When Larry David won his Emmy for writing Seinfeld, he took to the stage and waited for the applause to die down. ‘Well, this is all well and good,’ he said. ‘But I’m still bald.’
It was a bit like that for Manchester City on Thursday night; 3-0 up against Liverpool at half-time was all well and good, so was 4-0 when the final whistle went — but they were still 20 points adrift.
That is the question for Pep Guardiola and his players this summer, presuming they all remain. How to make up seven wins, give or take, on the most dominant champions in English football history?
The guard of honour that preceded this game, and the cheeky firework display that unfolded after eight minutes outside the stadium were a reminder of the gulf here.
Jurgen Klopp picked his best XI and would have been deeply unimpressed with the scoreline — and the uncharacteristically off-colour displays from stalwarts such as Andrew Robertson — but City won’t be kidding themselves. There is a difference between this Liverpool and the one that has contested the games to here, and it is that other Liverpool they will need to overcome next season.
So, 20 points. How to close that gap? And this is where the difficulty lies because City can do it — but only if they learn to knuckle down and defend.
The reason they have shipped so many points is that they concede goals. Lots of goals. More goals than Leicester, Manchester United and Sheffield United. More goals than any team in the top seven, bar Chelsea and Wolves. Just four fewer goals than Crystal Palace, who are 12th.
If Manchester City do not solve this problem, they have no chance. If they do — well, let’s look at what might happen.
City have lost or drawn on five occasions this season having scored twice in a game. No team of their quality should drop points after scoring two goals, and certainly not to opponents such as Norwich, Newcastle or Palace.
Yet this is what has happened. Beaten 3-2 at Norwich, drawing 2-2 with Newcastle and Palace. What if City held on to win those games: that’s seven points.
Other missed opportunities came against stronger opponents. Even so, City should have the beating of Wolves and Tottenham, yet lost 3-2 at Molineux and drew 2-2 at home. Again, it should have been enough for victories both times. Add five points. So 12 down, eight to find. On to the tight games, the needle matches, big games against big teams.
Manchester City scored single goals against Manchester United and Chelsea and lost both times. The best teams, the strongest defensive teams, hold on to those knife-edge matches.
City have to think big if they are going to take this on. Defeats must become slender victories. Six points; two to find. And that leaves the visit to Anfield. It doesn’t mean they have to win. There will be other opportunities City lost 2-0 to Wolves and by the same margin to Tottenham this season. It doesn’t have to come down to winning at Anfield.
Yet, as Thursday night showed, it is not unthinkable that they could be the better team again. Who knows what football will look like next season? City could travel to an empty, echoing Anfield, not the boiling cauldron. How good have City been in restart when so much depends on pure technique? Stripped of the external pressures and distractions, City have often looked a class apart.
So, it can be done. That is the point. Just as Liverpool once trailed City by what seemed an ocean, so City can make up this ground. Yet there has to be an acceptance that the game is more than beauty. That defence matters, that defenders matter. That the 11 midfielders Pep Guardiola once dreamed of playing are not always the best laid plans. Nobody should read Thursday night’s result as evidence City are close. They are not. Not yet. Not until Guardiola finds upgrades on many players he has relied on this season.
He was unlucky with Aymeric Laporte’s injuries, but one player is not a defence. Virgil van Dijk is surrounded by outstanding colleagues, at the back and guarding midfield. Only if Guardiola recognise their failings this season will they even present the main challenge to Liverpool next season. Change, or it is not even accepted they can be that.
Yes, such an emphatic win will have restored some pride, but we will never know to what extent Liverpool’s mindset was affected by last week’s events.
It is impossible to perform at such a high level of intensity for so long, and not suffer a drop off when the mission is accomplished. Equally, there may have been some indulgences, some celebrations, a letting go.
All year Klopp has said he does not care about records and achievements beyond the prize itself. Maybe his players feel that way too. Certainly, it is hard to imagine the same result occurring last season at the stage in the campaign when the teams were neck and neck.
Yet there were moments, glimpses, possibilities. Raheem Sterling certainly got his revenge on Joe Gomez after their altercation earlier in the season, turning his England colleague inside out, forcing him to concede a penalty. Several penalties, in fact.
Every step seemed to bring a new offence. Sterling would have loved that.
Phil Foden, too, will have relished the chance to make his mark against such respected opposition. What a player he looks. This time next year, who knows what he will have brought to England’s team in the European Championships? He will be there, that looks certain. His pass for Sterling goal’s was super-smart, his finish for City’s third super-cool.
If he is the replacement for David Silva, Guardiola has played this one perfectly.
Now he needs to play the months to come with the same insight and intelligence. Next year’s challenge depends on it. City can match Liverpool, but they have to get their hands dirty. That’s what Klopp and Liverpool did. That’s why they’re champions.