What Happened Last Time Liverpool Defended the Premier League Title

It's a sad indictment on the last three decades that there exists a generation of Liverpool fans who have no idea what it will feel like to defend the Premier League title next season.

Jurgen Klopp has the Reds back on top of the mountain, but the scars of 30 years without winning the league will always be felt. Even Sir Alex Ferguson, once vocal in his ambition to 'knock them right off their f---ing perch' can't quite get his head around the fact that the drought is only now ending.

It's unbelievable now, but in 1990, when Kenny Dalglish's team fought to retain the First Division, it would have been utterly unthinkable. It's as if someone told you tomorrow that Real Madrid won't win La Liga again until 2050 - just so abstract and removed from reality that it's difficult to even process.

As the result of some of the worst mismanagement in the history of English football, however, it's exactly what happened – and it all started with one botched title defence that caused even the unshakeable Dalglish to walk away from the club he loves.

Exactly where it all went wrong in 1990/91 isn't clear. The Reds weren't at their strongest, but such was their dominance of English football to this point that you felt they didn't have to be to come out on top.

Dalglish had a way of getting 110% from his squad and, even with the Scot hanging up his boots for the first time and the imperious Alan Hansen facing an injury-enforced retirement, they were still the favourites.

That assessment was only compounded by a flying start; inspired by Peter Beardsley's goalscoring exploits, they took 38 points from the first 42 available, and by the end of November, they may as well have already had their name engraved on the trophy for a 19th time.

Things began to unravel from there. Slowly but surely, starting with a famous 3-0 win at Highbury in December, Arsenal began to chip away at their commanding lead, and Liverpool's confidence began to waver.

In February came a seismic blow that would send ripples throughout the club. The football world was left utterly stunned when, following a 4-4 draw with Merseyside rivals Everton, Dalglish announced he would step down with three months of the season left to play.

As surprising as it was, you could hardly blame him. The Scot had taken the weight of the club on his shoulders, acting as its face, heart and soul throughout the hardest period in its history. 30 years without a title, after all, is nothing beside Heysel, Hillsborough, and a period of city-wide mourning unlike virtually anything in football history.

He was spent, and after admitting that he simply did not have enough in the tank to do the role justice, he handed the reins over to Anfield veteran Ronnie Moran, before Graeme Souness - another Liverpool legend - was appointed as the next permanent head coach.

Neither Moran nor Souness were able to revive a team who echoed Dalglish's state of mind. A fatigued, sluggish Reds side stumbled to the finish line, and despite a 5-4 victory over Leeds kick-starting a mini-April revival, defeats to Chelsea and Nottingham Forest finally stopped them in their tracks, and yielded the title.

1990/91 is a famous season in Liverpool's history for all the wrong reasons, and served as a pretty grim foreshadowing for three decades of domestic misery.

Klopp's team has finally put things right, but when they go for glory once more in 2020/21, there is one thing they can learn from the last Liverpool squad to go after a second straight title.

Don't take it for granted; you never know how long you'll have to wait for the next one.