“It’ll be embarrassing…” – Anfield legend sounds ‘laughing stock’ warning amid Liverpool wobble
John Aldridge has warned Liverpool that they risk becoming a ‘laughing stock’ if they were to blow their current lead at the top of the Premier League table.
The Reds sit 11 points above second-placed Arsenal with seven matches remaining, which suggests that they’re on the brink of securing a 20th top-flight crown, but the 3-2 defeat to Fulham on Sunday has instantly halted any momentum which could’ve been gained from winning the Merseyside derby last week.
Luckily for Arne Slot’s side, the Gunners also dropped points at the weekend (drawing 1-1 at Everton) and face into a daunting Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid over the next fortnight, although the former LFC striker has warned that there could yet be a nasty sting in the tail for the Merseysiders if they’re not careful.
Aldridge: Liverpool would be ‘a laughing stock’ if they blow it from here
In his latest column for the Liverpool Echo, Aldridge voiced his concerns that the Reds can’t feel comfortable despite having what appears a sizeable lead, and that the reputational damage from blowing it this late in the season would be extreme.
He wrote: “I’m just glad we’ve got this 11-point gap. I’m delighted because if we didn’t have that, I wouldn’t fancy us to win the league whatsoever, and that’s even though Arsenal aren’t scoring goals either, similar to us.
“Give the lads a break but they’ve got to come back to the table in the last couple of months and get back to the standards they were setting when we played the likes of Man City and Real Madrid. We were flying at times.”
Aldridge added: “Despite it all, we still sit top of the table by 11 points. It’s just as well that Man City have fallen by the wayside this season otherwise we’d really be struggling. It’ll be embarrassing if Liverpool don’t win the title now. We’ve just got to hope that doesn’t happen.
“The players have got to look at that. If we were to collapse, and Arsenal beat us at Anfield, it’s back on for them. It could even end up becoming Arsenal’s to throw away, depending on what we do in these next four games.
“They’ve got to realise this, the players. We would be a laughing stock if we throw this away. I’m not saying that will happen, but the players have got to realise these ramifications. West Ham now becomes the most important game of the season.”
Liverpool could do with silencing their doubters amid worrying drop-off
Alexis Mac Allister has insisted that nobody in the Liverpool squad is getting complacent, despite allegations to that effect from Paul Scholes, but there’s no denying that the Reds have been faltering recently.
A month ago we’d lost only four matches in total all season. That’s now become three defeats in four games, with two of those seeing the possibility of three trophies whittled down to one, albeit that it’s the piece of silverware many LFC fans crave the most.
Even in our three most recent victories, we haven’t played like prospective champions. The win away to Paris Saint-Germain was a classic smash-and-grab, while it took the jolt of a half-time deficit to turn things around at home to Southampton, and the final few minutes of the Merseyside derby were unbearably tense.
That said, all that matters at this stage of the season is winning, and there isn’t a Liverpool supporter who right now wouldn’t shake on the guarantee of victory over West Ham next Sunday irrespective of how it comes.
At the same time, it’d be nice to bounce back from the weekend’s disappointment with a convincing performance as well as three points against the Irons and to remind everyone of why, despite the recent wobble, the Reds still have a commanding lead at the Premier League summit.
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