It’s time to keep things in perspective with Liverpool.
The Reds have been on a phenomenal run of form since that loss to Manchester City at the Etihad in January 2018. Indeed, it’s their best stretch in the club’s long and illustrious history and the records are there to prove it for all to see.
Other than the draw at Old Trafford last October, Liverpool were perfect into the spring; a good chunk of that fall success was with a second choice keeper between the posts to boot.
They have amassed points in a torrid and exemplary fashion.
They would miss out on the league to Manchester City while accruing more points than any Liverpool side that came before them. In this period they have captured the imaginations of football fans across Europe and the world.
And they have accomplished all this while keeping costs down and playing smart and patient in the transfer market.
Jurgen Klopp’s overall dominance through this period is without question, the fact that they have been the team with the fewest fouls, yellow cards and such for the past three seasons anywhere in Europe is further evidence of this. They also have operated within the rules of FFP that others in Europe and England scoff at; or downright disregard.
Everyone knew going in that this would be a tough campaign, for reigning champions the repeat season is always a slog. Everyone knows this. Or they should. But we, fans of these Reds, have become expectant and unrealistic, spoiled really, when it comes to winning each and every match they play.
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The rest of the league has improved to some degree, and most assuredly they have done their homework on how to defend and attack against Jurgen Klopp’s juggernaut.
Since Nigel Pearson and Watford showed the whole world how to accomplish what no one else in England had done since that City tie at the Etihad the year before, the competition has gotten smarter and done their homework to be sure.
Matches that the mentality monsters were winning late and from behind last fall are now not so easily seen through. We lost to City badly in the restart, and have dropped three out of four to Arsenal since June.
The defense has been porous and steadily shipping goals; some of them very foolishly due to lack of concentration and focus, since March. When was the last time these Reds held and recorded a clean sheet? Yes, there are extenuating circumstances surrounding this steady slide in defensive form.
But overall we are seeing that stellar rising side from a year ago fall back to earth in splendid and beautiful fashion as Jurgen has said time and time again; “either we win splendidly or we lose beautifully.”
The global pandemic has also taken its toll; first forcing games to be played behind closed doors without fans, which works against every side, but for Liverpool in particular. The Reds have always been a team that feeds off of this energy from the stands.
Even from rival supporters and on the road in away venues. This has always been Liverpool’s secret weapon going back into the ‘70’s when I started supporting the club.
The pandemic disrupted the past campaign and squeezed the remainder into a summer mini tournament of sorts, which meant very little time for a normal preseason that most teams count on to get ready for the next campaign. It also made for a strange and bizarre transfer window which saw teams strapped for ready cash to enter the market full force.
All of these events have had a bearing on how things have played out for Liverpool since the restart in June. The teams that deal best with adversity are usually the ones you find at the top. The saying the ‘cream rises to the top’ is true; and even more so under these trying and difficult circumstances.
The lads were fortunate to come away with three points against Leeds to start the campaign having shipped three goals in that tie at Anfield. A good outing was next at Stamford Bridge, against a Chelsea side that went down to ten men just before the halftime whistle. The best performance in months came against Arsenal at Anfield, but again that clean sheet proved to be elusive.
Which brings us up to date and current with the astonishing result from Villa Park last evening. The Reds were like deer in headlights caught on the back foot from the opening goal in the fourth minute. They would leave the pitch under a scoreline of 7-2 soundly and solidly thrashed by Dean Smith and Aston Villa.
Given what we have seen since early spring, and what we know of how this team has consistently been shipping goals of late; this loss while deplorably painful; record breaking in fact, was bound to happen sooner or later.
The Sadio Mane diagnosis and the injury to Allison Becker at the end of this week past was only a foreshadowing for the perfect storm to arrive now with its ugly head reared and gnashing teeth bared.
It happens, it did in fact happen to these Red last evening in Birmingham. This is football, the football gods are indeed a fickle lot. But how to use this ridiculous loss to their advantage? That will be the business of Klopp and Pep Lijnders and the coaching staff over this two week international break.
They have as yet been able to field their best side; with Jordan Henderson not available, Thiago Alcantara out with COVID, and now Mane too.
The injury to Allison is a painful circumstance that they will be forced once again to overcome. But to expect Liverpool to have the type of fall we saw last year is just not realistic.
Fans have become spoiled with all the success of these past three seasons. This was always going to be a tough campaign and the football gods are seeing to it that these Reds face and play through the gauntlet of adversity that lies before them.