Are people still expecting the pressure of a title race to ‘get’ to this team? I try not to listen to the media too much so I honestly don’t know, but they’re likely to be bitterly disappointed if they are. The truth is that this Liverpool team has yet to show any sign of buckling under the strain of a title challenge or, for that matter, 24 years of history. If performances have been some way short of optimum at times over the past few weeks and months, if goals were occasionally leaked (to Swansea, to Cardiff), if points were dropped in certain games (to Villa, to West Brom) and late comebacks required (against Fulham), it was less about pressure than it was the manifestation of a group of players working out the kinks and growing together as both individuals and as a collective, the reflection of a team moving so rapidly through its evolution that, at times, it’s been sprinting just to catch up on itself. But pressure? No. Not once has ‘pressure’ looked to have been an issue. Well, ok, maybe leaving aside the final 20 minutes against Sunderland as the players on the pitch and the supporters in the stands briefly joined together in a kind of terrified, emasculating psychosis which allowed a team hurtling towards the Championship to look decent. Aside from that, though, it hasn’t been an issue and that's a credit to all involved, to the manager and the backroom staff, to Steve Peters and to the players themselves. And so it proved again yesterday as an obstinate, physical, immovable object of a team on home turf tested Liverpool’s mental and physical resolve and came up short, not because of a contentious penalty decision but because they simply weren’t good enough or big enough to stop us. Nothing stops this train and if anything was going to derail it, it was never going to be pressure, it was going to be simple mathematics measurable in pounds and pence.
On Saturday, Alvaro Negredo (you know, the fella many mistook for one half of the Premier League’s best strikeforce before Christmas) got 25 minutes against Southampton. 25 minutes was all he was afforded. What a nice situation for his manager to have. When Brendan Rodgers looks to his bench for some attacking options, he sees Victor Moses and Iago Aspas (in truth, he probably doesn’t even bother looking to his bench for attacking options anymore unless Joe Allen happens to be deputising for Phil Coutinho or Raheem Sterling). True, it was Rodgers’ decision to sign Aspas for £7m and loan out £10.5m Fabio Borini, yet it would be similarly accurate to state that outlays of £22m (Jovetic), £16m (Negredo) and £27m (Dzeko) are far more likely to guarantee you readymade game-changers from the bench than the comparatively modest sums spent by Rodgers on the promise offered by a relatively inexperienced youngster (Borini) and a player who had spent much of his career in the lower divisions of Spanish football (Aspas). Chelsea’s squad, meanwhile, is apparently so steeped in talent and ability that they were able to allow one of the Premier League’s most creative players, Juan Mata, to leave for Manchester United and Romelu Lukaku go out on loan to Everton (well, either that or the manager at Stamford Bridge has fucked up royally). They also nipped in front of us to sign two of their key players, Willian and Salah. Liverpool have one player who cost over £20m whereas each of their main title rivals have several. And yet having said all that, suddenly Rodgers’ squad, previously the one glaring Achilles heel of Liverpool’s title challenge, is starting to look pretty decent too.
Whereas once not so long ago Kolo Touré, the villain against West Brom and very nearly against Fulham, would have deputised for the injured Daniel Agger, yesterday Liverpool were able to call on £17m worth of French international in Mamadou Sakho, who didn’t disappoint. West Ham, particularly in the first half where they perhaps had more possession than many of us expected, predictably bombarded the penalty area with high balls for Andy Carroll and yet very few of them caused a real problem (aside from when he isolated Glen Johnson at the back post in the second half and hit the crossbar with a superb header). That’s credit to both Sakho and Martin Skrtel, who was outstanding once again. Diamé was also getting a good bit of joy down Flanagan’s flank early on, but both centre-backs covered well. One interception by Skrtel, on the only occasion that a flick-on by Carroll got a teammate (Nolan) in on goal, was especially impressive. In addition, Sakho’s distribution was, typically for him, both aggressive and accurate. What a player to be able to call on when a first-choice centre-back gets injured. There was more too. Brendan Rodgers apparently said before the game that Joe Allen would have started had he not picked up a knock. Presumably that meant a start for Coutinho or Sterling in his place, fantastic options to have. And come the second-half when he knew he had to change it, he was able to call on Lucas Leiva. Many still seem to view Lucas solely as a defensive player, a destroyer, but he’s so much more than that and his introduction brought a level of calm and control to the game that culminated in the glorious, lock-picking pass that sent Flanagan away for the penalty.
On a day when Suárez (despite two glorious attempts which hit the crossbar and the trickery which led to the first penalty), Sturridge and the substituted Coutinho played below their considerable bests, others stepped up. Lucas (second half) and Sakho (from the start) came off the bench to play massive roles in a key game, Flanagan grew into it after a shaky start, Skrtel was magnificent, Gerrard superb. Next week, it may well be Suárez or Sturridge who make the difference, or Coutinho, or Johnson. At the time when we need it to the most, this squad is coming together nicely and that’s maybe the biggest plus to come out of yesterday’s game besides the three points and lack of a yellow card for the captain. Pressure? How’s this for pressure – for much of the second half, West Ham barely saw the ball. Liverpool chased the winning goal patiently without a hint of panic and, once it came, they closed the game out like champions. They were so controlled that had the penalty incident not happened, I felt certain that a second goal would have eventually arrived at some point anyway. And while some chose to see the penalty as a means for the referee to atone for his appalling error at the end of the first half (which, to be honest, is kind of like comparing a kick in the balls to a slap on the wrist), it was nothing of the sort – Flanagan had effectively taken the ball past the ‘keeper and had his ankles tapped in the process. To suggest, as Allardyce did afterwards, that Flanagan dived deserves nothing but scorn, especially given his own downplaying of Carroll slapping Mignolet in the face and arm at the end of the first half. But hey, that's Sam.
These weeks between games now seem to be growing longer and longer, and the wait for City on Sunday is likely to be interminable. I’m already nervous as hell about it because it could potentially spell the end of this wonderful dream, and yet the manager’s statement after the game that ‘the mentality is to be fearless’ means that I’m looking forward to it with a fair degree of confidence too. I believe that, on Sunday, fearlessness above all else will be the key to victory. They’ve got world class talents, so do we; they’ve got an excellent manager, so do we; a poor decision from a linesman cost us a deserved point (at least) in their place at the end of 2013 and they, likewise, have the ability to come to Anfield and be the better team. This game is a toss-up and I believe that attitude and hunger will tell in the end. If they do, we can't lose. City’s win on Saturday means that they’ll be arriving next Sunday 4 points ahead of Chelsea, meaning that a draw is sufficient for them to stay ahead of both title rivals (assuming they win their games in hand, which they will). They’ll also know that, of the two Merseyside grounds, they have a better chance of winning at Goodison in a few weeks than at Anfield. That has to play into Pellegrini’s mind at some point. It did at the Emirates just over a week ago where his team began by overwhelming an Arsenal side that’s been reeling in recent weeks, then allowed the result to slip away to such an extent that Javi Garcia was brought on to safeguard the point late-on rather than trying to take all three (by way of comparison, Swansea were still attacking right to the very end of their 2-2 draw in north London). Pellegrini claimed afterwards to be happy with a haul of 4 points from 6 against the Gunners and Manchester United, but that was nonetheless the result which put this title in Liverpool’s hands, and don’t be surprised if Pellegrini makes the same mistake at some point on Sunday in the knowledge that a point is better for them than for us.
‘The mentality is to be fearless’. It has to be. It will be. And if City elect not to fight fire with fire, they’ll get burned.
