Even Liverpool’s diehard fans know it. This is a shambolic shadow of the squad which so very nearly conquered the world last season.
Now they can’t even conquer a Leeds side visiting Anfield without a win in eight Premier League games, and with the pall of relegation already gathering around them.
Gone is the intensity of their belief which suffocated opponents into submission, to be replaced by a near desperation, which borders on the baffling. And that was no more harshly illustrated than the 90th minute winner for the Yorkshire club which seemed almost inevitable.
Jurgen Klopp’s side had missed several chances in the dying moments, Roberto Firmino twice seeing shots saved by the excellent Illan Meslier, before their defence opened up in the final minute of the game, to present Crysencio Summerville with a sitter he gleefully converted.
It was Leeds first win here since April 2001 when Alan Smith scored the winner, and Liverpool’s first loss at Anfield in front of fans in the Premier League, since they lost to Crystal Palace in April 2017.
If those stats are shocking, then the defeat wasn’t. Because the seeds were sown in a frantic first half which showed Leeds there was a vulnerability at the heart of the home defence…and they exploited it superbly.
Barely four minutes had passed, and already there was one Keystone Kop moment in the Leeds back line, when Mo Salah almost capitalised on a comedy of errors from Liam Cooper and Illan Meslier.
That was nothing though, compared to lack of understanding between Joe Gomez and Alisson, which saw the defender win the ball well, but then blind back pass…only to realise his keeper had gone for a ridiculous wander.
Rodrigo was left to walk the ball into the net, Alisson to apologise, and everyone in the stadium to turn to the person next to them, to suggest: “It’s going to be one of those games.” Reader, it was.
And in truth, Leeds had the better of the opening hour, even if Liverpool did produce a couple of sublime attacking moments, the best of which saw a wondrous exchange between Andy Robertson and Darwin Nunez, which Roberto Firmino should have finished.
From the resulting corner though, Leeds failed to clear, the ball was recycled and Robertson lifted to the back post, where three home forwards lined up, and Salah expertly lifted the ball into the net.
It was the epitome of a calm finish…but Nunez didn’t follow the example when Alexander-Arnold’s incredible ball gave him the perfect opening, but he seemed to panic and tried to round Meslier in the Leeds goal, when lifting the ball would have been easier.
Both chances showed the fundamental weakness of the visiting defence when put under pressure, and you would have thought that was the prompt for Liverpool to slow things down and try to take some control. Not a bit of it.
The game just got more open, and more desperate. Firmino’s backheel to put Alexander-Arnold in was the moment of the match, but Leeds had the better chances, first Brenden Aaaronson volleying onto the bar after Kristensen’s deep cross.
Then Rodrigo played Jack Harrison in, but he delayed the shot slightly, allowing Alisson to make an important save. Inevitably, and almost certainly after some harsh words from Klopp during the interval, the frenzy subsided a little, and so did the chances…if not the tension.
There were moments when Liverpool really should have put the game to bed. Nunez was put in by Salah, and again lacked the finish, with Meslier producing a good point blank save. And Liam Cooper also produced a fine block to deny Salah.
But the truth of the game was that Liverpool have lost, for now, that compelling, incessant control they had over the past season, and opponents know it. Despite the moments of brilliance there is a weakness still in their mentality, and that has cost them any chance of the title.
The worry now is, will it also remove their hopes of the top four?
