“It was October 15, 2010, when Fenway Sports Group, then known as New England Sports Ventures, completed its £300million takeover of Liverpool. The debt-ridden Premier League giants had been pulled back from the brink of administration after the destructive reign of Tom Hicks and George Gillett. ‘I am proud and humbled,’ principal owner John W Henry told reporters. ‘I can’t tell you how happy I am. We’re here to win.’ Two days later, Henry and chairman Tom Werner took their seats at Goodison Park to watch Roy Hodgson’s Liverpool lose 2-0 against Everton, with only goal difference keeping them off the bottom of the table. A bleak afternoon opened their eyes to the size of the task ahead. …”
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FSG’s 15 years at Liverpool: The making of a modern super club – and what comes next?
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“… Welcome to The Athletic’s 2025 agent survey, which analyses a 
“Liverpool enter the October international break having lost three successive matches across all competitions for the first time since Arne Slot was named head coach last summer. The disappointing run has raised questions over what has gone wrong for the Premier League champions. Following an off-season of tragedy and change, with seven incomings and as many outgoings (two on loan), their 2025-26 squad is still gelling. Injuries and suspensions have not helped, but some issues go beyond personnel alone. Andrew Jones, Gregg Evans and Anantaajith Raghuraman outline the issues. …”
“For Arne Slot, this is uncharted territory. Three successive defeats for the first time in his managerial career and a truckload of issues for the Liverpool head coach to address. After 
“Welcome to the seventh edition of The Alternative Premier League Table, where each Thursday, Anantaajith Raghuraman analyses the entire division through a specific lens. After looking at each club’s usage of long balls last week, this time our qualifier is expected goals and how teams have performed against the metric so far. As usual, the article that follows is long but detailed, so please settle down and enjoy it all — or search for the side you want to read about. …”
“It’s already a familiar story for Liverpool in the Premier League. Just like last season, they sit with a comfortable buffer between their closest rivals: the only difference is that last term it was in November when they pulled away from Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal, not September. Granted, there’s still a long way to go and now is not the time to be writing about a club edging closer to another title win. Yet the signs are all pointing in one direction — and it’s not towards the Etihad or London. …”
“Alexander Isak scored his first Liverpool goal, Hugo Ekitike was sent off and teenage defender Giovanni Leoni suffered a worrying injury as Arne Slot’s side won a dramatic and damaging tie against Southampton in the Carabao Cup third round. Southampton almost took the lead in the 42nd minute when Adam Armstrong hit the bar and Leo Scienza headed the rebound wide — but 38 seconds later, the ball was in the back of their net when goalkeeper Alex McCarthy’s pass fell to Federico Chiesa, who rolled it to Isak to finish from about eight yards out. …”
“Almost as soon as Anfield’s last visitors leave, new ones swoop in. On Tancred Road, four streets away from the district’s famous football stadium and home of Liverpool FC, changeover day in three rental properties last week was Thursday. Out went the Liverpool fans who had travelled from other parts of the world to watch their team’s 3-2 Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid. Shortly after, they were replaced by ones in town for Saturday’s Premier League Merseyside derby against Everton. Nearby, separate groups shared a four-bedroom house from Tuesday to Sunday, taking in both fixtures. …”
“… This was the round when 
“Liverpool roll on. Last season’s Premier League winners maintained their perfect start with a 2-1 victory against Everton in the Merseyside derby, but it was far from comfortable. First-half goals from the exceptional Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike set Liverpool on course for victory but Everton were sprightly after half-time, and turned the game into a contest in the 58th minute courtesy of Idrissa Gueye’s fine finish. …”
“Less than four months after Paris Saint-Germain lifted their inaugural Champions League title by thrashing Inter, the 2025-26 edition is upon us. The 36-team league phase of Europe’s premier club competition kicks off on Tuesday, with Arsenal facing Bilbao’s Athletic Club in one of the two early kick-offs. There are plenty of other highlights this week too, with Bayern Munich facing Chelsea in a 
“This summer, the traditional ‘Big Six’ clubs signed more players from the rest of the Premier League than in any of the previous 15 seasons. 
“The transfer window is over. Over 150 senior players have been signed by Premier League clubs. Others have moved on to the continent. Much like every year, a club’s transfer window will likely be judged a success or a failure based on the season that follows — that big-money striker who fires his new side into the Champions League or the huge (and unresolved) hole in defence that means a club slips into a relegation scrap. But with the window having just closed, we asked The Athletic’s club reporters for their view on how it panned out for their side, and what grade they would give the club’s window. …”
“It is easy to get swept up by the excitement of a busy transfer window, the promise that a crop of talented reinforcements will rejuvenate and transform a side’s fortunes. Premier League clubs spent record sums chasing that promise this summer, but as tantalising as big-name arrivals and sweeping changes can be, can too much be disruptive? We have a recent case study: Liverpool were the biggest spenders in the summer 2025 window, but that came after a 2024-25 season in which they had barely added to their ranks at all. The result? A Premier League title in Arne Slot’s first campaign in charge. …”
“Welcome to the 13th edition of The Athletic’s Transfer DealSheet for the summer 2025 transfer window. Our team of dedicated writers, including David Ornstein, will take you inside the market to explain the deals being worked on. The transfer window is open and will run until September 1. The information found within this article has been gathered according to The Athletic’s sourcing guidelines. Unless stated, our reporters have spoken to more than one person briefed on each deal before offering the clubs involved the opportunity to comment. Their responses, when they were given, have been included. We aim to bring you analysis you can trust about what is happening at Europe’s leading clubs and the latest information we’re hearing from across the market. This year, The Athletic’s football finance writer, Chris Weatherspoon, will be adding to our analysis of the transfer market. …”
“In an era when football is criticised for its tactical homogeneity, an interesting debate has arisen around the idea of defending a crossed free kick. It had become the accepted approach to use a high defensive line, keeping opponents away from the box and leaving space in front of the goalkeeper. 
“Electric is how Eddie Howe describes the atmosphere he expects at St James’ Park tonight. First home game of the season, Bank Holiday Monday, under the floodlights and Newcastle United will have the pent-up emotions of a city behind them: their frustration unleashed not upon Alexander Isak this time, but Liverpool. All summer long a sense of indignation has brewed and bubbled on Tyneside. This could be the night it boils over. Isak’s actions — spurning Newcastle and their supporters’ adoration, turning his back on his manager and team-mates as he agitates for a transfer — have caused anger. Liverpool, whom Isak is set on joining, will feel the brunt of that resentment. …”
“Football quite often shows that it isn’t aware of its own absurdity, and a prime example of that came last week when Enzo Maresca was discussing Levi Colwill’s knee injury. Colwill is likely to miss most of the season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament, which given he started 35 league games in the 2024-25 campaign, is enough to put a wrinkle in anyone’s plans. Maresca’s immediate solution was to suggest that Todd Boehly further loosened the already pretty loose Chelsea purse strings and furnish him with a new signing to plug the gap. …”
“Two late goals from Liverpool in the opening fixture of their Premier League campaign papered over some very big defensive cracks. 
“As the new season gets under way, the 20 Premier League managers will be grappling with key selection decisions that could make the difference between a good or bad start to the campaign. So to help them, The Athletic’s dedicated club correspondents and experts have picked their own strongest XI — and justified the reasoning behind it. So without further delay, here they are. …”
“Tactically, the Premier League is in a real state of flux. After four consecutive title-winning years with a distinct, possession and territory-based style, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City were reduced to a third-place finish on 71 points in 2024-25 — their worst since Guardiola’s debut campaign of 2016-17. Meanwhile Liverpool cruised to the title in their first season post-Jurgen Klopp, with Arne Slot’s side developing a reputation for their flexibility and adaptability. They had 25 wins and only lost twice across the first 34 matches, by which point the trophy was theirs. Nottingham Forest showed European football can be earned with a throwback, defend-first and counter-attack strategy, while for the second season running all three promoted teams were relegated. So what might we expect from 2025-26? …”
“It was the Community Shield, and that should not be forgotten. There isn’t anybody who has been watching English football for any period of time who hasn’t made the mistake of taking too seriously a conclusion drawn in the midst of the traditional curtain-raiser, giddy on the sight of Wembley in its pomp and the return of competitive club football from the summer wilderness. … They are learning a new system, the 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 hybrid of last season yielding to a 4-2-3-1. It’s not a huge shift but Wirtz, as the most advanced of the triangle of central players between the centre-backs and the centre-forward, is very much a forward, whereas Dominik Szoboszlai, who tended to be the most advanced of the central midfield triangle last season, is an attacking midfielder. …”
“Will the return of Rodri propel Manchester City back to the top of the table? Is this the year Manchester United finally regain their status as a genuine Premier League power? How will a tragic summer affect Liverpool on the pitch? Can the promoted teams break the pattern of recent seasons and stay up? The 2025-26 season kicks off on Friday and what better way to start the week than by looking ahead to what might be in store over the coming months. We asked all of our writers to submit their predicted Premier League table — you can see that a little further down this article. …”
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“In Liverpool, there is a point many wish to make. No, the local population is not hooked on grief, as loud and persistent critics have claimed over the years whenever the city has made headlines because of tragedy and other terrible reasons. There is no search for pity either, though a bit of empathy or basic understanding would be nice. What is clear is that nobody asked for this, and nobody is getting off on it. They wish these things hadn’t happened. But they keep happening. …”
“… The map shows the average attendance of the 20 clubs that comprise the 2025–26 Premier League. The main map [of England & Wales] shows the locations of 13 of the clubs; the Inset-map shows the locations of the 7 clubs that are based in Greater London. The larger the club’s average attendance from last season [2024-25], the larger their circle-and-badge are on the map(s). Each club’s home venue-name, and regional location, are also shown. Clubs are grouped by region (that is, by City or County). The location of Everton’s former home (Goodison Park) is shown, as well as the club’s new home on the docks of the River Mersey (
“Liverpool continued their preparations for the new season with back-to-back wins in their double-header against Athletic Club. Head coach Arne Slot was able to give the majority of his first-team squad valuable minutes across the two Anfield games as the players continue to build their fitness. In the first friendly, which consisted of a mixture of youth and experience, Liverpool raced into an early lead with goals from 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha and Darwin Nunez. Ben Doak added a third before half-time and Harvey Elliott scored the fourth after 58 minutes. Gorka Guruzeta netted a consolation late on for the away side as the game finished 4-1. …”
“There may be two months to go until the 2025-26 Premier League season gets underway, but the release of the fixture list has whetted the appetite of fans across the division. Consisting of 38 rounds of matches over nine months, with each team playing their 19 rivals once at home and once away, the opening few games are often decisive in building momentum to set the tone for the campaign, or derailing it through diminishing confidence. These early matches alone will not define a season but they play a significant role in shaping its course, and naturally attract the attention on fixture-release day. …”
“It’s that time of year again. Liverpool have finally lifted the Premier League trophy after securing the title last month, but the main prize is not the only thing being handed out. Mohamed Salah hoovered up the individual awards, with 29 goals securing the Golden Boot and 18 assists grabbing the Playmaker award for the second time in a Liverpool shirt. Golden glove? That goalkeeping accolade was shared between Nottingham Forest’s Matz Sels and David Raya of Arsenal, with 13 clean sheets apiece. …”
“Manchester City’s dominance finally came to an end, Liverpool were able to celebrate the title in front of their fans for the first time in 35 years, two of the ‘Big Six’ finished in the bottom six and the promoted clubs all went straight back down.Those might be the raw headlines from 2024-25 but this Premier League season offered so much more — this was the campaign, don’t forget, when a player got booked for imitating a seagull. Seb Stafford-Bloor, Tim Spiers, Nick Miller, Oliver Kay and Stuart James reflect on the highs and the lows as another year of English top-flight football reaches its conclusion. …”
“It is one of Anfield’s most iconic banners. Six metres wide and three metres high, it features the faces of six cherished managers from Liverpool’s illustrious history — Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, Kenny Dalglish, Rafa Benitez and Jurgen Klopp — and takes pride of place near the front of the Kop before each home game. This summer, it will undergo a makeover, with Arne Slot set to be added alongside Klopp for the start of next season. It is recognition for the Dutch head coach guiding Liverpool to the Premier League title during a remarkable first campaign. …”
“In football, we obsess over which team is going to win every competition, where every side will finish in the league and the future transfer destinations of top players. What we talk about far less is where managers will end up, other than in the unemployment queue — which, obviously, is only a metaphorical image because in reality they’re all multi-millionaires and set for life financially. Which club will Marco Silva call home after he leaves Fulham? Ever wondered where Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner will work next? Nope, us neither. But maybe it’s time we started. …”
“It may seem a strange thing to say about a man who has won the World Cup, Copa America and Premier League over the past two-and-a-half years, but Alexis Mac Allister’s genius is underrated. Perhaps this is simply what happens when you play in the same national team as Lionel Messi, and have Mohamed Salah as a club team-mate. Maybe it is down to his unassuming nature. Or could it be his physical size? At Anfield, his fellow midfielders Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch literally stand out more than the 5ft 9in (176cm) Argentinian. …”
“Let’s start with a quick quiz question. Aside from Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is the Liverpool player to most recently score from a direct free kick in the Premier League? I’ll give you a clue. It happened in 2017, and was scored by a player who, as Real Madrid target Alexander-Arnold seems set to do this summer, left Anfield for Spain. We’ll give you the answer at the end of the article, but the fact that it has been over seven years since anyone in a Liverpool shirt apart from Alexander-Arnold had success from a dead-ball points not only to the right-back’s qualities but also the team’s over-reliance on him. …”
“The title is within touching distance for 
“Liverpool’s Dutch connection has led the club to the brink of glory. Arne Slot is on course to become only the fifth manager to win the title in his debut Premier League season. Virgil van Dijk is close to making history, as the first player from the Netherlands to captain a team to England’s top-flight crown. Ryan Gravenberch has sparkled since being 
“It feels like there’s a wave of negativity across English football at the moment, not merely concerning the soul of the game — an evergreen concern — but more about the quality and style of what we’re watching. This is despite the Premier League being almost unquestionably the world’s best league, certainly when judged on the average standard of team, if not necessarily on those at the top of the division. Besides, recent seasons have produced record-breaking goals-per-game figures in the Premier League era and while a higher number being scored in itself is not automatically entertaining, it’s surely preferable to the reverse. …”
“You see the bus at the stop. It’s just over there. You can obviously make it. You quicken your step. As you do, you hear the engine start. The doors fold closed. You could sprint for it — you’re fast enough — but the idea is unappealing. The sweat, sure, but also just the indignity of it. You don’t need this bus. There will be others. The doors reopen. Someone else is now getting on. It’s extremely makeable now, you could probably just jog. But something stops you. You have already committed to not going for it, your nonchalance now non-negotiable. It could linger there for 20 or 30 more seconds for all you care. You’re walking slowly, you’re missing that bus and that’s the end of the matter. …”
“When Virgil van Dijk is mentioned in the pantheon of great Premier League defenders, it occasionally comes with a caveat. Yes, he has the trophies, the class and the longevity that are the traditional hallmarks of all-time greats. But has he always been confronted by the very best? Football has changed and even before his emergence at Liverpool it was said that the classic No 9 was disappearing from the game. Van Dijk has not had to deal with an Alan Shearer-type, a human cyclone who would wear his opponent down, going one-to-one, testing them physically as much as technically. …”
“The cyclical nature of tactical evolution in football means that when something is in vogue, it’s only a matter of time before everyone catches up. The increased focus on attacking corners in the Premier League in the last couple of seasons — accompanied by the rise of set-piece specialists — correlated with a hike in the number of goals scored from corners. However, the defensive aspect of corners is equally important. The recent threat of attacking corners in the Premier League has logically been followed by a focus on defending from corners. Has it worked? …”
“Time can make fools of us all. Even supercomputers. Barring some sensational results in the quarter-final second legs this week, there are probably only five teams left who can win this season’s 
“With the Premier League title race and relegation battle seemingly wrapped up before April, you might think there is little peril remaining in the final weeks of 2024-25. Fear not. Any thrill-seekers need only look as far as the race for Champions League spots, with as many as seven teams still fighting to dine at Europe’s top table next season. Liverpool, Arsenal, and Nottingham Forest have separated themselves from the remaining pack at the top of the table but based on the latest UEFA coefficient standings, fifth is enough for a place in the 2025-26 Champions League. One more win for any of the five English sides remaining in a European competition this season should confirm that additional spot in the continent’s top tournament. …”
Scissors Kick 