Frustration. It’s a strange thing. It’s defined as being annoyed or upset as a result of being unable to change or achieve something. There’s no doubt it goes hand-in-hand with supporting any team in any sport but it feels Liverpool fans have a run in with it on a regular occurrence.
Sitting here typing this up just an hour after Kolo Toure provided his second assist of the week, this time at the wrong end of the pitch, it’s difficult not to get frustrated at missing out on making further ground on rivals. With West Brom sitting just above the drop zone and an unbelievable performance mid week from the Reds, 3 points looked to be a cert. If that wasn’t enough, after a first half of the Baggies not showing any signs of a threat you’d be forgiven for counting down the minutes until Suarez and Sturridge kill the game off. But after a lapse in concentration the ball is given away too easily and so is a share of the points.
This result comes just days after further frustration from the wonderful event that is ‘Transfer Deadline Day’. Usually a player getting taken from underneath the Club’s nose, but this time getting caught out by the ticking clock of Jim White and his live feed of Big Ben. Cheers for that.
It all feels like it’s happened too much this season. Losing to Hull in December and drawing against West Brom and Aston Villa in the past few weeks makes you think of just how easily we could have been in the fight for the title, let alone a Champions League place. In just that time you could point the finger at individual performances like Kolo this weekend, poor managerial decisions like the change of formation against Villa or even people closer to the top of the club for not wrapping up signings quicker. But this isn’t a time to point fingers.
It’s a time to keep our heads.
Amid all the frustration of a poor result or failure to make up ground it becomes all too easy to suffer from a memory lapse. Things need to be put into perspective. The current team should not be compared to that of any under Rafa Benitez, especially not the squad that come so close to winning the league. Since then we’ve fallen away from Champions League contention, changed managers, changed owners, changed the squad twice over… and yet we struggle to change our expectations.
If we take the West Brom game as an example, we really didn’t turn up – especially in the 2nd half. It was far from a great performance. The Baggies dominated possession in periods of the game and we struggled to create enough chances to kill the game off. Then another individual error at the back cost us a goal and the chance to walk away with the 3 points.
But looking at the same fixture just last season we gave away 2 penalties, had Agger sent off and lost 3-0. It was an absolute horror show and the worst way possible to start the season. That doesn’t justify giving away the lead, but when you also take into account the likes of Everton, Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea having dropped points against West Brom this season, the single point all of a sudden doesn’t look half as bad.
There are only 5 games this season in which we have come away worse off than the respective fixture last season. Southampton at home, Newcastle away and you can guess the other 3. Those aside, we’ve either got the same result or bettered it in every single PL game. Ignoring the teams relegated/promoted we’re 13 points better off.
It’s important that both the squad and the supporters keep their heads at this stage of the season. Hammering Everton in the derby 4-0 should not deem us back in contention for the title and a 1-1 draw against West Brom away, by the same token, should not be looked at like the start of us throwing everything away. With only 14 games remaining and sitting very nicely in that Champions League place, it is without doubt the best opportunity we’ve had in years to make such big steps forward – if we can keep our heads.
Some people would recommend counting to 10 when frustrated. But if you have the time, counting the difference in points on the board against recent seasons might just ease that frustration a little more.
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