Jurgen’s found his mojo once again

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is clearly enjoying the season so far. — AFP/VNA Photo

Paul Kennedy

There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance, and Liverpool supporters, particularly those from the city itself, are crossing it right about now.

I was born and raised in the recently voted seventh best place in the world to live in by Time Out magazine (I still love Hà Nội which finished 36th in the same poll), so I feel I’m allowed to make such a claim.

Liverpool fans are walking with a swagger these days. A cockiness that some might describe as arrogant. But hey, we’ve every reason to be.

In the early hours of yesterday morning, Liverpool secured a place in the final of the Carabao Cup after beating Fulham over two legs.

They are currently favourites to win the Europa League, joint favourites to win the FA Cup, and are leading the Premier League by five points, albeit they have played a game more than Manchester City in second place.

There is still a real possibility they may finish the season without a single trophy, and our next two Premier League games (Chelsea at home and Arsenal away) could be make or break as far as the title is concerned, but honestly? I don’t think that matters. And here’s why.

Last season Liverpool were poor. The midfield was getting old, Mohammed Salah was constantly linked to a move to Saudi, big-money buy Darwin Nunez was more miss than hit and manager Jurgen Klopp had seemingly lost his mojo.

They were in need of a rebuild, an overhaul that would involve spending money, finding a new system and playing style, and at the same time, discovering home grown nuggets of talent from their academy.

And that’s exactly what they did. Four new midfielders were brought in, young players stepped up, and Jurgen has found his beaming smile once again.

His style of play has been tweaked rather than undergone major surgery. Trent Alexander-Arnold is revelling in his more advanced role, they are pressing much higher as a unit and the strikers are creating many more chances for each other.

Plus, notably, the bench is much stronger and substitutions are having a far bigger impact on games than they did in the past.

This is all way ahead of schedule. I expected Liverpool this season to chase a top-four spot but instead they are challenging strongly on all fronts.

There was a banner at the game on Thursday in the Liverpool end, that some could argue was pretty arrogant.

It read: “IMAGINE BEING US”.

And City fans apart, I don’t think there is any other team in the Premier League, or supporter, that wouldn’t want to be us right about now. — VNS