Wolves 3-0 Liverpool – The Final Written Word
Written by: Collin Hockenbury
This is the season of inconsistency for Liverpool. We’ve seen inexplicable drop-offs in performance and terrible results away from home, particularly against the bottom of the table. Surprisingly, entering Saturday’s game, we’d also seen an outstanding return against the top six—including the recent 7-0 rout of Man United.
Our next three games would prove our standing against England’s elite: City away, Chelsea away, and Arsenal at home.
First up, the Etihad.
We countered well over the first 45.
Our first-half performance will split opinions. Some will argue we didn’t see enough of the ball and surrendered too many chances. Even though that’s probably the case, it’s worth mentioning that when City pushed forward and overloaded our box, they left tons of space in behind. When we had the calmness and bravery to turn on the edge of our own 18, we were able to spring attacks and exploit the room they gave us. It isn’t exactly how we got our goal—which was mostly down to Jota’s cleverness along the City backline before he teed up Salah’s excellent finish—but it’s where we found the most joy. It should have led to a second yellow for Rodri, too, changing the profile of the game. This countering tactic seemed to be something Klopp and the players recognized and made part of our plan.
We were hungry in the first half—tenacious in our challenges, closing down, hounding the ref. Still, with the number of moments City created, we couldn’t feel aggrieved by their well-worked equalizer. 1-1 at the half was fair, and a scoreline we could work with.
We didn’t do anything well over the second 45.
We’ve had to sit back and watch in agony far too often this season, especially when Liverpool doesn’t have the support of Anfield behind them. United away. Napoli away. Forest away. Brentford away. Wolves away. Bournemouth away. Brighton away, twice (“TWICE!”). The second 45 at City was another agonizing display—one that left us wondering how this season has come off the back of the last when we were so sharp and consistent.
Last season’s tilt at the Etihad came with massive title implications. Down 2-1 at the break, we landed a sucker punch in the 46th minute with a swift move and emphatic Sadio Mane equalizer. Saturday, City did the exact same thing to us. Alvarez dismantled our entire backline with a sweeping diagonal that left De Bruyne free for a tap-in, 53 seconds after the restart.
WHY DID LIVERPOOL CAPITULATE IN THE SECOND HALF AGAINST MAN CITY?
Slow starts and the inability to overcome adversity have been two major pain points this season, and both defined the second half. Simply put, this team implodes when it concedes goals. The body language changed almost to a man, players were walking and shirking tackles and failing to track runners. City’s third and fourth goals were always coming after the second, such was City’s dominance and momentum.
Stats don’t always tell the whole story, but Liverpool managed only 29% possession, with four shots to City’s 17—Salah’s goal was the only shot on target. Klopp’s four-player substitution on 70 minutes was a true white flag moment, particularly with Salah coming off and Chamberlain coming on. Save the legs for Chelsea and Arsenal, he seemed to say. It’s another situation that will split opinion: some will demand to know why he accepted defeat and others will understand where he was coming from. If he was giving up, it was only because the 11 players on the pitch already had.
Klopp’s Liverpool and Guardiola’s City have played some incredible games over the last five years, sharing the spoils with each passing season. We’ve won some by multiple goals and so have they. But even when we’ve put up big scorelines against City, they’ve never given up. When we took the 3-0 lead at Anfield in the Champions League, they pushed us to the brink the entire second half. When we made it 4-1 in the Premier League, they clawed it back to 4-3. When Salah’s brilliant solo run in front of the Kop put us up 2-1 last season, De Bruyne responded with a late equalizer. Even when they lose, or are losing, City maintain their threat and intensity. This was not the case with Liverpool’s second-half performance today, and the gulf in standard isn’t okay.
So many questions now.
Having now lost 14 out of 41, conceding 53 goals and getting eliminated from all three cup competitions along the way, Champions League qualification is our only remaining prize. The hammering at City makes it that much more far-fetched, with only 11 games to go, two more world-class teams up next, and a seven-point gap between us and fourth place that continues to widen.
Everyone knows where we need strengthening and everyone knows our top summer targets. The question is, until the window opens, how do we realistically go about reaching the top four? Do we continue with what seems to be our current first-choice 11 or do we tweak it? Do we shuffle players and rethink tactics in preparation for next season? If not now, what if we drop points against Chelsea and Arsenal? What if Spurs, United, and Newcastle go on runs of their own?
All of the second-guessing, hypotheticals, and uncertainties put us in a thankless position as fans, too. After reaching the peak over several years, we’ve fallen off a cliff, and the lack of a real end-of-season ambition only adds to the frustration we’ve felt since August. We need the players to need our support, or this whole thing loses its meaning.
Here’s to hoping we can stay in the hunt. To do so, we’ll need help from other teams and a change in mentality—but that’s been the case pretty much all season, hasn’t it?
USE CODE ‘FINAL’ TO WATCH THE FINAL WORD SHOW AND ALL OUR AMAZING CONTENT FOR JUST £2 FOR ONE MONTH
HEAD TO REDMENPLUS.COM TO SIGN UP AS A CLUB CAPTAIN MONTHLY SUBSCRIBER
