EPL 2016-2017 : 5 reasons why Liverpool are title contenders this season
The English Premier League season starts on August 13th and there is a huge buzz and fanfare for this particular one. The primary reason for the high expectations is the huge quality of managers in the league this season with Pep Guardiola, José Mourinho, Antonio Conte, Mauricio Pochettino, Claudio Ranieri, Arsène Wenger and Jürgen Klopp waiting to butt heads for domestic supremacy.
After losing two Cup finals in the first 8 months of Klopp’s tenure, Liverpool look forward to their first full season under the former Borussia Dortmund coach. In spite of the 8th placed finish last season, there is a real chance for Liverpool to have a go at the title this season due to both external and internal factors.
Here we take a look at 5 reasons which make Liverpool title contenders for the upcoming season.
#1 A change in mentality
For anyone who has followed the club closely from the time Rafa Benítez left in 2010, Liverpool’s ability to win games from losing situations worsened under Roy Hodgson and especially under Brendan Rodgers. Even during the title fight in 2013-14, Liverpool blew away teams with the attacking prowess of Luis Suárez, Daniel Sturridge, and Raheem Sterling but struggled when the team fell behind.
This was highlighted by the crunch loss to Chelsea at Anfield that sealed their fate. This inability to win games from losing positions was a tell-tale sign throughout Rodgers’ tenure in spite of his constant praise about the character of the team.
The rebuilding of this winning mentality has been one of the biggest takeaways from Jurgen Klopp’s first 8 months in charge of the club. He has instilled the belief in the team to keep fighting till the final whistle in his short time at the club as was fully evident in the 5-4 victory against Norwich at Carrow Road and the comeback win with 10 men against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park which was a first for the club in the PL era.
The crowning display of the team’s ‘never say die’ spirit was the recreation of Istanbul at Anfield in the Europa League quarterfinal against Borussia Dortmund where the Reds needed to score 3 goals in the last half hour and did so in dramatic fashion to progress to the next round.
However, there were a few gutless displays from the side as well such as the capitulations at Watford and Newcastle which showed there was work needed to be done. With a proper pre-season to work on the players and tactics and transfers to modify the squad as required, Klopp can make this team a stronger unit than last season which is crucial to winning the league.