Liverpool do not win. That was not in any forecast. One of the top contenders for the Premier League title, the only one who managed to follow in Manchester City’s footsteps and threatened them until the end, can’t find a way to take off.
In three outings, a couple of meager draws against Fulham (2-2) and Crystal Palace (1-1, Diaz’s goal) and a defeat, fair enough to say, against Manchester United by 2-1, sum up the crisis, which it is that although many do not want to recognize it. And it is that ten years ago, no less, that such an irregular start to the season was not signed for the ‘reds’.
That is why the question is forced: what happens to Liverpool? And the answer is not just one. The first thing, obviously, is that he has fallen into the most feared of all traps: he has become predictable. The team is an avalanche for the first 20 minutes, but if there are no goals, panic begins to spread and that strengthens the rival, who ends up scoring and doing damage. But there are at least three mismatches, unsolvable messes that become a real challenge for Jürgen Klopp, on whom criticism is already falling, as usual.
1. Doctors get sick too
It was a moment of total bewilderment: Sancho got rid of Milner with a feint and Van Dijk, the invincible, instead of stretching his 1.93m, froze behind his goal, unable to block the rival and clumsy to hinder Alisson Becker’s reaction. Who did not see him could doubt that he passed.
And it is that the Dutch played against Manchester United probably his worst game dressed in red, to the point that Joe Gómez, an acclaimed substitute whose door was opened due to the injuries of Matip and Konaté, looked much more coupled, sensible and precise than the former Ballon d’Or candidate. It is a fact that Van Dijk is missing Matip, with whom he plays by heart, but he needs to get attached to his young new partner because, as Alisson Becker said, the most urgent task is to draw a bow again at zero.
There are few options, it’s true, but in the past there were fewer and we even saw Henderson as a central defender, which will not be necessary now, as long as Van Dijk is Van Dijk again.
2. The last third
The other half of the task, which is the goals, right now is a headache. The team that had goals falling out of their pockets with Salah, Jota and yes, the absent Sadio Mané, now has a hard time putting the ball in the goal at least once. And there are several listed.
Firmino, the first. The image of him against M. United, kicking into the air on a divine cross from Harvey Elliot that could have changed history at Old Trafford, shows him: he is far from his level. In this last defeat it was also evident how he fell behind on the field, despite being the leading man, which added confusion to the midfield and hindered what was already very thick. Jota was missed, but especially Thiago, the clearest man to lead the team from behind. Both will remain out for a couple of weeks due to injury.
And what are the extremes for then? Great question, which splashes directly on Luis Díaz, who is expected to resolve, as against Crystal Palace, when the situation is pressing, and not sink into the fight for spaces that, with an inspired Salah and Darwin Núñez as a reference in the area and consequently static, they leave it in evidence. They don’t look at the Egyptian because he always scores: all the pressure goes to the Colombian.
That is why today in Liverpool the spotlights point to the young Fabio Carvalho, the one who invented the discount against United and the one who could make a difference in that last third where talent seems to be stuck: there are those who already suggest the Portuguese as an option in a 4- 2-3-1, with Salah in front of the goal and Elliot on the wing, which would give the 19-year-old room to look for the associations that are missing today. “Anything is better than what happened on Monday,” said the Liverpool Echo.
3. The second ball
Jürgen Klopp suggested at the end of last season that a transition stage would come for his team, which surely came earlier than he himself thought. The absences due to injury, the expulsion of Núñez, the reality shown in the preseason of a team full of individuals but not necessarily coupled as a team, came early for everyone.
It is true that Mané’s desire, pressure and goals were lost, and it will take time to oil the machine with the new pieces, but it does not have to be a catastrophe if a key detail is resolved: the second ball.
Usually the ‘reds’ are the masters of the rebounds due to their aggressiveness and their vertigo in the mark and in the attack, but at this start of the season the inaccuracy for that recovery after loss has been disconcerting. It’s been years since the problem was seen so clearly and that, coming back from vacation and with a full preseason on top, has no excuse. You have to recover that aggressiveness, get ahead of the opponent’s reaction and punish him before he can notice it. That is the DNA of Liverpool. It is its largest capital.
