They have grown in stature, they look different yes this Liverpool team CAN beat City to the title
DROP HARRY. ‘OF COURSE I WILL NOT EXPECT FROM WHAT ANSWER DO YOU — POCHETTINO ME TO THAT QUESTION?’
Jurgen Klopp was talking difference. Different team, he said, different situation. He was comparing liverpool’s previous away fixture against Tottenham to this one. The biggest difference is one he is stubbornly reluctant to acknowledge. When liverpool last came to Wembley roughly a year ago, they were not considered title contenders. now they are this season’s team to beat. Most certainly they could win it. The very least that can be said is any team who finish above them probably will.
With five games gone, liverpool have the maximum 15 points. last year, it took them double the games and another six weeks to achieve that total.
A 3-0 win over Huddersfield on october 28 took liverpool to 16 points last season, by which time they were already 12 points off Manchester City, having failed to win in six of 10 matches. now pep guardiola peers up at them, having dropped points at Wolves.
Mauricio pochettino correctly claimed referee Michael oliver missed a stoppagetime penalty for a foul on Son Heung-min, but if a 2-1 defeat flattered Tottenham, a draw would have been a travesty — not least as roberto Firmino appeared to be very much onside when he had the ball in the net after 40 seconds.
Klopp did concede this was the best performance of liverpool’s season, but it was more than that. It was the win of a team who could yet land the title; a blow struck against a rival, three points collected at a ground where one might do. There are some stadiums where future champions expect to win, but Wembley with Tottenham in residence is not among them.
And this was a test for liverpool, too — a Saturday lunchtime kick-off after international week, with paris Saint- germain coming to Anfield tomorrow. To win full throttle, outplaying Tottenham with only loose finishing and wayward final passes preventing the margin of victory becoming more emphatic, is a statement, even if Klopp would rather it remain muted.
Continue in this vein, however — all eyes will be on the visit of Manchester City next month — and it will be impossible to remain in denial of the truth.
This is a liverpool team that have grown hugely in stature in the last 12 months.
If Klopp would rather that stay secret, left back Andrew robertson clearly hadn’t got the memo. In his defence, though, in talking up liverpool’s potential he was only confirming what each pair of eyes had already seen. ‘Without getting ahead of ourselves, we do believe going into every game that we can win,’ he said.
‘of course, that’s a big club’s mentality but at times last season we couldn’t manage it and our away form, especially against the top five, wasn’t pleasing. So our initial task this season was to put that right.
‘Tottenham are the first we’ve played and we’ve already got three points. That might already be more than we picked up last season on the road against the big teams.’
He is correct. Against City, Spurs, Arsenal, Manchester united and Chelsea last season, liverpool took one point from a possible 15, with a draw at the emirates.
robertson continued: ‘Consistency is the key. That’s how Manchester City ran away with it and this season we’ve won every game put in front of us. The first five don’t win you a league, but they can set you up nicely to really compete. Tottenham just couldn’t deal with us. Apart from the last three minutes, we controlled the game.’
So. what has changed about liverpool? The transfer market upgrades are plain to see. Alisson is a better goalkeeper than was available last season, Virgil van Dijk is the best centre back the club has had since Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia were at their peak. The front three need no further explanation, either. But it is the disciplined performances Klopp is extracting from a player such as georginio Wijnaldum that have been crucial.
Wijnaldum is keeping last season’s captain, Jordan Henderson, out of the team, having for a time looked as if he may not have a future at the club. Against Spurs he was outstanding — not just in scoring the first goal, after a fumble by stand-in keeper Michel Vorm, but in the way he commanded the heart of midfield.
pochettino picked a central three that acknowledged liverpool’s danger — eric Dier, Mousa Dembele and Harry Winks — but liverpool ran the game and not one of the home trio lasted 90 minutes.
Tottenham’s most effective player was erik lamela, who only featured for 30 minutes, but whose stoppage-time goal was well taken and just reward. By then it was too late. liverpool had scored a deserved second, after Sadio Mane got in behind, Jan Vertonghen hit his own post attempting to clear and Vorm failed to claim the loose ball, which was snaffled by Firmino.
look, liverpool are a good team, and good teams will win matches, even against other good teams. Just three games ago Spurs won comprehensively at old Trafford, and they will come strong again. Yet, categorically, they haven’t changed, year on year. There is nothing new about Tottenham, nothing we haven’t seen, their strengths have not altered, their weaknesses remain.
So, if Harry Kane looks leggy — and he does — the answers are the same as they were a year ago. If it wasn’t enough to get in front of City then, why would it be now?
pochettino is no doubt tired of fielding questions about Kane’s perceived tiredness, but displays like this mean they will not go away. Kane played arguably the best pass by a Tottenham player all game — Christian eriksen was largely anonymous — but he did not look like scoring and when could one ever say that of him previously?
Asked if he was still the first name on the team-sheet against Inter Milan this week, pochettino was insistent.
‘We would be crazy to think different, so yes,’ he said. ‘I don’t know what you think my answer should be. He’s one of the best strikers in the world. I don’t care that he wasn’t great today. I don’t believe that he’s tired. The situation is more collective than
that. It’s only Harry? I don’t like it when people point the finger. It’s always collective and we need to help him, to give the ball in better positions. He’s going to score goals, he’s going to perform in the way we want and expect. No problem.’
Yet while Spurs wait for Kane’s mojo to inspire them, Liverpool have progressed, taken big steps, caught up. Klopp recalled that last year when they visited Wembley on the back of a 7-0 Champions League win against Maribor of Slovenia, it wasn’t the same mentality.
‘We came here and were not experienced enough to change style, to adapt to the different needs of the game,’ Klopp said. ‘Before we were awake, they were 2-0 up. It’s all about learning — but the best way to learn is from mistakes. I’m not sure how we would play now if we won 7-0 somewhere.’
But, deep down, he knows and so do we. And that’s the difference. TOTTENHAM (4-3-3): Vorm 4; Trippier 5, Alderweireld 6, Vertonghen 5, Rose 5; Dier 5 (Wanyama 82min), Dembele 5 (Lamela 60, 7), Winks 5 (Son 73, 6.5); Moura 6, Kane 5, Eriksen 5. Subs not used: Gazzaniga, Sanchez, Aurier, Davies. Scorer: Lamela 90+3. Booked: None. Manager: Mauricio Pochettino 7. LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Alisson 7; Alexander-Arnold 7 (Matip 90), Gomez 6.5, Van Dijk 7.5, Robertson 6; Milner 7.5, WIJNALDUM 8, Keita 7 (Sturridge 82); Salah 6, Firmino 7.5 (Henderson 6.5), Mane 7. Subs not used: Gazzanigga, Sanchez, Aurier, Davies. Scorers: Wijnaldum 39, Firmino 54. Booked: None. Manager: Jurgen Klopp 8. Referee: Michael Oliver 5. Attendance: 80,188.