FERGIE TIME!
JUST LIKE UNITED’S BEST TEAMS, LIVERPOOL ARE WINNING IN
THEY will find the comparisons odious, but the deeper Liverpool head into this title race, the more they are conjuring visions of Manchester United.
It would be easy to wheel out the old quote of Bill Shankly about the Kop’s capacity to suck the ball into the net at the most crucial moment, but watching Liverpool somehow get the better of Tottenham, the mind drifted back to 1993.
In the first season of the Premier League, United were trying to end their 26-year wait to be crowned champions. Alex Ferguson’s side seemed destined never to get over the line.
But in the second half of that campaign, United began to find a way to win. Sheffield United and Southampton were beaten 2-1 in February with last-gasp goals, Eric Cantona pounced as the clock ran down to salvage a draw at Manchester City in March before April saw the ultimate late show.
Steve Bruce’s two headers, in the 86th and 96th minutes, to topple Sheffield Wednesday are part of Old Trafford folklore. United’s critics bemoaned ‘Fergie time’ and scowled at their ability to retrieve lost causes but it was no fluke. They kept finding ways to win and lifted the title.
You have to wonder whether the same thing is happening at Anfield. Liverpool, of course, remain second favourites and not even their most ardent supporter could dispute the good fortune from which they benefited against Tottenham.
There is nothing lucky, however, about a team who consistently pull results out of the fire. Had Hugo Lloris’s blunder been an isolated incident, you could say Liverpool were fluky, but a team who have scored six goals in stoppage time have not done so by chance.
Liverpool might not be playing with relentless flair but, at this stage of the season, indefatigability is priceless and the incident when Lloris fumbled Mohamed Salah’s soft header and the ball rolled off Toby Alderweireld and over the line could be huge.
This, as Jurgen Klopp pointed out, was better than winning 5-0. Nobody with the squad will talk about destiny or ending the 29-year wait to become champions but belief is flooding through them in the way it did United in their breakthrough year.
‘We have more games to go but it’s a good sign,’ said Sadio Mane. ‘That’s what makes you more motivated and makes everyone say, “Let’s go! We can do it!” This is a very good sign. Everything is possible. It will not be easy. But we still can win every game because we are a good team. It was difficult after the international break because we only had two sessions together. Now we are back and we started with a win. We will go again.’
They will go again at Southampton and Virgil van Dijk, who was hurt when psyching Moussa Sissoko out when Spurs had a two-on-one advantage, insists he will be ‘fine’ after having ice on his ankle. There is no question Liverpool must improve on their efforts against Tottenham if they are to win at St Mary’s on Friday but sometimes it needs a game of this nature to provide the catalyst for the final push, and few clubs will know that better than City.
When they were pursuing their first title in 45 years, a game in March 2012 against Chelsea — when they turned a 1-0 deficit to a 2-1 win in the final 12 minutes — proved massive. Liverpool will hope this episode turns out to be of similar consequence.
‘We are all buzzing and the fans went home happy, but only time will tell if it’s given us the lift,’ said left back Andrew Robertson. ‘It will give us a good push right to the end of this season.
‘Sometimes you need that wee bit of luck and we got it. We know we’ve got the energy. We know we’ve got the heart to go right until the end in every game. Our fitness levels are the best they can be at this point, so we know we can go to the end.’
A point they have proven time and again.