The Anfield Wrap this week is looking back on a disappointing week for Liverpool, crowned by a frustrating performance against Burnley. Discussing how Liverpool have failed to score 4 or more against a bottom 13 side this calendar year and that even 3s have been rare, the discussion isn’t just that of the defending.
Philippe Coutinho’s predilection for shots from distance has returned. Did Liverpool open Burnley up enough? And did they deal well enough with their approach?
Neil Atkinson hosts as Rob Gutmann, Paul Senior and Dan Morgan get stuck into these questions and more.
Direct: The Anfield Wrap – Free Podcast: Liverpool Fail To Break Down Burnley
Paul was spot on when he said that we actually seemed to have cracked it against the bus parkers last season, and that those failings have come back. But watch those games back (Man U at home after he came on, for instance) and it becomes obvious how much we’re missing Lallana now, in terms of how much clearer the chances seem to be when he’s on the pitch. The thing he always took a slagging for as a forward (slowing it down at times, basically) turns into a positive when he’s a midfielder and you need someone to think about it instead of blamming shots halfway towards the Mersey.
Seeing the game for the first time tonight (listened to radio broadcast, sadly) i thought at times they looked like a national team side that doesnt play together enough. Snatching at shots, being disjointed, not seeing options or runners, going alone.
On and up…
Its just frustrating rather than anything else.
Both Chelsea and United were really slack at the back at times yesterday. The sort of mistakes we lose our heads over. Yet, for reasons I cannot work out, they got away with it. Lacazette, Ramsey and Welbeck should have buried simple chances given to them by very sloppy defending from Luiz, Moses and Alonso yet they didn’t even hit the target – against us, that’s us 3 down inside 45 mins.
Rooney had 2 clear chances and missed the target on both – against us they both go in at the moment.
Ox and Gini need to be watching 16/17 Lallana film. They can fill that role.
In truth Daniel Sturridge is not playing above someone like Nathan Redmond’s level at the moment. Got to ‘play himself into form’ right? Lallana probably won’t be firing for the next 10 games. Can needs to pass it (wide) earlier.
In a podcast 18+ months ago you NA talked ofa manager whose style will occasionally lose by a few goals. Thats okay but can’t be followed by draws. Its a race between us gelling to wallop Leicester, or losing men to overuse.
I’m often harsh in the days after what’s conceived as a bad result and I more than agree with nearly every point raised. But, there some mitigating circumstances here.
We kept saying this is a squad now not a team but we have a vision of who our first 11 is in our heads and when we see the teamsheet a new face makes us worry. We’re seeing Klopp’s early days of squad rotation. Ok, players come in every summer but this feels a bigger upheaval. Take Saturday. That defence has never played together with that 4. The front 3 have never played together as that 3. I’m 99% sure the midfield have never started together as midfielders either. It’s fact that once players get to know each other it helps. Now, you can argue either that’s rotation, get used to it or the odd change shouldn’t make them disjointed but it wasn’t a small change here and there. All over the pitch was unknown partnerships.
Then there’s the circumstances of Saturday with 2 players desperate to make a mark as discussed on the show. Combine that with not understanding each others game and it’s no wonder they were shooting. Not a fully valid point but a bit of mitigation for them.
Also, if we go through the team again you can say,
Mignolet – badly needs a settled defence. His ball to someone on the edge of the box with 2 closing in reaked of hot potato. I don’t want it so I’ll just give it you and let you deal with it. Trent is young and inexperienced. Klavan is a bit part player, Robertson is new, Milner has only played there a handful of times in the past 18 months. Coutinho was making his first start of the season, Sturridge his second. Salah is still new and hasn’t played with Robertson behind him before etc, etc.
My point is, everything seems like the world is gonna end but we’re very much in every cup. If we had 2 points more in the league we’d be very content. 3 points off at the end of summer is nothing. Ok, it’s 5 but 2 points can be easily clawed back by Christmas then the 3 in the second half, haha. We have to bed the squad in. It feels like there’s always some transition with us but this is necessary and a real issue. Rob’s right in a way. If we get in the CL next year by top 4 and have a decent enough crack at it this year then in reality it’s still progress. Without doubt. Bring in Keita and Van Dijk into a squad that’s fully rotatable and with Lallana back and suddenly we can take the next step. The ultimate one. I’m not writing off this season. Far from it. I just wonder are our expectations of winning the league making us lose a bit of reality of where we’re at. Bottom line being, this is our first few weeks of being a squad rather the a team. Klopp can make it work. I feel sorry for him with the pressure we’ve inadvertently put him under. Dickheads like Frank have anyway. To finish, it wasn’t 2-1 Saturday but it easily could have been. We’d be ok with things had one of those gone in.
Top 4 and reaching the knockout stages of the champs league would be a good season and both those things are still on. But the lack of defensive quality in the midfield and backline threatens to derail things unless there’s some serious improvement. And history would suggest they will not improve that much.
The squad is still short and I think that’s the biggest concern with a really tough October coming up. And to be going into Klopp’s third season with Matip, Lovren, Klavan and Gomez as centre back options is massively underwhelming. To land both VVD and Keita would have been an impossible task this summer but it would have made the team “harder”. A failure to buy either of them means this team is as soft as before.
Klopp’s got a massive job on his hands to get belief back into the group.