From Gtech Group Stadium – Liverpool’s hopes of ending within the Premier League’s prime 4 had been dealt a blow with a 3-1 loss at Brentford on Monday night.
The Reds deservedly depart west London with out the factors, an apt punishment for his or her lazy and rogue defending all through.
It has been the story of their season. In keeping with Opta, they’ve given up 51 massive probabilities this marketing campaign, as much as twice as many because the 5 groups above them within the desk.
Liverpool weren’t at all times this fashion, and it is revisionist historical past to recommend so. Whereas they had been certainly fragile defensively in Jurgen Klopp’s early years, the arrival of Virgil van Dijk noticed a change of method on the again, enjoying with extra managed aggression and leaving fewer gaps open.
That course of has now reversed.
The place the Reds used to suffocate groups and bully them into submission, they’ve misplaced that additional edge champions want, that swagger now slipping and misplaced as vanity.
It was an ordinary which slowly crept in final season. In a number of massive video games, they had been bailed out by VAR’s notorious skinny offside traces and their world class goalkeeper. These inches have not been sufficient to save lots of them this time round – the margins wanted to be the place Liverpool had been even a couple of months in the past are so effective with this reckless model.
Maybe their defensive stability has been curtailed partly by the departure of Sadio Mane – an lively presser and easily one of many world’s finest gamers – and his substitute, Darwin Nunez, failing to make the requisite instant influence. Klopp’s Liverpool have at all times been a workforce that defend and assault in a single heartbeat, as was finest represented by Van Dijk’s absence in a struggling 2020/21 season.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was one in all their finest attacking threats at Brentford, however he was caught out for the Bees’ second objective. Kostas Tsimikas was a catastrophe and swiftly changed by Andy Robertson at half-time, with the Scot bringing the power required to attempt to assist Liverpool out.
Finally, their efforts proved fruitless and the mountain was too troublesome to climb. Liverpool haven’t demonstrated their earlier attacking risk so as to get away with such defensive lapses, and till the conditions in each bins enhance, they won’t contend for main honours once more.
Liverpool’s incapacity to show over a squad in want of refreshing is at the least comprehensible contemplating it is nonetheless largely one which performed each single recreation accessible to them final season – a ridiculous feat which is under-appreciated in wider circles – however the cracks are much more apparent.
There’s at the least a recognition that they want reinforcements at each ends. Cody Gakpo brings nice depth to an assault in want of prompt objective contributions, and their aggressive pursuit of Jude Bellingham reveals they nonetheless have continent-wide respect. A few new defenders would not go amiss, thoughts.
Whether or not Klopp’s voice is solely not as efficient throughout the Anfield dressing room partitions or he is simply turned a blind eye to this malaise, he is did not halt the slide and it is his job to discover a answer. His monitor document suggests he’ll discover it, however the backside line is Liverpool should be meaner on the again in the event that they’re to achieve the highest 4.
