Playing catch-up is nothing new for Liverpool
It goes without saying that conceding first in any given game of football is never advisable, with best-laid plans thrown out of the window the minute that a supposedly watertight backline is breached. To be forced onto the back foot, regardless of when said step said is taken across a 90-minute outing, is always going to make life a little difficult.
Liverpool has been finding that out the hard way in 2022-23, with Jurgen Klopp’s men picking up an unfortunate habit of handing out hope to opponents like early Christmas presents. The act is growing a little tiresome.
Stumbling
— Virgil van Dijk (@VirgilvDijk) August 4, 2022
Time is, for the most part, still on their side and football betting markets are not ready to turn their backs on a star-studded squad just yet, with odds of 15/2 still available when it comes to Champions League glory and 6/1 in the pursuit of back-to-back FA Cup triumphs.
There is, however, no escaping the fact that Liverpool needs to stop shooting themselves in the foot if they are to avoid stumbling across the line in domestic and continental competition. Klopp has already thrown in a Premier League title towel, but he has done so before and will know that collective fortunes can be quickly reversed.
It is imperative, though, that he finds a way of plugging defensive leaks before a ship that has grown accustomed to riding the crest of a trophy-chasing wave begins to sink. Unfortunately, there are no simple solutions to a glaringly obvious problem.
A prominent member of the Reds’ defensive unit has said of falling behind in games on a regular basis: “I cannot really explain that… we have to talk to each other on the pitch and fight at the start of the game [and] at the end.” He’s not wrong, and it is always good to talk, but when will the message start to get through?
You would like to think that plenty of discussions have already taken place, with Liverpool having been breached first in seven outings across all competitions by the middle of October. If that fault has not been a hot topic of debate at Anfield, then something has gone wrong.
It is not the first time that the Reds have found themselves in this situation, and that could offer a crumb of comfort to those that have grown tired of the nail-biting. Similar runs have been endured before, with Klopp putting one such sequence in September 2017 down to a lack of “concentration”.
Foundations
Seven years ago today, Jürgen Klopp became a Red, and we’re so glad! ????????
Here’s to creating many more special memories, boss ❤️ pic.twitter.com/zH0WHksGNQ— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 8, 2022
Those wrongs were subsequently righted in some style, as the foundations were laid for future success, and hope for all concerned on the red half of Merseyside is that history will ultimately repeat itself. To be in an all too familiar position is, however, a touch concerning.
Liverpool was a work in progress when experiencing such struggles in the past, with the odd teething problem to be expected, but to be leaving themselves playing catch-up so frequently in the present offers alarming nods to regression over progression.
