Dirk Kuyt has admitted Liverpool's home form undermined their title challenge even before they defeated Manchester United in March and that Rafael Benítez's team "were not quite good enough" to stop their fierce rivals drawing level on 18 league championships this season.
Liverpool have dropped only two points from a possible 30 since losing to Middlesbrough in February to deliver their strongest title challenge of the Premier League era and elevate expectations for next season. Their one slip in that sequence was the 4-4 draw with Arsenal at Anfield, but Kuyt believes the six stalemates at home before then – against the likes of Stoke City, Hull City and Manchester City – had left Benítez's men with an insurmountable task ahead of their 4-1 victory at Old Trafford on 14 March.
"It's a shame that the season is ending now," said the Dutch international, whose goal at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday ensured his highest return – 15 – as a Liverpool player. "The performances we have shown in the last couple of months have been very good. If the season had gone on for another month then maybe we could have been even closer to United. The problem was when we went into the game against United the gap was basically 10 points [seven points plus a game in hand]. We beat them and pushed them really, really hard but that was a very big gap for us to try and make up. If the gap had been closer then, the run-in might have been even more interesting but United won all their games anyway."
Liverpool have dropped only two points from a possible 30 since losing to Middlesbrough in February to deliver their strongest title challenge of the Premier League era and elevate expectations for next season. Their one slip in that sequence was the 4-4 draw with Arsenal at Anfield, but Kuyt believes the six stalemates at home before then – against the likes of Stoke City, Hull City and Manchester City – had left Benítez's men with an insurmountable task ahead of their 4-1 victory at Old Trafford on 14 March.
"It's a shame that the season is ending now," said the Dutch international, whose goal at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday ensured his highest return – 15 – as a Liverpool player. "The performances we have shown in the last couple of months have been very good. If the season had gone on for another month then maybe we could have been even closer to United. The problem was when we went into the game against United the gap was basically 10 points [seven points plus a game in hand]. We beat them and pushed them really, really hard but that was a very big gap for us to try and make up. If the gap had been closer then, the run-in might have been even more interesting but United won all their games anyway."
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