Since the English topflight assumed a new format in 1992, the trophy has never been seen in Anfield, no matter how close it came. During that 24-years of long wait, Manchester United have strolled to a title win on 13 occasions, Chelsea; 4 times, Arsenal; thrice, Manchester City; twice, while even underdogs Blackburn Rovers, and Leicester City each got their hands on the coveted prize once.
Why has the title remained elusive for the red half of Merseyside? Even when they got awfully close in the 2013/14 season – recording the longest winning run and longest unbeaten run of 11 and 16 games respectively, they ended up narrowly missing out on it to Manchester City with 2 points (Hello Stephen Gerrard).
Could this season be when they finally break the jinx?
Klopp’s arrival raised even dead hopes high in the city of Liverpool. Finally, the trophy will perhaps find its way down to one of England’s historic land. The wait seems over.
And true to everyone’s anticipation, the German led the Reds to 2 finals in less than 7 months of his heralded unveiling. Ab initio, his promise was that he would deliver the title within his first 3 full seasons in charge. From the look of things, it could arrive in his first.
The first coach to have achieved this feat Arsene Wenger changed the English game. And Klopp is following in that step and route, even though his approach is very different.
Coincidentally, this season began with a clash between the 2. A sort of “the past versus the future” clash of the coaching titans. In this case, that future looks like it is now.
After the 4 – 3 thrilling encounter, Liverpool failed only twice to win. A shocking 2 – 0 defeat at the hands of Burnley, and a 1 – 1 draw against Tottenham, both games away from home.
Since then, they have gone to win 4 league games on the bounce, with the last 2 league champions Leicester City, and Chelsea victims and causalities of well-orchestrated defeats. The game plan this term has been inch-perfect. Understandably so given how Klopp made his playing philosophies sink into the team during the off-season.
Even though the 4-nil victory over a Barcelona side that had Messi, Iniesta, and Suarez in the pre-season International Champions Cup was quickly swept under the carpet by Mainz’s defeat of the same scoreline, one could see why Liverpool would have a strong claim as far as laying hold on the title this season goes.
Not having any European duties to worry about even makes it all better for them. There is enough rest for the first team, and they get to do damage to others. This won’t be in full effect until February – April when fatigue starts to accumulate for the likes of City, United, Tottenham, and Arsenal because of their participation in Europe.
The current team will pass for one of the best Liverpool squads in years. The quality within their ranks is further highlighted when you discover that the likes of Sturridge, Can, Mignolet and Moreno are struggling to make it into the starting XI. These 4 will give players in other title-contending teams a run for the money.
The high-octane play is powered by a group of players who never gives up, and many teams are finding it way too much to contain this new Liverpool.
Mane, Firmino and Coutinho are tearing defences apart with everything they have got, and it’s not surprising that no other team has scored more goals than Liverpool this year, and they share most league goals (18) at the moment with Manchester City.
Lallana, Henderson and Wijnaldum constitute a strong midfield capable of standing toe to toe with any midfield setting in the world, and the backline, despite conceding 10 goals already is beginning to get more compact, having let in just a goal per game in the last 4 league encounters.
The setup is great; a tactically sound coach, bunch of hungry players, and the best set of fans in the league. This season is their best chance so far to finally get that title. It might be now or never