Had any Liverpool fan been offered the chance of their team leading the Premier League and through to the last 16 of the Champions League in the first week of December, they’d have snatched it with both hands.
Yet given the reaction of some sections of the support at Anfield and over the airwaves to Monday night’s goalless draw at home to West Ham United, anyone listening would have presumed Rafael Benitez’s side had dropped into the relegation zone and not moved a point clear at the top.
Such is life at Liverpool right now, where the desperation for a first title in 19 years means any setback is greeted with the kind of over-reaction normally reserved for failed X-Factor contestants.
Certainly, Benitez will hope his players are more adept at coping with the weight of expectation than some of their supporters.
Anyone requiring a reality check need only see what position Liverpool were in 12 months ago.
In their 15th league game, Benitez’s side lost their unbeaten record at Reading to stay in fourth place, seven points behind leaders Arsenal.
The manager had played a weakened team at the Madejski ahead of a must-win Champions League decider in Marseille in which defeat would have most likely cost the Spaniard his job.
And an upbeat Jamie Carragher believes supporters must keep concentrating on the positives at present.
“When you play at home and you draw its two points lost, there’s no doubt about that,” he says. “It’s obvious we’re all disappointed we didn’t win.
I’m sure our fans will realise as well as anyone that we’re not playing well at the moment but we’ve gone top of the league.
“Chelsea are probably going through a little bit of a rough patch themselves over the last three or four games and that’s something that’s happening to us as well.
“But while Chelsea got beat in the Champions League and have still to qualify and went down a place in the league after losing to Arsenal, the good thing is that we’ve not been playing well but have qualified from our Champions League group and have just gone top of the league.
“Don’t get me wrong, we would love to have gone three points clear, but I’m going to stay positive and say I’m delighted with where we are.
“We’re going for the league and in the knockout stages of the Champions League despite not playing well so they’re positives you have to take.”
Liverpool have struggled to make home advantage count in recent games, but Carragher has dismissed suggestions the team are feeling the pressure at Anfield while accepting their performances must improve.
“I love playing at Anfield and I’m sure we’re going to have more great nights here but we have got to do more,” says the centre-back.
“It’s not as if we don’t want to play at Anfield. We have just got to overcome this spell now but it’s probably a full season now since we’ve been beaten at home, our record at home has been very good over the last 12 to 18 months but we’ve got to start turning these draws into wins.”
Of Monday’s stalemate – their third of the season at Anfield after earlier goalless draws with Stoke City and Fulham – Carragher adds: “I don’t think we did enough to win the game. It was pretty similar to the Fulham game where they were a little bit dangerous on the break.
“We had a few chances but probably not what you’d call sitters. Maybe with a bit better finishing or a great goal we could have done it, but credit to them for keeping us out. We obviously have to do more.
Liverpool travel to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday – the Ewood Park outfit have the Premier League’s worst home record with just one win in seven – and then entertain promoted Hull City before the visit to Arsenal on December 21.
And Carragher says: “We won’t be thinking about Hull when we go to Blackburn. I’ve been here 10 years now and all everyone says is, ‘Oh, you’re next few games you can win’, it’s the biggest load of nonsense I’ve ever heard. You go out to win the next game, that’s it.
“People saying that you’ve got a run of four or five games that you should win, it’s nonsense. People that look that far ahead are just stupid.
“It’s stupid even talking like that, you never know what’s round the corner. You might get a load of injuries in two or three games’ time. The next game is always the one.”
Yet given the reaction of some sections of the support at Anfield and over the airwaves to Monday night’s goalless draw at home to West Ham United, anyone listening would have presumed Rafael Benitez’s side had dropped into the relegation zone and not moved a point clear at the top.
Such is life at Liverpool right now, where the desperation for a first title in 19 years means any setback is greeted with the kind of over-reaction normally reserved for failed X-Factor contestants.
Certainly, Benitez will hope his players are more adept at coping with the weight of expectation than some of their supporters.
Anyone requiring a reality check need only see what position Liverpool were in 12 months ago.
In their 15th league game, Benitez’s side lost their unbeaten record at Reading to stay in fourth place, seven points behind leaders Arsenal.
The manager had played a weakened team at the Madejski ahead of a must-win Champions League decider in Marseille in which defeat would have most likely cost the Spaniard his job.
And an upbeat Jamie Carragher believes supporters must keep concentrating on the positives at present.
“When you play at home and you draw its two points lost, there’s no doubt about that,” he says. “It’s obvious we’re all disappointed we didn’t win.
I’m sure our fans will realise as well as anyone that we’re not playing well at the moment but we’ve gone top of the league.
“Chelsea are probably going through a little bit of a rough patch themselves over the last three or four games and that’s something that’s happening to us as well.
“But while Chelsea got beat in the Champions League and have still to qualify and went down a place in the league after losing to Arsenal, the good thing is that we’ve not been playing well but have qualified from our Champions League group and have just gone top of the league.
“Don’t get me wrong, we would love to have gone three points clear, but I’m going to stay positive and say I’m delighted with where we are.
“We’re going for the league and in the knockout stages of the Champions League despite not playing well so they’re positives you have to take.”
Liverpool have struggled to make home advantage count in recent games, but Carragher has dismissed suggestions the team are feeling the pressure at Anfield while accepting their performances must improve.
“I love playing at Anfield and I’m sure we’re going to have more great nights here but we have got to do more,” says the centre-back.
“It’s not as if we don’t want to play at Anfield. We have just got to overcome this spell now but it’s probably a full season now since we’ve been beaten at home, our record at home has been very good over the last 12 to 18 months but we’ve got to start turning these draws into wins.”
Of Monday’s stalemate – their third of the season at Anfield after earlier goalless draws with Stoke City and Fulham – Carragher adds: “I don’t think we did enough to win the game. It was pretty similar to the Fulham game where they were a little bit dangerous on the break.
“We had a few chances but probably not what you’d call sitters. Maybe with a bit better finishing or a great goal we could have done it, but credit to them for keeping us out. We obviously have to do more.
Liverpool travel to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday – the Ewood Park outfit have the Premier League’s worst home record with just one win in seven – and then entertain promoted Hull City before the visit to Arsenal on December 21.
And Carragher says: “We won’t be thinking about Hull when we go to Blackburn. I’ve been here 10 years now and all everyone says is, ‘Oh, you’re next few games you can win’, it’s the biggest load of nonsense I’ve ever heard. You go out to win the next game, that’s it.
“People saying that you’ve got a run of four or five games that you should win, it’s nonsense. People that look that far ahead are just stupid.
“It’s stupid even talking like that, you never know what’s round the corner. You might get a load of injuries in two or three games’ time. The next game is always the one.”
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