da betcris： Victory for Arsenal over Sunderland last night means that Liverpool will be taken to the final day in their quest for a top four finish and a place in next season’s Champions League.
da supremo： It would be only the Reds’ second foray into the competition since 2009/10, when they were knocked out in the group stages, just as they were in 2014. By all accounts, that’s a depressing record for a team that has won the competition more than any other English side, but the Anfield club has found that failure to reach the Champions League has landed them in a vicious circle: when they dropped out of the Champions League, they couldn’t sign the best players, and when they no longer had the best players, they couldn’t compete for the top four.
What often gets lost these days when talking about Champions League qualification is that one or two seasons out of the competition don’t seem to matter as much for clubs like Manchester City, Manchester United or Chelsea than they do for Liverpool. That’s because those clubs already have better squads, and that’s all down to the fact they’ve been in the competition more regularly and more recently than Liverpool.
And so when this season is over, we’ll probably hear a lot about Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool stumbling over the line, having underachieved in the second half of the campaign. And yet, that’s only really a half-truth. They have failed since Christmas – there’s no getting away from that – but they’ve also overachieved to be leading the charge for the fourth spot at all. That’s because they’ve had to make do with what the likes of City, United and Chelsea would probably regard as second tier signings for the last few seasons.
Whereas City splurged on Gabriel Jesus and Leroy Sane, Liverpool bought Sadio Mane. To United’s Pogba, Liverpool bought Georginio Wijnaldum. You can hardly argue the Reds have spent a pittance, but they certainly haven’t been able to attract the biggest names in the game – that is, the sorts of players teenagers want in their FIFA 17 teams. This summer, Champions League qualification could change that: money to spend, a big name manager and a shot at the big Cup make for one heady cocktail of an aphrodisiac.
With the Premier League’s influx of TV cash, it’s no longer about the Champions League that lends money to the biggest teams to buy the biggest names, it’s about the lending of prestige.
The flip side of that, however, is that failure to beat Middlesbrough this weekend could damage the summer’s recruitment. Given the fairly obvious flaws in the side (their inability over the last few weeks to score goals without Sadio Mane in the team, their penchant for conceding from set-pieces, James Milner at left-back…) the difference between qualifying for the Europa League and the Champions League means the difference between Europa League players and Champions League players. If Liverpool have overachieved by finishing in the top four, it’s only because there are four better, more expensively assembled squads in the league.
So where does that leave two of the most naturally-gifted players in the squad, Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge? These are two very different situations: Coutinho is one of the side’s stalwarts, whilst Sturridge has made only six Premier League starts.
Another season out of the Champions League might make Coutinho’s departure more likely than not, but he’s surely the type of player Liverpool can’t afford to lose if they’re to progress as a side. A top four spot will make for a big summer and the chance to turn the team into one which can maintain its level for the next few years.
That might be a reason why Daniel Sturridge’s future at the club shouldn’t seem quite so uncertain.
Last weekend at West Ham (and admittedly, against a team whose season ended a week previously with their own ‘cup final’ against Tottenham) Jurgen Klopp did something he hasn’t done for most of the season – he played a new formation.
The diamond heralded by many as a new tactic for Liverpool, though, isn’t really all that different to the normal 4-3-3. It’s still a back four and still requires a trio of central midfielders, one of whom will probably drop deeper than the other two and between the centre backs to form a back three when attacking. That leaves three attacking players left, though probably a number 10 and two attackers who pull wide, rather than the striker and two wingers traditionally thought-of as the front three in that formation.
Liverpool haven’t played with a normal attack line for most of the season. Coutinho has made for an unlikely winger, whilst Roberto Firmino is certainly not an out-and-out striker. And yet, the idea that Sturridge and Divock Origi can work well together as a front two is certainly food for thought when it comes to a plan B – something Klopp has lacked this season.
The fact that Liverpool will be playing European football next season means that a bigger squad will be needed next season, and although Sturridge has found himself frozen out this season, that doesn’t mean he will be next year when the games come thicker and quicker.
Champions League qualification might have a big effect for Liverpool this summer in terms of keeping their best players and adding top talent, instead of settling for younger, unproven players. But its biggest impact might just be with the sorts of players who haven’t played much this season – next year, there’ll be more games and Klopp will need a plan B more often that this time around.