THE life of a Liverpool fan is never straightforward, writes JAMIE HOLME.
Through my lifetime of supporting the Reds, I’ve become accustomed to the unexpected. Born in 1984, I was too young to enjoy the latter years of our domestic dominance. Instead I have been dealt a hand that has seen my team go on to win every club trophy possible, apart from that elusive league title.
I have experienced the highs of Istanbul, unforgettable Champions League nights under the lights at Anfield and the clean sweep of cups in 2000-1. But with that have come the lows; Roy Hodgson, Tom Hicks and George Gillett and near administration.
The moments that we have been able to experience as fans have been incredible and have given me some of the best moments of my life. Fans of most other teams can only dream of tasting the success that we have, but with that success comes expectation and pressure. Fans demand more of the same success that we have become used to as a club. It’s addictive. Liverpool exists to win trophies. It’s what we do, isn’t it?
Except, in reality, we are currently a team that has won one trophy in 10 years and have only finished in the top four once in the last seven seasons. Although our balance sheet looks a lot stronger now, we still fall behind the big boys when it comes to spending power.
Now before I say this, I have to admit that I am as bad as anyone when it comes to proclaiming that it is ‘our year’. I always get defensive, particularly when speaking to Manchester United fans which often results in me making bold claims and placing bets about who will be more successful each season. My winnings have not been great.
If we look at our recent record in the league and cups and ignore our history, is it realistic for us, as fans, to expect Liverpool to be in a title race season after season? Or are we looking at each season through rose tinted glasses? Is it an unfair bar to set our managers and call for their heads once we fall short?
Something that plays a key part in how we now view the success or failure of teams is the rise of social media. Every decision is now magnified, over-analysed and, in many cases, used to support the views of specific individuals whose opinion being validated seems to be worth more than the best interests of the club. Opinions are often clouded by emotion and devoid of rational thinking.
If we look at Liverpool since the turn of the year, it hasn’t been pretty. With only one win and four defeats, something doesn’t seem right in the squad. We appear to have lost the zip and purpose in our play — we’ve lost our identity, to some extent. As a result, people are now rightly asking questions of the manager, the owners and the players. Can the players sustain the required level of pressing to suit our style without a winter break? Should we have dipped into the transfer market to bring in cover for the long known absence of Sadio Mane? How do we counter the low block used by all visiting teams to Anfield? All fair questions.
However, if I make a conscious effort to take off those rose tinted glasses again, we are probably guilty of being a little spoilt by our early season form, which on reflection, was probably more a case of Jürgen Klopp overachieving with the current set of players, than us being ready to mount a sustained title challenge.
As impressive as Klopp has been in changing the mood around the club and bringing a brand of football that at times, has been the best I have seen as a Red, he now faces perhaps his toughest challenge in providing answers and solutions to the questions recently thrown at him. In recent weeks we have seen Swansea City, Southampton and now Wolves find it far too easy to stop Liverpool playing at home by simply sitting deep, blocking the central space, pushing us wide and hitting us on the break. It’s all very predictable, slow and simply not good enough.
That said, as an optimist, I don’t see the panic, that some fans do. I look at Liverpool and see a team that have been without key players, such as Mane, Joel Matip, Philippe Coutinho and Jordan Henderson. I see a manager, who is still new to the league and has made some mistakes in underestimating the impact that a busy festive period would have on his team, as well as some questionable team selections, and although his philosophy of development over spending is admirable, I think he missed an obvious trick in not bringing in fresh legs during the window.
The good thing about our manager though, is that he’s a quick learner. This is a manager who comes with one of the biggest reputations in world football. He hasn’t been at the helm long enough to manage us for a full league campaign, but still, has managed to take us to one domestic and one European cup final, using another manager’s faltering squad. So those calling for his sacking, after one of our best starts to a Premier League campaign, highlight everything that is wrong with the modern game.
For any team to be effective their key players have to play in their best positions. That means that Firmino plays as our number nine, with Lallana in central midfield. It’s no coincidence that since they have been moved to fill the void left by Mane, Liverpool have lost their momentum. I’m also keen to see what Klopp does in midfield to address the fact that the axis of Emre Can and Henderson doesn’t appear to work. I think our team looks much more dynamic with Georginio Wijnaldum and Henderson in a three with Lallana, as our team needs to move the ball quickly to drag defenders out of position. We seem to take too many touches at the minute, mainly due to a lack of confidence. We need to get teams turned again, run beyond them, take risks, be brave. All things that Klopp demands.
Mane will be back with us for the Chelsea game, which should give the club a much-needed boost. We finally can boast of having our best 11 players available for the first time since the 6-1 win at home to Watford. We still sit in a strong position in the league, only two points off second, which if we’re honest is above where many of us predicted we would be at the start of the season. As things stand, we are right in the mix for top four, maybe more, given the fact we have key players back and will now only be playing one game a week, with most of our rivals having to contend with Europe again. There is still a lot to play for. Lot’s of twist and turns as we know there will be, as that’s what we do. We never make it easy.
Whatever does happen this season, I’m confident that given the flexibility that a summer transfer market will bring, plus the experiences this season will have taught us all, Jürgen is building a team that’s not just a flash in the pan. We will soon be dining at the top table again, where we belong. This is a long term project for the manager and I, for one, am all in for the ride.
Up the Reds!
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Well said, fickle fans forget that when Rodgers left he left us with an average side that was very thin if injuries happened to key players. Juergen needs at least another summer transfer window to get in the players that can take us to the top again. This is a similar path that happened at Dortmund when he took over, think they finished 6 & 5 in his first 2 seasons then went on to win the league the next 2 seasons. He also brought players nobody had heard of & turned them into world beaters. Fans need to believe in & trust Klopp, IMO he is the best manager out there at the moment & the owners need to realise that & back him in the transfer market.YNWA, keep the faith.
Completely agree Matt, it is going to take time to get to where we all want Liverpool to be. When you look at the resources that the other clubs around us have (what they spent in the summer, what they can and do spend on wages, the squads they already had in place) we were basically turning up to a gunfight with a knife at the start of the season yet look where we are in the table. A poor manager would not have gotten this squad into that position.
Everybody seems to be buzzing off Spurs at the moment, but look how long it took Pochettino to build them up. It’s only now, in his third season that we are really starting to see Spurs emerge as a serious contender, they were pretty poor in his first season if I remember correctly.
We’ve got a very good first XI but a poor overall squad so we are very susceptible to injuries, that is the crux of our problem. The manager needs time to build the squad up to the required level of depth and quality. We desperately need more faces, agreed, but on the other hand I fully respect the idea of not spending for spendings sake in January, that’s how we ended up paying 35 million quid for Carroll!
I agree with a lot of what you say but the Pochettino/Spurs point is a little off. Klopp is basically in his second season now as he joined pretty early on in last season and in Poch’s 2nd season Spurs weren’t far off winning the league.
You can’t really deny that at this exact same point as Klopp is at with us, Poch & Spurs were a little bit further down the road of progress than we currently are (but you could argue Poch had better players to work with than what Klopp inherited perhaps).
All I expect is competence and an ability to spot the same weaknesses within the team that the fans have been frustrated with for years. Now TWO iffy keepers, no natural LB of any quality whatsoever, Lovren is a waste of space, no DM, no width and two strikers so out of form it is pathetic. Wijnaldum and Can are having poor seasons, Henderson couldn’t be a DM this side of the next ice-age, we rely almost entirely on Coutinho, Lallana, Mane, Firmino and Clyne and he seems incapable of getting Lucas out of the club, despite him having been below average for ten years. Now about a day from the end of the transfer window and, so far, mainly rumours of a young kid coming from some poxy Belgian league! Am I missing something here? We ended last summer with an enhance bank balance, having brought – in more than we spent – and now we are going through another transfer window with the cheque book under lock and key whilst our form is utterly atrocious and known weaknesses in the team are left alone. Europa League, at best, for us next year if Chelsea beat us to be our fourth home loss in about ten days. And, next time he’s interviewed on TV, the manager will be laughing and joking as always. Mind you, if I was on £220,000 per week, I’d probably be laughing myself daft as well . . .
I know it’s no excuse at all to say that our rivals haven’t strengthened either, but to me, this simply adds weight to Klopps point that players are simply not available. 4 of the sides around have a minimum of 6 games in February in all competitions, we have 3. So that’s plenty of time for rest, training ground work and to push on. Spurs, Arsenal, United are all in decent positions and I’m certain their fans would love new players for that final push, but its just not happened. Is it worth asking why it’s not just us? Spurs ran out of steam last season and suffered for losing Harry Kane and couple of the others in the autumn, yet have done nothing to prepare for that happening again. Arsenal are the same.
January has been rubbish, we all know that, but get through tomorrow night still in touch and it really is game on for us.
Fantastic article, you have my 120 % support ,YNWA, I have this believe that Jurgen will bring us success maybe not this year but certainly next year , this year all we have left to fight for is top 4 and we will make it without doubt, starting at Chelsea on Tuesday 31.01
what is all the panic,lose a game or two,we live in a dream world.try supporting them in div 2..or 67-73.we had hope,a crap ground,great manager.or two,lets tAKE A STEP BACK.LOVE THE CLUB.LOVE BEENING A FAN AGAIN.
I think it is always reasonable for Liverpool to expect to compete for the league title, irrespective of where we have finished in the last two decades.
Real Madrid went 31 years without a European cup before they won it again in 1998. They still regarded themselves as the biggest club in the world during that period; they still expected to win it every time they entered the competition despite endless failure to do so. They didn’t care about the critics who laughed at them for their immense self-belief as a club.
Historic clubs like Liverpool must never lose their self belief. The failure is not by the fans for expecting a great club like Liverpool to compete for the league title, but in the custodians of the football club for the last 27 years who have failed the club in myriad ways.
Is it too much to expect to finish top 4 and win a trophy?
Is that really that unreasonable?
Or a title challenge even?
It’s not even the end of Jan yet; no european football to begin with, out of both domestic cups and any title challenge is basically over.
I don’t think I’m unreasonable to expect better than that.
Thanks for the article Jamie. For me your article has me wondering about this:
– Is the media also responsible for rubbish articles that over hype a player/manager after a game/season and get fans hopes up?
– Are fans wrong to expect the defense been sorted out, to have wingers, to have a goalkeeper or maybe sack the goalkeeping coach by a manager who is hyped up because of his past achievements?
– Did Jurgen have a winter before this one to learn that there are more games played, not necessary know the sequence of them? Should he should have planned for this including being able to buy in Jan?
– The other big clubs spent on players that would be of the same category as Suarez, etc. Egos come with them. Conte seems to know how to manage this, but does Jurgen know how to do this if he needed to buy a similar player or two?
– Do these other big clubs not want to give off the wrong impression that they were wrong to spend such sums on such players by rushing to buy in Jan? So should LFC just follow what they do (which is the impression I get)?
– Did Jurgen push the team that has overachieved and set the expectation unexpedtedly of players who were bought during/by Brendan Rodgers and Daglish when they managed?
As fans who are not in the know, the obvious stuff has not been addressed, but perhaps the problems are much more difficult than our expectations of Klopp and LFC.
As the article states, those calling for Klopp’s head are indicative of modern day fans.
. Heads go as soon as the side runs into adversity
. Unable to reconcile their own expectations with what is realistic
. Looking to outdo likeminded fans in terms of whose head can fall off the quickest
Klopp is the right manager. Not even in question.
we are always told that he is one of the premier coaches in Europe and how lucky li’l old Liverpool is to obtain his services.The coaches of the last three sides to visit Anfield have made him look an absolute chump.A title charge is the absolute minimum requirement of any coach at Liverpool and failure to beat Chelsea will ensure we don’t even have that