Mentality Monsters. That is the name Jurgen Klopp gave these group of players after the epic semifinal against Barcelona last year. Have they lived up to this name or what? More on that later. Let’s go back in time a bit. I will be honest – growing up as a Liverpool fan was not the most fun experience. At best we would reminisce great days like Istanbul or the infrequent random displays of brilliance by the likes of Stevie G or Fernando Torres. It was not that Liverpool were never a good team but it always felt like a team not ready to take the next step and there were many near misses like 2008 and 2014. So, when FSG decided to hire Jurgen Klopp I thought it was a gamble. I remember watching his first press conference when he christened himself “The Normal one” and I was immediately sold. Here is a guy who clearly has a larger than life personality with a sense of humor.

I honestly think this larger than life personality of Klopp is very deceptive. It is very easy to mistake Klopp as someone who is just all about hugs and motivating world class players. This is a great disservice to one of the most tactically astute footballing brains in the world right now. Anyone who has paid attention to the progress of Liverpool since 2016 will know that it was not all a straight and easy path. There were many difficult moments but every decision of Klopp has been vindicated. I won’t elaborate on all the obvious successes like Andy Robertson, Salah, Van Dijk or Allison. Instead I am going to focus on Big Divok!! Divok Origi was a fringe player when Klopp arrived and he was loaned out after a season due to lack of playing opportunities. After a year on loan he was almost forgotten by most Liverpool fans. Klopp decided to bring him back. He used him as a perfect substitute when we needed more directness in our play and was a key part of Liverpool’s champions league triumph in 2019. I swear I would have kissed the guy when he scored that goal in the final against Spurs. Aaah….Magic!!!

But this success was not without heartbreak. As I said being a Liverpool fan always felt like being in a constant state of near misses. Losing the league to United in 2008, the Gerrard Slip in 2014 and most recently playing the best football I have ever seen and then gathering 97 points only to lose to an incredible Man City team by 1 point on the last day of the league. In the 2018/19 season Liverpool were playing at an unbelievably high level but so were Man City. But I guess Vincent Kompany decided to wear his shooting boots and thump one in from 40 yards and the rest is history. But these guys are Mentality Monsters. Period!! They picked up the next season where they left off and have just kept going. There have been so many games where it seemed like Liverpool were going to drop points but they found a way. I hate to admit this but it reminds me of how Man United were under Sir Alex Fergusson. The term Fergie time was coined because Man United always seemed to have extra time to find that elusive goal and win the game.

The strength of this team is the number of strong characters it has. Liverpool teams of the past revolved around two or three world class players like Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres and Suarez. But you look at this team and everyone is a born leader ready to take on the mantle. Its hard for me to pick my favorite Liverpool player at the moment and it changes with every game. Let me go down the list anyway – Salah, Mane, Firmino, Fabinho, Robertson, Trent, Van Dijk, Alisson. I think all of these are best in the world in their position. How often do you think that happen’s in one team?? Also the presence of strong leaders in the group like Henderson and James Milner ensure that everyone has the right attitude and no one is more important than the team.

This season Man City seemed to have dropped the ball in terms of their consistency so Liverpool did look like they would win this season pretty early on. But having come so close so many times before no one wanted to jinx it. My favorite moment of this season for me was when Mo Salah raced past Dan James to score the second goal against Man United. He showed off his perfectly ripped body and everyone in the crowd started shouting “We are going to win the League!!”. It was truly a defining moment for every Liverpool supporter. From doubters to believers to achievers!!

But this is Liverpool. So there had to be another twist. When football stopped for obvious reasons because of the global pandemic there were fears that they could potentially scrap the 2019 season. It was a long break but football finally returned and Liverpool wasted no time in clinching the title after 30 long years. They are the fastest team to win the league with 7 games to play. With 4 games still remaining Liverpool now have the chance to cement their place in history by breaking all sorts of records. I really hope they do! Winning the Champions league, Club World cup and now the Premiere league in the last year has been an incredible journey to watch and enjoy with this manager and this group of players. I think I am just going to enjoy this feeling while it lasts.

YNWA!