10 May 2024 02:51:16
Can Ed001 answer something for me please? Is Yvie Ryan still the staff psychologist at LFC?
I was on a conference call a few days ago and the topic came up, I mentioned that it was Yvie and someone else in the call said they didn't think so anymore.
I checked online and far as I can see she still is? It's hard to tell with the club these days they're much better at keeping things in house.
{Ed001's Note - she works solely with the academy mate. I am not sure there is a staff one with the first team any more. Probably something that needs addressing judging by the way the team collapsed. The club's official site lists all the staff on it. For first team staff there is always Training Ground Guru as well, which also has a lot of other clubs. Also a useful resource for anyone looking to work in sports as a lot of the jobs are advertised on there.}
10 May 2024 07:57:39
Don't shout at me Ed, but was it really a collapse? I saw numerous goals going missed, simple chances not being taken. Maybe that constitutes a collapse, I like to think of it as an accumulation of bad luck and poor finishing. The XG must be huge the last month, the reality quite the opposite. Klopp seems to have fizzled out a bit, understandably and sadly, but with the odd goal here and there things could have been very, very different. No?
{Ed001's Note - luck is a misnomer, as any great athlete will tell you - the harder you work the luckier you get. And xG is utter bollox. It is completely subjective and utter cack.}
10 May 2024 08:42:00
Definitely a collapse BurkeyBoy. Got to say it as it is at times. Love Klopp and the players, but you can't go from top of the league with 8 games to go, in the Europa Quarter final with the far better side of the draw, and in an FA cup quarter final against the worst United team for 40 years; and within 6 weeks be out of both knockout competitions and 5-7 points off top of the league.
April was an awful month for us and it's gut wrenching because historically under Klopp we always finished the season strong and would go on a run to keep touch with Man City or drag ourselves to a European final. In fact we've gone to 4 European finals under Klopp because of that late surge of energy we always seemed to find. Makes you wonder if Henderson and Milner as captain and vice-captain made a huge impact in maintaining standards at the business end of the season, even if they were finished as starters at this level.
10 May 2024 13:21:46
Henderson and Milner made no difference last season MK.
10 May 2024 13:31:41
VV, you won’t get any argument from me that we lacked midfield quality on the pitch last season, but we were pretty consistent throughout the season. Consistently average, but consistent. Hendo, Milner, Fabinho, Keita and Ox definitely needed replacing. However maybe we should have kept one of Hendo or Milner as a squad player for their value off the pitch, and moved on Thiago instead. If we had somebody in the dressing room not letting concentration drift or standards slip, maybe we wouldn’t have had such a huge wobble. That’s all I meant. Do you think Virgil is a good captain? I’m unconvinced myself.
10 May 2024 14:16:18
MK if reports are to be believed then it was Hendo who set the ball rolling to leave.
It was getting reported in mainstream that he had agreed the Saudi wages well before the offer came in for him.
Milner had already left and Hendo came out in his interview that no one tried to keep him and was reported he wasn't happy with the possibility of reduced game time.
I'd imagine the thought process prior to the Saudi bid was to keep Hendo in the squad as club captain and maybe not always match day one.
10 May 2024 14:37:59
Tallies up to be fair JK23. Hindsight is a wonderful thing eh! I personally don't think it helped though losing captain and vice-captain in one go. Virgil doesn't strike me as that great a leader. He's too lackadaisical in his play and relaxed in his demeanour. I think it's infectious when you see your skipper looking like he's in 1st gear.
10 May 2024 15:11:09
@mk Virgil doesn't strike me as a good captain either.
Good captains either command the dressing room or lead by example, he doesn't seem to do either. I think there is a lack of leadership at the club right now due to the recent player turnover, I can't really think of anyone who'd be suitable for ctain in my opinion.
10 May 2024 15:18:58
MKS, Both Hendo and Milner had run their races and that was palpable by the end of last season. Klopp himself recognised that hence, he told the story that he told Hendo that he would not get the same game time he had been getting and Hendo wan't having it and that set the ball rolling.
As for Milner, Klopp wanted to keep him still and then it was one of the higher-ups at the club (name was never mentioned) who overruled Klopp and then, Milner was really let go. That was the story shared on here at the time. IMO, it was the best time to let both go as they had done their time.
As for us collapsing or whatever, you can definitely call it that on one hand HOWEVER if we agree that the on-pitch problems that we had all season but never addressed, came back to burn us in these crucial last 6 weeks (which is what happens in footie or even in life), is that really a collapse or just a case of the chickens coming home to roost?
10 May 2024 15:40:10
Its hard to comment on Virg as a captain and Hendo was our captain through our most recent success.
For me up until the Utd cup game and Atalanta collapse at home there was no question about our leadership on the pitch and i thoight Virg was a true leader in our Caribo Cup final along with Endo.
We have quite a few international team captains in the squad also.
As its been pointed out we were consistently poor last season and looked consistently leaderless throughout the season and that was with Hendo and Milner.
Also looking at it now who wpuld Hendo have been getting game time ahead of this season.
Virg might give off lackadaisical performances but i'm not sure how a captain can lead when not playing which i think would have been Hendo's case.
I honestly belive Hendo could have helped off the pitch but our collapse has come on it.
10 May 2024 15:08:37
On the topic of luck -
Baggio was once asked what it felt like to be unlucky after a fiorentina game in which he hit both posts and the crossbar. He replied
"Luck? If I hit the posts it's because I didn't aim in the goal. there is no luck in football"
Thanks ed, I tried searching and couldn't come up with anything but I knew she'd worked as team psychologist before in a sports capicity. It's a genuine blind spot since most major teams either have one on staff and present at the training ground daily or an external one who is contracted to the club.
I just watch the team this season in regards to certain players and feel sure a decent psychologist would have ironed out some of those creases. They should perhaps promote yvie as I know she's excellent at her job and is well respected in the industry.
I seem to recall Liverpool working extensively with a psychologist during klopp early years, maybe I'm misremembering.
{Ed001's Note - I think she chose to work with the academy only, but I agree, the first team does seem desperately in need of one.}
10 May 2024 15:48:46
Klopp has been accused of hanging onto players too long but we wanted to keep Henderson or Milner?
One thing stands out to me about our midfield and the other teams' in the title race: we signed Endo and Arsenal signed Rice whilst City already had Rodri.
No disrespect to Endo but he's not in the same league as Rodri or Rice. If we'd signed a top quality defensive midfielder we'd have been a lot stronger. Instead we bought a stop gap and spent bigger on flashier types like Szoboszlai and Gravenberch.