Battle lost, but the good fight continues

IT’S the aftermath of Liverpool’s game at Etihad Stadium against Manchester City. The Reds have lost 2-1 and slipped from first to fourth.

My mood should be dark and dreary; I should be focusing on the negatives, on City’s second goal and the missed sitters from Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling. We shot ourselves in the foot and it’s all slipping away. Hello mediocrity.

Except it isn’t.

I’m surprisingly upbeat – not only about the general performance as a whole, but also the prospect of going to Stamford Bridge. When the fixture list came and I set up the points budget for the season I wrote these two games off immediately, purely based on logic and expectations. However, after seeing LFC going toe to toe with what is by far the best team in the league, anything seems possible.

The last few months we have seen Manchester City hammering everything put in front of them at the Etihad, including the top teams – the teams that before the season were mentioned as potential rivals for the league title. Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal have all been steamrolled and sent packing; Everton put up a decent fight, but didn’t have a chance in the end. A few weeks ago I would have expected Liverpool to get the same treatment.

It all changed after the game at White Hart Lane though. If we think back to the game against Hull and compare the performance level since then – both home and away – it’s like watching a totally different team. If we’re picking one game as the measure of Liverpool FC and the way the team has evolved since Brendan Rodgers got the job, then yesterday was it. Norwich, West Ham, Tottenham and Cardiff – all those games had elements that can be attributed to lack of quality from the opposition rather than the quality of Liverpool.

Not the City game though. This time there was no excuses to be made for the opposition. It was the ultimate test, and even though Liverpool ended up losing I think we can agree that they definitely passed it.

However, that doesn’t mean everything is all rosy and dandy. There still is some obvious room for improvement. Rodgers has said so himself recently: Liverpool are far from the finished article and there’s much work ahead before they can honestly claim to be on equal terms with the likes of City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal.

In terms of personnel I think there are still some upgrades to be made and some positions that need more depth. If the recent 4-3-3 formation is the template for how Rodgers wants to set up his team from now on, then I think two players are needed already in January if Liverpool want to challenge for Champions League qualification or better: another box to box midfielder who can fight it out with Jordan Henderson, Luis Alberto and Joe Allen for the two spots – and also a wide forward to give Raheem Sterling some proper competition.

Those are the two obvious ones for me. Reading between the lines you can probably guess where I see Steven Gerrard’s immediate future. I’ll give a hint by saying I don’t think Rodgers needs to look for another holding midfielder just yet.

Regarding systemic issues I think that is where the biggest reason for optimism lies. People keep talking about the individual heroics of Luis Suarez, but for me he’s just a high-end part in what looks more and more like a well-oiled machinery. Brendan Rodgers has created a platform for Suarez to shine – a template where he is allowed to be the best possible version of himself, as cheesy as it may sound.

My point is that this team isn’t about individuals anymore. It’s starting to shape up like we hoped it would look when Rodgers got the job: like a team that is about something more than the sum of its parts. That’s what I will remember 2013 for when I look back.