Liverpool, Sunday @PeopleSports11
With one game to go, a first league title since 1990 looked tantalisingly within reach for Liverpool but the story ended in disappointment after Manchester City won 4-1 at Brighton to defend their title on Sunday.
Being brutally honest, there are not many tales of Reds’ title challenges to tell from the past 29 years and no spoilers are needed for you to know that they all ended in tears.
Since they were last crowned champions, for a then-record 18th time, Liverpool have managed serious bids in only six seasons -including this one -and been in the race on the final day only once, in 2013-14.
From mind games and meltdowns to fumbled crosses and famous slips, there are multiple reasons, theories or excuses for why they fell short each time -including a manager exit, a manager illness, and at least one manager making some extremely ill-advised claims.
Their fans, some of who were singing ‘we’re going to win the league’ with three games remaining in 2014, have still had success to cheer with a Champions League victory to add to one Uefa Cup, two FA Cups, and three League Cup wins in the Premier League era.
But the league title is the one they all continue to covet and “next year is going to be our year” has been the May mantra of many an Anfield fan during the past three decades.
But it has also become a way of mocking the Merseysiders because every previous title challenge has been followed immediately by a campaign where they did not even come remotely close.
Daglish shocker
BBC Sport speaks to some of the players and managers involved in those near-misses to find out what actually did go wrong, and why Jurgen Klopp’s team might be different -even if that is only in the way they respond after the title eluded them.
Try to imagine where Liverpool would be now if Klopp had left with three months of the season to go, and you will get an idea of what happened to their title defence when Kenny Dalglish sensationally quit as manager on February 22, 1991.
The Reds were three points clear at the top of the table when, two days after a pulsating 4-4 FA Cup draw with Everton, Dalglish stunned the football world by announcing he was leaving the club he had served as player and manager for 14 trophy-laden years.
Dalglish would later explain that the stress and strain of witnessing the Hillsborough disaster and its aftermath in 1989 was telling on his mind and body and led to his decision, which surprised even his closest friends.
The collapse was immediate. With long-serving coach Ronnie Moran in temporary charge, Liverpool lost three games in the next eight days -3-1 on Luton’s plastic pitch, 1-0 at Goodison Park in an FA Cup fifth-round second replay, and most damaging of all, 1-0 at home to title rivals Arsenal, who replaced them at the summit.
Liverpool had lost only two out of 24 league games under Dalglish, but lost six of their final 14 without him.
“We should not have capitulated the way we did but we were still the top team in the country then,” remembered John Barnes, a two-time title winner with the Reds.
Benitez mind-games
Mind games have not been on the agenda for Klopp or City boss Pep Guardiola this season but, a decade ago, they were well known as being a favourite weapon of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
On this occasion, however, when the first shots were fired it was Reds boss Rafael Benitez who pulled the trigger.
On January 9, 2009, with his Liverpool side seven points clear at the top of the table (albeit with United having two games in hand), Benitez pulled out a piece of A4 paper at his news conference and began listing his grievances against the United boss.
They ranged from Ferguson’s conduct regarding referees to the how the fixture list favoured Liverpool’s main title rivals.
“I want to talk about facts,” began Benitez as he launched into a five-minute rant in front of reporters – which arguably backfired. The effect was probably more apparent on the boost it gave United.
Speaking about the incident in 2017, Red Devils defender Gary Neville told Soccerbox: “I remember being at home that day watching Sky Sports News and thinking ‘what has he done!?!’
If that was Benitez’s intention, it certainly failed. Was his meltdown more myth than ‘Kevin Keegan moment’ though?
Take a closer look at Liverpool’s results that season and it seems they were actually derailed by the same problem that threatened to undo Klopp’s bid earlier this year – hardly any defeats, but too many draws.
Unlike Liverpool’s previous near-misses, this one is remembered as coming down to a single moment.
On a fateful April day at Anfield, thousands of home fans had welcomed the Liverpool team bus before their game against Chelsea with flares, fireworks and chants of ‘we are the champions’.
Those supporters were buoyed by a run of nine straight wins that had left them needing only seven points from their final three fixtures to secure the title, and it seems the Liverpool players shared their belief that glory would finally be theirs.
Gerrard slip
“Before the game we were so confident. I don’t know if you remember it but we absolutely battered them,” said Glen Johnson, who was the Reds regular right-back that season.
“They did not ever look like winning the game, but we could not score. As we were pushing, obviously we left a few open holes and what happened, happened.”
Johnson is describing Steven Gerrard’s infamous slip, which allowed Demba Ba to run clear and put Chelsea ahead just before half-time.
Willian sealed their victory with a breakaway goal in the final moments of the match.
Liverpool were now left level on points with City, and nine goals worse off on goal difference. They looked like doing some damage to that deficit when they went 3-0 up against Crystal Palace in their penultimate game, but a final collapse at Selhurst Park was about to finish their hopes for good.
“It was almost like it was meant to happen,” says Johnson, who again is dredging up some painful memories.
The player was Damian Delaney, and that was Palace’s first goal back, with 11 minutes to go. Eagles substitute Dwight Gayle quickly added two more, and a 3-3 draw in south-east London left Luis Suarez in tears and meant Liverpool’s title dreams were left shattered once again.
-BBC
