Liverpool were back to winning ways after comfortably edging past Tottenham Hotspur by two goals to nil at Anfield on Saturday. Prior to that victory, the Merseyside club failed to snatch three points since the start of the year.
Jurgen Klopp’s men were temporarily sitting on the 4th and final Champions League spot but with Manchester City picking up a similar scoreline victory over Bournemouth two days later, they now drop a position lower. Despite the positive result against Spurs, the Merseyside club are still a daunting 11 points adrift of table-toppers Chelsea.
Liverpool have made an impressive grade against the top-six sides this season but spirit-sapping defeats to the likes of Hull City, Sunderland and Swansea City have derailed their chances to secure the Premier League crown.
Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer says that they need to follow the footsteps set by former Manchester United boss by Sir Alex Ferguson, who is known to treat every match with equal respect.
“Their league campaign has faltered because they have not always taken the opposition seriously enough,” the 46-year-old told The Sun.
“They can get up for the big games but Saturday was their first win in six in the league.“Second-placed Spurs were seemingly no problem.
“They also drew with table-toppers Chelsea.
“But Hull, Sunderland and Swansea in that recent run were another matter.
“Here lies the problem with too many teams who seem to have the talent to have a tilt at the title but not the right mentality.
“One of the main reasons Manchester United won so many Premier League crowns under Sir Alex Ferguson was that every opponent was taken seriously.
“They would not always win the big games against those around them at the top or in derbies against Liverpool or Manchester City.
“But you would be sure the following week they would go to places lower down the leagues in less high-profile clashes and win them.”
The Reds commonly benefit when games become more stretched, as their attacking unit strike fears into defences with their quick passage of play and finishing prowess. But it’s a whole different story when teams prefer to play with their backs to the wall. Klopp’s men do have the graft to take control of the match but look short of guile to create havoc in opponent’s backline. The aftermath creates frustration and a lack of care in defence have cost them a number of defeats. In fact, an alarming concern was when the former Borussia Dortmund boss claimed that he doesn’t have a plan B.
With Shearer adding that the players lack the right mentality, it’s somewhat a point to think of. Despite being spurred on by the home crowd against Swansea, Southampton and Hull City, the team looked short of confidence on the pitch and nowhere near the encouraging soundbites before the match. They immediately lose their momentum looking at teams who stick to the park-the-bus blueprint. And the fans, who are noticeably jittery until the final minute, remain silent as there are nothing to shout about.
On the other hand, when Mauricio Pochettino’s team visited Anfield last weekend, Liverpool were on the front foot, winning all 50/50 balls and allowing no room for Spurs to up their tempo. If such performances were delivered week in week out, they could have been right on the shoulders of Chelsea.
With ample of time remaining to prepare for their next league encounter against Leicester City at King Power Stadium, Klopp will make sure his side hit the ground running continually until the end of the campaign.
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