A week is a long time in football.
From Saturday to Saturday, the turnaround in our fortunes is something that in this generally gloomy season is quite remarkable. My pessimism after a draw against a very poor Aston Villa team is suddenly forgotten about and we look forward to the end of the season with a bit of style. A Wembley day cannot mask a desperately disappointing season in the league, but momentum is an important thing in football.
If the last seven days have taught us anything, it’s that the league campaign is still very important to us and that we must approach every game as if it was an important semi-final or, dare I say it, cup final.
Just look at the lift that last minute winner at Blackburn gave us.
The circumstances were extraordinary that night, I’ll grant you. Doni sent off (2012 was indeed the reason we found out about #Doni2012 but I think that’s about all you’re going to find out), two penalties against us, a squandered two goal and a last minute winner… those games don’t come around very often. Thankfully, says my heart and my effervescent blood pressure!
The Blackburn result may have seemed an eternity away at half-time on Saturday, 1-0 down to the city rivals in a make or break game. However, whilst it might seem a strange thing to say, I genuinely believe that that match would have been spoken about at half-time by Kenny. Because of the attitude, commitment, belief and general overall character the team showed in that match, I think it would have been brought up.
“Remember how you fought here with a man less.”
“Remember how you overcame all the odds.”
Obviously the two matches are a world apart but ultimately, we got the job done and have been well worth our win on both occasions. Evertonians have been quick to point the finger at their bog-eyed Messiah for his second-half tactics, and I accept that, but we were on fire after the break and I think we’d have scored without Distin’s desperate backpass. And of course, they scored from our error.
What am I getting at?
Momentum is important in football (unless you’re Everton in which case the mere sight of a red shirt makes your knees knock and you remember ‘yer ‘istoree’) and with that date to come against Chelsea, it’s important that we keep on having belief, having confidence and having character.
It would be very easy to rest a raft of players and have them ready for the final, but with five games left to play and fifteen points up for grabs, that would be a large chunk of the season written off.
We’re frankly in dire need of the points as well. With the exception of Everton, the teams above us are gone. It’s a sad fact but it’s true. Whether we finish above Everton is irrelevant to me. It would be nice obviously but there is more to life than that. I’d rather finish below them with a cup in the bag and in the final of another than above them with nothing. Which is their case should they do so.
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Below, there are a plethora of teams ready and waiting to pounce. We’re only 4 points ahead of 14th placed Stoke. We need to try and seal that 7th spot if we can and start again next season. Our end of the season fixtures could have been a lot worse and we need to enter that cup final with the wind at our backs. We owe it to ourselves to play a strong team in every game and get the best set of results we can.
We are so much better than our league form suggests but until we start picking up results, that’s going to be our tale of the tape. Suarez shouldn’t be tired; he had a long, if unjust rest, Gerrard should be relatively fresh, as should Agger and so on. We’ve played a lot of cup football but it’s not like we’ve had to balance European football in there as well, although we are next season.
No excuses now. It’s time to end the season on a positive note and show the country that Liverpool might be down at the moment, but we are definitely not out.
In the unlikely event you want to hear more from Dan, you can follow him on twitter (@TLW1Dan) and you can also catch him as a regular writer in The Liverpool Way fanzine and on TLW forums. Please be aware that any content from Dan may contain sarcasm.
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Good subject<> it’s mainly concern to the Academic school there are big differences between Borussia Dortmund v Bayern Munich momentum and that of Liverpool v Wigan or Mu v Wigan also for the remaining team they must take it in great consideration