A totally unexpected defeat to Manchester United on the back of two draws in the opening two Premier League games \u2013 that is the definition of a mini \u2018crisis\u2019 for Liverpool, regardless of the margins for error being ever so small. However, that said, assuredly all is not lost at Anfield.<\/p>\n
There seems to be a faint whiff of crisis lingering in the Anfield air.<\/p>\n
This has to be the worst start ever under Jurgen Klopp, brought about by a worrisome injury list and an ageing team, not to mention fans becoming increasingly incensed with the lack of signings. Of course, the fact that a heavily crippled Manchester United squad able to comfortably dominate and inflict Liverpool\u2019s first Premier League defeat in 2022\u00a0does help to put things into better perspective. In short, two draws and a defeat to sit just four points from the foot of the table is undeniably a crisis point in their season.<\/p>\n
Their proximity to the bottom is of course not the real problem at this initial juncture, but how far they are from the top is. Even now, they are already seven points behind Arsenal after only three games, and five behind Manchester City and Tottenham. No need to panic, some would say. Under normal circumstances perhaps but the Premier League has been anything but normal in recent years, especially with serial award-winning Antonio Conte\u2019s Tottenham side and Spaniard Mikel Arteta\u2019s Gunners ramping it up to seriously announce their determination to go for broke this campaign.<\/p>\n
Liverpool have already dropped seven points, leaving them with three defeats (or five draws) to play with for the rest of the campaign. Which also leaves Jurgen Klopp\u00a0with a huge dilemma as he has clearly tried to evolve his team\u2019s style and system, for very good reason. Even against United, they had 70 per cent possession and 17 attempts on goal.<\/p>\n
Against Real Madrid\u00a0in the Champions League final they had the majority of possession, and 24 shots to their opponents\u2019 four. The point is that even the biggest best teams defend deep against them now. Their famous press is not much use when sides cut the opportunity to press out completely, as United tried to. The style of midfielder required for that too, is less useful in the system Klopp appears to want to adopt.<\/p>\n
Veterans like James Milner and Jordan Henderson with their intensity\u00a0have been the backbone of Klopp\u2019s side since his arrival, but he needs more nuance and subtlety in midfield to break teams down now. He has those players of course, in Thiago and to a lesser extent Naby Keita and Curtis Jones, but all three are unfortunately injured. Which is why Klopp openly admitted \u201cit would be cool\u201d to sign another midfielder before the transfer window closes.<\/p>\n
He did swiftly intimate afterwards that it is not his decision as he doesn\u2019t sign the cheques, indicating there is little chance of it happening. And this is where his dilemma comes in as all three of his midfielders should be fit within the next two to three weeks, as will suspended Darwin Nunez. Unfortunately this wouldn\u2019t aid and abet their cause as by then Liverpool will have faced massive games, including Newcastle and derby rivals Everton.<\/p>\n
Losing any more matches even so early in the offing would definitely seriously impact the quest for the title. Can Klopp afford to sign a midfielder and cue him in for that short period? Highly unlikely, given the amount of time it takes for Klopp to assimilate players into his systems. Let\u2019s not forget that it took Fabinho four months.<\/p>\n
He said so himself: \u201cWe are done in the market\u201d. So he has to make do with what he has, which suggests he may have to revert back to an older style, using more aggression, and intensity to blow teams away, rather than subtlety and tactical intelligence.<\/p>\n
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson probably summed it up most accurately after the United game when he said: \u201cTeams know the way we play and they try to exploit that, use it against us.”<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do we change it? With our attitude changing that. We have to be a little bit more aggressive, and improve our consistency – we have to come back to clean sheets again.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other words, Liverpool have to start playing like a Jurgen Klopp team again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"