😡 Why Liverpool must improve quickly if they are to rewrite history | OneFootball

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Joel Sanderson-Murray·26 February 2020

😡 Why Liverpool must improve quickly if they are to rewrite history

Article image:😡 Why Liverpool must improve quickly if they are to rewrite history

It sounds ridiculous to say it but … Liverpool need to improve.

This all-conquering side put together by Jürgen Klopp have been nigh-on perfect throughout 2019/20 but their last two outings suggest standards are starting to slip.


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The Premier League leaders suffered a first defeat in 34 games (if you’re not counting the U23’s losing to Aston Villa in the EFL Cup) last Tuesday when they lost 1-0 to Atlético Madrid.

Article image:😡 Why Liverpool must improve quickly if they are to rewrite history

The ball moved slowly at the Wanda Metropolitano, the fluidity typical of their approach play disappeared, their intensity dropped.

Things didn’t improve on Monday night, where the Reds found themselves 2-1 down early in the second half to West Ham before coming back to win. It’s hard to escape the idea that a sense that complacency has set in, both on and off the pitch.

Anfield was flat for the most part on Monday, until the prospect chasing down a defeat saw some tension added to the game. The usual apprehension that comes with attending a ground has long been absent for Liverpool supporters, as expectation and security have taken hold.

Those same supporters know that their team is likely to win the majority of games they play so it’s natural for complacency to set in around the ground and it may have spread to the players.

On Monday they looked shocked, almost offended, when West Ham took the lead.

For a period after the second goal, the visitors were the first to every ball and the petrifying reality of the Reds losing their unbeaten record was setting in.

Liverpool are not used to this but they found another way to collect the three points. Just.

Article image:😡 Why Liverpool must improve quickly if they are to rewrite history

Klopp’s team are on the brink of achieving the greatest season in the history of the English game.

They’re on course to smash Manchester City’s 100-point record of 2017/18.

The unbeaten top flight English season – an achievement only Arsenal (2003/04) have managed since 1888 – is in sight. The treble, a feat only Manchester United have managed in English football, isn’t far off.

And they could become just the third English team (after Liverpool 1977-78 Nottingham Forest 1979-80) to retain the Champions League/European Cup.

But not if they play like they have in their last two games. If performances continue to underwhelm, the team run the risk of picking up underwhelming results.

After waiting since 1990 to see their team win a league title, it’s understandable for Liverpool supporters to already be celebrating the holy grail’s inevitable return to L4.

But there is a bigger picture and, as strange as it sounds, Liverpool’s season could be over by mid-March.

The title will be won but their Champions League fate is up in the air and nobody can guess how Klopp will approach the FA Cup fifth round tie against Chelsea.

Article image:😡 Why Liverpool must improve quickly if they are to rewrite history

We have seen it time and time before where a side runs away with a league and then slip up in the latter stages of the Champions League.

These sides will have amassed enormous points gaps and then won’t have played a game where they have had to get out of second gear for weeks when it comes to facing a real challenge in the quarter-finals of Europe’s elite competition.

Liverpool players will become legends for the rest of their days when Jordan Henderson lifts that trophy aloft in May. But they shouldn’t settle for it.

Article image:😡 Why Liverpool must improve quickly if they are to rewrite history

It may seem harsh to offer any sort of criticism on this close-to-perfect Liverpool team but it’s only because greatness is within their reach and they have the quality to achieve it.

The points record. The unbeaten league season. The treble.

Liverpool need to strike while the iron’s hot, there is no doubt that this team is capable of matching all of these achievements, all at the same time.

In the summer, the likes of Manchester City and Barcelona will no doubt strengthen and the opportunity may be lost. Maybe the struggles against Atleti and West Ham will be the kick up the backside the Reds needed.

History awaits.