It turns out Jurgen Klopp was right all along. Liverpool really do have a general problem – and it’s in danger of derailing their season.
The Reds boss, speaking on Friday, riled against suggestions his squad had a particular issue in midfield after further questions were asked in the wake of the dire Premier League defeat at Brentford earlier in the week.
But he surely wouldn’t have expected his players to, barely 24 hours later, underline in alarming fashion there are concerns throughout his team.
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Liverpool can count themselves extremely fortunate their defence of the FA Cup won so thrillingly last season didn’t falter at the first hurdle after they somehow plumbed new depths of an increasingly worrying campaign at a fraught Anfield.
Wolverhampton Wanderers will no doubt be wondering quite how they didn’t eliminate the Reds from the competition for the third time in six years, such was the manner in which their makeshift, cobbled-together side routinely cut through the home team.
For Klopp, meanwhile, the troubles will be numerous. The calculated gamble of fielding arguably his strongest available team backfired as Liverpool demonstrated all the frailties and failings that have been evident since the resumption of the campaign.
Clearly, the loyalty the Reds boss has in his core players is being stretched to the limit. If this largely inept display was a one-off, it could be dismissed. But it isn’t. And perhaps this is no longer Liverpool’s best line-up at present. Something has to change.
Yes, Virgil van Dijk was missed, particularly his organisational skills. However, the problems have been obvious long before the centre-back suffered the hamstring problem that will sideline him for at least a month.
It could so easily have been worse. Last month, Klopp questioned why VAR hadn’t been used in the Carabao Cup clash at Manchester City after their trophy defence was ended by a 3-2 defeat. And here the Reds boss will have been grateful for the video technology, first allowing Mohamed Salah’s second-half strike to stand and then, more contentiously, sticking with the on-field decision to wipe off a late Wolves winner from Tote Gomes despite there being no conclusive video evidence Matheus Nunes, who took the initial corner, was offside when the ball came back to him.
Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui was apoplectic on the touchline, and it was difficult not to feel some sympathy. Liverpool had got away with one, Klopp – an open advocate of scrapping FA Cup replays – now facing the prospect of trip to Molineux the week after next.
Cody Gakpo was probably bewildered by it all. There were cheers for the new £37million signing when his name was read out before kick-off and, if not a buzz of expectation, there was certainly a sense of intrigue whenever he gained possession during the opening stages.
Too often, though, the debutant was dragged down by the general malaise, although it was his cross from the left that Gomes headed up into the air to play Salah onside for Liverpool’s second goal, the Egyptian’s 173rd for the club and moving him ahead of Kenny Dalglish into seventh place in the all-time scoring charts.
Positives were few and far between. Trent Alexander-Arnold, having waited so long for an assist this season, notched his second in successive games to take Darwin Nunez into double figures, and both Naby Keita and young Ben Doak looked lively from the bench. But that was about it.
Indeed, Liverpool produced a shocking first-half performance, the lively opening 10 minutes a false dawn as the Reds outstripped their awfulness against Leicester City and Brentford over the festive period. Salah curled a free-kick over and Gakpo shot at reserve Wolves goalkeeper Matija Sarkic but, with Nunez hugely peripheral, Liverpool swiftly ran out of ideas and allowed the visitors to gain a foothold and then momentum.
It didn’t help that the Reds were seemingly intent on aiding the Midlanders with a series of sloppy passes, an alarming lack of enthusiasm in parts and infuriatingly wrong decisions.
The goal conceded on 26 minutes was pathetic. Goncalo Guedes had already served notice of his willingness to press when almost capitalising on dallying from Joel Matip inside the area, but he surely couldn’t have believed his fortune when, from close range, Alisson Becker threw the ball straight to his feet for an easy tap-in.
Liverpool’s response was non-existent, Wolves regularly running through the home midfield for whom Fabinho was again a real worry. Ibrahima Konate did well to stop Rayan Ait-Nouri racing clear, Alisson saved a Guedes effort from range and Raul Jimenez was inches away from converting Adama Traore’s low cross.
The Reds’ 45th-minute equaliser, then, was completely out of keeping with their efforts, Alexander-Arnold pouncing on a wayward Wolves ball in midfield and sprinting forward before delivering a searching diagonal pass to the far post where the arriving Nunez finished brilliantly into the bottom corner with his left foot.
Wolves were undeterred by Salah’s strike seven minutes after the break, drawing level again 15 minutes later when, after Konate’s clearance fell short, a swift attack ended with the defender, sliding in at the near post, diverting Matheus Cunha’s low cross in off substitute Hwang Hee-Chan.
Alisson then stood tall to deny Ait-Nouri but a hectic finale, prompted mainly by Klopp throwing on most of his attacking substitutes, failed to produce a winner.
Liverpool now have to do it all again the week after next. But they cannot afford a replay of this desperate showing. This was not good at all.
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