TOMKINS: REDS SIGNAL GREATNESS AHEAD
Paul Tomkins 22 April 2009

Liverpool proved against Arsenal last night that they can win the title.
Unfortunately, it may now have to wait until next year, but that was a performance of guts, tempo and quality that had the hallmark of champions. This is a very special team under construction, one that has put four past Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal in a matter of weeks, and five past Aston Villa. The defensive errors that marred this latest 4-4 draw certainly weren't in keeping with the rest of the display, and thankfully not in keeping with Liverpool under Rafa Benítez. All defenders make mistakes at some point in the season; unfortunately for Liverpool, most came in this one game. Perhaps that was to do with pressure, or simply human error. And yet, despite being behind three times – each goal wildly against the run of play (with the sloppy nature of the goals compounding the disappointment) – the Reds battled to the 96th minute. When Arsenal scored in the 90th minute, it had to be all over. But it wasn't. It was incredible stuff, reminiscent of the great 4-3 Newcastle games of the mid-'90s, only with extra pace and intensity, and one extra goal. For the first three goals it was very different from last week at Stamford Bridge, when Liverpool's need to score two or three more goals led to obvious gaps at the back; you can't necessarily escape being stretched like that when you have to lose your shape in search of a miracle as the clock ticks down. And Arsenal's 4th last night was similar; at that stage, a team has to send everyone forward. You take the kind of risks you would be mad too at an earlier point. Liverpool took advantage of Arsenal in the same way last season, when winning 4-2 in the Champions League. But the first three goals last night were all totally avoidable, with simple errors punished by a player who only had four decent touches of the ball. That grates, but you can't argue with Arshavin's finishing, which was sublime. (I've never seen a player do so little right for the majority of a match, and get so many goals. It was surreal.) Most of Liverpool's defending was fine; there was none of the panic seen at the other end, when by hook, crook or nook, the Gunner's scraped the ball clear, or off the line, in total desperation. It was just three small lapses by individuals by Liverpool that were heavily punished. Arsenal played with freedom, with no pressure on them to win, just an incentive to win places in the team ahead of their Champions League semi-final; and, in having to make changes, freshness from players like Arshavin and Nasri, plus the bulldozing Bendtner and strong Song. When they did attack, they poured forward with real verve and skill. But for large periods of the game they were absolutely battered. A score of 8-4 to Liverpool would have not been unfair. That's football, alas. Some days it just doesn't happen, and it looked like it would be one of those nights when the Arsenal keeper had a blinder in the first half. So this all-time classic will not necessarily help Liverpool win the title this season (unless United slip up tonight), but it shows a growing quality in so many areas of the team's play, and in its desire to win games. At times in the second half I think it was the most possessed I've ever seen a Liverpool side; utterly committed. Every man closed down space, chased lost causes that were well beyond the call of duty, stretched every last sinew. It was an Herculean effort. I've long-since said that a serious title challenge that falters is vital in eventually winning the Premiership, as a precursor; it's almost essential to get that experience of the pressure –– all the time accepting that, as newcomers to the really, really sharp end, mistakes will be made. Every Premiership title won for the first time came after a narrow miss the year earlier: United, Blackburn, Arsenal and Chelsea. It's all part of the learning process. Liverpool have improved by a good 20% this season; but maybe it needed to be 25%. These figures are fairly random (perhaps the improvement has been 30%, but needed to be 33%), but all the same, they illustrate my point about expecting too much improvement in a short space of time. You can only get so much better from one season to the next. That doesn't mean Liverpool are out of it this year, or that I think the Reds will definitely succeed next year. On their day, any of the top four can be a force to be reckoned with. And that's before the inevitable changes in the summer. But Liverpool are clearly on the up. I do think that Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea have had a lot more injuries to key players than Manchester United this season, and maybe that will shade it for them. Rio Ferdinand aside, and Ronaldo for the first couple of games and Rooney for a handful, there's been little disruption to their main men, bar self-inflicted suspensions. All teams have injuries, and big squads are a necessity, but they've not been without their match-winners as much as Liverpool have. As I've pointed out before, Liverpool also had far more disruption from international football, both in the summer and at the Olympics. United will point to the World Club Championship, and that certainly was a long trip. However, unlike international football, which scatters players far and wide, it was time together for the squad to bond, and was partly (and sensibly) used as a mid-season break, as evinced by the fact that they came back and immediately went on a long winning run. But the downside could be the fixture congestion towards the end of the season, which might make those crucial games in hand a little trickier. Time will tell. Some see this year as Liverpool's best hope, with United failing to fire on all cylinders as an attacking force. But I don't subscribe to that view; had Torres been fit all season, I might have agreed. With Torres fit to start only half of the 32 league games, and Gerrard missing more matches than he has for many years (six league games already), Liverpool have not been at their strongest on too many occasions for it not to be some kind of handicap. For Torres to start just 16 league matches, and have 13 goals (without the aid of penalties), shows just what has been missed; especially as in five or six of those starts he was nowhere near match fit, and playing to find sharpness. He will always be rested now and again, like any other player, but you cannot get by without such quality for long periods of time. No-one can say for certain, but I also have very little doubt that he would have made the difference in a few of those games that were drawn earlier in the year; enough to suggest that even more points at this stage would have been realistic, which would have given the Arsenal game a very different complexion, and perhaps less desperation. But I accept that ‘what ifs' work either way, and that all teams will have their own lists. Despite the absence of key attacking talent, there have been some players coming to the fore. Liverpool are the Premiership's top scorers, and to have had their two biggest goal threats missing for so many of them shows what improvements have been made elsewhere. Dirk Kuyt's crosses for the first two goals were superb in terms of technique (to add to his usual lung-busting work and clever movement), while Yossi Benayoun, who impressed me during his time at West Ham, has emerged as a really special player now that he's settled into life at Liverpool; the player I was hoping he could be for the Reds. I remarked a few weeks ago that both have only scored important goals, and that was again the case last week for Kuyt and this week for Benayoun. The hope now is that Arsenal take this goalscoring form into two titanic encounters with Manchester United, and dent their confidence in the process; enough to make a third meeting, in the penultimate league game, far from a formality in terms of the title. Arshavin, who misses the European games, should be fresh for that one. It remains United's to lose, but all the time Liverpool are making gains. And if all the Reds are left with is ‘close but no cigar', it can still serve as a serious warning ahead of next season. Even the greatest buildings were constructed brick by brick.