It was Liverpool 4-0 Crystal Palace and what the players in red remember was the noise, and the absence of noise.
June 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic was engulfing us all, when “PPE” and “lockdown” and “red zone” were part of everyday vocabulary and when “Project Restart” saw live professional football return to empty stadia. June 2020, when Liverpool put four past Palace at Anfield to move 23 points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Manchester City had eight games left and had to win them all and hope Liverpool’s form disappeared down a sinkhole.
After Palace, in the home dressing room at Anfield, they knew they were almost there, almost champions of England again for the first time in 30 years. Jordan Henderson, Liverpool’s captain, later said: “People started banging lockers and it was getting louder and louder and louder. People were getting emotional. We were trying to create our own atmosphere ... there was energy and relief. I’m the worst at celebrating, but this noise was like thunder.”
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Andy Robertson recalled “a primal scream, a release of frustration, passion and relief that seemed to come from the pits of our stomachs.” Robertson said he banged on his locker until his hand was “red raw. Bang, bang, bang. Thirty seconds became a minute . . there wasn’t even a pause. Nor were there any words. Pure release. No words, no tune and definitely no premeditation.”
Four days later City had to win the first of those eight games – at Chelsea. They lost 2-1.
Hundreds of miles north in Formby, Liverpool’s players had gathered with manager Jurgen Klopp, coaching staff and other club personnel allowed in their sterilised “bubble” at a hotel. The City game was on, TV sets were mounted near the barbecue. It was tense and the gathering could have turned into one of those “have you tried the chicken skewers?” nights.
But when Willian scored for Chelsea with 12 minutes left to make it 2-1, all in Formby knew it was done. The Liverpool bubble burst. It was sheer joy. “It was carnage,” Henderson said.
The previous season Liverpool had lost one match, scored 89 goals, conceded a mere 22, accumulated 97 points and still finished second. Now they had won the league with seven games to spare. They were undisputed champions, worthy champions. Thunder clapped.
But the football grounds of England remained silent. Anfield was one of them.
On Wednesday night – Liverpool 2-0 Newcastle United – Anfield was full again. There were 60,374 present and captain Virgil Van Dijk urged the faithful to be “on fire”. There was volume, no question, yet some of the anticpated electricity was switched off by Dominik Szoboszlai giving Liverpool an early lead – and by Newcastle’s passivity. Still, when Alexis Mac Allister made it 2-0 in the second half there was a chorus of “we’re gonna win the league”. Anfield hummed.
In terms of atmosphere, this was not June 2020. In terms of challengers, though, it is similar. Then City faltered and on Wednesday so, once again, did Arsenal, who drew 0-0 at Nottingham Forest four days after losing 1-0 at home to West Ham.
Arsenal are setting neither pulses nor titles racing and by the time they visit Anfield in May it will all be over. It could have been “up for grabs”; instead Liverpool will have their 20th league title, equalling a club called Manchester United.
Anfield will be ablaze, as Van Dijk requested. As he noted before Wednesday, seven of Liverpool’s remaining 11 games were/are at home. Whereas in 2020 no one could see them in the flesh cross the finishing line at Anfield, now fans will be able to see Liverpool inch closer and closer and relish every minute of it. Next, Southampton. Three points.
The club’s marketing deservedly received mockery for its “This Means More” campaign as 2020 moved into view. Obviously, given they have 19 already, it does not mean more to Liverpool to win a 20th than what it would to, say, Newcastle United to win a first since 1927.
But within the club, yes, number 20 will mean more. It will mean more because it will be experienced together. The fans will be in the ground and the players will be able to feel the rush of love during the game when it finally becomes clear the title is theirs – a 60 per cent chance it will be at Anfield. If not, then the first game back will be an eruption as much as a football match.
This is not just a fan issue. The players feel it. Once Liverpool had been confirmed as champions in 2020, the first game back at Anfield was against Aston Villa. “I couldn’t help thinking about what the atmosphere would have been like,” Robertson said in his book, ‘Robbo’. “Of all the games behind closed doors, this was probably the one that impacted on me most because Anfield would have been sensational that day if the fans had been there.”
Robertson, Allison, Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mo Salah and Van Dijk all started that match, Curtis Jones went on as a sub. They know how it was and that is why Van Dijk was this week stressing: “Let’s make Anfield amazing for these games.”
Should Arsenal continue to drop away, Liverpool could be champions as early as April. It would mean fans could be considering three trophies, not just the chosen one, the league title.
Newcastle will need Alexander Isak at his very best – plus Joelinton, plus Sven Botman – to stem Liverpool in the League Cup final at Wembley on March 16th. Liverpool can be less sure about Champions League progress, but they are demonstrably one of the best sides in Europe and have few reasons to fear anyone. A Liverpool treble is a distinct possibility.
At Everton, in Manchester and north London, they will not enjoy Anfield beaming. Outsiders already think of red Liverpudlians as indulgent. But for those there and for neutrals, it will be a sight to behold. As Pep Guardiola said in 2019: “The motto ‘This is Anfield’ is no marketing spin. There’s something about it that you will find in no other stadium in the world.”
Guardiola, of course, gets some things wrong, as proven this season, and there are countless supporters in numerous grounds who would contest his opinion. But they would not argue with Henderson’s assertion: “Football’s a totally different sport without fans. With a crowd, at Anfield, it’s a different world.”
Jock Stein would agree.
In spring 2025 Liverpool and Anfield will get their day in the sun together. There will be noise.
