Momentum, as Jurgen Klopp rather evocatively said, “is the most fragile flower on the planet”.
It can be trampled on in an instant, disappear through a goalkeeper’s loose hands.
It’s difficult not to think that was one reason why Mikel Arteta went so strong on one particular line in the interviews after Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool. The Basque had just seen his team lose for a first time in six games, and now faces a quick turnaround for a trip to Aston Villa at 12.30pm on Saturday afternoon.
He was clearly waiting for the chance to go for it, just waiting for a reference to it. When it was eventually brought up, Arteta cutting the question off, to have real cut off the Premier League. He even slammed the table for effect.
“Thank you very much to the Premier League,” the Arsenal manager said. “It’s not fair what they’ve done.
“They say Sky, BT… but the only one affected is Arsenal. And the only one I care about is Arsenal.”
Many might well quip that he’d better get used to it if his team are to actually qualify for the Champions League next season, as the lack of European football has given them a very forgiving fixture list this season.
The counterpoint to that is that this is all about pressure in the grander sense, and ensuring it is shown that his club can’t be moved around so easily – or without comeback. That was a core of Sir Alex Ferguson’s career, and a weapon Klopp is more than willing to use, too.
Arteta batted away questions that he was concerned it could lead to a sudden drop-off after their recent surge of form, but it’s impossible not to think that was on his mind. Many figures around Arsenal also felt that the argument was just as much about the quick turnaround for the games against Manchester United and Chelsea in April.
That is when they will really need that extra time, when you need that clear run for momentum.
This is what Arteta is trying to build. The Liverpool game after all showed him how far they are off that top level, how they need to get to the point where much of this is muscle memory.
It took Klopp a while to get to that, too, after all. So many successive wins over the last half-decade have made people forget just how inconsistent Liverpool were in those first two seasons of the German’s time.
They’re now so experienced at this, and Klopp could well have told Arteta this was his side’s fifth game in 17 days, compared to four in 20.
They just know how to handle them. They know how to raise it when necessary. That’s what happened against Arsenal, Diogo Jota scoring immediately after a big chance for Martin Odegaard.
“A rhythm is good but a rhythm is playing every four days, three days, it is a rhythm but it is an intense one, we are not complaining, we want to be in all competitions,” Klopp said. “It is fine but the opponents are all quality and they are really different.
“I know the only chance we have is to win an insane amount of football games because our opponents win an incredible amount of football games.
“The last few years, we have pushed each other to insane levels. We play City in three or four weeks and we will give them a proper fight then.
“We are in a good moment, in a good mood but we know the only way we can do it is to dig really deep.”
It’s certainly deeper than Arteta will have to dig between now and Saturday – but that isn’t quite the point.
