[Mikus LFC]

Social media has exacerbated things, particularly tribal hatred creating an ugly pantomime environment. The booing of Harry Maguire by some England fans is a prime example. I just could never see other national teams fans doing that to one of their players – particularly when they were struggling for form anyway.

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[Mikus LFC]

Nil, I’m sure the England players have played a lot more football this season than other countries maybe have, so I can give the players some leeway at this moment after a long season. However, even in normal times, England always lack something that is possessed by their continental neighbours – as I say, players of Spain, Germany, Italy & France all earn big bucks yet their countries still continue to win tournaments. We don’t. For me England lack that togetherness. It has got a bit better in recent years after the almost debacle and hype of the so called generation. But even so, there’s still something missing there.

Much was made of reaching the Euro final last year, but was it not just that Southgate simply made England difficult to beat. I don’t think they were particularly convincing in the tournament and in the final although they went out on penalties, Italy dominated much of the match and looked a different class to them.

I just think our culture revolves around the Premier league and hypes up our individual players. And many influential social media accounts now lament and mock the annoyance of international breaks during the season. Until all that stops, we’ll continue to fall.

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[Mikus LFC]

Added to that, even if you look at countries with more wealthy footballers more similar to our own – Germany, France, Spain & Italy – all have won major trophies in recent memory. We have not. There’s got be a cultural reason there. Are we simply more of an individualistic culture? As I said above, given how we worship individuals/celebrities, I’d say there’s something in that.

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[Mikus LFC]

As always with England, the issues are quite often cultural ones as to why they always flatter to deceive on the international stage. Indeed just looking at the salaries of some of those Hungary players – I think some of them seem to earn in a year what some England players earn in a week. The Hungarian players I suspect very much know where they’ve come from and never take anything for granted. We on the other hand worship our own players before they’ve even barely made a mark on the game, whilst paying them fortunes. It would be nice to see some football journalists really go at players for such performances but they best not upset them hey.

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[Mikus LFC]

Think that’s another Jota Brian…thankfully.

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[Mikus LFC]

Mourinho to PSG the latest one doing the rounds.

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[Mikus LFC]

Welcome back Nine, wishing you a good continued recovery.

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[Mikus LFC]

Indeed Adlab.

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[Mikus LFC]

Regarding the money in the game, the issue I have with the super rich clubs are the inflatory effect they’re having on player wages. Added to that the competitive effect now on all clubs who are desperate to stay ahead of their rivals. And we have to accept some of this impetus comes from the fans who demand big players. So wages are going to keep going through the roof. I think a salary cap has been called for by some, but whilst the fans bemoan the price of football, they are ultimately I think more interested in signing big players to get one up on their rivals, so they’ll keep sustaining all this. I also think social media has played a part over recent decades and I think its rewired peoples brains to become addicted to waiting for the next big signing for bragging rights.

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[Mikus LFC]

I like Mane Sean, but I’m just not sure whether he can be deemed world class. I hold the bar very high for such a category and think you have to be able to do things few others can. To be fair to that front 3, I think one of the problems over recent years is the amount of games they’ve had to play. They’re getting absolutely used to the nth degree at both club and international level so I think their form has been fluctuating with that. Diaz has been a very exciting signing but he needs perfecting so hopefully a pre season with Klopp will help. Personally I think we need signings in midfield and up top.

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[Mikus LFC]

I have to agree Ed about Salah. His stats are outstanding but I think he lacks that big game influence to really establish himself as an all time great. For example, Drogba scored 9 goals I think in 10 finals whereas Salah I think has scored 1 goal in 9 finals.

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[Mikus LFC]

Thing is though Sean, many of the players we bought were not world class when we bought them. You don’t have to fill your team with world class players, it’s ultimately about how well and effectively they adopt the manager’s instructions and how hard and well they work collectively, which is why the *manager* is always the most important figure at the club and you see how other teams try to blow money with lesser managers in charge to try and compensate and it’s often disastrous.

I would actually argue our front 3 *unit* of Firmino, Salah & Mane were world class but individually, I’m not sure all of them were. For me our world class players are Trent, Alisson, Van Dijk, and Salah. So I think you only need so many such players to become a world class side. You can be like City and spend fortunes on every position but I don’t actually think it’s necessary and I think you hit a limit of how much difference it makes to the overall effectiveness of the team. So for me it’s not so much money where we lack vs City, it’s philosophy in attack where Pep keeps getting one over us – I think we need more selfless players in the box.

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[Mikus LFC]

Be a bulldozer job at Old Trafford. Doubt they’ll get much from their outgoings. Been reported Pogba will leave with a loyalty bonus 😆

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[Mikus LFC]

Brian, I think social media has exacerbated the problem, with players and pundits now effectively marketing themselves worldwide and becoming part of the story themselves. And with pundits now not hiding their bias really anymore, it creates a more provocative environment that no doubt helps gain more views and clicks. Some sense can still be spoken, but there’s a lot of clickbait material out there now, but again it’s the fans tribal nature that helps sustain it all. Football has become one hell of a big gravy train in the internet age.

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[Mikus LFC]

Adlab, I probably won’t be popular amongst my fellow fans, but I agree with some of what you say. I think it’s too lazy to talk about City’s money. City are outstanding in recent years quite simply because of Pep Guardiola. Up until Pep came into City, City were not getting 90+ points to win leagues and now they have 4 leagues in 5 years vs Liverpool’s one, as well as several league cups and an FA Cup. When Trent was asked back in February whether Liverpool should have won more trophies with their team, he reverted to saying that Liverpool had won the CL and City hadn’t, which I thought was a bit childish. As I said the other day, I think Liverpool have got better over the years at the back (and Konate & Matip are now outstanding defenders along with Van Dijk) but up top I think they have declined which is why I don’t think they have won more trophies than they should have. City are very good up top because I think they are very selfless in creating lots of opportunities. When Gary Neville mentioned the danger posed by Liverpool’s 5 strikers a few months ago, I must admit, I got caught up in that thinking which he thought made them favourites. But actually, they didn’t propel them to the league because I think at times they have been too selfish and also Firmino, a key part of the strike force, and a more selfless and clever player, has not featured as much this season, though I think that front 3 *unit* has declined over recent years. For me, Liverpool have to find more Firmino type players to make them better up top, which in turn will help the strikers.

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[Mikus LFC]

Salah didn’t have a bad game, but big players have to deliver in big games, particularly if they talk things up.

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[Mikus LFC]

I think there is something in that Foxy. I also fear some of the hype about this Liverpool team in the media inevitably went to some of the players heads. As Thierry Henry said of Salah – he should have left a lot of the talking (like talk of revenge) until after the game not before it. Personally I think his demeanour before the game looked like that of someone who had already won the trophy.

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[Mikus LFC]

Not really a surprise…

Ralf Rangnick leaves Manchester United “due to the demands of his new role as Austria manager”, club statement announces. 🚨🇦🇹 #MUFC

“By mutual agreement, Ralf will now focus solely on his new role and will not be taking up a consultancy role at Old Trafford”. pic.twitter.com/9ETrjwR0Fy

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 29, 2022

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[Mikus LFC]

As I said nil, I think we’ve got better at the back under Klopp, but declined up top. Three finals this season and we haven’t scored in any of them.

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[Mikus LFC]

Three finals now and we’ve struggled to convert our dominance into goals in every one. Get Bobby on.

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