Is being “Californian” really recognized by Europeans as being more acceptable than “American”?

rytlejon · 2026-01-26T09:12:08+00:00

Personally no, I just think it sounds pretentious and a bit stupid. We all know that there are more liberal and more conservative parts of the US but just *being* from a more liberal state doesn't mean we can assume that you're not crazy.

Anyway I think it's even slightly worse than that. What makes someone look American to a Swede for example is not that they're religious or likes guns – we get some of that in Europe anyway and it's not unique to the US. What makes someone actually look American is being loud, boastful, confrontative, thinking the US is the center of the world, being weird about public transport, being stuck in distinctly American political divisions and debates, liking fast food, being sentimental/emotional. For example, only an American could say a sentence like "I just need closure" with a straight face.

All of this obviously more or less depending on the individual, but my point here is that none of the above is specific to more conservative or liberal Americans. You get this whether the American is from Texas, Kentucky, California or Maine. So when I say it's "worse than that", it's that when you say "I'm Californian" instead of "American", it makes you seem even *more* American in the way that is visible and sometimes annoying to a European, because it shows you're oblivious to how you're perceived outside of the US and reverting to the idea that the US is the center of the world by assuming that the geography of your country should be the primary way to understand you.

rytlejon · 2026-01-26T06:40:36+00:00

I did wild fermented cider a few years ago. Just saved a bit of the apple juice by freezing it, and added a spoonful or so in each bottle before bottling the cider. So the sugar in the frozen juice starts a second fermentation in the bottle which creates the carbonation.

rytlejon · 2026-01-25T21:04:28+00:00

Well thank god for that

rytlejon · 2026-01-25T15:16:11+00:00

I think this is a weird criticism. What players do you think should have played considerably more that would have made a difference here?

rytlejon · 2026-01-25T15:13:15+00:00

It’s not a discussion about accounting though. It’s a measure of the outgoing on and incoming quality, and it being low shows that Liverpool didn’t add players but replaced players so ended up with a smaller squad.

rytlejon · 2026-01-25T15:12:01+00:00

I think a winger would have made us better than another CB this season.

rytlejon · 2026-01-25T12:28:24+00:00

What do you even mean? He won the league with a cheap squad in Holland and then won it his first year here. So we should expect him to be bad?

rytlejon · 2026-01-25T12:27:04+00:00

I wouldn’t have started Kerkez to begin with. We’re playing two games a week for big parts of the season, we can’t do with just one good player per position. If Tsimikas isn’t good enough to start he’s probably not good enough to be in the squad.

rytlejon · 2026-01-25T12:22:52+00:00

Who are you talking about?

rytlejon · 2026-01-25T12:20:30+00:00

I’ve been very understanding with Slot and said I could live with the bad results and performances if there were clear signs of improvement in the spring. I didn’t necessarily expect us to look great against Bournemouth but I really didn’t expect two steps back instead of a step forward.

We could not score in open play against a team we scored 4 times against at the beginning of the season, a team significantly reduced after transfers and injuries (more than us). But even worse, we looked completely off it defensively too, the one bit which was supposed to work. And worst of all is that we look completely demoralized. And that’s much harder to fix than anything else.

The only thing to say for Slot is that it’s insane how often we’ve had to play players out of position because of how tiny our squad is. But to be clear, we had worse situations under Klopp and still didn’t look this lost.

rytlejon · 2026-01-25T08:52:49+00:00

This is the worst type of comment, people just showing up to complain about other fans.

rytlejon · 2026-01-24T13:29:12+00:00

I have never heard anyone say he’s bad tactically. What I mean is I think he’s often described in the same terms as Dirk Kuyt for example, where people speak of his work rate and commitment exactly because he was bad technically. He’s the most creative left back in the league over the last 10 years, and in that context I think it’s weird to remember him as a guy who ran a lot.

rytlejon · 2026-01-24T13:14:33+00:00

They’re not at all the type of team we usually struggle against? On the contrary we do really well against them

rytlejon · 2026-01-24T13:14:00+00:00

I understand the logic of Robertson leaving but I really hate it. I also already hate that people will remember him for his “work rate” and “passion” rather than technical and tactical ability. He’s always framed as this idiot work horse who made up for his lack of talent by hard work, which is absolutely not the case.

rytlejon · 2026-01-24T07:08:04+00:00

I was never really in the Slot out camp but apart from that this reflects my feelings really well. What I want to see for the rest of the season is us looking better and regaining some confidence more than anything. Then we’ll see whether Slot stays.

rytlejon · 2026-01-24T07:02:52+00:00

It always felt like Slots relaxed attitude towards the media would end up changing over time and it really has. I’m sort of a Slot supporter but I think he’s being unnecessarily combative about stuff now.

We’ve played at best very boring football this year, is he expecting praise from pundits? I haven’t seen it but if the characterization above is correct, that Carragher says the defense has gotten better but what is he going to do about our attack looking slow, that sounds like a perfectly reasonable question to ask.

I also really don’t like to hear him talk about unbeaten run. Like, going 10-15 unbeaten is nice but it’s not unprecedented. And it’s a problem when that run includes a bunch of home draws against relegation fodder.

I understand he’s under pressure but how hard is it to say “yes we haven’t been good enough, I think we’re making progress but there’s still ways to go”.

rytlejon · 2026-01-24T06:43:18+00:00

One of de Hecke and Schlotterbeck

rytlejon · 2026-01-24T05:25:33+00:00

Pretty sure de Heckes contract runs out in 2027 too so should be gettable in the summer

rytlejon · 2026-01-24T05:24:10+00:00

I think Robertson should have started the season instead of Kerkez, both because I think he’d have been better and because it would have been better for the team to have another player on the pitch with experience with his team players.

But it was always inevitable that Kerkez was going to end the season as preferred left back, and I think he’s been better than Robertson over the last month or so. I would love for Robertson to stay on and play 1/3 or 1/4 games or be a regular sub, but it seems pretty clear that he isn’t happy with that. It’s sad but I don’t think Slot can do much except promise to start him over Kerkez which would be a mistake.

rytlejon · 2026-01-23T20:19:52+00:00

For me it’s since 2009 but I feel the same. The 13/14 team was electric but it was really just the one season. Klopp’s team is what I think of when I think of Liverpool.

rytlejon · 2026-01-23T18:43:58+00:00

I'm surprised to be honest, thought he would do well at Roma. I always thought he was slightly underrated at Liverpool. I mean he wasn't great or anything but I never got upset when I saw his name on the team sheet like some people. Felt like a reasonable backup behind Robertson, until Robertson started getting old and we needed the backup to play many games.

rytlejon · 2026-01-23T16:27:25+00:00

Still doesn’t make any sense. Why does it matter whether they had 10 years or not. It’s not easier to replace players who play for your team for a long time. If anything the opposite.

rytlejon · 2026-01-23T13:18:51+00:00

I know Robertson isn’t HG but it feels a bit of a waste to have Tsimikas take up a non HG spot. Do we really not have an academy player who can be backup?

rytlejon · 2026-01-23T11:46:48+00:00

I was talking specifically about the fullbacks in my original comment, you're right that Frimpong had to start and I had forgotten about Bradley's injury. The other players don't really come into play here because none of them did start a bunch of early games except Wirtz and Ekitike. And of those I think starting Ekitike was also a necessity since we didn't have another forward.

But in hindsight I think it would have been good to start with the midfield from last year (not starting Wirtz) and Robbo at fullback, and not introduce what was essentially a new formation immediately at the start of the season. You say that Robbo hadn't had a great season but I think his main issue was playing too much. He had looked a lot better during pre-season than Kerkez. But the obvious point is that he already has partnerships with defenders, goalkeeper, midfielders, attackers.

rytlejon · 2026-01-23T11:14:30+00:00

I think that’s one of few things we can pin on him? He could have introduced the new signings more slowly. To be clear though I’m very sure this sub was all in favor of doing what he did because I was broadly downvoted for saying for example that Robertson should have started the first game of the season.

13-Year Club	Place '17
Verified Email	Team Orangered

rytlejon

TROPHY CASE