As the senior writer for Liverpool’s matchday programme and magazine, Chris McLoughlin had a close-up view of the Reds’ title-winning campaign. Here, he explains the early season belief some players displayed in conversations and interviews.
WHEN you know, you know. But when did you know? Or at least when did you genuinely believe that Liverpool were gonna win the league this season?
Me? After the comprehensive 2-0 win at Man City.
I’d been trying to talk myself out of believing since Mo Salah saw off Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium a month earlier, but the manner in which the Reds dethroned Pep Guardiola in his own courtyard had me convinced. And I take some convincing.
The scars of losing the league to Arsenal in the last minute of 1988/89 have never quite healed. And I still regret letting my guard down in 2014.
All season I’d been convinced that Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool couldn’t possibly win the title with a back four of Martin Skrtel plus whichever three from the other nine defenders got the nod. But at the other end of the pitch, Luis Suarez and co were playing some of the most exhilarating football I’d ever seen and the Redmen were racking up wins.
Turns out the Reds were a Newcastle ‘96 reincarnation, but I got sucked in. Steven Gerrard’s penalty winner at Fulham dragged me to the point of no return and after the Reds walloped Spurs 4-0 at Anfield, to go top for the first time since Christmas Day, I was all in.
We had the momentum and the 3-2 win over Man City surely confirmed it was finally our year… but then Stevie slipped, Palace happened, and City kept winning, and four months later I was watching a Liverpool side with Lazar Markovic and Mario Balotelli in it draw 1-1 against Everton to go 12th having still not won a title since 1990.
Once bitten, twice shy – unless you’re Suarez, of course – and even when Jurgen Klopp’s European champions went about 100 points clear in 2019/20 and it was impossible not to believe the wait would be over the pandemic almost had the season cancelled. Still makes me feel sick thinking about it now.
Early reactions prove laughable
Anyway, when Arne Slot replaced Klopp in the summer I was very much in the ‘it’s a year of transition’ and ‘Dutch coaches don’t tend to do well in England’ camps. Even when the Reds won 11 of their opening 13 matches I was still suspicious that false Dawn – who sounds like she used to drink in The Grafton – would rear her ugly head again. But it never happened.
Liverpool went top on 2 November after beating Brighton and they’re still there now. Champions! And as you’ll see at the bottom of this article I’ve written a magazine to celebrate it. But back in the summer, not many saw it coming. Especially after that 1-0 pre-season defeat to Preston at the AXA Training Centre in Slot’s first game.
Some of the tweets, or whatever they’re called these days, from Mancunians and Evertonians after that game are still on X and will give you a good laugh if you can be bothered looking for them, but there was plenty of negativity from some Reds too.
Most of it surrounded the lack of signings. No surprise there, as after season 2023/24 fizzled out the case for new additions being needed was sound, but while more pundits were tipping Holby City than Liverpool to win the Premier League, in the LFC dressing-room there was a different view.
The players’ early optimism
I was down at the AXA in pre-season doing interviews for the Official Matchday Programme and more than one player said to me they believed Liverpool had more chance of being successful due to not having a busy summer in the transfer market.
The general view was that giving the new head coach a settled squad – who had won silverware the previous season and been top with eight games to go, don’t forget – to work with was more beneficial than trying to integrate several new players.
None of them were foolish enough to make headline-grabbing, bold predictions about a glorious title-winning season, but there was most definitely a quiet air of confidence among the players I spoke to.
And this was only after working with Slot for a few weeks.
The two biggest results of the season
From what I’ve heard since, the 3-0 victory at Manchester United and the 2-1 comeback win at home to Brighton were the two biggest results of the season.
That comfortable win at Old Trafford made the players believe their new coach was truly going to make them better – his tactical tweak of playing Dominik Szboszlai on the left while Ryan Gravenberch ran the game as a no.6 caught their imagination – while coming back to beat the Seagulls 2-1, after a poor first half when they could easily have trailed 3-0, proved to them they had the mentality to go for it.
Slot himself cites the Fulham game at Anfield – from 1-0 down against 10-men to 2-2 and unlucky not to win it – as another crucial juncture in building a title-winning mentality and while conceding late goals at Newcastle and Everton were potholes along the path, the Reds always responded.
Even so, the fear of failure can still live rent free in your head. I spoke to comedian Chris McCausland for the Liverpool v Southampton Matchday Programme and something he said rang true:
“We’ve been great and Man City have fallen off a cliff, but the psychology of a Liverpool fan had me thinking before we played them that ‘if we lose two, they win two and beat us they could catch us’. That’s what City have done to us!”
However, when the full-time whistle blew at The Etihad and ‘hand it over Manchester’ echoed out, it left Liverpool 11 points clear of Arsenal – and 20 clear of City – with seven our remaining 11 fixtures at Anfield.
That’s when I believed. That’s when I really fancied us to make it no.20.
So the lesson I’m taking into next season is to be more optimistic as just because Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish won no major trophies in their second seasons as manager after a debut league triumph, and just because the squad probably won’t be as settled due to departures and arrivals, and just because Mo has got AFCON 2025, and just because we’re bound to get more injuries, and just because they’ll probably give us loads of 12.30pm kick-offs after European aways isn’t going to stop Liverpool from winning no.21.
Only joking. There’s every chance the Reds will be even better in 2025/26 with the right signings and that is quite some prospect. Although maybe it’s too early to start believing just yet…
* Chris McLoughlin is senior writer for Reach Sport. He has written ‘LFC 20: Every Game, Every Goal’ – a comprehensive review of the season told through all 38 games with analysis from Arne Slot, pundits and the press – available to order now
