It was not the Liverpool players that walked alone on Sunday.
The 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, was preceded by a grudging show of respect for the newly crowned champions. Steven Gerrard led his team-mates, to line up along a blue carpet to form a guard of honour for Chelsea players.
Forming a guard of honour in England becomes a big deal, when it involves two big clubs. Last season, at the Emirates, Arsenal players emerged earlier and clapped Manchester United players – including their former skipper, Robin van Persie – onto the pitch.
Before the game, Reds manager Brendan Rodgers told reporters: “It is the protocol and what you do.
“They deserve to be champions. It’s not something the players would like to do but we are a team and a club that has class and dignity, so we will do it and go straight into the game. Hopefully there will be a spur. That is natural.”
It is a no-brainer why their second-place finish last year didn’t spur them on this term. Liverpool have now scored 50 goals in the Premier League this season. At first this looks like a decent return, until you discover they have scored 46 less than at this stage in 2013/2014 campaign.
Rodgers’ men are not likely to make a return to the UEFA Champions League next term. They sit in 5th place – six points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, who also have a superior goals difference.
When Gerrard fell over at one point after Cesc Fabregas turned smartly, the home fans crowed “he slips when he wants”, reminding the former England man of his stumble at Anfield last season, that allowed Demba Ba to score and effectively end their title dream.
That’s the closest Liverpool has probably come to winning the league, since the new format begun in 1992. If Jose Mourinho has described Arsenal’s 10-year failure to end in first place as ‘boring’, one must wonder his adjective of choice for the Anfield club’s barren run.
It would be wrong to label Liverpool as a small club. With 18 league titles, seven FA Cups, eight League Cups, five European Cups and three UEFA Cups, they have won 41 major honours. But they have dithered on oblivion in recent years.
As a result, top players are not keen on joining the club. Last season, as Luis Suarez moved to Barcelona, Alexis Sanchez refused to be part of a swap deal and picked Arsenal instead. Memphis Depay, who was confirmed as a Manchester United player last week, reportedly snubbed Liverpool after holding talks with Rodgers.
The Northern Irishman faces a battle to attract his preferred players this summer, but he must not relent. They also have to work around the mid-week inconvenience the Europa League brings, but returning to the top is not a walk in the park.
All hands within the club must be on deck in this rebuilding process. After all, even their famous anthem says: “you will never walk alone”.
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