Covid title, ghost goal, Jamie Carragher's tattoo - 5 of Liverpool's biggest myths busted

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve followed Liverpool, chances are you’ll have heard some wild things being said about the Reds over the years.

Football fandom is such nowadays that any outlandish claim can be treated as fact if it’s repeated enough on social media and the like. Well, we’re here to bust some of those myths that have emerged over the years.

Whether it's the famous 'ghost goal' or Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defensive abilities, Liverpool fans have heard everything, but the truth isn’t what a lot of people make it out to be.

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We’ve rounded up five myths that have developed in Liverpool’s recent history, and exposed what the real truth of the matter is for each.

The Covid title

Rival supporters love nothing more than trying to dismiss Liverpool’s achievements. Even when the Reds ended their long 30-year wait for a league title, there were those trying to suggest it somehow doesn’t count.

If you’re a Liverpool fan, you will have no doubt come across countless posts from rivals referring to the 2019/20 triumph as the ‘Covid title’, in a completely transparent attempt to disparage the Reds’ moment of glory. The suggestion is that Jurgen Klopp’s side benefited massively from fans being absent, and that the title somehow shouldn’t count.

That, to put it politely, is absolute nonsense, and anyone who actually believes Liverpool’s title should be tainted by the restrictions brought about in lockdown is living in a dream world.

Before the season was brought to a halt in March 2020, the Reds were absolutely running away with the league. In fact, they needed just two more wins from their final nine games to confirm the title – there is absolutely no way that wouldn’t have happened had the pandemic not struck.

All Covid did was delay the inevitable, with Liverpool finally being crowned champions three months later. If anything, the true ‘Covid title’ was Manchester City’s triumph the following season, with much of it played behind closed doors or with severely reduced capacities.

The ghost goal

Not so much a myth, more a rewriting of history by Jose Mourinho. Ask anyone who isn’t of a red persuasion about the 2005 Champions League semi-final between Liverpool and Chelsea, and they’ll inevitably talk about the ‘ghost goal’.

The term relates to Luis Garcia’s winner at Anfield that sent the Reds to Istanbul, and we all know what happened form there. Mourinho though was far from happy with the awarding of the goal.

“It was a goal that came from the moon – from the Anfield stands," Mourinho said at the time.

"I felt the power of Anfield, it was magnificent. I felt it didn't interfere with my players but maybe it interfered with other people and maybe it interfered with the result."

To be somewhat fair to the former Chelsea boss, replays did show the whole of the ball may not have crossed the line before being cleared. But what Mourinho failed to mention was what happened just a second or two before that.

Garcia only pounced on the ball after Milan Baros had been poleaxed by Petr Cech. Slovakian referee Lubos Michel has since stated that, had his assistant not signaled for a goal, he would have sent Cech off and awarded Liverpool a penalty.

Of course, we don’t know what would have happened from there – perhaps Chelsea’s backup goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini would have saved the resultant penalty, and history would have changed forever. Playing with 10 men though, and being forced to substitute one of your outfield players just a few minutes into the game, would hardly have been a position of strength for the Blues, so it stands to reason that ghost goal might have actually given Mourinho his best chance of winning the game.

Alexander-Arnold can't defend

One of the more recent myths that has been largely perpetuated by one of Liverpool’s biggest fans – Roy Keane.

Hardly a media appearance goes by from the former Manchester United captain without him somehow managing to find a way to slate Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defensive abilities. Even with the Reds vice-captain out injured for England’s internationals over the next few days, you wouldn’t bet against Keane somehow crowbarring it into his punditry again.

It’s become something of a weird obsession for the Irishman, who constantly sounds a warning that Alexander-Arnold will get “found out” by the bigger teams. An odd claim to make about a Premier League, European and world champion.

Yes, Alexander-Arnold’s strengths lie in his attacking capabilities as a full-back, but that’s not to say he’s completely incapable of defending, and he’s demonstrated that over the years with Liverpool. Even with the Reds' defense proving the hardest to break down in the Premier League this season, Keane still isn’t willing to admit that maybe, just maybe, the 26-year-old isn’t all that bad at defending.

If he was as completely useless as the former midfielder makes out, do you really think Real Madrid would be knocking at the door to secure his signature? Keane and other rivals will no doubt continue to turn a blind eye to it, but Europe’s biggest team isn’t eyeing him up just because he’s good at crossing.

Carragher's Everton tattoo

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has made no secret of the fact that he wasn’t actually a fan of the Reds growing up, with his allegiances instead lying on the other side of Stanley Park.

Having been an Everton fan, he looked to be on the path to living out a dream as he entered the Toffees’ academy as a youngster. He would soon make the move across the city though, with his dad even encouraging him to join Liverpool, despite having regularly taken him to Goodison Park.

Carragher couldn’t hide his Everton routes during his younger years, and was even told to put a lid on his support by Liverpool coaches. Despite his allegiances clearly changing as he worked his way into the first-team at Anfield, rumors persisted that he still had a soft spot for the Toffees.

In fact, fans speculated that Carragher had an Everton tattoo on his arm which he covered up by wearing a long-sleeve shirt while playing. The man himself though debunked the myth in his autobiography.

“It's not true that I've got an Everton tattoo on my arm, but I was Everton-mad growing up. How times have changed."

Klopp is not a Premier League legend

Another myth that has seemingly been normalized by the ridiculous tribalism of modern football.

After nearly nine years in charge of Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp brought his time at the club to an end. Having brought the Champions League and, of course, that long-awaited league title to Anfield, among other trophies, there is no doubt among Reds supporters about the German’s legendary status.

Rival fans, and a lot of pundits as well, disagree though – or more likely, they’ve convinced themselves that they disagree.

They point to the fact that Klopp only won one league title as justification for him not being a Premier League legend – as if titles were practically being given away during his time at Liverpool.

When Klopp arrived at Anfield, the Reds were going nowhere. Bar a freak performance from Luis Suarez in 2013/14, Liverpool had not been close to challenging for a title for a long time, and even the top four was a big ask at that point.

The German completely transformed the club, turning them into one of the best sides in the world. In fact, during that period when they were crowned European, world and then Premier League champions, they probably were the best on the planet.

The reason they didn’t add to their sole league triumph was that they found themselves in an unprecedented period of domination by Manchester City. Twice Liverpool fell short by just a single point, having had to break the 90-point barrier just to be in contention.

To put it into context, Sir Alex Ferguson’s all-conquering Manchester United side never passed 92 points in any of their title-winning seasons. Liverpool reached that mark and surpassed it twice under Klopp, and only came away with one title.

Klopp’s legacy is not just about the trophies he won, it’s about what he built at Liverpool, which we’re seeing right now under Arne Slot. He is undoubtedly a Premier League legend, no matter what other fans might say.