Liverpool Aug 25 (BUS): Their foreheads were about to touch, his Liverpool teammates James Milner and Virgil van Dijk exchanged angry words on the pitch. They pointed, nodded, and looked utterly disgusted.
Liverpool had just fallen behind in the Premier League for the seventh time in a row, and amid the hubbub inside a reawakened Old Trafford, two of the club’s top players were chasing each other.
A sign that they care? Can.
However, for many people, that moment will be used to show that not everything is quite right within Jurgen Klopp’s squad.
The results also confirm this.
It’s always dangerous to jump to conclusions at the start of the season – only three rounds of matches have been played, but such have been the impressive margins in the Premier League title races in recent years that every point counts.
Liverpool have already lost seven of them after losing 2-1 to Manchester United on Monday after drawing with Fulham and Crystal Palace.
The Premier League crisis club in the first two weeks was United. Now, much of the scrutiny will turn to Liverpool.
“The team is tight, we are close but there are things that have to be said sometimes,” said Liverpool defender Andy Robertson. “Things will get better. But we are a lot behind what we want to be.”
In all likelihood, Liverpool will score their first win of the season on Saturday against Bournemouth, a rising team that has just charged a total of seven goals in losses to Manchester City and Arsenal.
And we should not forget that the loss against United was the first for Liverpool in the league in 2022.
However, the first three matches have highlighted some of the problems the Reds are facing.
The number of injuries
Liverpool’s strength in depth has improved immeasurably in recent seasons, but the abundance of injuries the team is experiencing is a concern.
Klopp said he fell to “14, 15 top players” in the United game with the following injured: defenders Ibrahima Konate and Joel Matip, midfielders Thiago Alcantara, Naby Keita and Curtis Jones and striker Diogo Jota. Meanwhile, Darwin Nunez, the new player up front, was serving the first of three matches left off.
Therefore, this meant that Liverpool would play as their fifth choice striker (Roberto Firmino), their fourth choice central defender (Joe Gomez) and midfielder (James Milner). Klopp filled his seat with two reserve goalkeepers.
“I am concerned about our situation,” Klopp said.
weak middle
The midfield may be the biggest concern, even if Klopp maintains his options, there are enough options.
Without Thiago, Liverpool lacks a player to officiate a game and hit a killer shot. Brazil announcer Fabinho was dropped against United due to a mediocre start to the season. Jordan Henderson is a leader, sure, but he rarely plays 90 minutes these days. Keita hits and misses, but hasn’t developed into the dynamic player Liverpool thought he was getting. Milner, 36, has played the last two games despite going past his best.
Liverpool’s failure to buy a midfielder in this transfer window and move on to other players appears to have been a miscalculation, as Klopp probably trusts too much in the players who have served him well.
Borussia Dortmund’s Judd Bellingham may be the midfielder that Liverpool are waiting for next year. The Reds were probably supposed to be out all this summer.
Van Dijk struggles
He was easily turned around by Aleksandar Mitrovic and missed a penalty in the opening weekend’s draw at Fulham. He stood like a statue as Jadon Sancho lined up his shot to put United ahead on Monday.
That’s two more mistakes than Van Dijk usually makes in an entire season.
If the imposing Dutchman – the player who keeps the defense together – is off his pace, it is inevitable that he will sneak up on the rest of the squad.
Van Dijk hasn’t helped by having to start alongside three different central defense partners this season, at Matip, Nat Phillips and Gomez.
The Reds have conceded the first goal in all three matches and now in nine of their last 10 competitive matches. They should be played early in the games.
missing mane
Sadio Mane has been a mainstay in Liverpool’s attack for six years, a regular source of goals and a provider of plenty of energy and drive that helped his teammates around him. In the second half of last season, he started mostly as a striker and was prolific and more important than Mohamed Salah.
He missed it badly after moving to Bayern Munich, where he sought a new challenge. Luis Diaz is a good substitute – Klopp called the Colombian “special” last week – but is asking him to have the same production as Mane.
With Firmino retracted and a tall Niñez a completely different type of attacker, Liverpool have a reconfigured attack that requires an entirely new style of play. That could take a while, and after such a poor start to the season, time is really something Liverpool don’t really have.