Time to dream yet?

Suarez's touch. Turn. Penalty. The Wait. Stevie G's hands on his Hips. Few strides...Goal!! By the modern standards, Unsavable Penalty! And by now, the dancing & singing travelling KOPites have long started shouting, "We are Liverpool" & ended the applause with "We are gonna win the League."

Nobody at Anfield has dared whisper it yet. And with caution. The way Anfield has transformed in the last 20 months is like a dream. (My thoughts back then - The Curious Case of Liverpool FC)

It was not long ago, when Brendan Rodgers took the hot seat with a dynamic ideology. And not further long ago when King Kenny took over the reign himself & when Fernando Torres swapped Red for Blue with a 50 million pound price tag. It is all still playing before my eyes, the past 5 years, the frustration and howls of the KOP, the head-scratching Roy Hodgson pondering for tactics, clueless Kenny trying to re-cook the glorious past recipe. These are all myriad pictures trying to tell me the story of past. A story of an attempt for Resurrection.

Brendan Rodgers, the Man of the Hour

Fast forward to present, the resurrection seems to have taken a shape. Brendan Rodgers men finally seem to play the Anfield way, the way KOP has dreamed of for a decade. Every player on the field look like a man on mission, none more than the poster boys of Red Revolution - Henderson & Sturridge. Suarez & Sturridge's goals galore have started to make Premier league games look like a stroll in the park. Henderson's leaps & bounds growth and Sterling's rise to prominence makes the million pounds fee look trivial. In fact, Brendan's turn around of this club is ridiculously fantastic. Just absolutely brilliant!

And beyond everything else, there is a burning desire in Gerrard's eyes. And after every win, we close our eyes & imagine him lift that one trophy that has eluded him through out his career. Michael Owen has recently said that Gerrard had asked him many times what it was like in Madrid. What it was like to play there. No doubt, it must be lingering strongly on the back of his head, 'What if?'. What if he had moved on in the pursuit of titles to greener pastures? What if he had said yes atleast once when the big contemporaries came knocking for his signature? What if he had abandoned the relentless pursuit of joy with his boyhood club to scale new heights in his already legendary career? In short, what if he had defied his gut feeling?

Will that burning desire be fulfilled?

But now, there is a growing realization in me that it might not have all been for nothing. This season, we may be atleast a couple of first team players and few squad players short of taking Pellegrini's & Mourinho's men head on. Not may be this year, but may be the next or may be the one after that, if his body does not give up yet. We are there. We are back, fighting amongst the best. I know I speak on behalf of all the Liverpool fans in the world when I say that it would mean a lot more to him to lift the Premier League Cup once with LFC, rather than a dozen times with United or Chelsea or Madrid. Then, that 'what if?' will not come back to haunt him for the rest of his life. That is what the sport owes him. And more importantly, he deserves that. More than anyone else in the league.

Probably, 20 years from today, when I have to explain the concept of 'Loyalty' to my kids, I dream of showing them a Life-Size poster of Steven Gerrard in my room & let them listen to me till words stop coming out of my mouth. And like all good stories, it would have a lifetime of impact on them, when it ends with a Happy Ending. Wouldn't it?

For now, I sit back and think. In the back of my head, all the points calculations keep simulating themselves. What if Liverpool win all their games & City win all of their's except for the pool one? What if Arsenal & Liverpool lose to Spurs & City lose to United? What if Chelsea humiliates Liverpool and Liverpool destroy City? What if Everton triumphs in every remaining game? What if Wenger manages an unbeaten run & Chelsea lose track of the plot?

Come May, I have no idea who is gonna lift the Premier League trophy. I bet even the pundits who sided with City all season must be kicking their knees now. In the face of reality, every game throws a new dimension in the hunt for glory. May be at the end of the season, we may be satisfied with the fact that a TOP 4 spot has been achieved. But, considering the mess we have gone through in the past 5 seasons, an unprecedented mount of Premier League title challenge gives me goosebumps. Just that thought! Especially the idea of a jump from 7th in the table to 1st. Just that thought brings overwhelming Happiness. But in this roller coaster ride season, anything may tilt drastically. Till the final whistle, everything might be a puzzle. May be that is how good old fashioned battles are supposed to be won, by holding their breath till the last second. Whatever the run-in may hold, for now, I just sit back and dream. And I hear the doubtful whisper under my own breath, Is it time to dream yet?