AFTER its crushing 3-1 loss to Leicester City that only served to reinforce that Liverpool’s title reign as Premier League champions is over, I went back to check my notes. Cross-referenced them to be as accurate as possible in trying to decipher the debacle that has happened.
What was looking like a successful title defense is a magnified slip against Chelsea years ago.
Many point to the injuries of their centerbacks as the cause of the team’s decline. Some point a thin squad. Some say that it has played a lot of games in a shortened season. Others have wondered if manager Jurgen Klopp has run his team to the ground. Some point to VAR as a co-culprit to their struggles.
There is truth to the unbelievable and unlucky number of injuries it had that has forced Klopp to try his 37th defensive combination of the season and to rejigger his line-up.
But I still disagree to a point. Injuries are part of any season. The team has had the good fortune of being largely injury free over the previous three seasons. But its defenders didn’t really play well even at the start of the 2020-21 season.
I was checking the player ratings dating back to the first games of the season, and their scores weren’t very good. Inconsistent, but it betrayed a hint of the danger to come. Defenders Joe Gomez, Virgil Van Dijk, and Trent Arnold-Alexander have been in poor form. So much for that.
They did well with patched up line-ups. And even with all their injuries, the team was atop the league for a while. It has even advanced deep into Champions League play.
Thin squad? I think not. Remember when Liverpool fielded its Under-23 team against Arsenal’s first team and beat them?
Ran to the ground? No way. The time off due to the lockdown ensured the players are well rested.
In my opinion, the long lay-off plus some newcomers not having a pre-season with the squad has contributed to its poor showing.
Let’s start with the latter.
Prior to the 2018-19 season, Fabinho, Naby Keita, Xherdan Shaqiri, and Allison Becker arrived from Monaco, Leipzig, Stoke City and Roma, respectively, and were able to play in the pre-season. They all had a month or so to integrate with their new team.
The team finished second in the Premier League and won the Champions League.
During the 2019-2020 season, Adrian joined a little over a week before the season started. Takumi Minamino arrived in the January transfer window.
Adrian helped the team to some huge wins including the Club World Cup while Minamino struggled to get the system and find his place. Nevertheless, the team won the Premier League, UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.
During that season, Liverpool was undefeated when the world went into lockdown in the second week of March 2020. Its final match before lockdown was a 2-1 win over Bournemouth.
That was almost a three-month lay-off and when it got going on June 21, the squad figured in a scoreless draw against Everton. It thumped Crystal Palace, 4-0, then when Man City took a bad result, it was already Premier League Champions.
Except the team stepped off the gas pedal as it was blown away by Man City, 4-0, at the Etihad. It finished the season 2-1-1. But I wondered if the cracks were showing.
This season, it was only Kostas Tsimikas (from Olympiakos) who arrived during the short pre-season. Thiago (Bayern Munich) and Diogo Jota (Wolverhampton) arrived with the season having started.
Ben Davies (Preston North End) and Ozan Kabak (Schalke) arrived only this February.
Like everyone else, the team only had a short pre-season.
The lockdown in England went into effect on March 16, 2020. Liverpool returned to action 92 days after the lockdown began. That is exactly as long as the off-season between Premier League seasons.
Do you realize that a 92-day lay-off is long enough to sap that “monster mentality” out of you?
It is one thing to be competing for a title and another if you are long out of contention and you are looking at the next season for a fresh start.
Liverpool had to endure calls for the nullification of the season—thereby possibly not winning the Premier League at all—and a false start (April was supposed to be the initial return to action).
The 2019-2020 season ended on July 26 with the Reds returning to training on August 15. The new season was to kick off in 28 days.
I think the team lost its momentum during the initial lockdown. Then it went to a quick off-season and struggled to find form and its killer instinct.
What it had worked so hard for prior to the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 seasons has been undone by Covid-19, injuries and now a lack of belief to their own games. Furthermore, it is fighting for its Champions League lives.
This season may be a wash, but I think, Liverpool will be back for the next one.