For decades, Anfield has been synonymous with special atmospheres.
St Etienne, Olympiakos, Dortmund and Barcelona are all names that are connected to Anfield forever because of the intense atmosphere that the Kop managed to create on those big European nights.
However, in recent months the atmosphere at Anfield has been anything but special.
Opposition fans who have visited over the years have always sung the typical “is this a library?” chants, but maybe now they have a point.
It was only 12 months ago that no fans were allowed in stadiums because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Many would assume that fans would no longer take going to football for granted. However, the atmosphere at Anfield has been dire for most of the season so far.
Even Jurgen Klopp has noticed it. In his pre-match press conference before the Leicester game, Klopp spoke about how the Anfield atmosphere needs to improve.
“It’s at Anfield and we should not forget that,” he said.
“We need a special atmosphere. We have 12 games between now and the next break.
“If we want to achieve what we want to achieve, we need to start creating atmospheres on the highest level.”
This did create a response.
Liverpool’s atmosphere against Leicester last week was probably the loudest Anfield has been in 2022 so far (which, by the way, includes the League Cup semi-final against Arsenal).
But should it really be down to Jurgen Klopp to get the fans singing, though?
There’s no doubt the Anfield atmosphere can still create special moments.
When ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ blasts through the speakers and the Kop starts singing, there’s no sound in football that matches it.
It still intimidates players from opposition club, such as Kevin De Bruyne.
The Manchester City star once said “it can be a little bit daunting”.
Clearly in the big games, Anfield is still full of life.
It’s the so-called ‘lesser’ games however, that the noise suffers.
When Liverpool played Brentford in January or example, it was eerily quiet.
The travelling Brentford fans didn’t need to do much to out sing the Kop and that is simply unacceptable, even if it was an early kick-off on a Sunday.
The excuse from people who attend these games is that ‘it’s only Brentford’, or the kick-off is at an awkward time and they’re not up to singing.
But why?
The time that Liverpool kicks off simply shouldn’t matter.
If you’re lucky enough to be at the ground to watch Liverpool play, you should be ready to sing your heart out throughout the game.
Anfield should be a place that every single opposition fan comes to with the knowledge that they will be out sung throughout the 90 minutes.
However, that is rarely the case anymore.
When Liverpool overcame Barcelona in the semi-final of the Champions League in 2019, Klopp couldn’t have spoken higher of the Anfield atmosphere that night.
“Watch the Barcelona game back and 80% was down to the atmosphere in the stadium,” he recalled.
The atmosphere inspired Liverpool to get to the Champions League final.
With a quadruple still possible for the Reds, the Kop needs to recreate that atmosphere as many times as possible.
Miracles do happen in football, and the Anfield atmosphere has proven that time and time again.
(Featured image by Ruaraidh Gillies Creative Commons)
