LFC 20/21 – The Good, The Bad The Ugly – Gameweek 22 & 23
How the mighty fall as Liverpool suffer wake-up call. Fortress Anfield is no more after Cityzens come and bag four. Calls for Klopp’s sacking, when surely he just needs backing. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Another week reviewed at the world’s favourite football club Liverpool F.C.
The Good
Sorry to say but nothing of note. Across two gameweeks Liverpool suffered damaging defeats to teams at both ends of the table.
Firstly Brighton and Hove Albion humbled the Reds 0-1 at Anfield, repeating the fete of fellow strugglers Burnley the week before. Secondly, the team was royally stuffed by Manchester City yesterday 1-4 to complete a miserable week.
Things do not look good for Jürgen Klopp’s side and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to surmise that Liverpool’s title defence is about as alive as a dead man as they trail Citeh by 10 points and a game. The way this Reds team are playing at the moment there’s no resurrection in sight either.
It doesn’t feel good that’s for sure but to be fair, it has woken us and the team up to the serious shortcomings right now. Not that a wake up call was needed as recent performances have set the alarm bells ringing loud and clear. Liverpool are in trouble.
The loss to Brighton was a back to the future moment. Struggling team parks the bus, nicks a goal and hangs on for a win against a predictable Liverpool team. Same as against Burnley. Same as against Southampton.
…I don’t have a real explanation for it, maybe he had cold feet or something. It sounds funny but it could be.
Yesterday. Two howlers from Alisson Becker were enough to seal Liverpool’s fate. Cold feet was the the best excuse Klopp could provide. This was a game in which these events just should not happen. To be fair, the Brazilian has kept Liverpool out of jail more times than a celebrity defence lawyer so we can’t be too harsh on him, as Klopp fairly pointed out.
The Bad
Losing successive home games. Fortress Anfield has turned into Farcical Anfield. An unbeaten run stretching back to April 2017 has been brought to a very abrupt halt.
We can blame injuries, we can blame the lack of fans, we can blame COVID-19 for two games in a week. We can even blame Phil Foden for stuffing it up us yesterday. Fact is, the record is over and with it, the sense of invincibility in the famous old ground.
Liverpool only have themselves to blame for this. I don’t want to say “I told you so”, but the lack of replacing departing players in favour of nice-to-haves, has come back to haunt them. Selling Dejan Lovren and replacing him with an ageing midfielder is hardly the stuff of genius.
The result is that without Virgil van Dijk, there is no plan B. Without Joe Gomez, even a plan C. Filling the void with two midfielders was never going to work in hindsight. Or even foresight for that matter. The addition of Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies has only arrived in time to see the title hopes departing into the distance.
The fortress does indeed need rebuilding. One can only rue its falling into ruin in the first place. Totally avoidable in my opinion.
Fortress Anfield needs rebuilding while City have won 13 in a row… https://t.co/XQv17D1ODZ
— Liverpool FC News (@LivEchoLFC) February 7, 2021
The Ugly
Calls for Klopp yo be sacked. I mean… really?! OK, things haven’t gone according to plan recently. Title aspirations have now turned into top four hopes, but to say the manager should be sacked is way out of line.
A Liverpool fan phoned in to Talksport yesterday calling for Klopp to be replaced by Steven Gerrard. Not a likely scenario it has to be said. I just couldn’t see FSG letting go one of, if not the, best managers in world football simply because of a poor run of form.
One could ask what it would take for John Henry and company to pull the trigger… missing out on the top four? That, and a mediocre, ie mid table, start to next season?
It’s not ideal. It stinks having the two clubs from Manchester above us but to get rid of the boss would be insane. What could the former captain bring? He’s about to win a (let’s be honest) below-average league. And… nowt else.
In truth, many Liverpool fans would love to see Stevie G. take over the running of the team but the truth is, he’s still learning in the role. Let’s see what happens in three out four years when we’ve seen him tested a bit more.
In any case, the club wouldn’t achieve anything by getting rid of Klopp. Considering they’re largely to blame for the situation anyway. If “blame” is even the right word. Responsible sounds better and I trust in Klopp and the owners to take the responsibility and get the team out of the mire it’s in at the moment.
@talkSPORT That David who phoned in 'sack Klopp' was a numpty. If he was a red he would be on his knees worshipping Klopp for winning the Prem and Champs. What a big baby!
— Jack Brayne (@MercuryGazette) February 7, 2021
Next Up
There’s a whole week to let the dust settle now, reflect, regroup and for everyone to “calm down!”, before a trip to Leicester City on Saturday. Then the following Wednesday, the Champions League returns with a trip to Leipzig for the first game of this season’s knockout stage.
While you’re here…
The latest book from the The Good, The Bad and The Ugly weekly is out now. Relive this historic season. Available for purchase on Amazon, or directly from The LFC File. Click here to secure your copy. Either as an eBook (€5) or as a physical paperback (€8).
