Something may be shifting mentally at Liverpool. How will they respond?
Manchester City top the table again, for the first time since they lost against Chelsea two months ago. Now we will see what kind of psychological impact Liverpool feel from seeing themselves in second after missing the chance to go seven points clear only last week. How quickly things can change in football.
Liverpool did enjoy a seven-point lead after they beat Crystal Palace less than three weeks ago. Now they’re behind City on goal difference. It’s like a middle-distance race in which the leader is suddenly caught, with the final straight in sight. Will they slide away, or will they be able to go again? Surely another slip would give their rivals momentum and further destroy their own.
After the West Ham game on Monday night Andy Robertson snapped at an interviewer who asked if the team had started to feel nervous, looking over their shoulders at City. Robertson gave a strong answer and denied any nerves but it was a deflection from reality: those back-to-back 1-1 draws against Leicester and the Hammers were an answer in themselves. Something may be shifting psychologically in that Liverpool team, and it’s affecting their performances and costing them points at a very crucial stage in the season.
You could see there was anger as Robertson spoke. He was clearly annoyed they had put themselves in this position. As much as players and managers say they’re focusing on themselves and taking it one game at a time, I can guarantee as soon as the players got back in the dressing room on Monday they were thinking: “That’s it, City go top on Wednesday.” You immediately think of your closest rival.
It could go two ways from here. Sometimes it’s easier to chase a title than it is to lead. It can be more problematic to be the pacemakers, as Liverpool have shown over the past fortnight. I’ve experienced it with Chelsea Women: it can be very hard at the top for long periods of time, fighting just to stay in the same position and to preserve an unbeaten run that will always come to an end. Liverpool still have the destiny of the title in their own hands, having played a game fewer than the leaders, and their recent wobble and City’s return to the top may be the kick up the backside they required, forcing them to regroup, refocus and make sure they push on and win the league. Equally City will be saying: “We led before and gave it away – let’s not do that again.”
What a contrast this is to the same time a year ago, when City were 13 points clear after 26 games and their name was practically engraved on the trophy. As title chases go it was a complete non-event, just boring. Now it’s neck and neck, apparently heading for a photo finish.
Liverpool need to be strong psychologically, because they are clearly inferior to City in other areas. Their squad has nothing like the strength of City’s. With Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dejan Lovren injured, their previously rock-solid defence is creaking. Michail Antonio’s goal for West Ham resulted from an unusually high and disorganised Liverpool backline that on another occasion in the game allowed Declan Rice a free header that should have made it 2-1.
James Milner is a great professional but as a makeshift right-back he isn’t the outlet that Alexander-Arnold is, and Virgil van Dijk is having a fantastic season but the other centre-backs are not on the same level. At the end of 2018 Liverpool had let in eight goals in 20 league games; in 2019 they’ve conceded seven in five matches and also been knocked out of the FA Cup by Wolves.
However, all hope is not lost. Jürgen Klopp’s side have lost only once in the league this season and their recent wobble amounts to a couple of draws. But the timing of City’s return to the top could not have been better. By February the players will have started to look at their remaining fixtures and think about what points they will pick up where. A few weeks ago Liverpool would have feared nobody; suddenly nothing looks easy – and their next two away games are at Manchester United and the Merseyside derby at Everton.
We learned last season this City team are very tough mentally, they never lose focus. But with Liverpool, having not won the title since 1990 and given the way their last serious challenge fell apart in 2014, there is more of a question mark. I am fascinated to see how they respond. Of course City are capable of dropping points, and it is likely both teams will between now and May. But who will slip up first? More than the impact on the table, more than points and positions, the most significant advantage that will be surrendered by whoever falters first will be psychological. At this stage in the season calmness and confidence are vital, and perhaps it was the motivation Liverpool had given City along with the chance to go top that ensured Pep Guardiola’s side won the game against Everton on Wednesday before a ball was kicked.
Liverpool may be more comfortable as the chasing team, the underdogs. They may end up looking back at the past fortnight, in which they have dropped points, played poorly, been knocked off the top yet remained, despite it all, in control of their own destiny, and think this was the decisive period, one that forced them to come together as never before and gave them the impetus to claim the prize that has eluded them for so long. Or maybe that mental strength just isn’t there. Recent results have thrown up a lot of questions – and what happens in the next few weeks will go a long way to providing the answers.