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The 2020/21 season is less than two months old, but Liverpool have already experienced an avalanche of adversity in different ways.
In each of the last three Premier League matches, potential winning goals have been chalked up after VAR review, one of them completely absurd (Jordan Henderson’s injury time goal against Everton), one of them correctly but for the tiny margins (the impressive control and volley of Mohamed Salah vs Sheffield United), and a very doubtful one (Diogo Jota vs West Ham United, annulled by an alleged lack of Sadio Mané, only for Jota to leave and score another minute after all modes).
Add in the stone wall penalty that Salah somehow missed against Aston Villa when the score was just 1-0, the fact that Jordan Pickford did not receive any punishment for his terrible challenge to Virgil van Dijk in the derby of Merseyside, and the hilarious penalty given to Sheffield United at Anfield, and it’s fair to say that Liverpool haven’t been in trouble lately when it comes to key decisions in games.
Since opening day, Liverpool have also suffered injuries from Alisson Becker, Van Dijk (potentially throughout the season), Joel Matip, Fabinho, Thiago Alcântara, Jordan Henderson, Naby Keita and Kostas Tsimikas, as well as Mané and Thiago who have had to isolate after testing positive for Covid-19. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, meanwhile, has not been available until now.
Even in the 7-2 humiliation at Villa Park, a game Liverpool absolutely deserved to lose, because it was second best with much during the 90 minutes, they awarded three huge deflections, so outlandish in build that you normally wouldn’t even expect to concede three like that over the course of an entire campaign, let alone in the same game.
Overall, therefore, the season has had the feel of a really grueling uphill battle. Almost every match in recent weeks has created a new problem for Jürgen Klopp to solve, while the team’s mental stamina has been repeatedly put under the microscope. Some of those issues have been caused by themselves, it’s worth saying, and while a combination of injuries to key players and unfortunate VAR incidents haven’t helped matters, Liverpool haven’t defended themselves well enough as a unit. .
And yet, despite all the hurdles they have absorbed so far, Liverpool have risen to the top of the Premier League table after seven games, and have also started the League campaign 100%. Champions. Time and again, they have found the answers, steadfastly refusing to settle for anything less than victory at any stage.
There is something strangely reassuring about seeing this team fall behind in the first half at Anfield. knowledge they will almost certainly work their way back to where they need to be full time. Of course, I’d rather they didn’t give themselves that task by sending in the opening goal in the first place, but the fact that they’ve now won the last 10 league games they’ve lagged behind at Anfield is a remarkable feat, and a That says a lot about their collective ability to deal with setbacks instead of dropping their shoulders and accepting when things don’t go their way.
This streak that we are on right now has many parallels to last season’s October-November period, as Liverpool scored a series of energetic, twisted and one-goal-margin victories against players like Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur . , Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Brighton. The last two league victories against Sheffield United and West Ham have been of an eerily similar nature, with Liverpool struggling to fully fit in at any moment, but doing enough.
In the long term, it is probably not sustainable to continue to do well as Liverpool have done for the past two weeks, and Klopp will certainly want to see a significant improvement in the overall level of performance very soon. In the past two seasons, Liverpool have really come alive in December, and the hope is that that pattern will continue for the third year in a row.
Right now, however, what matters is that Liverpool keep winning by whatever means necessary. The whole ‘mindset monsters’ motto has become a cliché since Klopp first used it while filming the 2018/19 campaign, but that’s with good reason.
When things are low, even if they are not playing anywhere near the level they are capable of, there is an internal imperturbability in this team that is extremely rare in football, if not incomparable.
If they score a winning goal that is not allowed in the VAR review, they just make sure to score another one that sticks. If the best center-back in the world (and his replacement) isn’t available, then Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips will come in and do the work that is required. If Liverpool need a moment of inspiration later and the first three forwards are unable to provide it, then Diogo Jota or Xherdan Shaqiri will step up to the table and deliver.
It’s an overused phrase winning mentality, but now it is part of the DNA of this Liverpool squad. Collectively, they are like a boxer who keeps coming back for more, despite taking hit after hit. In a season characterized by so many bizarre, unknown and inopportune circumstances, that is absolutely invaluable.
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