Can Liverpool dare to hope?

Three wins out of five in one of the toughest holiday fixtures Liverpool has been through in years is reasonably good. The two defeats against City and Chelsea were very harsh. Especially at the Ethiad stadium, where according to me, we would have won if not for some absolutely ridiculous and shambolic refereeing decisions and some wasteful finishing.

I would still be taking the 9 points we got from these when the fixture list had just come out, as at that time it was all about being in and around the top 4. However, plenty of us have bemoaned the loss of points in those games. None of us had imagined that we would be in the Top 4 nor would we even have dared to dream that we would at this stage be Title Contenders. They why are we a little disappointed at those 2 results?

The flying start to the season has been maintained in these past 5 months. This we have been doing it on the back of not so promising performances for the first 3 months. However, this last month and a half (barring the Hull defeat) has seen a Liverpool side that is at their rampaging best. We are scoring goals for fun, putting the bogey teams to sword at home as well as playing some exquisite breath taking football. Even against Manchester City our movement, tempo, vision and tactics were brilliant.

I would say it was one of the best performances in this calendar year. We are past our toughest holiday schedule and we have come out of it pretty unscathed. We are still in the Top 4 and 6 points adrift of the top spot (which we held on Christmas Day).

So my question is can we finally start believing that we are Genuine Title Contenders?

I know it’s something too early to talk about and something which will burden the team or, as some extremists point out, might jinx us. But the facts and the reactions of the past 2 weeks suggest that maybe, just maybe, we should start dreaming. Maybe we should start hoping that come May we might still be involved in this nerve biting and thrilling title race we have seen in the Premier League.

The last time we dreamt about this was in the 2008-2009 season around the Christmas period, a 5-1 thrashing of Newcastle United at St. James’s Park had everyone believing that we were in with a shout for the title. We did and we fought like gladiators till the penultimate match when the Title was mathematically impossible. The only regret in that pulsating season was the number of draws we picked up at home against the teams in the lower half of the table. If not for that we would have definitely laid our hands on that elusive title.

Contrast that to this season and we have been able to put to sword teams at home and we have a near perfect Home record apart from the loss to Southampton. What has been truly heartwarming is that with all the injuries we have had to the key players, the players who have stepped up have done a fantabulous job in making sure we are getting the results. Joe Allen came in performed well and was doing a massive job in the midfield along with Lucas.

Moreover, the form of Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling has simply been phenomenal for the team. Henderson has throughout the season been evolving as a player, playing out in different positions like the wing back, on the right wing of the 3 behind the striker and in the center of the midfield.

It is this centre of the midfield role which has actually brought out the talent that made Kenny Dalglish pay such a huge transfer money for him. The passing, tackling, awareness to make penetrating runs into opposition box and the understanding with the attacking department is just simply amazing. He is right now the best player in the team after Luis Suarez; this is a mighty accomplishment for a guy who has turned everything around in a year. He is now the lynchpin this team needs to carry the midfield through the rest of the season.

Along with him, Raheem Sterling has been a stellar performer during this time and as Oliver Smith recently had pointed out in his article, he has grabbed his opportunity well. He has recovered his swagger and got back to the mould which made him such a highly rated commodity early last season. He has been able to put a lid on the off field dramatics, drop in form and concentrated on working hard to take his game to the next level. The only thing that is against both of them is their finishing and if they can work on that it, it will be a fantastic polish to the team.

This brings me to the magician Luis Suarez. What adjectives (I am genuinely following short of them) do I use that would be worthy to describe him? He has single handedly carried the team on his shoulders. His goals, work ethics, movements, positioning and I can go on and on about him. He has just been phenomenal for the team. I cannot even imagine what we would be without him. We really need that Champions League back, to make him stay and continue his magic because we just cannot get enough of him.

With Gerrard, Sturridge, Enrique all coming back from injuries and a couple of signings to address our issues in the midfield and the attack department we could and should aim a repeat of the results we had last year. If we succeed we should definitely be finishing in the all important Top 4 position which will ensure we get back to the elusive Champions League.

Which brings us back to my question, can we hope that we might win the title? We have not been in a situation like this in years and is it a little premature to dream?

But then don’t hopes and dreams drive us in our day to day lives? Then isn’t hope the single best thing that can just make any one’s day? I believe that without hope life comes to a standstill. I want to be practical and real, but I also want to hope. Top 4 still remains our priority and I hope for those magical European nights back at Anfield. We will have to make sure we are consistent in our performances to ensure we achieve this. A large part of me also hopes to see Stevie G grabbing hold of the Premier League trophy above his shoulders and the town being painted red.

There is that small part in the heart of all the supporters who would want to hope and see that happen!