Liverpool are not to blame for this ‘tainted’ Premier League campaign and will relish their title regardless
- Claims that the Premier League are helping Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool to a 19th league title are growing louder
- The statistics show the suggestions are wide of the mark
Tom Werner, the club chairman, said it was a “dream season” and Kopites should “savour” the rest of the campaign. Across England there are millions of fans who feel they are living a nightmare.
Devotees of Manchester City are shell-shocked. In August they were optimistic about winning their third title in a row. Pep Guardiola’s team have not been competitive. They are 22 points behind Liverpool with 13 games to play.
It is hard for supporters at the Etihad to understand how this has happened. The seductive combination of Abu Dhabi cash and Guardiola’s genius appeared to create a scenario where City would dominate the domestic game for a decade. A dynasty seemed to be taking shape in east Manchester. Fans are thrashing around to explain how this situation could happen. Quite a few of them have decided there is only one answer: Liverpool must be getting favourable treatment. The idea that this is a “tainted title” has begun to circulate.
The conspiracy theorists claim that Klopp’s team have been the main beneficiaries of VAR even though the most cursory analysis of the statistics show that this is nonsense. According to the naysayers, referees, the Premier League and the FA are all in Anfield’s pocket. The fixture list is designed to make life easy for the Reds.
Guardiola bought into the paranoia. After his team’s 2-0 defeat away by Tottenham Hotspur, he referenced a quote from Richard Scudamore from two years ago when his team looked unstoppable. Scudamore, the chief executive of the Premier League who has since retired, said he would like “someone to get a little bit closer to City”.
During Alex Ferguson’s tenure at Old Trafford much of the country became part of the ABU (Anyone But United) movement. Klopp’s side are heirs to that throne of hate. It probably galls City that the nation has never come together to despise them
This is just what some at the Etihad wanted to hear. For most of their history, City have been second-class citizens in Manchester. In the past decade they have been elevated to the top tier of Europe’s clubs and have outstripped Manchester United in trophies. Yet an inferiority complex underpins City’s identity.
United may be struggling but remain a globally recognisable name with a massive fan base. Liverpool have similar international appeal.
City fans have gone through a similar process to Chelsea supporters in the 2000s. Roman Abramovich’s takeover made the west London club the richest in the land and brought trophies to a silverware-starved team. Fan bases that flip-flopped between being philosophical and disappointed quickly became triumphal and developed a sense of entitlement. For City, whose support was legendary for its downbeat, graveyard wit, the change has been even starker than for Chelsea.
City might be at the vanguard of the “tainted title” bandwagon but there are plenty of other sets of supporters who have jumped on board. United, Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal all have rivalries with Liverpool to different degrees – sometimes unreciprocated – and have underperformed badly over the past couple of years.
Dominant teams inspire loathing, especially if they are big clubs. During Alex Ferguson’s tenure at Old Trafford much of the country became part of the ABU (Anyone But United) movement. Klopp’s side are heirs to that throne of hate. It probably galls City that the nation has never come together to despise them.
Liverpool fans can be smug about the performances of their team but should not claim the moral high ground over moaning opponents. During United’s period of superiority, Kopites were among the first to allege dirty dealings on behalf of Old Trafford. According to many at Anfield, Ferguson owned referees and the football authorities and the entire game plotted to keep Liverpool under the Mancunian heel. The truth is that United were a well-run and well-managed club. Liverpool were not.
Now the situation has changed. Klopp and Fenway Sports Group, the owners, have had some luck but have increasingly developed a system that works. They have spent money wisely, bought the right players and developed a tactical approach that the other 19 Premier League teams have been unable to decipher. Nothing about Liverpool’s season can tarnish their brilliance. Even those who claim that Klopp has disrespected and undermined the FA Cup are unable to make a compelling argument because Liverpool’s kids were able to move into the fifth round by beating Shrewsbury Town 1-0. Winning makes almost everything right in football.
In a decade or so, historians may look back on the 2019-20 season with a certain amount of disappointment. It will not be because of Klopp’s men, though. It will be because a division containing five of the richest 11 clubs in the world – excepting Liverpool – could not muster a challenge to Anfield; that a league where the bottom team receives almost £100 million (US$130.2 million) in TV money per season did not have the coaches or players to slow down Mo Salah and Co.
It is the tainted teams and their lack of competitiveness that is the problem. Liverpool’s title will be as pure and breathtaking as titles come.
