16:21, 03 Nov 2024
Arne Slot applauds the fans after the team's victory in the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Brighton & Hove Albion FC at Anfield on November 02, 2024
Barely a fixture has passed by at Anfield this season without the patrons of one of the most famous venues in world football being subjected to the same tired chant.
"Where's your famous atmosphere?" has come the howl, in a variety of dialects, from whoever has been stationed in the away seats down the Anfield Road.
Be it West Ham United, Nottingham Forest or Bournemouth, those of a Liverpool faith have been made to listen to the same ditty almost weekly this term. Even Bologna fans, over for the Champions League fixture in early October, might have dusted off a similar trope in Italian given the consistency of what is supposed to be a cutting taunt.
In truth, the belting out of that particular terrace anthem reveals more about how Reds supporters view their opposition more than it speaks to the Anfield din being an apparent myth. Either way, it's a chant that has been aired regularly this term from visitors hoping for something akin to Chelsea 2005 or Barcelona 2019.
More seasoned match-goers will counter the point that the ground hasn't always been the red-hot cauldron it is broadly painted to be. The "famous atmosphere" - to quote the critics - has rather been reserved for when it is needed, on the biggest nights and for the biggest moments.
Expecting the stadium to be shaking to its core for a sleepy 3pm kick-off against teams further down the division is unrealistic, even if there is a wider debate to be had about the noise generated inside the ground itself on any given match-day.
Had Brighton fans opted to sing something similar during a dominant first half for their team on Saturday, they might have been within their rights. Passes were sloppy, touches were loose and Fabian Hurzeler's team were sharper, faster and stronger throughout. The 1-0 advantage the Seagulls took into half time was the least their efforts deserved as the home support grew restless, frustrated by what was being served on the pitch itself.
But the major issue around Anfield and its enduring reputation remains. It has become something of a chicken and egg situation: Do the players respond to the wall of noise that greets them from the stands? Or do the decibel levels only rise through patterns of play that quicken the pulse of the attendees?
It's an age-old question that might never reveal a right answer but there can be no debate that the crowd helped steer a difficult afternoon Liverpool's way on Saturday as they went two points clear at the summit of the Premier League with a fightback victory.
With Arsenal having already stumbled at Newcastle and Manchester City one and then two goals down to Bournemouth, Liverpool looked as though they were letting a golden opportunity drift by them before a much-improved second half was aided by the best atmosphere of the season to date.
In many ways, it bore all the hallmarks of wins over Luton Town and Sheffield United last season, when a raucous Kop dovetailed with a more coherent performance on the pitch to set up two of most surprisingly memorable evenings of Jurgen Klopp's final year at the club.
It was an Arne Slot victory, in fact, that was achieved thanks to something close to a cosplay of Klopp's Liverpool; all emotion and energy, playing on instinct and vibes, backed by the fans in the stands.
That was something Slot himself acknowledged in his post-match press conference, where he reflected: "The crowd was incredible the second half. Our fans were incredible in the second half. Our players [too] but our fans as well.
"It was the loudest crowd since I’ve been here. Let’s go now for Tuesday, where I think we need them again. To make sure we play like this from the start and the fans can help us from the start, because that definitely has [an] influence on our players and in the end on our results."
Slot wasn't just paying lip-service to the supporters, either. Even Hurzeler was made to concede that the home support had forced his team to go on bended knee in the second period.
Hurzeler said: “In the second half there were two or three moments when we weren’t precise enough, we lost 50-50 duels and got a little bit affected maybe by the atmosphere.
“These things are so important to experience and to learn to get the result you deserve in the end. How you solve that? We can solve this by calling Jurgen (Klopp) and asking him!
“It’s a tough moment, I’d only experienced it on television so far but now I’ve experienced it for myself. These are the small details.
“Being loud, great atmosphere, maybe a wild environment, in exactly those moments you need to stay calm and still play out from the back. They were the solutions and we couldn’t find them in the second half."
But it wasn't just Hurzeler's classy acknowledgement of Anfield's power that came from those of a Brighton persuasion on Saturday.
In a post that subsequently liked over 23,000 times by Sunday afternoon, Ryan Adsett, who runs the Brighton supporters' community @TalkSeagulls, was left to reflect on his own visit to L4: "When people talk about Liverpool’s home support at Anfield turning games I now get what they mean. One of the loudest I’ve witnessed as an away fan."
The debates will no doubt continue to rage, of course. The battle lines are drawn between fans waiting to be inspired and those on the other end of the spectrum who feel more can be done to foster the sort of match-day racket that the stadium has clearly become renowned for more regularly. It's a healthy topic for discussion, but wherever you land on such a loaded and thorny issue, few will argue that Anfield doesn't have the power to change a game or alter a season.
Where's the famous atmosphere? It was fully on show in the second half on Saturday and it will be required in spades the longer this intriguing campaign goes on for the new leaders of the Premier League.
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