Mediawatch: Liverpool’s laptop appears to be working

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Dumbing down
The industry of online sports journalism is often accused of dumbing down. It is often a largely false accusation.

But when you go to Mirror Football on the morning after a massive Champions League night and their top story on Manchester City vs Liverpool is ‘5 things we noticed from Liverpool’s dressing room picture as Reds celebrate Champions League victory over City’, you do have to wonder.

No match report from David McDonnell? No piece from John Cross? No column from Andy Dunn? Nothing prominent on the site from the three journalists you actually had at the game, whose articles are all given a platform in the newspaper?

No, why bother indeed when you can learn such nuggets as ‘Liverpool players wear New Balance flip-flops in the dressing room’, ‘there was more than one camera’ and ‘there were some socks on the floor’.

Great stuff, guys. Sure those journalists feel truly valued.

 

Let’s get critical, critical
‘Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp criticises Man City team selection after Champions League win,’ reads the headline on the Express Sport website, and Mediawatch will admit that it piqued our interest. Being critical of an opposition manager’s team selection is surely a faux-pas?

‘Guardiola’s decision to name a forward-thinking line-up eventually proved costly as they were twice hit on the break to crush their European dream,’ the piece begins. ‘And Klopp explained after the match that he was rubbing his hands when he found out his rivals had left themselves with only three defenders at the back.’

Did he now? Well well, let’s hear it:

“He took all the risks and it was his decision. It could have been the absolute right decision.

“I know after the game it is easy to say it is the wrong decision but they could have scored two or three goals in the first half.”

Consider those hands firmly un-rubbed.

 

The laptop appears to be working
It was with a smile on its face that Mediawatch read the start of Neil Ashton’s match piece on Liverpool’s victory at the Etihad on Tuesday in The Sun:

‘WELL, Pep, this is awkward. Mo Salah, 39 goals in his debut season in a Liverpool shirt, and his little friend Firmino saw to that.’

Tell you what else is awkward, Neil. That you mocked Liverpool for paying £29m for Firmino because the signing had been trumpeted by the head of technical performance, Michael Edwards.

Let us remind you:

‘Edwards encourages staff to use his nickname ‘Eddie’, giving a matey feel to the working environment. It is understood Rodgers has another name for him. The committee have yet to explain how they came up with the figure of £29million to sign Brazilian forward Roberto Firmino from Hoffenheim, who finished eighth in the Bundesliga last season.

‘Edwards can tap away at a laptop and within seconds tell you how many assists the 24-year-old Turkish left back Eren Albayrak has made for Rizespor this season (four). Edwards and his team of analysts have invented a new language for football. Strikers are all about goal expectancy, chances created and the percentage of successful passes in the final third. Old-school managers just want to know if the boy can put the ball in the net.

‘Instead a new breed sits in air-conditioned offices, cutting up videos from matches all over the world and burying their heads in the stats. Edwards, along with his vast team of analysts, constantly monitors the opposition, providing detail about playing positions, style, routines, set-pieces and other important matchday information.’

Getting a bit warm in here, isn’t it? Shall we whack on the air conditioning?

 

Tell us what you really think
On Tuesday in his Daily Mirror column, Stan Collymore told us why he could never truly laud Pep Guardiola because he has only ever won the Champions League with Lionel Messi, and that isn’t hard. You may have seen quite how easy it is later that day, as Messi helped Barcelona brush past Roma in Ital…oh.

Collymore isn’t worried about that bluebottle landing in his ointment, however. Nor too is he bothered by his admission that he would change his mind on Guardiola if they got past Liverpool in the second leg. Oh no.

So the minute the full-time whistle blew at Anfield, Collymore was ready to give his balanced take on proceedings:

Keep up the fine work. (For what it’s worth, Mediawatch has not seen anyone actually say any of the last two ‘quotes’ at any point this season).

 

Just like you did before
Of course, Collymore is no stranger to Big Opinions. Eight short weeks ago, he wrote this on Jurgen Klopp:

“Jurgen Klopp is taking Liverpool back in time – but not in a good way. Remember the days when Newcastle United were everyone’s second-­favourite team 20-odd years ago?

“Exciting, pleasing on the eye, laden with goals and a touch of the ­unexpected every time they step out on the pitch. Of course, neither Keegan nor Reds boss Klopp pay anything like the ­attention they should to defence.

“But what other common theme runs through both of those sides? Between them, these two great ­entertainers have won absolutely ­nothing of note. They have become increasingly ­desperate on the Kop – and no wonder, because all I keep seeing is Klopp ­defend the indefensible.”

It seems to be going alright now.

 

Infamy, infamy. They’ve all got it infamy
From Martin Samuel’s match report in the Daily Mail:

‘What was Guardiola thinking when he confronted Mateu Lahoz at the end of the first-half? That the official was over-promoted and useless, no doubt – which he is. But that’s exactly the reason it was irresponsible to go near him. Mateu Lahoz looked all night as if he had a match-altering call in him, and he made it. Having already disallowed a good Manchester City goal, to deny them a 2-0 lead, he then banished Guardiola for complaining.

‘Maybe Guardiola needs to wise up. His circumstances have changed. He is no longer at the helm of one of UEFA’s darlings, Barcelona or Bayern Munich, the elite of the elite. Manchester City is the club that challenged financial fair play; that pays £50m fines; that boos the Champions League anthem.

‘Equally, one can only imagine the wider Spanish view of a high profile individual who wears his support for Catalunya’s self-determination as a badge of honour.’

That’s right. The Spanish referee on Tuesday night gave decisions against Manchester City because they booed the UEFA anthem and sent Guardiola to the stands because of his yellow ribbon. And the flag that Buzz Aldrin planted moved in a strange way.

 

Encapsulation

Or just an encapsulation of how two players playing in different positions for different teams might touch the ball a vastly different number of times?

 

Tenuous much?
From Mirror Football, 90 minutes before kick off on Tuesday evening:

‘Mohamed Salah inspired Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash last week. The Reds forward opened the scoring early into the tense fixture, and set Liverpool on their way to an historic win over the best team in the Premier League this season.

‘In the eyes of Liverpool supporters the Egyptian is a hero, and an incredible story from his younger days will have many more people agreeing with them.

‘A young Salah was once playing in Alexandria when his family were robbed. The man responsible was caught and arrested a few days later, and it was Salah’s father’s intention to press charges against the perpetrator. But his ever-humble son had other ideas, and talked his dad into dropping the case.

‘The gesture says a lot about the character of the 25-year-old, who Liverpool fans will be hoping can lead their side into the semi-finals of the Champions League on Tuesday night’.

The headline:

‘What Mohamed Salah did when a man robbed his family says a lot about the character of the Liverpool superstar’.

Jesus. Well, Mohamed. But Jesus.

 

Unexpected headline of the day
‘Arsenal stars Jack Wilshere, Callum (sic) Chambers and Sead Kolasinac enjoy day out taking on dog agility course with their canine friends following Southampton victory’ – MailOnline.

And that’s Crufts.

 

And we’ll end with some truly sensational guff
‘Lionel Messi and Barcelona stars find positive in Roma shock: Real Madrid involved – claim’ – Express Sport.

Apparently it’s better to lose to Roma than Real Madrid, you see. Which allows the Express to use the URL: ‘Lionel-Messi-Barcelona-Roma-Champions-League-Real-Madrid-News-Rumours-Gossip’

Honestly.

 

Recommended reading of the day
Luke Brown on Marcus Edwards.

Marina Hyde on Chris Coleman.

Ben Fisher with Dino Maamria.

More from Planet Sport:

How much of every Grand Prix do you watch? (Planet F1)

Open Era female Grand Slam winners by country: has your country won a Slam? (Tennis365)

A tribute to Eidur Gudjohnsen, football’s equivalent to Forrest Gump (Planet Football)

 

Liverpool Mediawatch