Resurgent Reds firing on all fronts

It seems like another season, but it was early this month when Anfield was meant to be the bear pit that would maul and then spit out the bad boys of Manchester City.

It was the first game after their guilty verdict and we all know how it went.
Forgotten is that Liverpool gave City as good as they got before two harsh yellow cards to Ryan Gravenberch turned it all around.The bear was declawed and Liverpool’s 10 men couldn’t live with City, who ran out comfortable 3-0 winners.

That the Reds matched them for an hour didn’t fit the narrative of City defiance.
Owners fiercely maintaining their innocence, players with a siege mentality, fans with inflatable bananas… all wallowing in victimhood.

They managed to win their first seven games, but then United stole their thunder with yet another crisis of their own.

After this Mancunian monopoly of headlines, it is time to go back to Liverpool, not least because Arsenal are the next visitors.

Smarting from their loss to Fleetwood, the champions will be a good test of where Liverpool are in the pecking order right now.

For there is the unmistakable whiff of meaningful momentum about them.

The roar that greeted Wesley Fofana’s penalty miss in midweek was more like the Kop we knew.

It was only a shoot-out, only the League Cup, and there were extra decibels for Chelsea, but it resonated.

Not ‘off the Richter’ like the Kop’s deafening best, but it saluted another win, their fifth in a row since the loss to City.

Two were in the Champions League (against Villarreal and LASK) that helped them to third place in the table with a 100% record.

Two in the EPL against hard-to-beat Brentford and Brighton, and now this to reach the last eight of the Carabao Cup.

And there was the added satisfaction of beating two former employees.

Xabi Alonso, who had been warmly welcomed as Bayer Leverkusen boss, was made aware what a cardinal sin it is to join Chelsea, at least in the eyes of the Kop.

But it was former skipper Jordan Henderson, who came in for most of the stick.

“Hendo’s” sterling service in Jurgen Klopp’s greatest sides was brusquely erased from memory by the sight of him in Chelsea blue.

Besides being loftily placed in three competitions, there are many reasons for optimism around the Reds right now.

The rebuild is not yet finished, but there has been unexpected progress.

Top of the list is that the stalled £400m strike force is firing.

Even the most recent – and expensive – addition, Bradley Barcola, is showing why the Reds paid PSG £125m for him after a sluggish start.

His pace is electric and although he’s very different to Mo Salah, his versatility is giving the attack more flexibility.

But the biggest improvement has come in the form of Alexander Isak, who had such a horrendous start to his Anfield career.

The Swede is now looking more like the player they broke the club record for.
Cody Gakpo is also more of a force than last season, having brought his international form to the EPL.

This leaves Florian Wirtz. To say that Iraola is getting a tune out of the £116m man may still require a hearing aid.

He’s had better moments but is still way short of the little maestro they thought they were getting.

Then there’s the waspish Munoz buzzing across the entire attack, and it’s no wonder with assets like these, the Reds are mostly on the front foot.

Coupled with the ‘coming out’ of Rio Ngumoha ahead of schedule, and the teenager’s ability to flourish on both wings, too, manager Andoni Iraola has the sort of headache he doesn’t mind.

He’s been rewarded for his faith in youth by the emergence of Trey Nyoni too, and in a position where the club offered £100m fees in vain a couple of seasons ago.
Ngumoha and Nyoni, a magical pair and money-savers too.

Let’s not forget Hugo Ekitike, who hopes to return from his ruptured Achilles by the end of the year.

The good news for Liverpool is that the Frenchman, who was by far the best signing of the previous transfer window, is already back working on the ball.

With that type of injury, there’s no guarantee he’ll be as lightning-fast as he once was, but his recovery is on course.

If he does return to his old form, Liverpool could boast the best attack in the business.

If attack is Liverpool’s forte, there’s encouragement all over the park. Ronald Araujo has been a masterly piece of business and gone from stopgap to cult hero playing out of position.

Whatever Barcelona want for the Uruguayan must be paid, according to his adoring fans.

Jeremy Jacquet has also made a brilliant start and looks to be Virgil van Dijk’s successor already.

And Giorgio Mamardashvili may have finally won the sceptics over with his showing against Chelsea.

The prevailing view is that Iraola has done well to fit them into the jigsaw so quickly and return Liverpool to something more like the heavy metal style of Klopp.

A slow starter – he went 10 games at Bournemouth before claiming his first win – and with the huge step up in size of club, it was felt he might need a few months to get it right.

But to have the team where they are before the end of October suggests he could become a major managerial figure.

Having come out on top – albeit narrowly – over one of his former Basque colleagues in Alonso, he now faces another in Mikel Arteta.

It’s too soon to talk of a title challenge, but if he can find a way to beat the depth of the Gunners, it won’t mean Liverpool are back, but that they are coming back.

That’s pretty good given the upheaval the club has been through.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.

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