Liverpool are as good as they have been for many years – even if they win nothing, it has been a fine season
- Reds are in the last-four of the Champions League and still in the hunt in the league
- The club has taken massive strides under Jurgen Klopp’s guidance
Being from Manchester, it brings me no pleasure to write this, but this is the best Liverpool side since the days when the Anfield club won league titles. They might win the Premier League this season, they might not. Either way they’ve enjoyed a fine season and they’ve improved as it has gone on. They’re also in the semi-finals of the Champions League and will hope to come closer to beating Barcelona than Manchester United did.
United’s form has fallen off a cliff, but before their 4-0 hammering at Everton, I went to meet lifelong Liverpool fan Peter Hooton in his home city. Hooton, lead singer of The Farm, was enjoying his side’s moment in the sun as much as the unseasonably warm Easter weather on the banks of the River Mersey.
“This is a great time to be a Liverpool fan, there’s no doubt about it,” said Hooton, 57. “Jurgen Klopp has restored Liverpudlians’ pride and while people say that he hasn’t won anything, even if we don’t win anything this year, we can see what he’s trying to do. He’s trying to build a dynasty and we feel like the tide has turned with other teams.”
“Chelsea, Arsenal and Man United are struggling. The new kids on the block are Tottenham and Man City. They’ll be a force if they keep their management structure. Liverpool are right up there with them. We could end up with 97 points and not win the league. It’s incredible. Leicester won the league with 81 points.”
Klopp is a hero to Liverpool supporters, right up there with the greats.
“He has the force of personality, the enthusiasm and vision comparable to Bill Shankly,” Hooton explained. “Look at the players that he’s brought in. He wanted Virgil van Dijk and didn’t accept anyone else when every internet warrior and self-proclaimed Liverpool expert was suggesting other names.
He has the force of personality, the enthusiasm and vision comparable to Bill Shankly
“Klopp is a hugger. I know some don’t like it when he comes on the pitch and punches the air, but I do. It shows that his heart is on his sleeve. I remember the Kop singing his name in his first season and he went mad and told them not to do that as he hadn’t won anything. They still sing his name.”
Liverpool came close to winning a first league title since 1990 in 2014. Why are they different now?
“It’s not built on sand this time,” Hooton said. “Van Dijk and a better goalkeeper, Allison, have made a difference. We can grind out results now. We can play Chelsea, who were excellent in the first half, but still be able to step up a gear and win the game with a brilliant goal from (Mohamed) Salah. We haven’t seen goals like that since (Luis) Suarez. We thought that our chance had gone when Suarez left, but we’re better now.”
Liverpool don’t have a benefactor, but they have a vast global fanbase. They’ve expanded Anfield, which is full to its 54,000 capacity every game.
Hooton explains how the current success was built.
“The owners bought the club for a relative pittance. They know what they are doing because the value of their asset has grown massively. Their original idea was to sign younger emerging talents and coach them into Premier League winners. Klopp has ripped up that blueprint. He didn’t want Liverpool to be regarded as a stepping-stone, a selling club. We have players now like (Sadio) Mane and Salah who are thinking, ‘We’re good enough to win the European Cup, I want to stay and be part of this.’”
Liverpool’s support has endured through the lean years.
“We’ve always gone home and away with Liverpool and had a good time. Football is a social occasion, but having a team who play like we do makes it more enjoyable. We went to Bayern Munich and played them off the park. That was probably the highlight of this season.”
Liverpool dispensed with both Bayern and Napoli to reach the Champions League semi-finals.
“We play with a flair that Man United used to have, even when they weren’t winning much in the ’70s and ’80s. Man United would always attack.
“We’re all enjoying United’s waning power, though financially they’re still a mega rich club. You can see that Alex Ferguson was the glue that kept everything together, but they’re going through what we had to go through for years. United just need to find that catalyst they had with Fergie and we think we have with Klopp.”
United’s neighbours, City, are Liverpool’s only challenge for the title. The two are neck and neck, but City are, Hooton insists, not the enemy.
“It’s hard for Liverpool fans to have a rivalry with City. People used to have a soft spot for City and their glorious failures, but I think City fans want a rivalry with Liverpool and I couldn’t believe the frenzy from their fans across the divide when they controversially beat us in January.”
City visit United on Wednesday. For the first time ever, many Liverpool fans will be supporting United.
“I’ll watch it,” Hooton said. “Some Liverpool fans think United will roll over because they’d rather City win the league than Liverpool, but United need to get into the top four. United fans will want to win.
“This is a fantastic time to be a Liverpool fan,” is Hooton’s verdict. “My dad is 91 and has gone to games all his life. He’s a man of few words but he’s started texting me saying ‘I enjoyed that’ after games.”
