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Jurgen Klopp tried to remain optimistic but her furrowed brow told another story.
For the first time in 20 months, liverpool are under scrutiny for dropping standards and under pressure to stop a miserable start to the season.
Soundly beaten at Old Trafford on Monday, the optimism that surrounded their Community Shield win over Manchester City has been replaced by uncertainty and anxiety about the direction in which the team is moving.
sports mail analyzes the problems Klopp needs to solve.
Liverpool’s dismal start to the season continued after losing to rivals Man United on Monday
Slow off the blocks
Pep Lijnders, Klopp’s assistant, said “Liverpool’s identity is their intensity”, a philosophy that has served them well. At best, the turbocharged way they start games can decide an outcome early on. They can be like those lead racehorses that gallop tirelessly and don’t get caught.
So far this season, however, they’ve been off the shelves. It was a damning condemnation of their efforts in Monday’s 2-1 loss to Manchester United that Liverpool could have been dead and buried in 20 minutes. There was nothing intense about what they were doing.
It was the same at Fulham on the opening day of the season when everything seemed too relaxed. Watching the players warm up that day, there was a noticeable lack of concentration and it was no surprise when they conceded a chance in the first minute.
Liverpool have come off the shelves this season, including the opener at Fulham
Liverpool should have known they were walking in a storm in Manchester.
Go back 13 years when the tables were turned – United had just played a Champions League final, Liverpool were run by rotten owners – Anfield created a storm and United were beaten 2-0.
They were never going to win this game from when Jadon Sancho opened the scoring in the 16th minute. This cannot continue down the road. Liverpool’s next away game is on Saturday at Goodison Park, where another four awaits.
Thirty complacent
“Defensively he’s uncovered,” said former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders talkSPORT Tuesday, listing crucial moments against Fulham, Crystal Palace, Manchester United and in the Champions League final involving Trent Alexander-Arnold
Everyone knows that the 23-year-old is extremely gifted in attack. It’s also ridiculous to say – as his most outspoken detractors do – that he can’t defend. There have been countless examples of goal-saving interventions over the years.
But it is impossible to say anything other than its shape is far below what it should be. It looked as if he had been on the back foot for 46 seconds into the campaign, when his occasional pass was cut off and Aleksandar Mitrovic almost scored.
Alexander-Arnold can stun his teammates with his ability to remain unaffected when he makes mistakes because seconds later he will do something out of the ordinary, but the complacency was evident in his first three league performance. It must be removed.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s form in these first three games is way below where it should be
The whims of Van Dijk
Not so long ago, Virgil van Dijk had such an aura that he could scare off attackers just by running alongside them. The way he fired up Moussa Sissoko in a game against Tottenham in March 2019 is one of the finest defensive plays Anfield have seen in the modern era.
In the eyes of this observer, he remains the best in his place in the world and the figures confirm it.
He has the best minutes to goals conceded ratio in the Premier League since the start of last season (26 conceded in 3,330 minutes) but, so far this campaign, he hasn’t seemed as polished as usual.
It may have to do with having three different partners in three games (Joel Matip, Nat Phillips and Joe Gomez), but this is the first time in almost five years that something has happened. approaching a lowering of standards.
He needs a commanding performance to calm the nerves.
It is the first time in almost five years that there has been a drop in standards for Virgil van Dijk
Bicker, bicker, bicker
The feud between Van Dijk and James Milner on Monday drew attention, but the most concerning aspect of it is the fact that this dissent is nothing new in those first three games and there was a lot more. of evidence at Craven Cottage.
Klopp and Alisson had a full and frank exchange of views there, as did Jordan Henderson and Mo Salah.
There were also mini blowouts in the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace, but attention that night was taken by Darwin Nunez’s ridiculous reaction which rightly led to his red card.
Teams don’t win if individuals don’t demand the highest standards of each other, but teams can appear vulnerable if they argue openly. And Liverpool look vulnerable.
Liverpool players and staff bicker on the pitch and appear vulnerable
tangle in the middle
‘Are you going to buy a midfielder?’. Klopp has been asked this question almost every week since early July. A dreadful injury list is not helping his cause and he is adamant that once everyone is fit he has the right options.
But in an ideal world, Liverpool would bring someone in now. They will discuss behind the scenes the possibility of reaching an agreement before the window closes next week, despite the public position that nothing is happening.
They were interested in Aurélien Tchouameni but knew from afar that the French midfielder was destined for Real Madrid. Jude Bellingham would be an ideal acquisition, but a deal of this nature won’t happen overnight. He will be a prime target in 12 months.
Until then, Klopp must hope the treatment room empties and he can find the mix that will make Liverpool strong again.
The last time they took two points from nine, at the start of the year, they followed it up with a run of 10 successive Premier League victories. They could do the same thing again.
Klopp (left) still has a selection headache when it comes to his midfield options at Anfield
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