Liverpool’s Title Push May Have “Come at the Wrong Time”

Jamie Carragher is worried Manchester City’s established juggernaut could derail the Jürgen Klopp project.

Liverpool are one of the favourites to win the Premier League this season, and it’s not the first time people have thought the club had a real chance to break their increasingly long league title drought. Every other time they’ve had a chance, though, they’ve come up short.

According to Jamie Carragher, there’s been some bad luck involved with that, as Liverpool have tended to field their strongest sides at the same time as other clubs, stronger to begin with or just having started their build-up sooner, have hit the absolute peak of their cycle.

Then, for Liverpool, when success doesn’t come there has been a tendency for what was built to start to come apart. And he’s worried that this current Liverpool side, arguably the club’s strongest ever in the Premier League era, could face something of the same fate.

“What I always think is, why we didn’t win a league,” Carragher told This Is Anfield. “We were up against Ferguson, Manchester United’s best-ever manager and their best-ever team, Wenger, probably Arsenal‘s best-ever manager, with their best ever-team, 2001-2004.

“And Mourinho, who was Chelsea‘s best-ever manager and their best-ever team, 2005, 2006, 2007. And that’s a little bit of my fear for Klopp’s Liverpool. I just wonder if it’s come at the wrong time, with City and Guardiola. Because I think they’re going to dominate.”

While money may play the biggest role in Premier League success and has been key to the runs United and Arsenal and Chelsea and now City have all gone on, it’s also true that that success then helps to fuel further success. It brings more money; aids with recruitment.

Once you get on top, the simple fact that you are on top then helps to keep you there, at least for a little while. Conversely, it’s even with money it’s difficult to keep a great side together if it just barely doesn’t win anything and then just barely doesn’t win again.

Despite that, Carragher still has hope for Liverpool. Unsurprisingly, that mostly comes down to a belief in Jürgen Klopp, but City’s money—that kickstarted their project and has them set up as the league’s current juggernaut Liverpool are chasing—will make that hard.

“I think in the next four years, City could win three titles,” he added. “But, they might have a year when they don’t and I just think we’ve got to be that team. I think if Mancini or Pellegrini were managing Manchester City, we’d win the league. I really do.

“But, similar to Benitez in some ways, City have got something special, and a special manager, that could stop us. Even though we’ve got a special manager, it might just stop us getting over the line. That’s my only worry for Klopp.”

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com