Give Klopp some respect and stop comparing him to Solskjaer

Merry Christmas, everybody! Send your festive mails to theeditor@football365.com. Or spend time with your families. Your choice.

Give Klopp some respect
In response to Seb, Berkeley, MUFC.Can you guys please stop comparing every new manager in the EPL with Klopp.

Klopp came to Liverpool with pedigree (2 Bundesliga titles, a Champions League runners up medal and a system).

So please give the guy some RESPECT and stop comparing him with a guy whose only method is pace and power.

Klopp is currently the BEST COACH in the World.
Michael Eteng, Cross River State Nigeria, LIVERPOOL

Sorry Seb, but if I hear another person comparing Ole’s reign to the beginning of Klopp’s Liverpool reign I will lose my mind. Yes in Klopp’s very first half season Liverpool were rubbish and he guided them to an 8th placed finish, so was actually worse than Ole’s first half season.

But then the first full season after 18 games, United are 8th with 25 points. In Klopp’s first full season after 18 games Liverpool were 2nd in the league on 40 points. Liverpool finished that season 4th with 76 points. For Ole to be afforded the same luxury of time he would need to get 51 points from the remaining 20 fixtures.

Yes maybe a couple of players have improved because the environment is nicer. But the team as a whole, and I can’t stress enough how important this is, has got considerably worse. We are not promoting youth. Chong and Gomes are looking to leave on a free transfer because they can’t get game time ahead of Pereira and Lingard, Ole is failing the youth.

Lampard and Arteta may work out. But they were both hired because they saw the best way to stop spending money and shut a fanbase up is to hire an ex player and repeat the mantra “culture, DNA, youth players”. Fans will eat that up and close their collective eyes whilst they walk off a cliff edge.
Allen (I hate Xmas)

In reply to Seb, Berkeley, MUFC, there’s a massive difference. Klopp had managed in the Bundesliga, had won multiple titles in spite of Bayern Munich’s dominance and got to Champions League finals. Ole has won titles in Norway and has been relegated with Cardiff. It’s no comparison. Klopp’s previous success earned him the patience he was accorded. Ole, much as I love him, has no real track record to speak of and the numbers in the table don’t lie. If anything they flatter us.

The one factor you might use to mitigate is that the board perhaps did not back him fully in the summer. That said, after Ole’s ‘bounce’ and beating PSG, we ended up the last part of the season playing abysmal football and losing many of the games we had left. The argument that more time is going to turn Ole into a tactical genius is akin to saying that now Boris Johnson has a majority he’s going to stop lying to us all; it flies in the face of an established track record and is based entirely on hope rather than reality.

Also, Rashford has definitely scored more goals but I’d be lying if I thought that was down to him being a better player and him practising finishing more on the training ground. In fact it seems like it’s probably down to him shooting more. This is hardly a manager unlocking the best out of their player through expert coaching, though I’d be happy to be proved wrong. The fact remains, when teams defend against us and we can’t play a counter attacking game, we struggle to break them down and Ole has not come up with any answers to that. On Sunday, his answer was to throw in a player that has been out injured since September and has been in training for barely a week; that Pogba was comfortably our best player is a damning indictment of Ole’s counter attacking game. Pogba was magicking up chances out of nothing when we’d laboured before then.

It’s not a tactic to pin hopes and dreams on one player to do something amazing week in, week out. Ole has had months to work out a solution to this problem which he struggled with before and after the summer. He needs to go, or demand an outrageous level of backing in the January transfer window while there is still time to salvage the season, and I’m talking about signing two world class central midfielders to support and free up Pogba, one number 10 and a target man capable of holding the ball up and playing a bit more agriculturally as plan B, and spend whatever it takes because if we finish 8th, with a bad manager and Woodward (who definitely needs to go), players will not want to come (and I wouldn’t blame them).
Daniel, Cambridge

Spurs responses
DL, LFC – you’re asking for a rule that’s already in place. If the appeal is found to be frivolous or designed to abuse the process then they are capable of doubling the ban. No doubt Spurs think they have enough grounds to risk losing Son for up to 6 matches, possibly due to the length of time it took VAR to make the decision? Personally it seems fairly cut and dried to me, stonewall red.

Dave, Winchester – I’m not sure N’Dombele and Winks offer enough defensive protection between them. Both great on the ball but they need a strong destroyer next to them to actually win it back. Sissoko’s strengths are in running at the opposition and carrying the ball forward, not acting as the screen or passing progressively.

Duck – injuries have flared up this year. That and Pochettino always being slow to integrate new signings, and Jose trusting to established premier league players when he first came in (wrongly imo). Tanguy’s clearly our best midfielder already and as soon as he’s fit we should build the team around him.
Andrew, Jersey

Dave, Winchester

I agree with you that when fully fit, I personally also believe that our best midfield pairing is clearly Winks and Ndombele. But that ignores that Mourinho has a set tactical structure he has always followed – 3 midfielders: one purely defensive and screening (Makelele, Matic, Dier); one marauding, powerful one (Essien, Pogba, Sissoko) & one creative, attacking one who also needs to work hard (Deco, Lampard, Dele)… Winks doesn’t fit any of those moulds, so like F365, I don’t expect him to be more than a bit part player anymore I’m afraid…

But again, I have to still take issue with your claim that if you’re fit enough for the bench, you are fit enough to start. That’s just not true!!! You see it all the time with players returning from injury, they are rarely thrust straight in because uf you start a game, you really need to be able to play at least 60mins.

Ndombele is returning from his 3rd injury this year – what if the coaches, physios and sport scientists said he was fit enough to play 30mins or maybe even only 15mins max; which would thus help his overall return to full match fitness??? But you’re saying you’re gonna start him anyway and thus presumably make a 1st half sub once he’s knackered are you?? No, of course not! The logical call in this situation is to put him on the bench and give him as many minutes as he can safely handle; which is exactly what Mourinho did!!!!

Once Ndombele is not deemed fit to start, Mourinho had 2 options – play the same midfield that was a shambles vs. Utd; one that goes against his natural inclination/normal tactical plan to have a DM, or play the 3 he did in the style that’s been successful for him more often than not…

Duck – see above. 3 injuries from 12 starts in all comps is why he’s missed/not started every game. Make no mistake, Poch definitely was considering him as the Dembele replacement many Spurs fans have been crying out for and would have played him more if his body could have handled it… And I think Mourinho will hope he can use him a la Essien too!
Paul, Spurs (T.Wells)

Leno’s comments
Leno’s comments regarding what Arteta is doing are pretty damning of Emery by inference.

No tactics or quality improvement, just literally run, play for your teammates, defend the goal and work together.

What’s the point in getting clever when you cannot even do those things at the moment?
Tom (Merry Christmas everyone) Walthamstow

Racism
Dear Ed

Perhaps I am not as woke as Stratford Spur, but I’m willing to bet that he or she has never lived in a country where his race is the minority race.

Three main things – tribalism, culturalism and racism. Since we were tribes we realised that the other tribes are different to us. Which would lead to fighting, until there was a winner. That tribe would prevail. Eventually the winning tribe would establish its own culture. Culture can be assimilated, see how colonialism forced it upon the indigenous tribes globally. Culture is not particularly reserved for a racial group, but often a racial group forms its own culture.

I regularly wonder what the future holds for our races on earth. Do we become a mixed race society (coffee-coloured people) or do certain races die out? Do the white folks bugger off and colonise Mars, leaving the less technologically advanced races to fend for themselves on an overpopulated, overextended Earth? Our generation won’t find out this answer.

One thing is for certain though – it’s not all Kumbaya and let’s all sit around the same fire and sing together… there are differences between races. The generation before me was involved in a war which mostly pitted whites against Africans. These people still resent each other, which means that discriminatory behaviour in their circles is normalised.

I agree that ours must be the generation to say enough is enough. We should actively discourage racist remarks – be it said in jest or seriously. But basically, how can you stand up against someone who has always viewed a dark-skinned person as being inferior to them, because they grew up with Africans serving them? This is their perspective and it is acceptable to them because it is not challenged.
It is an enormous shift that is needed in the mentality of society. Something which football alone can’t sort out. And something which is much, much bigger than just a colour of skin.

Racism is rife, it’s everywhere – it’s just how much you are exposed to it. There is a basis to the racism, we must first understand and accept our differences before we can proceed with reconciliation or building a united human race.
Wik van Stade

Let’s all hope for no racist incidents at football grounds (or anywhere else) over the festive period, but should it happen, wouldn’t it be nice to see the captain of the offender’s team lead his side off the pitch.Now that would be a Christmas miracle.
Dave avfc

I would like to wade into this argument about racism with a solution that is absolutely fair, and will 100% eradicate racism, homophobia and other unwanted elements inside a football stadium.

Case in point: Rudiger was racially abused by Mr. X. Lets assume Rudiger earms 100k a week. The club sues Mr. X for 100,000 pounds they where to pay Rudiger for “emotional trauma” or whatever legal jargon you want to use.

Recently a guy bought Beitar Jerusalem (Biggest club in Israel) which has been named as “The most racist club in Israel” and started suing the ultras left right and center, and the difference inside the ground has been astonishing. (In-depth article on BBC Sports)

Clubs can send out legal notices and letters to offenders, take them to court, as it is literally nothing for clubs to do this. For the guilty party, this would most likely bring him/her on the roads with such a huge amount to be paid. Settle the first 3-4 cases, i promise you there wont be a 5th.

If the FA or clubs are actually serious about this, t-shirt and arm bands are not going to make 1% difference, neither will social media campaigns and other marketing tools. There has to be action taken once the offender has been proven guilty without doubt. You cannot deduct points as its unfair to the club, and an empty stadium would be loose change for a PL club. There is only 1 practical and real solution i can see:

SUE. THE. OFFENDER.
Aman, India (Done with the racist shit around the world) 

European match to watch
Having just read the Boxing day preview and seeing someone struggle to come up with a European game to watch, how about Heart of Midlothian vs Hibernian?  The Edinburgh Derby.  The home team go into it on a wretched run of form (2 wins in 26) and bottom of the league.  The away team have picked up form recently (barring two consecutive losses to Celtic and Rangers) but still sit in 7th.
Both teams have relatively new managers, each experiencing their first derby and who knows what a win (or defeat) could do to frame the next couple of months of the season.

Will it be pretty?  Absolutely not, will it be committed?  100%.  Will I drink too much regardless of the result and upset my in-laws by not being at the table for lunch at 2pm? Also 100%.

Also, regarding the Belgian league… Royal Antwerp (the one and only) v Anderlecht is probably a pretty big game as well.  Fresh from their first European Excursion in a long time, RAFC are flying pretty high (having just made the Cup semi final) and being around the top of the league, up against one of the traditional big boys who happen to be struggling and also managed by an Man City legend.  What’s not to love?

Have a good Christmas!
Kevin Gallacher

ADO Den Haag
Dear Football365,

We’ve all had Christmas parties that got out of hand, or witnessed people being a bit silly having had a bit too much alcohol, but imagine being on the board of ADO Den Haag and waking up this morning to discover that your festive shenanigans led to you appointing Alan Pardew as manager.
Ed Quoththeraven (fair play to Pardew for going abroad to manage, as a PFM finally takes up John Nicholson’s suggestion)

Thank you!
To the good people of F365, thanks for all your insightful, intelligent analysis, your excellent articles, your biased/non-biased writing. I don’t always agree but you often say what few others are saying.And thank you to mailbox contributors for your witty, articulate, enthusiastic or simply provocative missives all year round. Football365 is a free gift to so many, I just wanted to say thank you.

Happy Christmas everyone
Paul out of Brussels