A Difficult Past
Since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, Liverpool has endured lots of heartbreak and failure. In many seasons, Liverpool were genuine title contenders or top-four locks. In others, they were mediocre at best and barely worth a European spot.
Before this decade, they had a solid record in cup competitions. In the Premier League era, they’ve won a Champions League, UEFA Cup, two FA Cups, and four League Cups. Not a bad record by any means, but the main metric used to judge them, for obvious reasons, is the league.
Building A New Team
After getting ever so close to the Premier League trophy in the 2013-14 season, Liverpool decided to start again. The disappointing season of 2014-15 saw Anfield say goodbye to club legend Steven Gerrard. Just over a month into the 2015-16 season, Brendan Rodgers was sacked. This was a turning point. This was a sign. The arrival of Jurgen Klopp was a statement to the rest of England and Europe. The success wasn’t going to be overnight, but the owners showed themselves to be determined to bring Liverpool back to winning ways after many years in the shadows.
The foundations for Klopp’s squad were put in place in the window before he was hired. While some signings had an instant impact, such as Roberto Firmino and Nathaniel Clyne, others were slower off the mark. Joe Gomez, for example, is only coming to the frame now, three years after signing from Charlton. In that season, despite a poor showing in the league, Klopp’s men went to two cup finals.
The following season brought steady growth. Sadio Mane’s arrival was key, but Philippe Coutinho came to the forefront of the team. He scored 13 goals and bagged eight assists in the league too. A fourth-place finish in the league was a decent return, but it gave Klopp the chance to bring something new to Anfield.
Heavy metal football
When Mo Salah, a Mourinho-era Chelsea reject, came to Liverpool for £37 million, not a whole load was expected from him. The deal was considered to be anywhere between an okay piece of business to an absolute joke. What happened next shocked the world.
In 36 league appearances, he scored a record 32 goals, not to mention 10 assists. Even the sale of Philippe Coutinho couldn’t stop Liverpool from finishing in the top-four and reaching a Champions League final.
Liverpool were playing their best football in years. Attacking with unbelievable pace and precision, they averaged comfortably over two goals per game in the league and broke multiple goal-scoring records in Europe. The Reds were arguably a Mo Salah injury away from winning their sixth Champions League trophy.
Over the course of this summer, Klopp decided to add more strength to the team’s core. With Naby Keita and Fabinho joining the midfield, and Alisson signing to replace Karius, we all knew that Liverpool could go far this season. It’s safe to say that they haven’t disappointed. A 100% record in the league and an outstanding 3-2 victory over PSG in Europe has left football fans all over the world begging the question: “Is this finally Liverpool’s year?”
What History Tells Us
If we were to look at who has been on top of the Premier League after six matches in this decade, the facts would ground many Liverpool fans. From the 2009-10 season to last season, only three of the nine table-toppers after six matches went on to win the league. Only two teams have won all of their first six games in this period, with Ancelotti’s Chelsea winning the league in 2010 after the unbeaten start, while Guardiola’s Manchester City team barely stayed in the top-four after their 18-point start.
Some aspects of Liverpool’s game aren’t tangible when it comes to statistics.
Sluggish Salah?
The biggest thing that Liverpool seem to have going for them isn’t their unbeaten run, but their style of football. Playing exciting, easy-to-watch football is what makes the Reds almost immune to criticism from many parts of the media. If we were to compare them to United, who were objectively better than Liverpool in the league last year, Mourinho and his players are put under immense scrutiny in the back pages of the newspapers due to their style of boring, pragmatic football.
While at first glance this may seem like a great thing for Liverpool, a lack of accountability from the press could result in arrogance or a lowering of standards by the team.
Mo Salah, for example, is a shadow of what he was last season. Despite his return of three goals so far this season, he hasn’t played like the Mo Salah that struck the fear of God into his opponents.
In comparison, Sadio Mane has scored four goals in the league off of just 16 shots.
While their defense isn’t perfect right now, it’s the best it’s been under Klopp. While many felt that Liverpool needed to buy another centre-back this summer, Joe Gomez has emerged as the perfect partner for Virgil van Dijk at the core of Liverpool’s back four.
Where are Liverpool headed?
This looks to be the best Liverpool team in a very long time. There seem to be few weaknesses in their squad. However, Liverpool have developed two very bad habits in recent years. While not to mention their inability to score goals from sustained passing or route-one football, Liverpool have made it very difficult for themselves when playing against weaker teams further into the season. Their game away to Swansea last season sticks out like a sore thumb when discussing Liverpool commonly playing down to opponents’ standards.
Another problem they and Klopp, in particular, seem to have is losing in finals. Jurgen Klopp has won just one final in his career as a manager. That means that he’s lost six out of seven. Not a good return for a man who’s billed as one of the best managers in the world.
We should never doubt a team with as much talent as Liverpool currently possess. However, a bit of tough love might be exactly what Liverpool need to get themselves over the final hurdle and win that elusive Premier League title that they’ve waited decades to lift.
Do you think Liverpool have what it takes to go all the way this season? Sound out in the comments section below. You can also DM me @OB_PerSources on IG and Twitter.