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Welcome to the latest episode, after a big week. Tough Champions League loss, but then there was a 100th minute winner from big Virg in the Merseyside Derby. Disappointment about the result against PSG maybe not the performance, complete joy about the win at the Hill-Dicko whatever the performance. I’m Paul, joined by Daz and Enrique. Part One: PSG at Anfield, Everton in their new stadium PSG - for 20 minutes, it felt like we had them on the ropes Team selection drew lots of criticism Not clinical enough as has been the criticism all season? The penalty a turning point? The limits of Jeremy Frimpong and Georgi Marmadashvili Everton  xG 1.45 to 0.79 2 big chances one missed by us to 2 missed by them. There was a determination about this performance Blues wilted - big expectations couldn’t match the ‘hex’ Funny to see their fans say that they were much better than us but at the same time explaining the loss because we had match winners. No shots after 70 minutes Went for it in the last 20. 6th 90th minute winner against the Blues of the PL era (most) Curtis performance, Cody, Florian and Mo Part Two: One game a week, next up Crystal Palace: CP - 3rd best defensive record in the league, but maybe an eye on Thursday European semi final. Looks like they would lose to West Ham but in the end probably did enough to win. Injuries will impact selection, but we’ve got a week on the training ground to look at tactics. Glasner thinks he owns Slot… Somehow we are 6-1-2 in our last 9 league games Part Three: Wider context 5 points clear of 6th with 5 to play - 4 to play for Brighton and Chelsea  Villa and United play each other - not that either of them are pulling up trees. Chelsea in early May. Will they have made a managerial change?  Looking ahead: Ibou close to resigningWe will be back after the Palace game. Thanks to Enrique and Daz for joining me, Paul. And most of all, thank you dear listener for joining us.If you enjoyed the pod, please share it with a friend. Follow us @FirstStateKopites on X  – we only tweet and retweet from sources we think are credible. Music is courtesy of Hypenotic – they are a Welsh electro-pop band – https://hyperfollow.com/hypenotic   

Welcome to the latest episode, Liverpool’s losing run comes to an end at home to Fulham, with a 2-0 win. A lot more control about that performance than many of late. The defeats to City and PSG didn't feel great. I’m Paul, joined by Daz and Justin. It’s been a month since the last episode. I think it’s fair to say that some disagreements about where the team is at and conversations about blame have got in the way of pulling a pod together. This one is an attempt to move beyond that. Part One: Fulham have been a challenge at Anfield in recent seasons We did have a bench. Rio, Mo and Florian Wirtz all looked sharp Jones/Szobo midfield duo looked solid in the first xG 1.59 to 1.04. 3 big chances missed to 2 (in the second half). Usual Anthony Taylor foul count - 10-4 against us. Part Two - ‘Anfield won’t save Liverpool from PSG’ was the London Times podcast title. PSG home: Early goal needed? Any lessons from Galatasaray at home? Enough rotation against Fulham? Starting line up? Does the Hillsborough remembrance change things for Slot in choosing his lineup The first Derby at the Hill-Dickinson Obviously they will be right up for this They are 1st or 2nd on aerial duel wins. The laissez-faire refereeing has helped them (and Brentford and Arsenal) We do have 5 days between these games.  Part Three - wider view with at least 7 games left Champions League qualification? 3 points behind Villa now. Marmadashvili The greatest team we may ever have seen continues to build an alumni - Robbo and Mo - 256 goals for Liverpool now, 192 in the league. The football structure - Hughes, Edwards and Slot all have 1 year left on their contracts What do we think will/would like to happen? We will likely be back after the PSG game. Thanks to Justin and Daz for joining me, Paul. And most of all, thank you dear listener for joining us.If you enjoyed the pod, please share it with a friend. Follow us @FirstStateKopites on X  – we only tweet and retweet from sources we think are credible. Music is courtesy of Hypenotic – they are a Welsh electro-pop band – https://hyperfollow.com/hypenotic   

Welcome to the latest episode, Liverpool’s winning run comes to an end at Wolves. Conceding another 90+ minute goal - feels yuk. The 5-2 over West Ham offered quite a different feeling. I’m Paul, joined by Daz and Justin. Part One - First half - slow and predictable said the captain. Slot was very upset, we are told. Play Frimpong and give him the ball before the final third too many times First half - felt very safe - Wolves xG 0.0 - overall 0.44 for Wolves and 1.83 for us and 4 big chances. Second half better but still didn’t create a lot. At least we got wide more. Great clearance from Cody… Salah as a wide player…. Bad first goal to concede The pushing for a winner strategy has really hurt us this season: Chiesa chaos No Konate Part Two - West Ham at home (xG 1.84 to 1.86) They are a difficult team - but our set pieces were outrageous National narrative - ‘Liverpool didn’t play very well’ and now we make a note of the xG First half key moments: 5 minutes - great composure from Ryan and Hugo.  25 minutes - VVD finds another header. What was VAR doing? 43 - love a goal where the ball doesn’t hit the ground Good moves in between - Cody finding RG and Hugo’s big chance Second half - much closer: Soucek goal probably changes the sub plans Alisson makes a save at 4-2 that was important Frimpong and Gakpo goals and Nyoni, Rio cameos were positive Part Three - Other business: Arsenal - breaking down what their anti-football entails Time wasting Collapsing with contact while mugging opposition forwards in the box The Tottenham Hotspur train wreck comes to town Galatasaray starts next week Our midfield - overplayed: And what has happened to Alexis Mac Allister?\ Why not Curtis Jones? We will be back after the Galatasaray away game. Thanks to Justin and Daz for joining me, Paul. And most of all, thank you dear listener for joining us.If you enjoyed the pod, please share it with a friend. Follow us @FirstStateKopites on X  – we only tweet and retweet from sources we think are credible. Music is courtesy of Hypenotic – they are a Welsh electro-pop band – https://hyperfollow.com/hypenotic   

Welcome to the latest episode, after Liverpool win 2 successive away games against shitball teams - the Reds got a late winner and people were doing cartwheels about the ‘bank robbery’ that took place in Nottingham on Sunday. I’m Paul, joined by Daz and Justin. Part One - First half - not our best 45 minutes: Had a week to prepare? Balls jumped off our feet’. Curtis started too optimistically?Felt like the impact of no Florian was big Somehow our pass completion was 85% Forest had the new manager with the first win on Thursday -  could claim we knew how they were setting up? Forest created less than the narrative would have you believe.  Hudson-Odoi chance after 4 minutes was a quarter of their xG. 0.33 of 1.27 Some long range shots. But they did have 3 corners and 2 long throws This has never been an easy ground for us - 1 win in 6 before this in the league. 5 of our 8 premier league goals have been from set pieces. Part Two - 2nd half, was completely forgotten that we were the ones with the big chances - 4. Jones chance from a Gakpo/Salah set up. Why not more of these? Lot of chat about the Rio sub in particular. Created problems when he was moved to the right. Mac Allister should have been replaced, shouldn’t he? The disallowed goal. Feel like if it’s Chelsea or City we quickly move on and it's a goal. Led to a 3rd clean sheet in a row, and the first 90+ minute winner for months Lucky - don’t feel like the National media was saying we were unlucky when conceding in shite moments against Bournemouth and Fulham Part three - state of our nation: 6th place, same points as Chelsea, 3 behind the Mancs, 6 behind Villa with 11 to play Round of 16 UCL opponents Athleti or most likely Galatasaray Florian and Jeremie Frimpong back for West Ham. quickly followed by Wolves away.We will be back after the West Ham game.. Thanks to Justin and Daz for joining me, Paul. And most of all, thank you dear listener for joining us.If you enjoyed the pod, please share it with a friend. Follow us @FirstStateKopites on X  – we only tweet and retweet from sources we think are credible. Music is courtesy of Hypenotic – they are a Welsh electro-pop band – https://hyperfollow.com/hypenotic   

Welcome to the latest episode of this, the 7th season - after Liverpool finally overcame a shitball team away from home - after the low of the City match, the boys in Red rallied to produce a really solid away performance at Sunderland. I’m Paul, joined by Daz and Alex.  Part One - Sunderland away (xG 0.63 to 2.53) Solid in the first half, aside from 1st minute foul throw Less control in the second half ‘Carbon copy of the City game’ - some really solid defending and control from out boys here - Gomez, Jones and Chiesa subs all seem to help Virgil, Florian, Konate More penalty nonsense - what does a handball for us look like? Endo - foot injury Part Two - Brighton, Forest: FA Cup - 4th round, how much do we commit to this? Forest away after a week break. Can we give these bastards what they deserve? No Dyche, Victor Perreira 12 matches left…  We will be back after the 22nd with a review of the Forest game, maybe do some bits in between assessing where the team is and what we can hope for. Thanks to Alex and Daz for joining me, Paul. And most of all, thank you dear listener for joining us. If you enjoyed the pod, please share it with a friend. Follow us @FirstStateKopites on X  – we only tweet and retweet from sources we think are credible. Music is courtesy of Hypenotic – they are a Welsh electro-pop band – https://hyperfollow.com/hypenotic   

Welcome to the latest episode of this, the 7th season - after Liverpool had a tough weekend - after wins over Qarabag and Newcastle bumped back down to earth with a bizarre finish to the City match. I’m Paul, joined by Daz and Sean.  2nd best in the first 30 minutes 35 minutes in the second half Seemed to throttle back in intensity and territory after the goal  Big miss from Hugo?  We’ve dropped 8 points in 5 games in added time this season. Bug or feature? No Darwin threat Refereeing: The penalty The other ‘penalties’ and red cards Fitness levels? Tough away especially where the team are No Dom. No confidence in Ramsay. Perhaps no Mo (death in the family/compassionate leave) — thin squad is now emaciated.  Part One - Manchester City at home Part Two - Sunderland:We will be back next week with a review of the Sunderland game. Thanks to Daz and Sean for joining me, Paul. And most of all, thank you dear listener for joining us.If you enjoyed the pod, please share it with a friend. Follow us @FirstStateKopites on X  – we only tweet and retweet from sources we think are credible. Music is courtesy of Hypenotic – they are a Welsh electro-pop band – https://hyperfollow.com/hypenotic   

Welcome to the latest episode of this, the 7th season - after Liverpool had a big week with wins over Qarabag and Newcastle. I’m Paul, joined by Daz. We are going to review the last 6 - Barnsley, Burnley, Marseille, Bournemouth, Qarabag and Newcastle. Barnsley - went strong, could have been a walk in the park…  xG 2.04 to 1.41 (although 0.9 had to be the goal) Burnley - reaction in the ground seemed more intense xG 3.18 to 0.4 - and big chances (3) don’t match the narrative of those at the game The refereeing in these 2 games: Does Andy Madley read Paul Tomkins? Played with more freedom in the UCL? Joe Gomez, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez Able to bring on Cody and Curtis xG 1.46 to 0.87 (15 shots) - 3 big chances to - and Alisson was Fotmob’s MoM Bournemouth - bad weather day Part three - Big week at Anfield: Qarabag - easy or accomplished performance Szobozlai wants to play in the champions league final in Budapest Newcastle (2.28 vs 0.36). Ball 40 minutes in play. FIrst half looks like we are under pressure And then Wirtz and Ekitike Part four - looking forward Part One - Barnsley and BurnleyPart Two - Marseille away - Beatles Tifos - and BournemouthWe will be back next week with a review of the Man City and Sunderland games. Thanks to Daz for joining me, Paul. And most of all, thank you dear listener for joining us.If you enjoyed the pod, please share it with a friend. Follow us @FirstStateKopites on X  – we only tweet and retweet from sources we think are credible. Music is courtesy of Hypenotic – they are a Welsh electro-pop band – https://hyperfollow.com/hypenotic   

Happy New Year to all our listeners!! We are here with the 27th episode of this the 7th season - between games 19 and 20. We are going to review the state of the nation after those 19 league games and 6 champions league games. I’m Paul, joined by Enrique and Daz. We aren’t going to do much of a specific review of the Leeds game, although some of the themes we will talk about were very evident in the 0-0 draw. Part one - Bad Points Dealing with adversity: Impact of the summer?  4 late goals conceded Ability to hold onto 2 goal leads - last 10 minutes Officiating - penalties awarded Coaching: Defensive mistakes; set pieces Ability to score against the low block Awful’ said one pundit - how awful exactly? 3 defeats by 3 goals in successive games  Recruitment? Part Two - Good Points: Created more xG than anyone apart from City. Hugo Ekitike was 3rd in the scoring list. A goal every 125 minutes. Till he seemed to become our only option. Top 4 is well within our grasp, 8 games unbeaten Champions League qualification - Inter and Real Madrid victories Florian Wirtz And our Expectations…… We will be back next week with a review of the Fulham game. Thanks to Enrique and Daz for joining me, Paul. And most of all, thank you dear listener for joining us.If you enjoyed the pod, please share it with a friend. Follow us @FirstStateKopites on X  – we only tweet and retweet from sources we think are credible. Music is courtesy of Hypenotic – they are a Welsh electro-pop band – https://hyperfollow.com/hypenotic   

We are back with the 26th episode of the 7th season - making up for lost time. I’m Paul, joined by Sean and Daz. We are going to do a review of the Spurs and Wolves games, and a look ahead at Leeds on New Year’s day. After the Leeds game we’ll do a bit of a state of the nation after 19 league games and 6 champions league games. Part One - Spurs away.   Line up and approach Injuries didn’t leave a lot of options. Lost Bradley and Isak in this one Spurs - 1 win in 7 (we now have 3 in 7) played like a desperate team.  Frank appears to be under pressure - not good when the previous guy hired you The controlled aggression of his Brentford team doesn’t look good here Who scores the first goal once again significant The last 10 minutes - how do we make sense of that? Part two - Wolves at home Worst team in the league (potentially in league history) Seemingly less options Good points - bad points (Good half/bad half?) Diogo tribute Florian Wirtz Weird refereeing decisions  We’ve ‘crashed’ the top 4 Part three - Leeds at home with 5 day break Leeds have looked better. Calvert-Lewin’s goals Our approach, line up Virg’s comments re set pieces We will be back next week with a review of the Leeds game. Thanks to Sean and Daz for joining me, Paul. And most of all, thank you dear listener for joining us. If you enjoyed the pod, please share it with a friend. Follow us @FirstStateKopites on X  – we only tweet and retweet from sources we think are credible. Music is courtesy of Hypenotic – they are a Welsh electro-pop band – https://hyperfollow.com/hypenotic   

Sorry for the slight delay… we’ve been on hiatus for the last 6 games. It’s the 25th episode of the 7th season. I’m Paul, joined by Justin and Daz. The Reds have won 3 of those 6, 2 draws and a weird defeat against PSV at Anfield. Part One - The Good Unbeaten in 5 - last 2 games particularly, although signs through the last 5 where we are very much set up to be more solid: Lots of bright spots against Brighton - first game where we’ve lost the xG since Palace away, although so many almost moments. Good rhythm and energy. At least 3 chances from Salah passes that didn’t quite materialize. Ekitike - could have had 5.  Jones, Gravenberch, Szobo all influential. Inter away - really solid performance - Rafa!! The obsession with Wirtz and our penalty… West Ham, Sunderland and Leeds - many good points. Part Two - the bad and the ugly: Giving up goals at Leeds - Ibou!  Sunderland - shitball and the difficulty of the breaks in play, time wasting and the soft fouls against us. City reaped the benefit, they were knackered at the end of that match. PSV - the ultimate, everything they hit went in. Part three - overview and preview to come: Salah, ‘the lost dressing room’ Ibou and the image of the James Milner ‘20’ shirt Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Milos Kerkez We will be back later this week - with an overview and some previews. Thanks to Justin and Daz for joining me, Paul. And most of all, thank you dear listener for joining us.If you enjoyed the pod, please share it with a friend. Follow us @FirstStateKopites on X  – we only tweet and retweet from sources we think are credible. Music is courtesy of Hypenotic – they are a Welsh electro-pop band – https://hyperfollow.com/hypenotic   

Welcome dear listener to the 24th episode of the 7th season of First State Kopites. I’m Paul and I am joined by Justin. The Reds returned to action home to Forest and the outcome wasn’t great. Some recurring themes and a disappointing game: For 30 minutes, they created  a bunch of chances - 1.10 vs 0.21 in the first half Macca at 8 minutes - headed of the line Kerkez 16 - foul, not a penalty we get anyway Gakpo blocked shot at 24 Szobo deflection at 30 33 - totally against the run of play - of course, there’s a guy potentially offside in front of Ali Second half - momentum killer. Macca misses a challenge Themes: Defence, midfield performance, Isak, Ekitike, the defence…..  Referees and adversity Arnie Slot and his coaching team Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes What’s next? We will be back some time next week - with some reviews and previews. Thanks to Justin for joining me, Paul. And most of all, thank you dear listener for joining us.If you enjoyed the pod, please share it with a friend. Follow us @FirstStateKopites on X  – we only tweet and retweet from sources we think are credible. Music is courtesy of Hypenotic – they are a Welsh electro-pop band – https://hyperfollow.com/hypenotic   

Welcome dear listener to the 23rd episode of the 7th season of First State Kopites. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz. The Reds return to action Saturday home to Forest and the host PSV next Wednesday. Part One - what’s been happening? Andy Robbo - “I’ve hid it well but today I’ve been in bits,”  “I know the age I’m at this is my last chance of a World Cup and I couldn’t get my mate Diogo Jota out of my head today. We spoke so much together about this World Cup”. Wirtz looked really inventive for Germany - can we get more of that? Key Match Incidents and Virgil’s goal Tomkins deep dive on VAR decisions and the number of early penalties that City get - 25% of all penalties given in the Premier League in the first 15 minutes since 2014. https://tomkinstimes.substack.com/ Part Two - the upcoming matches We owe them both Notts Forest PSV We will be back next week with some game reviews. Thanks to Daz for joining me, Paul. And most of all, thank you dear listener for joining us. If you enjoyed the pod, please share it with a friend. Follow us @FirstStateKopites on X  – we only tweet and retweet from sources we think are credible. Music is courtesy of Hypenotic – they are a Welsh electro-pop band – https://hyperfollow.com/hypenotic   

Welcome dear listener to the 22nd episode of the 7th season of First State Kopites. I’m Paul and today I am joined by Enrique and Daz. The Reds follow up their win over Real Madrid with a disappointing loss at the Etihad (which for once appeared to be lively) Part one -  Always want to start with the comments we made at the start of the season - we should not be picking on any of these boys on the basis of what they went through this summer I’ve seen this defeat described as us being blown away, thrashed, dismantled - just a few of the over the top descriptions from our defeat to City where the xG was even without the f*****g ridiculous penalty (0.72 to 0.61). Less than a year ago, City were defeated, overawed, consigned to defeat by the same outlets and the xG was 3.86 to 0.51 in our favor. Proof if proof was needed that overreactions around the Reds gets clicks - then there’s our own mad fan base. The actual game - personally can’t get past the officiating. And the easy dismissal of goal related events in such a low scoring game. The penalty and the mad 200x zooming in - cf. the non-penalty at Brentford. Or even the studs up challenge at Anfield in 2024. Grating to hear the Manc accent announcing the penalty.,  The offside….  Only the Reds get goals disallowed like this. How can the linesman call this? Can I mention Bernardo Silva and his foul count The half baked offsides being flagged The inconsistencies - Wirtz can’t expect fouls like that in the Premier League Performances - people too willing to bury everyone.  Ibou does look a step off. Confidence, distraction? Isolated in the press. Doku - ‘all fart and no poo’ - scores his first goal since January. Not sure what else Foden, Cherki and Haaland did Review has questions on the out of possession plan - are we on the same page? Being played like it’s a cup final. Is Slot being too passive? Making it too easy? Lots of pressing but not coordinated Part two - Mindset going forward: No one that we play till Arsenal has the exceptions of most of the teams we’ve played so far. Forest, West Ham, Sunderland, Leeds(?) and Brighton in the next 5. With PSV at home and Inter away. Points max - we could get 99! I think the no draws thing is interesting. Few teams have won the league with 5 losses.  So, in summary, this loss carries the weight of the previous ones, but looking at the numbers, we don’t believe Liverpool are that bad, and that there’s plenty of cause for optimism going forward. We’ll be back with a preview of Forest and PSV. Thanks to Daz and Enrique for joining me, Paul. And most of all, thank you dear listener for joining us.If you enjoyed the pod, please share it with a friend. Follow us @FirstStateKopites on X  – we only tweet and retweet from sources we think are credible. Music is courtesy of Hypenotic – they are a Welsh electro-pop band – https://hyperfollow.com/hypenotic   

Welcome dear listener to the 21st episode of the 7th season of First State Kopites. I’m Paul and today I am joined by Justin and Daz. The Reds follow up their win over Aston Villa, with a really strong showing against a full strength Real Madrid, who are shit BTW Part one - Beating Real Madrid The game: Built on Saturday’s performance. Determination, spacing, getting Mo involved Midfield looked powerful, Szobozlai, Mac Allister Stat about Courtois making 23% of his champions league saves against us since the start of the 2022 final (2.19 v 0.92 2022 final); 2.51 to 0.45 yesterday.  Bradley: Trent has never been on the winning side in this fixture. Joke about Vini Jr being confused after coasting in training against TAA. And Freddy Chiesa - oof Ekitike - lots of running. At times shows us his youth. Florian Wirtz: Wenger basically said he believed one of the issues we’ve had this season is that Slot promised to play Wirtz as a 10 when we convinced him to join so felt unable to move him from that position even when it unbalanced the team. Clearly once things had gone off the rails it was easier for him to then go to Wirtz and explain why he has to move him. I thought that he played really well out there. As long as he is given more license a flank might free him up more. Robbo was essentially an auxiliary left half with the positions he was taking up. Left a lot of real estate for Virg to cover but it looked really good when we were in possession Big picture: Football teams who want to play football. Bayern won 16 of 16 and are now the best team in Europe. Real Madrid won 14 of 16 and apparently are a bit rubbish. Wrap up: Sets us up for City 5 days gives us a chance to go again. They have a days less rest… We’ll be back with a review of the City game. Thanks to Daz and Justin for joining me, Paul. And most of all, thank you dear listener for joining us. If you enjoyed the pod, please share it with a friend. Follow us @FirstStateKopites on X  – we only tweet and retweet from sources we think are credible. Music is courtesy of Hypenotic – they are a Welsh electro-pop band – https://hyperfollow.com/hypenotic   

Welcome dear listener to the 20th episode of the 7th season of First State Kopites. I’m Paul and today I am joined by Sean and Daz. The Reds get back to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa. They end the weekend back in the top 4. And in the mean time we passed on the Carabao Cup for this season. Part One  - A performance from the title winning season: The midfield looked like the one we had last year - and no one is sure what our #9 does in this system. Robertson - at times didn’t always look comfortable last year, was lively. The spacing, the determination No big chances for Villa, but only 1.19 xG for us.  Confidence - Ekitike goal was a great let off, team and crowd responded well to it being disallowed, we didn’t let that stop us - ‘this crowd will go quiet’ says Stephen Warnock (still pissed off over Rafa’s snub). Salah’s finish was so clinical - topped off a great performance. A third goal would have felt right - created a lot of threat, but didn’t quite create the great chance in the second half. Crowd was great - good reaction to the online nonsense Villa widely tactics mocked for not playing enough long balls: They should have been a champions league team - lot harder for them to play shit ball than a lower tier team (or Arsenal) Not sure they have the personnel. A team whose recruitment isn’t ideally suited to long high balls? Forensics corner - ‘Shakes him very gently by the throat’ Onana.. Tierney… Part Two - quick preview of Real Madrid and Man City away: Both have won more games than they’ve lost.  Real Madrid: Where are we after Villa? Who will play? Virg’s comments/Trent reception Man City - will Pep Ljinders overthink it? We’ll be back with a review of the Real Madrid and then the City game. Thanks to Daz and Sean for joining me, Paul. And most of all, thank you dear listener for joining us. If you enjoyed the pod, please share it with a friend. Follow us @FirstStateKopites on X  – we only tweet and retweet from sources we think are credible. Music is courtesy of Hypenotic – they are a Welsh electro-pop band – https://hyperfollow.com/hypenotic