With the Premier League reaching its climax, Liverpool appear to be clear favorites to lift the trophy for the first time in 29 years. They are only in 2 competition while their main rivals are in 4 and they also have the luxury of having an easier run-in with more breaks in-between.
You’d think that not having won the title for so long would make Liverpool popular among neutrals and many would put their backing behind the club, however, this hasn't been the case. Liverpool appear to be among the most hated clubs in the world. Why does this appear to be the case? We take an in-depth look to see what exactly makes Liverpool FC so hated.
“Next year is our year”
Liverpool fans are easily the most annoying in the world because of their obsession with the past. For years they have kept going on about how many Leagues and Champions Leagues they have won despite most of them not being alive at the time to see them. They had crazy luck to win a Champions League in 2005 (14 years ago) which they have never shut up about since. They will still refer to it as ‘that night’ ‘Istanbul’ ‘5 times’ etc. which opposition fans find annoying.
Liverpool fans have latched on to this idea that they would rather see their team playing attractive football than winning trophies as “they deserve to be entertained.” This is used to deflect from their miserable run of 1 trophy (a League Cup won back in 2012 on penalties against Cardiff) in the past 13 seasons.
The truth is that for the most part, Liverpool haven’t been an entertaining side. They were never entertaining under Houllier and although they think they were, they were definitely not entertaining under Benitez. The most entertaining we’ve ever seen Liverpool was the season under Rodgers when they almost won the league but for one of the most comical errors in the history of football.
Credit: sportbible.com
“I did not feel like I had much hope left. It seemed like I was heading for suicide watch instead.” Gerrard later admitted in his book.
“I did not feel like I had much hope left. It seemed like I was heading for suicide watch instead.” Gerrard later admitted in his book.
Credit: mirror.co.uk
Gerrard consoling Luis Suarez after Liverpool had thrown away a 3 goal lead in the last 10 minutes at Selhurst Park. Gerrard’s slip ultimately cost Liverpool the title while Luis Suarez blood and sweat went in vain.
Since then Liverpool had impressed in the first half of the 2016/17 season which led fans to jump to the conclusion that they were going to win the league only to stutter in the second half of the season to just about make it to 4th. The 2017/18 season saw glimpses of good play but with Liverpool’s inability to kill off smaller teams meant they only managed to make it to 4th spot.
This season, however, is a totally different ball game. Liverpool started off the season by playing boring defensive football and scraping lucky wins. They had a period from the beginning of December that lasted until around mid-January where they played some good football and picked up some good results. This Liverpool team are different to the glimpses we've seen in the previous 2 seasons where there is now a reluctance to continuously press opposition teams all the time and play them off the park (what is referred to as Gengenpressing). This Liverpool team is built on defensive solidity rather than attacking flair and it’s no wonder they are at the top end of the table when there are so many similarities with Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea ‘04 team. There is nothing special about this Liverpool team and if they win the league they’ll be remembered as the team that defended well rather than the team that set the world alight. Their fans are quick to forget this as they’ve always harped on about ‘attacking, exciting football over trophies’ but now it’s okay because they are winning and winning to them has only now become more important than performances. The hypocrisy is clear for all to see.
Now that they’ve started to win games, the fans have thrown away all the values they once boasted about having:
1) Not spending like the big clubs:
Jurgen Klopp when Manchester United signed Paul Pogba:
“If you bring one player in for £100m and he gets injured, then it all goes through the chimney. The day that this is football, I'm not in a job anymore, because the game is about playing together.
"That is how everybody in football understands it. You always want to have the best, but building the group is necessary to be successful.
"Other clubs can go out and spend more money and collect top players. I want to do it differently. I would even do it differently if I could spend that money.
Klopp has since gone on to break the world transfer record for a goalkeeper and defender.
2) Promoting youth to the first team. This was another catch phrase for Liverpool fans when other clubs were signing expensive players. In almost 4 seasons, Jurgen Klopp has only brought through Trent Alexander-Arnold from the Liverpool academy. It’s perplexing to understand why Liverpool fans would even suggest that they were bringing through youth players in the first team when you’ll find it difficult to remember anyone of significance promoted to the first team between Michael Owen and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s promotions.
3) Playing attractive, attacking football – I’ve addressed this point above.
4) Cheating – I will address this later in the article.
When Liverpool made the Champions League final last season, everyone wanted Real Madrid to win especially Manchester United fans. There was a joke among Liverpool fans that Manchester United fans wanted Real Madrid to win because of their ex-player Cristiano Ronaldo and it amounted to someone cheering for the man whose wife left him for. The truth of the matter is that all neutrals didn’t want Liverpool to win for the reasons I’ve stated above. The fact is that like United fans that still love Ronaldo, Liverpool fans still cheer for their ex-players like Torres despite leaving them for a rival and Suarez (despite wanting to leave them for a rival).
What’s important not to forget is when Kun Aguero scored a goal with the last kick of the season to win the league for Manchester City over Manchester United, Liverpool fans were basking in Manchester City’s glory and gloating to United fans about how they had lost. Makes you wonder how short Liverpool fans memories are.
Liverpool supporters are always beating United supporters with the fantasy that they play exciting football when the post-Ferguson years have yielded Liverpool with 0 trophies to United's 3. Easy to criticize a winning team when your team is doing none of it.
"If I sit here in four years, I am pretty confident we will have one title"
These are the words uttered by Jurgen Klopp in his very first press conference and with Liverpool being favorites for the title, he might turn out to be right. Well, he actually doesn’t have a choice because he committed to it and it’s now 4 years later and he is rightfully under pressure to deliver the title.
As soon as Klopp entered Anfield, he has swept Liverpool fans off their feet with his annoying laugh, saying things like ‘cool’ and hugging his players. Ever since then Liverpool fans have been happy to mop up anything that he says.
Jurgen Klopp hugging a youth team player.
What’s not to like about Klopp? A lot of things actually. Let me explain…
Klopp will get away with anything and everything because he is the media’s golden boy. Klopp can do no wrong in their eyes. He gets away with bad decisions, poor performances, poor behaviour on the touchline, criticising referees and even criticising the media themselves. Anybody that follows football knows that if Jose Mourinho did the exact same things as Klopp, the media and FA would be all over him and he’d be on the receiving end of fines and suspensions.
I don’t think anybody can forget the altercation that Klopp had with the fourth official in January 2017:
Credit: Google Images
“I said (to the fourth official) sorry I was a bit excited. He said no problem I like your passion,” said Klopp.
"I like your passion," that’s what the fourth official said when Klopp hurled abuse in his face. I shake to think about what would have happened if Jose Mourinho had done the exact same thing.
In the media and FA, there are one set of rules for Jurgen Klopp and another set of rules for everybody else.
There isn’t a manager in Europe that moans about refereeing decisions the way that Klopp does. This despite Liverpool seeing many incorrect calls made in their favour. After almost every game we have to hear Klopp complain about decisions that went against them despite the decisions being correct.
Klopp has even gone to a new level when complaining about referees:
"I heard our goal was offside, I'm pretty sure the ref knew that," Klopp told BBC Sport after the 1-1 draw.
"In 50-50 situations it was always a free-kick for the other team, which was hard and did not make life easy."
Speaking to Sky Sports, the German added: "As a human being, if I know I have made a big mistake in the first half, I don't want to open the gap any more.
Klopp complaining about the referee that awarded his team a clear offside goal! Many would say thanks to the ref but Klopp gives the referee a mouthful!
Managers are allowed to speak about referees after a match but they are not permitted to imply bias, question the integrity of the officials or say anything that can be deemed as personally offensive. Klopp seems to do this week, week out and nobody says a word about it.
The FA had asked him to ‘explain’ his comments and despite being charged, was only handed a £45,000 fine which is a slap on the wrist at best. As always, the media have given him a free pass.
Through all this Klopp-ref-moaning there’s at least one brave soul who had the courage to stand up to Klopp and that’s one Manuel Pellegrini, manager of West Ham United:
"It doesn't matter [what was said], Klopp is used to winning [with] goals offside," Pellegrini said.
"He beat me against Malaga with Borussia Dortmund with a goal seven metres offside, so he cannot complain about anything."
In December’s win against Everton where Liverpool enjoyed a massive slice of luck when VVD sliced the ball high into the sky only for Jordan Pickford to try to catch the ball that landed safely for Divock Origi to head a tap in, Klopp ran on to the field to celebrate with goalkeeper Allison Becker. One of the most disrespectful things a manager can do on a football pitch, Klopp is fined a measly £8000 and given a warning by the FA. The media defend Klopp’s ‘passion’ saying that you can’t control yourself and this is what they love to see.
Fast forward a month and Nuno Espirito Santo does the exact same thing, is red carded by the referee and charged with misconduct.
It’s worth noting that in both cases, the exact same referee officiated the game…
Another problem with Klopp’s laugh is that it deflects from many important questions that are asked in the media which the media are quite happy to let pass.
If you analyse the decisions that have gone for Liverpool this season, it’s impossible not to conclude that luck hasn’t played a part in Liverpool being where they are. A lot of times Liverpool have been more lucky than good.
Klopp isn’t dealing well with the stress of being on top of the league (although there shouldn’t be any pressure when you’re on top). There were 2 times when Liverpool could have extended their lead only to draw both games and keep City within touching distance. They also failed to beat a Manchester United team weakened by injuries to 3 players in the first half while only registering 1 shot on target, a feeble attempt by Daniel Sturridge from outside the box.
Klopp’s comments post game didn’t take the pressure off his players as is what most top managers normally do. He instead invited the pressure which could end up burdening his players even more. If Liverpool are to win the league, Klopp has to be smart about how he handled his own emotions when Liverpool don’t win as it can end up hurting the team.
After the most recent draw to West Ham, some Liverpool fans have actually given up on the title:
And all this while still being on top of the log at that moment as an opposition fan kindly pointed out:
Klopp doesn’t come across as a manager that can land the killer blow. He didn’t take advantage of City dropping points and extending Liverpool’s lead.
He didn’t sign Fekir in the summer despite Fekir enjoying another wonderful season for Lyon and would have only cost the club £53m which is nothing for a club that just reported pre-tax profits of £125m. Klopp put out the message through his friends in the media about Fekir’s durability over time and the fact that Shaquiri would only cost £13m. This is where you need a manager that will land that killer blow. Fekir would have been perfect for this part of the season when you are finding it difficult to break down a team and need someone with a bit of magic to unlock a defence while Shaquiri has gone cold of late.
In the game against Leicester, Klopp played Henderson at RB when he had Fabinho who has played right back for Brazil in his squad. What added insult to injury is that Fabinho wasn’t even in the playing 11. This was on a Wednesday with Liverpool only playing on the following Monday and with the Champions League only resuming in 3 weeks for Liverpool, they were only focusing on one competition. Had Liverpool won that game against Leicester they would have been 7 points ahead of City yet Klopp didn’t play the best man for the position. I don’t even know whether you can say that he’s not a manager that can land a killer blow or whether he’s trying to sabotage himself.
What I also find amusing is Klopp’s treatment of Mo Salah. Liverpool have been awarded many penalties when Salah had dived. Klopp even addressed the issue when he had done it toward the end of last season:
“Yes I think it was a dive, was it?” Klopp said. “Or he waited for the contact, I am not sure, so that is not what I want to see, that is not what he wants to do. But obviously it happened.
“With all the other situations, he couldn’t get any foul any more. That is not right as well. It was always like this and you have to deal with that.”
When Salah was clearly diving this season, Klopp was quick to point out that Salah wasn’t a diver despite criticising him doing it just months earlier:
"All the penalties against him [Salah] were penalties but people handle it like it was halfway diving - it was not. We don't need blood for a foul in football. That's all I will say about it. No, I didn't speak to him about it."
I take you back to the point about cheating that I made earlier which I said that I will address. Liverpool are clearly cheating by diving and trying to win penalties. Despite it being clearly seen on replays they once again get a free ride from the press about it and their manager even defends it. It’s surprising that referees are not more vigilant about it despite it happening so often.
To conclude, Liverpool might very well win the league this season but as I've pointed out, much of it is down to defensive football, luck, cheating, and offside goals. If Liverpool win the league, it will be more down to these factors than actually being better than City.
It’s a valid question to ask whether Rodgers would have done a better job had he been given the same amount of money to spend as Klopp has and not the treacherous situation that FSG put him in with trying to sign his B and C targets. Rodgers was the person that took them closest to the title and wasn’t given enough time to see the project through. He also had to play by a different set of rules and it’s funny that the rules changed as soon as he was sacked and a new manager appointed.
What might go against Liverpool is that they don’t have enough leaders in their team. Van Dijk and Henderson are the only obvious ones although Henderson has unfairly been at the end of all Liverpool fans anger when he has been the only person to take the game by the scruff of its neck when the chips are down. Henderson has been great for Klopp in the sense that all criticism is automatically deflected to Henderson despite Klopp making glaring errors in tactics, team selection and his on and off-field behavior.
I know that City are United’s city rivals but I do hope that they win the league as the City supporters that I know haven’t reached puberty yet. They are kids and kids are generally not annoying unless they support Liverpool, obviously.
