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As Liverpool fans, we often feel like watching a match comes with the promise of coronary failure on a regular basis. The closer Liverpool get to the ultimate prize, the more arresting it becomes. Except it's becoming more clear that the tight constricting of your circulatory organ isn't a myocardial infarction, it's Brendan Rodgers regularly reaching into your chest cavity and squeezing your heart until you cry tears of sweet, sweet joy.
"We love playing at Anfield," Rodgers said after the Tottenham match in an interview designed specifically to cripple you emotionally. "The support today was incredible and that's only going to intensify as the season goes on. You can see it works for us, rather than against us. That's as good as I've heard Anfield since I've been a manager here. The two forces [fans and players] together made us a real tough opponent today.
"We had real dominance in the game right from the first whistle. I thought it was an exceptional performance. It was an outstanding team performance and I thought the supporters were brilliant today. Everything we've been working towards over this last year-and-a-half, in terms of without the ball, that hunger and intensity to get the ball back, from the first whistle to the end [was there]."
It's been a remarkable journey from where Liverpool were eighteen months ago to where they are now, and Sunday's disassembling of Tottenham was the culmination of Rodgers' tactical and personnel tweaks over two seasons. Rodgers, though, is looking at this season's results in the context of the club's larger plan for success.
"I just feel a huge privilege to be here and be given the freedom to work," Rodgers continued. "We're trying to make something that's sustainable here - not just for this season, we're trying to grow and develop this club.
"I don't think anybody expected us to be where we are. The last few seasons we have been eighth and we finished seventh last year. We go into every game to win and I expect it. What's been great to see is that idea and methodology of our work bearing fruit in the game."
Regardless of how the final six matches play out, Rodgers and his team have a lot to be proud of this year. This season has been exciting and a lot of progress has been made, but with the likely return to Champions League in the fall there's still more work to be done. If there's one thing that Liverpool have demonstrated time after time this season, though, it's that as a group they are absolutely up for the challenge.
