Candystore

He said he wants to win the Ballon d'Or but I don't think he can do that at Madrid. If the team does well, Mbappe, Vinicius Junior or Bellingham will get it.

Curtis Jones celebrated his 100th Premier League appearance with a goal and congratulatory text from his former manager. “I came in then and I saw a text from (Jurgen) Klopp saying ‘congratulations on 100 games and here’s to 500’,” said Jones.

https://x.com/teaandchips/status/1871452908216344901?s=61&t=em4_vutIXLdlOtX6MZEbpA

To fully gauge the impact of Arne Slot at Liverpool since his arrival in June, you need only talk to those around his squad. The Athletic has been told that at least three players at Anfield have said in private that Slot’s methods could have served the team well during times in recent seasons when they just missed out on the biggest prizes. This is not to denigrate Slot’s predecessor, Jurgen Klopp, an Anfield legend who brought the club unparalleled success in the Premier League era and over a far longer period of time than the Dutchman has worked on Merseyside. The ease of the transition has also, in part, been down to Klopp laying such solid foundations. Rather, it is an observation that they have contrasting styles, and that Slot’s quiet pragmatism may have been of benefit at times when Klopp’s brand of high-energy, ultra-intense football fell fractionally short. Slot’s attention to detail has impressed and, like at his former clubs Feyenoord and AZ Alkmaar, players have marvelled at how he predicts certain scenarios will play out during games. It is too soon to properly judge, because Slot has a long way to go before he gets anywhere near Klopp’s achievements. But the early signs are hugely promising, with Liverpool top of the Premier League and the group phase of the Champions League. There is no doubt Liverpool’s players and fans are convinced, but what about the rest of football? The Athletic has spoken to multiple people within the industry: coaches, executives and backroom staff, some of whom have asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships, to discover how the wider world views Slot and his remarkable start. “Everyone in the game is so impressed with him,” says the director of one of Liverpool’s leading Premier League rivals. “He’s likeable, staggeringly understated and cool as hell. I’ve been as amazed at the success of him, as like many others. I thought Jurgen would be an extremely tough manager to follow but this man is handling himself so well.” That view is not an isolated one. There is widespread admiration within English football at how well Slot is dealing with the demands of managing one of the world’s biggest clubs, with some sides left wondering if they missed a trick by not moving for him before Liverpool. The 46-year-old has gone about his business in a quiet way. He works long hours at the training ground, eats most of his meals at the club and takes home a pre-cooked dinner if his schedule is tight. He lives outside the city and has not had too many out-of-work interactions. During international breaks he has spent time back in the Netherlands with his family, who also came over to see him earlier this month, when Liverpool faced Real Madrid and Manchester City. As well as settling into life on Merseyside. It has all been remarkably stress-free. Interactions with opposition managers have been brief but friendly. Slot is largely unflustered on the sidelines, and has avoided any major confrontations with rivals, although he has recently served a one-match touchline ban for picking up three yellow cards after his frustration at refereeing decisions bubbled over. As a former colleague at one of his old clubs tells The Athletic: “What you’re seeing with Arne now is similar to his time at Feyenoord. Yes, he’s cool, but he’s a winner and he fights for what he believes in.” Slot has a habit of speaking bluntly, he did not sugarcoat the reasons for taking off Jarell Quansah at half-time in his first Premier League game at Ipswich, saying it was because the 21-year-old had lost too many duels, and has since spoken of not tolerating “mediocrity” , but it does not stem from disrespect. Pep Guardiola, a manager Slot has admired for years, was cool enough to laugh off the possibility of any retaliation talk after Slot recently joked about the 115 charges Manchester City are facing (a quip he quickly clarified as being light-hearted). That said, not all managers are able to shrug off his comments. In April 2023, while still at Feyenoord, Slot provoked Jose Mourinho ahead of a Europa League quarter-final against Roma by saying that while “(Roma’s) style of football achieves results, I prefer to watch Manchester City and Napoli“. Those comments got under Mourinho’s skin and sparked a wild reaction after the game, with the Portuguese chasing after Slot, shouting ”Respect“ and ”Go to watch Napoli, watch Napoli now”. Slot, for his part, refused to take the bait, even when his side had lost 4-2 on aggregate. The one game Liverpool have lost under Slot, at home to Nottingham Forest in September, caused a little unrest in the opposition camp because he was mistaken for talking disrespectfully of the club who finished in 17th place last season. “Normally this team isn’t ending up in top 10, so if you lose a game against them that’s a big disappointment,” he said — comments that did not go down well at Forest. Ever since, Slot’s supposed ‘obsession’ with losing that match has become a running joke for many Forest fans. Slot, however, appeared to be merely stating his observations as a Premier League newcomer himself, and made similar comments after wins over Ipswich and Brentford. “Two good teams, but I’m not expecting them to be in the top six in the upcoming year,” he said, a remark which did not provoke anywhere near the same kind of scrutiny. That, however, is an outlier. For the most part, the overriding feeling is one of respect and admiration for both Slot’s conduct and his in-game management. It was Kieran McKenna, the Ipswich Town manager, who first highlighted this, after Liverpool had struggled with their opponents’ direct approach in the first half at Portman Road. Slot quickly found a solution, withdrawing Quansah for Ibrahima Konate, and Liverpool cruised to a 2-0 win. McKenna noted afterwards that he expected Liverpool to “have a strong season”. Since then, similar patterns have followed. Liverpool have been far superior in the second half of games when Slot has had time to work out the opposition and devise an effective plan, one which is then communicated to his team during the half-time interval, usually with the aid of video clips and without any raised voices or loss of self-control. A good example came against Real Madrid earlier this month, when moving Curtis Jones into a more central area allowed room for Conor Bradley to fly forward into space down the right flank. There are countless other instances. Liverpool have played 24 games against 22 different opponents (they have faced Brighton and Southampton twice) across all competitions and have won 20 of them. According to Opta, Slot is the quickest manager to reach 20 wins in charge of an English top-flight club since William Sudell at Preston in 1888. Staff members from one rival club noticed recently how, during a game, Slot made so many tactical changes that their own head coach struggled to adapt. Players from that same team also said the in-game changes were more frequent than the season before, when Klopp had been in charge, and made for a tougher outing. Yet for all those tweaks, there is a recognition that Slot has not been arrogant — or misguided — enough to completely rip up a winning formula. “With Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool were really good in transition,” Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler told reporters in October. “They played with a lot of intensity. What I see now is like that. They sprint backwards, everyone. So when they’re overplayed, you think you’re out, you break their lines. But in two seconds the situation changes completely because they all have the attitude to defend. And that’s something special.” One of the reasons Liverpool placed so much faith in Slot this summer was because they believed he could find ways to develop and improve players already at the club. His job was to get those with potential who had fallen off track back into form. Ryan Gravenberch, Ibrahima Konate and Darwin Nunez were three stand-out examples and the job he has done with the first two so far shows a clear improvement. On Sunday, Slot takes his Liverpool side to Tottenham Hotspur, the club who tried hard to sign him as the replacement for Antonio Conte in May 2023. The qualities he has shown at Anfield — an unassuming personality, the ability to exude calm, good communication skills and a desire to play controlled, attacking football — all resonate with Spurs officials, who noted them last year as they tried to persuade Slot to leave Feyenoord. He also appealed to Tottenham because of a commitment to promoting young talent. The club’s chairman, Daniel Levy, spoke in 2021 of the need to “select someone whose values reflect those of our great club and return to playing football with the style for which we are known — free-flowing, attacking and entertaining — whilst continuing to embrace our desire to see young players flourish from our academy alongside experienced talent.” When it became clear that Feyenoord were not willing to listen to offers from Spurs — and Slot soon signed a new contract, in part because he was excited for the Champions League and keen to build on the 2023 Dutch title win — Spurs turned to Ange Postecoglou, who was supposed to be cut from a similar cloth. In fact, Slot’s pragmatism seems a distinct contrast with Postecoglou’s approach — all of which makes the tactical battle in north London this weekend fascinating. The home supporters also have the chance to weigh up what could have been if Slot had considered a move 18 months ago. Spurs were not the only club interested. Leeds United considered Slot after Jesse Marsch was sacked in February 2023. A delegation from Elland Road travelled to the Netherlands to speak to Slot’s representatives, only to find that he was happy to stay put. Leeds eventually appointed Javi Gracia and succumbed to relegation later that season. When Liverpool came calling, however, Slot’s situation had changed. Now the rest of the league can only watch on as he shapes up a stunning first season in England.

You are correct, signed him 5 years ago for £27m and then loaned him out

Any chance he'll start tomorrow night?

Plus the 2nd contract being paid into his Abu Dhabi account…..

I also found the Premier League good for stats on the Premier League. Scroll down on this page where it says he has scored 23 out of 25 https://www.premierleague.com/news/4192169

He scored 23 pens in the PL

Gary Neville does exactly the same, maybe they went on the same co-commentary course.

Ornstein: Dan Ashworth leaves Man Utd after 5 months as sporting director….

Palace 1-0 City after 4 mins

https://x.com/thekophq/status/1865311334679654600?s=46&t=vx1bP9m1wIkdKnIEXilbVQ

Signed a new contract with Villa last month.

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Macca one yellow card away from a ban according to Sky. Hopefully gets one at the end of this game so he misses Southampton game and not City.

He was sent off during their match over the weekend. He hasn't been sacked

Made 37 appearances last season and hasn't had a full proper pre season so wouldn't put him in the Thiago category........yet.

Going to Madrid vs being captain in a few years and following in the footsteps of his idol...

Looks like it was planned a while ago… Jurgen Klopp, Red Bull and the origins of an unlikely love affair Simon Hughes Dietrich Mateschitz was Austria’s richest man and, towards the end of his life, had accumulated a vast amount of property in the Alps. Three years later, in September 2022, the co-founder of drinks manufacturer Red Bull was dying of pancreatic cancer. Mateschitz would have barely a month to live when he invited a special guest to one of his villas close to Salzburg, the city in Austria where his empire is based. That guest was Jurgen Klopp, then Liverpool’s manager. Two years on from that meeting, Klopp’s appointment as Red Bull’s head of global soccer was confirmed — a move that surprised many at the time but may, in hindsight, appear more predictable. With Liverpool playing RB Leipzig, part of the Red Bull empire Klopp is due to join in January, in the Champions League this evening (Wednesday), The Athletic spoke to multiple sources with knowledge of how and why the German signed up to a company that is, to many observers, the antithesis of what he stood for as a coach. The 2022-23 season had not started particularly well for Klopp. Liverpool’s previous campaign had taken its toll as, in their efforts to secure an unprecedented quadruple of major trophies, a relatively small group of players had exhausted themselves across 63 games. Five months earlier, Klopp had signed a new contract, but he was sensing it would be his last at Anfield. He was not trying to leave but, inevitably, thoughts were turning to life post-Liverpool after seven gruelling years in charge. And one thing was certain: he did not want to jump straight from managing Liverpool into another public-facing role. He needed a rest. Mateschitz was a huge admirer of Klopp’s work and would have loved to appoint him to lead one of his football teams. From 2005, he had invested heavily in the sport, buying clubs in Germany (RB Leipzig), the United States (New York Red Bull) and Brazil (Red Bull Bragantino), and bankrolling another in Austria through sponsorship (Red Bull Salzburg). While the rise of Salzburg and Leipzig was impressive, the two clubs were also divisive. Football supporters, especially in Austria and Germany, saw them as a threat to the soul of the game: vessels for a conglomerate with no natural links to the sport that simply wanted to sell its product and widen its reach — a sugary form of sportswashing. Klopp appeared to be a defender of tradition and an opponent of new money, telling Spanish outlet Marca in 2017: “I like tradition in football and all that stuff. In Germany, only two clubs sing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ before the game — and that is (his former clubs) Mainz and Dortmund.” And Dortmund supporters were certainly among Leipzig’s fiercest critics as they emerged in the German top flight in 2016, a year after Klopp stepped down at the former and ended up at Liverpool. Klopp, however, quietly admired Mateschitz’s work, mainly because of the way his clubs recruited and took care of their players. New signings were never superstars, but the system Mateschitz helped put in place gave them the chance to reach new levels. Klopp saw comparisons with his own strategy — many of the players he signed for Dortmund and Liverpool were not household names before they arrived. A couple of months before that 2022 meeting with Mateschitz, Klopp’s Liverpool had played Salzburg in a friendly: “They (Red Bull) kind of change every year, they sell players but still a good team,” he told reporters. “It’s really interesting what they are doing. The football philosophy is not too far away from ours.” There was another thing that brought Klopp and Mateschitz together. Though the pair had worked tremendously hard to become wealthy and famous, each person felt as though they had retained their sense of self. They were not quite kindred spirits, but there was more than enough in common between the pair for that conversation, high above Salzburg, to run deep into the evening. Klopp did not agree to join Red Bull straight away, but by the time he announced his departure from Liverpool in January, he had a good idea of where he would be a year down the line. Following Mateschitz’s passing in October 2022, the line of communication to Red Bull was managed by Klopp’s agent, Marc Kosicke, and Oliver Mintzlaff, the cross-country runner turned marketing specialist Mateschitz recruited because of the strength of his brand work at Puma. Since 2014, Mintzlaff has held several titles with Red Bull. Having initially worked under another former Liverpool manager, Gerard Houllier, who was the group’s head of global soccer between 2012 and 2015, Mintzlaff became RB Leipzig’s chief executive, overseeing the club’s rise into the Bundesliga. After Mintzlaff replaced Houllier in his more overarching role, Mateschitz rewarded him with another promotion just before his death and, since 2022, his focus has been on new investments. Kosicke and Mintzlaff’s worlds have overlapped for nearly two decades and they get on well. The relationship would help ease the passage of Pep Lijnders from Liverpool to become Salzburg head coach after Klopp’s long-time assistant decided to leave Anfield at the same time as his boss. That moment came in May, though Klopp had told Mike Gordon, president of Liverpool’s owner Fenway Sports Group (FSG) last November — nearly 14 months after his Salzburg meeting with Mateschitz — that he wanted to leave. In the recently updated version of Raphael Honigstein’s book, Bring the Noise, Klopp’s other senior assistant, Peter Krawietz, reveals the manager decided to move on after realising he did not have the energy or focus to plan Liverpool’s 2024 pre-season, one that included making provisions for two major national-team tournaments this summer, the European Championship and the Copa America. With Krawietz and other members of his inner circle, such as Lijnders, in agreement that it was time for a change, the news when it landed with Gordon came as a “surprise but not a shock”. Speaking to Honigstein for the book, Gordon described managing Liverpool, when done correctly, as “not even a job, it’s much bigger than that, it’s a role, a way of life”. Gordon saw over time that the burden of leading the Anfield side was “wearing on him (Klopp)”. It made Klopp’s decision easier that Liverpool had turned a corner on the pitch but, according to Gordon, the German wanted to minimise the impact it would have on the club while giving FSG the best chance of finding his replacement. “We knew we couldn’t keep it a secret for too long, that’s not how football works,” he said. Intriguingly, the news about Klopp deciding to join Red Bull had been communicated among some of the leading figures inside the company. After his arrival was formally announced only earlier this month, Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s chief motorsport advisor, told the Munich tabloid TZ that Klopp’s appointment had been an open secret. “It’s unbelievable how such a megadeal could remain secret for so long,” he said. “That would never have been possible in Formula 1.” Marko’s comments were supported by the multiple world title-winning F1 driver Max Verstappen, who told UK broadcaster Sky Sports: “I knew already for quite a long time that they were talking and it was close to being signed,” he said. “Red Bull is investing a lot in football with the teams they have and there is a lot of talent that has come through already. With someone like Jurgen in charge from the top, he has a lot of experience and he has managed a lot of great clubs.” Initially, the Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper, based in the city it shares with Red Bull, claimed Klopp was close to joining the company in the same role once held by Houllier and Mateschitz. When later republished online, it merely referenced “rumours”, and nobody outside Austria paid much attention to it. When Klopp took charge of a Dortmund legends team in September, he described it as a “dream come true”. In the same month, he also made a hero’s return to Mainz, where he spent his entire professional career as a player before turning to management in a moment of crisis for the club. A cynical mind might conclude he was on a farewell tour, reminding old friends of the connections they used to share before a big reveal that was bound to upset at least a few people. Following the announcement, on October 9, that Klopp would join Red Bull in the new year, Mainz’s next game was against one of their clubs. During a 2-0 loss to Leipzig, Mainz supporters responded to the development by unfurling banners with messages like: “Did you forget everything we made you become?” Another, an old quote of Klopp’s: “I like people until the point they disappoint me”, as well as, “Are you crazy?” Away from Germany, Klopp’s ties with Red Bull were strengthened in Liverpool. One of his first big decisions following his appointment in 2015 was over a new training ground. When plans were being drawn up for the site in Kirkby, a delegation from Liverpool paid a visit to Red Bull Salzburg, as he felt they could learn from the Austrian side’s setup and facilities. Following the arrival of Minamino from Salzburg in 2019, Klopp told Liverpool’s website: “Coming from the club and the organisation he does, we know he’ll be well coached, used to an elite environment, and had all the right experiences.” Klopp liked signing players developed the Red Bull way because he felt as though the philosophy was closely aligned with his own. Each of the group’s clubs played with a high intensity and he felt as though this helped them deal with any period of adjustment on Merseyside. Central to that identity from a Red Bull perspective was the current coach of the Austrian national team, Ralf Rangnick, who has held several titles within its football organisation. He was once described by Klopp as “one of the best if not the best German coach”, but they did not discuss the latter’s new role as head of global soccer, even though it was a job Rangnick did for a while after leaving Leipzig in 2019. This involved recruitment and attempting to coordinate a common coaching philosophy. Yet Rangnick was frustrated by his experiences — he was serious about his responsibilities, but on trips to New York and Brazil, he found that the coaches he was educating, if they listened, realised he wouldn’t be back any time soon, so the impact he was having was negligible. Klopp is not expected to be in attendance when Liverpool face Leipzig at the Red Bull Arena on Wednesday, but his imminent career move adds an intriguing sub-plot to the occasion. “He always brought energy to our team,” Marco Rose, who played for Klopp at Mainz and is now Leipzig’s head coach, told reporters this week. “We had situations at Mainz when we felt helpless, but ‘Kloppo’ gave us the feeling that we wanted to play again the next day, giving us the foundations to always believe and the belief to always move forward. “He taught defensive football. We didn’t always have the same opinion, but I learned a lot from him and he is a great person and I am very much looking forward to working with him.” Szoboszlai, speaking at yesterday’s press conference, shared Rose’s enthusiasm. “It’s different, a new job, different to a coach but I am happy he is back. He’s such a name in football, you don’t want to forget about him and it is good he stays in football.” Klopp’s decision has courted less controversy in England, yet the mood might change if the company he represents becomes more involved in Leeds United of the second-tier Championship, where Red Bull now owns a stake. He has history with the coaches working for Red Bull in Leipzig, Salzburg and New York in some way. Leeds’ German manager, Daniel Farke, does not fall into the same category, but at a pre-match press conference ahead of the club’s victory over Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United last week, he revealed that he and Klopp are “close and in touch — I can always contact him when I need to”. To some extent, he can now classify those calls as work-related. Yet Farke realises the significance of identity. “We are Leeds United,” he said. “None of our fans would allow us to copy something from elsewhere. We are a unique club, with values and principles.” In 2017, Klopp said something similar in that Marca piece mentioned earlier, insisting he was a “football romantic”. If that was the case, his recent choices remind us that in football, nothing is sacred.

Paul Joyce: Liverpool close in on new deals for Jarell Quansah and Ibrahima Konaté Talks are under way to extend the contracts of the two defenders but the club is still at an impasse with Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk Quansah earned a call-up to England’s senior training squad during the summer after a breakthrough season for Liverpool Konaté has been one of Liverpool’s most impressive players this season, scoring two goals and helping the Merseyside club record a league-high five clean sheets Quansah started the season in Slot’s starting line-up, but was substituted at half-time of the opening-day win over Ipswich Town, with Konaté replacing him in an attempt to add more physicality to Liverpool’s performance. Konaté was one of the players Liverpool hoped could improve under Slot after a difficult 2023-24 season and, so far, he has impressed in both defence and attack, scoring two goals. Negotiations with the France international are at a preliminary stage, but the will is there to extend his present deal, which has two years left to run. Konaté, 25, moved to Anfield from RB Leipzig for £36million in 2021. The developments are welcome although, at the same time, will not distract from the continued impasse with Van Dijk, Salah and Alexander-Arnold. There has been contact between the club and the representatives of all three players, but talks have not found common ground. Meanwhile, the Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson is set to undergo a scan on the latest hamstring injury he has suffered and which has left Slot fearing he will be sidelined for “weeks”. The Brazil international recently missed two games with a hamstring strain and suffered what appeared to be a more serious injury in the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday. He missed ten Premier League matches last season due to injury and illness.

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Don’t think he played a single min of the Euros but started both games in this international break with the No 6 shirt.

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This is the new CL theme, sounds a bit