Happy new year!

Great first half to the season.
Spurs beat Chelsea tomorrow, and we go within five of top spot, with the rent boys coming to Anfield.
Considering people have been talking about a 9, or even 12 point gap at times, weve kept them close enough.
Onwards and upwards into 2017.

Yesterday was a bit frustrating for sure but our points return this season is brilliant, only made to look a bit poor by a relentless Chelsea side.

But to be only five points behind a side that has won 13 games on the spin is decent, normally you would expect the gap to be far wider than that, ok it could be 8 points if they beat Spurs but still 13 fecking wins! At least we're still 2nd and are through the tough Xmas period.

Loads and loads to be positive about

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Liverpool: A Bend In The Road Is Not The End Of The Road – Unless You Fail To Make The Turn
2 January 2017 9:14 pm by Joel Rabinowitz
SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND - Monday, January 2, 2017: Liverpool's Sadio Mane looks dejected as his side draw 2-2 with Sunderland, who were awarded two penalties, during the FA Premier League match at the Stadium of Light. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

IT’S beyond ludicrous to be playing two games in less than 48 hours. It was the same for both sides, yes — regardless, it makes no sense whatsoever.

Chelsea, on the other hand, have been given an extra two days off. It’s difficult to overstate the difference that makes.

Do not underestimate the mental toll this season is taking on Liverpool’s players. Having to constantly close the gap on Chelsea while fending off the chasing pack must be exhausting for body and mind. The will-power to grind out that 1-0 victory against Manchester City was extreme.

Jürgen Klopp took a calculated gamble against Sunderland and went for maintaining rhythm rather than resting tired legs. In hindsight, it is easy to say Alberto Moreno, Lucas Leiva and Divock Origi ought to have started given how leggy Liverpool looked on the day. Yet it is very possible that disrupting a winning side with so many changes may not have brought all three points either.

None of this is an excuse for dropping points. Liverpool should still have too much for a Sunderland side thrashed 4-1 by Burnley just two days prior, and to surrender a lead on two occasions by giving away two penalties is as reckless as it is frustrating.

But that is football. Points get dropped, and had Liverpool been offered 10 points from 12 over the festive period, I’m sure most would have gladly accepted. It’s the manner in which the Reds dropped them that is infuriating.

Chelsea could have been feeling the heat with the gap closed to three points before their trip to White Hart Lane on Wednesday. Instead, they have the opportunity to go eight points in front should they be able to overcome Spurs.

Liverpool are now looking over shoulders, too.

SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND - Monday, January 2, 2017: Sunderland's Jermain Defoe scores the first equalising goal against Liverpool from the penalty spot during the FA Premier League match at the Stadium of Light. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

This one really hurts — it’s one of the most sickening results we’ve had in a long time, given the context of the title race. But we have a choice in how we respond to set-backs like these, and this is where I have a bone to pick.

I don’t have the privilege of being able to go and watch Liverpool games live on a weekly basis, so I can’t pass comment on the reaction of the crowd in the stadium at the time. A quick glance at social media after the game, though, and it’s the same old full-on meltdown from so many yet again. It happened after Burnley. It happened after Bournemouth. West Ham, too.

Our fans, as a collective it seems, are not good at responding to set-backs. I’ve seen people saying Liverpool do not deserve to win the title and that we might as well just pack it in and hand the trophy over to Chelsea right now. With 18 games to go. Eighteen. Fifty-four points still to play for.

This defeatist, reactionary mentality is exactly what Klopp was referring to when he said he wanted to change doubters to believers. We all have a role to play in this. You can guarantee that Klopp and the players will already have moved on from the Sunderland game. They won’t for one second be thinking that the title race is over.

Neither should we.

This manager and this group of players have shown what they’re capable of this season — they’ve earned our trust and deserve to have the fans fully on side, not just when we win, but after every single set-back. Because that is how Liverpool will achieve success under Klopp. Everyone together, believing it can happen — not throwing a tantrum every time things don’t go our way.

SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND - Monday, January 2, 2017: Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge celebrates scoring the first goal against Sunderland during the FA Premier League match at the Stadium of Light. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

We can contest referee decisions all we like — it will not change the result. It is easy in times like these to instantly forget the moments when luck has gone our way this season.

Remember Zlatan Ibrahimovic heading wide from six yards out at Anfield? Swansea missing an open goal with the last kick of the game at the Liberty? At Goodison, the ball could have rebounded straight to Robles in the 94th minute and the game ends 0-0. Instead, it rolls perfectly into the path of Mane and Liverpool snatch a glorious victory at the death.

Football is a game of fine margins, and the truth is Liverpool were sloppy and lethargic against Sunderland. They might have dominated the game but they did not stamp any real degree of authority or control on it. It feels like a kick in the balls right now, but it is what it is and we move on from there.

Liverpool are still second in the table with 44 points from 20 games. It’s an excellent return and one which has been achieved with a significant absence now for Phil Coutinho — arguably Liverpool’s best player. Our best defender, Joel Matip, has also been missing.

As it happens, Chelsea have set the bar at perfection with 13 consecutive wins before their match at Tottenham Hotspur. That’s what we’re up against — the standard is absurdly high."


Good way to put how I feel, from The Anfield Wrap

Knee, they weren't 'sloppy and lethargic', the were fekd. They gave it their best, the 2.5K Reds supporters were giving it too. 18 PL games to go; anything can happen.

JimmyTheRed

Good article.

Every bad result feels like the end of the world but the truth is we are having very few bad results.

Hard games ahead and we will have some more bad ones along the way, but it's indisputable that we are a team on the rise.