Amazing isn’t it? One result, albeit very good result and a half decent performance later and all the Harry haters are silenced. Well, not quite.
The one thing I’ve been trying to get across all season is the majority of fans don’t hate Harry. Most, if not all, appreciate what he’s done since he arrived at the club. How could you not? Only a fool would have thought he would bet and win on Spurs being in a Champions League quarter Final in 2011 when we got 2 points from 8 games at the start of the 2010 season before Harry arrived. The foundation was already laid for his arrival when you look at the squad he inherited but he still had to do the job and he did it fantastically. Anyone who says differently is quite simply wrong or trying to wind a TalkSPORT presenter up.
However, far from silencing those fans who have been disappointed with the way the season has finished, our first win at Anfield since 1993 has highlighted just what this team is capable of and provided more questions than answers. Equally as important as the 3 points were in the chase for the Europa League spot (I’m not going to go into whether you want it or not), the win should give everyone renewed hope for next season.
Liverpool were far from the excellent team they’ve been in recent weeks and thankfully we weren’t the poor, lackluster team we’ve been but it showed it doesn’t matter how much other teams spend in transfer windows, we’ve got the quality to compete with all of them and with the addition of a few quality players in the summer there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be looking to do exactly that next season.
Belief is a huge thing in football and with wins at Anfield, the Emirates and the San Siro there’s no reason why this team shouldn’t realise how good they are. Or at least have the potential to be. The only barriers left are Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge and judging by this season’s games it won’t be long before those are lifted too, leaving no venue to be feared. With the exception of the Reebok of course which will remain a hoodoo for us as long as Kevin Davies is playing for Bolton.
Quite why the team has gone off the boil in the last couple of months I don’t know. It’s something we’ll probably never know. Tiredness, physical and mental perhaps from a first season in the Champions League? Pressure as we tried to get a top 4 place? Complacency when facing teams in the bottom half? We clearly step up when facing a team we know will offer competition compared to those we believe we’ll beat in first gear.
I stand by what I’ve always said that we should be in a higher position in the table than we have ended up. For whatever reasons we’ve dropped too many points in crucial games but the ability is there as proven on Sunday. More so than City and Liverpool. Accepting 5th or 6th place isn’t the right way to go about things which is where some of the respect for Redknapp has been lost. Whether you think we can’t compete on a regular basis with those teams above us who have more money or not is fine, but this season as a one off we have competed with them as we did last season. That’s two season’s we’ve competed with teams who can outspend us in every transfer market and this season’s dropped points can be easily identified. Fix those next season and we’ll compete once again and before you know it that’s three seasons back to back and the money and stadium excuses are no longer valid just as they aren’t now.
Finishing outside the top 4 has nothing to do with how much Man City, Chelsea or anyone else spend on players. It has nothing to do with playing in the Champions League when you consider others have done the same or even more in the Europa League. All winning at Anfield does against a Liverpool side on the up is confirm we’re good enough to be in the top 4 and that the only excuse is we’ve taken our eye off the ball in the last couple of months. As soon as Redknapp admits that, then the haters will be silenced and the team will no doubt go onto bigger and better things as a result.
