Forget television made matches between Liverpool and the Manchester clubs, it’s the ones which come after that which will provide the true test.
Brendan Rodgers must have known he was in for a rollercoaster ride when he took the Liverpool job; the fixture announcement yesterday showed it promises to be one which takes off at breakneck speed.
After an opening day clash with last season’s assistant boss Steve Clarke at West Brom, an Anfield baptism of fire begins with home matches against Manchester City, Manchester United, and Arsenal.
Critics will be lining up to assess how the team performs, but to be generous to Rodgers it hardly matters.
Rodgers is having to build up almost from scratch a team in his vision after last year’s disaster. Do the current players have the capability to play the type of football Rodgers wants them to?
He may have to sacrifice style for results early on, to impress the fans and pick up points in these home matches.
The oxymoron in front of the new manager is that in the matches against the big teams, Liverpool have always actually done quite well. Last season of the seven clubs which finished above them, only one – Arsenal – beat them at Anfield in the league, and that was courtesy of an injury-time winning goal.
No, Liverpool’s problems last season stemmed from an inability to beat the so-called ‘lower’ teams, particularly at home. Promoted Norwich and Swansea both claimed draws at Anfield, while Fulham, West Brom and Wigan all came away with shock wins.
It is why the ‘new Liverpool’s ability to turn the screw and exert their supposed dominance over teams they are expected to beat should be the true barometer against which Brendan Rodgers outfit must be judged.
Once the hysteria of the glamour clashes against United, City and Arsenal has died down- and there will be hysteria, win or lose – we will see what Liverpool are really made of.
None more so than in October; Liverpool face successive home fixtures against teams who will be expected to finish in the bottom half, Stoke City and newly promoted Reading.
Stoke claimed a draw at Anfield last season, and took all three points at the Britannia, and will provide another tough test this season. They could even rock up an Anfield boasting former hero Michael Owen, who Pulis is reported to be looking to partner another ex-Liverpool man Peter Crouch in attack.
Liverpool’s resilience in getting all three points will be their truest test, and Reading will provide another- buoyed by a League Cup win at Anfield a couple of seasons back and inspired by Norwich and Swansea avoiding defeat a year earlier.
At the end of October? Just the small matter of a trip to Goodison Park for the first Merseyside derby of the season against Everton. After a summer listening to Evertonians soak up finishing above Liverpool for the first time since 2005, it will be a chance for Rodgers to truly win over the support and make Liverpool the top club in the region.
It will be an exciting season, fans just shouldn’t read too much into the opening fixtures- rather the ones which come straight after.
image: © strabanephotos
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