Liverpool 1 Wolves 2 – Klopp gamble on youngsters backfires and we are out of two cup competitions in less than a week.

Liverpool 1 Wolves 2 – Klopp gamble on youngsters backfires and we are out of two cup competitions in less than a week.

Blog by dedlfc (David Douglas)

PRE-MATCH: In this terrible month of January we just want another win but Klopp has made nine changes giving our youngsters a chance to impress.

Goal Sherman 1’- That didn’t take long. Liverpool concede in the first minute of play to a Helder Costa free kick. Ball played in Gomez and Klavan left Sherman offside but also unmarked for a free header.

Hélder Costa, slicing through our defenders like this is amateur hour, and very nearly scores Wolves their second. How embarrassing.

Remind me again -Which of these teams is in the Championship?

Goal Weimann 41’ - Costa then set up Andreas Weimann to round Liverpool keeper Loris Karius and double Wolves' lead before the break.

HALFTIME: Shocking performance and Klopp again has no answers to us having all the possession but not being able to penetrate sides but having a weak defence that opens up like the Red Sea whenever counter attacked!!!

Klopp called for the cavalry in the form of Philippe Coutinho, Daniel Sturridge and Emre Can but it was too little, too late. We looked like our season has gone totally flat in one month – This season it will be January that has cost us any chance of the title, plus the two cup competitions.

Despite 80 per cent possession, Liverpool took an hour to register their first shot on target and it was not until the 86th minute that the visitors’ rookie 20-year-old goalkeeper, Harry Burgoyne, was beaten by Divock Origi.

Try telling Wolves the Cup doesn’t matter. Their normally reserved manager was an animated fireball of energy and celebrated his side’s second goal with a full-blown touchline jig and punch to the air.

Man of the match – Roberto Firmino - Made way for Sturridge in second half, but was up till that point Liverpool’s brightest player, although admittedly that is not saying much.

Liverpool

Karius, Randall, Klavan, Gomez, Moreno, Lucas, Ejaria, Wijnaldum, Woodburn, Firmino, Origi

Subs: Mignolet, Milner, Stewart, Can, Wilson, Coutinho, Sturridge

Wolves

Burgoyne, Doherty, Edwards, Stearman, Saville, Evans, Coady, Costa, Dicko, Hause, Weimann.

Subs: Lonergan, Batth, Enobakhare, Ronan, Gibbs-White, Bodvarsson, Mason.

FINAL THOUGHT: January isn’t over yet. We still have one more game against Chelsea on Tuesday. Heaven help us all.

MAJOR CONCERNS:-

Klopp is yet to find a way to break teams that sit deep against us

Considering it was our side’s last realistic hope of silverware, Saturday’s FA Cup tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers was significant. Going into the game, Klopp would have known that a Championship team would come to sit deep, and mostly rely on counterattacks for goals. Yet again he has no answer.

We are going nowhere with our current defence

A bad defence with full confidence = an average defence.

A bad defence without confidence =a disaster. This in principle describes our defence at the moment.

Liverpool’s shambolic defence and their vulnerability against set pieces were truly on display when allowed their opponents to score a goal in the 51st second of the game. This allowed Paul Lambert’s men to sit back and enjoy the rest of the match watching the home side struggle to break them down.

This is not the first time Liverpool have enjoyed a far greater possession rate but struggled to trouble the opposing goalkeeper. Jürgen Klopp must find a way to amend this. Eventually, it was a set-piece that got Liverpool their (consolation) goal, which seemed almost ironic given their possession rate.

Our trophy hopes have gone from unlikely to impossible in the last few weeks. Needless to say, the faltering attack is accountable for the same but it is the defence that has cost them routinely, and these games have proved that nothing has changed under the management of the charming Jürgen Klopp.

We have regularly relied on outscoring the opponent (fans of the club will never forget the 2013/14 campaign), but in its absence, the defence must step up, be alert and show character and grit.

While Richard Stearman was marginally offside for the first-minute goal, it was the needless foul given away in the first place and subsequently the poor marking that cost us an early blow. After that, Lambert’s men were happy to sit back and defend.

Until our punctured defence improves, the Reds cannot be taken seriously.

Manager Klopp comments

‘ I feel responsible for this performance. I thought we could do better,’ said Klopp after watching a line up including three teenagers and a right back, Conor Randall, who hadn’t played this season, crumble. ‘I don’t feel they let me down – I am the one responsible for the line-up’