Slot's TACTICS, scouting MISSION & Liverpool HISTORY - Liverpool FC news recap
By
George James
George James
Here is all the latest Liverpool news from Sunday 15 September. A number of Liverpool's loanees have been in action, the fallout from Liverpool's 1-0 loss continues and Liverpool Women make history.
Slot's bold tactical changes
Liverpool suffered their first defeat of the Arne Slot era as Nottingham Forest secured a 1-0 smash-and-grab victory at Anfield on Saturday.
The Reds looked far from clinical as they failed to score against Forest despite having 14 shots, only managing to get five on target.
Luis Diaz hit the post and Forest ‘keeper almost handed Liverpool the lead when he appeared to lose the ball in the sun but in the end it was Callum Hudson-Odoi who broke the deadlock with a stunning strike from outside of the area.
Liverpool were frustrated by Forest all afternoon and despite utilising all five substitutions were not able to make their chances count.
Slot showed that he wasn’t afraid to make bold substitutions only 45 minutes into the season when he substituted Jarell Quansah at halftime against Ipswich Town, and Slot’s substitutions against Nottingham Forest were nothing short of bold.
Liverpool's scouting mission
Although the transfer window is now closed, Liverpool have reportedly already identified one target for the future.
Arne Slot has enjoyed a good start to life at Liverpool, impressing in the Premier League, being nominated for the August Manager of the Month and becoming the only Reds boss to win their first game away at Old Trafford in almost 100 years.
Despite the good start on the pitch, Liverpool received some criticism for their business in the transfer market this summer. The Reds only signed one player, Federico Chiesa, and agreed a deal for Giorgi Mamardashvili for next summer but a number of promising prospects from the academy were moved on.
Now, it looks like Liverpool are already thinking ahead to January or maybe even next summer and they have reportedly already identified one transfer target.
According to Football Insider, Liverpool scouted Angel Gomes as he started his first England game as the Three Lions beat Finland 2-0.
Klopp favourite heading back to Anfield?
Liverpool’s iconic defender Joel Matip left Merseyside when his deal expired this summer and the Cameroon international is yet to find a new club.
Matip signed for Liverpool on a free transfer from Schalke 04 in 2016 and made over 200 appearances for the Reds before his contracted ended in June.
Whilst at the club, Matip won the UEFA Champions League, the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup whilst also earning cult hero status at Anfield for his adventurous dribbles out of the backline and his comedic appearances in the club’s promotional material online.
Although there have been a number of clubs interested in picking up the 33-year-old central defender on a free transfer, it looks as though the ex-Liverpool man could now be set for a Premier League return.
Young Liverpool star's brilliant moment
One Liverpool loanee has fans raving about him after a ‘brilliant’ moment on Saturday afternoon. Owen Beck is earning all the plaudits.
Owen Beck is at Blackburn Rovers this season and he's started wonderfully. That's certainly how fans see it - they're raving about the player after his efforts on Saturday.
Beck was sensational as Blackburn beat Bristol City 3-0. The left-back created two chances (the most in the game), completed four dribbles (the most in the game) and won four tackles (the most in the game).
And that wasn't all. Beck also had a 'goal-saving' tackle in the second half that directly led to Blackburn's third. That was enough for Rovers' Twitter account to label him 'brilliant'.
But that wasn't all. Fans on Twitter were raving about Beck.
'Terrific' Ben Doak makes Championship debut
Liverpool loanee Ben Doak made his debut for Middlesbrough on Saturday in their 1-1 draw with Preston North End.
The 18-year-old made his move to the Championship club late in the summer but came off the bench on Saturday after 68 minutes to make his debut for Michael Carrick’s side.
Doak joined Liverpool from Celtic aged just 16 and has since made 10 appearances for the Reds' first team.
Doak also made his senior debut for Scotland over the international break, impressing in a 19 minute minute cameo in their 3-2 loss to Poland.
The young winger’s loan move to the North East only came about late in the window but the Boro manager Michael Carrick, who made over 450 appearances for Manchester United, was delighted with the deal.
Shearer reveals how Forest frustrated Liverpool
Liverpool suffered their first defeat of the season against Nottingham Forest on Saturday when Forest emerged as 1-0 victors at Anfield.
Arne Slot had enjoyed a brilliant start to life in Merseyside, winning all three of Liverpool's opening Premier League matches without conceding a goal, but Nuno Espírito Santo’s Nottingham Forest ruined the party.
In front of a record-breaking crowd at Anfield, Callum Hudson-Odoi delivered the Reds their first defeat of the season and spoiled Slot’s perfect start.
The loss marks a difficult start to a run where Liverpool will play seven times in just 21 days, including a visit to AC Milan, the beginning of the Reds’ Carabao Cup defence and a trip to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace.
Speaking on BBC One’s Match of the Day, Alan Shearer suggested that it might not be a case of what went wrong for Liverpool but instead what went right for Forest.
AC Milan manager distracted ahead of Liverpool's visit
AC Milan manager Paulo Fonseca has bigger things on his mind ahead of his side's Champions League game with Liverpool.
The Reds travel to Italy to take on Milan in both sides' first game of the 2024-25 Champions League season, but Fonseca has admitted something that should give Arne Slot more confidence.
Both Milan and Liverpool have a busy fixture schedule following the international break, with the Reds set to face Bournemouth at Anfield four days after kicking off their European adventure.
Fonseca has a much more difficult task on the horizon after facing Liverpool, with the Milan derby taking place on Sunday, 22 September.
After beating Venezia 4-0 on Saturday, Fonseca admitted that his mind was not fully on the Liverpool clash.
Liverpool make history in new stadium against Everton
Neither Liverpool nor Everton could find a goal in the Merseyside derby, but still put in an historic performance.
In the final game of their pre-season campaign, Liverpool Women were held to a scoreless draw by the Toffees, with goalkeeper Rachael Laws producing an excellent save to deny Karoline Olesen in the game's best chance.
The match was the first time the Liverpool Women wore the team's third kit, but it was also memorable for another reason.
The 0-0 draw was the first time the Reds had played at St Helen's Stadium and although they could not get a win, it was a strong performance the club's new home ground.
Liverpool will kick off their 2024-25 Women's Super League campaign at the same venue next Sunday when they host Leicester.
Controversial refereeing call causes Liverpool fans to fume
A foul in the North London derby has caused outrage online as Liverpool fans have been keen to remind the referee of a similar challenge last year.
Tottenham Hotspur hosted local rivals Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday and a foul by Jurien Timber in the first half struck a nerve for some Liverpool fans.
With the score 0-0, Timber went in for a challenge on Pedro Porro when his foot slipped over the top of the ball and into Porro’s outstretched leg, a strikingly similar incident to one in Liverpool’s visit to Tottenham last season.
Liverpool fans will remember that game as one of their most controversial of the Premier League era. A perfectly good Luis Diaz goal was chalked off for offside and two Liverpool players were given red cards, the only time in Jurgen Klopp’s tenure that his side were reduced to nine men.
Curtis Jones was sent off in the 26th minute when he entered into a challenge with Yves Bissouma and his foot slipped over the top of the ball and into Bissouma’s leg.
ESPN's awful Salah rating
Although he didn't reach his usual high standards, Mo Salah was not deserving of the extremely low rating awarded to him by Don Hutchison on ESPN.
Hutchinson gave Salah a three and said that the Egyptian King, alongside Dominik Szoboszlai, “kept giving the ball away” which “disrupted the whole flow” of the game.
For reference, Anfield Watch awarded salah a five.
The winger had been in electric form for Liverpool up until Saturday, scoring three goals and providing a further three assists in the Reds opening three games.
Salah was unable to get into the game properly and didn’t look like the potent threat he usually is in front of goal.
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