Why Liverpool should not worry about reducing its lead in the Premier League title race

In search of comfort or warning after a week where the potential seven point gap would be reduced to three – if Liverpool won against Bournemouth on Saturday – an article like this could tell us a story. haunting story of a year when he 's almost acted on their side only for something that perfectly illustrates a hidden flaw.

One could argue that the depth of the team may well be this flaw – perhaps as in 2014 – because the team that put Liverpool in the lead has not been the one trying to keep it in recent weeks . The bet calculated by allowing Nathaniel Clyne to go on loan reduced Jurgen Klopp's options, not only in the back, but also in the midfield, as James Milner and Jordan Henderson were required to fill roles that did not suit them. not the best. without any of their presence elsewhere, Liverpool has lacked thrust at times and perhaps a touch of organization.

Generous observers cited luck, considering all three injuries on both defensive positions, though, given that Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip have never played more than 30 league games in their six Complete seasons at the club, it could have been Joe Gomez is available since his arrival in 2015, an exceptional young footballer, although he is.

However, it remains more difficult to calculate what two unexpected draws could mean for Liverpool in early February, largely because this campaign was the best in terms of points and time spent at the top since 1990, when they won the title . Title.

You have to understand the story to explain the environment in which Klopp evolves. Liverpool currently has a 12-point advantage over the group led by Brendan Rodgers who defeated Arsenal 5-1 five years ago at Anfield, a result that allowed Chelsea to replace Arsene's team. Wenger at the top of the table, which Liverpool was still following by six points. The way to win that win gave Liverpool a sense that the club could continue to play the title. Even if they were going to fight for five weeks, for at least one other rival underneath them, there were still ten matches left. to play and Liverpool's fate was not in their hands.

Liverpool has been leading the table for longer than in the 2013/14 season and since it has already arrived earlier, players will better understand what might be needed to stay there should it be to have another opportunity. to open a breach, or alternatively carry awkward memories with them.

While Virgil van Dijk asked for calm and confidence after the draw against Leicester City, Mark Noble was speaking after the result of the match between West Ham and Liverpool Monday night about the previous week. When he was sitting on his sofa in Esbad, he could feel the nervousness inside Anfield.

If the atmosphere has the potential to propel Liverpool 's teams to the unimaginable and is part of the narrative when something spectacular happens, it also has the ability to bury them in the pursuit of the. impossible.

This is not a crowd with the education of the past, especially when the discussion is about the trophy that fans want the most. This is partly an estimate, because if the second part of a campaign matches what happens between January 1 and the end of May, 560 weeks have pbaded since the start of the 1990/91 season and Liverpool is in the lead when the pressure is really strong. for only 17 of those weeks, including eight in 1991.

At about the time when Kenny Dalglish made the surprise decision to resign following a 4: 4 draw with Everton in the FA Cup 28 years ago this month, Liverpool ceased to be a club who has always known how to behave in the lead, has ceased to be very present. a lot at all during the race from the day of the year. Two days after Dalglish's departure, Liverpool slipped to second after a 3-1 defeat at Luton Town. Even if they were to come back after a 7-1 defeat of Derby County, Arsenal was a convincing champion this year.

In less than two seasons, Liverpool had relegation problems coming in March. A 2-1 home defeat against Manchester United put the Graeme Souness team just three points from the drop zone. They would no longer be leading the second half of the season until 1997, when Jamie Carragher scored for his full debut against Aston Villa, although this was a position they held for twenty-five years. only four hours.

The only periods sustained between this period and 2014 are those of 2002 (four weeks) and 2009 (three weeks). If the burden of wanting so much achievement can wipe out all the hopes, it is compounded by the lack of experience.

Of course, Liverpool did not win the European Cup twenty years later. Gerard Houllier's efforts to modernize Melwood and change mentalities had already won many awards in previous years. In 2005, Liverpool simply did not expect to win the Champions League. (The last Liverpool trophy dates back to 2012, remember, and although memories like the one from Kiev were created, the lost finalist identity is not comfortable with a Liverpudlian if he is totally honest. with themselves).

The sense of anticipation is now understandable as the club has spent more money than last summer and has broken two world records to solve two problematic problems, although only one of those records lasted two weeks.

Some things said by fans and their rivals on the Internet are taken too seriously because, well, supporters have always tried to rally other supporters and if Manchester City thinks that "Jurgen cracks, he always, anyway, remained his job to prove that he is not.

One of the most accurate Tweets of the week reflected the last ten games, recalling that City had lost 12 points and Liverpool lost just seven points. The loss allowed City to lose three teams out of the top six, while Liverpool tied for two. d & # 39; them. "Still, Liverpool is perceived as the one who bottled and breathed," was the message.

What matters most is not what happened, but what happens. Sometimes there is little point in making comparisons because the challenge becomes different and the context changes, but if there is one coherent theme to draw from the past, it is that the winners of the titles will flicker at least once, or even two times. City did not do last season but they already have this season and so, this could happen again. And that could also happen in Liverpool. There is a chance that this flicker will continue against Bournemouth.

Glory tends to ignore previous struggles and nowhere else should we remember more than in Manchester. When United ended its 26 years of waiting for a title in 1993, it did not happen until after a terrible March, when a defeat at Oldham had preceded three successive draws. City's expectation was even longer, of course, and it seemed like it would only last forty-five years without being able to beat Stoke, Sunderland and Arsenal in successive matches, the last of which took place the first week of April . For Liverpool and his supporters, it must indeed be remembered.

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