Liverpool started 2023 with the same doubts with which they closed 2022. In their first outing of the year, last Monday against modest Brentford, Jürgen Klopp’s team collided head-on with the harshness of the figures.
In the match data as such, the score of 3-1 against was the first warning. Then, the impotence portrayed in the fact that he had 73% possession of the ball and could not do any damage, made the picture worse. In the end, the balance sheet ended up symbolizing that Liverpool this season seems to be far from the shadow of the previous one.
After the first 17 dates of the Premier League, Liverpool is sixth in the table, with 28 points, 16 behind London Arsenal, which is the leader. This is the second worst starting record in the almost eight years that Klopp has led the team. To make a parallel, with 21 dates still to be played, the team has already accumulated five defeats, when in the previous tournament, of which it was second, it only fell twice.
The situation is on high alert for Liverpool, as there is still no clear solution despite the DT’s intentions to turn the situation around.
The reasons for the debacle
The first factor that appears in the rear-view mirror of the causes of the current debacle has to do with the departure of Senegalese Sadio Manéwho was a determining figure during the five years he was at the club.
Since the African’s departure last June, Liverpool’s attack, which in the first half of 2022 played by heart, lost the pentagram.
With another way of playing the same instrument, the Uruguayan Darwin Nunez He came to reinforce the offense, but his performance has been far from expectations.
In that same area, it is unavoidable to mention the poor performance of the Egyptian Mohamed Salah, today the only survivor of the titular trident from a year ago. At the height of the 17 dates, during the past cycle, Salah had already scored 15 goals. In this course he only accumulates 7.
The rest of the box of regrets in the attack is completed by the injuries of the guajiro Luis Diaz —who, if he had managed well, might be available today—, from the Portuguese Diogo Jota and the Brazilian Roberto Firmino.
In the infirmary there are also the flyers James Milner, Jordan Henderson and Arthur, and the one who seems to be entering the list is the Dutchman Virgil van Djikwho retired in discomfort against Brentford and aggravated an already decimated line of defenders.
Under the same dynamic, those who are in physical condition fail to find their best level. Men like the Spanish midfielder Thiago himself, the lynchpin of the team that reached the last Champions League final, and the Scottish winger Andrew Robertson, lung on the left wing, do not have a calibrated compass.
Now, with a challenging calendar in the local league (Brighton, Chelsea, Wolverhampton, Everton and Newcastle), and a fate difficult to reverse there, andl Liverpool tries to look towards the first leg of the round of 16 (February 21) of the Champions League against Real Madridhis executioner in the last game of the past version.
The hope until then seems to be focused on recovering men like Díaz himself and hoping that Cody Gakpo, a figure from the World Cup in Qatar who joined the team days ago, warm up. Likewise, new hires are not ruled out that give Liverpool another air, because it seems that those who are are running out.
ANDRES FELIPE BALAGUERA SARMIENTO
SPORTS JOURNALIST EL TIEMPO
More sports news
#Luis #Díaz #Liverpool #year #problem