I feel, in some ways, like a kid waiting for Christmas. Only I don’t, because at the same time I feel a bit like when one of my dogs was ill at the vets, and we were waiting to see if she’d need to be put down or not.
In one sense, it’s exciting just to have the chance of getting back into Europe’s premier competition, after several barren years out of it. On the other, the alternative almost doesn’t bear thinking about.
Welcome to the end of the 2016/17 season, Liverpool fans. From a team that swatted the opposition aside for much of the first half of the season, and enjoyed an astonishing unbeaten record against the rest of the ‘top 6’ (W5, D5, L0, GD +7, 20 points), things changed almost overnight on 1st January 2017, especially with our well-documented struggles against ‘smaller’ teams. All leading to the current state of affairs, with a side many had an outside bet on for the title, to be scrapping with two others just for a Champions League spot on the last day of the season.
Maybe it’s not like waiting for Christmas actually. Maybe it’s more like the night of the 24th May 2004, aka ‘The Night Before Istanbul’?
Nah, again, not quite. At least with Istanbul there was something to be excited about. Genuinely excited about. The prospect of winning something that only 22 teams in the whole world have ever won; and in terms of Liverpool FC, for an almost unprecedented fifth time.
Tomorrow, all we can do is lose – there’s nothing to ‘win’ really is there? I mean, we’re not like Arsenal, who consider fourth place some kind of imaginary trophy. If we win, ‘yay’ we make the qualifying rounds of the CL and play FC Kazakhstan sometime in July (I’m assuming here that City will do their job and clinch third).
To miss out would be utterly devastating. Not only will our 1% chance of signing the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Messi become 0% but we will be consigned: to not even Thursday nights on Channel 5 where at least most can watch us; but Thursday nights on BT Sport 2, with Owen Hargreaves excitedly describing our latest 1-1 away draw with Lokomotiv Moscow.
Not quite the stuff of our dreams is it?
And, on a more practical level (and putting Neymar jokes aside), missing out on the CL would put a real dent in our transfer plans this summer, no matter what Jurgen says. Even the likes of Virgil van Dijk, a very good but arguably not an ‘elite’ player, would be unlikely to make the switch to Anfield without the lure of facing Europe’s premier teams next season.
With a Liverpool squad in need of fairly major surgery in order to make a title push, and cope with the demands of European football next season, this would be very bad news. Holes exist down the entire spine of the first team, with a need for a centre back, midfielder, and striker as well as more quality width, to enable the Reds to take on holders Chelsea and battle Tottenham, Arsenal and both Manchester teams who will no doubt spend heavily this summer. It is not overly dramatic to speculate that a failure to secure CL football tomorrow will set us back at least two years.
What are the keys to a win against an already-relegated Middlesbrough team? Clearly, we need to get at them from the kick-off and not allow them to build any kind of confidence. Even if we don’t score early, both physically and technically we need to dominate them and believe that eventually, the goal will come.
There are rumours they may line up with a team only comprised of players set to stay with them in the Championship next season, which may actually work against us, in that they will have more to play for than the likes of Negredo who are unlikely to stick around. It will be important for both full backs to get forward and stretch the Boro defence, but our main man for me will be Phil Coutinho.
Against a team who will sit back in their own half, and with Adam Lallana still not 100%, the little Brazilian could be the one to come up with a defence-splitting pass (and capitalise on his connection with Daniel Sturridge) or one of his trademark thirty-yarders to break a deadlock. I’ve got a feeling we will see another trademark, in that ‘wiggly arms’ dance too…
Sleep well, fellow Reds. Or try to, at least. Big day tomorrow…
