The 'where are they now?' files

[baitman]

Robertson and AOC as well, we have loads of good ball strikers.

I reckon Matip's run up to a pen would be like this

http://twitter.com/hupreme/status/949382635154939904

[Shaggy]

Why no Mane? Surely he'd be in the running

Just don't trust him from the spot

[Liverpool]

He looked to be first choice in preseason then disappeared.

[Liverpool]

Henderson would probably want one too

[Liverpool]

I reckon i'd go with

Milner
Fabinho
Salah
Mane
AOC

Milner/AOC off the bench

[Exiled_red]

Just don't trust him from the spot

I don't know how many of them I would trust from the spot to be honest, penalty takers seems to be one weakness of this team, I hope they have been practicing.

[Buzzo]

I feel sick even thinking about it going to penalties.

Robertson and AOC as well, we have loads of good ball strikers.

I feel even more sick at the prospect of Robbo taking one of them.

[Liverpool]

Liverpool left back taking a pen in the European cup, what could go wrong?!

Apart from the ginger one.

[Shaggy]

I reckon i'd go with

Milner
Fabinho
Salah
Mane
AOC

Milner/AOC off the bench

Shaqiri a good option too.

[Liverpool]

we'd piss it if it was all 11 taking a pen

[Shaggy]

Might be yet

[Buzzo]

Liverpool left back taking a pen in the European cup, what could go wrong?!

Apart from the ginger one.

He’s Scottish

...You lot think Liverpool have a history of making things hard for supporters.

A cockney pigeon will drop dead from the skies dying from a rare heart condition only affecting pidgins that peck on jellied eels. On its way to the ground the pigeon will pass ‘exactly’ the sweet spot between the cross bar and post. The spot that defines the perfect penalty. At this moment, the sweetest hit pressure penalty ever hit by a scotsman will smack into its carcass and deviate from success to. Ultimately. Failure.

Whilst Harry Kane on the other hand....

[baitman]

Henderson would probably want one too

Just dont

[Shaggy]

Good read on what became of Nathan Eccleston.

Careers cut short: Former Liverpool kid Nathan Eccleston

Nathan Eccleston always had one eye on the long term as he knows the career of a professional footballer is a short one – not that he envisaged his own time in the game would potentially end aged 25.

As a teenager Eccleston was playing for Liverpool in the Premier League and Europe. Loan moves and then a permanent switch to Blackpool led the striker to a life he had never imagined.

The Mancunian’s style did not suit the lower leagues and a mixture of managerial changes at Bloomfield Road, short-term loan spells and a general lack of playing time meant settling was not always easy having left the comfort of Anfield.

“There was a stage in football where I was no longer happy coming into training, the games on a Saturday and in midweek weren’t providing a positive impact on my life due to the lack of me playing,” he says.

Eccleston moved to Liverpool from Bury when he was 15 and enjoyed the luxuries that came with playing for an elite club where everything was done for you; there were few worries as the club ensured the focus was always on football but his move to Blackpool was a stark realisation of what life was like away from the Premier League.

https://twitter.com/WillWatt/status/241657294331445249

“It was a big wake-up call for me when I left Liverpool for Blackpool. They had two coaches, the manager Ian Holloway and his assistant Steve Thompson, and we had a physio and that was literally the first team staff.

“At Liverpool we had 20 staff members for the first team alone and even in the Under-21s you had 10 plus. At Blackpool you have to wash your own kit, there’s one physio to a squad of 30 players, the facilities there weren’t the same but that’s life, that’s not making excuses.”

Adapting to life at Bloomfield Road tough as injuries kept Eccleston out of action, something he puts down to the change in environment. Things were exacerbated by the lack of medical facilities, forcing him to find his own treatment away from the club.

“I kept getting recurring hamstring injuries at Blackpool and I think that was down to the training, the nutrition and a lot of those things that people take for granted.

“I had to go seek my own physio on occasions, I went down to London to see a specialist that I sourced through a friend at Charlton, I did additional fitness sessions by myself as I didn’t think my fitness was up to scratch, so there were certain things I had to seek out to keep myself at a certain level.”

Over his career Eccleston had numerous loan spells in the lower leagues at clubs such as Tranmere, Charlton, Carlisle and Coventry. As a player he struggled to adapt to the more physical and direct style in the lower echelons.

“If you’re good enough you’ll make it at the highest level and if you’re not you’ll end up filtering down and I just never envisaged when I was a young boy playing at the levels of League One and Two for the rest of my life.

“League One and Two is still a good standard, it’s still professional, there are some very good players, we’ve seen in recent years players come from that level and lower and go on to make a massive impact in the Premier League. I’m not saying it’s a bad level at all, I just felt at the time I could not really adapt.”

Eccleston’s final spell as a professional footballer – although he is not officially retired, came in Hungary in 2016 playing for Békéscsaba 1912 Előre. As a youngster he always wanted to play abroad – he was linked with moves to a number of top European clubs – so he thought it was a perfect opportunity to test himself.

“It is something I’ve always been intrigued by, the style of play is a little bit different to the English leagues. So it always appealed to me, the opportunity arose, so I thought ‘if not now, when?’, so I went to play in Hungary and I was right, the style of football was different, it suited my natural flair for the game.

“I enjoyed it right up to the point I got injured. The lifestyle was completely different, the experience was different to being at home in England, not having the luxury of family and friends around you, speaking a different language, it was a life experience as well as a footballing one, and sometimes that is what you miss out on in life.

“I often see life as a goal and a challenge, something to be lived, not to participate in and it’s something that I feel very strongly about. I had a couple of League One and Two options at the time but the Hungary decision was because the desire to play in Europe had been a strong one since I was a young boy and the Hungary option was the best one for me.”

At the end of his time in Europe, Eccleston returned to the UK where he spent time on trial with Rochdale and trained with other clubs but injury and a lack of fitness made him re-evaluate his career.

“I went away with Rochdale, I played in pre-season with them, it was the first time I’d been in England for pre-season for two years, I loved the camaraderie in the dressing room with the manager and the players but we couldn’t come to an agreement, which was fine.

“I then trained at a couple of clubs, one in particular, but on the second day – because I hadn’t done that much fitness work – I got injured, they wanted me to come back, but at that stage I thought ‘OK, if I’m going to really go and play again I need to put my body in the best shape possible’ and if I am being honest with myself, I thought I wasn’t not ready to train or play at level due to the lack of training I’d done myself and I had to question myself asking ‘what am I doing this for? Am I doing it for the money? The game? Am I doing it because of circumstance?’ because, ultimately, I had a business, I was in control, I was bringing immense value to people all around the world with my designs, with my message.”

While still playing in Scotland, aged just 24, he set up his own e-commerce business Peaches Sport, which makes women’s activewear, to ensure he had something to support him upon retiring from football but it is now his main focus in life.

“I just realised while I was playing football I needed something different; people have different vices and I just needed to stimulate my mind in a positive way, something that was going to aid me long-term and be financial supportive to myself rather than rely on other corporations to provide that.

“I did a lot of research into women’s activewear and fitness space. I knew it was something I could provide value to, I felt like fashionable activewear for women was missing in the UK or the prices of the garments were very expensive and didn’t really appeal to the majority and wasn’t affordable, so I felt it was a space I could add value to. I knew a few women who struggled to find the right gear, to suit their body shapes. We got Katie Price in to model some of our garments, which was great because she's got absolutely massive tits."

https://twitter.com/KatiePrice/status/858003851231801344

“Football is very short-term, most people retire between the ages of 30 and 33, some players go on to have longer careers and I just felt like, the way my career was going, I just needed something to provide a separate income and to stimulate my mind away from football, to give me something to give myself something to look forward to doing, to give myself another challenge.”

Footballers often become institutionalised and rarely have to think for themselves, as clubs decide when they train, what they eat and what they can say. Eccleston is still passionate about the game but he feels being in charge of his own life has made him happier.

“I had to make a decision. I still love the game, I still like playing and even though I’ve not played for so long, I’ve still not said I’m retired and that I’m done with it, as life’s not like that as you never know what will happen, you never know who might call you, what will be will be. I am not trying to seek anything, I am going to trying to be anything, I am just trying to put myself in the best position physically and mentally and what will be will be.

“Asking agents to speak to clubs on my behalf, asking ‘see if you can get me here, get me there’, I didn’t like that feeling. If somebody wants you, they can have you and they can call your phone. I know other people will look at that differently but that’s just business. A lot of people are doing things out of circumstance. I just made a decision to take control.”

[Fivex]

That edit