Liverpool under the spotlight in Community Shield: Slot
Despite storming to a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title last season with four games to spare, the Reds have splashed out, spending nearly £300 million ($402 million) in the transfer market.
New forwards Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike, plus full-backs Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong could get their first chance to impress the Liverpool fans at Wembley.
The traditional curtain-raiser to the English football season sees the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup face off.
"Normally you have to play numerous games before you can win something," Slot said at his pre-match press conference.
"Now we have a chance to win something in the beginning of the season. Unfortunately, we face a very good Crystal Palace that have been very difficult to win against for us.
"They showed in the last (FA Cup) final - and even in the semi-final, by the way, as well - how difficult it is to win a one-off game against them."
Palace are appearing in the fixture for the first time after lifting their maiden major trophy by shocking Manchester City 1-0 in May to win the FA Cup.
The Eagles' joy has been slightly soured since as they were thrown out of the Europa League and demoted into the Conference League — the third tier of European competition — over a breach of multi-club ownership rules.
US businessman John Textor owned a stake in Palace and is the majority owner of French club Lyon, who have also qualified for the Europa League.
Despite Textor since selling his shares to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, UEFA deemed Palace failed to meet the deadline to avoid a breach.
Under UEFA multi-club ownership rules, Lyon have been allowed to keep their place in the second-tier competition of European football as they finished higher in Ligue 1 (6th) than Palace (12th) in the Premier League last season.
Palace, however, have appealed to the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Community Shield
GUEHI, EZE TO START
By contrast to Liverpool's transfer bonanza, Palace have spent just £2 million on Croatian left-back Borna Sosa and a new reserve goalkeeper in Walter Benitez.
But the south London club have so far managed to keep hold of all of their prized assets despite interest from English and European giants.
Liverpool themselves are keen on Palace captain Marc Guehi, while Eberechi Eze has been linked with a move to Arsenal.
Palace manager Oliver Glasner confirmed both players will start at Wembley and believes his side can aim much higher up the table this season after a slow start last year cost them a top-half finish.
"We've started on a completely different level, with a different mindset and different standard we set last year, and this is why we can look forward to the season in a very positive way," said Glasner.
Tributes will be paid before the match to Diogo Jota, the Liverpool forward who died in a car crash last month at the age of 28.
A "Forever 20" emblem, referencing Jota's now-retired shirt number, will be printed on Liverpool's shirts this season.
"Tragedy impacted us but it impacted far more his wife, children and parents," added Slot.
"The tributes that have been done since were all very emotional and impressive." — AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
4 hours ago
- Observer
Man Utd in 'no man's land' due to lack of plan: Rashford
MANCHESTER: Marcus Rashford decried Manchester United's lack of strategy as leaving the English giants in "no man's land" after joining Barcelona on loan. The 27-year-old, who played 426 times for United after coming through the club's academy, left Old Trafford in January for a loan spell at Aston Villa after falling out of favour with new manager Ruben Amorim. United went on to have their worst season since being relegated in 1973/74 as they finished 15th in the Premier League and failed to qualify for European competition. Rashford believes the root of United's problems is in the instability caused by appointing six different managers since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. "We have been way below where we deem United to be but then if you take a step back, which I've been able to do, especially over these last six months, what do you expect?" Rashford said. "When Liverpool went through this, they got (Jurgen) Klopp, they stuck with him. They didn't win in the beginning. People only remember his final few years when he was competing with (Manchester) City and winning the biggest trophies. "To start a transition, you have to make a plan and stick to it. It's not easy to do. But this is where I speak about being realistic with what your situation is. "We've had that many different managers, different ideas and different strategies to win that you end up in no man's land". United have failed to even contend for the Premier League title or the Champions League since Ferguson's departure. Rashford is one of the few success stories for the Red Devils in that time. After breaking into the team as an 18-year-old in 2016, he went on to score 138 goals for the club, winning two FA Cups and two League Cups. However, he believes the winning culture embedded during Ferguson's 27-year tenure has been worn away. "When Ferguson was in charge, not only were there principles for the first team but they were for the whole academy", Rashford added. "Any team that has been successful over a period of time, they have principles that mean that any coach or player that comes in has to align to or add to the principles. "At times, United were hungry to win... but it was reactionary. If your direction is always changing, you can't expect to win the league". Rashford appears to have played his last game for United with his move to Spanish champions Barca containing an option to buy for a reported 35 million euros (£30 million, $41 million). — AFP
Observer
4 hours ago
- Observer
Last Liverpool goal had special meaning for Jota
LONDON: Diogo Jota revealed the emotional meaning behind his last Liverpool goal in a touching interview before his death in a car crash. Jota and his brother Andre Silva died when their Lamborghini went off the road in the accident in northern Spain on July 3. The Portugal forward was on his way back to England to start pre-season training after helping Liverpool win the Premier League title last term. Jota's final goal for Liverpool was the vital winner in the Merseyside derby against Everton at Anfield in April. Speaking in an interview just weeks before his death, Jota admitted he felt proud to be able to contribute to Arne Slot's team by scoring in such an important game. "It was a very tough season for me but I was always there fighting and I could help the team that day and I'm proud of what I could still do", he said in the documentary titled "Champions 24-25: The Inside Story". "It's hard to describe. That's the feeling I look for when I play football, that's why you put all your life and all your efforts to moments like that, moments where you can decide an important game". Jota, 28, spent five years with Liverpool after joining from Wolves in 2020. He won the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup during his time at Anfield. "It is something I could not even dream as a kid, I wanted to play in the Premier League but I could never imagine to win it", Jota said in the documentary about his Liverpool success. "Pictures that will be shown forever. It is a remarkable achievement for a small guy that came from Gondomar, where I had this dream". Liverpool have posthumously retired his number 20 shirt and the club have announced that Jota will be remembered with a permanent sculpture outside Anfield, while a mural of the star already adorns the wall of a building near the stadium. — AFP
Observer
6 hours ago
- Observer
European Union's flawed investment strategy
Last year, former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi produced a landmark report on the future of European competitiveness, in which he recommended that the European Union increase annual investment by more than €800 billion ($930 billion) – the equivalent of more than 4% of its GDP. This report has now become the intellectual foundation for an ambitious strategy to revitalize growth in Europe. But Europe should be careful what it wishes for. As Japan has shown, investment is no panacea. The idea that more investment is the key to economic success is a potent one in Europe. The so-called Lisbon Strategy, launched in 2000, sought to increase investment in research and development to 3% of GDP. That target has remained on the official EU agenda for a quarter-century, but has never been reached. In 2015, the European Commission added another investment goal: its Investment Plan for Europe sought to mobilize €315 billion in additional investment within three years, in order to increase competitiveness and long-term growth. But investment has not saved Japan from several decades of stagnation. Since 1970, Japan's gross fixed capital formation has averaged – and, often, significantly exceeded – 30% of GDP. That is much higher than not only the EU average, but also the rate in Germany, the EU's strongest economy, where gross fixed capital formation has hovered around 23% of GDP. The four-percentage-point difference between the most recent values (26% in Japan, and 22% in both Germany and the EU) amounts to about €800 billion annually – exactly the amount Draghi recommends adding to total EU investment. Of course, the type of investment matters. Whereas investment in new machinery leads to diminishing returns once a company has enough capacity to serve the market, investing in new ideas should theoretically be bound by no such constraints. But if one singles out R&D investment, Japan performs even better. In 2000, when the EU set its Lisbon Strategy target, Japan was already investing nearly 3% of its GDP in R&D – a rate it has maintained over the last 25 years, compared to the EU's average of 2%. Flags are seen behind the logo of the European Investment Bank pictured in the city of Luxembourg, Luxembourg. — Reuters And yet, despite impressive rates of investment in fixed capital and R&D, Japan's economy weakened over the last quarter-century. In the 1980s and 1990s, Japan boasted the world's second-largest economy, powered by a manufacturing sector that seemed unbeatable. Now, Japan is the world's fourth-largest economy, having recently fallen behind Germany despite having a much larger population (120 million, compared to 80 million), owing partly to yen depreciation. One might argue that this is an unfair comparison, because evaluating an economy at current exchange rates, without accounting for inflation differentials, does not adequately reflect quality of life. But if one looks at per capita income at purchasing power parity, Japan was at rough parity with Germany 20 years ago, and is now doing worse than Italy. In any case, exchange rates are not irrelevant, at least politically: Japanese are well aware of their declining purchasing power when they travel abroad, and they undoubtedly notice foreign tourists flaunting their purchasing power in Japan. This may have helped to create fertile ground for the far right. So, what explains Japan's economic underperformance? The answer is not unfavorable demographics. In fact, Japan's population is not shrinking nearly as fast as conventional wisdom suggests, having fallen since the turn of the century by only three million, to just under 124 million last year, with employment increasing by ten percentage points. To explain Japan's struggles requires looking behind the headline investment figures. While investment in R&D is strong, it is happening mostly within large firms, which are primarily interested in delivering incremental improvements to existing products or processes, rather than developing radically new ideas or technologies. True innovation is much more likely to happen in startups, but in Japan – as in the EU – the largest spenders on R&D have remained the same for decades. Large companies have recognized the limitations of their in-house R&D efforts. Some have even created specialized Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) departments, tasked with hunting for promising ideas outside their corporate structures. But, in 2022, the leading spenders on R&D in Japan accounted for only 7.3% of global CVC investment. That is about one-third of EU companies' share (22%), but given that the EU economy is about four times the size of Japan's, these levels are similar, in relative terms. The EU did much better than Japan by another measure, however: over 40% of European firms' CVC investment went to local startups. In Japan, that share was miniscule – 0.01% – with the rest going mostly to start-ups in the United States. Furthermore, US and even Japanese companies have delivered substantial CVC funding to EU companies, which attracted a total of about 9% of global CVC funding in 2022. That is much less than the 80% that went to the US, but also significantly more than the tiny share – close to zero – that flowed into Japan. The lesson for the EU is clear: rather than focusing simply on increasing investment, it should seek to nurture and fortify its innovation ecosystem. Only then will it be able to deliver the kinds of game-changing ideas and inventions that underpin global competitiveness in the twenty-first century. Project Syndicate
