Last WordNEIL MELLOR
during a season, it’s almost impossible not to.
If Liverpool lose four or five Premier League
games then it would be a concern, although
even then they’d still have a lead at the top.
This group of players showed their mental
strength in the Champions League last season
having come so close to winning it the year
before. We’ve seen their hunger to achieve in
the Premier League this year and it is a matter
of time before they become champions.
They just need to keep doing what
they’ve been doing. Maintain their focus,
stay mentally strong, think about the games
they’ve come back in and won. Do that and
they’ll get the job done.
Ultimately the aim this season was to
win the Premier League and that is going
to happen. So enjoy it. There was a lot of
appreciation shown by the Anfield crowd
after the final home game against Wolves
last season when Liverpool hadn’t won the
league. Whoever is lucky enough to be at
Anfield for the Chelsea game in May is going
to enjoy it even more.
Rarely can you enjoy the team you follow
being in the form Liverpool have been in this
season. You have to enjoy these times as we
all know things can change quickly.
When Jürgen Klopp came in Liverpool
were struggling to finish in the top four of the
Premier League. Now we’re on the verge of
winning it.There’s been too much talk about records
as opposed to just how good this team is
- Follow Neil on Twitter @NeilMellor33
Building a 22-point lead at the top of the
Premier League is not only phenomenal –
it’s unheard-of. We’ve never seen a gap as
big as the one Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool
have built at the top before.
A couple of years ago, when Manchester
City had their incredible run of 18 consecutive
wins, people were saying they could be the
greatest Premier League side ever. Yet when
Liverpool matched that run, winning league
18 games in a row, people questioned if the
Premier League was as strong. What does that
tell you?
Nobody should underestimate just how
successful this group of players have been this
season.
It is very hard to win a Premier League
game. It is very hard to win two or three
Premier League games in a row. So to
maintain a run of 18 wins, and beat every
other opponent in the division, deserves
huge credit for the players and management
team at Liverpool Football Cub. They will be
talked about as one of the greatest teams the
Premier League has ever seen.
The stats show it. The records show it.
And more records can still be broken. Those
who say the Premier League is weaker are
making easy excuses for teams that are
underperforming.
Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, Man United. A lot of
big clubs are underperforming and are using
that excuse a little bit to explain it. For me,
that shouldn’t take anything away from what
Liverpool have done. The Reds have been far
too good for everybody and that is why their
lead at the top is so substantial.
I was asked how big a shock to the system
the 3-0 defeat at Watford would be to the
players having won 26 and drawn one of their
previous 27 league games. I’d love to say I
know! I don’t know, and nor does anybody
else, because it’s never happened before.
This group of players are unique. They’ve
gone on a run that has broken all kinds of
records, but perhaps there was an element of
relief – a sense of freedom – when they lost
at Vicarage Road.
Jürgen mentioned it afterwards. Every
game they were being told ‘you’ve got this
record, you’ve broken that record’. As good
as that is, it felt like there was too much
talk about records as opposed to just how
good this team is and what they are about to
achieve.
The away-defeats against Atletico Madrid
in the Champions League and Chelsea in the
FA Cup have led to questions about a drop in
performance levels after the winter-break. It’s
a natural thing that a break can disrupt the
rhythm of a team that plays the way Liverpool
do, but I also think the players needed that
break to mentally recharge their batteries.
Every team goes through a dip in form