20110308

Consistency is the Key

We can celebrate all we like Liverpool's emphatic win against archrivals Manchester United on Sunday, like we did after the sweet victory against Chelsea a month ago. But let's not get carried away. The 18-point gap between us and Manchester United, who are still the league leaders, says everything about how far apart we are. We should not forget that, sandwiched between these two great triumphs are two disappointing league games in which we were held by Wigan, a team which now sit at the bottom of the table, and beaten by relegation-threatened West Ham United.

Lucas Leiva said after the match against Manchester United: "Kenny spoke with us in the team meeting and said we should only worry about ourselves, and that if we play as we can then we would win." I wonder whether, when King Kenny said this to motivate the team, there was at the back of his mind this quiet admission: "That may be true, but we don't always play as we can!" Beating the league leaders 3:1 and losing to a struggling team by the same scoreline. There could hardly be a better illustration of the painful inconsistency that has been plaguing us in recent years. No matter what famous or memorable victories we chalk up against great teams, unless we somehow find a way to grind out results against the lesser teams on a regular basis, such wins can at best only serve as Viagara to satisfy our needs for self-aggrandisement.

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