Suddenly, out of nowhere, we have some momentum again.
I wrote last week about this team being on the downward part of its curve, of needing fresh impetus. I questioned the front three and wondered if this old team of champions needed some new blood in order to give it a shot in the arm.
Now? Well now I’m questioning myself…
Am I too reactionary? Do we as fans need to remember that every loss and (in this case) every win doesn’t mean the end or start of something?
Like most things in life, I think the truth is somewhere in the middle…
For us fans, we probably do need to try and not let our emotions be so controlled by the latest result. Remember that this gang of heroes have had the toughest of seasons and that once the cavalry returns things will definitely start to improve.
On the other hand, the fresh blood I was calling for arrived. Not in the summer but the very same week.
Diogo Jota came disco-dancing back to the party.
Jota’s return from injury and his instant inclusion in the starting XI have seen an improvement in results. He grabbed himself an assist midweek and got the only goal of the game against Wolves. He’s making a real impact. More than that though, his energy and his running have given us a new lease of life up-front.
It’s been needed.
I’ve spoken about it as recently as last week. Something needs to change up front. As is being reported by sources with strong links at the club, Klopp has set his sights on a new centre-forward. However, in the meantime, Diogo Jota is providing that boost that this season needs.
I was prepared to let this season drift away…
Now? Now, with Jota providing that spearhead, with the Lighthouse back in midfield, with Henderson back soon and with Nathaniel Baresi heading anything that comes in his direction.
Suddenly, April can’t come quickly enough.
This club exists for big Aprils and even bigger Mays. And if there was a lack of motivation and a feeling of self-pity setting in, it feels like that has been blown-away.
Stop dreaming, stop reacting, calm down. CALM DOWN.
I can’t help it… Suddenly there’s something to fight for.
Top four still feels unlikely but it’s there. Dangling like a distant carrot.
Get 23 points out of the remaining nine games and, with everybody else yet again proving inconsistent and, quite frankly, not good enough, a top four spot is possible.
A massive ask? Yes. A dream? Perhaps. But isn’t that what we’re all in this for? The dreaming.
And how about this for another dream?
With the Reds not in action again this month, Friday’s Champions League draw has got everybody’s imagination racing. And come Friday, when the quarters and the semis are drawn, you just know we’re all going to be plotting a route to Istanbul.
Crazy? Probably. But that’s what this game, more specifically, this team does to you.
Too many miracles have been lived. Too many glorious nights experienced. I know it’s fanciful. But I also know what this team is capable of.
You may say that I’m a dreamer.
And isn’t that the point? This game we love so much, this team we all love even more . It gives us something tangible. Something that we get to experience and share and to celebrate and rejoice in. God, I can’t wait to be back in the ground.
I know I react too badly to the defeats. I know I get too carried away with the victories.
I know it.
But I also know I’m never going to change.
Not when I know what greatness feels like. Not when I know that Djimi Traoaré and Igor Biscan can win a European Cup. Not when I know that Jordan Henderson and Jürgen Klopp know all of that too.
You may say I’m a dreamer,
But I’m not the only one.