Opinion
How Liverpool’s machine is tearing out the heart of Klopp’s team
Editor’s note: In this follow-up to his recent opinion piece on Mohamed Salah’s departure, Theo Dorus expands the argument to Liverpool’s wider post-Klopp direction. Liverpool’s data department should be the envy of football. It is staffed by physicists, mathematicians and astronomers, because the skills needed to build statistical models and predict outcomes from complex data are much the same whether tracking subatomic particles or football players. Dr Ian Graham, a Cambridge physicist, led the department from 2018 to 2022 and helped identify players who would define an era. When Graham left, Dr Will Spearman, a physics PhD from Harvard, took over as director of research. In April 2025, with Liverpool still chasing trophies, Michael Edwards and FSG pulled off what the Liverpool Echo call...
How Liverpool betrayed Mo Salah and forfeited its soul
Almost two years on from Jurgen Klopp’s departure, we may be witnessing the failure of a data-driven moneyball system, and Klopp himself may have foreshadowed it as far back as the 2021-22 Premier League season. On March 24, the ‘Egyptian King’, as our adoring fans call him, announced he was leaving Liverpool Football Club. Mohamed Salah will play his last game for the club this season, a year earlier than the deal he fought so hard to obtain. In a heartfelt address to fans, Salah said: “Leaving is never easy. You gave me the best time of my life. I will always be one of you. This club will always be my home. Because of all of you, I will never walk alone.” It is hard to believe this is how he imagined his departure. It was never meant to be this way. This feels like an abdication. It was ...
When good players don’t add up: Liverpool’s summer gamble risks becoming a headache
Liverpool’s 2–1 defeat to Crystal Palace was their first loss of the season, but the fallout went beyond three dropped points. In a WhatsApp group chat with a friend afterwards, the discussion turned to something bigger: how Jürgen Klopp once built Liverpool through slow, careful evolution, while Arne Slot’s reign — now in its second season — has veered into revolution. That contrast is what got me thinking about whether Liverpool’s summer signings, for all their quality, have unsettled the balance and the blueprint that once made the club great. 👉 For team context, see our Liverpool lineup vs Crystal Palace team news. From Klopp’s evolution to Slot’s revolution For much of Klopp’s tenure, Liverpool’s transfer policy was patient, deliberate, and smart. Young prospects were bought, develope...
Rating Liverpool’s front 3 so far in 2019-20
Mohamed Salah Mohamed Salah’s debut season was so ground breaking that it was made almost impossible to improve upon in the seasons that followed with the Egyptian netting 32 goals in 36 appearances – earning him his first Golden Boot and establishing Liverpool’s new signing as one of the best in world football on his return to the Premier League. And although this has been the case, the following season was nothing short of world class either as he picked up a second Golden Boot – this time netting 22 goals in 38 appearances in the Premier League. His first season will live long in the memory of many Liverpool fans though – one which mirrored Luis Suarez’s final year with the reds. I will never forget his audacious chip over Ederson to knock Manchester City o...
Liverpool’s New Transfers – How Should They Line Up?
Liverpool have signed 5 players with a sixth (Southampton’s Nathaniel Clyne) seemingly just days away after a £12m fee has been agreed. Milner (free), Bogdan (free), Ings (fee to be decided by tribunal but likely to be around £8m), Gomez (£3.5m) and Firmino (believed to be around £22m but rising to £28m with add-ons) have or at least will sign for us on July 1st when the Transfer Window officially opens. Firmino is yet to have his medical due to Copa America commitments but issues over his work permit are resolved and the FA have already stated there is no reason why he won’t get one. Liverpool will also lose the services of Gerrard, Johnson and Brad Jones as well as a couple of youth players that have been let go too. Aspas has been sold for a fee believed to be £5m to Sevilla...
Is Mario Balotelli a Risky Signing?
Personally I think he is maybe a little more risk than any other signing because of his history. That being said, is he any more of a risk than if we kept Suarez? Had we not sold Suarez, we would not be benefiting from his undoubted ability until the end of October and no guarantee he wouldn’t have further behavioural issues in the future. We had been linked with Falcao who suffered a big injury. He has not really recovered from this it seems and I think it would be a bigger and more costly risk signing him for a year on loan. Another point is that Mario is not coming into Liverpool as the ‘number 1’ striker. Sturridge is still our main striker but there is a ‘risk’ he will be out for a number of games due to ‘injury’ particularly if we didn’...
The Size of our Squad
Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool seem to be coming in for a bit of criticism for the size of his squad and number of players bought so far during the summer transfer window. We seem to be getting a lot of comparisons with Tottenham too who bought in a lot of players with the money they got from selling Gareth Bale to Real Madrid. The only similarity I see though is that both Spurs and Liverpool have sold one of its biggest stars for a lot of money. Spurs Sold Gareth Bale quite late on in the Transfer Window and literally panic bought a lot of players in a very short time however Liverpool sold Suarez much earlier and have a lot more time to pick and choose suitable players to enhance their squad. Its no secret that Liverpool had a small squad for last season and certainly lacked quality subst...