If Liverpool fail to win the Premier League this season, they will have to look back at this week.
This is the week when the cracks started appearing in their bid.
The goals have dried up, the imagination is gone and the defence is decimated.
Worse still, coach Jurgen Klopp is fighting on the touchline and the players are criticising one another.
And all of the heat is building up like your mom’s old pressure cooker.
KEEP GOING: Jurgen Klopp has won support. PHOTO: PETER POWELL, EPA
If you think that at the start of January, the Reds had the chance to go 13 points ahead of Manchester City and today are behind, albeit with a game in hand, you can see what sort of frustration these guys are dealing with.
And fans are despairing too. Manne are straight up losing it.
Some are blaming Klopp for the club not strengthening in the recent transfer window.
He should have bought another defender, they say.
Everything is clearer in hindsight. And maybe another defender would have come in handy.
WEAKNESSES: Keeper Alisson Becker. PHOTO: RICHARD SELLERS/PA WIRE.
But the gamble of bringing in a new player at a certain cost doesn’t guarantee that he would have done a better job than someone already at the club.
Ah, but if you weigh the cost against 29 years of waiting for the league title?
And that’s where the real problem is, isn’t.
It’s been 29 years.
It’s a long time ago.
Imagine what everyone connected to that club feels right now.
The expectations must be pressing hard.
It’s a weird and wonderful time for the club.
PRESSURE: Fabinho and Robertson feel heat. PHOTO: PETER BYRNE/PA WIRE
Apart from a Manchester City fan, I haven’t spoken to someone this year who wouldn’t like Liverpool to finally get their hands on a first title in the Premier League era.
That means Kopites want it, the players, staff and board want it and even neutrals are cheering on Klopp’s team.
So what do they do to stay on track?
They have to keep doing what they are doing.
Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Alisson, Fabinho, Xherdan Shaqiri. They have to kap aan.
This week, it could all fall apart because Alisson is calling his teammates insecure and Fabinho says they need new ideas in attack.
Nah ouens. This is the time to keep the faith and stay on the same page.
Your gameplan has won you guys tons of admirers and you guys are on the cusp of glory.
Hang in there, don’t give up hope.
Arsenal and City fans have been on the winning end of the tightest of season finales and they will tell you that those moments are so worth it.
All that pain and frustration disappears and are overtaken by the most incredible high - and it lasts a whole season.
Don’t get off the ride, guys. The payoff could be once in a lifetime just like 29 years is.