I believe there are two types of football fans. There is the group that will take 3 points anyway that they can get them. On the other hand, you have the football purists that want wins but it must come as a result of an outstanding all-around performance.
Looking at Liverpool through this lens is an interesting perspective. Because, as I have noted earlier this season, the Reds are doing a lot of their winning in gut check fashion without much free flowing action.
Yet, there have also been moments of brilliance like the Aston Villa match and the first Toulouse meeting for example.
The ultimate judge of a squad is how they’re getting on. At the end of the day this is a results oriented business.
While there are some people, myself included, that can hardly stand to watch an Atletico Madrid match for example, they undoubtedly get the job done on a year to year basis.
It’s rarely pretty but their fans are always in contention for some kind of silverware. It explains why Diego Simeone is still in charge.
Jose Mourinho was dubbed the “Special One” for coaching his teams in the art of parking the bus.
On the other side of the spectrum you have Pep and Jurgen Klopp. Two managers that love to play attacking and aesthetically pleasing football from the jump.
They have had incredible amounts of success in their own right. Would a perfect world be pleasing football and lots of trophies? Of course, but the sporting world does not work like that.
Injuries and new players arriving all the time for example are stumbling blocks to this process. Those are both things that Liverpool are working through this season.
The results have been largely positive despite the fact there are four new midfielders and a still limited defense.
This goes back to the beginning discussion of taking 3 points however they come. That is especially true when you are chasing one of of the juggernauts in world football in Manchester City.
Liverpool in recent years were a brilliant team to watch. Their swashbuckling and carefree mentality simply overwhelmed teams.
However, that squad was the result of years of drilling and growing together. It is very hard to instantly change a side into full-fledged football poetry from Day 1.
This current iteration of Liverpool has a lot of the pieces in place to play an attractive brand of football. However, there are still growing pains that must be endured along that path. It’s where the instant gratification crowd becomes perturbed.
These things take time and if the positive results keep flowing in while the boys continue to trust the system and each other, the club as a whole will be better off for it.
So, to grandly surmise this piece, Liverpool are always striving for the best performance but that is just not going to happen. The biggest judge of a club is a good result and that takes the cake. However, this squad has every chance to be the best of both worlds sooner than later.