Are Liverpool 10 games from greatness? Hopefully we are 10 games from greatness, Gerard Houllier infamously said back in April 2002. Were still in contention to win the title and the Champions League. The vision is to win both, the Frenchman added, not unreasonably at the time it must be said. The vision sounded great, but unfortunately it never came to fruition and Houllier ended up with egg on his face that hes still wiping off now all these years later. As recently as two weeks ago he was having to explain that quote again; its something that will probably never leave him. The Reds had gone 13 games undefeated prior to Houlliers battle cry and responded by beating Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 at Anfield in the Champions League quarterfinals only to then be eliminated from the competition a week later after losing the away leg 4-2. They then won four of the five remaining league games, but it wasnt enough to prevent Arsenal claiming the title by seven points. It was an incredible effort from the Reds, but the damage had been done earlier in the season and try as they might, they just couldnt close the gap on the Gunners. I cant help but sympathise a little with Houllier over the 10 games quote though; he was simply trying to inspire his men, and while it looks a bit daft now, it wasnt as though Liverpool completely imploded after his proclamation. Far from it, in fact. Yet the comment has now gone down in Anfield folklore as one of those embarrassing foot in mouth moments that are given far more relevance than they probably should. Football fans are notoriously superstitious by nature and declarations such as Houlliers are seen as needlessly tempting fate. Of course Houlliers words had absolutely no bearing on Liverpool losing in Leverkusen or not winning the title, but in saying what he did he set himself up for a fall and hell never be allowed to forget it, not least because people like me keep bringing it up (see also Rafas rant, which was actually nothing of the sort and had no bearing whatsoever on the title race). Fast forward 12 years and Liverpool are once again in a title race and are potentially 10 games from greatness, although youll not hear Brendan Rodgers making any such declarations, at least I hope not. Much like Houllier, Brendan loves a sound bite and hell talk all day if you let him, but so far hes handled this title challenge and all that comes with it in an exemplary manner, refusing to make any bold claims or grand statements of intent. Its all about the next game, dont you know? It remains to be seen if hell continue to be so calm and unflustered if Liverpool are still in title contention deep into April -- especially if his mentor at Chelsea starts with his tedious mind games -- but to this point its definitely a case of so far so good as far as Rodgers is concerned. He can do little wrong at present. Take the Southampton game last weekend for example: The Northern Irishman sprung a surprise by going with a system Liverpool had not used all season in order to combat the unique problems the Saints pose with their up-tempo pressing game. Steven Gerrard was glowing in his praise afterward, and rightly so. The credit has to go to the manager. He keeps giving us the credit but he got his tactics spot on, said the captain. Rodgers did indeed, and he also made a substitution that paid immediate dividends when Raheem Sterling replaced the ineffective Philippe Coutinho and scored within seconds. It certainly seems Rodgers has the Midas touch at the moment. Liverpool are the Premier Leagues form team and theyre hot on the heels of leaders Chelsea. Arsenal are now in Liverpools rearview mirror after the Gunners lost at the Britannia, while Manchester City also trail the Reds now, largely due to having played two fewer games, it should be said. Assuming Manuel Pellegrinis side win both of those games in hand (and given the unpredictability of this season, thats far from being a safe assumption) then Liverpool will need to make up four points on both Chelsea and City, which is far from impossible, but still something of a tall order. Manager Brendan Rodgers has been hesitant to talk about Liverpools title hopes. Ten fixtures stand between the Reds and a first league title since 1990, but even if all 10 of those games were won its still possible that it would not be enough. Liverpools fate is not quite in their own hands at this moment in time as both Chelsea and City would have to drop points somewhere along the way to let the Merseysiders in. Its not a new situation for Kopites, as both Houllier and his successor Rafa Benitez found themselves in similar positions and both came up short despite ending the season in blistering form. Houlliers side took 27 points from the final 10 league games in that 2001-02 season (not to mention a hugely impressive 40 points from the last available 45). It was a fantastic effort but they still couldnt get near Arsenal, who kept churning out wins themselves. Benitez did even better in 2008-09, picking up 28 points from the final 10 fixtures, yet still finished four points behind Manchester United, who matched the Reds result for result and didnt buckle under the pressure. If Rodgers were able to equal the points haul of either Houllier or Benitez over these final 10 fixtures, he could consider himself incredibly unlucky if lightning were to strike a third time and the Anfield club came up short once more due to an unrelenting rival. Liverpool obviously cannot control what happens in games in which they are not involved; they can only take care of their own business and hope that Chelsea and Manchester City slip up somewhere along the way to let them in. For the Reds to have any chance of an unlikely title win, they need to beat both of those sides at Anfield and hope that somebody else can also take points off them, but a look at Chelseas remaining fixtures does not exactly inspire much hope of that happening. If neither Tottenham nor Arsenal can take something from them this month, then Mourinhos little horse looks like it will have a relatively easy canter to the finish line and the Anfield fixture on April 27 may even be a dead rubber, which would be a real shame. If the title is still in the balance, that could be one of the most monumental fixtures Anfield has seen and may even match the red-hot atmosphere of the 2005 Champions League semifinal, which was unlike anything Ive ever experienced (Ive witnessed some great Anfield nights, but nothing like that one. Ive got chills even now just thinking about it). As for City, they have to negotiate difficult away fixtures at Old Trafford, the Emirates and Goodison Park (although Im not sure how difficult Everton will make it if Liverpool are still battling it out with City at that stage!) so there is a little bit more hope there perhaps. What seems pretty clear is that based on the respective fixture lists, Liverpool are still rank outsiders and will probably need to win at least nine of their remaining 10 fixtures, including both of those Anfield clashes against City and Chelsea. Thats the bad news. The good news is that both Houllier and Benitez managed that and while it will certainly not be easy, the players are full of confidence, the team is scoring goals for fun and Rodgers seems to be doing a great job of having the side look only to the next fixture and not get too far ahead of themselves. To conclude, Liverpool once again stand 10 games from greatness, but for goodness sake dont quote me on that! espnusher
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 19:00:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015