If Liverpool win the Premier League title this season, it should come with an asterisk.
Why? Because if Jurgen Klopp’s final act at Anfield is to lift the championship trophy, I think it will eclipse anything any other Liverpool manager has ever achieved.
Apologies to those Liverpool fans of a certain vintage who cherish the memories left by legends like Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley and Kenny Dalglish. But Klopp has been working miracles this season with a team that required a significant rebuild after finishing fifth last year.
His game-plans have regularly been crippled by a succession of injuries to star names like Mo Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson, Andy Robertson, Diogo Jota, Thiago Alcantara, Dominik Szoboszlai - and many, many others. Yet he has managed to dredge some heroic performances from those who have remained fit as well as academy graduates like Curtis Jones, Conor Bradley, Jarrell Quansah and No 2 goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.
For Liverpool to once again emerge as challengers to a Manchester City team that has already guaranteed their place in history by winning three successive titles and the Treble is an accomplishment in itself. But if Klopp can now drag Liverpool 2.0 over the finishing line ahead of City and an Arsenal side that is once again in the mix, then it would be an astonishing achievement.
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It would certainly deserve its own place in the annals of Anfield history. Liverpool can take a huge step towards the title by beating City.
But whatever happens when Klopp takes on Pep Guardiola for the final time in the Premier League, there will be too much football still to be played for it to be decisive. City have lost at Anfield many times before - and still prevailed in the race for the big prize.
Jurgen Klopp celebrates winning the Premier League in 2020 (Getty Images)Where would another Premier League title rank in Jurgen Klopp's achievements? Share your thoughts in the comments below
In fact, the stadium has been a graveyard for the Blues over many years. Guardiola’s only win there was in 2021, when City won 4-1 in a game that had to be played in an empty ground due to covid restrictions.
I was in the City team that last won at Anfield in front of fans, our 2-1 victory in May 2003 delivering what proved to be a fatal blow to Gerard Houllier’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League. It’s a cliche, but the atmosphere generated by Liverpool's fans has played a huge part in Pep’s misery.
There is something unique about the place for the biggest games - and City haven’t been able to handle the pressure even when they have performed well. Klopp’s rivalry with Guardiola is up there with Ferguson v Dalglish, Wenger v Ferguson and Mourinho v Everyone.
Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have a mutual respect for each other (Getty Images)I’m not sure the two men are the closest of friends, but I do believe they are the best of enemies. There is a huge mutual respect. When the Liverpool boss departs, I am sure Pep will miss their jousts.
Both men have driven each other to become better - and that has raised the bar in the Premier League to heights that we've never seen before. Of course the narrative over the coming months will be whether Liverpool’s players can deliver the title for their departing boss.
But, believe me, professional footballers want to win trophies for themselves. It’s what they are programmed to do. That’s why Klopp was so adamant that once his decision to leave was made public, he would not be cornered into talking about it in every press conference.
He didn’t want his long goodbye to become a distraction - and his players deserve credit for the focus they have shown as the attempt to add the Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League to the Carabao Cup they have already lifted. This is turning into a title race for the ages.
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Remember the suggestion in 2020, when Klopp ended the club’s 30-year quest to be champions, that the triumph should be marked by an asterisk because the season had been interrupted by the pandemic? A second title, in his final season as Liverpool boss, would deserve to carry a mark that establishes it as something extra special.
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