Liverpool’s Love Triangle Working In Harmony

Article by Imraan Adam @imadam786 It’s been quite a summer for Liverpool Football Club both on and off the pitch, with pre-season going bye without any real worries as well as us breaking new ground in the transfer window, and now with the summer almost over and the new season upon us one of the things I’ve really noticed is how our love triangle is beginning to work beautifully together. Whenever I think of Liverpool Football Club I always think of three main elements of the club that need to be working together in order to pull the club forward. The staff, the players and the fans all need to be doing their bit in order to ensure our success. This summer is the first time that I can remember in almost 20 years where all three elements are linked together so strongly, hence our love triangle. Players and staff all seem to be in complete harmony and both have taken time out this pre-season to interact and build a close bond with the fans and this is beautiful to see. Liverpool have done a lot of work building bridges with the fans over the last few years, particularly since Klopp was brought in as he recognised the link between the club and the fans had been shattered with the exit of Steven Gerrard. When Klopp came in he said he wanted to interact with supporters and over the last few years he has done this, whether it’s been making the players thank the Kop at the end of a 2-2 draw with West Brom in his first few months in charge, or going to the local bowls club and having a game with some supporters, the manager has always wanted to make time for the fans. However this pre-season he seems to have really ramped it up and everywhere they went on tour fans were treated to something unique. It was after Klopp went to meet Jamie Webster in a Michigan bar and joined in with fans  for a rendition of Allez, Allez, Allez that I realised this was more than just PR work  or a publicity stunt, this is actually Klopp rallying up the troops ahead of this campaign. You can see it in his eyes he knows this is going to be a special season and he wants everyone on board. The Michigan bar appearance reminded me a bit of when Tony Blair went out to Iraq after the war had started and met the troops in order to give them a confident boost and let them know that everyone at home was behind them, in the same way Klopp is letting us fans know that we are all one and we are all working together for a common goal, it’s a rallying cry and when your manager calls you to arms there’s only one way to respond, let’s have it. We can’t talk about Klopp without talking about the amazing work that Michael Edwards has done behind the scenes this summer, it has been mentioned so many times on the Redmen that we need to build a statue for our Sporting Director and indeed he needs to take a bow. Much has been spoken about the role he has played in signing both Keita and Allison but I want to focus on one of our other signings. Xherdan Shaqiri was brought in for a mere £13.5 million and when you compare how much we paid for Allison and Keita Shaqiri cost peanuts, but the Swiss international has really impressed me in pre-season and I mean really impressed. His first goal against Manchester United was pure quality and the way his able to find space and pick out top class passes is a joy to watch, he’s also quite physical and he’s built like a tank which makes him very hard to just shove off the ball. I was thinking about this the other day and I don’t think he’s going to be a under study in this team at all, I think he could play a very important role going forward. I actually think Shaqiri is Coutinho’s replacement, I know that is a big statement to make at the minute but from what I am seeing I think over the course of the season he’s going to become a key player in our first team. I know people will be asking what does this have to do with Michael Edwards and my point is this, if Shaqiri becomes a replacement for Coutinho that is amazing business as we have sold the Brazilian for almost nine times the amount that we have brought in Shaqiri for, just think about that for a minute, we sold Coutinho for £120 million which could rise to £140 million with add-ons and we have just potentially brought his replacement for just £13.5 million, like I said earlier Michael Edwards take a bow. What has been really nice this pre-season is seeing the players really interact with the supporters especially in Dublin and at Anfield on Tuesday night. Players were signing autographs and taking selfies with the crowd well after the final whistle had gone and again this is team bonding, Klopp is sending a clear message that we are all a team here and the fans have a very important role to play this campaign and we all need to work together as a team. For the first time in a very long time the fan base is united and it feels like this could be a very special season with all three elements of the club working together to form this perfect love triangle. Article by Imraan Adam @imadam786