Sven-Goran Eriksson doesn't have a job, but people are still apparently interested in what he has to say, at least to the point that they can compare how closely aligned his puppet life is with reality. Anyhow, yesterday he made some comments about Steven Gerrard and the Liverpool captain's chances of winning a Premier League title; evaluating the current state of things, the Swede believes that "a lot of things have to change" in order for a title bid to be successful, and at current Gerrard there's "absolutely not" a realistic chance of winning the Premier League.
So that's a little harsh and makes me want to punch him, until I realize that we've essentially been saying the same thing for most of the past few months, and there are a lot of things that have to change in order for Liverpool to win the league. It'd be great if those changes happened very quickly, or at least quickly enough that Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher would be able to lift the Premier League trophy before their careers are over. It goes without saying that the player wants that as well, and both he and Brendan Rodgers were asked--either directly or indirectly--about Eriksson's comments earlier today. For the manager the adage of fighting for their lives is always applicable, and here it's no different.
"Steven still has a number of years left in his career. His dream is to win the Barclays Premier League with Liverpool and the supporters and I will fight for our lives to try and make that possible.He's won every major honour you could possibly win at this club but obviously there is one missing that he will want to fight for the rest of his career to win here. He's realistic as well. He knows the reality. He's not misguided in anything."
Gerrard similarly acknowledges what's realistic at this point, but doesn't ignore the potential positives to be gleaned from last year's cup and sees Liverpool as not necessarily being "miles away." And as he mentions, it's truly a matter of producing on a consistent basis--not just against Manchester City or Chelsea, but every club in the Premier League table if they're going to be back among England's elite, let alone in the title discussion.
There's little chance Liverpool win the Premier League this season, but if they can replicate the positives from the early season while eliminating the mistakes that have cost them points, the gap between what's realistic and what's dreaming might finally start shrinking.