After their UEFA Champions League title in 2019 and last year’s long-awaited Premier League triumph, Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp was being hailed one of England’s greatest ever club sides.
The dynamism of their front three, led by the electric Egyptian Mohamed Salah, the rock steady defence anchored by Dutch powerhouse Virgil van Dijk, and the presence of two of the game’s most exhilarating fullbacks in Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, had supporters and critics alike talking of a dynasty.
“The club has grown and this squad is capable of going on and doing this again, it really is,” said Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler.
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Said Klopp: “The consistency comes from buying into the idea: attitude, personality, character, and that is what makes this group so special. If we stay humble, we have a good chance to be successful in the future as well.”
Then came the 2020-21 campaign, and with it unmitigated disaster; a side beset by serious injuries to key players and an apparent loss of confidence tumbled from first to eighth in the space of three months – a period that remarkably included six straight defeats at what had hitherto been their home fortress of Anfield.
An equally dramatic recovery ensued, as Liverpool went unbeaten in their final 10 matches to finish third and qualify for the Champions League.
It was a crucial shift in fortunes. Had Klopp’s side missed Champions League football, not only would they have missed out on a reported minimum of £58m, but their ability to attract elite playing talent would also have been hampered.
Yet here they are. Ready to go again in the Champions League with a squad bearing plenty of similarities to that which claimed the trophy just two campaigns ago.
Some have suggested it is all too similar, that this Liverpool side is too old, that the recent inactivity in the transfer window was an opportunity missed to refresh and revitalise via a major pick-up such as Paris Saint-Germain’s superstar striker Kylian Mbappé.
While their English rivals splashed the cash on flashy signings (think Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea, Jack Grealish to Manchester City, and Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United), Liverpool were typically selective, forking out a relatively modest £36m for RB Leipzig’s highly rated central defender Ibrahima Konaté.
They then lost influential midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum on a free transfer to PSG, leaving a vacancy in the middle of the park that could cause problems.
For his part, Klopp was typically philosophical, the manager more concerned with success than short-term vanity recruits.
“If people are not happy that the guy they know already for five years is scoring the goals, and think, ‘That’s a bit boring, I prefer a new guy to score the goals’, I can’t see that,” said the 54-year-old, who is into his seventh year at the helm.
“We keep this squad together for the right reasons and try to improve it, which we did every year with a bit here and there.
“It’s just not as spectacular as our competitors are doing.”
A strong start to their Premier League campaign has given some weight to Klopp’s words, while the returns of van Dijk and Joel Matip have added a measure of confidence and calm to Liverpool’s defence, which has conceded just one goal in its opening three Premier League fixtures.
The six-time European champions will be optimistic they can replicate that form in their upcoming Champions League fixtures, beginning with a clash against AC Milan on September 16 (5am AEST) that carries with it historical significance.
The two sides squared off in two finals in the 2000s, including an all-time classic in 2005 which was won by Liverpool.
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Yet Milan could well prove the least of Klopp’s worries. A stacked Group B also includes Spanish La Liga champions Atletico Madrid, and Portuguese powerhouse FC Porto, who have reached the Champions League quarter-finals twice in the past three years.
It is arguably the most competitive group in this season’s competition, yet given their past successes and their personnel, Liverpool will be fancied as one of the two sides to progress to the knockout stages.
Crucial to that ambition will be the form of the ‘Fab Three’ – Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané. The front three was unstoppable during Liverpool’s successful Champions League and Premier League campaigns in the past three seasons, but the form of Firmino and Mané lapsed during their side’s torrid run at the beginning of the year.
It led to questions about the continued potency of the pair and, in much the same vein as the squad as a whole, whether their best years were behind them. Yet both men have already scored at the beginning of this Premier League campaign, while their understudy, 24-year-old Portuguese striker Diogo Jota, has netted twice.
With Salah also scoring two goals, the numbers make pleasing reading for Liverpool fans: three matches, six goals, all four front men on the scoresheet.
Klopp meanwhile, has three years to run on his contract and his challenge will be to continue evolving this Liverpool squad in the same patient, considered way that has brought him considerable success to date.
Another turbulent, trophy-less season, and the pressure to act more decisively could well become too much.