There have
been some lows this season, Burnley, Bournemouth and the exit in the
semi-final’s of the EPL Cup to Southampton to name but a few. These sting, really perforate my mind’s eye
with a view to any chance of competing for the League, let alone a top four
place.
We are fast
becoming a laughing stock and in a week where Man United equalled our successes
in winning major trophies this was not the time for a dodgy performance.
There is a
German word Schadenfreude which is the pleasure derived from others misfortune
and Liverpool will know this feeling all too well, because having watched or
heard of Man United’s victory in the EPL Final and then having to sit through
another inept performance the laughter could probably heard down from the other
end of the East Lancs road as we’ve come to the realisation that this could be
yet another false dawn.
Make no
mistake, Leicester didn’t blow us of the park.
All week one felt a sense of trepidation. We knew Leicester would be fired up, but I
consoled myself into thinking that with the team having gone away for a
mid-season break in La Manga on the back of the two-nil victory over Spurs the
expectation was we would meet fire with fire.
The disappointment was we were pathetic, beaten by the lethargy we
presented on the pitch rather than anything special that Leicester as good as
they were brought to the party.
Without
Henderson having fallen by the wayside to injury, Emre Can returned to the fore
delivering as subdued a performance as one has come to expect from him this
season. I like Can, but this season he’s
produced a litany of substandard performances and if he is auditioning for a new
contract then he won’t be at the club next season as he beginning to resemble a
squad player with the weight of expectation all too much for him.
The
crunching tackle form Vardy on Mane in the opening moments seem to stimulate Leicester
and have an adverse reaction on Liverpool players.
Lucas, even
before the game one had that sinking feeling.
A player who gives nothing less than 110 percent, but the dye was
cast. His lack of pace up against Vardy
and the movement of Okazaki. It says a
lot about Liverpool that he played ahead of Klavan and with Sakho having been
the cornerstone of Crystal Palace’s win over the weekend it’s hard to accept.
In the
opening few minutes Liverpool were struggling with a resurgent Leicester and as
it was it was a disappoint to watch Vardy get on the end of long ball from
Albrighton outpacing the floundering Lucas to finish decisively past Mignolet.
Why play a high
line when you know that plays into Vardy’s main attribute, his pace?
Leicester’s
second was special, worthy of winning any game. Drinkwater’s sublime volley
from the edge of area was stunning. The fact that it came from a poor clearance
from a throw-in and very little pressure on the ball was by the by as he was
almost side on to the ball and off the ground when the ball was struck
delivering an uppercut to any remaining challenge we may have had for second
place let alone the top four.
It’s easy to
shower criticism on the manager when things aren’t going our way, but Klopp has
a propensity to not make decisive changes when the heat is on. He finally brought on Origi and Moreno (not
the most original substitute) after 66 minutes when with his side lacking in ingenuity,
passion and drive the changes could just as easily have been made at half-time.
Two minutes
later and the game for Liverpool was all over as spectacle as Vardy leapt up to
glance Christian Fuchs cross into the net.
It was no more than Leicester deserved and even a consolation goal from
Philippe Coutinho couldn’t hide the despair of a Liverpool side who now on a
spectacular slide losing five of our last seven games. If that is not a crisis, then I don’t know
what is with the spectre of being overtaken by Man United and Everton now only
five points with a wet sail being propelled by Lukaku in full flight.
It will be no
surprise to see Liverpool conjure up a performance to beat Arsenal over the
weekend, but that’s the way it’s been all season. Given the time and space to play against the
big teams, the pressing game works to a tee, but against the fight and passion
of the lower teams, Liverpool are enveloped in a sea of mediocrity with the
likes of Firmino sunk without trace.
Jürgen Klopp
has had three transfer windows as a Liverpool manager and yet there are still
too many questions to answer over the quality of his squad.
Why can’t
Liverpool procure a top-class goalkeeper? Why is Lucas partnering Matip when Klavan was
brought in as cover? Where’s the top-class left-back? Liverpool have always had
a history of midfield generals, Case, Souness, MacMahon, Gerrard, so where the
next one off the production line and why at a club the size of Liverpool do we
not have a world-class striker? These
are questions for Jürgen and the board.
There are
holes all over this squad which are occasionally covered up by the quality of
Mane and Coutinho and one suspects that in privacy of his own coaching room
Klopp knows that the team requires substantial surgery.
Teams:
Leicester: 1 Schmeical, 17 Simpson, 5 Morgan,
6 Huth. 28 Fuchs. 26 Mahrez (Gray – 80 mins), 4 Drinkwater, 25 Ndidi, 11
Albrighton (Chilwell – 90+1 mins), 20 Okazaki – Amartey), 9 Vardy
Subs: 3 Chilwell, 10 King, 13 Amartey, 19
Slimani, 21 Zieler, 22 Gray, 23 Ulloa
Liverpool: 22 Mignolet, 2 Clyne, 32 Matip, 21
Lucas (Woodburn – 84 mins), 7 Milner, 20 Lallana (Origi – 66 mins), 23 Can, 5
Wijnaldum, 19 Mane (Moreno – 66 – mins), 11 Firmino, 10 Coutinho
Substitutes: 1 Karius, 17 Klavan, 18 Moreno, 27
Origi, 35 Stewart, 58 Woodburn, 66 Alexander-Arnold
Referee: Michael Oliver
Attendance: 32, 034
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