It’s just another season of failure at Liverpool
They bridged the gap somewhat from last year, but failure to strengthen the squad or compete closer to the title challengers caps a disappointing season on Merseyside.
Liverpool’s season is coming to a shuddering halt.
Another season of what-ifs, another season of disappointment against mid-table clubs and another season of head-scratching over the squad parts they always seem to be missing. At the beginning of the season, top four credentials would have been a satisfying campaign for most fans on Merseyside, even Jurgen Klopp would have taken a return to Champions League as an acceptable end to his first full season in charge at Anfield.
But you can’t help but feel it was a season of failure for Liverpool, albeit slightly more veiled than a 7th placed humbling or the defeat in two cup finals that played out the German’s first few months in charge. At the beginning of the season, I said I would have been disappointed if the club wasn’t in the title hunt come March and April. Harsh expectations, sure, considering the bridge they had to gap from last season. But Chelsea showed that a fresh approach — and extremely clever spending in the summer — can concoct a title-winning improvement in such a short space of time, especially without the distractions of European football during the week.
The last time Liverpool had the luxury of no European football was when Brendan Rodgers guided them to an extraordinary 2nd placed finish in 2014, narrowly losing out on their first ever Premier League title to a fantastic Manchester City side. There were a number of factors that benefited Liverpool’s title challenge, not least having a fresh Luis Suarez to unleash every weekend, hungry to destroy and embarrass defences across the country. In tandem with a fit Daniel Sturridge, an exciting young Philippe Coutinho and an improving Raheem Sterling, Liverpool had a carefree deadliness the league had never seen before.
Slowly, that deadliness has been plucked apart from riches elsewhere and health issues, leaving Klopp with no player truly capable of the touch of class that would push his team up to the levels of Chelsea, or at least Tottenham, at the summit of the league. Everybody has lamented their inconsistent defence for the club’s recent suffering — the plight of Simon Mignolet, the unsureness of Dejan Lovren and the susceptible full backs — and not least letting their best defender leave for sour pre-season antics. But in the 2013/14 season, Liverpool conceded more goals than they are likely to this season. It was a defence that had an ageing Kolo Toure, a diminishing Jose Enrique and the polarizing Martin Skrtel. Their success came from the attackers’ ability to find quality out of nowhere and lift the team above the minnows that sat back and tried to absorb all of the pressure. The midfield wasn’t as creative as it is nowadays, Philippe Coutinho was more inconsistent in those days and instead of Adam Lallana or Sadio Mane picking the lock was the more bruising style of Jordan Henderson and Steven Gerrard. But the team scored a truly astonishing 101 league goals that year. This season, Chelsea may only crack 80 goals — albeit with a considerably tighter defence to counteract that.
Rather than maximize Liverpool’s strength in front of goal or defensive solidity at the backline, Klopp has managed to develop a team that is devastating on its day but truly appalling to watch when it’s not. It can be hit or miss in front of goal, and equally inconsistent when defending set pieces. There’s no talisman akin to Luis Suarez — but in fairness, he’s a top five player in the world — to push the team on when they’re struggling against weaker sides, nor is there a defensive leader that can shore up the back and organise his peers. There’s no driver from midfield, or player capable of tidying things up as the likes of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano did in the past.
Indeed, Klopp has considerably improved the team against their fellow top six challengers — but there are 14 other teams in the league that Liverpool has yet not found the magic formula of beating. His inactive January was frustrating, as Chelsea drove further ahead into the distance. Mane and Gini Wijnaldum have been excellent additions, sure, but far from the X-Factors that create a title-winning team. The only money he has spent on defenders has been the £4.2million that brought Ragnar Klavan to the club.
My expectations, as lofty as they were, were beaten by Klopp’s failure to answer Liverpool’s weaknesses last summer or in January. There is no striker capable of scoring the goals you need to win the league, looking at Diego Costa driving Chelsea to the league title this year and Harry Kane becoming one of the finest goalscorers in Europe. Firmino, as much as he works hard, isn’t the type of player who’s going to be your star striker, nor is Divock Origi just yet. Sturridge is finished at Anfield and unless his health struggles dramatically change is unlikely to be the player he once was ever again. Equally, his failure to even attempt to fix the defence — and playing James Milner at left back for an entire season —has been absolutely ridiculous.
With European football on the horizon next season, be it on the biggest stage in the Champions League or in the grueling Europa League schedule, my expectations of Liverpool won’t change — I will always foolishly expect them to challenge for the title. If they want to consider themselves a big club there should be no settling for 4th place. But the likelihood of achieving this is harder than ever after this season’s trophy blank. Liverpool bridged some of the gap from where they were last year, but that was a given — now they face an even bigger gap in attempting to juggle European sojourns while maintaining top four credentials, let alone challenging for the title. For any of this to be successful the squad needs major strengthening and an epiphany in breaking down the sides that put eleven men behind the ball.
This season was Liverpool’s chance to have a crack at a title challenge, but ultimately fell way short of a side that had the same expectations for success in a season without distraction from the continent. Sure, Chelsea already had an amazing squad — but they found their X-Factor in N’Golo Kante and having an actual left back in Marcos Alonso really helps.
The failure to compete closer to the title challengers, the failure to better prepare the squad in advance of a much more gruelling season ahead, leaves Liverpool in a precarious position. They’ve bridged the gap somewhat this season… but next season may be a bridge too far.
