Are Liverpool Fans Mad To Even Consider Champions League Football Next Season?

Suarez made an encouraging start in front of the Anfield faithful. Photo: Liverpoolfc.tv

Listening to talkSPORT last night highlighted to me how the spirits and musings of football fans in the modern day can be so radically altered with a few good results. A Liverpool fan phoned in to discuss the chances of Liverpool catching a Champions League place this season, which even a month ago would seem utterly absurd! Are you a Liverpool fan, and if so what do you think? Are you an outsider looking in and seeing that this particular fan was utterly deluded? Here is my analysis of such a prediction…

It is only a matter of weeks since Premier League football fans were discussing the rut that Liverpool were very much stuck in and how they may be close to becoming relegation candidates! Whilst I never at any point felt they would remain at the wrong end of the table for very long, things showed few signs of getting better.

In the space of a month Liverpool recorded losses at the hands of Newcastle, Wolves, Blackburn, Man Utd and Blackpool, leaving them floundering in an area they are none to familiar with. However, three victories on the spin couple with three clean sheets see Liverpool lying in seventh place; only six points adrift of Tottenham. Granted, these victories have come over teams that Liverpool fans would almost expect to win, with Wolves, Fulham and Stoke not providing the sternest of tests in Kenny Dalglish’s honeymoon period. The defeat at the hands of Blackpool back in early January however seems a very long time ago now.

To discuss the Champions League prospects of Liverpool now seems very inappropriate, given their record this season. Perhaps this helps to highlight how tight the Premier League now is, in that you can lose 10 out of 25 Premier League games and still be talked about as Champions League qualifiers. Liverpool’s home form has been their saving grace this season, having lost only twice on 13 occasions and boasting a +12 goal difference at Anfield. Their away form is perhaps the reason they find themselves as low as they are, with only two victories and a goal difference of -10 their ‘travel sickness’ has been there for all to see.

Kenny Dalglish has undoubtedly had an impact at the club. Despite being out of the management ‘game’ for such a period, football fans sometimes forget the success he did have. Furthermore, the psychological boost it seems to have given some of the players in the dressing room has been seen on the pitch. Raul Meireles has found a new lease of life, Dirk Kuyt is becoming one of Liverpool’s most important players, as perhaps he has been (with the  exception of Gerrard and Torres in the past couple of seasons). Finally, Steven Gerrard is back to full fitness and is starting to show signs of the world class form we all know he is capable of.

A previous article has already assessed the credentials of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez at Anfield, so I’d like to not delve too deeply into this. Quite simply, Liverpool know they have overpaid for Andy Carroll, but it is a gamble that has a chance of coming off. Luis Suarez showed why he has been touted as an outstanding signing with some sublime movement and in my opinion as assist for Liverpool’s second goal last night! Of the two I am far more excited about seeing Suarez on a regular basis.

The problems with the infrastructure at the club have been discussed and debated for some time. Whilst some Liverpool fans still believe the club is a mess behind the scenes, the owners have put their money where their mouth is. I appreciate that the £50m sale of Torress will have gone towards these signings, but it would have been easy for careless owners to spend £15-20m on one Striker and make sure the rest of the money stayed out of reach. Even as a neutral fan I am pleased to see that this is not the case.

To finish, Liverpool qualifying for the Champions League would not shock me, but I do feel it is a step too far given such poor form this season. You cannot deny however that with Tottenham’s form being very up and down, they are more than catchable with 13 Premier League games still left to play! Sunderland are only three points ahead and face some difficult fixtures. Liverpool still have to play both of the teams that lie in fifth and sixth, so it is far from over. I would predict that Liverpool will pip Spurs to fifth place and claim another season of Europa League Football, which in the grand scheme of things would not be a disaster. For now however, Liverpool have to focus on the daunting task of facing Chelsea this Sunday afternoon, with Fernando Torres hoping to spoil Liverpool’s good run of form and show why he is the fourth most expensive player purchase in footballing history.

DH