Page 8 - Liverpool

There was an interesting narrative to explore on Saturday, as the further implosion of Jose Mourinho's Chelsea side corresponded with the moment where Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool squad finally seemed to come into their own. Klopp hadn't won any Premier League matches since he took over at Anfield early in October, securing draws against Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton. The German manager won his first game in charge last week, though, coaching the Reds to a 1-0 League Cup win against AFC Bournemouth. By beating Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, Klopp has officially notched his first Premier League win; many others are sure to follow. But Chelsea's loss to Liverpool is perhaps slightly more significant for the Blues.

Following the loss it's unclear how many matches Jose Mourinho has left at Chelsea. The Portuguese manager has had monumental success in his two stints with the Blues, coaching the football club to three Premier League titles, three League Cups, one FA Cup, and

Up until now, the 2015 2016 Football League Cup has been largely predictable. Sure, Tottenham Hotspur, last season's tournament runner-up, bowed out in the round of 32. So did West Ham United, who have been surprisingly solid in the Premier League this fall. For the most part, though, the big teams made it to the League Cup's fourth round-including heavyweights like Chelsea, Arsenal, the two Manchester Clubs, and Liverpool.

As if sensing that the League Cup was getting a bit stagnant, fate stirred up some real drama in the League Cup 2015 round of 16. A few major upsets in the round, which took place on October 27^th and 28^th, could drastically shift the landscape for the tournament. But who were the major winners and losers, and which football clubs should you expect to see contending for the title, come the tail end of February? Read on to find out!

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In terms of goals, James Milner hasn't exactly been setting the world on fire since arriving at Liverpool this summer. Recently, though, Milner has been getting a lot of attention in the press, and for good reason. First, following his first game in charge, new Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp praised Milner as "the complete footballer" and "the perfect professional." Klopp was praising the entire Liverpool squad when he said those words, noting that the Reds have everything they need to be a winning team. But the praise for Milner rings especially true, considering the fact that the new Liverpool transfer was named the hardest-working player in the entire Premier League. Find out more and keep reading this James Milner player profile.

The title, of 'hardest-working player', handed down by EA Sports-the company that makes the FIFA video games-was arrived at by tallying the stats for how much distance each EPL player has covered so far during the 2015 2016 season. In the first

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Two games into the Jurgen Klopp reign at Liverpool, Adam Lallana has been one of the players counted upon to feature heavily and in a pivotal role as the new manager seeks to transform both style and consistency of the team.

Starting against Tottenham and Rubin Kazan in a withdrawn, right channel role to support the main striker and be an outlet for the midfield, Lallana has been very involved in receiving possession quickly and charged with being both a conduit and a creator. With injuries robbing Klopp of his main forwards, offensive-minded midfielders have been relied upon throughout both 90 minutes, without huge success so far.

Lallana, at his best, is a great technical talent. His first touch is immaculate and he is able to turn his body in tune with the flight of the ball, evading

Looking at the stats from Saturday's game between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur, one might say that even the great Jurgen Klopp can't take a struggling club and make them winners overnight. The former Borussia Dortmund manager was announced as the new manager for Liverpool following the sacking of Brendan Rodgers. Jurgen Klopp's first Liverpool game ends in a 0-0 draw at Spurs, not a bad result but perhaps not the win many fans were envisioning.

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A Running Game

Even if Klopp didn't get a win, though, the general consensus seems to be that he has already changed the way that the football club plays the game. As ESPN FC noted in the days following the match, Liverpool's players were running and moving more than they have all season. The Spurs typically play a very running-oriented

Well, that didn't take long. Just five days after Brendan Rodgers was sacked from the Liverpool FC manager job, an announcement was officially made: Jurgen Klopp appointed Liverpool Manager.

Klopp, who led Dortmund to a pair of Bundesliga titles and a runner-up finish in the 2013 2014 Champions League, had been rumored to be in talks with Liverpool for several weeks, as chatter about Rodgers' future with the club heated up. Klopp had been on sabbatical from the soccer world, following his resignation from Dortmund last spring after a disastrous season. Still, the German coach is typically regarded as one of the finest soccer managers in the world, and he just might be the man to turn the Reds into a winning soccer organization again.

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A Season in Need of Turnaround

Not even

So far in the 2015 2016 Capital One Cup (also known as the Football League Cup), we haven't seen a ton of big surprises. The first two rounds of the tournament went more or less as expected, with all of the biggest soccer clubs (Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, etc.) making it to round three intact. However, the Capital One Cup third round matches, played on September 22^nd and 23^rd, brought arguably the first big development of the tournament so far the elimination of Tottenham Hotspur.

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Tottenham Make an Early Exit

Tottenham Hotspur, of course, were one of the most successful soccer clubs in the Capital One Cup last year. Spurs went all the way to the finals, beating teams like Nottingham Forest, Brighton & Hove Albion, Newcastle United,

A lukewarm 1-1 draw with Everton in the Merseyside Derby on Sunday, October 4^th was the last straw for Brendan Rodgers, it seems. After the match, the world was informed that Liverpool sack Brendan Rodgers from his position as their manager. The decision is not surprising after rumors have swirled in recent weeks that Rodgers might be replaced by anyone from former Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp, to former Real Madrid and Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti. Still, Brendan's sacking marks the end of an era for Liverpool-an era that saw the football club get closer to winning a Premier League title than they had in more than two decades.

Still, while Rodgers' almost broke Liverpool's title drought in 2013 2014, his soccer squad declined sharply last season and has continued the free fall this season. The 1-1 draw with Everton dropped Liverpool to 10^th place on the 2015 2016 Premier League table. With one-fifth of the season gone, it was time for Liverpool FC

The question on many football fans this week has been: Could Jurgen Klopp replace Brendan Rodgers as manager at Liverpool? But how has this situation arisen? Not too long ago, soccer fans and media sources alike were singing Brendan Rodgers' praises. The Irish football manager, who took over as the head coach at Liverpool FC in 2012, nearly led the club to their first title since 1990 during the 2013 2014 campaign. A 0-2 loss in a key late-season match against Chelsea gave Manchester City the opening they needed to take the lead, and Liverpool finished in second, but Rodgers' Reds still had plenty of promise. By all accounts, 2014 2015 should have been a huge year for the soccer club.

And then, somehow, it wasn't. Between a departed Luis Suarez, an injured Daniel Sturridge, an aging Steven Gerrard, and an unprofessional Raheem Sterling, the Reds simply couldn't get it together during the 2014 2015 campaign. They ended the season in sixth place, and suddenly Brendan Rodgers' future

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The Match: What Went Down

The Red Devils donned the Manchester United home jersey 2015 2016 and took the pitch at Old Trafford to take on Liverpool. However, it took a little while before their home field advantage really seemed to kick in. Indeed, after the first half of play, the football match was still stalemated at 0-0.

It wasn't until the opening minutes of the second half that Manchester midfielder Daley Blind took an assist from Juan Mata to score the first goal of the match. From there on out, it was like puzzle pieces falling into place for the Red Devils. At the 70-minute mark, Ander Herrara drained a penalty goal to make the score 2-0. And while Christian Benteke-Liverpool's highest profile signing of the summer transfer window-brought Liverpool back within one point at 84 minutes, the comeback surge was decidedly brief.

While Daley Blind was likely the man of the