Pedro Neto
Posted in2020-2021-Season Daily News

#PLStories – #PedroNeto admits Liverpool side without #VirgilVanDijk #JoelMatip is easy for him to play #WolvesFC #LFC

March 15, 2021
Pedro Neto will lead Wolverhampton Wanderers’ fight against reigning champions Liverpool on Monday night. Jurgen Klopp’s side have lost six of their last seven Premier League games and Wolves will fancy their chances of adding to the Reds’ woes. It has been far from vintage Wolves this season, but Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have improved of late and should have taken three points at Aston Villa last time out. Neto was Villa’s tormentor-in-chief and the rapid winger has been Wolves’ stand-out player in an otherwise disappointing campaign. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will auto-play soon8Cancel The 21-year-old has five goals and five assists from 28 games in the Premier League to put him in contention for the prestigious PFA Young Player of the Year award. Such is Neto’s confidence at present, the winger insists he would rather face Liverpool’s imperious defenders Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip instead of the makeshift back-line Klopp will be forced to field at Molineux. “I have to be honest, I would rather play against van Dijk or Matip because I like to test myself against the best so I can improve my game,” Neto told wolves.co.uk. “The best thing we can do in football to learn, is to play with the best. “I came to this league to play with the best and to play against the best, and to show that I can do my job and play my game whoever is on the pitch.” Read More Related Articles Read More Related Articles One of the many problems Nuno is trying to fix is the lack of first half goals Wolves have scored. The Molineux men have been slow starters since their promotion to the Premier League, but they’ve scored just once in the first half of their last eight games. And Neto believes supporters can expect to see a more rampant Wolves from the off against Liverpool. “We are trying to change our mentality to go a little bit better in the first half, and we are looking forward to the game because it will be a good game, a hard game,” he added. “It’s always a difficult game against Liverpool because they have a very good team, but we have to take the opportunities in these difficult games to show that we have personality to play and to show our game.” Read More Related Articles Read More Related Articles
Jota Klopp
Posted in2020-2021-Season Daily News

#PLStories – #JurgenKlopp does not want to disturb partnership of #NatPhillips and #OzanKabak #LFC

March 15, 2021
Jurgen Klopp has hinted that Liverpool will persist with a rookie defensive pairing against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday. Liverpool have lost six of their last seven games in the Premier League and arrive at Molineux desperately in need of three points to boost their top four hopes. Klopp's team have struggled to deal with injuries to key defenders, with Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip all currently sidelined. While the trio are making progress, Klopp doesn't expect any of his three first choice centre-backs to play before next season. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will auto-play soon8Cancel "We all hope they will be ready to start pre-season with us, that's what we all hope," Klopp said at his pre-Wolves press conference. "With Joel it is pretty much the same. "These are really serious injuries and it is now not about talking about which competition they play. "As far as I know – and I am always open for positive surprises and they all of a sudden turn up in team training but no-one told me that. "The two of them (Van Dijk and Gomez) look better than Joel as he is still in what looks like ski boots. Joe is not running. Virgil is already running but this is a real tough one. "We will be completely over the moon when they are ready to train with us for the start of pre-season but the Euros I didn't think about it." Read More Related Articles Read More Related Articles Klopp has used various partnerships at centre-back this season but he appears to have settled on Nat Phillips and Ozan Kabak for the time being. The pair started Liverpool's 2-0 Champions League win over RB Leipzig last week and Klopp has all but confirmed they will play at Molineux. The Reds boss said: "It looked really good. If they are physically ready to go again then why should we change it? That's clear. "You want to have consistency and we never had it [this season]. Hopefully they can play a lot of games, if not all of the rest." Wolves transfer news, rumours and analysis free to your inbox There's a quick and easy way to stay on top of all the Wolverhampton Wanderers news with our daily newsletter. Delivered straight into your email inbox each day, the bulletins will feature the latest Wolves transfer news, views, gossip and opinion from our man Alex Dicken. How do I sign up? All you have to do is punch your email in at the top of the article - or sign up here. And what's more, it's absolutely free! You can also get all the latest updates by following us on Facebook and Twitter. We also have a free app which you can download. It is always up-to-date with the latest news from across the region. Google Play Store and App Store In other injury news for Liverpool, Klopp is hopeful that Brazilian striker Roberto Firmino - who scored the winner at Molineux last season - will be able to return from a knee injury to face Wolves. "Bobby was not with us and couldn't play. But now we have had a few more days. "We have the medical meeting actually after the press conference - sorry! They will give me more information about that. We will see. Two more days. Hopefully." Read More Related Articles Read More Related Articles
Thiago Alcantara
Posted in2020-2021-Season Daily News

#PLStories – #JurgenKlopp suggests all talk about #ThiagoAlcantara not fitting Liverpool is rubbish #LFC

March 12, 2021
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp dismissed criticism of Thiago Alcantara as his side returned to winning ways against RB Leipzig ahead of Monday’s meeting with Wolverhampton Wanderers. Klopp went on the defensive after goals from Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane completed a 4-0 aggregate victory over Leipzig to send Liverpool into the Champions League quarter-finals. The Reds had suffered six defeats in their last eight games before Wednesday’s round of 16 tie in Budapest, including the chastening 1-0 loss to Premier League relegation strugglers Fulham at Anfield on Sunday. Thiago, who returned from injury in late December, is among the players to have come under fire but the summer signing from Bayern Munich impressed against the Bundesliga side. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will auto-play soon8Cancel When asked by a German reporter about the midfielder, Klopp said: “Thiago was good, they were all good. “I assume when you all look at Liverpool from Germany, people say it's (the problems) to do with Thiago or whatever - that's rubbish. “For the players who were new, they always needed time to get used to our gameplan but Thiago doesn't have that. “But he improves week on week. It is not a short-term project, it is a long-term project and it was good. “It is very fluid how we work together, the boys played some nice passes and Thiago had a great chance as well, I think he could have had a shot on goal but instead passed.” Wolves daily newsletter. Free. To your inbox There's a quick and easy way to stay on top of all the Wolverhampton Wanderers news with our daily newsletter. Delivered straight into your email inbox each day, the bulletins will feature the latest Wolves news, views, gossip and opinion. All you have to do is punch your email in at the top of the article - or sign up here. And what's more, it's absolutely free! You can also get all the latest updates by following us on Facebook and Twitter. We also have a free app which you can download. It is always up-to-date with the latest news from across the region. Google Play Store and App Store Klopp was able to move Fabinho back into his favoured defensive midfield role with the Brazilian having spent most of the season at centre-back after the injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez. It was another boost for the German boss, who hinted he wants to keep the 27-year-old in the same position for the trip to face Wolves at Molineux. He added: “It was my hope before the season [Fabinho playing in midfield] and during the season it didn't happen, so we have to see what solutions we can find for the next games - for Wolves first and foremost. “Of course, No.6 is his position, one of the best in the world in that position, it's clear. It was not only defending-wise really good from him, he played some good stuff as well. [He is] important for us.” Read More Related Articles Read More Related Articles
Arsene Wenger
Posted in2020-2021-Season Daily News

#PL Stories – #ArseneWenger identifies #ThiagoAlcantara as the main reason for Liverpool’s bad results this season #LFC

February 18, 2021
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has criticised Liverpool for the signing of Thiago Alcantara, identifying what the team has lost with his arrival. Jurgen Klopp's side are enduring a disastrous defence of their Premier League crown, dropping to sixth in the standings and 13 points behind leaders Manchester City, who hold a game in hand. While there was plenty of excitement surrounding the capture of Thiago, the Spaniard has endured difficulties upon his arrival in the Premier League. Wenger has identified that his inclusion in the team sees Klopp's side lose some of the aggression they had in midfield in recent years and also hinted at why Wenger signed the played he did while at Arsenal. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will auto-play soon8Cancel "Thiago Alcantara, for me, shows a problem for a manager. Liverpool were very hungry and aggressive in midfield, when you're a manager you think you want to make the team better and you take a technical player," he told BeIN Sports. "When you take a technical player, you lose the aggression in midfield and you destroy a little bit the strength in midfield that Liverpool had before. "They have certainly less capacity today to win the ball back and they suffer a little bit more. Sometimes when you want to improve the team, you take something away from it." Sign up to our Arsenal newsletter for the latest transfer news By signing up for our Arsenal newsletter, you will receive a once-daily email, focused around goings-on at Emirates Stadium. You won't miss a thing when it comes to the Gunners - you'll get all you need to know directly into your inbox. We'll also send out special newsletters with any big breaking news too. And with the January transfer window now open there's plenty of content to get your teeth into. How do you sign up? It's easy and only takes seconds. Simply type your email address into the box at the top of this article - or any article on the Arsenal section of football.london in fact - labelled 'Get the biggest daily stories by email' and click 'Subscribe'. And that's it, you're all set. If you decide later that you no longer wish to receive the emails, simply follow the unsubscribe link in one of the newsletters - but we don't think you'll want to. For more details, click here. That may also explain why Wenger regularly seemed to ignored calls for Arsenal to sign a defensive midfielder during the latter years of his spell in charge at the Emirates Stadium. It was repeatedly highlighted as an idea on the field where the Gunners needed to improve but Wenger pursued alternative additions - and his comments on Thiago taking something away from Liverpool may identify why.