On the recent Molby on the Spot podcast on AI Pro, Trev Downey discussed the recent feel-good factor at Anfield with ex-professional and Liverpool legend Jan Molby. Trev asked Molby if he had ever scored a no-look goal or a performed a no-look pass:
“I think I might have done a no-look pass without it ever being fashionable in the days we played. I guess we did have a couple of, you know games, where you are just completely in control and you might be 5 or 6 nil up or whatever and you just … showboat”
Well, this current Liverpool team is now at a stage where we are seeing more and more of this kind of showboating. And that is testament to the confidence surging through the veins of the current crop of Liverpool players.
But this isn’t showboating for showboating’s sake.
The showboating with Liverpool this season is purely a product of the synergy we are witnessing between the players, in particular, the fantastic front three. And I for one absolutely love it.
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Despite the drab 0-0 draw in the dead rubber against Porto, there is no denying that Liverpool are very much in the entertainment business this season. Scintillating attacking football, high scoring games (sometimes at both ends), flamboyant goal celebrations and no look goals from Bobby.
Bobby Firmino. Boss at no-look goals. 👀🔥 pic.twitter.com/iLGmmSdaky
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 27, 2018
Playing in this Liverpool team must be so much fun. The players look happy on and off the pitch and that has translated into superb recent results on the field.
There are no individuals in this team.
They are one.
There’s no better indication of the excellent team spirit and camaraderie than Sadio Mane’s recent attempts at recreating Firmino’s wacky goal celebrations.
"I'm very happy. It was not an easy game but, like always, we tried and tried again and in the end we got three points."
Mane on #LFC's persistence ➡️ https://t.co/4o8mOEDZ8U pic.twitter.com/AlB8TLcxTM
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 3, 2018
This is a team of excellent individuals who are playing for each other and are having an absolute blast doing it. But despite the incredible recent form of this Liverpool side and the attractive brand of football being played, surprisingly there is still plenty of negativity out there.
The “net spend” brigade are out in force, getting upset that Liverpool didn’t spend the Coutinho money on a big name player. But recent evidence suggests that saving their money was exactly the right thing to do.
There must have been enormous pressure on Liverpool to splurge the £140 million from the Coutinho sale in the transfer market in January. But the club held firm. They decided against signing an attacking player to fill the void left by the departing Brazilian. And at this very moment, that decision appears to have been the correct one.
Signing a player in the Alexis Sanchez mould could have been incredibly disruptive to this Liverpool team. One of Jurgen Klopp’s biggest weapons is to instil confidence in his players and that is done by showing faith in them even if the twitter masses and national press deem those players to be not good enough.
With a long-term injury to Nathaniel Clyne confirmed in the Summer, many people thought that signing a right-back was an absolute must. Jurgen Klopp has proven many of us wrong by showing faith in promising youngsters Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez.
Many people thought that Moreno wasn’t good enough at left-back and we needed to spend big money on a replacement. Moreno started the season in excellent form and when his run got cut short by injury, cheap and cheerful Andy Robertson slotted in and has excelled.
People moaned at the rotation policy adopted by Klopp at the start of the season. We are now seeing the benefit of this approach.
Liverpool sign Chelsea “flop” Mo Salah. Mo Salah turns out to be Messi.
I could go on and on with examples of how Jurgen Klopp and this Liverpool team have proven the doubters wrong. So is it about time that we start showing a bit more faith in this fantastic Liverpool side and give them our backing? Let’s start enjoying this season while we still can.
Positivity is contagious and a positive audience and positive squad breeds confidence. And confidence breeds success.
The feel-good factor at Liverpool is at such a high level right now that even German powerhouse Emre Can is getting in on the act with a no-look pass of his own!
Waiting for people to realise this Emre Can pass was a no look pass!! #LFC https://t.co/52v3wBY78X via @GIPHY pic.twitter.com/7LBmPFTIJS
— Tad (@TadPredicts) February 25, 2018
The moaners will say that a no-look goal, a flamboyant celebration or an outrageous back heel are all pointless activities. These people are wrong.
All of these are indicators of an extremely confident team who are enjoying themselves. And you should too. After all, if you can’t enjoy watching this Liverpool team, football might not be for you.
So how about we go into the Man United fixture this weekend with a skip in our step. Some confidence. A bit of swagger.
Supporting a team as exciting as Jurgen Klopp’s evolving Liverpool is a very rare thing, therefore we as supporters need to embrace it. At the end of the day, football exists entirely as a form of entertainment. With the amount of money at stake and the pressure to win, sometimes we can forget to enjoy ourselves.
So let’s enjoy this while we can. Let’s go into the next game buzzing to watch the reds play whatever the result. Let’s embrace the madness of this reds team, including its perceived flaws. Because at the end of the season, whether we have won trophies or not, we will have had an absolute blast.
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