LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB: NOW JUR GOING TO BELIEVE! Klopp & Co can revolutionise the game like Fergie & United
THE Premier League top table is finally complete.
Everyone can now take their seat and raise a toast to the elite guest who kept missing out on the big one – for 27 years in a row.
Make no mistake, the absence of Liverpool on the roster of Premier League champions meant the greatest domestic competition in football always had a gaping, glaring black hole.
That is why the crowning of Jurgen Klopp’s Reds this season – after Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over Manchester City on Thursday meant that the Merseysiders’ massive 23-point lead was unassailable – is the most monumental triumph since the dawning of the new top flight.
That may be harsh on some of the recent fantastic winners such as:
Leicester City, who defied 5,000-1 odds in 2014-15.
Arsenal’s Invincibles, who never tasted defeat in 2003-04.
Kenny Dalglish’s Blackburn, who pipped Manchester United to the crown in 1995.
And Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City, who claimed the 2012 title with that Sergio Aguero last kick of the season.
Of course, each was a magnificent moment, forever etched in the minds of the millions of English football fans on these shores – and beyond.
However, in terms of sheer magnitude and historical significance, none compares to Liverpool being back at the summit after 30 years.
Indeed, there is only one title victory that does – Manchester United’s in 1992-93.
The similarities between the two triumphs are startling.
It was United’s first title in 26 years, ending a drought going back to those heady days of George Best, Bobby Charlton and Denis Law. A drought which had lasted so long that most people, even Red Devils fans, reckoned would never end.
For many years afterwards, even while racking up title after title, United supporters would still regard that day – when nearest challengers Aston Villa lost to Oldham to confirm their Holy Grail was complete – as their greatest single success.
It led to two decades of all-conquering feats, but getting to the place where they could sweep all before them remained the magical, mind-blowing part.
No wonder, then, Liverpool’s faithful ignored social distancing and celebrated on Thursday as if coronavirus never existed.
This is the silverware they had been dreaming about for nearly three decades – but had always eluded them in nightmare fashion. Not any more.
Koppites must have awoken with raging hangovers on Friday – if they got to bed – but they will take the pounding heads.
They probably poured themselves another – and just started partying all over again.
The great news for those with that club coursing through their veins is they, just like United and Sir Alex at the time, have a manager who is going absolutely nowhere.
A sensational coach and leader in every sense, Klopp bleeds Liverpool.
It has taken him just four-and-a-half years to complete the club’s title resurrection – a couple less than it did Fergie at Old Trafford.
But in that time Anfield has become ingrained in the German’s soul. He understands
Liverpool, what they have been through on and off the pitch, and lives and breathes them.
Those tears on TV two nights ago were so real and authentic.
They were beautiful.
And who would bet against his record-breakers – nobody has EVER won this league with SEVEN games to spare – retaining their grip for at least a decade with Klopp at the helm?
He’s committed and is signed up until 2024.
And as long as the club’s American owners retain their enthusiasm for investment in the wake of Covid-19, the equation for another era of total Liverpool dominance looms large.
For those too young to remember, Liverpool were, by a country mile, ahead of everyone in terms of titles won when they secured number 18 in 1990.
The fact they are now – after 30 years of hurt – only one behind United’s 20, is utterly remarkable.
And proves why, without them, that Premier League table of champions always looked wrong.
Normal order – the old order – has been restored.