Roy Keane hit the nail on the head as he suggested that Liverpool deserves more respect for its achievements this season, with Michael Owen slammed recently for downplaying the Reds’ expected title win.
Arne Slot is on course to win the Premier League in his first season in charge, with Liverpool now potentially just a couple of games away from being crowned champions after Arsenal dropped more points at Everton.
Some pundits and rival fans though have been eager to downplay the Reds’ achievements this season. Those calls have grown in recent weeks after Liverpool was knocked out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain, and lost the Carabao Cup final to Newcastle.
Former Reds striker Owen even went as far as to claim that those defeats would still leave a “bitter taste” to a title triumph – a suggestion that has been slammed by both Slot and Virgil van Dijk in recent days.
And they have a perhaps unlikely ally in former Manchester United captain Keane, who insists that Liverpool’s achievements shouldn’t be downplayed.
“Obviously they had a difficult spell a few weeks ago with going out of Europe and losing the cup final to Newcastle, but they’ve bounced back well with a good win against Everton,” Keane told Sky Sports.
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“It’s all well and good sitting here and looking at points totals and criticizing the other teams who’ve not challenged Liverpool, but that’s not their problem.
“Liverpool have been consistent, that’s the reason you win league titles because you are efficient, you are consistent, you turn up week in, week out, and you look at their stats, it’s fantastic.
“Maybe they deserve a bit more credit, but whatever’s happened to the other teams, no-one predicted that City would be dropping off so much and be 20-odd points behind, but the other teams haven’t stepped up to the plate.
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“That’s down to Liverpool’s consistency, they’ve been brilliant, and to win a league title, you talk about stats all the time, but when you get that league medal, there’s no stats on the back of your medal, you’ve won it, and it should mean a hell of a lot to you, and don’t take anything away from them with the fact that the other teams haven’t been that great.”
Liverpool.com says: Who’d have thought Keane would be the one to defend Liverpool on this? He’s absolutely right though – far too many people are trying their best to downplay the Reds’ achievements at the moment. The irony is that none of them seem to realize how badly that reflects on their own teams.
