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Liverpool's Recent History
Liverpool are on the brink of success. Their supporters know it and for the first time in many years - it is not the hollow, "This year is our year" as the usual chant is conspicuously lost to building optimism and we will attempt to look at the changing times and fortunes at the Kop.
Rewind your clocks a decade and a half back and it was good old Rafa Benitez, who had been chosen by the board, to guide Liverpool back to Champions League football after the unceremonious exit of Frenchman Gerard Houllier with chief executive Rick Parry mentioning to the press, "somebody who can take us from where we are to be realistic contenders for the title" in a crisp criticism of Houllier.
Rafael Benitez would lead the club for a tenure of six years, same as his predecessor did, but fail to deliver the title even after becoming massively popular at the Kop and delivering the Champions League to Liverpool in an astonishing night in Istanbul in 2005.
Very few would have given Liverpool a chance at being European winners after AC Milan had a 3-0 lead at halftime with the dominant side from Italy boasting the likes of Pirlo, Gattuso, Kaka and Seedorf in midfield and a defence that had Maldini, Nesta, Stam and Cafu. Yet, Liverpool came back to level the tie in the second half and win it on penalties.
Liverpool had their moments of glory with Rafa winning the FA Cup the following year but trophies became hard to come by from then on. Roy Hodgson, Rafa's successor, had an unsuccessful one year stint and was replaced by club icon Kenny Dalglish. In his second spell at the Kop, the player-manager won the League Cup.
This was too less a return for a manager who had signed Andy Carroll for £35m plus add-ons from Newcastle and Luis Suarez for £22.8m from Ajax in the same year, albeit in the January transfer window. King Kenny was always going to leave as he was meant to be a short-term solution only but Brendan Rodgers failed to deliver a single trophy in his three-year spell with the Steven Gerrard slip, still haunting the Liverpool faithful, happening in his reign.
Jurgen Klopp was signed next for a three-year contract. He had managed to wrest away the champions tag from Bayern Munich and win it with Borussia Dortmund, a feat considered to be punching way above their weight in the Bundesliga. The German was expected to do similar disruptions in England.
Klopp may not have won anything in his three year reign so far and only managed to make it to the final of a League Cup domestically and to the finals of the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Champions League but no one can argue that Liverpool have the second best odds and are closest to winning the title after Manchester City having upgraded with intent over the summer and are just a number ten away from genuine title aspirations.
Liverpool have changed from simmering discontent under Houllier to blind self-entitlement over the past few years to casual optimism under Klopp. As another new season starts for the Reds against West Ham this Sunday, let's take a look back at their opening day results over the last decade:
2008 Sunderland 0-1 Liverpool
Fernando Torres had come back from Euro 2008 as a winner with Spain and was right back into the mix with a minute winner at Sunderland after picking up fellow Spaniard Xabi Alonso's 83rd-minute pass.
This was a season remembered for the signing of Robbie Keane from Tottenham Hotspur and a lethal Liverpool side amassing 86 points in second but falling 4 short of Manchester United.
Liverpool would also exit the Champions League at the quarter-final stage losing to domestic rivals Chelsea as Torres finished with only 17 goals from all competitions.
2009 Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Liverpool
Liverpool were making a bid to win the title in two decades but a Luka Modric powered Tottenham midfield ensured that they start their campaign with defeat at White Hart Lane.
Goals came from Benoit Assou-Ekotto (44th) and Sebastien Bassong (59th) for the home team with the latter only acquired ten days before the match by Tottenham. Liverpool had their goal via a Stevie G penalty in the 56th.
Liverpool managed 63 points that season and a seventh-placed finish in the Premier League and a group stage exit in the Champions League.
2010 Liverpool 1-1 Arsenal
Liverpool hosted Arsenal in their opening day fixture in 2010 and took the lead with David N'Gog in the 46th minute who was assisted by Javier Mascherano. A goal keeping blunder in the form of an own goal by Pepe Reina gifted Arsenal the equalizer in the 90th.
Liverpool would manage 58 points and a 6th place finish in that season with Champions League football still eluding them.
Turbulent times came in January with Liverpool having exited the League Cup and FA Cup and Roy Hodgson leaving with King Kenny immediately brought in who made the signings of Andy Carroll and Suarez to replace Fernando Torres who was bought by Chelsea for £50m.
2011 Liverpool 1-1 Sunderland
Luis Suarez opened the scoring in the 12th minute but a splendid volley from Sebastian Larsson in the 57th minute for the visitors made it all square with no further goals.
Liverpool would finish the season at 8th with only 52 points in a season that saw both Manchester clubs finish with 89 points and City winning it on goal difference with "that" Aguero goal.
Liverpool would manage to win the League Cup that season but Kenny Dalglish would be sacked at the end of the season and Brendan Rodgers would be appointed for the next term.
2012 West Bromwich Albion 3-0 Liverpool
Goals from Zoltan Gera (43rd), Peter Odemwingie (64th-minute penalty) and Romelu Lukaku (77th) made a shocking opening day defeat for the Reds condemning Brendan to start his Liverpool career with a loss.
Liverpool would finish the season with 61 points at 7th and fall out of European Qualifying spots again.
The highlight of the season would be the signing of 20-year-old Coutinho from Inter for £8.5m while veterans Dirk Kuyt, Craig Bellamy and Maxi Rodriguez transferred out among others.
2013 Liverpool 1-0 Stoke City
A Daniel Sturridge goal in the 37th minute and a late penalty save by Simon Mignolet ensured Liverpool start with a win for their 2013/14 campaign at Anfield.
Liverpool would make a dramatic rise from 7th to 2nd with 84 points but this was a year when they had a genuine shot at the title with Manchester City finishing 1st with 86 points
Liverpool had 80 points from 35 rounds whereas Manchester City had 77 from their 35. Steven Gerrard would slip at Stamford Bridge and allow Demba Ba to score in a match that ended in a 2-0 defeat against Chelsea at home (Ironically, Mo Salah would be playing for Chelsea in this game). A draw against Crystal Palace in the next round ensured City would overtake them who won all their last 3 games to clinch the title.
2014 Liverpool 2-1 Southampton
Liverpool started their 2014/15 campaign with a win at Anfield against Southampton. The goals came from Raheem Sterling in the 23rd and Sturridge in the 79th. The Saints would score via Nathaniel Clyne in the 56th who would later join the Reds in the next year.
Liverpool would finish the season at 6th with 62 points and qualify for the Europa League and be knocked in the group stage of the Champions League of that year having qualified for it by finishing 2nd in the domestic league in the season prior to this.
5 losses (including a 4-1 loss to Arsenal and a 6-1 loss to Stoke City) and 2 draws in their last 9 fixtures signalled the beginning of the end for Brendan who would be replaced by the charismatic Jurgen Klopp.
To look where Allison Becker and other Liverpool signings stand in the list of impact transfers this summer, click here.
2015 Stoke City 0-1 Liverpool
Liverpool would make hard work of their opening day fixture at the Potters and win it via a Coutinho goal in the 86th.
The signs of Klopp's arrival would become visible as Liverpool would make enormous strides in Europe as they reached the final of the UEFA Europa League but fall short before Sevilla losing 3-1 to them in the final.
However, Liverpool would finish the domestic season at 8th with 60 points and Klopp looking to reverse the tide from the next season onwards which would be his full season in charge.
2016 Arsenal 3-4 Liverpool
Theo Walcott scored in the 31st for the home side but Coutinho pulled one back in the extra time of the first half. Lallana (49th), Coutinho (56th) and Mane (63rd) blew Arsenal away at their home ground. The hosts pulled two back via Oxlade-Chamberlain (64th) and Chambers (75th) to set up a nervy finish exemplifying Liverpool's defensive frailties.
Liverpool managed to secure 76 points and finish 4th, one point better than Arsenal who finished 5th and who they had edged out for a Champions League spot. The rebuilding at Liverpool was evident with Sadio Mane bought for £30m from Southampton, their usual shopping ground.
All they needed was to shore up their defence with the attack already clicking together.
2017 Watford 3-3 Liverpool
Mo Salah eclipsed Andy Carroll's transfer fee record for Liverpool with a £36.9m and justified his price tag with 32 goals from 36 appearances in the league and inspired the Reds to a Champions League final where they eventually lost to Real Madrid.
Stefano Okaka had scored for Watford in the 8th but Sadio Mane equalized in the 29th, only for Doucoure to take the hosts into the lead again in the 32nd. Roberto Firmino equalized with a second-half penalty and a third from Salah put Liverpool into the lead but the hosts managed to tie it at the death via Britos.
The addition of Salah meant Liverpool had a potent attacking line but the opening game would set the tone for the season and they came up short on the defensive front on many occasions finishing 4th again with 75 points accumulated while Manchester United who were in 2nd had scored 16 goals less than them but conceded even lesser.
To look at Arsenal's results in their opening day fixtures over the last decade, click here.
THE ROAD AHEAD
2018 Liverpool v West Ham
Liverpool used to take two steps forward and three steps backwards. Rising to second in the table used to be marked with mid-table collapses in the consecutive seasons. It is not a wonder that the seven years before Klopp saw Liverpool's average position as 5.4 in spite of two second-placed finishes in 2008/09 and 2013/14.
It doesn't take a genius to see that Liverpool have gradually rebuilt under the charismatic German coach. 3 final appearances notwithstanding, Klopp has taken the Merseyside team from a tumultuous phase marked with dramatic accomplishments and drastic downfalls to an area of stability with an average position of 4 in the last 2 seasons.
They had to let go of Coutinho when Barcelona came calling but Liverpool have their offence intact otherwise. They have also built their defence with the acquisitions of van Dijk from Southampton for an astounding £75m. And this summer Klopp showed his intent by solidifying his midfield early on and then acquired Allison Becker for £67m - a world record transfer fee for a goalkeeper from AS Roma.
With Liverpool's attacking line capable of tearing apart any defence for some time now, all that Klopp needs is for the defence to come together and he has taken enough strides in that direction to ensure that.
Klopp has won the crowd at Anfield with his rock star persona on the sidelines but has wisened up to the age old saying of "goals win matches, defence wins you the title." He realizes that a rock-solid defence is required with the rock metal performances his sides put in upfront, best exemplified by the 4-3 win over eventual champions Manchester City last season.
West Ham awaits this Sunday in the first hurdle for their bid for the title. Managing to win it would be a first in twenty-nine years but Liverpool are in prime position to dethrone Pep's Manchester City have made the most upgrades over the summer - whether they can do it or not, remains to be seen.
Cautious Liverpool fans would prefer to stay pragmatic realizing that the new additions will take some time to gel but no one can be a better catalyst in team bonding than the generally amicable Klopp who along with his new additions in defence can charter a new future at the glorious Merseyside club.
In either case - the new season looks deliciously tempting for the Reds with the return of "Gegenpressing" coupled with a proper defence and the weekend couldn't come any sooner.
To look at Manchester United's fortunes in their opening day fixtures over the last decade, click here.
