Former Premier League player Stephen Ward believes Liverpool are suffering from a ‘hangover’ after coming close to completing a historic quadruple last season.
The Reds won the FA Cup and League Cup but narrowly missed out on the Premier League and Champions League in what can still be considered a successful campaign.
Manchester City edged out Jurgen Klopp’s side for the top-flight title by a single point on the final day and the Merseysiders then suffered a 1-0 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Paris.
“I think it’s a bit of a hangover from last season,” Ward told Football Saturday (via Off The Ball). “They had an amazing season but I just think about losing the league on the last day after being so close again.
“The following week in the Champions League, in a game where you wouldn’t say they dominated, but you would have put them as favorites to win the way they were playing, I think it’s developed a bit this season. .
“Combine that with the loss of Sadio Mané, who was so influential, I think they haven’t kicked into gear this season.”
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Despite Liverpool not starting the season as expected, Ward believes the Anfield side are the only team that can seriously challenge City both domestically and in Europe.
Pep Guardiola’s side are now eight points clear of the Reds in the Premier League having played one more game than Liverpool and the Citizens have also won their first two Champions League group stage games.
The two teams have been involved in an exciting rivalry for several seasons now, with City winning four of the last five league titles and Klopp’s side winning the other during the 2019/20 season.
Ward, who once scored a winner for Wolves at Anfield, is confident Liverpool will once again battle the Sky Blues on numerous fronts with the spirits of many Reds supporters buoyed by their 2-1 loss to Ajax on Tuesday night.
“For me, there is no question that they will continue to be the closest rivals,” Ward said. “That last minute winning goal against Ajax could be the spark they need.
“Watching Liverpool this season, they have dominated a lot of games but just haven’t scored goals at the right time or when they needed to.
“I have no doubt that they will come in handy and will be up to the task in all competitions. I just think the problem they have is the same problem for everyone in the Premier League: Manchester City are so good at the moment.
“You don’t want to give them too much of an advantage, because it’s going to be very difficult to catch them.”
“It’s going to be a weird season with the World Cup,” Ward added. “If they can get back on track and close the gap heading into the World Cup, then it will be a whole new season in January.
“If they need to invest, they will have plenty of time to do so and get back to the competition.”
We traveled to Napoli for our first Champions League group stage clash earlier this month and it’s fair to say it was a night to forget in Napoli.
The Serie A team dominated us all over the pitch and their 4-1 victory was worth it: it was a worrying performance from Klopp’s men with many of the players looking fatigued and disinterested.
Ward called that display ‘strange’ and explained that injuries may have played a role in Liverpool’s slow start to the season.
“It was a weird performance, the first half and the whole 90 minutes,” Ward said. “You get used to Liverpool going to these teams and crushing them.
“You can attribute it to many factors. They haven’t had the best of luck with injuries at the start of the season. Thiago, who is so influential, has been out a bit.
“You also have players who have been there a long time. The likes of James Milner, you probably look at him now and think he’s a team player. He has ended up starting in really big games.”
“Napoli did to Liverpool what Liverpool have done to teams so many times. They outplayed them, they outran them and they seemed to have a lot of pace on the counterattack.
“It was strange to see really. For Liverpool, there is still that [fatigue] in the team, and I think maybe they wanted a few more in the transfer window that didn’t come out.
“Looks like I have a bit of a hangover. They responded well in the Ajax game to get that result.”
Many of our boys will now be heading into the international break with their respective nations and hopefully they will all return to Merseyside in top form to help us find some rhythm in the coming months.
We’ll be next in action against Brighton and Hove Albion at Anfield on October 1, so hopefully the lads can put on another strong performance to help us pick up another huge three points.
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