3 months ago
75 
Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images
It’s very early days, but things look pretty, pretty good on Merseyside.
One week down and the rest of the season to go, but Liverpool are top of the table. And, I get it, there’s the entire year to go, but I have to tell you that I personally can’t quite tamper the enthusiasm I’ve got building inside of me. Premier League football is back. More importantly, Liverpool football (with stakes!) is back.
Watching Arne Slot’s Reds nearly carry a perfect record through the pre-season is one thing. Watching them in a league match, away from home, is another.
What I saw in the match was a bit familiar: a lot of possession that, for a spell, looked entirely useless; a defense that looked a little unsteady as it did its best to bend-not-break; then a crucial halftime change combining with fading opposing legs allowed for a Liverpool that looked like they were running downhill.
It’s a different feeling than I expected at the end of last season - one that saw the true end of one of the great eras at the club. And while I wouldn’t say I was worried about what might come next, I did not have the familiar burst of optimism whose central core and flavor is an abiding faith at the folks running the show.
With Klopp’s departure and then an entirely new front office structure, it is a lot of change all at once. Even allowing the quality at the club and in the academy, things felt deeply uncertain.
But this win - as part of the performances we witnessed during preseason - feels a way point on the journey towards something big, something meaningful. No way of knowing, because it really is very early days. The wind, though, feels to have shifted and is now at our backs. Let’s see, then, how far we can ride this moment.
