Must win. Endless and forever must win. It feels like every game has been must win for an eternity. When the pressure grows that’s always the case. It’s something, as a club and a fanbase, we need to get our heads around. Successful seasons involve a run-in. Run-in’s involve pressure. Pressure is good, despite the arse falling out of the bulk of our fanbase. Thankfully the high-vis Reds are onboard with a run-in. With must win. After dispatching a depleted but potentially problematic West Ham United in their dreadful new stadium, that’s now four straight away wins for Klopp’s men, and each of them against exactly the kind of direct, physical proposition that history suggested would cause problems. Not only that, but it’s also four clean sheets from five. The imperfect Reds have stood up when it mattered, and that shouldn’t be overlooked when the time comes to assess the futures of these players.
Many of the questions being raised ahead of the visit to ‘The London Stadium’, or whatever it’s called now, were around Liverpool falling short in decisive moments. Or Klopp losing sight of his own ideals. Arses falling out all around us. Mine included. Well, on Sunday, after an opening ten where systems needed figuring out, both questions were answered emphatically. Coutinho in a role we’ve barely seen him since our last real run-in, in 13/14, and offering the kind of vision, purpose and ambition that we’ve sorely lacked in our midfield in recent weeks (Klopp’s comments on his plans for Coutinho moving forward should excite us all, and hopefully, provided the right additions are made in the front line, go some way to solving the recurring problem in breaking down low block teams at Anfield). Sturridge showing exactly what Origi has been lacking, with a display of intelligence and instinct that just can’t be taught. He’s such a clever footballer, Sturridge. Not the footballer that we signed in January 2013, but one that has proven that he can adapt whilst retaining that rare ability to impose himself on a game and change it in an instant. The kind of adaptation that has eluded some very, very good footballers down the years. If there’s any way to be found to keep him at the club for next season, we should do it. Replacing even this version of Sturridge will be easier said than done. The intensity and adventure on display against West Ham was a vast improvement on recent showings and in no small part the result of the aforementioned duo and their respective impacts. Retaining both, and ideally the shape as well, for the visit of Middlesbrough is surely a must.
And so, we come to the final game of an often puzzlingly ironic, contradictory season. The curtain coming down on a season that, irrespective of the result at Anfield on Sunday, will represent tangible progress. 13-16 points and 3-5 league places worth of progress, to be (at least vaguely) exact. Of course, it has been interspersed with a sense of frustration over the inability to build on the excellent first half of the campaign, the end of which arguably came with the reverse fixture in the North East in mid-December, and the reasons for that will need to be critically reviewed by those within the club come the summer. Lack of depth to the squad was certainly a key factor and that needs to be improved with a European campaign on the horizon, and yet improving the squad should not be the aim in itself. All eyes should be on the first eleven. Target the kind of quality that come in and improve the team whilst simultaneously retaining the base we have, and the squad takes care of itself. That needs to happen as we enter a pivotal summer for the manager, the ownership and the club in general. One that will go some way to determining it’s short and medium-term ambitions. Ambition, being the operative word. It’s time for Liverpool Football Club to really show some. The mistakes of the summer of 2014 cannot be repeated.
Before that another must win. A must win to make the ambitions realistic. To make the kind of lads we need to sign put pen to paper. “Come and play for Klopp’s Liverpool”, perhaps not quite enough. “Come and play for Klopp’s Liverpool in the Champions League”, far more likely. Must win to give Klopp a chance. Must win to stride from the shadows and into Europe with a Scouse swagger that’s been missing at the top level for far too long. In the way, the league's lowest scoring team. An already relegated Middlesbrough with a caretaker manager. A Middlesbrough team who have amassed just ten points away from The Riverside all season, and with just a solitary win on the road, all the way back in August. A Middlesbrough team who have left the field defeated in nine of the last eleven away trips and each of the last three, conceding eleven in the latest trio alone. The kind of opposition that should represent as close to a guarantee as you’re likely to get at this level. Exactly the kind of opposition that cause the palms of Reds the World over to sweat, and finger nails to retreat in fear. It's not difficult to see why. This league campaign Anfield has witnessed draws against West Ham, Bournemouth and Southampton, as well as defeats to Swansea and Crystal Palace. Four of those five since January. Three of those four in the last six weeks. The average position of those sides right now is 12th. The average position of the six sides The Reds have lost to this season is 14th. The Reds; Unbeaten against the best and gift-bearers to some of the worst.
And yet. And yet. After each stumble these Reds have gathered themselves and cleared their heads. Not perfect. Far from perfect. But they’ve showed themselves when it mattered. The collective energy and aggression displayed in East London needs to be replicated, and that extends to the crowd. Let’s do our part and give the players the best possible environment to do theirs. Let's give these Reds the send off that they deserve for some scintillating displays and a campaign that overall should engender further belief. We should have too much for Middlesbrough. With Sturridge and Coutinho in this form and the reigns seemingly loosened we do have too much. Believe it. Really believe it. For the full ninety, believe it. Go into the ground knowing it and leave both sets of lads in no doubt about what it is that we know; This Liverpool team is going places, and this game will go some way to determining the length of the journey.
Must win. It's good. It's a signpost to success. Get used to it, Reds. One more to go.
