After the disappointing loss against Arsenal Wednesday evening thanks to two horrific errors from Alisson and van Dijk, have Liverpool finally been caught out?
It doesn’t take luck to accomplished what the Reds have under Jurgen Klopp so far, but recently they have not been playing like champions of the Premier League. They have been leaking in silly goals and just not killing off teams. Liverpool tends to have all the possession but unfortunately, there is no end product.
As the famous saying goes, ”Goals win games but a great defence wins leagues”. This has applied to the Reds over the past two seasons as they fixed the defensive issues by buying van Dijk and Alisson, which helped them secure the title. Keeping a clean sheet and winning by a goal or two has been seen regularly this season but it seems some players have become complacent.
There will always be errors in football, the best of the best are not perfect, but when a team has 69% possession of the ball as they did against the Gunners while taking a total of 24 shots and only scoring one goal, it just doesn’t make sense.
The Reds did not do well under pressure when Arsenal initiated a high press forcing the two errors while they also seem susceptible to a counter-attack from opposing teams. Once the forwards or attacking players lose the ball Liverpool look exposed which Klopp needs to address.
Firmino needs to get his groove back
No fan nor analyst doubts what Roberto Firmino brings to the party or how instrumental he is to Liverpool. But he has seemed all out of sorts this season. He lacks flair and his contribution to goals is lacking as well, which means all responsibilities has fallen on Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah.
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He has only scored 8 goals so far this season in the Premier League while providing 7 assists. For a false 9, you would say that’s acceptable as he brings other players into the game but last season he hit double digits with 12 goals and providing 6 assists in fewer matches played.
The Brazilian has not provided an assist or scored a goal in the past 11 matches in the EPL. He did, however, score a goal against Athletico Madrid in the 2nd leg of the Champions League before getting knocked out of the competition.
Firmino needs to come to the party, especially on the goal front for the team next season. Other EPL clubs are going to be gunning for the title and if the Reds want to retain their trophy every player is going to have to pitch in. Going without an assist or goal for 11 games is odd and the fans would hope that he can come back stronger next season.
Liverpool’s current issue
The individuality of Liverpool’s front three seems to be more important than the actual team. Selfish play by the front three in recent games have cost the Reds hitting the 100-point mark. Though this is not that important, Jurgen Klopp would have preferred the Reds to win all of their remaining games since the restart of the Premier league.
Finishing off with a bang is always good as this takes the winning mentality over to the following season. Liverpool needs to act more like a team instead of a team full of individual players.
Klopp should give some of the younger players and those on the fringe a start against Chelsea this Sunday. Hopefully, do the double against the Blues and save some face, instead of playing a strong team and not win.
They have everything to play for so will foreseeably use a strong team. The loss against a struggling Arsenal was unacceptable, more unbelievable perhaps. Unfortunately, Klopp’s side was not good enough to bounce back.