Even now, people haven’t fully wised up to the change in English football in the last handful of years; if Arsenal can buck the trend, then that would be great for the game, but it would be an exception to the “rule of the mega-squad”; in the summer, Chelsea, City and United will all spend big to exert their might.
Well, if Liverpool didn’t know they were in a battle for 4th, they do now; indeed, too literally so this weekend. After the utter nonsense last season, the Blackburn game was always going to be a bigger deal than usual. Add that the Reds took to the field only after Manchester City and Spurs had already won, and it was a fixture on a knife-edge.
If you go to a club that is in the top four; that has an unbeaten home record (including victories in various competitions against Man United, Chelsea and Arsenal – twice); that has had an extra 48 hours rest; and that has a starting XI that cost twice as much to assemble, and get a draw, then that, by any stretch of the imagination, is a good result.
If you ever want to see the perfect example of how media reporting of football has changed in the past 40 years, consider the following.
One thing really bothered me earlier in the season: accusations from some quarters that Liverpool lacked character. This didn’t tally with what I believed to be the case. Last season, time and time again, the Reds showed incredible character to rescue lost causes, and lose so few games.
Whisper it quietly, but Liverpool could be six games into a very important run of form. An eight point deficit to fourth place is now down to one, and it’s another week closer to the major attacking threats of Torres, Benayoun and Johnson returning. With every passing month, another top-four challenger falls away; as happens every year. People worrying about the threat of Birmingham has been made to look premature.
A few weeks back, Liverpool were eight points off 4th place. Now the gap is down to four. Lost in all the drama of an FA cup shock (which, let’s face it, happened to Shankly, Paisley and Dalglish, and to Alex Ferguson as recently as this month) was that the Reds are closing in on the top four.
This is an unedited version of the piece www.liverpoolfc.tv commissioned on the past decade.
I loathe the kind of ‘punditry’ that says, just six months on from a 2nd-placed finish, that Liverpool have never looked further away from landing the title. It’s so bereft of logic it’s laughable. It’s pure nonsense.
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