RED OCTOBER<\/p>\n
It is English football\u2019s Cl\u00e1sico, Klassiker, Classique. The north-west classic, if you will. Use flat vowels. The TV companies are revving up the performance poets, fizzing pints of lager to denote working-class roots are being artfully placed on unpolished pub tables, regional accents exaggerated as the hype machine revs up. The latest renewal of Liverpool v Manchester United<\/a> finds the historic rivals in less than classic form. That United are playing like a drain is a state of being near-permanent since the year 2013 when twerking was a dance craze, phablets were a must have and \u201clive blog\u201d entered the Oxford English Dictionary (whatever happened to those? \u2013 Football Daily Ed). It has been Liverpool riding a rising tide since then.<\/p>\n Until now. Yes, after losing three matches in succession, Arne Slot\u2019s champions have entered the realm of the essence of crisis club, their manager veering dangerously into bald fraud territory. Liverpool<\/a> fans find themselves scrolling longingly through J\u00fcrgen Klopp\u2019s InstaChat account, pawing at pics of their former manager enjoying games of padel with Gabriela Sabatini. They might be inconsolable by the time Klopp\u2019s social media afterlife continues with his appearance on LinkedIn deity Steve Bartlett\u2019s Diary of a CEO podcast, dropping later this month. The Mersey will overflow with salty tears as the German shares tales of high performance, disruption, big data, synergy and metrics while laughing like a hyena watching You\u2019ve Been Framed.<\/p>\n Liverpool, a full point behind champions-elect Arsenal, desperately need a win to stay in this season\u2019s title race. Or else, the status of what Roy Keane labelled Klopp\u2019s 2020 title winners \u2013 \u201cbad champions\u201d \u2013 will descend. They must do it without Alisson, the goalkeeper so important to Klopp, who has succumbed to his latest bout of hamstring-twang. Step up, Giorgi Mamardashvili, who excelled in last weekend\u2019s Geopolitics World Cup game against Italy, saving a penalty before \u2013 oh lordy \u2013 a howler in Georgia\u2019s 4-1 pumping in Turkey. United are likely to field their own greenhorn goalie, and with zero Belgian caps so far, compared to Mamardashvili\u2019s 33, Senne Lammens is far more of a rookie thrown into a cauldron that has consumed a few decent keepers over the years.<\/p>\n Both David James and Brad Friedel heard the \u201cdodgy keeper\u201d chants ringing after 1990s horror shows against United. Massimo Taibi is notorious as a Sir Alex Ferguson flop but that followed him using up nine lives in a match-winning display at Anfield in 1999. Po\u2019 David de Gea watched seven goals fly past him in 2023. There\u2019s also Alexander Isak, following up a summer of transfer mither by being Sean Dundee reincarnate. Florian Wirtz has descended from Deutscher fu\u00dfballmeister to desperate waste of Euros. And let\u2019s not get started on Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong. Meanwhile, United spent \u00a3200m on Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko for a meagre return of three goals and one Premier League assist so far. Transfers, who\u2019d have \u2018em? To quote Chuck D, don\u2019t believe the hype. Though it probably ends up a 5-5 classic.<\/p>\n QUOTE OF THE DAY<\/p>\n \u201cI guess I just don\u2019t fit. Not here [at Forest], just in general. If you look at it through the prism that I\u2019m a failed manager and I\u2019m lucky to get this job \u2013 and I can find the print where that\u2019s said \u2013 then of course this first five weeks looks like \u2018wow, this guy\u2019s under pressure\u2019. Of course there\u2019s an alternative story you can look at. I came into the Premier League two years ago, I took over \u2018Spursy\u2019 Tottenham and I was told by the [chief suit] that the club has to win a trophy. We finished fifth in my first year, but somehow that year has disappeared from the record books \u2013 the first 10 games were an anomaly apparently, whereas the first 10 games here are very important\u201d \u2013 just a small portion of Ange Postecoglou\u2019s flamin\u2019 four-minute diatribe<\/a> aimed at salivating hacks before his Nottingham Forest side host Chelsea.<\/p>\n Does Ange Postecoglou have his position in the Premier League sack race written on his jacket? Photograph: Scott Heppell\/Reuters<\/p>\n What game play is actually happening in David Bell\u2019s Sensible Soccer screengrab [yesterday\u2019s letters<\/a>]? An Arsenal player simulating death in the penalty area? In complete isolation? In the 46th minute? What drama!\u201d \u2013 Alun Williams.<\/p>\n Congratulations on England beating the 137th-best team in the world and managing to qualify for the World Cup alongside only 47 other teams. It sounds like it\u2019s just the right time for some overblown England hype. Ah yes, here we are<\/a>, with England having its best chance to win the World Cup since 1970, just like in 1986, 1998, 2018 and 2022. One day, we will stop jumping on the England hype train at the earliest possible opportunity. However, today is not that day\u201d \u2013 Noble Francis.<\/p>\n Re: Thursday\u2019s Daily \u2013 I know that it may run contrary to the thrust of the article but I\u2019m sorry, calling Jack Grealish\u2019s winner against Crystal Palace \u2018fluked\u2019 is simply ludicrous\u201d \u2013 Stuart Ainsworth [judge for yourselves<\/a> \u2013 Football Daily Ed].<\/p>\n If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com<\/a>. Today\u2019s winner of our prizeless letter o\u2019 the day is \u2026 Alun Williams. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we have them, are here<\/a>.<\/p>\n RECOMMENDED SUBSCRIBING<\/p>\n