While the manner in which Liverpool dropped two points at home on Sunday was heartbreaking to say the least, I think there are few Liverpool supporters that would not have gladly accepted a draw before kick off. Roy Hodgson’s Premier League campaign could have started with a bold statement of intent; however the harsh dismissal of Joe Cole meant that even after the ever-improving David Ngog’s goal it was still likely that Liverpool could succumb to an equaliser, even if the manner of the leveller means that it will feature on blooper DVD’s for some time to come.
In recent seasons a home game against Arsenal would have had the Anfield faithful demanding a win; after all, up until the aberration that was last season, Liverpool were getting used to finishing ahead of Arsenal in the league. But with the never ending turmoil that engulfed Anfield since the end of last season, culminating in the departure of Rafael Benitez, and talk of Javier Mascherano, Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard moving on, expectation levels during the summer were undoubtedly at their lowest since Gerard Houllier’s team of Diouf and Cheyrou limped over the line a whopping 30 points behind League Champions Arsenal in 2004.
Therefore, one draw against Arsenal who were missing their best player in Cesc Fabregas, and Arsene Wenger’s post-match interview in which he stated that Liverpool will be a contender for the top places, should not have supporters dancing for joy just yet.
Even though Liverpool fans enjoyed an auspicious week in July, with the news of Gerrard and then Torres pledging their futures to Liverpool, interspersed by the marquee signing of Joe Cole, the ever-present stark realities led to few supporters seriously expecting Liverpool to be challenging for the title this season.
It can be argued that the reduced expectation levels this season could be a blessing in disguise for Liverpool FC. It must be recognised that the weight of expectation can be crippling; following on from the 86 points tally of 2008/2009 was always going to be a mammoth task, and when Liverpool started poorly in pre-season last year, followed by defeats to Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur early on, you always felt that the squad were burdened by the demands to improve upon their best ever Premier League season, and that confidence suffered immensely when it became evident early on that this would not come to fruition.
Even still though the optimists can be heard; the assertion that Liverpool “are only short two or three players” is oft-repeated. However this is more or less the same squad that meekly finished 7th last season, and while Joe Cole (if fit) should represent an improvement on the outgoing Yossi Benayoun, all other signings with the exception of Milan Jovanovic are hardly players that would be expected to make a massive impact on the first team this season. I’ve argued in a previous article that Liverpool’s first XI can beat anyone on their day; as it looks unlikely that Roy Hodgson will be given funds for these extra two or three players, keeping the first XI fit will be crucial to the campaign ahead.
Roy has started well, and seeing a revitalised Gerrard along with Torres coming back early certainly fills me with optimism, however, even if Arsene Wenger thinks Liverpool will challenge, I suspect that most Liverpool supporters have approached this season with a mixture of caution and realism; at the least, we have been thankfully spared the usual August declarations of “this is our year”.
Follow us on twitter @live4Liverpool
Live4Liverpool is recruiting columnists. For further info contact the site editor at editor@live4liverpool.com
We are Liverpool Football club, we never disregard talk of Challenging – it’s who we are and what we do.
Until the yanks are gone we only do ourselves harm by talking of challenging.
“Getting used to finishing above Arsenal in the league”
……?
Errr. Not so much.
We could finish above Arsenal because we are a better team. Arsenal are, as shown often enough by Chelsea, Man Utd and Barcelona, a powder puff team. Nice on the eye but mentally and tactically they are not a top class side. I could see them coming 5th unless they get Given off Man City.
Liverpool are unlikely to have the firepower to win the title. We need more firepower to win games we don’t play great in. Ngog got a great goal but is a long way from being the type of back up striker needed to win a title.
We also need a better wingers than Jovanovich and Kuyt if we want the title. Although those two would be good squad players.
re: PeterJ – This is precisely the problem, we are no longer that team but simply another good team in a bunch of similar (&better equipped financially) teams. We need to lose this old hat rubbish and start making history again – in England that is (Rafa made us HUGE again in Europe).
Roy’s task is to get the best out of what we have now & forget about any deep pockets a new owner may bring – until it actually happens.
Gerard, Torres, Cole, Carra & Agger need to remain fit and playing well for us to get into the top 4 again let alone the top of the league….
i’m afraid the dreaded declaration of “this will be our year” has come today from martin skyrtl! thankfully nobody listens to anything big mart has to say!
i do however believe we will challenge for the CL spots and if successful and with new owners we will attract some real quality players to mount a title challenge next season
Steve, you are making good sense. Hear Hear!
Re: AJH – in 2005/2006 Liverpool finished 15 points ahead of Arsenal, in 2006/2007 we finished higher by way of Goal Difference, while in 07/08 Arsenal finished higher, in 08/09 Liverpool finished 14 points ahead of Arsenal. Hence my comment that putting 09/10 aside, Liverpool were becoming used to finishing above Arsenal 🙂
Re: Steve, I agree completely. Am thinking that Spurs could suffer a European hangover, (after that early scare tonight they should still qualify for the group stages) and even though it’s too early to dismiss Man City after one performance, but they looked like a team needing time to gel all over again, and in getting rid of Bellamy, one of their better players last season, they’ve made a massive mistake IMO.
Lastly re: Peter Jenkins, there’s an excellent book called “Soccernomics” by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski that I would recommend reading, after that I am not so sure you would think that Liverpool have a divine right to win the Premier League.
Very good article Rob but stop plugging yourself on the forum
re: ScarPimp, glad you liked the article – make sure to keep dropping by, there are lots of great articles here from a number of columnists 🙂
I know, this is all visible on NewsNow