No One Thinks We’ve Won The Title, But If You’re Not Enjoying This Then Football’s Not For You

As weekends go, that one wasn’t too bad, was it? The only thing I was interested in was Liverpool getting three points and the Reds didn’t disappoint on that front. But there can always be icing on top of a cake and we got a bucketful of that. We head into a tedious international break eight points clear at the top of the Premier League, with Manchester United in disarray and Everton in the relegation zone. Those two things might have been at least reasonably predictable before the weekend got underway, but I don’t think anyone sensible fancied Wolves to get anything out of their game at the Etihad. Even when Nuno Espirito Santo’s side went 1-0 up and five minutes added time was shown, I still thought the Cityzens would win. That’s a sign of how dominant Pep Guardiola’s team has been over the last couple of years, as is the fact that even an eight point lead is quietly irrelevant considering their ability.

I’ve lots of people issuing notes of caution since the weekend’s matches came to an end and there’s an extent to which I can understand why. If any side in the history of the competition has the ability to win all thirty of their remaining games then it’s this Manchester City team. That also completely ignores the millions of pounds that Guardiola will be primed to spend when January rolls around. They’re a phenomenal football team and two wins against us will cut our lead down to two points, throwing the cat amongst the pigeons. Yet I also can’t help but think that if you’re spending your time talking about why we shouldn’t be getting carried away then you’re doing football all wrong. The end result matters, of course it does. But the journey matters more. If that wasn’t the case then why celebrate a goal during a match? Surely you should wait and see whether it influences the result? Let’s enjoy every moment of this amazing team.

Only Rival Fans Are Saying We’ve Won The Title

Literally the only people I’ve seen anything from suggesting that the title is in the bag for Liverpool are fans of rival teams. I don’t blame them, mind. If the shoe was on the other foot then I’d definitely be trying to jinx one of our rivals by saying it was done and dusted. With thirty league games and ninety points left to play for, only an idiot would think that the Reds already have one hand on the Premier League trophy. What that doesn’t mean, however, is that we shouldn’t be enjoying every second of what’s happening right now. I genuinely seem to think there are some Liverpool supporters that would prefer us to be eight points behind Manchester City rather than that number ahead of them. We’re watching probably the best side that the club has ever produced, dealing with all-comers and offering us the best to start to the season that we’ve managed in the modern era.

That we aren’t playing the most scintillating football that we’ve managed under Jürgen Klopp just at the moment couldn’t matter less. The only thing that this Liverpool team needs to do is just keep winning and they’re finding ways to do just that. In seasons gone by we’ve complained that Manchester City have had such an unassailable lead in the opening stages of the season that other teams have given up by Christmas. That appears to be what Klopp’s side are trying to do, so why on earth wouldn’t we all get behind that as an idea? The title isn’t even close to having been won, but we’ve had a tougher set of fixtures than Guardiola’s team so far and have won eight from eight. If you don’t think that football supporters should be shouting about their team achieving such a feat then I’m not entirely sure that this is the sport for you, to be honest.

The Anfield Crowd Needs To Relax

The cautionary note that I want to sound at this point is nothing to do with tempering people’s enjoyment and everything to do with urging people to relax. Sections of the Anfield crowd was, to be honest, fairly disgraceful at the weekend. By pretty much any measure about from actual goals actually scored we battered Leicester City on Saturday. If you don’t believe me then make sure that you have a read of Andrew Beasley’s recent column for the Liverpool Echo, in which he outlines exactly how dominant we were. Listen to the folks in the Main Stand, however, and you’d think we’d lost by three. I was delighted to see Jürgen Klopp turn round to them and cup his ears as if to say ‘do you think I can’t hear your moaning?’ I totally get that everyone is on edge and wants this league title more than anything, but complaining about misplaced passes or missed shots doesn’t help at all.

Have people really not learnt to have faith in this team yet? Do supporters who are watching us week-in, week-out really not think that we’ve got the ability to win the game at any moment? We will drop points at some point this season. It would be absolutely lunacy to assume otherwise. It doesn’t mean that we’re anything other than a genuinely phenomenal team. We’re all desperate for Liverpool to win the Premier League, but expressing that desperation as frustration and anger at misplaced passes or poorly finished chances is only more likely to mean that we don’t end up winning the ultimate prize in English football. This Liverpool team and the manager deserves nothing but praise from all of us. They’re European champions. They’re eight points clear of a Manchester City side that got one hundred and ninety-eight points across two seasons. Let’s enjoy it whilst we can.

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