Crisis point
Writing the post match articles this season has been something akin to a sentence and it ain’t getting any easier, after back to back defeats against teams in the bottom three.
The drop off in levels is there for all to see as we’re consistently outworked and outfought by what should be inferior opposition. This was laid bare by the fact Leeds ran 11km more than us last night. Our famed pressing game is simply non existent, it’s as if we’ve forgotten how to do it. We’ve gone from 1st in the table at recovering the ball in the opposition half last season, to 8th this time around and it’s obvious. We’re so easy to play through it’s unbelievable.
First things first, we really need to stop conceding stupid early goals. I was actually just about to praise Gomez last night for bravely bringing the ball down with an excellent first touch and keeping possession, when he had three Leeds players bearing down on him and then he has his brain fart. Alisson’s positioning may have been questionable and his slip exacerbated the problem but you don’t play a blind, square pass across your own 18 yard box and just like that, after 3 minutes we’ve given ourselves a mountain to climb yet again.
To be fair, Thiago and Robbo aside, there weren’t really any good performers on the night. Salah got his goal but his all round play wasn’t good and his decision making questionable. Nunez was quiet by his standards although had the chances that he’ll be disappointed not to have scored at least once. As for Firmino, you wouldn’t have known he was playing for large periods of the match.
Our midfield continues to underperform, Elliot probably had his worst game in an LFC shirt, only to be replaced by Jones who was even worse! As for Fabinho, I really don’t know what to make of his form. He’s never been quick but he used to read the play so well and anticipate and intercept passes. He’s like a headless chicken just now and teams are playing straight through the centre of our team as if they aren’t there.
Where do we go from here then? We’ve got a dead rubber with Napoli on Tuesday and then Spurs next weekend. Do we rest players against Napoli? In other seasons that might have been an option but they turned us over in Naples and a heavy defeat at Anfield would only ramp the pressure up even more, even if it is a meaningless game so I don’t see playing the fringe players as an option.
As far as the league table goes, we’re languishing in 9th, 8 points off the top 4 and closer to the relegation zone than the top of the league and if we don’t start getting some points on the table soon, we can forget about champions league next season. Signing one new midfielder in January isn’t going to be the remedy for all our woes either.
To be honest, the World Cup can’t come soon enough. If fear of getting injured is playing a part in some of the players form them hopefully after it they’ll improve and a lot of our players aren’t going anyway so it should give them a chance to rest, if fatigue is the issue. Diaz and Jota are also a huge loss, especially in the pressing department.
I don’t have the answers but we need to get back to the basics of what has made all Klopp’s teams successful – the counter press. Whatever influence Pep Ljinders may be having on tactics or the over elaborate ploys to get Trent in midfield needs to be scrapped for now and concentrate on finding our pressing game again because without it, we’re just so easy to play against it’s unreal. Klopp needs to find the answers and quickly if we’ve any hope of salvaging our season.
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