After the 0:2 defeat to Everton, Liverpool's title race situation has taken a sharp turn, and it can even be said that Liverpool has been thrown away by Arsenal. Of course, there are still opportunities in the future, but if you look at Liverpool's recent performance, 0:3 at home to Atalanta, 0:1 to Crystal Palace, such a performance, can you expect them to suddenly be as stable as Mount Tai in the next few rounds? Therefore, this season's Premier League, the probability is still that Arsenal and Manchester City are competing for power, and Manchester City's hope of defending the title is further increasing.
If he can't win the Premier League this season, it will be a pity for Klopp. We're not talking about League One, we're talking about the Premier League. In the past 30 years, Liverpool's status in the Premier League has actually been inferior to Manchester United, Chelsea, and even Manchester City, which has only risen in the last decade. In fact, it was after Klopp came that Liverpool really entered the Premier League championship group and returned to the peak position of the seventies and eighties. At the time of the Istanbul miracle, Liverpool was not actually a top team, but in recent years, Liverpool is absolutely, otherwise, how could they reach the Champions League final three times in five years? And Klopp's greatest achievement is, of course, to bring Liverpool the only Premier League title so far. For this alone, Jurgen Klopp is arguably Liverpool's greatest coach in the Premier League era.
Many people say that taking over Liverpool next season is like taking over Alex Ferguson from Old Trafford. Of course, this is a bit exaggerated, after all, Klopp does not have Ferguson's status and authority at Manchester United, but it is conceivable what tests the new coach will face, especially the Premier League title and Champions League title left by Klopp for Liverpool, which are like two insurmountable mountains that will put a lot of pressure on the new coach next season.
However, in my opinion, Klopp's best experience in Liverpool for nearly ten years was not to lead Liverpool to win the first Premier League title and the second Champions League title since the new century, but to try to strive for the ultimate possibility in the club category in a certain season.
This season, it looks like it's not a big deal, but it's an extremely deep '21-22 season.
That season, the Premier League belonged to Manchester City, the Champions League belonged to Real Madrid, and now that I think about it, it seems that there is nothing to do without Liverpool. But remember, the title race between Manchester City and Liverpool was at a fever pitch. In the Champions League final, Liverpool pressed Real Madrid all over the field, which once made Real Madrid feel in front of the door.
Yes, that season, Liverpool only won two mediocre titles, the FA Cup and the League Cup. But combined with the previous scenes, did you find a terrifying fact - that season, Liverpool actually fought on four fronts, and every front went to the end. Of course, there is no final in the league, but the competition between Liverpool and Manchester City is actually equivalent to the competition for the final. In other words, Liverpool fought on four fronts and reached the final.
Most people only saw that Liverpool won the two most boring titles and lost the two most important. But if you think about it, in the history of European football, is there still a team like Liverpool - smashing all four fronts to the end?
That's the best thing about Klopp. In fact, for any giant, at the beginning of each season, they must be full of pride and intend to win every championship. But as the season progressed, I felt more and more inadequate, so I began to make trade-offs, consciously or unconsciously. But that season's Liverpool can be said to have carried out the ultimate dream throughout the season and never let up. English football has a chicken rib competition of the League Cup, so there is one more front than other leagues, so the Premier League team can theoretically win 4 championships in a season and achieve the quadruple crown. Theory is theory, reality is reality, in fact, winning four championships to become a quadruple champion, this kind of thing, most teams just think about it, and really try it? But Liverpool really tried, and almost succeeded.
That's the best thing about Klopp. Some people say that he is a giant baby, and sometimes it is easy to get out of reality, but it is this kind of giant baby's unrelenting energy that makes Liverpool full of combat effectiveness. In fact, Liverpool's bench thickness is not the deepest in the Premier League, so it is impossible to imagine what belief Liverpool relied on that season, and the fourth-line battle went to the end. Perhaps, Klopp has his own energy.
Of course, it is enough for this kind of thing to happen once, after all, the four-line battle is too difficult and too difficult, and the test and torture of the players are too big. But there was a season when there was a team that tried the ultimate possibility in the club category – the quadruple. Although it failed in the end, it is definitely worthy of respect and remembering.
In the world of football, winning or losing is an immutable truth. But in my opinion, Klopp's best thing is not to win the Premier League and the Champions League, but to win the League Cup and the FA Cup - don't forget, behind these two chicken championships, is the heroism of never bending down in the fourth line of battle. Even Manchester City, who have the deepest bench, would not dare to try such a thing.