy; that also brings with it an enormous physical and indeed mental burden, with both being amplified by expanding international tournaments and by the creation of ridiculous oddities such as a full-blown Club World Cup from 2025.

If players are being flogged to their limits, how can we expect them to deliver 10/10 performances every few days or avoid injuries? There comes a point where someone has to shout stop, and it’s telling that the call is coming from an elite player in Van Dijk.

Football’s governing bodies must listen when a prominent figure like the Liverpool captain is calling for a sensible balance to be restored, before a line is crossed in terms of burnout and a footballer’s health is compromised.

It doesn’t help when someone like Shearer – a high-profile player himself just one generation ago – is so strongly rebuking him for making a very valid point.

EOTK FPL Gameweek 8 Review : Isak or Alvarez the man to watch? Dominance in EOTK’s league, time to go big on Villa/Spurs/West Ham…

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BBC pundit ranks legendary Liverpool unit as greatest ever in the Premier League

Liam Togher — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 10:43:26 +0000

The Premier League’s record goalscorer has ranked a legendary Liverpool trio as the greatest front three in the division’s 31-year history.

Alan Shearer selected the triumvirate of Mo Salah, Bobby Firmino and Sadio Mane at the top of the pile when it came to three-pronged attacking units in the top flight.

The Newcastle legend was asked for his top 10 along with Gary Lineker and Micah Richards on the latest instalment of Match of the Day Top 10 [via GIVEMESPORT] when he went for the Anfield trio ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney at Manchester United.

His fellow BBC pundits both went with the Old Trafford attack as their greatest Premier League trio, selecting the famous Liverpool forward line of 2017-2022 in second place. All three had the early to mid 2000s Arsenal attack of Robert Pires, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp in third.

As with many such lists, this is a debate which’ll rage on elsewhere and cause inevitable uproar among many who partake in that particular discussion.

However, we certainly approve of Shearer’s selection, and the table below (which shows how many goals Salah, Firmino and Mane scored during their five years together at Liverpool) is a little reminder why:

Stats via Transfermarkt

That amounts to 245 in the Premier League (49 per season) and 338 in all competitions (67.6 average per season) between that legendary front three when they were teammates at Anfield.

It isn’t just the goal output which made them such a brilliant forward line, either. Firmino’s indefatigable work off the ball as a ‘false 9’ helped hugely to facilitate the more prolific Salah and Mane to gobble up goals, with the three of them working brilliantly in tandem.

The Egyptian is the last man standing at Liverpool among that iconic trio, but thankfully in Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo (all 26 or younger), Jurgen Klopp has plenty of firepower in place to ensure that the Reds should remain frighteningly potent for many years to come.

EOTK FPL Gameweek 8 Review : Isak or Alvarez the man to watch? Dominance in EOTK’s league, time to go big on Villa/Spurs/West Ham…

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Alan Shearer says one thing is stopping him from naming Liverpool title challengers

Farrell Keeling — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 07:08:42 +0000

Alan Shearer expressed his doubts over Liverpool’s credentials as title challengers this season after the Reds dropped points again in a Premier League fixture.

The former Newcastle striker pointed to the club’s leaky backline – which has, admittedly, shipped four goals in the last two top-flight games – as the main cause for concern.

“So far, Liverpool are right up there, but I am not convinced they will sustain a title challenge,” the BBC Sport pundit wrote for the broadcaster.

“Jurgen Klopp’s side are always going to score goals because of the attacking players that they have, but I still have my doubts about them defensively.

“The Reds are exciting to watch when they come forward but we saw again in their draw with Brighton that they concede too easily – there is something missing at the back.

“I know Ibrahima Konate will be back from injury soon, which will help, but teams seem to be able to play through them quite easily and they just don’t look solid enough.”

Regardless, the Merseysiders find themselves in fourth in the table and only three points off Tottenham at the summit.

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You could argue, too, that we have a genuine case to feel a little aggrieved at the fact we were denied a spot at the head of the table thanks to some inept officiating at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

To be completely fair to our backline, it’s hard to place the blame on a back four for Simon Adingra’s goal when Alexis Mac Allister loses possession as the last line of defence before the back four.

That’s not to place blame on the Argentinian, who is, of course, not playing in his natural position against a superb pressing team in Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton and Hove Albion.

You could make an argument about the defending of Solly March’s free-kick for Lewis Dunk’s equaliser but the simple fact of the matter is that it was a wonderful bit of play from the hosts that deserved to be rewarded.

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‘They’d bite’: Alan Shearer says Liverpool have a player who will be worth £150m in January

Farrell Keeling — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 06:29:20 +0000

Alan Shearer has suggested that Liverpool will ‘bite’ if they were to receive a £150m offer for Mo Salah this coming January.

It’s well-established that the Saudi top-flight has a great interest in bringing the Egyptian – arguably the biggest and most well-known Arabic player – to the Middle East.

“If they know they are coming back in, in January with a ridiculous offer, then they have time to find a replacement and again it depends where they are, I think. But £150m, I think they’d bite at £150m in January,” the former Newcastle United striker spoke on The Rest is Football podcast (as relayed by the Liverpool Echo).

That said, it remains to be seen whether the Reds’ resolve would indeed crumble at such an offer, especially when £100m rising to £150m in add-ons failed to do the trick in the prior window.

£150m in January? We can wait

Another goal scored in Europe on Thursday, this time coming off the bench, continues to illustrate Salah’s importance to this Liverpool squad and season.

Mo Salah scores Liverpool’s third goal in Austria – (Photo by Christian Hofer/Getty Images)

Whilst we appreciate that it’s not entirely out of the question the club finds a suitable long-term replacement in the winter window, it would seem the height of insanity to do away with a player that will most certainly be worth the same amount of money – if not more! – come the summer of 2024.

The difficulty is, of course, that Jurgen Klopp and Co, not to mention the fanbase as a whole, will rightly find it difficult to accept the departure of a Reds great still in their relative prime if he can keep up these performances even beyond the AFCON.

EOTK Insider with Neil Jones: Liverpool’s challenge before January transfer window, mentality monsters back? Reds player ‘hung out to dry’ and much more!

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Alan Shearer thinks Liverpool would ‘bite’ in January if ‘ridiculous offer’ is made for one player

Liam Togher — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 11:43:40 +0000

Alan Shearer believes that Liverpool would cash in on one key player in January if they were to receive a ‘ridiculous offer’ for him.

The first few days of September saw Saudi Pro League champions Al-Ittihad lodge a £150m bid for Mo Salah, but the Anfield hierarchy promptly rejected it and reiterated their not-for-sale stance on the Egyptian.

It’s now been almost a fortnight since the transfer window closed in the Middle East but the 31-year-old’s future continues to be widely discussed, and the Premier League’s record goalscorer thinks the Reds could blink during the winter if another sizeable offer comes their way.

Speaking on The Rest Is Football Podcast, Shearer said: “If you’re getting north of £150m for someone of that age… I get why it didn’t happen because they came in so late and wouldn’t have had time to get a replacement.

“But, if they know they’re coming back in January with a ridiculous offer then they’ve got time to find a replacement and again it depends on where they are I think. But I think they’d bite at £150m in January.”

In purely objective terms, it’d probably make perfect sense for Liverpool to accept £150m or more for Salah in January, given that he’d be into the final 18 months of his contract and will turn 32 next June.

However, to analyse it solely through that prism would be to ignore just what a special footballer he’s been ever since he joined the Reds six years ago, racking up 188 goals to become the club’s fifth-leading scorer of all time – more than the likes of Steven Gerrard, Robbie Fowler and Kenny Dalglish (lfchistory.net).

The Egyptian continues to make a massive difference for Jurgen Klopp’s team, too, contributing to at least one goal in his last 11 Premier League games either side of the summer and already claiming two goals and four assists in his first five matches of the current campaign (Transfermarkt).

The closure of the transfer window until January at least gives Liverpool time to line up potential replacements if Salah follows Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Bobby Firmino in being tempted to Saudi Arabia.

However, if the Egyptian keeps making an impact on the scoreboard in almost every game between now and then – and history suggests that he will – the Anfield hierarchy could once again tell prospective suitors to take their money and interest elsewhere.

EOTK Insider with Neil Jones: Liverpool’s challenge before January transfer window, mentality monsters back? Reds player ‘hung out to dry’ and much more!

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Alan Shearer says ‘criticism’ of Liverpool over failed summer move would’ve been ‘tough’ to take

Liam Togher — Mon, 18 Sep 2023 20:38:33 +0000

Alan Shearer has said that Liverpool shipped ‘criticism’ over their failure to sign Moises Caicedo during the summer transfer window.

On the eve of the Premier League season starting, the Reds had agreed a fee of £111m with Brighton to sign the Ecuador midfielder (BBC Sport), only for him to then opt for a £115m move to Chelsea instead (The Telegraph).

However, while the Blues have only accrued five points from as many top-flight matches so far, leaving them 14th in the table, Jurgen Klopp’s team sit third after four wins and a draw.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live Sport, Shearer said that Liverpool would’ve found it ‘tough’ to take losing out on the 21-year-old when he moved to Stamford Bridge, but feels that they’ll look at how they’ve since recovered from that blow as a real fillip.

The Premier League’s all-time record goalscorer stated: “It probably was a bit of a frustrating transfer window for them because two of their main targets they couldn’t get, with Caicedo going to Chelsea.

“It was a tough one for them to take because they also got a little bit of criticism for the way they went around it. So, to start the way they have done, then I think it’s another positive.”

When Caicedo snubbed Liverpool in favour of Chelsea, it would’ve come as a hammer blow to the Reds, who at the time had only made two signings in the summer transfer window and were about to face Mauricio Pochettino’s team in their Premier League opener.

However, with the two sides having sharply contrasting starts to the season and Klopp subsequently adding two other midfielders in Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch, we swiftly moved on from the disappointment of missing out on the Ecuadorian.

The £115m man has started just twice for the Blues since his big-money move last month (Transfermarkt), whereas Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai have been constants in the LFC midfield, with the latter looking especially impressive.

Those two were signed for less than what Caicedo cost Chelsea, and while it’s still too early in the midfielders’ respective careers at their new clubs to pass any definitive judgements, the initial signs are that Liverpool pulled off the much better business of the two.

Even if any criticism the Reds shipped at the time of the transfer was understandable considering the state of affairs in mid-August, it’s now starting to look like the Ecuadorian’s snub was a blessing in disguise.

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‘Difficult to find fault…’ – Alan Shearer wowed by 121-touch Liverpool colossus v Aston Villa

Liam Togher — Tue, 05 Sep 2023 10:01:11 +0000

Alan Shearer selected one Liverpool player in his latest Premier League Team of the Week who he felt had a near-faultless performance at the weekend.

The Reds eased to a 3-0 win over Aston Villa at Anfield, with Dominik Szoboszlai and Mo Salah finding the net either side of a Matty Cash own goal, but it was another member of Jurgen Klopp’s starting XI who was singled out for recognition by the division’s record goalscorer.

The 53-year-old named Joe Gomez in his top-flight Team of the Week (via premierleague.com), stating of the defender: “Difficult to find fault with anything he did. Another impressive display.”

The 26-year-old mightn’t have featured at all on Sunday if Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate had been available, but he certainly made the most of the opportunity handed to him by Klopp.

As per Sofascore, Gomez took more touches (121) and completed more passes (103) than any other Liverpool player against Villa, while only Salah could equal his tally of five duels won during a very impressive showing by the defender.

It wasn’t just Shearer who was raving about that performance either, with a number of journalists and pundits also highlighting the English centre-back’s contribution towards the Reds’ latest victory.

Szoboszlai can feel hard done by at being omitted from the 53-year-old’s Team of the Week, having scored his first goal for his new club in an eye-catching display.

However, the recognition for Gomez is very welcome and richly deserved, and the Londoner is making the strongest case possible to Klopp to keep him in the Liverpool starting XI even when Van Dijk and Konate return.

#Ep89 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones

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BBC pundit suggests Liverpool could sign ex-midfield target after Man City complete transfer

Farrell Keeling — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 10:53:40 +0000

Manchester City have yet to sign Matheus Nunes from Wolves this summer, though Alan Shearer suggested that a successful completion of said transfer could leave Liverpool free to land Kalvin Phillips.

The Sky Blues star was previously linked with an Anfield switch at a time when he was still plying his trade at Leeds United, with links reignited () amid the Reds’ ongoing search for midfield reinforcements.

“Do you think that because Man City are trying to sign [Matheus] Nunes from Wolves that means Kalvin Phillips is going to go somewhere possibly Liverpool?” the BBC pundit spoke on The Rest is Politics Podcast.

Shearer went on to add: “Only I mentioned that Micah [Richards] because you mentioned signings, I think that’s one that could happen if City get him from Wolves then that would free up Kalvin Phillips to go somewhere.”

Able to play in a holding midfield role, higher up the pitch and as a backup centre-half, the Merseysiders would most certainly be getting a multi-functional midfielder in the 27-year-old were they to take their reported interest in the player to another level.

That very much remains to be seen, of course, amid ongoing talks with Bayern Munich over Ryan Gravenberch, whilst one would imagine the likes of Manu Kone and Khephren Thuram are somewhat higher up on the shortlist.

Phillips to Liverpool? The Reds will have other targets…

Not that we’d be opposed to the move if our recruitment team were convinced by the value Phillips could offer on the pitch.

That’s not to suggest we wouldn’t have any concerns at all over such a transfer in light of the Englishman’s limited time on the pitch of late, having only played 593 minutes since the start of the 2022/23 campaign.

We’d back a world-class like Jurgen Klopp to make something of him, of course, if it came down to it.

#Ep88 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones

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Shearer left absolutely furious by one refereeing decision during Newcastle’s defeat to Liverpool

Max Rudd — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 18:33:21 +0000

Alan Shearer was left furious by one decision during Newcastle’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool at St. James’ Park earlier today.

Despite Jurgen Klopp’s side being a goal down and a man down when Darwin Nunez was introduced as a second half substitute, the Uruguayan struck twice late on to send the Anfield outfit back to Merseyside with all three points.

But it was a decision early on in the encounter when the score was still goalless which left ex-Newcastle striker and Premier League record goalscorer Shearer fuming.

consistency. If the first isn’t given then that’s a yellow . #NEWLIV

— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) August 27, 2023

Trent Alexander-Arnold was awarded a yellow card inside six minutes for throwing the ball away after appearing to be fouled by Anthony Gordon.

The Scouser then fouled the former Everton man just a few moments later with many inside the ground, especially the Newcastle coaching staff, expecting referee John Brooks to show our No. 66 a red card.

He instead decided to give Alexander-Arnold his final warning – much to the relief of the England international.

Shearer clearly felt the 24-year-old should’ve been dismissed!

#Ep85 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Jan Åge Fjørtoft on Wataru Endo

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(Video) Shearer and Lineker share strong opinions on Mac Allister’s Anfield red card

Peter Kenny Jones — Sun, 20 Aug 2023 06:57:22 +0000

Alexis Mac Allister’s home debut for Liverpool ended in disaster as he saw red for a clash with Ryan Christie and the incident has led to plenty of discussion, including on Match of the Day.

Alan Shearer said: “I think this is a terrible decision, I think this is an awful decision… there’s no force at all, I know [Mac Allister is] slightly high but he’s not going in with great force or great power to do [Ryan Christie].

“For [Mac Allister] now to miss three games because of that, then I think that’s extremely harsh. I didn’t think it was a red card at all and I was really surprised it wasn’t overturned or [the referee] was at least told to go to the screen – very, very harsh”.

Gary Lineker also commented: “This one I think should have been turned over… I think they’ll [the PGMOL] probably accept this one’s wrong but not wrong enough [to overturn the decision]”.

It’s clear that both men didn’t think it was fair that the Argentine will now miss three games for a rather innocuous tackle, with most expecting a VAR intervention that didn’t come.

Even though it seems clear that this was a mistake by the officials, because there was contact of sorts – we’re likely not to see any positive retrospective action on this incident.

You can watch Shearer and Lineker’s thoughts on the Mac Allister red card (from 16:20) via Match of the Day on the BBC iPlayer:

#Ep85 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Jan Åge Fjørtoft on Wataru Endo

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Alan Shearer suggests Trent’s been stealing the spotlight from Liverpool teammate

Farrell Keeling — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 18:29:47 +0000

Alan Shearer was keen to laud the efforts of Andy Robertson despite, in his words, ‘all the spotlight’ falling on his Liverpool teammate, Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The Scot got on the statsheet with a crucial assist for Diogo Jota as the Reds defeated a spirited Nottingham Forest outfit at Anfield.

“All the spotlight has been on [Trent] Alexander-Arnold but Robbo is back to his best form for Liverpool, setting up Diogo Jota’s second goal with another quality assist,” the former England international wrote in his Premier League Team of the Week column.

The result leaves the Merseysiders nine points behind Manchester United and Newcastle in fourth and third respectively with seven games left to go in the league season.

A sudden turnaround in form – one that fans will be hoping to see persist through to the end of the season if we’re to have any hope of nailing down any kind of European football next term – is thanks in large part to Jurgen Klopp’s decision to allow our No.66 the opportunity to showcase his talents centrally.

That being said, what Robertson has done throughout the season has perhaps gone under the radar at times, being one of the club’s more consistent performers in an otherwise drab campaign.

We still feel the former Hull City man has some work to do to acclimatise to a new system that urges a greater degree of balance with regard to his offensive and defensive duties but we’ve every confidence in him adapting to the manager’s new demands.

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