On Sunday, the moment for which Anfield had yearned for 35 long years finally arrived when Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk hoisted the Premier League trophy aloft in front of thousands of home supporters.
When Liverpool last won the title five years ago, the COVID pandemic denied supporters the opportunity to celebrate in large crowds.
On Sunday, though, supporters inside Anfield and around the grounds basked in every moment of the celebrations together.
Secured with Time to Spare
On April 27th, four weeks earlier, the football world knew for certain that this day would come when Liverpool mathematically secured a record-equaling 20th league title with an emphatic 5-1 victory over Tottenham.
However, the sense of inevitability about the Reds’ eventual triumph had intensified since the turn of the calendar year and by March, the overwhelming consensus was that it was a matter of when and not if Liverpool would clinch the title.
A 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace on the final day of the campaign saw the Reds finish their campaign on 84 points, a sizable ten more than nearest challengers and runners-up Arsenal.
That they sealed the title with four matches to spare offers further and indisputable corroboration that Liverpool have been a cut above the rest over this past season.
Liverpool’s dominance is all the more impressive given that this was the club’s first campaign since 2015 without Jurgen Klopp as manager.
The Reds won every major trophy possible under the German throughout his eight-and-a-half seasons at Anfield, but the prospect that Liverpool could continue their success into the post-Klopp era felt far from certain when he stepped down at this time last year.
To Klopp’s credit, he did insist that all would work out even after his exit and not for the first time, he was spot on.
Klopp’s advice to the supporters to quickly unite behind his successor has proven just as sound.
Arne Slot took the reins at Liverpool having not spent a single minute of his career as a player or coach outside of Dutch football, but required virtually no time at all to reward his new club’s belief that he was the right man for the titanic task of stepping into Klopp’s place.
Throughout the first half of the campaign, Liverpool played arguably their best football since their last title triumph in 2019/2020 as they racked up notable victories over Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid and Manchester City, soared to the top of the Premier League and Champions League’s league phase tables, and booked their place in the League Cup final.
Room for Improvement
Since January, however, the reality that Slot inherited an imperfect squad has presented itself more transparently.
The Reds were second best in their defeats to PSG in the Champions League Round of 16 and Newcastle in the League Cup final.
While the notable dip in the level of performances in the Premier League was ultimately inconsequential, it further underscores both the room for improvement in several areas of the squad.
Most glaring perhaps is Liverpool’s lack of a consistent source of goals other than Mohamed Salah.
Salah has enjoyed the best season of his career with a spectacular 29 goals and 18 assists in the Premier League alone, but when opponents have managed to mute his impact, as was the case in those defeats to PSG and Newcastle, the likes of Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo struggled to make an impact.
As exceptional a talent as Salah is, and he is arguably the greatest talent on the planet at the moment, the Egyptian is only getting older and Liverpool simply cannot expect him to continue to shoulder as much of the burden going forward as he currently does.
If they’re to build upon their success from this season, they will realistically need to bring in a world class center forward.
The Reds will surely look to strengthen at left back as well after an underwhelming campaign from Andy Robertson.
Robertson has played an integral role in Liverpool’s success since he arrived in 2017, but the quality of his performances have dropped significantly over the past nine months.
A busy Summer Ahead
All indications are that the Liverpool hierarchy are firmly intent on obtaining the upgrades they deem necessary to defend their title and to seriously push for Champions League success.
According to renowned football journalist Fabrizio Romano, Liverpool have already finalized a deal for Bayer Leverkusen right-back Jeremie Frimpong, who would replace the departing Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Romano also reports that Liverpool are optimistic about their pursuit of Leverkusen’s star attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz while the Reds have also been heavily linked to 21-year-old Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez who has impressed since he arrived at the club in 2023.
As convincingly as Liverpool won the league, the haste with which they have taken to the market is understandable.
The Premier League champions benefited in part from disappointing seasons from Arsenal and Manchester City, and the Reds should already take it as a certainty that both will improve their squads this summer and present a far greater threat to their title defense next season.
Having outperformed their rivals on the pitch over the last nine months, Liverpool must now do the same off it this summer.