The Liverpool Thread

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Yanno’ its funny. City excepted, there’s normally only 4 games every season I’m never confident about going in and I’m always nervous right through until the final whistle. Everton and Utd. Purely down to the rivalry and ourselves being the biggest scalp for both those clubs. Form completely goes out of the window and they are the preverbal Derby Cup Finals. Even under Jurgen, when we’ve consistently been one of the top two sides in the World, and one of the best in the entire history of the game, whilst our two great rivals have been utter S, I’ve never felt confident playing them. Probably goes back to the ‘70’s and ‘80’s when we were all encompassing dominant. Yet rarely beat Utd in particular in the head-to-heads.

Yet now we’re in a transitional dip season, and Utd are riding the early manager bounce momentum to the max, with a trophy already bagged, I can’t remember feeling as confident going into a game against them. The same way as I couldn’t wait for the Derby last month and what a belter memorable night that turned out to be. 😍

All credit to Utd for the season they’ve had to press. Envy is a horrible human emotion, but man was I that last weekend when they experienced that glorious early Spring Wembley weekend out the LC Final. And I’d have given anything to still be playing in the FA Cup this week in the build up to Sunday rather than a routine PL win over Wolves. Thats all you want as a supporter. Moments and memories that last a life time.

I was curious to see what ten Hag would do outside the Ajax system in the summer and there’s no question he’s a proper coach. I mean the ridiculous comparisons to Guardiola and Klopp are just that. He’s nowhere near their level at this stage of his career. But Utd finally have a really good coach who has given them an identity again for the first time in a decade.

But when you watch them, it smacks a lot that they are still riding the manager bounce in terms of momentum and early confidence, thats grown as they’ve rolled, currently to have them in a position thats proper flattering to the actual talent they have on the pitch. And performances there in. Most everything has been going there way. From very favourable home cup draws through those bounces of a ball that determine games falling consistently for them of late. Full credit to ETH. He’s getting an average to good group playing WELL above themselves. The league reversal currently is far more a case of our horrendous, if natural, dip this year and consequently City’s by virtue of not having ourselves pushing them to ridiculous levels. You can see Arsenal really building something sustainable that could bridge the gap. But I’m just not getting that from Utd as to them being any sort of threat next year presuming ourselves and City return to our normal levels.

Roll on Sunday and a wild Anfield.

Can

Not

WAIT!!!!!
 
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Absolute gem who faces another major step in his development tomorrow at a wild Anfield in the biggest club game on the planet. Proper mad that our best midfielder is an inexperienced kid barely turned 18. Watching Utd against Barcelona the other week, the one player he screams of stylistically is Busquets. If he has a smidgeon of the career that all time great has had, both ourselves and Spain will be exceptionally blessed.

Talking of Utd, provided we take care of our own business tomorrow avvy, this has been a great Sat'day with Newcastle's return to normality continuing and Tottenham being Tottenham.

www.thetimes.co.uk

Stefan Bajcetic: Klopp tells me to show my confidence – he likes my intensity

Stefan Bajcetic was standing in a corridor near the tunnel at Anfield late on Wednesday evening, exhausted and bearing the battle scars of victory. A white sock
www.thetimes.co.uk www.thetimes.co.uk

Stefan Bajcetic: Klopp tells me to show my confidence – he likes my intensity

The 18-year-old midfielder has had a breakthrough season at Liverpool but is still living in digs and coming to terms with his new star status

Paul Joyce, Northern Football Correspondent
Friday March 03 2023, 5.00pm, The Times


Stefan Bajcetic was standing in a corridor near the tunnel at Anfield late on Wednesday evening, exhausted and bearing the battle scars of victory.

A white sock, visible under his right slider, was stained red by the blood drawn from the kicks the Spanish teenager received to his ankle during the win over Wolverhampton Wanderers. The glitz and glamour of the Premier League this was not.

For Bajcetic, however, that is very much the way of things. From the outside looking in, the expectation might have been that the midfielder’s emergence at Liverpool would immediately be accompanied by the trappings of stardom.

Yet when he eventually headed home, it was to the digs in which he has resided since signing from Celta Vigo in December 2020 rather than a plush bachelor pad. Away from the pitch, he retains a level of anonymity out of kilter with the promise evident in his performances.

“Do I get recognised? Not a lot, to be fair,” he says. “Sometimes it happens and it will be a ‘hi’ then a high five. I’m not really getting recognised that much just now. When I go out, I put a hat on!

“I think at the minute people know more my name than my face. Maybe when they see me, they know of me but they don’t recognise me.

“I live with house parents. I turned 18 five months ago and, before that, you cannot live alone. You have to go to house parents. Mum and Dad work. Will they be here [for the Manchester United game]? Probably not.”

The visit of Erik ten Hag’s side on Sunday will particularly resonate with Bajcetic. After all, he could have featured in the opposition ranks; United’s interest in signing him at the age of 16 is well documented.

Liverpool had been tipped off by their Spanish scout Kiko Espinar and, according to Bajcetic’s father, Srdan, pushed through the deal to prevent the teenager moving to a rival.

As well as United, Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Wolves and Everton had all chased Bajcetic, and Liverpool’s head of senior academy recruitment, Matt Newbury, led the way in sealing a transfer worth an initial £225,000.

With Brexit looming, and a change in the rules that would have prevented clubs from signing overseas players under the age of 18, a private jet was sent to bring Bajcetic, his mother and brother to Liverpool and to save time with paperwork before the deadline.

Covid-19 protocols then meant he spent six months away from his family and, given he spoke little English at the time (he is now fluent thanks to intensive lessons at the academy), that he thrived in that environment offers an insight into his humble personality.

It was, however, the decision of the Liverpool Under-18 coach Marc Bridge-Wilkinson to move him from centre back to central midfield that has accelerated Bajcetic’s progress, ensuring he caught the eye of Jürgen Klopp and now the Spain national team, who could fast-track him into their senior set-up. Bajcetic is also eligible for Serbia through his father, who is a coach at Celta C-Gran Peña.

For someone so young, it has been Bajcetic’s reading of the game and his ability to break up play and circulate possession that have given him an opportunity he has gleefully seized. However the midfield shake-up plays out in the summer, he will have a role.

“I’m just trying to help the team and at the same time, I’m trying to learn as well. I need to keep working hard.

“I want to stay here [in the team]. I’m smiling because I wasn’t expecting it to happen this quick or this early in my life. But I am taking it — 100 per cent, I’m taking it!

“He [Klopp] sees me every day in training and he tells me to show my confidence. He likes my intensity, I think. He wants me to be intense but calm with the ball.”

It is not just Klopp who is taken with Bajcetic. His poise was shown in the victory over Wolves when his goalkeeper, Alisson, pinged a difficult, knee-high pass to him, but Bajcetic still managed to turn away from Wolves’ João Moutinho and Pablo Sarabia on the edge of his own area.

Earlier, a recovery run and challenge which unceremoniously halted Matheus Nunes in his tracks carried shades of Steven Gerrard. Both instances drew thunderous applause from the stands.

“I lost the ball and, when I do that, I try to win it back as fast as I can. I run and I run,” he says. “When I lose the ball, I have to react as soon as I can.”

Still, the best barometer of his level is highlighted by the trust earned from his team-mates. That their fathers were team-mates at Celta in the 1990s meant there was already a link with Thiago Alcântara, who took him under his wing.

But it is a reminder of the standing ovation he received upon returning to the dressing room after scoring in the 3-1 win over Aston Villa on Boxing Day that leaves Bajcetic almost embarrassed.

“Yes, yes,” he replies sheepishly. “That’s right. They were so happy for me. It’s the same for everyone. If a new player scores, there is always a nice feeling for him and everyone supports you. It was good.

“It is always nice when these big players trust you. They give you the ball. When they are in a tough situation on the pitch, they look for you to help. They will give me the ball in a situation that is tough for me, but they believe in me.

“It gives me a lot of confidence, definitely. They are massive players. If they trust me, then it makes me feel tall. It makes me feel good, like I am a better player.

Since I came here, since I trained that first day, I have always talked to him [Thiago]. I’m Spanish, so I wanted to speak and he has been helping me a lot. He has been massive for me, to give me confidence. He introduced me to the other players and I am learning a lot from his game. It is all so good.”

The other education he has received proved more chastening.

It came at the hands of the 37-year-old Luka Modric and Real Madrid during the Spanish side’s 5-2 Champions League victory at Anfield last week, when every minor error appeared to be punished. In the long run, the experience can be crucial to his continued development.

“You played against one of the best midfielders in the last decade and of course you learn from them,” Bajcetic says.

The experience from a big game is important too. Modric was special. He is so very calm with the ball, he doesn’t feel pressure.

“If you press him, he knows everything that is around him. That impressed me a lot. Hopefully, one day, I can be close to him, but I don’t know!”

And so on to United, and a battle that will pit him against another of Europe’s elder statesmen in Casemiro. It is a fixture that will test Liverpool’s top-four aspirations against revitalised opponents, though Bajcetic is sure his decision to pick Merseyside over Manchester has proved the right one.

“It’s the English Clasico, no? It’s a massive game,” Bajcetic says.

“I’m at Liverpool now, I’m just focusing on that and I don’t want to talk about other clubs. But, yes, when I heard that Liverpool wanted to sign me, there was nobody else to decide on. This was the only one.”
 
Is he declared for Spain? If so, that's a shame, but totally understandable.
 
Vanjagl said:
Is he declared for Spain? If so, that's a shame, but totally understandable.
Click to expand...

I believe he’s currently being fast tracked up to Spains U21’s with a view to being part of this summers U21 Euros. So the chances of Serbia swaying him are slim I’m afraid mate.

But until he plays a full, competitive International …..

Mad to hear him talk. Spanish born, Bosnian-Serb roots, who grew up n Spain for the first 15 years of his life. And now speaks with a mad Spanish-Scouse accent. 🤣🤣🤣
 
That's is honestly amazing. Just imagine how much it goes through his head when he does his interviews. Needs to balance 3 different languages all the time.
 
I said after the real madrid game how disgraceful that performance was. They shut me right up.
 
Bujakaa92 said:
And Everton did not get a win. It is a ****** good day. Now lets hope our government election will go well also
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We hate the scab bastards from Nottingham with a passion ….. the boozer went OFF when Forest equalised. 🤣🤣🤣

To then hand Utd just about the most humiliating, disgraceful result in their entire storied history, to the only team they are arsed about ……

I think you’ll get that election result mate to round off a picture perfect Sunday.
 
From a few posts above …..


Yanno’ its funny. City excepted, there’s normally only 4 games every season I’m never confident about going in and I’m always nervous right through until the final whistle. Everton and Utd. Purely down to the rivalry and ourselves being the biggest scalp for both those clubs. Form completely goes out of the window and they are the preverbal Derby Cup Finals. Even under Jurgen, when we’ve consistently been one of the top two sides in the World, and one of the best in the entire history of the game, whilst our two great rivals have been utter S, I’ve never felt confident playing them. Probably goes back to the ‘70’s and ‘80’s when we were all encompassing dominant. Yet rarely beat Utd in particular in the head-to-heads.

Yet now we’re in a transitional dip season, and Utd are riding the early manager bounce momentum to the max, with a trophy already bagged, I can’t remember feeling as confident going into a game against them. The same way as I couldn’t wait for the Derby last month and what a belter memorable night that turned out to be. 😍

———————-

Just call Souey my on-air spokesman.😎😛

https://twitter.com/x/status/1632427573937336320
 
Stat of the day-

Everton have scored 7 goals all comps in 2023.

L’pool scored 7 in 45 minutes against Man United.
 
How has Gakpo been for you scouse watching from the stands? Feel like he is slowly but surely learning the role and his interchanging with Nunez on the left is a delight. Deceptively fast aswell and with the role Gakpo plays you want him involved in the game constantly. Less invisible and more Bobby like every game.
 
dilakh2 said:
How has Gakpo been for you scouse watching from the stands? Feel like he is slowly but surely learning the role and his interchanging with Nunez on the left is a delight. Deceptively fast aswell and with the role Gakpo plays you want him involved in the game constantly. Less invisible and more Bobby like every game.
Click to expand...

Palace aside, when the whole XI was off, I think he's been mightily impressive every game mate and like Diaz, but in a far more understated way given the context of our form/ season when he arrived, he's had a ridiculously good and fast transition to both a new league/ Country. And the complexities of getting down what we ask of our players within our system.

You look at it in context of his first 4 games, coming both into a side completely devoid of confidence, coming off the back of conceding 3 to Brentford and Brighton in abysmal displays, with Jurgen then tweaking things and putting him into a totally unfamiliar deep lying midfield role as he changed the base formation to make us more compact and stable at the back; and I thought there were real positive moments on display in all those games of the proper traits of a Klopp player.

And then when he got that goal in the Derby, it was like a massive weight had been lifted off his shoulders, his confidence went up a level, and he's been superb ever since. With another little tweak that has seen him given more licence to be fill Bobby's role to a T with each passing game. Which I didn't think would be possible given just how unique Bobby has been in completely redefining the # 9 role. To pick the complexities of that up, both in his on and off the ball work, SO fast, has been pretty stunning to see. And even more so being as we were sold on him being a LW.

He looks a top quality addition in that aesthetically pleasing, easy Dutch style. You can see why ten Hag wanted him so badly for United. Side note- That was the cherry on the top yesterday that the two players both ten Hag so coveted for Utd, and the two Utd fans have foolishly mocked, Darwin and Cody, reminded them what ridiculous talents both are.

Gakpo is another brilliant piece of business for me mate who adds to a terrific job over the past couple of years on completely rebuilding what was the best attacking three in World football. The timeless Mo aside, that's Darwin, Diaz, Jota and Gakpo all 26 or under. With terrific teenagers like Doak and Gordon already showing they belong at the highest level to augment that top 5.

You can defo see Jurgen playing at least 4 of them from the start in a lot of games as he's shown he's not afraid to do to give teams fits. Just injuries have deprived him of that on a regular basis.
 
The only thing that is worse than that defeat is one-celled idiots singing and mocking the victims again. How braindead do you need to be? How deep is that inbreed root?
 
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