Liverpool Klopp Episode 30: Don't Let Me Down

Things have been a bit crazy the past few days. But am finally awake this Sunday morning in the PST and am heartened to see LFC leading by 2 over Aston Villa.

Of course, last week, watched them collapse in the final 10 minutes to Sunderland!

Don't let the traveling KOP down!

Oh my, in the last handful of minutes, have seen Liverpool blast in 2 goals!

Ooof for the Villa fans as the Reds have netted their 5th goal!

Wonder how Roger Bennet of Men in Blazers will describe this performance in the next MIB podcast? One of his favorite ways of describing LFC's high possession, lots of shots, but usually zero goals, is that Liverpool came out "like a manic labradoodle going off leash at the park."

image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labradoodle#/media/File:Labradoodle_Brown.jpg

Wow, LFC just got goal 6 off a corner with the finish by Toure!

Good to see Coutinho back in there. We saw what a difference he makes in the mid-week FA Cup match. And today, we can see him causing problems. Then there is seeing Sturridge start! He got the opening goal at the 16' mark. Fantastic to see Origi come in as a sub (62') for Sturridge and immediately make an impact with a goal at 63'.

Certainly, when the season started, the FSG brain trust and then coach Brendan Rodgers had hoped the team that was fielded today would have been in operation soon after the start of the EPL fixture list. A great "what if." But things have unfolded in the way they have and finally 25/38th into the season, LFC has got many of the pieces onto the board they planned on having. Probably too late to make run at the top 4 but they could have some victories ahead? Let's not go crazy as this was Aston Villa.

It is a final: 6-0! NBCSN announcer ends the game by calling it the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre.

Can LFC make a run up the EPL list to finish perhaps a respectable sixth or seventh?

How about some silverware in the League Cup?

Maybe a push to the final four in the Europa Cup?

Go Liverpool!

Liverpool Klopp Episode 29: Independence Day

After that collapse against Sunderland on Saturday, Liverpool needs to have a gut check performance and deliver a knock-out blow to West Ham's FA Cup aspirations.

LFC fans would love to see Sturridge, Coutinho, and Origi back in. However, since they are recovering from injury, it is unlikely all three would get in and Klopp has indicated he will stick with the younger lineup he has used thus far in the FA Cup. Allen, Brannigan, and Lovren do not appear likely to be ready for the match on Tuesday.

So here we go with some guesses: Mignolet, Clyne, Sakho, Caulker, Flanagan, Lucas, Stewart, Ojo, Benteke, Sturridge, Teixeira.

Here is the XI:

Confirmed #LFC team to face @whufc_official: Mignolet, Flanagan, Lucas, Ilori, Smith, Stewart, Chirivella, Teixeira, Coutinho, Ibe, Benteke.

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 9, 2016

Here are the subs:

Confirmed #LFC substitutes against @whufc_official: Ward, Enrique, Milner, Henderson, Sturridge, Origi, Randall.

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 9, 2016

TV coverage in the USA at FS1. Internet radio at LiverpoolFC.

1-1 as time runs down on regular time. West Ham got at the opening goal just before half-time at 45. Coutinho equalized at 48. Sturridge and Origi in at 59 to substitute for Coutinho and Teixeira. A quick scan of the UK Guardian minute-by-minute suggest the match has been evenly fought. The stats say West Ham has had more shots but Liverpool has had more possession.

90' Corner for West Ham. Whew. LFC fends it off. 8' of stoppage time. Both sides getting some threats in this long stoppage time. But West Ham seems to be getting the better of it. LFC hang on to survive to extra time.

120 + 1' Heartbreak hotel. On a free kick West Ham takes a 2-1 lead. LFC had so many chances.

It's a final West Ham advances in the FA Cup.

New Hampshire Primary Predictions

On the Democratic side, Sanders wins this one. The open question is how big a victory. How about this for a guess:
Sanders 56
Clinton 44

Actual
Sanders 60 Clinton 38

This will be Sanders' high-water mark as Iowa and New Hampshire are the most fertile grounds for Sanders. Mostly likely, going forward Clinton will start racking up clear cut wins.

What could happen to shift the race?

(1) Those "d@m# emails." Even though Sanders won't talk about them, reporters do and probably enough voters do to keep the issue alive. Thus, if the FBI were to declare there was wrongdoing, or some other "shoe drops," it will further erode confidence in Clinton's denials.

(2) Perhaps, those high-priced Clinton "Wall Street" speeches may get leaked in some fashion (remember the Romney 47% remark?) thus further emboldening the Sanders side.

(3) If Sanders' victory gets close to the 20% mark (I forecast only a 12% win), then the rebellion in the party is far stronger than anyone has expected. Nevada and South Carolina will be the next tests before the mega-primaries of March. If the rebellion is real, a 20% win in NH demonstrates it, then it will continue to show up in stronger than expected showings in states that are not natural Sanders territory. 

UPDATE: Indeed, there is now panic in Team Clinton and the Democratic establishment as Sanders had a 22% victory. The rebellion appears to be for real. The next key data point for the rebel forces of Sanders is whether somebody replicates the Quinnipiac poll (2/2-2/4) that shows close national numbers. 

Meanwhile, on the Republican side, it remains a total mess. The post-Iowa controveries and pre-New Hampshire debate muddied the waters taking the bounce out of the Cruz win and the stronger than expected finish by Rubio.

My impressions:

Cruz numbers will slip in New Hampshire as the Iowa Carson controversy will put a dent in his support on top of the fact that NH wasn't friendly territory for Cruz anyway. If he were to slip to 5th, his team should be worried.

UPDATE: The TedHeads are happy with a third place finish.

Trump will probably hang on to win but he will continue to under-perform his polling numbers. If he were to lose, S.S. Trump is taking on water and that would be huge!

UPDATE: The Trump-petters are happy with their "yuuge" victory.

Rubio will take a hit from Saturday's debate but probably not as big as the "Beltway Media" thinks. He could have distanced himself from the others but as it stands I think he barely hangs onto the number two spot in NH. It would not be surprising if he slips to third. If he were to slip to 5th, his team should be worried.

UPDATE: Team Rubio is worried as the debate gaffe dragged them from a likely 2nd place finish down to 5th place. Shaking the too young, too inexperienced, not-ready-for-prime time image may prove difficult. I clearly underestimated the impact of that sequence of unfortunate events on the debate stage. Gov. Perry never recovered from his stumble in 2012. Dan Quayle was never taken seriously again after 1988 despite serving four years as vice-president. Will see if Rubio can make a joke out of it at the next debate and hit it out of the park to resuscitate his now on-life support campaign. 

Kasich would like to win the "governor's sub-primary" against Bush and Christie. If he gets less than 10%, I don't see how he can stay in the race. Ohio isn't until March 15 so he has to show some stronger support somewhere before Ohio and New Hampshire is his best venue for that. I think he accomplishes this. If he were to slip to 5th, his team should be worried.

UPDATE: For the best collection of pundits giving their viewpoints, I check out the Hugh Hewitt radio show. Seems like many of the experts interviewed on the show believe Kasich is going to sneak into a second place finish. Certainly, in the professional political watching class, the Rubio stumbles on Saturday weigh heavily. I am skeptical that this view is as strongly held by the average voter even voters as tuned in a New Hampshire voters. We shall see tonight!

UPDATE: The Kasich campaign has to be happy with the clear cut silver medal finish. The problem is now scaling up for the multi-state races in March and going into regions of the USA where his more centrist views will not play as well.

Bush would like to win the "governor's sub-primary" against Kasich and Christie. If he gets less than 10%, I don't see how he can stay in the race. Florida isn't until March 15 so he has to show some stronger support somewhere before Florida. However, I think he gets enough to keep going even if he finishes 5th as long as it is more than 10% in a tightly clustered two-fifth place candidate totals. A distant 5th is a different story and would be trouble.

UPDATE: A third place finish would have been better but a fourth place finish is okay. 

Christie knocked Rubio down a peg or two but it probably won't revive his campaign enough. If he gets less than 10%, I don't see how he can stay in the race. New Jersey isn't until June and NJ neighboring states aren't until April. I think it is too little too late.

UPDATE: Stick a fork in 'em, he is done.

Trump 27%
Rubio 16%
Kasich 15%
Cruz 14%
Bush 13%

Actual
Trump 35%
Kasich 16%
Cruz 12%
Bush 11%
Rubio 11%

Each caucus/primary is the political equivalent of the Survivor Tribal Council where somebody gets voted off the campaign trail. Iowa ended previous Iowa winners the efforts of Santorum and Huckabee, and the Paul campaign as well. New Hampshire is likely to end Christie's bid. There will be calls for Fiorina and Carson to step out of the race. The problem is that the Kasich/Bush/Rubio three-headed monster clears a path for Trump. 

Liverpool Klopp Episode 28: We Can Work It Out

"Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend."

Tough times for Liverpudlians.

Fan favorite Jon Flanagan is out again with more knee surgery.....
UPDATE: OPPS! My bad, as that link is an old one back to 2015 that is still visible on the Echo web page. Flanagan is fine and is on the substitutes bench for today's match!

A supporter group is calling for a fan walkout at the 77 minute mark of Saturday's match against Sunderland at Anfield to protest ticket prices.....

Center back Skrtel has an injury setback.....

Rumors of Sturridge wanting to leave the club in the summer.....
UPDATE: He is on the bench today!

January transfer window target Alex Teixeira appears to have chosen the bigger paycheck of the Chinese league over LFC.......

Criticism of the club's performance swirls around the team amidst the congested fixture schedule.....

Sunderland appears to be relegation bound and should be an easy win for Liverpool. But then again, Newcastle appear relegation bound and they thrashed the Reds 2-0. Thus, this game can't be mailed in by Klopp's crew as the club is in disarray.

With the short rest from last Tuesday match against LCFC and the FA Cup replay coming up next Tuesday, Coach Klopp is likely going to have to juggle the line-up.

Starting XI thoughts

I think the 2-0 loss to LCFC can't be placed entirely on the goalkeeper and the defense so I think Mignolet-Clyne-Lovren-Sakho-Moreno will be on the line-up card. Vardy is an exceptional talent and sometimes there isn't much you can do about that.

However, LFC clearly didn't do much on the offensive end despite possession and shots. Thus, I think there will be some changes there. Henderson has gamely fought through pain and his being the first substitution in the last two games suggest he may need a break so time to put Allen in for him to share defensive midfield duties with Lucas. Firmino looks lost and may need a break. Dare we say it, Benteke to start and lead the line. Running behind him Can, Milner, and Ibe.

UPDATE: Klopp is in the hospital for a possible appendicitis. Wishing him a speedy recovery.

Henderson is still in but Allen is in for Lucas. Firmino remains leading the line with Benteke on the bench. Lallana is in and Ibe is on the substitutes list.

The #LFC starting line-up and substitutes to face @SunderlandAFC in full... pic.twitter.com/RTOIrhcYiB

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 6, 2016

UPDATE: Ugh. Lovren out at 13' with injury. Toure is now in.

Nice goal last night by Jozy Altidore in the friendly between USA and Canada. Would love to see Liverpool get a goal like this once in a while. But at this point, ANY goal would be welcome from LFC! The Reds haven't scored since January 23 when they got 5 against Norwich.



USA TV coverage on USA. Internet radio on TalkSport and LiverpoolFC.

MCFC 1 LCFC 3! Wow, the Foxes take down Man City at the Man City's home grounds!

UPDATE: Argh! Another injury, Allen is off in first half stoppage time. Ibe is sent in. 0-0 so far as Sunderland is parking the bus. LFC has dominated possession, gotten some shots but as usual have botched good opportunities.

update: Firmino's goal was an Altidore like header off a cross.

UPDATE: It is a final. LFC snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. Cruising with a 2-0 lead, they surrender two goals with the last one at the 82 and 89 minute mark. The EPL scriptwriters twist the knife into the LFC fans who stuck to the end instead of joining the walkout to protest the new price structure.

LA Galaxy Starting XI and Supporting Cast?

Okay, what is the LA Galaxy line-up likely to look like in the 2016 season?

Defense
Starters
Rogers
DeLaGarza
Cole and Van Damme - rumored to be in negotiation with these 2 30+ year old European players
UPDATE: Van Damme has been signed 1/26
Cole has been signed 1/27
Reserves
Leonardo
Gargan
Romney

Midfield/Forwards
Starters
Dos Santos
Gerrard
Lletget
De Jong - rumored to be in negotiation with this 30+ year old European player
UPDATE: De Jong officially signed 2/3
Reserves
Larentowicz - LAG Confidential have doubts about the wisdom of this signing. I wonder if he might get some back four time in addition to being slotted in as a defensive midfielder?
Husidic
Garcia

Forwards/Midfield
Starters
Keane
Zardes
Reserves
Gordon
Magee - experienced player for squad rotation
Villareal
Boateng - Since AEG has eyes and ears in Sweden they picked up this younger player for further development

Goalie
Starter
Kennedy
Reserve
Rowe

My feeling is that at most they will sign two of the three (Cole, Van Damme, and De Jong) and maybe only one. For a deeper dive into how all these selections could impact the line-up see LAG Confidential for their thorough analysis and thoughts.

UPDATE: What do LA Galaxy fans think? The starting line-up could contain FIVE over-30 European players (Cole, Van Damme, Gerrard, De Jong, and Keane). Perhaps, they are going "all-in" to try to win an MLS Cup on the final (?) year of Gerrard and Keane with LA?

UPDATE: I wondered how the LA Galaxy could fit 3 euro-stars into their line-up! The 3DP spots are filled (Keane, Dos Santos, Gerrard). Thus, how will they fit these 3 under the salary cap? Well, some creative salary structuring according to Baxter at the LAT.

Liverpool Klopp Episode 27: Thunderball

The crowded fixture schedule takes Liverpool to King Power Stadium to take on League leading Leicester City. Should be quite the match up! Seems like forever that they last met, but it was only just a month ago on Boxing Day that LFC stunned the Foxes with a 1-0 win. In that match, Origi got injured and has been out ever since. Benteke was subbed in and he got the game winner in the second half.

Klopp seems to have a fairly fixed "A" team. Thus, we should be seeing those players against Leicester. The open questions:
Does Lovren, who played a full 90 against West Ham, start alongside Sakho in place of Toure?
Has Smith earned a shot at displacing Moreno?
Is Henderson ready to go after having to be taken out early against Stoke?

I think Lovren is in if there is no issues with his recovery on Sunday/Monday.
Moreno stays in the starting XI.
Henderson is in if there is no issues with his recovery from the Stoke match though Allen would be an easy choice to plug in if he needs a little more rest.

What do you think?

UPDATE: According to UK Guardian, good news for LFC fans as Henderson appears ready to go for the battle against the Foxes. Also, some of the injury list players (Daniel Sturridge, Divock Origi, Philippe Coutinho and Martin Skrtel) are returning to training and will soon be available for selection. A draw or upset win on Tuesday against LCFC combined with potentially four of the senior team back in the next week or two, LFC could make a push for a top-4 finish. And certainly, having more players to select from will help in the busy fixtures in the EPL, League Cup, FA Cup, and Europa Cup. Rodgers was not able to win any silverware during his tenure. Perhaps, LFC under Klopp might break the drought somewhere somehow!

LCFC does not have European competition to clog their schedule. They have been eliminated in the League Cup. They are still alive in the FA Cup. Thus, they are likely to have the fresher team. Meanwhile, LFC has been playing so many matches with an injury thinned roster. Will see how LFC do tonight. There have been some matches where LFC came out flat and got clobbered. It is entirely possible that LCFC will run them off the field with their counter-attacks. But Klopp's side has had its share of stunning victories when people have least expected it. One of the biggest was defeating the Foxes 1-0 in December.

Go Liverpool!

USA TV coverage at NBCSN. Internet radio through LiverpoolFC.com and TalkSport.

LFC XI and substitutes announced (it is the anticipated line-up):

The #LFC starting line-up and substitutes to face @LCFC... pic.twitter.com/cTnXA0RGm0

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 2, 2016

ESPN Ben Jacobs says LCFC 2 LFC 0 while Steven Kelly says LCFC 2 LFC 3.

In my blog, I have taken to the custom of only predicting the XI and not the results. The EPL scriptwriters have been all over the place with Liverpool. Who would have guessed they would overwhelm Man City on the road (1-4) and squeak past LCFC 1-0? And likewise, they have been shutout by West Ham twice (0-3, 2-0) and mauled by Newcastle (2-0) and Watford (3-0).

LCFC 2 LFC 0.  Too much Vardy. LFC had possession, had shots, but they don't have a game changing player like Vardy. Well deserved win for the Foxes. Klopp and company need to win the upcoming EPL matches against the bottom table teams to keep their faint hopes for European soccer and extraordinary faint hopes for at top-4 finish alive. In any case, more disappointments and the fan base will go crazy and will need to be talked off the ledge as it was during the Rodger's tenure.

As for the rest of February, a mixed slew of FA Cup replay, League Cup final, and Europa league away/home matches.

Here is the Echo's player ratings.
Here is the ESPNFC player ratings.

Will there be some line-up changes for the match against Sunderland?

Iowa Forecast

Finally. Actual. Voting.

Anyway, time to take a guess at the outcome!

Sanders 47 Clinton 46.
ACTUAL: Clinton 50 Sanders 50

Trump 26 Cruz 25 Rubio 20.
ACTUAL: Cruz 28 Trump 24 Rubio 23

Will the Sanders people turn out?

It could be an Obama-style upset as in 2008. Or it could be a Dean-like fade out as in 2004. I'm thinking Sanders pulls it off and it is those "d@m& emails" that causes a small number of Clinton supporters to either go to Sanders or O'Malley.
ACTUAL: Far closer than the Clinton people wanted to see.

Will the Trump people turn out?

I don't think so. But Cruz clearly stalled out and will fall short of catching Trump. Rubio gains ground at both their expense but not enough to overtake them.
ACTUAL: Turnout in the GOP Caucus was up across the board with nearly 187,000 voters a huge increase over 2012

The mystery is who finishes fourth?

Will Carson loyalists hang on to get him fourth place? Will Ron Paul's supporters back Rand Paul to get him to fourth place? Will the Bush name be enough to get a fourth place? My guess that the finish is Carson/Paul/Bush but all very close together around 5%.
ACTUAL: Carson 9% Paul 5% Bush 3% everyone else got 2% or less.

Now it is onto New Hampshire!