Liverpool are done for this season.

28 days into January with a potential title defining clash against Chelsea in 3 days time, Liverpool might already have lost their chance. 10 points clear of Liverpool and 7 clear of Arsenal, Chelsea have begun to set a distance from the pack at the right time. At one point Liverpool looked the likeliest side to rival Chelsea but clearly, the new year has been a good one for the men in red. 8 games played in 2017 and only a single win registered. Beaten both home and away in the EFL cup to Southampton and then drawing away fixtures in the league to Sunderland and Manchester United as well as a resounding defeat to Swansea at home. Liverpool have fallen and don't look even half the team they were for the first half of the season.

So where has it gone wrong for Liverpool? I've heard so many different reasons behind their capitulation in the title race ranging from Jurgen Klopp saying the squad doesn't have nowhere near enough decision makers in the side to be able to pick teams apart to Martin Keown arguing that the Liverpool side is too emotional and that when they are knocked off their stride, they can't stop the freefall. I feel that the squad just isn't equipped enough to play "Heavy metal football" for a whole Premier league season. Klopp won his plaudits and trophies at Dortmund because of the style of football he could play, the fact it was constant and dynamic is what impressed us and attracts us to watch his side. The issue with his style is how demanding it is on his players. To be able to play a whole season under this style of football would be hard even with a squad full of depth, Liverpool don't have quality in depth. 

Klopp insists that despite their schedule and the lack of Winter break, his side isn't tired. Sorry Jurgen, but I think you're telling a white lie. Watching the Swansea game back, they looked tired and worn down. It appeared as if Swansea's goals were all down to a lack of concentration, with no offence intended towards the Welsh side, Liverpool should have walked that game. They most likely would have if they had better depth, which is my biggest criticism of Liverpool this season, the players they have side haven't actually solved anything. 
Mane and Matip have both been fantastic signings, Mane has probably been Liverpool's best player since Suarez and he runs the show when he plays. Matip has been strong in making sure Liverpool concede less of the simple set piece goals. However, I can't say that any of their other signings have done anything. Wijnaldum has looked poor in the midfield and hasn't been making the same decisions as he did at Newcastle and Karius looks worse than Mignolet ever did. Klavan has been solid in all fairness, but I still feel they lack that gritty midfielder who can sit back and run for 90 minutes giving you both attacking and defensive qualities. This sounds even worse when you remember they sold Joe Allen to Stoke after an impressive Euros for Wales.

I stayed away from saying Liverpool were capable of winning the league because to say such a bold statement early on in a season you have to look at a squad, not just the starting 11. Manchester United under Alex Ferguson always had depth. They had players who could come into a side and do a job for the team, whilst not impressively, it would be enough to get by with. Same could be said with Chelsea a couple years ago. Liverpool didn't appear to have that for me, and once Coutinho picked up an injury they began to struggle in my opinion. After Klopp said he wasn't interested in major signings in January, I was shocked, they need to find the players who will handle the ugly side of the game to spread across the midfield because Jordon Henderson, as good as he is, cannot handle it on his own for a whole season.
This isn't to say the "Heavy metal" branding of Klopp's football will never work for Liverpool, it took Klopp two whole seasons before he won the league, that was also the first season that Dortmund finished in the top 3 places under Klopp. It clearly takes a long time for Klopp's style to actually cement itself within a club, He has only had 15 months and I think everyone got a little bit excited. They've done incredibly well to improve as much as they have but I still believe they have at least another season before they can contest a title across a whole season. They won't bring in what they need this window so I can't see them managing to get back to where they were before, but If they can improve in the same way they did at the start of this season, they should be heading in the right direction. 

Juventus' new crest shows football is purely a business not a game.

Juventus' old badge in comparison to the new modern look.

Last night, Juventus unveiled at one of their high profile black and white and more events the future club crest which will stand for Juve in future seasons. Nothing about this new crest says to me that it represents the second longest running football club in Italy and neither does it say the most successful Italian side of all time If anything it feels like one of the lower clubs trying to modernise and attract new supporters and it's confused me beyond belief.

In case you missed it, The Old lady, as they've come to be known, announced a couple of months ago about a rebranding of the club to take Juventus into the future of football. Part of this rebranding would be the high profile and exotic Black and White and More events, how exciting. I kept an eye on it from across the internet in my University room just so I could see how Juventus would take themselves forwards. After showing off promotional footage which looked like it deserved to be at Comicon for a C-rated Superhero movie with it's awful over the top narrator. They unveiled the new "Logo" and I put emphasis on Logo. Juve no longer wants it to be referred to as a badge clearly, throughout the event and the discussion of it on Twitter and across the web they constantly refer back to it as a Logo, not a crest. I am sorry but for me, my club's crest is not a logo, a crest represents a football club and a logo represents a business. Which takes me to my point, this rebranding is far bigger than we all imagined. Juventus is no longer just the biggest football club in Italy, it has surpassed that. It wants to become the brand of Italy and the business of Italy.

Realistically, none of this is surprising and to be fair to Agnelli (Juventus Club president or CEO whatever) he stated from the day these events were announced that this rebranding is to make Juventus' business sector far larger than ever before. With the way football is heading, having to compete with the wages that China can offer, Europe's top clubs have to be able to boost their finances in some way to make sure they can sustain competing with the orient and not collapse financially. Juventus have made a smart business move in broadening their horizons and making Juventus far bigger than the stadium, a training complex and a squad of players. Agnelli plans to make Juventus THE footballing brand. A brand that will be connected in any way possible shown by these black and white and more events which each take on different targets and personas. Last nights was aimed at how it will affect the club directly at first glance, hence the unveiling of the new JD sports insignia in Milan. The next few events will discuss taking Juventus forward on an electronic scale, a digital scale and then even further on a physical scale. I don't necessarily think there is anything wrong with that, what I take issue with is the idea that Juventus keeps talking about the new crest as a logo and discussing how big they want to make the Juventus as a brand and how they can make Juventus the go to for sporting wear and even regular clothing, but where does the team fall into this brand?

We've been discussing how the game has been becoming a business for years now and that eventually, owners won't even care about the teams' actual success, caring more about their financial success. Arsenal being the best example in Britain. After moving to the Emirates, Arsenal had to enter a period where they had to be far more financially prudent in regards to transfers and wages. Wenger was fantastic during this period and this is probably why he still has such weight around the club (along with his success he has had) but this financial mindset has stayed inside the Arsenal board, or more predominantly the majority shareholder. It would appear that the powers that be inside Arsenal care more for finishing in Europe purely on financial grounds and not for the club's success. They have the foundation to be one of the best sides in England if they pushed, instead they seem content with how they work currently. Whilst Juventus have had the success to appease their fans, it would seem that they are now going down a route which on the first layer looks to be in support of the club's footballing future, if you look a bit deeper it would seem that it is quite the opposite. 

The whole rebranding move screams business and not football. On a business level Juventus probably are one of the best teams to take this step and if you look at it, not from a footballing perspective, only one or two clubs could have a better foundation to do so. The head of Interbrand, the group who helped organise and structure the rebranding, stated "If there is one club capable of taking that step, it’s Juventus – the brand is synonymous with ambition and excellence and these are principles that can inspire truly unique experiences. The new visual identity has been designed to boldly take the club’s spirit into new, unexpected realms". Even though Juventus are one of the best clubs to take this step into the business world, it is a surprising one for me. They have one of the best fanbases worldwide, and yet this move into unexpected realms will surely lead to a distancing between the club and the fans. This business reboot of Juventus wouldn't have shocked me if someone like Real Madrid or Barcelona had taken that step before them, instead, Juve has made the jump from one of the elite prestigious clubs in Europe to the next brand in sports business. I can't see it stopping there, though, now Juve has done it, I feel that Real, Barca, Bayern and even clubs like United or City taking the step away from sporting club to sporting business.

It's sad to think that our dad's ramblings about sport being a business nowadays is more true than ever.

FA Cup isn't magic anymore, it's an investment.

I don't like the FA Cup, I don't get it anymore. There have been some cracking fixtures in the past and some incredible finals, but really, I don't understand where everyone keeps talking about the "Magic of the FA Cup". What really is the magic of the cup? I was listening to TalkSport the other day and they had Darragh MacAnthony on the show to discuss the Peterborough match against Chelsea. MacAnthony is the owner of Peterborough and gave his opinion on the fixture, explaining that even though he loves the idea of beating a heavy favourite like Chelsea, as unlikely as it may seem, he prefers the financial royalties over the bragging rights. Shocking right? That an owner of a Football club doesn't care as much about the result and more about the add-ons. Wrong. Who cares anymore. It is the same every year that we hear about an upset, one of the big boys' fields a team of reserve players and kids and then they lose because they were complacent or on maybe potentially one of the relegation candidates in the Premier league lose to one of the sides in the Championship, realistically what is magic about that. We mistake luck, complacency and form for magic and then every season as the third round takes place we hear the same worn out sentence "Oh, what an upset, it truly is the magic of the FA Cup". I am bored of it really. 

I sat down and watched the Liverpool vs Plymouth game on Sunday, in all honesty hoping for some goals. Liverpool fielded a team with an average age of 21. Their youngest starting lineup in the club's history and it shows that the club has a bright future if it can keep all these players, however, with youth comes inexperience and watching that game showed how little experience these kids had in running a game. Some might argue that part of the "Magic" is that the future stars get a chance, and in some aspects that's true. Watching Ben Woodburn get a run out for Liverpool, where he looked very promising, may be a sign that some sides are looking to give youth a chance. Realistically, this is once in a blue moon. Klopp would not have given most of the youth players a chance if they had drawn a club in the Championship, maybe even league one. Some may look at it like as giving the kids a chance, I see it more as rotating out the important first team players to keep them fit for the league cup game against Southampton.

Maybe the magic is a lower league belief, a feeling of David vs Goliath, a way to put themselves on the footballing map. We all remember how incredible it was when Luton, who were at the time in the Blue square premier, beat Norwich 1-0 at Carrow road. With all fairness, it's an upset. It isn't special simply because it is in the FA Cup, we see upsets most weeks. I don't agree with the magic angle because it falls into the tactical failure category. Luton carried more of the ball and took their chances. Not taking anything away from Luton at all, but what makes this magic in comparison to a normal upset? Let's compare it to Wigan's FA Cup victory over Manchester City in 2013. Now that is the magic of the cup! How could tiny Wigan upset such a powerful side like Manchester City, and in the season they were relegated from the Premier league. In that same season, they managed to win 1-0 at White Hart Lane. Wigan had been infamous for creating an upset, it was crucial to them staying up for as long as they did, they had no magic, but the desire to win far more than their opponents, We could even argue that the FA Cup condemned them to where they are today? A cup run that ended Wigan's premier league stay. Magical.

I feel like this is all coming across as slightly cynical, but in all honesty, I just don't understand the love for it. I have been on the right side and the wrong side of this magic. Cardiff beating Leeds in 2002 was enormous, and whilst I don't remember it first hand, it has become folklore in Cardiff's history. At a time when we were languishing in the lower leagues, we managed to knock Leeds off their perch and even though it was a dark time for the club with Sam Hammam trying to recreate the crazy gang in Cardiff. It definitely made a lot of people feel good and made everyone see how gritty it can be. That is where the FA Cup had magic, back when football wasn't so distant from each other. With the ever growing distance between the Premier league and the lower leagues, these upsets only happen when big clubs play kids. How is that Magic? it's simply throwing complacency back into the faces of the big clubs. The whole "Magic" theme has become a simple way of making sure everyone stays interested and keep the ratings up on the cup and the majority of lower league teams get that, they'll play their full side and the windfall they will receive from an away game at Chelsea may be the crucial tie to help fund some big moves in January.

Is Schneiderlin the answer to Leicester's rut?

Leicester are on the track to have the worst title defence in history, saving Chelsea’s blushes from last season. This lacklustre performance in the league has been attributed down to losing Kante and it was always going to be a hard task to replace him. Ranieri must have felt the burden could be split between Daniel Amartey, who arrived from Copenhagen last January and appeared only a handful of times last season, and new summer signing Nampalys Mendy who has only made 3 appearances so far for Leicester. Currently lying in 15^th, Leicester look uninspired and tired, most likely still carrying a hangover from the celebrations of last season. However, it’s time for a cup of coffee to shake that hangover off because they’re in contention with a relegation battle if they can’t improve in January.

Kante was the star player for Leicester with 175 tackles in the Premier league and 156 interceptions, a rare commodity is finding a player who can top both tackles and interceptions in the same season and by such a margin. His pure energy and endless reserves of stamina made it feel like Leicester had 12 on the pitch. With the comparisons to Claude Makelele, it was clear that Chelsea needed a player like him and off he went to play with serious title contenders.  Maybe signing Amartey in January was preparation for losing the star man, but a much more obvious replacement was Nampalys Mendy. Playing for Nice last season, he received multiple plaudits for his work alongside Ben Arfa, averaging just under 2 tackles a game and 2.2 interceptions. This is barely half on Kante’s stats who managed an incredible average of 4.7 tackles a game alongside 4.2 interceptions. Mendy has featured only twice in the Premier league and clearly isn’t quite ready to be a replacement for Kante, instead, Daniel Amartey has featured in his place. However, the Ghanaian hasn’t produced much better, only managing just under 2 two tackles a game and barely more than an interception a game. I feel this lack of drive and energy in the midfield has been a key reason behind Leicester’s rapid fall.

Morgan Schneiderlin could help fix this. In his three years at Southampton, Schneiderlin managed around 4 tackles a game, his average interception rate in his first season in England was 3.9, whilst this rate dropped to roughly 2.5 he still was a strong tackling force in the defensive midfield area. Since his big money move to Manchester, he has found playing time hard to come by in the North and this has had a negative effect on his statistics. In his 32 total starts since his move in 2015, he has only managed roughly 2.5 tackles and 2.4 Interceptions. Everton are favourites to sign the French Midfielder and whilst he wouldn’t be cheap, I feel it would be a tactical risk. Leicester need to find that bite in their midfield which they lost when Kante left for London and if Schneiderlin could find the form that he left in the South Coast, he’d be invaluable to getting Leicester’s season back on track. No one believed they could match the season they had last year, but I think we all felt they could do far better than this. Schneiderlin could potentially help tape up the defensive holes left by Kante. If they have a spare £24million that is.