Sunday was the first time in a long while that I can remember watching the Reds lose and feeling non-plussed by it afterwards.
Usually I’d be angry, reflective, analytic and pretty keen for some ale to soothe the pain.
Against Crystal Palace though, far from it. There’s only one reason for that: Jürgen Klopp.
We have a world-class manager putting into practice his way. He knows where we need to be, what we need to improve on and where we went wrong on Sunday. He’ll fix it.
Safe in the knowledge of that, I was at ease losing a game. Calm. It almost felt grand.
A charmed dig
The man even went after the fans for leaving early, something that’s brave to do so prematurely in his tenure. It not only shows the bold nature of the fella, but also what he expects from our supporters.
Can you imagine Brendan Rodgers doing that if he was still around? He’d be burnt at the stake by a baying mob.
Klopp dealt with it extremely well. The charm came on.
He acknowledged that the fans need to believe something can happen in the latter stages of a game for them to have the desire to stick around, which is a fair point, but also that the act of staying until the death, lending your voice to the cause, can drive a team to new heights in dying time. It’s a cycle.
In declaring that he felt ‘alone’, Klopp single-handedly, in seconds, got everyone on board again.
In a snappy and direct response to the media following the ‘alone’ comments, he also made it clear he did not want to anger the fans. He was making an observation and assessing the rationale for such behaviour.
He’s curious to know why it’s happening, he thinks it shouldn’t be happening and he wants it solved.
Drop off
For me, we’re not just part of a results business right now. We’re also searching and working for an identity. We’re searching for an atmosphere. Those things require our fans to make Anfield what it once was.
I don’t get to Anfield as much as I’d like to – mainly due to my location and work commitments.
Every time I have managed to make the trip North to Liverpool for a game in recent years, though, the ground has been flat. Totally devoid of air. Deflated.
I even remember a little while back when a few supporters moaned about certain things when Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool demolished Swansea 5-0. Genuinely.
It’s become increasingly apparent that things are not well even on TV broadcasts when games are televised live. It just doesn’t feel right.
What’s worrying me is we have a manager that should encourage that reinvigoration of Anfield, a manager that demands this from his fans, but we’re still not getting there.
The debate
It’s a conversation that’s flared up every now and then for as long as I can remember and I have no doubt it will subside again like it always does. But why should it?
Our manager wants belief in return for his efforts. We want results and performances in return for our belief. Both effort and belief should come in tandem.
Whether we’ll see an upturn in the percentage of fans staying until the very end, or an increase in decibel levels, at this stage is unknown.
People no doubt have their reasons for jolting at 82 minutes. It’s probably more out of habit than anything else. That or they’re eager to be the first to the bar at the Sandon.
It baffles me why people pay the ticket prices, rightly complaining about how high they are along the way, to then forgo a ninth of the game! If you’re watching on TV, do you switch off with 10 minutes left? No.
Let’s buck that trend.
Not there yet
As fans, we took an oath to become a believer from a doubter. That’s not been accomplished yet.
If the fans fully believe, the players might just fully believe. And if the players fully believe, who knows what might happen in the last moments of a game?
As Klopp confidently and boldly put it: “You can score eight goals in the last 10 minutes.”
Is right, Jürgen, let’s do that – preferably when the early leavers have all done one, just out of spite.
