Blood Red: The Liverpool FC Podcast

In our latest Verdict podcast, Paul Wheelock speaks to the Sunday Times football correspondent, Jonathan Northcroft, on what could not be the more timely of days. The pair met at the oh-so-glamorous location of Uttoxeter Services on the same day that Jurgen Klopp celebrated his three-year anniversary as manager of Liverpool and Jonathan launched his new book. Jonathan went behind the scenes at Melwood last week for a brilliant one-to-one interview with Klopp and to cast light on the revolution the Reds boss has oversaw in 36 rollercoaster months. Jonathan expands upon the article in this podcast, and also offers an insight into Michael Edwards - who he has met - and the Reds sporting director’s relationship with Klopp and FSG president Mike Gordon; Liverpool’s ‘real fab three’. The other ‘fab three’ are also discussed and Jonathan shares a fascinating story about the club’s recruitment of Mohamed Salah. Naby Keita, Fabinho and the ‘underestimated’ Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are debated before talk turns to Jonathan’s new book, Deadlines and Darts with Dele. It is about his experience of covering England during last summer’s World Cup in Russia and was borne out of the way he reported the tournament on his Facebook page. The relationship between fans and journalists, and journalists and players, are chewed over, as is Trent Alexander-Arnold and whether the national team have become likeable again, even to Liverpool and Everton fans. Enjoy. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Host Joe Rimmer is joined by our Liverpool FC correspondent James Pearce, Theo Squires and Dan Kay for our first Blood Red podcast of the week. The quartet pick the bones out of the top-of-the-table 0-0 draw with Manchester City at Anfield and try to explain why it failed to provide the spark and edge we were expecting it to. James’ decision to pick Jordan Henderson as his man-of-the-match generated plenty of ‘debate’ online and led to a potential square-off with former Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy. We'd back James. Ian Doyle - our usual host, who is on a day off - was on player-rating duty as ever on Sunday and his mark out of 10 for Joe Gomez causes just as much debate in the studio as it did on Twitter. Jurgen Klopp's decision to move Gomez to right-back and bring in Dejan Lovren is mulled over but overall all present delighted with the form of the defence. That is not quite the case with the frontline and, while James provides some statistics that underline their current struggle, the spotlight is also focused on the support Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino are getting from the midfield, and in particular big summer signing Naby Keita, who was supposed to be the Reds' 'game-changer'. Today, of course, marks three years to the day since Klopp was appointed Liverpool manager – and to round off another must-listen podcast, the lads reflect on the day he arrived at Anfield, his highlights and his best signing. No-one mentions Alex Manninger. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Let's face it, that didn't live up to the hype, did it? But this afternoon’s 0-0 draw with Manchester City at Anfield does mean that Liverpool remain unbeaten after the first eight games of the season - and does mean they will go into yet another international break level on points at the top with the defending champions and an increasingly impressive Chelsea side. That would not have been the case had Riyad Mahrez not skied over a terrible late penalty for City. So, given that, was it a good point for the Reds? Or was it opportunity to inflict a first league defeat of the season on a City team that certainly paid Jurgen Klopp’s men a great deal of respect with the way they set-up? The Post-Game podcast, as always, starts with the thoughts of the Liverpool Echo’s Liverpool FC correspondent James Pearce and ends with audio from Reds boss Klopp’s press conference. In between you will hear from Liverpool fans Matt Whitty, Alex Watt, Ross Strachan and Mark Baker, an academy coach at a Championship football club who offers some interesting tactical insight. If you’re a Reds supporter and would like to take part in future Post-Game podcasts then you can email Paul Wheelock on paul.wheelock@reachplc.com. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

A massive game at Anfield awaits and we have the very latest chat ahead of the crucial clash. Host Kristian Walsh sits down with Paul Gorst and Paul Philbin to discuss the impending visit of Man City and just what is needed to put down a marker in the Premier League title race.  The team discuss whether victory is possible without the front three returning back to their best, while there is also real debate over what the midfield can offer - with agreement over what it is missing.There is also chat over what City will turn up and whether Raheem Sterling will be the one Anfield has come to love. A must-listen edition of Blood Red ahead of a huge weekend. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

We have a special Blood Red spin-off podcast for you to head into the weekend. Stuart Brennan is the long-term chief Manchester City writer for the Manchester Evening News. And host Paul Wheelock picked up the phone to Stuart to get the inside track on the visitors to Anfield on Sunday. City are the defending Premier League champions and currently top the table on goal difference from Liverpool. But they have failed to win any of their last 17 trips to the home of the Reds, a run which includes the memorable Premier League and Champions League matches between the modern-day rivals at Anfield last season. Those incredible 4-3 and 3-0 wins improved Jurgen Klopp’s record against Pep Guardiola’s teams even further. So why does the Klopp and Liverpool seem to have a hoodoo over Guardiola and City? Stuart tries to answer those questions, and also talks the player who is filling the void left by the injured Kevin De Bruyne, the return of Raheem Sterling, and the major selection headache facing Guardiola. You will then hear from our Liverpool FC correspondent James Pearce, who was speaking after attending Jurgen Klopp’s press conference. And this preview podcast rounds off with audio from Guardiola’s press conference, which also took place earlier today.  For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Neil Fitzmaurice is back with his Poetry in Motion podcast and, for this episode, he is joined by Kristian Walsh and Paul Wheelock, who are asked, just what went wrong in Naples last night? Kristian wonders whether we witnessed something Jurgen Klopp rarely does while Paul questions whether the Liverpool players had more than half an eye on Manchester City. Mohamed Salah’s struggles continued in the defeat to Napoli but the lads think the striker should be cut some slack – particularly when his loss in form could be a physical issue as much as anything else. With the front three truly yet to click, Kristian argues the spotlight should be focused further back the field – and he has an interesting statistic to back that up. Fitzy then asks whether Naby Keita has found his best position yet, and whether Trent Alexander-Arnold needs a break, before talk turns to the visit of City to Anfield on Sunday. Paul reckons it could be the first time in the Premier League this season that the Reds unleash the brand of Blitzkreig football that Klopp has made his hallmark. The fact that Liverpool have played with the handbrake on at times could be tactical ploy, argues Kristian, who also shares another thought-provoking stat (the Reds have allowed their opponents to complete more than 80% of their passes seven times last season; this season they’ve allowed that in five out of seven games), which underlines that belief. The trio also talk Chelsea and why, with Eden Hazard intent on ‘doing a Luis Suarez’, they must be considered the third team in the title race. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Liverpool made the perfect start to their Champions League campaign with a thrilling 3-2 win over Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield two weeks ago. But what we witnessed this evening was night and day compared to that as the Reds were beaten 1-0 by Napoli. Jurgen Klopp's side were just moments away from picking up what would have been an excellent point on the road. But Lorenzo Insigne’s injury-time winner ultimately ensured they got exactly what they deserved. As our Liverpool FC correspondent James Pearce said in his verdict piece on the Echo’s website, Liverpool were vulnerable down the flanks, careless in midfield and toothless up front as they failed to register a single shot on target in Europe for the first time since 2012. Little wonder, then, that the tone of this podcast is different to the ones we have produced so far this season. It is a podcast that features the thoughts of James Pearce, along with six Reds supporters, Graham Agg, Alex Watt, Simon Donnelly, Matt Whitty, Mark Baker and Sam Planche, and which rounds off with audio from Klopp's press conference. Without giving the game away, he makes no excuses. And how could he? For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Liverpool are back in Champions League action tonight when they travel to Italy to take on last season's Serie A runners-up Napoli - and we have a packed Preview podcast to look ahead to the big match. We kick off by speaking to our Liverpool FC correspondent James Pearce, who talks the club's and Jurgen Klopp's last visit to the Stadio San Paulo, whether the Reds boss will ring the changes with a massive Premier League match with Manchester City to come on Sunday, and why the locals don’t seem to be taking to Carlo Ancelotti. Ancelotti took over Napoli in the summer after Maurizio Sarri left for Chelsea and we get the thoughts of Marco Giordano, a presenter for CalcioNapoli24.it, on how the ex-Chelsea boss is doing and where the main strengths and weaknesses lie in his line-up. And the podcast rounds off with a chat to Italian football expert John Solano, who we first caught up with in the summer as Alisson Becker prepared to make his move from Roma to Liverpool. As well as Alisson and Napoli, John talks Mohamed Salah, the current strength of Serie A, and the interesting reason why he believes the league still has some way to go before it gets back to its 1990s heyday. It's a really good listen. Enjoy. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

A true Liverpool FC legend this week makes his return to the city. Kevin Keegan will be at Waterstones on Wednesday afternoon to promote his brilliant new autobiography, My Life in Football. The book was written with Daniel Taylor, the chief football writer for The Guardian and The Observer newspapers, and the Sports Journalists’ Association Football Journalist of the Year for the past three years. And for our latest Blood Red spin-off podcast, Paul Wheelock picked up the phone to Daniel before he met up with Kevin for the latest leg of the book signing tour. So much of the focus on the book has surrounded the explosive revelations regarding Kevin’s second spell in charge of Newcastle. But as Daniel explains, there is much more to his story, not least the six years at Liverpool that transformed his career and life, and the importance of the manager who signed him, the one and only Bill Shankly. Kevin said recently that Jurgen Klopp is the modern manager he would like to play under most, and in this podcast Daniel talks the similarities between the two, as well as Liverpool’s performance at Chelsea at the weekend, the contrasting moods at Anfield and Old Trafford, why it would be an incredible achievement for the Reds to win the Premier League this season, and about Rhian Brewster, who sat down with Daniel late last year to talk about the racist abuse he has received in his young and highly promising career. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

One man dominates the latest Blood Red podcast, hosted by Joe Rimmer and also featuring James Pearce, Dan Kay and Theo Squires. And that man is Daniel Sturridge after his superb strike earned Liverpool a late but thoroughly deserved 1-1 draw at Chelsea on Saturday night. Sturridge is now second only to the original super-sub, David Fairclough, as the player to have scored the most goals from the bench for the Reds. But can he become a regular starter again for Jurgen Klopp? And is now the time to start talking about a new contract for the revitalised striker? James provides an insight into the burgeoning partnership between Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez and also into another player who impressed at Stamford Bridge, Alisson Becker. But could the Liverpool number one have saved Eden Hazard’s opener? The love-in between Klopp and his counterpart Maurizio Sarri is discussed and the lads ask what was once an unthinkable question: is it now okay to like Chelsea? Talk then turns to Mohamed Salah and the team changes that could and should be made for Wednesday’s Champions League clash in Naples. Enjoy. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

What a game. And what a goal. It looked like Liverpool were heading for a second defeat to Chelsea in the space of four days after Eden Hazard, the matchwinner in the midweek Carabao Cup tie between the sides, opened the scoring. But a quite superb strike from substitute Daniel Sturridge a minute from the end of normal time earned the Reds a richly deserved draw. As always we have the view from the pressbox, the stands and the dugout in this podcast. It kicks off with the thoughts of our Liverpool FC correspondent James Pearce. You then hear from Reds fans Sam Planche, Mark Baker, Alex Watt and, a debutant on this show, Kop season-ticket holder Matt Whitty. And the podcast rounds off with audio from Jurgen Klopp’s top-table press conference that took place after the match.  For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Peter Hooton is back with his Allez Les Rouges podcast, a little later than usual, but with good reason, as he has been busy promoting his excellent new book, The Boot Room Boys: The Unseen Story of Anfield's Conquering Heroes. And joined by Liverpool season-ticket holders Joe Blott, and Ian Byrne, of Fans Supporting Foodbanks, they kick off another enjoyable show by talking about the book’s launch event, where the last member of the fabled Boot Room, Roy Evans, had the packed-out crowd hanging on his every word. Times have changed, and not just at Liverpool, but the lads can see similarities in the single-mindedness of Jurgen Klopp and the great man who created the Boot Room. While there have been comparisons between Virgil van Dijk and Alan Hansen, Peter reckons the Dutchman could be for Klopp what Ron Yeats was for Bill Shankly. Liverpool are hoping the centre-back is fit for the second part of the double-header with Chelsea later today, but while Peter and Co believe the performance in the Carabao Cup defeat underlined why the Reds now have serious strength in depth, they feel there is one player - and not van Dijk - who simply needs to play every game. Xherdan Shaqiri’s display in midweek is hailed but the panel argue the Swiss winger is still more effective coming off the bench. Eden Hazard produced a devastating cameo coming on for Chelsea at Anfield on Wednesday night but Peter, Joe and Ian believe we will see the best of Liverpool’s front three this afternoon and that a match against his former club could be the one that sees Mohamed Salah’s season truly come alive. The podcast rounds off by highlighting the important work that is being done in the city by Fans Supporting Foodbanks, and a little bit about the group's special guest at last weekend’s win over Southampton, Jeremy Corbyn. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

In the latest Blood Red podcast, regular host and Liverpool reporter Ian Doyle is joined by full-time Liverpool correspondent - both home and away - James Pearce along with ECHO duo Joe Rimmer and Chris Beesley to discuss the last few days of all things Anfield. The team take a look back at the Carabao Cup defeat to Chelsea, what Jurgen Klopp could have done differently, and his on-field exchange with Xherdan Shaqiri after the match. There are concerns over Virgil van Dijk and some serious respect for Chelsea's Eden Hazard. Also includes plenty of Alan Partridge references. Including his big plate. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

It may be less than six weeks old, but it has already been an eventful season for Liverpool FC Women. After a summer of massive change that saw the majority of last season’s squad leave along with manager Scott Rogers, the club was looking to stabilise under Neil Redfearn. But the former Leeds United boss rocked the Reds by quitting after just two games in charge. That left ex-Liverpool and England men’s goalkeeper Chris Kirkland, and Redfearn’s first-team coach Vicky Jepson, to take up the reins on a caretaker basis. And the duo, along with the rest of the backroom staff, have overseen back-to-back victories, which have lifted spirits going into the first Women’s Super League home match of the season against Reading at Prenton Park on Sunday (2pm kick-off). So to preview the game, and to find out what life has been like back at the club he played for and supports, Kirkland speaks to our Liverpool FC correspondent James Pearce. There is also an update on the Reds’ U18 and U23s academy sides. Enjoy. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

All good things must come to an end, and after seven straight wins, Liverpool have suffered their first defeat of the season after losing 2-1 to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup. And in our Post-Game podcast, we get the view from the pressbox, the stands and the dugout on what was a frustrating night at Anfield. The podcast starts with the verdict of our Liverpool FC correspondent James Pearce. You then hear from four Reds supporters who have phoned into the show – Ross Strachan, who is gutted, Simon Donnelly, who is not, Mark Baker, who works at an academy at a Championship club, and Alex Watt, who could be in for a long few days before Liverpool attempt to exact revenge in this weekend’s Premier League meeting between the sides at Stamford Bridge. There was no doubting the quality of Eden Hazard’s winner. But controversy surrounded Chelsea’s equaliser and Jurgen Klopp spoke about just that in his press conference, which we have audio highlights from, and which rounds off the podcast. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy