Liverpool make their strongest case yet for being the best team on the planet after Fifa World Club Cup win

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David Lynch21 December 2019

Liverpool make their strongest case yet for being the strongest team on the planet after Fifa World Club Cup win

Football wouldn’t be quite the same were it not for the tribalism that ensures every notable success is followed by a barrage of belittlement from rival fans.

Liverpool had enjoyed a decent break - eight years in fact - from such pettiness prior to breaking their trophy drought with European Cup victory back in June.

But, no sooner had Jordan Henderson lifted that iconic trophy into the Madrid sky, than supporters of other Premier League sides were finding fault in the achievement.

Their argument: How could any club without a league title win in 30 years truly call themselves champions of Europe?

REUTERS

Well, unfortunately for the naysayers, that reasoning doesn’t stack up in the aftermath of this latest triumph, and so they will have to come up with something new.

That is because, after beating Flamengo to clinch the Club World Cup on Saturday evening, Liverpool have a legitimate claim to being the world’s best team in this moment.

Comfortably clear in the Premier League title race and on track to defend their European crown, Jurgen Klopp’s men have reached new heights this season.

What’s more, in winning this latest title, they have done something that none of the other great Reds sides of the past - and there were many - managed to do.

AFP via Getty Images

Here, they looked a team worthy of such a lofty place in history, the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker and Sadio Mane proving themselves to be, at the very least, the equals of the many fine players who have gone before them.

And there can be no argument whatsoever about the pedigree of the man in the dugout.

When Klopp took the reins at Anfield in October 2015, it was difficult to see what had attracted him to a fallen giant that had shown so few signs of recovery in the years prior.

But, as we have since discovered, the German’s biggest strength is vision, and that has proven vital to turning a drifting club into world champions.

AFP via Getty Images

He now has three trophies to show for it and, most excitingly for supporters, is aiming to keep the good times coming until 2024 at least after recently signing a new deal.

Should things carry on like this, then suggestions that Bill Shankly has a modern equivalent might not sound so ridiculous.

Of course, the push to create that sort of legacy starts now.

The Reds’ Premier League advantage is vast, but it still needs converting in the coming months, while their European supremacy is sure to face the sternest of tests from Atletico Madrid.

Still, as Klopp put himself before facing Flamengo, the big picture stuff can wait until much further down the line for a group of players who always take things game by game.

He said: “If somebody sees the boys as legends after their careers then great, wonderful for different reasons. Absolutely great.

“But you cannot go for being seen as a legend, you just win football games, you just try to make your best.”

And so there will be no time to celebrate this latest milestone - the grind toward becoming legends never ceases.

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