Footballers are increasingly judged according to their performance in big games, with memorable performances in semifinals and finals seemingly the main criteria for end-of-year awards. But such focus upon football's biggest matches obscures the fact that performance in smaller games has never been so crucial. In an era in which league champions can achieve 100 points, contenders can barely afford more than a single slip-up in a small game all season.
Some clubs, strange as it might sound, suffer from a lack of small-game temperament.
The most obvious example is Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, who are unquestionably capable of performing excellently against the strongest opposition in domestic and European competition.