Liverpool’s Unfortunate Defeat: Analyzing the Fallout

Disappointing Performance at The Emirates

Well that was as bad as it gets this season. Liverpool suffered their second defeat of the season and I’d your completely honest it was what they deserved. They were out played, second best and what was unacceptable for large parts – out fought. The easiest decision in this one was deciding who to give pass marks too and truth be told, there’s a handful at best. Liverpool were let down by their senior players and they have some real questions to answer now. We look at the lessons learned from a horrific showing at The Emirates.

Senior Players Underperform

We look to that leadership group don’t we when the chips are down. Van Dijk, Allison and Trent are often needed at the big moments. They were all awful to a man though and what on earth was going through either of Allison or Van Dijk’s mind for Arsenal’s second is anyone’s guess. The two then repeated the trick for Arsenal’s third and Van Dijk looked out of sorts from the opening kick-off. Trent probably wouldn’t have started if Conor Bradley had been available and on this showing he was also lucky to see the second half. You’re never going to get a result when your senior players produce a showing like this. They weren’t the only ones though.

Klopp’s Tactical Missteps

He wasn’t helped by the injury to Szoboszlai and he could have made a massive difference in this one, although he couldn’t have done it all himself. The inclusions of both Gravenberch in his place and Gakpo over Nunez had the opposite of the desired effect and the team like the changes, lacked the required physicality from the off. The idea to invert Joe Gomez from left back and pin Trent to the right touch-line was a bit galaxy brained to say the least. He wasn’t remotely helped by some of his players but the manager got it all wrong in this one. Christ we love you Jurgen but let’s look to forget this one quickly.

The Path to Redemption

We could have played better and lost here, as have City and United this season. There were a handful with pass marks and even they were six out of tens. It’s all about how we react from here and Burnley can’t come around quick enough for these boys to put it right. Hopefully, there’ll be further reinforcements as Szoboszlai, Salah and Endo rejoin the squad too. It’s advantage City now, but it’s all about keeping in touch with them until that massive game on Easter weekend. February has kicked off in the worst possible vein and they have to show the exact opposite hunger they displayed in this one. There’s real pressure on this week now.