Pressure of competition taking Liverpool to a new level

Pressure of competition is taking Liverpool to a new level.

They have only played sixty minutes of Premier League football between them, but the effect that new signings Thiago Alcantara, Kostas Tsimikas, and Diogo Jota have had on the Liverpool squad is obvious.

Despite winning the league at a canter, fans and pundits felt the squad needed a bit of a revamp. Players like Divock Origi, Xherdan Shaqiri, and Takumi Minamino were not seen as adequate cover for the famous front three, while The King of Scotland, Andrew Robertson only had the aging James Milner behind him should he get injured or lose form.

While the Jota, Tsimikas and Thiago signings have addressed much of these concerns on paper, there have also been massive positive signs on the pitch.

The competition they have brought to the squad has seen the likes of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, and Robertson step up a gear.

While the first eleven basically picked itself last season no matter what, this season the players have had to take their performances on the pitch to another level. At this stage in 2019/2020 we were battling and scraping our way to late victories and lauding the squads mentality to find a way to win.

This season has been all about our ruthlessness and game management that has seen us dispose of two so-called title challenges.

The controlled quality of the performances has seen many pundits predict that Jurgen Klopp’s men will easily defend their title, while Chelsea and Arsenal fan channels argue about whose defeat to Liverpool was the best.

Talking about the difference between our wide forwards, Gary Neville said:

"“You think about the mentality difference between Mane and Salah. Mane is likeable. I think the players probably love him, he gives his all every single day, he’ll do the selfless thing for the team.“Then you look at Salah over the other side. He doesn’t pass sometimes to his team-mates. He’s a little bit more selfish and a little bit less likable because of that, probably to the fans and to his own team-mates.”"

Liverpool will now head into the Carabao Cup tie with Arsenal on Thursday with a chance of showing the strength and depth that the current squad possesses.

Curtis Jones, Minamino, and Kostas Tsimikas are all likely to play and Jota could even get his first start for the club after terrorising the London club in a goal-scoring 20-minute cameo at the weekend.

It’s exciting times for Liverpool fans across the globe as this could actually be the start of the most successful period in the club’s history.