In order to make Liverpool a significant role in the Premier League title race, but not the primary character, they were given matches against Manchester City and Arsenal one fortnight apart.
The claim that Liverpool will have a significant impact on the title ʙᴀᴛᴛʟᴇ is not overstated. They will be incensed by that, I can promise you of that.
There’s a cliché that goes, “We can’t be heroes, someone has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by,” but in all honesty, sitting on the pavement is the worst thing you can do as a pro with a huge club.
It is awful. In ꜰᴀᴄᴛ, it was so terrible that when I once traveled to Madrid to watch my friend Steve McManaman and Real Madrid win La Liga, I boarded the bus with his squad rather than applauding them as they passed by!
This will make Jurgen Klopp’s team dislike this week. Certainly, defeating Arsenal after falling to Manchester City might determine whether the Premier League title stays in England.
That, however, will grate on their throat. I am aware of this because I frequently traveled with Liverpool when Manchester United was claiming all those championships. That really makes you feel ill. I experienced it far too frequently.
It was heartbreaking when we superbly defeated Newcastle 4-3 and then blew our opportunity by drawing at Coventry a few days later. Wow, we were all thinking. What the ʜᴇʟʟ happened there? With so many concerns about consistency, in and out of the championship race in a short period of time.
In 1997, we fell to United at home when a victory would have secured our place in the title race. Instead, they were winning the league on our field with a 3-1 victory, and aside from the severe injuries I sustained, I don’t think I’ve ever felt worse after a game.
I am familiar enough with the current Liverpool squad to know that they would believe that ʙᴇᴀᴛɪɴɢ Arsenal should assist them win the trophy rather than City since they have been so tremendously, gloriously involved in three title fights in the previous four years.
They have significantly underperformed this season compared to the erratic play I saw at Liverpool. You cannot undervalue the effect that moving the front line has had. I have explained why I believe that has occurred in my column.
Yet there’s still more to consider. They have essentially always given up when they have been behind or when the game has gone against them. That is completely different from Jurgen Klopp’s team and his unrelenting approach.
Just like it did against Real Madrid, it happened once more at City, and that is really concerning. In football, it is obvious that a team cannot succeed if it lacks ᴍᴇɴᴛᴀʟ fortitude.
Regardless of what happened at the Etihad, they still need to ʙᴇᴀᴛ Arsenal in order to secure their own futures at Anfield, not to affect the title ʙᴀᴛᴛʟᴇ.
I don’t believe I’m being hyperbolic when I suggest that if Liverpool doesn’t make the Champions League next season, it will ʜᴜʀᴛ the team financially and potentially cause players to leave.
I wouldn’t be sᴜʀᴘʀɪsᴇᴅ if players like Salah and van Dijk felt they had to compete in Europe’s top leagues at such a young age and couldn’t afford to lose a single season. Although I don’t think they’d want to travel, they might think about it.
The idea that they can suffer significant harm to their capacity to compete in the summer transfer market is much more concerning than the possibility of missing out on Champions League money.
Can you honestly believe that people like Mason Mount and Jude Bellingham would want to lose out on the Champions League? Additionally, it puts Liverpool’s gloves behind their back in a ʙᴀᴛᴛʟᴇover money that is already incredibly unfair because teams like City and Real Madrid are also interested in those players.
Hence, Liverpool’s strategy for the Arsenal game, a now-seismic matchup next weekend, will take pride into consideration. Yet as a squad, cold reality will follow suit. Now that they have a chance to make the top four, every player at that club will be considering their options.
Yet there is a way to stop that anxiety from bothering them: they can take the task into their own hands, determine their own fate, and reverse this season’s frightening trend to show they can once again be the heroes marching by, not the losers with their a***** on the sidewalk.