Topic: Chasing the Title

[FlashingBlade]

The narrative is already written. Sky gobshites last night referred to "Manchester City's relentless pursuit." A relentless pursuit that has seen them gain a point over us

Yeah and every Liverpool fan going ape shit about and quoting  it just 'fuels' the narrative.  If you don't like it turn the fucker off!

[slaphead]

Personally I'm feeling quite positive today. Maybe the last 2 performances are what we needed to shake us up, refocus a wee bit.
The management and players will have been focused, but sometimes you need just a wee bit of anger/frustration to get you going and put the fire back in performances when they have dropped off. You look for positives at times like this, negativity will derail you.
After the way Leicester and West Ham played against us, teams will do that, and why wouldn't they. If you could pick any fixture in the league to play next it has to be Bournemouth at home. They're a decent side, but they cant sit behind the ball, they'll play.

[iamnant]

The cynic in me saw these past two games coming, as those games we were winning 1-0 whilst not looking convincing can only go on so long.

But the positive in me sees that we had to have a blip at some point - lets hope that losing to City and Wolves, and our last two draws were it. We have Bournemouth at home next, which is a decent chance to get back on the winning horse.

Still mad that we're 3 points AHEAD of Man City, when you think that before Christmas we were just hoping to be within 3 or 4 points of them at this stage of the season.

As I said earlier in this thread, they have as much of a chance of dropping further points as we have.

[Barneylfc∗]

No. Its to do with everyone. Media, pundits, our own fans, rival fans... everyone. Suppose it is to do with the bookies in that sense. So yeah, it is. We didnt handle the favourite/leaders tag well. We are better off being the under dogs.

That's the thing, we were never going to go the rest of the season winning every game. A period of dodgy results is inevitable. We've had 2 wins and a draw in the last 6. If we can get maximum points (big ask I know) in the next 3, we'll be still ahead of City with the same games played, and crucially most players back from injury.

[Jm55]

Firstly, I really wish people would cut out this paranoid bullshit that the world wants us to lose the title. Most neutrals I know (and by neutrals I’m discounting United and Everton fans) want us to win the league. The media will be delighted if we win the league as it’s a huge story. Yes the punditry on sky sports is reactionary, but honestly what do you expect? If it bothers you that much what Carragher and Neville think then don’t watch it. Simple.

In regards to recent results, prior to the Leicester game I would have taken a win against Leicester and a draw at West Ham. We simply cannot win every match and West Ham is a potentially tricky away, they’ve beaten Chelsea and Arsenal there this season. There’s simply no excuse for not winning your home games against the likes of Leicester, yes I know they’re a decent team and it’s not the end of the world by any stretch, but that was the disappointing result for me, last night I can take (although it becomes more annoying in light of the Leicester game.)

Performance wise, in truth we haven’t been at it since the City game, we didn’t play badly there but I think it was overstated how well we played to be honest. We equalised and City has their lead back within 10 minutes, off the post or not. That said, if, and it’s a big if at this stage, we can get a result against Bournemouth on Saturday then we’ve come out of a 6 week period where we’ve not been brilliant with 11 points from 6 games, one of which was City away, and we’ll be 3 points clear at the top of the league (or level with a game in hand if city beat Chelsea and everton.) That is far from disaster. Obviously the fact that our game in hand is at Old Trafford is a concern, but there’s absolutely no reason we can’t win there, even a draw keeps us clear at the top of the league.

The key, as ever with blips?, isn’t avoiding them entirely but reacting to them we’ll do that and we’ll be fine, don’t and we won’t, but then, if we don’t perform for over a third of the season then we can have no complaints if we don’t end up on top of the pile. My feeling is we’ll be absolutely fine.

[deano2727]

That's the thing, we were never going to go the rest of the season winning every game. A period of dodgy results is inevitable. We've had 2 wins and a draw in the last 6. If we can get maximum points (big ask I know) in the next 3, we'll be still ahead of City with the same games played, and crucially most players back from injury.

True, but we have to be taking chances like we had against Leicester. It would have gave ourselves a cushion for when these events do happen. I'd bet we won't get the chance to go 7 points clear again this season, or at least its highly unlikely. That is the reality of title pushes. These opportunities don't come around often and you have to take them when they do.

We could really, really, really do with Chelsea taking points of City at the weekend and for us to do the business and smash Bournemouth.
Must say, unless we improve, I'm not looking forward to going to Old Trafford in a few weeks. They are in their best form in years and will want to do whatever it takes to derail our title challenge. We could really do with smashing a few teams between now and then, starting on Saturday.

[Stockholm]

I feel like now we tried this being nervous thing. Just fuck it, go full throttle in the next games to come. Bring back gegenpressen and heart attacks and try to outscore teams.

[welshred1976]

We have done brilliant so far to just lose one game and draw just a few. Problem is City have a much stronger squad even though they are still in 4 competitions they may still cope with that.
Their midfield is so much better than ours, we have been reliant on our forwards and our much improved defence.
Now we have injuries that is being tested and we don't have the same level of creativity they have.

Chances are City go top tomorrow and Bournemouth really is a must win now, United away next will be very difficult also.

We have still done incredibly well, but the standard to win the league or even just get in front of City is so high, and difficult to maintain over the season.

Since we lost to City and Wolves we haven't really performed to the same level, need to get ourselves back on track at the weekend and start to build some of that confidence again, hopefully we may
have a few players back.

Exactly how I see it. The comparison of squads is laughable, our back ups to get goals are Studge and Origi. Hopeful next season these spots can be filled with energetic youth and one top signing.

[Dave D]

How many times have man city have been awarded the league by the media already this season? It's happened back in September/October, it happened again last night.

Some fans need to listen to ex-Liverpool players that have been through it before, that have won the league. They'll tell you the same thing time and time again. Wherever you are in February, it means fuck all. As long as you're around the top of the table with around 8 games to go, that's the important thing.
When players that have been through it say 'the league doesn't really start until April', they know what they're talking about, listen to them.

Now, getting back to Wednesday's game everton v man city. Memories of the 13/14 season come flooding back. A silent Goodison (I know), Oasis getting blared out of the speakers at half-time. Everton fans joining with their manc brothers towards the end of the game, forgetting where they're from, signing songs about Liverpool and Gerrard. Two sets of blues, coming together as one to see off the nasty mean reds. Great memories. Top, top lads those everton fans. You can always rely on them.

[LallanaInPyjamas]

We’ll need to expect every side to play like the last two games. They’re all desperate to stop us, we’ve painted that target on our own back and now have to deal with that. If we can’t, very quickly, then we won’t get to the end of the season in a position where we can win the league.

Spot on.

I don't like hearing all the excuses from Klopp at the moment if I'm honest. It paints a picture of being out of control, when we are in control. We're still three points clear at the top, but right now it doesn't feel like that and a small part of that is the way our manager is behaving.

Bottom line, though, is what happens on the pitch. Internally, Klopp needs to coax performances from our supporting cast. City have Aguero and Sterling; we have Mané and Salah. We can argue all day about which pairing is better; the truth is they are four world-class, consistent performers/goalscorers and there's very little in it between them (in terms of goals, ours are 'winning' 27-24).

But David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Sane and a returning De Bruyne versus Keita, Shaqiri, Firmino and a returning Lallana? It's absolute night and day at this moment in time. We need far more from those players to get over the line in games like the last two against well-drilled low-blocks. Otherwise all these teams are going to do is stick two men on Mané in our left channel and two men on Salah in our right channel and say all the best, lads.

[Roger Federer]

Of course it's disappointing to drop points two games in a row, but honestly I have no idea what people expect. That we'd win 38 out of 38 games? We have the third highest points totals ever recorded at this stage of the season since 3 points for a win was introduced. Only City last year and Chelsea in 05-06 has had more. Both record breaking sides and the only ones who has finished with 95 points or more. We're better than any Liverpool side at the same stage since -81, better than all of Ferguson's teams.

We lead the league with 3 points after going through our worst 5 game spell of the season. Did anyone expect us to be where we are now? Would anyone at the start of the season not have taken this position with 25 games played? It's insane how negative some are when we are top of the league.

[him_15]

The away match against MU will be our title decider I reckon, they will do absolutely everything to stop us from getting any point, we need to produce the best performance of the season to stand a chance there.

[Alisson Wonderland]

The narrative is already written. Sky gobshites last night referred to "Manchester City's relentless pursuit." A relentless pursuit that has seen them gain a point over us

I noticed the commentator yesterday said this, obviously forgetting that they lost to Newcastle two games ago.  Battering Burton, Rotherham and Burnley reserves in the cup does not mean they are relentless.  We are still in better form across the last 10 games.

[slaphead]

Of course it's disappointing to drop points two games in a row, but honestly I have no idea what people expect. That we'd win 38 out of 38 games? We have the third highest points totals ever recorded at this stage of the season since 3 points for a win was introduced. Only City last year and Chelsea in 05-06 has had more. Both record breaking sides and the only ones who has finished with 95 points or more. We're better than any Liverpool side at the same stage since -81, better than all of Ferguson's teams.

We lead the league with 3 points after going through our worst 5 game spell of the season. Did anyone expect us to be where we are now? Would anyone at the start of the season not have taken this position with 25 games played? It's insane how negative some are when we are top of the league.

Is right. And we have only lost 1 game, and that was against City incase its slipped anyone's mind.  How many times did we hear people say as long as we're within striking distance with 10 games to go that's all we want.
I do think though in fairness a lot of the negativity is borne out of fear, nervousness.  I'm not scared or nervous personally, I'm absolutely loving this season and I want to win it the hard way which will push the players to their physical and mental limit,  but I can understand why people are.
But come on, have a look at where we are and what we've done and have some of that word beginning with P

[free_at_last]

Is right. And we have only lost 1 game, and that was against City incase its slipped anyone's mind.  How many times did we hear people say as long as we're within striking distance with 10 games to go that's all we want.
I do think though in fairness a lot of the negativity is borne out of fear, nervousness.  I'm not scared or nervous personally, I'm absolutely loving this season and I want to win it the hard way which will push the players to their physical and mental limit,  but I can understand why people are.
But come on, have a look at where we are and what we've done and have some of that word beginning with P

Exactly. Imagine if you'd been in a coma since August and woke up to find that we are 3 points clear at the top.
 Celebrate it.
 Liverpool , Liverpool top of the League
 Liverpool , top of the league

[Jm55]

For anyone struggling with the idea that we had a sizeable lead and have surrendered over half of it (7 points to 3,) Paul Tomkins has an article posted on here taking examples of league winning sides and how this is almost always the case, one of which is Klopp’s Dortmund. It was posted before the Leicester game and wasn’t really what I wanted to hear at the time as we had an opportunity to go 7 clear, but reading it now may calm a few heads.

[RedSince86]

The away match against MU will be our title decider I reckon, they will do absolutely everything to stop us from getting any point, we need to produce the best performance of the season to stand a chance there.

We win that it will be such a blow to City's mental state, and we'll get a real shot in the arm from it and push on the rest of the season with our only games against the top 6 being Chelsea and Spurs at home.

These mini breaks we are having are affecting us now making us sluggish with another one after the weekend, but we'll get the real benefit of them in the last 10-12 league games of the season when we'll be so much fresher than our opponents.

[Kelvinlfc]

I hope we absolutely annihilate Bournemouth by 4 or 5 to get the confidence back for the Bayern game then what is an absolutely huge game against United. If they beat us and City go on to win the title you just know the smug fuckers are going to say they're the Chelsea of 13/14 season.

[Chris~]

Think its also worth mentioing we've been below our best every January and February under Klopp except last season. And even that had the Swansea and west brom games. Was this the case with hos Dortmund sides as well?

[mikeb58]

Our last 3 games we have been very much out of sorts for one reason or another, injuries, shite weather, etc, but tough, that's part and parcel of footy.

What's important is that we still collected 5 points from those games and West Ham away was never going to be easy anyway. Playing poorly or not we are still tremendously hard to beat, which bodes well for the rest of the season. As we all know, City have gained just 1 point from our recent dip of form.

I still firmly believe City's hectic schedule will catch up on them, especially they further they go in the CL and FA Cup.

Personally, I feel we will be top by 2 points with a game in hand after this weekends fixtures. Everton and Chelsea won't be an easy 6 points for City, while we have to do our bit and win Bournemouth (hopefully convincingly..improve our GD in the process)

Loads of games left to put things right for us and City no matter what happens, it's what a title race is all about. Nerves shouldn't come into it in Feb, if it's still neck and neck with 4 or 5 games to go then's the time to get twitchy!

I feel calm at the moment and loving every minute of this challenge, it's great following every twist and turn, watching City lose when least expected etc...or even see them drawing a game is like celebrating a win for us.

Who knows, we could even be celebrating tomorrow and it will be like the Leicester and West Ham games never happened!

[carling]

Things are so much more difficult without Gomez and Trent.  We need to accept our defence is not going to be as brilliant as it was in the first half of the season, and try to get more out of our attack and midfield.  I'm hoping Keita and Lallana can start to give us a bit more creativity than we saw before.

[kaesarsosei]

Such fine margins. If we had won one of these last 2 games we would be on cloud 9, but are still in a good position.

Some positives:
TAA should be back and there is no reason he can't play nearly every game from now since he has had a rest and we only have 2 competitions. We haven't looked the same on that side IMO despite Milners best efforts

Keita was obviously at fault for that goal (which IMO could easily have been overturned with VAR but that's another argument). I thought he got better and better as the second half wore on and it might be the platform he needs to contribute more from now on

Lallana, I have been highly critical of but he was reasonable last night. Not enough to be starting, but showing that he might be able to do something for us

Fabinho is a class act. I really, really want to see us with Fab, Wijnaldum and Keita in MF for an extended period, I think it could be fantastic for us.


Negatives:
Firmino had a mare and to me seems to becoming less consistent unfortunately. That might be because we have chopped and changed the system a bit this season

Biggest one is the defense. As well as conceding a comparitive lot of goals recently, we look ropey as hell. Those West Ham free kicks last night were embarassing us. I don't think TAA would necessarily solve that but despite being good on the ball, I think Matip should make way for Lovren asap.

[JackWard33]

our defence is getting over egged as an issue - the bigger problem is at the other end of the pitch

[deFacto please, you bastards]

our defence is getting over egged as an issue - the bigger problem is at the other end of the pitch

Yes, only Mane has looked arsed, Firmino and Salah have been non existent.

Milner speaking senese:

https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/336878-james-milner-reaction-liverpool-west-ham

[davealexred]

I am slightly concerned about the long periods between games.

After Saturday we don’t play until the 19th, then United on the 24th. Doesn’t give us a lot of games to build up a head of steam and regain that momentum that we had in December and which seems to be completely lost now.

Fingers crossed Klopp knows better than me.

[G a r y]

Posted this in WHU thread but meant for here.


This is a unique season in so far that any loss of points is deemed disastrous. In last six we have won three , drawn two and lost one which isn't by any stretch terrible but perceived as such in the narrative if this season , that is we can never afford to lose a point and must aim to have a massive gap...simply because our desire and inexperiance creates so much stress we wanted a 10 point gap to breath. Well winning the league has never worked like that, it's a battle and to be honest we as a fan base ( inc arl arses) have forgotten how to win the league and what it takes mentally.

Our recent performances are of greater concern than lost points and this has arisen in my view to the disruption in midfield rather than defence , all the result of injuries. That midfield last night had never played together and looked like it. Another factor ( often ignored) that past four teams have defended deep and played very well at it ..in fact the past four results could have been worse.

Last night was like lancing a boil for me..I was getting consumed by thoughts of 9 or 10 point lead and stressed because of it..so the draw to Leicster felt like a defeat...which is stupid. So now I know it's gonna be a battle and be very close. The key issue for us is getting a settled team without need to change 3 or more players/positions every game.

So, buckle up there is a wild ride head and if you do need comfort have a quick look at the league table and ask yourself if you got told in Nov we would be 3 points clear only lost one by Feb you wouldnt be down like you are now.

One game at a time.

Brilliant.

Close the thread

[TheMightyReds]

Relax.
Beleive.
You'll Never Walk Alone.

[Sharado]

Fingers crossed Klopp knows better than me.

You don't have to rely on crossing your fingers for that. None of us do, with the greatest respect.

End of February we'll have a really good idea of what it's going to take. End of February the run in truly begins. There's bumps to come for both teams, for sure. Personally I'm not tearing my hair out about last night, we're a better side than them but that fixture reeked of 'banana skin' and we came away with a point. Back on track against Bournemouth and all will be forgotten.

[dirks digglers]

I think it’s worth reminding ourselves from time to time that all of this is meant to be fun. Football is entertainment. Are we not entertained by three and a half years of Jurgen in charge, the signing of wonderful footballers, a glorious tilt at the Champions League, and BEING AHEAD in the title race in February against a team which all the ‘experts’ seemed to think was unstoppable a couple of months ago?

Are we all desperate to win it, to end the drought? Of course we are. But can we not treat the dips and setbacks with a sense of equanimity, of calm consideration instead of instant meltdown? As a fanbase surely we need to collectively summon our nerve, suck up the tension we feel, and channel it all into unbridled passion and energy to get behind the team unconditionally until the season is done.

By not doing so we are encouraging doubt, draining energy from ourselves and the team, and giving fuel to the opposition and their supporters. One club, united, under…well, not God, but a manager who is as near as dammit to a secular footballing god as we could hope to have leading this club. Football isn’t life and death but it is passion and it is joy, so embrace it. Embrace it as a bulwark to the wretched state the country is in, to whatever personal defeats you may be suffering. Lift it up and enjoy it as a clarion call to a sense of community, to our shared goals and beliefs, to our brazen desire to keep dreaming, whatever shadows and challenges seem to lie in our path. YNWA.

[xbugawugax]

past 2 games have been disappointing as fuck. but 1 loss so far. and 3 points top of the league with similar number of games played. I would take that every day of the week.

But the negativity and nerves are really getting into the players and you can see it in their social media posts. Lets just keep on going.

We will probably be in 2nd by the time we play bournemouth due to goal difference. Everton will probably lay down and die rather than see us win the league.

Lets all hope we get things right again and get the 3 points in the next game.

[Indomitable_Carp]

The narrative is already written. Sky gobshites last night referred to "Manchester City's relentless pursuit." A relentless pursuit that has seen them gain a point over us

Yeah I heard that, that was fucking ridiculous. Just a week after losing to Newcastle as well.

[jaykop]

I just think we missed the boat in January for not boasting our squad really bad injuries to our defence plus we are still short of a attcking midfielder which I wished we sorted at what ever cost January as I think we will be just short for the title run in just saying..... but come on Liverpool let’s get this done 29 Years is way to long

[Korbflechter]

You don't have to rely on crossing your fingers for that. None of us do, with the greatest respect.

End of February we'll have a really good idea of what it's going to take. End of February the run in truly begins. There's bumps to come for both teams, for sure. Personally I'm not tearing my hair out about last night, we're a better side than them but that fixture reeked of 'banana skin' and we came away with a point. Back on track against Bournemouth and all will be forgotten.

Fully agree. And I'll tell you what, even if not we'll still be where we belong. This season isn't a once in a lifetime opportunity, as many others have felt like before. This is part of a progress and no matter the outcome of this season, we're going to go again. That is all that matters and that is what makes football and this club some of the greatest distractions this weird existence has to offer. It hasn't been the case for our supporters in so many years, so let's just all finally get on the freaking LFC train. Because it's already rolling at quite some speed and the final stop is definitely not the end of this season. For the first time in what feels like forever! So why bother so much with potential outcomes of it?
We're playing games that actually matter, week in week out. There's nothing better than that. Nailbiting, hoping, cheering, shouting, celebrating, grieving. It's basically life in 90 minutes and you get it every other day. And this will continue no matter how this season pans out. So just do what you can to make this work and if it doesn't: fucking go again! You lazy, useless, towel-throwing bastard! That is the only path I know that YNWA.

[Sudden Death Draft Loser]

Currently we are 3 points clear having played the same number of games as everyone else. This is excellent - no?

[RedKenWah]

taking into account the last few games and we haven’t been at our absolute best and we are pretty much at the bare minimum squad wise, certainly in defence.

Having Milner in the squad is great but he’s not a right back, and I have to say that it does bet the question of why we let Nathaniel Clyne go in the window or certainly why we didn’t look at bringing in someone else in there. I do think this title challenge is taking its toll somewhat, and it needs to be remembered that apart from James Milner, Jurgen Klopp and Shaqiri, our title challenging experience is minimal. For some reason this stage of the season our attacking quality isn’t quite there and in a way we’re suffering if we don’t make the instant impact when we start. It’s all becoming a bit of a slog which doesn’t help.

I’m not worried as of yet, but as a team we need to get back to enjoying being on the pitch and then we will start turning over teams. Currently we’re applying far too much pressure on ourselves and there’s no need.

[Geezer08]

Relax.
Beleive.
You'll Never Walk Alone.

Just do as Klopp says and enjoy it. Enjoy how far we have come, a performance like yesterday would have been a guaranteed loss two years ago. We are currently in a position all of us would have given our own ballsack for 7 months ago.

Its gonna be a bumpy ride and nothing is decided before May.
 

[Skidder.]

Anyone who thought we were running away with it and that we've somehow now fucked it up are deluding themselves quite frankly.

That includes the drama-flogging media who are paid to engage us in the theatre of the sport. They wind-up the mechanisms and let go and watch as everyone chatters along the floor like those false teeth toys in the 80s.

There are 19 other teams in the Premiership the last time I counted and the many elements that go into a football match are only bettered by the elements that go into a title-challenging season.

More teams will drop points and we probably will too. But in reality, there's not that much that we can do as fans to effect the on-field events.

But we could certainly act mature and not rise to the baiting we are seeing from envious fans of other clubs, stop trying to be armchair specialists and just see what transpires.

Klopp has done magnificently to bring us this far and in a world with the Glazers and Mansours, for me, Klopp and FSG are certainly giving them a run for their money.

Calling people bed-wetters, WUM's, Mancs... yeah, it's all dead funny and stuff and how good of a fan you are, but in all honesty, I'd suggest a good portion of folk reading will just be thinking that it is kids arguing at break time.

I mean, no offence to anyone in particular, but some folk just need to grow up a bit before they grow bags and shit themselves via their mouths.

[Korbflechter]

I think it’s worth reminding ourselves from time to time that all of this is meant to be fun. Football is entertainment. Are we not entertained by three and a half years of Jurgen in charge, the signing of wonderful footballers, a glorious tilt at the Champions League, and BEING AHEAD in the title race in February against a team which all the ‘experts’ seemed to think was unstoppable a couple of months ago?

Are we all desperate to win it, to end the drought? Of course we are. But can we not treat the dips and setbacks with a sense of equanimity, of calm consideration instead of instant meltdown? As a fanbase surely we need to collectively summon our nerve, suck up the tension we feel, and channel it all into unbridled passion and energy to get behind the team unconditionally until the season is done.

By not doing so we are encouraging doubt, draining energy from ourselves and the team, and giving fuel to the opposition and their supporters. One club, united, under…well, not God, but a manager who is as near as dammit to a secular footballing god as we could hope to have leading this club. Football isn’t life and death but it is passion and it is joy, so embrace it. Embrace it as a bulwark to the wretched state the country is in, to whatever personal defeats you may be suffering. Lift it up and enjoy it as a clarion call to a sense of community, to our shared goals and beliefs, to our brazen desire to keep dreaming, whatever shadows and challenges seem to lie in our path. YNWA.

Great post, I think you're very much right.

taking into account the last few games and we haven’t been at our absolute best and we are pretty much at the bare minimum squad wise, certainly in defence.

Having Milner in the squad is great but he’s not a right back, and I have to say that it does bet the question of why we let Nathaniel Clyne go in the window or certainly why we didn’t look at bringing in someone else in there. I do think this title challenge is taking its toll somewhat, and it needs to be remembered that apart from James Milner, Jurgen Klopp and Shaqiri, our title challenging experience is minimal. For some reason this stage of the season our attacking quality isn’t quite there and in a way we’re suffering if we don’t make the instant impact when we start. It’s all becoming a bit of a slog which doesn’t help.

I’m not worried as of yet, but as a team we need to get back to enjoying being on the pitch and then we will start turning over teams. Currently we’re applying far too much pressure on ourselves and there’s no need.

Yes, we need to play more patiently in possession and move up the field as a unit. Move the ball around quicker and more often to move the opposition. It's not the most attractive way of playing football but it wears down bus parkers. As long as our defence isn't back to its former solidity, we'll need to hold on to the ball better and generally stay more compact. We've got too few players near the ball and are unable to control the middle of the park once we lose it. We manage to force them into one side but let them get back out and exploit space down the other wing. Can't happen.

[Jm55]

taking into account the last few games and we haven’t been at our absolute best and we are pretty much at the bare minimum squad wise, certainly in defence.

Having Milner in the squad is great but he’s not a right back, and I have to say that it does bet the question of why we let Nathaniel Clyne go in the window or certainly why we didn’t look at bringing in someone else in there. I do think this title challenge is taking its toll somewhat, and it needs to be remembered that apart from James Milner, Jurgen Klopp and Shaqiri, our title challenging experience is minimal. For some reason this stage of the season our attacking quality isn’t quite there and in a way we’re suffering if we don’t make the instant impact when we start. It’s all becoming a bit of a slog which doesn’t help.

I’m not worried as of yet, but as a team we need to get back to enjoying being on the pitch and then we will start turning over teams. Currently we’re applying far too much pressure on ourselves and there’s no need.

I can only speak for myself here but there is a feeling of trepidation about us at the moment.

I’ve said this before, we’ve lost every final we’ve played since 2012, and it’s quite a few. It is natural to feel stressed that it’s going to happen again and, for me, it does detract from the enjoyment a bit.

Before anyone starts, that’s not to say if I was at the game last night I’d have been pissing and moaning, I wouldn’t, I’d have been behind the team 100%, but honestly, I think it’s hard to enjoy the ride and not worry about whether or not it ends in success when every single campaign since 2012 has ended in failure.

The other thing to bare in mind is that Klopp isn’t going to be here forever. I am in no way suggesting he should be sacked if we don’t win a trophy soon, but I do fear he may eventually move on to pastures new out of his own choosing and I’d rather we win something before that happens. Of course I could be wrong and he could be here for the next 10 years but we do need to strike when the irons hot as you never know when it can all change, as we found out with Rafa.

[Mister Flip Flop]

We draw two game = bottlers

City lose a few = blip

You can only but laugh at the agenda from the media.