11 Sept 2016

Anfield Surprise: Michael Owen makes stunning claim about Liverpool; insists Klopp's team 'can' break 27-year hoodoo

It's always the same: one good win, and the hype machine kicks into action. It happened after the 4-3 victory over Arsenal, and it's happening again today, with fans and pundits now claiming - on the basis of one game - that Liverpool are in with a chance of winning the title.

Analysing Liverpool's 4-1 victory over Leicester for BT Sport this evening, ex-Red Michael Owen raved:

"I think they [Liverpool] can [win the title]. Chelsea and Man City look a lot stronger, but of course they’ve got a chance".

The fickleness of fans (and pundits) truly is something to behold. One defeat, and the world is ending; one win, and Liverpool are going to win the league.

It's pathetic, really. Whatever happened to moderate thinking, and assessing the team over a significant period time? Things clicked today, but doesn't mean the pattern will continue over the next ten games.

One good victory also doesn't mean that fans were wrong to criticise Klopp for his questionable decisions in previous games.

I may be in the minority here, but one league win in the last three league games just doesn't excite me. Liverpool put in a great performance today, and that's laudable, but one game means absolutely nothing. Consistency is the key, and that's something Liverpool are yet to achieve under Klopp. As an example, consider the club's last 15 games:

* P15 W8 D3 L4 (Win Ratio = 53% | Failure to Win Ratio = 47%)

This is (arguably) a much better indicator of where Liverpool are right now, and these figures starkly illustrated the Reds' ongoing inconsistency.

As a comparison: Liverpool lost 2-0 to Burnley last month, and whilst that's a terrible result, it's as meaningless (in the grand scheme of things) as today's victory over Leicester. The Burnley defeat didn't mean Liverpool were heading for relegation, and hammering Leicester certainly isn't evidence that Liverpool can win the league.

Now, it'll be the same old schtick this week: drunk on their own hype, Liverpool's players will be falling over themselves to massage each others' egos in the press; fans and pundits will continue to the ridiculous title talk, and then the Reds will come crashing back down to earth against Chelsea (or Derby).

The vicious circle continues.


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