Perhaps it's the fact that we have nothing to actually win this season that has you feeling that way Mick? Other than that I'm at a loss because the signs for encouragement are everywhere! (Apart from the owners but let's leave that for their thread)
Personally I'm buzzing with how Klopp has us playing and the progress we're making. When it comes to personal lows, in football terms, those came most deeply under Hodgson and then subsequently with Brendan for his final 1 1/4 seasons. With Hodgson it was embarrassing on every level so that's best left because I feel that's obvious but when it came to Brendan I was like Skip. I'd totally lost all hope and even though I didn't miss a match, watching us became like groundhog day, same mistakes, same problems with transfers, no clear system and so many square pegs in round holes that there was absolutely no way we could find even a glimmer of hope.
Thankfully Jürgen has come in and fixed so many of those issues, we can debate at length about how poor this squad is and how suicidal he was to go into this season with so few players but in truth when you look at what he actually took over, if you really look honestly without any bias then it's remarkable how quick he's turned us around. I have to laugh when I hear "missed opportunities" being mentioned when the above is taken into account. Sure we were in title winning form up to Christmas but those who expected total consistency and being able to sustain it for the entire season on the back of the squad he inherited and only one summer window are being horribly unfair.
We could still realistically finish near or over 80 points this season. Granted that over 80 is unlikely but to me at the very least we're looking like making up around 16 points on last season and finishing around 76 points, that in anyone's book is an enormous leap forward. Then factor in the circumstances of those gains, have we been lucky? No, in most games we've actually been the best team, if I were to argue it any way I'd suggest we're on the low side of what we've 'deserved' in terms of performances. Have we been lucky in terms of injuries, no, again I think we've had it pretty rough. We've had few options up top due to injuries to Ings and Sturridge, in defence we've only been able to play our first choice pairing in about a 3rd of games (think we've not lost when they've played) and in midfield it's been a similar story. How often have Henderson, Lallana, Gini played together and when they have, what have the results been?
Then let's look at our attack, with all the above taken into consideration, we're still the top scoring team in the entire league. That's quite an achievement already, it's been thrilling to watch us in so many games this year. It's so easy to see where improvements can be made but even with that we're still producing this, for me that's what is so impressive. Yes individually we have weaknesses but as a whole we're still knocking in the most goals and that should be scary for our rivals because a couple of gems added into this line-up and we could push that number up a notch or two again next year and will other's really be able to live with that?
Defensively, as said, we've had our troubles through injuries and there's for sure work to be done in this department. The last time I was truly confident in our defence was under Kenny and Clarke and while it would be nice to get back to that solidity I've always preferred winning games in a "we'll score more than you" manner. So as long as it's tightened slightly in the summer I'll be happy.
Just as Dave says above, Jürgen has so far produced an outstanding record against the top teams, so I'm massively excited about how we will get on in the CL. I don't think for a moment we'd win it on our first stab back but I certainly think we'll have some brilliant nights again with end to end footy to thrill. That alone has me pumped for this run-in, sure 2nd is nowhere and all that but there is now a reward for 2nd-4th and that reward is getting to see our team and manager pit their wits against the best. There's no better measure of where you are in terms of the best around than in the CL and I can't wait for us to be back there.
Exciting times and I'm sure once next season starts you'll have your spark back again Mick.
Logged