Mohamed Salah’s anger when he was substituted on Thursday for the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea is a symbol of the collapse of the Liverpool, European champion in 2019 and English in 2020, collapsed this season. Why has the empire built by Jurgen Klopp?
The German coach replaced the Egyptian striker after an hour of play in the 1-0 defeat to the Blues, the fifth consecutive home game for the Blues. Liverpool, A streak that signs for the first time in its history.
10 points in 11 games
All of a sudden, the Liverpool, The most fascinating team in Europe in the last two years, has derailed. In mid-January Klopp’s squad was at the top of the standings Premier League, but eventually the long list of injuries has come at a high price.
Until a surprising fall to Burnley 1-0 in January, the Reds had not known defeat at Anfield since April 2017.
See: The Premier League standings
Two months later, they are already in another fight: they are seventh with four points from fourth place, behind which leads to the next Champions League, which is difficult to predict after winning the last one. Premier League with 18 units advantage.
The reigning champion has only scored 10 points in his 11 games in the World Cup Premier League in 2021. Only West Bromwich, Newcastle and Southampton have made it worse since then.
Klopp he referred to the anger of Salah, one of the key pieces of the champion team. “When the boys are disappointed, it’s not a problem. I didn’t see what ‘Mo’ did,” the German noted.
“I could have changed other players, but at the time I didn’t want to take any chances,” he added about the change.
Klopp he considered that the key to defeat was that the only shot between the three posts of his team occurred in the 85th minute.
“These matches are decided at times and to recover those moments you have to fight, sometimes on another level. It’s not about tactics, it’s about being resilient and having a heart,” he added.
“We don’t blame the circumstances. There’s only one person to criticize. That was what I told the boys,” he continued.
Casualties in defense, problems in attack
the Liverpool has the long-term casualties of his central defenders Virgil Van Dijk, the head of defense, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, 3 absences that have marked the season.
But his trio of stellar strikers; Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané have lost their luster and effectiveness.
The Reds have not opened the scoring at home since December, when Mané did so against West Bromwich, a fact that contrasts with the scoring machine and generating victories that were last season.
Left-back Andy Robertson asked his teammates for more motivation to save the season.
“Too many heads are low when we go 1-0 down. We can’t. Football sometimes is getting hit,” he said.
“We can’t live on the past. Last season is over. We haven’t been good enough than him Liverpool it should be, ”he acknowledged.
With 11 games to go the Reds will try to start changing course on Sunday at home against a Fulham (18th) who plays to continue in the First.