Looking forward: Reasons to be optimistic about Liverpool

Despite their last two painful losses, there are many positives to be taken from Liverpool’s past few matches.

What a sad week to be a Liverpool fan. But if you are only taking negatives from this, you clearly not seeing the bigger picture.

We had a 77th minute walkout that received an immediate response from the owners. In our midweek FA Cup clash, we saw some of our star players back in action and our manager is back and looks like he has recovered well from his operation. The most important thing is that we have a break now to be able to rest players.

Liverpool has played a lot of games since the end of 2015 and had done so with a fairly thin squad. A squad so thin, we had to recall some players from their respective loan spells to come in and help out. Liverpool used a whopping 41 players in all competitions: good on Klopp for trusting the young ones!

Liverpool was hit very badly with an injury crisis. It could not have come at a better time for our key players to step back into action. We have to go on and say, a big well done to the young lads that have stepped up and proved to be vital in a Liverpool shirt.

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There are a select few who looked more promising than some of our first team players. The likes of Brad Smith and Joao Carlos Teixeira are two names that stand out most for me and deserve a lot a credit for how they have showed up, but in return need to stay grounded for the criticism coming their way (as we know there are always bad critics). They have lots to learn, but time is on their side. Think in the near future, these two kids should be walking into the first team for sure.

These last two results were nerve wrecking and unpleasant to say the least.

We had a very disappointing draw to Sunderland FC, due to some abysmal goal keeping from Simon Mignolet once again. Then two nights ago, a heart dropping defeat to a more determined West Ham United side. We can all agree that Mignolet has been in shockingly bad form this season and looks like his current form is here to stay. All of Liverpool is surely praying for a change in form, because we, as supporters, back our manager who has shown immense trust in Mignolet.

Next: Four realistic Mignolet replacements

We either keep him to be a good back up to a much more renowned first choice keeper, or Klopp knows something we all don’t and think he will come good in due time.

The loss against West Ham I take as a blessing in disguise. We have been playing too many games in a short space of time. We do not possess the quality on the bench to be able to run with this amount of games. Therefore, we suffer when we have an injury crisis like we’ve been for the past few seasons. When Liverpool looks to the bench for a goal scorer or game changer, we turn to players like Joe Allen and Steve Caulker for goals.

Seeing players like Daniel Sturridge and Divock Origi as options coming off the bench makes you as a supporter more confident to think, “Hey we can get back into this game!”

We had no activity in the transfer window, but just seeing these players names on the team sheet, makes it seem as if we had obtained three new players in the transfer market with great attributes. We have been missing this kind of goal threat and hopefully these key players continue to stay fit and play right up until the end of the season.

We have a Cup final coming up soon and it’s against a very good team. So to have all our star players fit and ready is a massive boost to the team and club alike. Wish them the best in this time now getting up to speed.

We have lots to play for; we have every chance of getting into the top four and by no means need to rely on other results. We are in 9th position on the log, but only 6 points adrift from fourth placed Man City. There are thirteen games left for the season, which is a possible 39 points to gain. There is no way we cannot come good with a stronger team and more breaks in between games.

Next: Liverpool interested in Real Madrid forward

We all can agree that when the players are well rested, Liverpool’s players give us a rather enjoyable game to watch and produce a better brand of football. Maybe with Sturridge and Origi back, we won’t lack that much in front of goal.

This could even help Benteke’s game and confidence improve. Having all of them fit provides healthy competition for the gigantic Belgian. He might not be doing well but he is still a Liverpool patron and we need to support him no matter what. If you want to be the best, you have to compete against the best!

Liverpool is well on track with all the goals set at the beginning of this season. We need silverware. We’re in a cup final and still have the knockout stages of the Europa Cup. We’re half way there it seems. With regards to the league, we can now put in a lot more focus on our league object, so let’s hope for more consistency in our performances now, because this is a key part to our game that has been missing for some time now.

YNWA