After coming so close to clinching their first title in 24 years last season Liverpool have sharply regressed and look likely to even miss out on the top four. The Reds are still in with a chance but after an inconsistent campaign their fate is not in their own hands.
The main problem they have encountered this season has been their lack of a reliable goal scorer. Luis Suarez left for Barcelona, Daniel Sturridge has been plagued by injuries and new signing Mario Balotelli has failed to make the impact expected of him.
Liverpool were in contention for five trophies, if you include their participation in both the Champions League and the Europa League, and yet they will end this campaign with nothing to show for all of their blood, sweat and tears.
Their best chance of glory was surely the FA Cup as they blazed a trail all the way to the semi-finals. They looked certain to make it all the way to the end, perhaps even to be crowned winners come May 30th but Aston Villa unravelled their plans and it is the Villans who will face holders Arsenal in the final.
Before that came another disappointing exit. All of England’s four Champions League entries failed to make it past the last 16 but Liverpool got knocked out the earliest failing to even get out of their group. Then after being demoted to Europe’s second best competition Liverpool underperformed, cursed with falling at the group stages once again.
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By failing to make the top four, if that does end up being the case, means that Liverpool will be playing once more in the Europa League and although some clubs have admitted that the tournament can be a distraction when thoughts should be on the domestic campaign I think the Reds shouldn’t be too quick to overlook it. A team who believe they are good enough to compete in the main competition should be more than capable of winning the next best thing.
Liverpool need to treat the tournament with more respect and I’m sure their fans after a three year trophy wait, the last being only a League Cup victory, would be grateful to finally have something decent to cheer about.
Liverpool should take note from the current Premier League winners.
Three seasons ago Chelsea had just won the Champions League but found themselves a couple of months later not playing to retain that trophy but instead travelling to small European clubs for Europa League fixtures. Some may have thought that the whole thing was kind of embarrassing considering the success of the previous year but Chelsea had the right mentality and kept their eyes on the prize. 12 months after winning the Champions League they won the Europa League which not only gave them another trophy for their cabinet but also were also rewarded with automatic qualification for the main tournament. Breaking into the top four is only going to get harder so this may be a good route for the Reds to take.
Liverpool need to prove to their supporters that they can still win trophies and as long as they bring in the necessary personnel in the upcoming window then the Thursday fixtures shouldn’t negatively affect what is already a team with a lot of promise. Now they just have to start delivering.
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