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“He’s cracking up, he’ cracking up, Jurgen’s cracking up” sang both sets of rival fans as they exited Goodison Park after Manchester City beat Everton to go top of the table.
As the closest title race in quite a few seasons enters the final third, the inevitable narrative around Liverpool FC is becoming increasingly vociferous - whether the generation & a half wait for a league title will culminate in glory or will Liverpool ‘bottle it up’ again.
Managers and fans of rival clubs, ex-players, journalists have all been reminding everyone how this Liverpool squad, unlike City’s has almost no experience to handle pressure of tight run-ins; that how the manager is more used to finish 2nd than 1st, and that how twice over the last decade they came tantalizingly close but couldn’t finish the job. Steven Gerrard’s slip in 2014 and Rafa Benitez’s ‘facts’ press conference in 2009 will probably be mentioned countless times.
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Rivals will eagerly await for a similarly symbolic event to happen in the next few months, which can then provide a definitive meme for Liverpool’s glorious ‘failure’ in 18-19, in case they fail to land the title come May.
But will not winning the title be tantamount to a failed season for Liverpool? While no one can predict with full certainty as to what Liverpool’s final league position will be, it can be argued that Liverpool’s season won’t be a failure irrespective of whatever happens from now till the end of the season.
Here are 5 reasons why:-
#1. Mo Salah proved he is no ‘one season wonder’
Despite Mo Salah’s heroics last season in the Champions League and especially the Premier league – where he went on to make a new record for most goals scored in a 38 game season - sceptics weren’t silenced. ‘One good season can be a fluke. Can he do it again?’ was the question asked the most. Some even hinted that he was being handed all the awards he won, because of the need to appease a section of people.
Granted he had an exceptional season, maybe one he will never better, but this season he has done enough already to prove that he is no ‘one season wonder’. He is currently the joint top goal scorer in the Premier League with 17 goals and is in top 7 on the list of most assist providers.
He may not win the Golden Boot this time, but will in all likelihood finish in the top 3 goal scorers. In Mo Salah, Liverpool have a world class player and with him agreeing to extend his contract till 2023, it is likely that he’ll end up helping Liverpool challenge for the title over the next few years.
#2. On track to get highest ever league points total
Currently Liverpool have 62 points from 25 games. Their highest ever league tally of 90 points came in 1987-88, while their highest ever Premier League tally of 86 points came in 2008-09.
At the current rate Liverpool are likely to finish with 94 points, which if achieved will be the 3rd highest points tally ever achieved in the 26 premier league seasons before this one - no mean feat, especially for a club whose points tally in the last 3 season, has been: 75, 76 & 60. Among Liverpool or City, whoever ends up as the runner-up has nothing to be ashamed about, rather they can legitimately count themselves as extremely unlucky.
Given Manchester City's historic campaign last season, when they became the first to breach the 100-point mark, teams will have to win more points to contend for titles, and this is a step in the right direction for Liverpool.
#3 A far more resilient defence
Despite the recent defensive wobbles, caused mainly due to injuries, there is no doubt that Liverpool’s defence is now much more miserly. With 26 games gone, Liverpool already have registered 14 clean sheets – which is already more than their full-season totals of 16-17, 15-16 and even the 13-14 during which Liverpool challenged for the title but produced only 10 clean sheets.
While Van Dijk’s influence over this improvement can’t be overstated, one shouldn’t forget Joe Gomez’s coming of age in the 1st half of the season. In the 11 Premier League games he started before his injury, Liverpool kept 7 clean sheets, conceding against Big 6 opposition only. After his injury, however, Liverpool have kept only 5 clean sheets in 12, conceding against bottom half clubs as well. It is easy to forget that he is just 21, with his best years ahead of him, which is a huge positive for Liverpool.
#4. Squad committed to a shared future
Though a 2nd placed finish after a closely fought race is a huge disappointment in itself, what happened to LFC squads in 2009 & 2014 was even worse. In one of the worst ever transfer market decisions, Xavi Alonso was sold in the summer of 2009. Rafa Benitez, Javier Mascherano, Fernando Torres followed him out in the next 12-18 months. It would take LFC 5 years to qualify for Champions League football again.
The aftermath of the 2014 campaign was no different. After Liverpool missed out on the title by a whisker, Luis Suarez – at that time the only world-class player at the club – left for Barcelona. The great Steven Gerrard with his powers on wane left the following season, shortly followed by Brendan Rodgers.
Such a scenario is unlikely to repeat this time though. Salah, Mane, Firmino, Van Dijk, Robertson, Alisson, Alexander-Arnold are among the players who have committed their long term futures to the club. This doesn’t seem like a motley crew assembled together for a one-off challenge. This seems more like a band of brothers willing to keep on fighting for the club, for each other, for the fans, and perhaps, more importantly, these days for their manager – who himself is committed for the longer term. This brings us to the final point.
#5. A manager open to adapt
In football, as in other walks of life, those who do not adapt to newer ideas, changing behaviours, evolving realities – witness with disgruntlement as their best days are moved from their future to their past. Jose Mourinho is a recent example of that – it seems that modern football management has passed him by, although he is still young enough to catch up.
This, however, is a mistake which Jürgen Klopp has been – so far at least – smart enough to avoid. In 2016, when United signed Pogba, Klopp now (in)famously quipped– "Other clubs can go out and spend more money, I want to do it differently. I would even do it differently if I could spend that money." And yet in 2018, he broke the world record fees for both a centre back and a goalkeeper.
People who call him a hypocrite for this, miss the point. It was not that he made those comments in 2016 to take a stab at United. In all likelihood, he would have genuinely felt that sentiment at that time.
But by 2018 he was smart enough and probably even brave enough to acknowledge that the reality of club football had changed. If he had to deliver CL football consistently, he needed to adapt and buy top class reinforcements rather than wait for younger players to develop.
Also this season, he has chosen to forgo his trademark ‘Gegenpress’style in favour of a more balanced approach which makes the defence less vulnerable and is less exhausting for the players in general. These are clear signs of a pragmatic manager, who is also astute enough to sense the progress the squad has made and to keep on building on it.
So despite all the chanting from rival fans, it seems Jürgen & Liverpool FC will be just fine.
