I WAS chatting to my nine-year-old lad about the first time I saw Liverpool win the league. It was 1979.
I think I could still tell you the result of each and every single game, and probably most of the goalscorers in those matches. I’d even claim I could recall the starting 11s. Mostly, I’d be telling the truth.
“When was the last time you won it, dad?”, asks Rafa aged nine. I catch myself reflexively choking slightly. I’m welling up a bit, too. For a moment I can’t speak.
“I was 23, son.”
He does quick maths. “So you haven’t seen us win the league in nearly 30 years?!”
“Aye,” I eventually answer. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I’d realised I’ve been in increasing denial about Liverpool and the not winning of the league, and its been a denial becoming more entrenched with each passing year.
I’m finding this season difficult. I have to confess this. To myself more than anyone else. Liverpool’s current proximity to a league title is making me face the facts. Like a man who has been incarcerated for nearly 30 years.
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He’s lost the ability to appreciate what freedom would mean, what it would actually feel like. His release may come soon. Knowing that potential fact forces him to visualise what liberation might actually entail. Forces him to process what he has been living through.
Some folks say that they enjoy matches that are end-to-end thrillers, or decided by last-minute drama goals. Not me. I live for Liverpool being 3-0 up inside 60 minutes. For that moment when it is clear to all that a game has been won. Everything suddenly becomes right with the world.
When this happens it tends to happen at Anfield. I catch myself spending the rest of the game talking to my long-term, match-going mate and oldest friend, Giulio, about anything and everything but the contest in front of us on the pitch. These are special times. We really properly get to catch up with each other’s lives. And it’s all thanks to The Reds.
Looking back, nearly 30 years, this was also how I liked my title challenges. The near processions of ’79, ’80, ’83, ’84, ’88 and ’90 were like this. Some were technically in the balance till the season’s last fortnight, but there was never real doubt that England’s (Europe’s) best team would finish top of the pile.
I’ve realised this week that I don’t just want Liverpool to be league champions 2018-19, I desperately want us to win it in style and at a canter. That’s why this week has been testing.
It’s correct to observe that a round of fixtures that has seen Liverpool extend their lead on second-place Man City represents a good week. But the five-point lead we now enjoy was so nearly seven. And seven can so easily become nine, and then you’re talking over the hill and far away country.
I’m craving Liverpool building a lead that will have me sleeping nights and whistling care-free, happy tunes on my way to work each morning. I want to be clicking my heels routinely like Jimmy Stewart in a feel good 1950s movie. I want us to reach that 60-minute moment. I don’t want to have to be doing endless maths. I wish I didn’t precisely know Man City’s fixture schedule or the exact days of the week on which they’ll play their remaining games.
At the moment, I feel I’m living the life of that poor schmuck Brendan Dassey in the Netflix documentary “Making A Murderer”. He’s constantly being reprieved by judges and courts the length and breadth of that middle American county, whatever it’s called, only to have liberty whipped from under him at 11th hours.
I’ve given up on that series because I can’t go through anymore of it with Brendan. He’s me, he’s Liverpool, and Man City are the state prosecutors who just can’t leave well alone.
The next 7-10 days feels epoch defining for Liverpool FC and all of us. City have three complicated games; Arsenal at home, Everton away and Chelsea at home. In that time we play two occasionally decent but eminently beatable sides — West Ham and Bournemouth.
There are three possible outcomes. We profit, they profit, or the status quo remains. The latter would be something of a win for us because it would take us that bit nearer the finishing line.
Jürgen Klopp will tell his Reds to ignore the likes of me. We’re the fools who contribute to the kind of tense atmospheres Anfield and its team had to endure on Wednesday night.
Klopp will demand that his men block out Manchester City from their minds. He will assure them their lives have one simple reality — the task of beating Monday nights opponents West Ham.
Pellegrini’s East Londoners are one schizophrenic outfit this term. They have lurched from awful to quite impressive on approximately a five-match cycle. It is to be hoped that they are currently firmly ensconced within one of their persistent troughs. They are presently 12th in the table having lost three on the bounce (including a shock cup defeat at Wimbledon) since besting Arsenal at the London stadium on January 12.
It is in Pellegrini and West Ham football club’s DNA to attack teams. Liverpool prefer this. Stoic bus parkers, like Leicester fucking City on Wednesday night, are such joyless opponents.
Klopp’s injury roster seems to be dwindling just at the right time. At the back now only Joe Gomez is a longer term absentee. This Monday’s clash comes too soon for right back Trent Alexander-Arnold but he should be OK for the following weekend.
The midfield also appears to be in ruder health. Gini Wijnaldum is back, Milner returns after suspension, and even Adam Lallana has made himself available again after a seemingly endless rash of injuries.
I’m again going to back the selection of Naby Keita and hope for a return to a 4-3-3 formation that will most benefit him. Naby is being written off already by some Liverpool fans.
They should remember that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain did not look to be the right level until around six months into his Liverpool career. Fabinho, everyone’s current first pick in Liverpool’s midfield, couldn’t get arrested in the first part of this season. He wasn’t even making matchday squads. Patience with Naby Keita shouldn’t be a big ask.
Like Brendan Dassey, I don’t want to imagine what liberty could mean. I want 60 minutes in on Monday night to be my happy place. It feels a vain hope that life could get that good again. Such is our/my lot.
Nothing to do but get on with it. Nothing to do but shout The Reds home.
Predicted 11: Alisson; Milner, Lovren, van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Keita; Salah, Firmino, Mane
Kick off: 8pm, Monday
Referee: Kevin Friend
Odds by Redsbet: West Ham 27-4, Draw 17-4, Liverpool 2-5
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if we dont beat the irons we’ll be off top spot come Wednesday….a week after people thought we were going 7 clear! oops
Interesting to see that you think that City would definitely be getting 9 pts from their next three games. They looked very poor vs Newcastle and as soon as the equalizer went in, they barely created any clear chance.
They have lost 4 times this season and are still in 4 competitions which would eventually sap them mentally and physically. But yeah, let’s keep bigging them up as if they wouldn’t drop more points this season.
Where did I say that I think they’ll get 9 points ?
Just seen that Rob replied to me. My “9 pts” comment wasn’t aimed at you at all. It was in response to the person who made the first comment on this article.
We can also be 11 clear as well
Glass half-empty vs glass half-full.
See you on the other side!
Let’s play the West Ham match on Monday and attempt to win a football match, nothing more. Concentrate on ourselves. It’ll be a tough opponent, respect to them. Let’s put our front foot forward Redmen and give it everything for ninety plus minutes. See where it takes us.
I think we will just miss out.
Ive had that feeling for a while now, but after Januarys debacle and lets be honest, it absolutely was, results, injuries, lack of transfers, lack of transparency with the fans, for me we will lose it by being our own worst enemy.
Klopp is a good manager. He’s not a great manager, at least not yet for me. He has engineered his own difficult situation here. Lets look at it.
At Christmas before the City game we were on a real roll, winning with ease, despatching teams. City were fearful. The league was fearful. City in contrast where coming off a torrid run. The opportunity was there to take the title by the scruff and and to deliver City a near fatal blow.
Now i don’t want to know about how we nearly scored and how Kompany should have been sent off, the fact remains was that Klopp in his infinite wisdom and when it comes to the crunch, was found wanting. He retreated to safety and we came out of the game defeated and the opposition galvanised.
We then loan out a perfectly adequate replacement to Trent, and during an injury crisis to the backline (whilst BTW Klopp was stringing us along with injury updates which were false) we failed to address the situation in the transfer window. Our squad is now weaker than the first half of the season.
He bangs on about Hoever. He bangs on about Camacho, neither of which are ready for the first team at Premier League level (and proved by the lack of game time given our injuries).
We then make do and scrape by against Brighton and Palace and draw with Leicester. And today i see the inclusion of Connor Randall in this squad, i mean FFS i thought that guy had long since gone.
I dont trust Klopp to get it right. Taking everything into consideration – yeah he got us to finals, but he tends to self sabotage his own progress. He’s inflexible, he’s stubborn. How long was he telling every fucker how capable Karius was? How long has he put up with permanent crocks like Matip and Lovren? How long has Moreno been here?
Lack of adequate cover for Mane to years ago led to benches of kids and being knocked out of all cups and scraping in to fourth, and last year selling Coutinho and letting Sturridge go and relying on crocks like Lallana, sub standards players like Karius, Ings and Solanke. You know the rest, lose Salah in that final and we have no one off the bench to help shape the game.
What I’m saying is I don’t worry about the opposition, I worry about our Manager and owners. They have proved to have the ability to derail our season through poor management, lack of foresight and lack of contingency.
I pray Klopp proves me wrong, I really do.
Fuck me who is the “great manager” out there you think we are missing whilst we bumble along with Klopp 5 points clear after 24 league games and in the last 16 of the Champions League?
I’m comparing him to past managers not rival managers.
Kenny, Bob and Fagan were great managers that built teams and won trophies. When Klopp does that he will join that list in my opinion. You might already think he’s great and that’s fair enough.
“Kenny, Bob and Fagan were great managers that built teams and won trophies. ”
Well yes they were but the opposition now is stronger than they had and there are more of them! And even against that formidable opposition, including a team that made 100 points last season, we re 5 points clear and have the best record after 24 games of any Liverpool side in history. Ok, that’s not a trophy, but it’s surely worthy of credit? And would winning a League Cup make it all better, make Klopp a better manager?
You worry about our manager ?! Why do you think we are where we are ?
I worry about some of the traits he has. He’s inflexible. He’s sometimes stubborn. Our last few managers have all had something about them that brought their downfall eventually.
Klopp likes making do, but he makes do with certain players that let him down.
The facts speak for themselves, he has a great way of getting us into position to compete, but falls short, and for me it’s usually down to ‘making do’.
We’ve not won anything… Yet.
Last time I checked, it was Robbo who made a needless foul and the almighty VVD who switched off on Maguire to concede the equalizer. Two of our best players in the squad. But sure you can blame Klopp here again for banking on these two but they let him down.
Learn the game better.
And “We’ve not won anything… Yet.” is so overused you might as well just come up with something different or you actually wait till May. patience is required, in life and in footy.
The almighty VVD who was just passed fit due to illness.
Robbo has played every game because his understudy isn’t good enough and he can’t be rotated.
We had Henderson at right back.
Lovren, Matip, Lallana all can’t be relied on.
I think we might miss out too but for a simple reason that some people will refuse to see – that City have managed to stockpile a larger number of game-changing match winners over a period of several seasons. You aren’t really demanding greatness, you’re essentially demanding perfection, which (a) doesn’t exist and (b) may not be enough anyway.
Mate, you’ve made a couple of minor points that are reasonable but easy to flip. I think you’re major point is we’re not going to win the league because of Klopps decisions and here’s the evidence.
Let’s assess and compare the club and team when Jurgen arrived and where we currently are and the philosophy, methodology, and action taken by Klopp and the owners.
Klopp’s methodical and thorough in his approach – squad building, transfers, training, utilising his players and background staff. He squeezes every last ounce of improvement from players and gives them a chance to impress. Hence, players like TAA, Firmino, Gomez, and Lallana improved markedly after he arrived. He’s also ruthless and has shipped out dozens and will continue to do so as the squad develops and evolves.
The squad has also been built and rebuilt since he arrived – the defence, then the frontline, then the midfield. He brought in keepers and three centre halfs. Then Mane arrived and then Salah. Last summer the midfield needed work and we had Fabhino, Keita and nearly Fakir come in. The defence was further improved as Matip and Karius proved unreliable and in walked Robbo, VVD and Allison.
As other clubs around us have improved our football has steadily gotten better – 3 finals and two top four finishes and now top of the league.
Strategically, the club has improved rapidly as money in for transfers has been excellent and big arrivals have succeeded – give Keita time. The club is making good money and more stadium expansion seems likely.
Off the pitch dieticians, new coaches and a redeveloped training facility add to the professionalism.
In short, this is a fundamental, permanent, ongoing improvement cycle and the club is buzzing. It’s possible – as you did – to point to individual games, players and tactics and have disagreements. However, there is no lack of foresight but careful, meticulous, well thought-out organisational planning. ‘Derail our season’ doesn’t it occur to you that we’re having this season because of the owners and Klopp.
Your points are reasonable but once contextualised and analysed are petty whines. Yes,I hope you continue to be proven wrong. Cheer up and enjoy the ride lad.
Kenny Bob and Fagan great as they were did not have to start rebuilding from a base that had not won the league in 25 years and with 4 clubs in a stronger financial position.
Shall we bring in a great winning manager like Mourinho to answer your prayers?
Be careful what you wish for.
If Klopp does haul us back to the title it will be the greatest in the club’s history, for me.
Not the time to throw in the towel.
Whose throwing in the towel? You can only judge on what you see.
And at the moment you see a manager making do and playing players all over the shop to accommodate. We shouldn’t be in that position.
As for the other managers, none of them would have put up with the likes of Moreno, Lovren, Matip, Karius, Mignolet and Lallana over multiple seasons. They would have been shipped out sharpish and replaced.
“at the moment you see a manager making do and playing players all over the shop to accommodate. We shouldn’t be in that position.”
All over the shop, as in at RB for a handful of games and occasionally at CB. Klopp built a squad with players who can play several positions. What you should do is marvel at all the intelligence from the manager and staff that is going on at Liverpool
“They would have been shipped out sharpish and replaced.”
None of the other managers reached a Champions League final with their squads in the past 5 years. We did! With a squad that includes those players, you are slagging off.
Klopp has built an unbelievable squad and shaped a team on far less money than other big club managers.
Keita shows it’s not as simple as chucking money at it. As does the decline of Man U since Ferguson.
Keep the faith mate things could be a lot worse,it was never going to happen overnight from the mess Klopp inherited.
And you seem to be forgetting Klopp won 2 Bundesligas rebuilding a broken Dortmund team so any comparisons you want to make should account for that.
I’ll do my best. I want to see us win so badly in my remainder of my lifetime.
Looks like the pressure may have gone up unless Le Arse can do something in the second half!
against a city side with a DM at CB and a CB at LB.
These managers eh? Don’t know what the fuck they are doing…..
Brillisnt
And there are two truths I know in footy.
Firstly, whoever becomes champion deserves to be champion. Full stop. Vice versa, the teams who dont become champion but came very close are not undeserving of a reward for all their hard work and good performances but unluckily for them, there was just one team that earned it more!
Secondly, you earn your luck. You force your own luck. If you do the right things on the field consistently, then you will get the rub of the green more often than not. We were dealt bad luck when we didnt get the penalty against Leicester. On other other hand, we had a lot of fortunes in the past when it didnt go our way (e.g. Divock’s golden header). Fact is we simply didnt do enough to create clear chances to win that Leicester game.
Completely relaxed now about our season. Silverware or no silverware, the Reds are a great team. That is a fact. But if Liverpool wants to be champion in May, then the players need to earn it, game by game, week by week. Simple.
Rob your article echoes the characters pivotal discussion in that movie Shawshank Redemption.
One, Red, is so institutionalized from the years of jail time and being denied parole every few years, that he just knows he is going to be denied and die in jail.
He reminds the other character, Andy, that “Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane”.
Andy is determined to get out because he knows he doesn’t belong in this place since he is innocent of his crime is going for it all the way no matter what.
Andy counters with “I guess it comes down to a simple choice really. Get busy living or get busy dying.”.
Our supporters, I’m afraid, the majority of them already seem like they are of the mindset of Red.
Tomorrow is no doubt an important game, since City looks like they have reduced Arsenal to traffic cones again and cut the points to 2 now.
So I for one, hope that Jurgen and the Reds will get busy living.
Come on you Reds!!!
It’s the passing of time, isn’t it? When I read Rob’s piece, particularly the intro, I’m thrown back to the afternoon when QPR were dispensed with and another league title was in the bag. It was 1990, I was just finishing my first year in secondary school, and winning leagues was a given, even though I was a relative latecomer to adoring football and the first campaign I was actively engaged with was the eternal majesty of 1987/88. I was even able to watch it live on RTE, in my parent’s sitting room.
And now look. My six-year-old has, just in the last year, become obsessed with football, and he’s already seen Liverpool in a Champion’s League Final and now top of the table. It feels, weirdly, like that last 29 years didn’t happen, or that it did, but it’s just fragments of memory. It’s like it’s all been building up to this, and yes, I’m terrified. I know I should be thrilled and strapping myself in, and I’m really trying, sometimes I’m absolutely on board, but to want it so much after so long… I’m really feeling my age.
Oddly enough, we’ve been staying at my mum’s for the past few months as we await the completion of a house build. We’re effectively living in the same sitting room where I watched Rushie clatter one in at the near post and John Barnes pop in a penalty. That sunny Saturday. Is it fate? I hope so.
As always props to TAW for excellent content and excellent coverage in all aspect of LFC. I think the one thing that makes this season different is we have a Jurgen Klopp as gaffa.. He has the calmness and staying power to guide us Up the reds through the eye of the storm – up the reds – YNWA. Side note Lizzi Doyle Is surely the prettiest Liverpool fan and pundit in living memory :)
World Class Manager. Great team. Let’s get behind them