Liverpool may finally be celebrating a Premier League win in 2017 – but in reality their season is already over, says Alan Shearer
A quick look at the league table and they are just in a battle to finish in the top four, a mile away from making a title challenge
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THERE was great joy all around Anfield on Saturday.
Another thrilling performance against one of the top-six sides.
A fantastic atmosphere at the expanded ground.
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The sight of a previously under-pressure boss with a smile on his face hugging his players to show a great togetherness.
Then a quick look at the league table and they are just in a battle to finish in the top four, a mile away from making a title challenge.
Outside of that there is nothing left to play for.
Manchester United stand a point behind Jurgen Klopp’s team but, in the next three weeks, they will be battling for cup glory on three fronts.
Before they play another league game they could have one piece of silverware under their arm and still be looking for more in the FA Cup and Europa League.
It feels like their season is still very much alive.
Not so for Liverpool, who paid the price of fielding a weak side in the FA Cup and not taking Southampton seriously enough in the EFL semi-finals.
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So no matter what happens from here on in, it will just be one of those seasons when they have once more knocked on the door but not stepped over the threshold.
Their league campaign has faltered because they have not always taken the opposition seriously enough, too.
They can get up for the big games but Saturday was their first win in six in the league.
Second-placed Spurs were seemingly no problem. They also drew with table-toppers Chelsea.
But Hull, Sunderland and Swansea in that recent run were another matter.
Here lies the problem with too many teams who seem to have the talent to have a tilt at the title but not the right mentality.
One of the main reasons Manchester United won so many Premier League crowns under Sir Alex Ferguson was that every opponent was taken seriously.
They would not always win the big games against those around them at the top or in derbies against Liverpool or Manchester City.
But you would be sure the following week they would go to places lower down the leagues in less high-profile clashes and win them.
It is said that part of Liverpool’s problem is that Klopp’s high-pressing intense style of play has left the players exhausted.
I don’t buy that at all.
The players should be fit enough to cope with that. Without midweek European football, they had a great chance this season but have not taken it.
Part of the problem is that the attack and high pressing up the pitch has been at the expense of what happens at the other end.
The defence is not good enough and neither is the goalkeeper — and that is something that needs to be addressed in the summer.
What Klopp needs is a strong end to the season to build on for the next campaign.
It is just that the only prize at the end of it is going to be a place in the top four.
It is important, yes, but I have never seen fans celebrating it in the same way that Manchester United fans will celebrate if they beat Southampton at Wembley in a fortnight.
Or if they return to lift the FA Cup or go to Stockholm and win the final of the Europa League. The tangible evidence of success that can be seen in silverware is still what gets the fans up ahead of a league place — unless it is top or a great escape at the bottom.
Even then I bet the Wigan fans who were at Wembley that day they beat Manchester City to win the FA Cup would still not swap it for staying up that season.
Of course, Liverpool are not alone in taking this attitude when it comes to the cups.
More mind-boggling for me this season was Spurs playing a weakened team at Monaco last November in a must-win Champions League group game because they were facing Chelsea the following Saturday.
A game which they lost in any case.
What is the point of getting in the Champions League if you are going to do that?
The upshot of it is that they are now in the Europa League as they lost in Monaco and went out.
So, while the league remains the so-called bread and butter, success in the cups still puts a cherry on the top of a season.
Which is why, no matter where Klopp’s side finish this season, there could still be more reasons for celebrations at their bitterest rivals in Manchester.