15. This team’s made of a Champion’s mentality that’s been forged by Klopp this last few years. A compounding of League Cup, Europa League and one of the very, very big ones, in Kiev. The last one was key, as it was a game the world went into giving Liverpool a big chance on the big stage. That hadn’t happened since 2007 back in Athens. We lost, but they got that Champion’s mentality from it.
To succeed big, you actually have to fail and lose along the way. The taste it gives you of the big time, but not the bite. It literally teases the winner out.
This season we started with a purpose of winning. The team was bolstered, starting from the day after the CL final itself (if you remember when Fabinho was announced). That was a statement of backing the manager, and from then on into pre season, we went through the motions of a proper tilt at the big time. Shaqiri even scored an overhead kick against Man Utd during it! The season starts, and we’re grinding out the wins. Even in one of the toughest month’s of football I’ve ever seen - Spurs away, PSG, Chelsea away, Man City. Literally 4 of the top 10 sides in Europe in a month. And we came out on top. A few flutters in the CL, but it set us up for one of the toughest months in world football. December in the English Premier League.
And that was blockbuster - the first real stamp of authority in the top league in Europe and the Premier League itself. Win after win, after win - 8/8. Which had never happened before. A proper Champions stamp on the League title after progressing to the next round of the CL, the competition we still have unfinished business with after last season.
Now, we’re at a point where we lost our first game in the League, a gruelling tactical and technical game of cat and mouse (and one of the best tactical battles I’ve ever seen - in fact, the City game at Anfield and Chelsea are also up there) we lost points by literal millimetres (did Hawkeye say it was 12.5mm?)
But the questions are being asked, especially after the game last night, which not only did not feature any of our absolute *core* players, they didn’t actually feature many first teamers at all. The thing with this team, and Champions, is when questions have been asked, they have to answer them in the proactive and the positive - to go out and win the next step of the process, then the next one, then the next. And they’ve done it this season (see above!) So, I don’t see any reason why we can’t do it. 15.