Liverpool won the League in 2014. Yes, I know how odd that sounds.
But they lost their manager soon after (he moved to the US) and it was about the same time as City came on the scene. Liverpool stood still, just at a time when other clubs (particularly Chelsea, City, Arsenal, but also the new wave like Reading) were starting to get more serious. They've not made it into the top 4 since. Last season there were rumours that the players no longer believed in the manager, nor the administration of the club (promised contracts not materialising, organisational troubles).
How accurate were those rumours? As usual, we don't know, except we do know that a lot of players were happy to leave them - including Alex, who is potentially risking her England role to join us. The Liverpool manager has now been replaced and they're busy making their own new signings, so maybe our arrival has woken them up as well.