Come May at seasons end Liverpool may find themselves having a wee bit of an anticlimactic ending. They will have won the title weeks before hand. Their not winning any of the other cups will be seen as having a 'what if ' year. Yes, there will be celebrations and scouse fans will be overjoyed but unlike us they will be seen as under performing by some. Even if they go the rest of the season unbeaten and win every match.

We were never expected to win any other trophy in 2004. Maybe the FA cup we had a fair shot but we kept drawing tough sides (Chelsea, Man Utd) and we weren't expected to do well in the CL either or at least well meaning to win it or reach the finals. It was more hopeful than anything else.

Liverpool the other hand seemed destined for even all 4 trophies. A bit of let down to some they are not even in the final of any.

My Pool friends have been very quiet lately. Wonder why?

...and travel from Europe banned for 30 days. I think (not certain) UK travel is exempted from the travel ban. Special relationship probably...lol.
Markets in a spiral down. The 'Black Swan' event that some said could happen.

The curious thing is the lack of cases in some areas around the globe that has much larger contact with Chinese nationals. Thailand, sub Saharan Africa, Philippines?

I see Klopp is bitter about the way Atletico played. He seems to forget how many games Liverpool have had a lot of luck or referees decisions this year. I m hoping they lose another EPL game before the end of the season to just make them nothing special as winners of the EPL.

Yes, how dare Athletico not play 'proper football', 'stand deep and have counter attacks'. Very unfair of them not to roll over and play into their opponents hands. Perhaps he wants Simeone to offer a public apology.

Atletico provided entertainment for the neutral; lots of it in fact. It was thoroughly enjoyable watching a skilful battle between two opponents using differing styles. In fact it was more complex than that because Atletico kept changing their approach. It certainly wasn’t a simple park the bus job.

Klopp needs to be reminded that football is nothing without entertainment.

I probably missed Klopp come out and say the same things when we went out of Europe to them 2 years ago. He was probably laughing at us. I hate it when they do it to us but watching and hoping for Simone’s team to knock them out was fun. The last goal to end their unbeaten home run was priceless. So many records within reach.

Now for a team to dent Pool's 100% home EPL record

My son tapes and watches PL goals on Sky. Watching a bit now before he goes to school it’s arsenal chelsea down the years.

Whilst he wasn’t perfect, often maligned and never Fulfilled his potential my goodness did Theo Walcott provide some goals and decisive moments.

Great team but as I said last weak they are a busted flush for this season. They will win the league easily because of their fantastic form before Christmas nut since then they have been mediocre. Playing a high line is high risk especially against good teams.

That would be so funny. Far preferable to playing games behind closed doors, in my view.

Maybe we should start a petition

Whilst playing games behind closed doors would seem an obvious solution, in reality what would happen if a player or club official tested positive for COVID-19 and the club had to be quarantined and couldn't play another game for at least two weeks (a la the City game). Games could be delayed and delayed.

It looks to me like we are just at the beginning of the upswing in cases in the UK as well, and who knows how long the epidemic will last. Presumably until the virus either dies out naturally, mutates into something less virulent or a vaccine or treatment is identified (which is probably at least 12-18 months away unless someone stumbles upon an existing medication or treatment protocol that works).

The government should call a halt to the season and say this season is null and void. Scousers don't vote Tory anway and they can lock down all those Manchester constituencies.

Breaking news that 3 players at an as yet unnamed PL club displaying symptoms, and the whole squad being tested.....

Need to get Bernards mate to tell them they are over reacting the big sissy’s

Point him towards Leicester City.

Awhile ago it was mentioned that there seemed to be no info in regards to the Philippines. Well that's changed. Manilla is now on total lockdown, all air travel in-out stopped, any and all public gatherings banned, all schools closed for a month. This from Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

Must be quite a stretch for him to be so hard-line and authoritarian...

Whilst I don’t think this is in any way something to be taken lightly, there is the hint of media driven fear politics in all this, and we’ve seen the results fear politics have on peoples behaviour and voting patterns. I saw the Taoiseach (Irish PM) making the usual Covid-19 announcement and thought wait wasn’t he voted out last month? Like a war it could be a useful distraction for some, not to downplay the crisis in anyway. Just to say people generally and politicians remain cynical and opportunistic and 100% some people will be using this for gain.

Have you looked at empty shelves and not thought some companies might just be seeing the upside?

I'm very familiar with the Philippines. Probably the 2nd most country I've visited outside America. At the places I stay, I'd guess at least half were Chinese nationals. Mostly young people from there. So, it makes sense.
Still for a country with so many thousands of Chinese coming in, they "only" have 49 cases, which is surprising.
https://www.rappler.com/nation/254134-d ... ch-11-2020
In theory they should be on par with Iran and Italy. Logic dictates that.
Less than 50? They should consider themselves extremely lucky. They are taking the precaution of keeping it that low instead of reacting as Iran has when its gone to epidemic stages.

I don't want to sound like I'm downplaying the seriousness of the situation for those people affected, but I agree with your comments Ash.

I think some people have lost their rationale and have allowed the media hype and social media to inform their opinions, instead of using common sense and reading scientific advice.

For example, a post purporting to come from a doctor in Japan, offering seemingly sensible advice about coronavirus, has also come from doctors in Germany, China, Spain and Italy is circulating widely on Facebook. It's a fake post, and there are lots of them about. (Read Ben Elton book "Identity Crisis" for an idea how Facebook, Twitter etc is being used to manipulate public opinion on a frightening scale, and for often sinister purposes.)

4800 people worldwide have died from Covid-19 since the first cases were identified at the end of November in China, the vast majority have been elderly with underlying health conditions. Obviously not good news for them, but WHO estimates that 290,000 to 650,000 people die from the flue each year. The Swine Flu pandemic of 2009 took 575,000 lives.

So far, 23-24 Feb has seen the highest number of deaths from Covid-19 in a day at 156 globally. This compares to daily rates of death worldwide: 26000 from cancer, 25000 heart disease, 4400 diabetes, 2000 suicides, 1200 mosquitoes, 1200 murders, and 400 from snake bites. (Figs from Fullfact.org)

I understand people are worried, but a sense of perspective seems to be missing.

Wow. Heck of a goal from Ighalo. Brilliant skill to control the ball and superb finish. Looks like a really good acquisition.

Is this fake? I’m persuaded.

I am writing to you from Bergamo, Italy, at the heart of the coronavirus crisis. The news media in the US has not captured the severity of what is happening here. I am writing this post because each of you, today, not the government, not the school district, not the mayor, each individual citizen has the chance, today to take actions that will deter the Italian situation from becoming your own country’s reality. The only way to stop this virus is to limit contagion. And the only way to limit contagion is for millions of people to change their behavior today.

If you are in Europe or the US you are weeks away from where we are today in Italy.

I can hear you now. “It’s just a flu. It only affects old people with preconditions”

There are 2 reasons why Coronavirus has brought Italy to it’s knees. First it is a flu is devastating when people get really sick they need weeks of ICU – and, second, because of how fast and effectively it spreads. There is 2 week incubation period and many who have it never show symptoms.

When Prime Minister Conte announced last night that the entire country, 60 million people, would go on lock down, the line that struck me most was “there is no more time.” Because to be clear, this national lock down, is a hail mary. What he means is that if the numbers of contagion do not start to go down, the system, Italy, will collapse.

Why? Today the ICUs in Lombardy are at capacity – more than capacity. They have begun to put ICU units in the hallways. If the numbers do not go down, the growth rate of contagion tells us that there will be thousands of people who in a matter of a week? two weeks? who will need care. What will happen when there are 100, or a 1000 people who need the hospital and only a few ICU places left?

On Monday a doctor wrote in the paper that they have begun to have to decide who lives and who dies when the patients show up in the emergency room, like what is done in war. This will only get worse.

There are a finite number of drs, nurses, medical staff and they are getting the virus. They have also been working non-stop, non-stop for days and days. What happens when the drs, nurses and medical staff are simply not able to care for the patients, when they are not there?

And finally for those who say that this is just something that happens to old people, starting yesterday the hospitals are reporting that younger and younger patients – 40, 45, 18, are coming in for treatment.

You have a chance to make a difference and stop the spread in your country. Push for the entire office to work at home today, cancel birthday parties, and other gatherings, stay home as much as you can. If you have a fever, any fever, stay home. Push for school closures, now. Anything you can do to stop the spread, because it is spreading in your communities – there is a two week incubation period – and if you do these things now you can buy your medical system time.

And for those who say it is not possible to close the schools, and do all these other things, locking down Italy was beyond anyone’s imagination a week ago.

Soon you will not have a choice, so do what you can now.

Please share.

The US stock markets are in a technical recession (20% drop). The share markets hit an all time high in February and has dropped into a recession from a high faster than any other time in American history. The unknown for this and what makes this a unique event is that past crashes were economic or war driven. This one is medical. The Spanish Flu happened while WW1 was happening so another event masked it to some extent.

Anyway, with this being health related, its affecting society very differently than any other economic event. You could get to a point where people mistreat each other socially. You may have a regular cold or flu and are on a bus or train and sneezing and coughing and being told to get off. Or asked to leave markets, etc.

Taxis and Uber asking (more like ordering) you to leave. Public gatherings become scarce. I have a friend of a friend who works in the ticket office of the Staples Center in LA where the basketball and ice hockey sides play and he's been told there is no work and for now he is on paid leave but fears that won't last for long.

Trump is talking about suspending mortgage payments, etc. "bread and circuses' type of leadership. My guess is and I say this with sadness and pray it doesn't come to fruition but a rise in domestic terrorism. You know what happens when Americans get triggered. Literally. If Biden wins, I can see Trump stoking the fire and some of his supporters going 'postal' we call it. I can see even if Trump wins. He will blame the opposition. He was blaming Obama recently for some inaction that is related to this crisis. Not true but Fox News is not going to correct it. The fact is he made response teams for pandemics redundant in his budget for tax cuts to the rich. Many research scientists, etc, who study these things left the government in his term. He handed over the leadership to Pence, to blame him later and a man who wouldn't prepare for HIV cases as governor and saw a dramatic increase in infections. The same man who takes a biblical view of things and not science.

Anyway, football wise, we could end up seeing Liverpool win the title to an empty stadium. We may even see the first club in recent memory (yours not mine..lol) not to have a victory parade.

What's the source of this ltg?

I get what Ash is saying about all the OTT media hype. But, then again, who actually really knows how many are infected, died, cured? The CDC and WHO would/should one would assume, but leave option for error. Precautions yes, mass hysteria, no.
Anyone recall the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic? Given this was 100 yrs ago, it was quite catastrophic at the time.
A few interesting facts...

1918 Flu Pandemic That Killed 50 Million Originated in China, Historians Say. Patients lie in an influenza ward at a U.S. Army camp hospital in Aix-les-Baines, France, during World War I.

The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, the deadliest in history, infected an estimated 500 millionpeople worldwide—about one-third of the planet's population—and killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims, including some 675,000 Americans.

COVID-19 may never reach such proportions as the 1918 Pandemic did. If it's suppressed early.

If there ever is an Ian Wright movie, Wesley Snipes has to get the role and work on his London accent. Why? I clicked on to an interview and thought it was Ian at first.

The US lost more soldiers to the flu than the war in WW1.

What are the consequences of over exaggerating Covid19 in terms of precautions weighed against taking precautions that wouldn't impact the economy? Which one is the one you go with? Pros and cons of each? Is a possible recession the likes of which is bigger than 2008 worth it? Or we risk pandemic by taking nominal precautions that won't impact the economy.

Apologies for banging on about the 1918 Pandemic.
Another scenario of how it started....

More recently, experts have proposed a third hypothesis: The Spanish flu originated somewhere in northern China in late 1917 and swiftly moved to western Europe with the 140,000 Chinese laborers the French and British governments recruited to perform manual labor to free up troops for wartime duty.

Do people still not believe this is serious. ?

Despite the stock markets tanking, Italy being in a state of national emergency and it killing 3% of anyone it touches.

This is the thing, it hasn’t hit us yet. You can manage a few hundred cases but when 10 thousand have it and require medical attention what then?

People may be reading too much into the stats. People cannot look at numbers and say the numbers are only low why do we worry. Like the flu every year, thousands in Australia get it and never get reported or tested. The spread is the worry and the pressure on health services is immense. Plus there are probably many people with it, spreading it and who will never be reported. Sorting people from those with normal flu is a challenge. All precautions are not about stopping it but about slowing the spread.

I know there are those who will always say it is overblown and I wish them all a healthy time. But if you have elderly neighbours, parents or anyone with health issues you know then you should turn your mind to their welfare. If a country like China closes down, or a capitalist country like US takes these precautions there must be a real problem.

This is the best article explaining it

https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavi ... d3d9cd99ca

After reading it you wonder what the hell the UK is doing. The tories have damaged our economy with brexit, know it and now have no resilience in any plan to do social distancing whilst people aren’t working

Some of the fouls from Liverpool players against Atletico were really bad and they got a lot of favours from the ref with cards.

A Facebook group of people that I know irl. As to the quote; who knows, but it seems plausible.

I've read that one possible source of the Spanish Flu was infected poultry.

Arteta tests positive

The govt and their scientific advisors are idiots. Lockdowns, cancelling of mass gatherings and social distancing should have been implemented immediately, slowing the spread of the virus and giving the NHS valuable time to prepare as well as time to make progress on vaccines and treatment protocols.

How is it that we did not follow the model of countries like Japan who have learnt the lessons of the SARS outbreak?

If the govt have got this badly wrong it could bring them down because people will not forgive or forget if thousands die as a result of any mishandling of the situation.

Presumably that means no games for at least two weeks, assuming no one else test positive in the mean time. They might as well end the season now and let the country get on with more important matters like saving lives.

What is scary is the thought of the numbers of people who are probably suffering with the virus, or carrying it, but have minor symptoms so are not being tested.

What is even scarier is how such a virus with no known cure or vaccine can come out of nowhere and threaten to destabalize the world in a matter of weeks. Imagine if it was more virulent than it is, it could have wiped out millions in the blink of an eye.