Elliott shows up older players
Jurgen Klopp told a story ahead of last season’s Premier League finale as he discussed the imminent “transformation” of his Liverpool squad.
“We have another young exciting player coming in with Fab (Carvalho), we have Harvey and Curtis,” said Klopp after a 2-1 win at Southampton. “After the last game I had both together and said to them ‘this is only the start’. And they were like ‘yes, with us on the pitch’. It’s really nice.”
Less than four months later, all three took to the field at the City Ground, Thiago Alcantara’s late withdrawal pressing Jones into service as one of the two midfield pivots – the first time since January 2018 the Reds began a Premier League game with three players aged 21 or under.
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It was the 21-year-old’s first start since that May trip to the south coast in a position where he has rarely featured in recent seasons.
And other than an urge to keep hold of the ball – a trait both a blessing and a curse – Jones did as well as should have been expected after so long out, finishing the game on the left flank after Fabio Carvalho endured another mixed afternoon, spurning a decent chance early on and then struggling to make a consistent impact.
That wasn’t the case for Elliott on the other flank, the teenager the only Liverpool player to offer any sort of consistent attacking threat. The youngest player, though, shouldn’t be the one setting the example for the rest.
Nunez absence felt
It was a remarkable statistic that struck at the heart of why Liverpool are struggling to produce consistently this season.
The absence of Darwin Nunez with a tight hamstring made the Uruguayan the 19th different Reds player to have missed at least one game this campaign.
And how the Uruguayan’s absence was felt, his physical presence, threat and height all sorely lacking from Liverpool’s attacking efforts, with Mohamed Salah – restored to the centre forward role – too often mired in a sea of Forest defenders and Roberto Firmino unable to offer any meaningful support down the middle.
With Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota – two more of Liverpool’s more direct attackers – out for some time, Klopp had nobody to whom he could turn as his side struggled to create chances from open play despite enjoying a whopping 75% of possession. Set-pieces were the Reds’ best threat, but Firmino and particularly Virgil van Dijk proved wasteful.
This was only the second league game in which Liverpool have failed to score in 2022 – last month’s goalless draw at Everton the other – which suggests, as Klopp intimated afterwards, there isn’t reason to panic.
He knew the reasons. And if ever there was proof of why Thiago and Nunez were bought to break down obdurate defences, this was it.
Forest curse continues
So the City Ground curse goes on for Liverpool, the Reds still having not won here during the Premier League era – scoring a mere four times in six games – and without a league triumph since 1984.
Indeed, they have been victorious only three times here in their last 20 league visits. Hardly the happiest of hunting grounds, with some home supporters letting themselves down with chants referencing the Hillsborough disaster. It has been a hugely demoralising week in that regard.
That it was Taiwo Awoniyi, on Liverpool’s books for six years but whose work permit issues meant he never played a game, who scored the winner just rubbed salt into a gaping wound that would have been worse but for late heroics from Alisson Becker, the goalkeeper swiftly becoming the Reds’ player of the season.
And while Klopp played down post-match talk of the poor away record, not since 2006/07 have Liverpool failed to win any of their first five Premier League games on the road.
Amsterdam and Ajax is the next stop, the Reds hoping to secure their Champions League knockout berth with a game to spare. Certainly, progress in this season’s competition is proving far more straightforward than qualifying for the next campaign.
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