In the end, it was much ado about nothing for Liverpool despite the fraught circumstances of the 2-0 win over Salzburg in midweek. Defeat would have the defence of our Champions League crown end rather prematurely, and the Austrians came out of the traps fast with cruel intentions in mind.
One of the key ingredients in winning a league title is in having plenty of squad depth to cater for the unrelenting demands of the domestic and continental fixture list.
In the past, it’s an area in which Liverpool have fallen down on somewhat, but in 2019/20 we finally look to have hit the nail on the head. Evidence of that was clear in the 3-0 win over Bournemouth, with Jurgen Klopp making seven changes to the side that saw off Everton in midweek.
Well, that was easy. You never quite know how the Merseyside derby is going to go. Yes, we are flying at the moment and Everton are in the doldrums, but these bloodthirsty rivalries have a habit of bringing the best out of the underdog.
When we talk about quality football managers and coaching staff, what are the key attributes we tend to think of when analysing the best?
They need to have good management skills of course, and that innate ability to be able to motivate their players to deliver their best efforts – whether using the carrot or the stick methodology.
A good manager should be a strong tactician too, with a skill for knowing how to break down a stubborn opponent or match an opposition in a swell of confident form.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the true mark of a champion is to be able to win well or to win ugly on any given day. The 2-1 triumph over Crystal Palace on Saturday wasn’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but where before we might have dropped points against the Eagles this time around Jurgen Klopp’s men were ruthlessly efficient.
The international break came at a very satisfying time, by all accounts. The 3-1 demolition of Manchester City in our last outing confirmed our superiority over our nearest title challengers, and the enforced lay-off gave them plenty of time to consider the nine-point gap at the top of the table.
If nothing else, Jurgen Klopp proved in Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Genk that he still retains the ability to shake things up and surprise people with his team selection. With one eye on Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash with Manchester City, the manager opted to make some rotations of his starting eleven – no surprise there.
’Don’t Expect Reds to Have Things All Their Own Way in the West Midlands’ was the headline of our preview for the Aston Villa game, and in the end we couldn’t have been any more accurate.
Behind for 66 minutes and never ahead inside the regulation 90, there can be no doubt that while Liverpool were the better side, the Villains deserved something from the game. But football can be a cruel old sport at times, while winning is a habit and other such clichés.
What a difference 72 hours can make. We were poor on Sunday at Old Trafford, there’s no doubt about it, with a lack of attacking ingenuity the main cause of a failure to break down Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s innovative take on parking the bus. But at Genk on Wednesday night, our old joie de vivre in attack was very much clear and present.
We can say it through gritted teeth, but the fact remains: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer got his tactics spot on in the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday.