Liverpool seek ‘perfection’ in bid to dethrone Pep’s Man City

London (AFP) – “If you are second you are nothing,” said former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly. But rarely can a runner-up have been more proud of falling just short than Liverpool in the Premier League this season.

Shankly won three league titles on Merseyside in the pre-Premier League era and built the foundations for two decades of dominance that endured even after he departed.

Yet even he could not conceive of amassing 97 points in a league season, let alone that mark only being good enough for second place.

Liverpool’s points tally was not just a club record, but the third-highest in Premier League history, behind only Manchester City’s 98 this season and City’s haul of 100 points in romping to the title last year.

Unfortunately for Jurgen Klopp’s men, it will be Pep Guardiola’s champions they have to beat again to end a 30-year wait for a league title next season.

“As long as City are around, with the quality they have, the financial power and all that stuff, it’s not that any other team will pass them easily,” said Klopp, whose side lost only one league game all season, to City in January, and still missed out.

“You need to be very, very close to perfection to win the Premier League as long as this is the case.”

City’s wealth in the decade since the club was bought by Sheikh Mansour, a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family, has transformed the blue half of Manchester into serial winners.

– City cash –

Sunday’s title triumph was their fourth in the past eight seasons, but City have not always made the most of their new-found wealth, drifting under Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini after previous title triumphs.

Guardiola is the point of difference. The Catalan has now won the league in eight of his 10 seasons as a top-flight coach in three different countries with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City.

Worryingly for the competition, Guardiola insisted City will only get stronger next season.

But the notoriously intense Catalan also has a history of not overstaying his welcome.

Next season will be his fourth in Manchester, matching his longest managerial stint so far at Barca, after which he required a year’s sabbatical, citing exhaustion.

“I cannot deny I am so tired, but at the same time winning the title gives you a lot of energy,” said Guardiola on Sunday. “Winning is so addictive.”