A selection of Liverpool Football Club-related stories and titbits you may have missed over the past seven days…
Liverpool will be without assistant manager Zeljko Buvac for at least the remainder of the season. According to the club, Jürgen Klopp’s right-hand man has stepped down from his role for unspecified ‘personal reasons’. The players were informed of Buvac’s departure at training on Sunday – just three days before they face AS Roma in a Champions League semi-final second leg.
The Italians, who are looking to overturn a 5-2 deficit, warmed up for the rematch by beating Chievo 4-1 at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday. Patrik Schick, Edin Džeko (2) and Stephan El Shaarawy were the players on target, while defender Juan Jesus received a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Following his first leg double at Anfield, Mohamed Salah, who has also this week won the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year accolade, has been named the Champions League Player of the Week. The Egyptian attacker saw off competition from Real Madrid’s Marcelo to take the UEFA award.
Klopp’s pre-match press conference from the Italian capital can be watched free online via Liverpoolfc.com on Tuesday. The German will be joined by a member of the first team squad and proceedings are scheduled to get underway at 5.15pm BST.
Voting is now open ahead of Liverpool FC’s annual Players’ Awards on May 10 and fans can cast their vote for the Player of the Season, Young Player of the Season, Ladies Player of the Season and Goal of the Season online here. Polling closes at 5pm BST on Sunday May 6.
As part of their year-long Power of Numbers campaign, celebrating 125 years of Liverpool FC, main club sponsor Standard Chartered have launched a new children’s book called ‘King Kenny’. The book, written in rhyme by author Gavin McCormack, tells the story of one of football’s all-time greats, capturing valuable lessons from his inspiring journey, both on and off the pitch. ‘King Kenny’ is available online as a free interactive e-book here and fans can download a PDF copy of the book in six languages, as well as access an audio version.
Ahead of their final competitive outing of the season at Chelsea on May 8, Liverpool U23s are set to play Bangor City in a friendly fixture at Bangor’s VSM Stadium on Tuesday night. The 7pm BST kick-off has been arranged as a testimonial for Alan Lewer, who is celebrating 30 years of involvement in football. The two teams last met in in January 2017 when the Reds won 6-0.
Liverpool U18s ended their 2017/18 campaign in disappointing fashion on Saturday morning with a 2-0 away defeat to Manchester City. The outcome could easily have been different however, especially had Rafael Camacho converted an early second half spot kick. Steven Gerrard’s side finish the season third in the U18 Premier League standings. LFC U18s: Kelleher, Larouci, Boyes (Walls, 80’), Coyle (Hunter, 45’), Clayton, Savage, McAuley (O’Rourke, 70’), Dixon-Bonner, Millar, Camacho, Sharif.
Gerrard is reportedly in discussions with Scottish Premier League side Rangers about becoming their new first team manager. Commenting on the speculation to Liverpoolfc.com last week, Klopp remarked: “Whatever he wants to do, we will support him in that. It’s as easy as that. But there is no decision. I don’t even know what the situation is at the moment. But nobody told me there is any decision. I can imagine that clubs are interested in signing Stevie – [he has] massive experience as a player and now a year as a manager. I would think about him as well if I owned a club… The only thing I can say is that we would support him in all directions.”
It was also a frustrating weekend for Liverpool Ladies, who were held 1-1 by neighbours Everton in the women’s Merseyside derby at Prenton Park on Sunday afternoon. Laura Coombs had fired the Reds into the lead but the Blues equalised following a set-piece. LFC Ladies: Chamberlain, Murray, Harris (Johnson, 83’), Greenwood, Bonner, Ingle, Longhurst, Coombs, England, Weir, Hodson (Charles, 57’).
What do you think about this article? Let us know your thoughts and opinions below or via social media…
Follow me on Twitter @superbag
| At Vital Liverpool we’re always looking for contributors so if you’re an LFC fan who wants to share his or her opinion with the masses, simply email articles/blogs to liverpool@vitalfootball.co.uk | ||