LFC 22/23 – The Good, The Bad And The Ugly – Gameweeks #11 & 12
In the Champions League, the reds continue to shine in the Premier League, a continuing decline.  The good, The bad and The ugly. The last two game weeks reviewed at Liverpool football club. 
The Good
All things considered, this has to be qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League with the 0-3 win against Ajax Amsterdam in the Dutch capital.
 Mo Salah put the visitors ahead just before the break with a classy finish to end a superb move from Liverpool. After the break, newcomer Darwin Nunez doubled the reds lead with a textbook headed finish from a corner.
Youngster Harvey Elliott showed what potential he has when he fired in from an acute angle three minutes later to put the result beyond the reach of the Dutch hosts.
A goal and assist for @MoSalah tonight 💪
Your #AJALIV Player of the Match 👑 pic.twitter.com/K8DsNDzEKj
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 26, 2022
To be fair, this was a welcome deserved result from Liverpool. However, you have to acknowledge that in the opening stages, Liverpool could easily have fell 2 goals behind after some class attacking from Ajax.
The Bad
Well, this has to be losing to Nottingham Forest and the city ground with a disappointing 1-0 scoreline. I haven’t seen any stats, and to be honest, I couldn’t be bothered looking for anything after such a poor performance from Liverpool.
A memorable win for @NFFC#NFOLIV pic.twitter.com/iMLHWZiVni
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 22, 2022
One has to ask the question, just how many chances Liverpool need in order to score a goal? Chance, after chance went begging in this game until the inevitable happened when the former Liverpool Academy graduate Taiwo Awoniyi, scored the winning goal 55 minutes of the game.
A thoroughly dismal performance in a match which, with due respect to Nottingham Forest, many football fans, let alone Liverpool supporters, would have expected the Reds from Anfield to win comfortably.
As we can see this season, Liverpool can hardly hit a barn door to coin an old phrase, when it comes to finishing chances made. From what I see, I would speculate that there are problems in the Liverpool dressing room for a team reached for finals this season before to be languishing in the bottom half on the table less than six months later. 
The Ugly
Suffering a second straight defeat. Not only that, but at Anfield, and against a side that’s bottom of the league. The 1-2 reverse against Leeds will come as a massive blow to Liverpool. Their top-for adorations now seem to be in tatters.
Again another error-strewn performance from Liverpool, again another unthinkable result. Below-par, sloppy defensive and midfield play gave the Reds exactly what they deserved from this game nothing.
Defeat at Anfield. #LIVLEE pic.twitter.com/pGBv9Om0V0
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 29, 2022
Frankly, the way the team is playing right now is unacceptable and things need too change. Conceding the first goal is becoming something that’s as routine as peeing in the morning.
The mental rigours demanded by consistently having to turn results around must not enormous. Even for Pep Lijnders’ famous Mentality Monsters. This they may well be. Machines they are not.
An ageing midfield cannot be the only reason. Even though this is something that had been apparent for the last couple of seasons. Changing from Klopp’s trusted 4-3-3 Structure to a more basic 4-4-2 hasn’t really had the desired effect.
Should Liverpool miss out on the hallowed top for this season, the ramifications will be not only huge but significant. The funds that have allowed the club to develop the stadium to rival the Best in the country I s one. But there is a more fundamental danger.
The Athletic summed it up perfectly this week. Without Champions League football Liverpool b become a far less attractive proposition and many potential additions may look elsewhere. With so much at stake investment in the team in January is a no-brains. Will FSG speculate to accumulate? Let’s see… but the clock is ticking.
