For a deflated Jürgen Klopp, the headache gets worse and duller. Since destroying Manchester United a month ago, Liverpool has suffered three losses, and they are still back at square one.
On Saturday, Manchester City was better than good and Liverpool was worse than poor, yawning the gap. Midfield is lacking, and defenders are not on leave. Since 2011, they had fired the fewest shots in a Premier League contest.
They have no redeeming qualities, according to Klopp, who felt that City had granted them some mercy. This implies that they are badly hoping for a favor from Everton when they play Tottenham tonight. Not a good situation to be in.
And it doesn’t end there; on Tuesday night, the two struggling titans of the division will travel to Chelsea, where something will have to give. On Sunday, Klopp’s team gathered to talk about issues in an environment where Virgil van Dijk anticipated tough remarks to be made.
The defender declared, “This is a great day. There will undoubtedly be some tough discussions if you lose like we lost.
Jurgen Klopp has held crisis talks with his players after Saturday’s 4-1 loss to Man City.
The Reds have lost three in a row since beating Manchester United 7-0 a month ago.
‘With Chelsea on Tuesday, the turnaround is fairly rapid. We’re making an effort. Against City, the first half was fairly even.
Before halftime, they were under pressure but had entered level, only to lose focus at kickoff and give up 53 seconds later. There was nowhere to hide after that. City played with them for a long time.
We were fortunate that they weren’t acting very greedily, admitted a dejected Klopp. Nothing positive can be said about this game.
With 20 minutes left to play and Liverpool trailing by two goals, Mohamed Salah’s number coming up on the fourth official’s board was a telling sign of how the afternoon had gone.
At 3-1, Klopp had lost all hope as City controlled the ball and their opponent. If you believe there is a chance to get back into the game, you simply do not remove Salah from the game.
When Andrew Robertson attempted to steal a ball that he was never going to reach, leaving their left flank exposed, Klopp, who was standing on the edge of his technical area, previously could not believe it.
Julian Alvarez put the ball in the net a little while afterwards. And when Kevin De Bruyne poked in the second goal, Trent Alexander-Arnold was nowhere to be seen.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was one of several players to struggle at the Etihad.
Man City’s dominant win just about keeps them in the title race with Arsenal.
The right back was often seen high up the pitch when City had possession, with nobody ably filling the gap left behind. Alexander-Arnold did not cover himself in glory for Jack Grealish’s strike, not sprinting to recover the situation, although Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was hardly blameless either.
It is little wonder that Liverpool concede more ‘big chances’ in games than any of the relegation-threatened clubs, averaging three a game. They look too open.
How he goes about fixing this is Klopp’s biggest challenge in eight years at Anfield. The squad requires surgery and it remains to be seen whether he is afforded the tools to oversee that.
On Saturday, there was no real energy or fight. It needs addressing in the short term, if they are to squeeze a way into the top four and qualify for the Champions League, but it is something they will be looking at in the summer. If only for new ideas and more fresh faces.