Blog: Response would restore momentum
As Liverpool prepare to resume their campaign with a huge match at Manchester United this evening, Reds fan Yemi Abiade explains why he's remaining optimistic about the team's potential.
It was all going so well for Liverpool after the first three games of the Barclays Premier League season. Two wins and a draw had us lying in the top four, three points ahead of champions Chelsea and coming off an impressive 0-0 draw away at Arsenal.
The visit of West Ham United, who had lost to Bournemouth in their previous league outing, seemed to many a Reds fan a straightforward home victory and an elevation to double figures in the team's points tally.
Watching Liverpool fall to a 3-0 home defeat a fortnight ago was like a bad dream, but we always wake up from dreams. Rodgers' men were shocked by a vibrant West Ham side that had got their tactics 100 per cent correct on the day, but let's not start drawing conclusions based on the result of one game.
Liverpool's impressive start to the campaign came to an abrupt end - after scoring wins over Stoke City and Bournemouth and the draw at the Emirates - but it's early enough to learn our lessons.
Hopefully it was just a bad day at the office for the team, but with eternal rivals Manchester United our next opponents, the need to get back to winning ways is sky high. Put simply, we need to arrest any potential dip in form and to firmly shift away from the disappointments of last season.
Momentum is all important in football and while our early-season buzz was halted at home to West Ham, an immediate response in the shape of a win will discard that result and generate new momentum that will put the Reds' journey back on course.
Individual performances, additionally, have been very encouraging, particularly from the summer signings. Nathaniel Clyne has been solid at right-back and has proven one of our smartest purchases in a long while and Joe Gomez has been thrust into the starting XI early, but at 18 years old, hasn't disappointed. He's looking like a very bright prospect.
James Milner looks every bit the dependable player Brendan Rodgers had counted on when he signed him from Manchester City and Roberto Firmino simply needs time to adjust to England and Liverpool's style of play. And with more service into the box, Christian Benteke, I believe, will eat up any opportunity to bag a goal or two.
However, Rodgers hit the nail firmly on the head in the aftermath of defeat when saying that Liverpool were not creative enough and didn't defend well against West Ham. This must be addressed when we visit Old Trafford on Saturday.
It is still the most anticipated game of the season when the north west giants collide and one which never disappoints. Since Sir Alex Ferguson's 1986 pledge to ‘knock Liverpool off its perch’, the match-up has become synonymous with the league itself, producing some of the best matches in Premier League history, and its importance has not diminished.
I can still remember watching my first Liverpool-United encounter in December 1995, when we coasted to a 2-0 victory at Anfield thanks to a brace from Robbie Fowler.
Going through the years, the Reds' league double in 2000-01, the monumental 4-1 triumph at Old Trafford in 2009 and Dirk Kuyt's match-winning hat-trick two years later stick out as memories that will stay with Liverpool fans forever.
While results of that level of brilliance aren't guaranteed on Saturday, Liverpool need to start winning against the league's giants - something they did just once last year - in order to establish themselves further as top-four contenders.
It would be the perfect remedy to such a disappointing result last time out, but one which will be difficult given Philippe Coutinho's suspension. That being said, the Reds will be up for the contest given the importance of the fixture and a victory at Old Trafford, in addition to a good performance, would easily vanquish the nightmare of a fortnight ago.
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