Can under siege Klopp stop Blues’ title march?
> Beleaguered Liverpool boss must find a way to lift his team after shock FA Cup exit
LOST AMID the fog of debate about the sorry decline of the FA Cup, the League title race could be all but decided this week: win their next two games and Chelsea might as well put blue ribbons on the trophy.
If they beat Liverpool at Anfield tonight (4am tomorrow in Malaysia) and Arsenal at home on Saturday, it’s surely all over bar the shouting.
Spurs? Although they beat the Blues recently, their lack of depth and Europa League expeditions could see their challenge peter out like it did last season.
And if we can also rule out the misfiring Manchester clubs, Chelsea would be home and hosed with only the FA Cup as a distraction. That it is Liverpool and Arsenal, of all clubs, who stand in their way, only goes to highlight what has been an amazing reversal of fortune.
It was defeats (make that thrashings) by both back in the autumn that led to bookmakers suspending betting on Antonio Conte being the next manager to be sacked. Yet with a mere tweak of the side that mutinied under Jose Mourinho, the Italian has won 15 out of his last 16 games.
There were quibbles about a lack of depth here, too, but at the weekend they showed these were unfounded.
Making as many changes as Liverpool made against similarly lowly Championship opponents, the Blues brushed Brentford aside whereas the Reds were humiliated by Wolves.
Only a point separates them in the table yet Wolves were made to look as if they were in a different league to the nonstinging Bees – thanks mainly to their non-performing topflight opponents.
Where Chelsea drafted in the likes of Cesc Fabregas, John Terry, Michy Batshauyi and Willian, Liverpool brought in players not even household names in their own household. And many didn’t look like they would cut it in the Championship.
We saw how alarmingly threadbare the Reds’ squad is in the way they scraped past fourth tier Plymouth in the previous round. But if you need a further illustration of where Jurgen Klopp’s priorities lie, just consider the contrasting treatment of the two stars they have been without in recent weeks.
Thanks to his missed penalty ending Senegal’s involvement in the African Nations Cup, Sadio Mane is being flown back by a specially chartered plane from Gabon in time for the Chelsea game. Coutinho? He was sitting alongside Klopp on the bench for the first 45 minutes on Saturday.
Unfortunately for Liverpool, by the time the Brazilian landed on the field, he could not make much of an impact and Liverpool duly bowed out of a second cup competition in four days.
It has often been said of Chelsea that if they were to lose their equivalent in Diego Costa and Eden Hazard, they might be similarly derailed. But it hasn’t happened and if it does, based on recent evidence, you can’t help but feel Chelsea would cope better.
Klopp will have just about a full-strength side available for this defining fixture, but given the loss of confidence and general disgruntlement around Anfield, he will need it.
If they can somehow turn the clock back to their preChristmas form, they can keep alive the title race, but they will need the Kop at its most intimidating and the run of the ball. Neither has been much in evidence lately.
But if Klopp can conjure an improbable win, it might cause Chelsea to wobble and in turn inspire Arsenal at the Bridge on Saturday night. Most neutrals will be hoping so as the FA Cup is sadly unlikely to provide much of an alternative.
Dismissed as a nuisance by the bigger clubs, it remains appealing only to the minnows. And because of that even giantkilling isn’t what it was – the fourth round saw no end of such slaughter but all were devalued with one glance at the giants’ team sheets.
Managers are getting the blame but the £1.8 million (RM9.9m) prize for winning the Cup is not even the difference (£2m/RM11m) between finishing 19th and 20th in the table.
For the record, the bottom team will pick up £97 million (RM533m). And the grand prize for getting through Round 4? Just £12,500 (RM69,000)!
It is clear there’s a vast difference between the needs of the managers/owners and the fans – look at the scenes of the celebrating victors on Saturday and Sunday. That’s how it used to be and we’d all like to see the romance return, but there’s a new reality now.
Let the fans have their moment of joy but allow the managers breathing space.
Right now fixtures are like the KL traffic after rain. And minnows are parking the bus. What is needed is not a bus lane but a congestion charge: Chelsea will be Liverpool’s 11th game in 35 days.
Something has to give or the FA Cup will sink to no more than the Johnstone’s Paint trophy – complete irrelevance. There is simply too much football to fit in and the arrogance of FIFA and UEFA also has to be blamed.
We all remember those blank fortnights late last year because of international breaks during which top flight club matches are banned to protect viewing figures.
What could be done in England is to reduce the Premier League to 18 teams but as turkeys don’t vote for Xmas this is another non-starter.
We have to console ourselves with the thought that the Premier League will still be worth watching even if the title is “decided” this week.