‘Don't worry about a thing, cause every little thing gonna be all right.’
As Liverpool fans left the Johan Cruijff ArenA on Wednesday with Bob Marley’s ‘Three Little Birds’ ringing in their ears, having been sung throughout the second half in Amsterdam, they will have hoped that Jurgen Klopp’ s side had turned a corner after bouncing back from last weekend’s disappointing loss to struggling Nottingham Forest by beating Ajax 3-0 to book their place in the Champions League knockout stages.
Alas, just three days later and that couldn’t be further from the truth as the Reds’ disappointing season hit a new low. Another false dawn and another loss to a side in the Premier League relegation zone, this time Leeds United, left them even further behind the Champions League places and closer to the drop-zone. How many more turned corners can Klopp's side inflict on us before it all comes crashing back down?
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The fact that such a loss came at Anfield and was Liverpool ’s first home league defeat in front of their own fans since April 2017 made it an even more bitter pill to swallow on what was the most frustrating of nights for Klopp’s men in this most uninspiring of seasons. At first a blip, coming in the shadow of an unprecedented quadruple being snatched from their grasp, the Reds are now in crisis.
There have been a number of reasons for Liverpool’s flailing fortunes this season, with a plethora of injuries being most-prominent - the same as it was in 2020/21 when a centre-back injury crisis derailed their Premier League title challenge. On that occasion the Reds re-grouped to still finish in the Champions League places. Even with 26 games left to play and 78 points still up for grabs, an eight-point deficit on Newcastle United - themselves the richest club in the world - the possibility of Klopp’s men recovering this time is already starting to feel inconceivable.
Before, there has been a belief that Liverpool just need to get to the World Cup mid-season break in one piece before welcoming players back from injury and reigniting their fortunes in 2023. Yes, their Premier League title chances might already be over but they are the mighty Liverpool Football Club, former champions of England, Europe and the world, and surely won’t be consigned to the doldrums for long. After all, a Champions League without Klopp’s Reds is hardly a Champions League at all.
But the class of 2020 is already a long time ago and any belief that they will still be competing in next season’s Champions League is said more in hope than expectation. Jurgen Klopp’s mentality monsters have won all there is to win, but previous honours alone don’t give them the divine right to compete for next season’s European Cup.
The German knows this, of course, and admitted he is worried that his side might fail to qualify this season, with the feint possibility of them winning their seventh Champions League title now perhaps their best chance of even competing again next season.
“Yes (I’m worried). That’s actually not my main worry at the moment as I have a lot of other worries,” Klopp told reporters after losing to Leeds. “But, of course, I’m not that dumb that I don’t know about distances and who is up there.
“You cannot qualify for the Champions League if you play as inconsistent as we do at the moment. We have to fix that. Then we will see where we end up. We all know that a lot of things are possible, but for that we have to win football games which we haven’t done that often.”
Excuses will only carry you so far. UEFA won’t grant them entry with an asterisk next to their names out of sympathy because of injuries. Now is the time for action and Liverpool need to find answers both on and off the pitch.
The Reds waited 30 years to be crowned champions of England for the 19th time and faced a 16-year exile from the Champions League, before competing in the continent’s elite competition just once in eight years prior to the past five seasons where they have conquered all of Europe. But under FSG ’s watch, Liverpool are sleep-walking back to becoming mid-table fodder and their latest ‘glory days’ really will stop if they don’t act fast.
There might be valid reasons for their current plight, and it could indeed prove to again just be a short-term crisis, but with an ageing squad in transition, supporters have lost patience and such excuses, now a scratched record, no longer cut it.
The past five seasons have been littered with excuses for why their side has just fallen short. It's boring and fans, growing disillusioned while well aware of their club's current plight, don't want to hear it. They just want results. Klopp might have turned the Reds from doubters into believers when taking over in October 2015, but now they are devoid of any semblance of belief.
A look at Liverpool’s squad now, and as their German manager chops and changes both players and formations, you’re left wondering who can dig them out of this hole? A look at their injury list and Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota are both big losses in attack.
But that doesn't excuse the ever-growing issues in midfield and defence. If Naby Keita and Ibrahima Konate 's returns can’t act as a magic wand or reset button to resurrect Reds fortunes, then they really are in trouble. Again, such wishes are more in hope than expectation after their new desperate low.
Yet despite their injuries this season, Klopp was actually able to name a full, senior 20-man matchday squad to face Leeds, without needing to include two substitute goalkeepers, any Under-21s players or any players making premature squad appearances after being rushed back from injury to make up numbers. The only other time he has been able to do that in the Premier League this season came at the start of the month for Liverpool’s 3-3 home draw with Brighton.
But despite such senior options, the Reds’ bench was still uninspiring. Using only three of his five permitted substitutions, Jordan Henderson, Curtis Jones and James Milner were the players called into action to try and turn one point into three, as the likes of Fabio Carvalho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain watched on.
Offering a combined five goals and 12 assists in the Premier League since Liverpool were crowned champions in 2020, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised they were unable to make that decisive impact as one point instead evaporated and Klopp’s men were left empty-handed.
The German has only stuck with three subs on two previous occasions in the Premier League this season, but that was equally because of a lack of alternative options with Adrian, Caoimhin Kelleher, Harvey Davies, Kostas Tsimikas, Stefan Bajcetic, Nat Phillips, Sepp van den Berg and Bobby Clark making up the unused reserves in losses to Manchester United and Nottingham Forest.
With Liverpool’s senior depth returning to an extent against Leeds, the fact that they still lack the desired impact players is concerning and they have only themselves to blame for their current plight.
It is easy to point the finger at FSG and question their recruitment. While the likes of Thiago Alcantara, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez have been signed for considerable fees since the Reds won the title in 2020, they have still waved off Sadio Mane, Takumi Minamino, Divock Origi, Gini Wijnaldum, Xherdan Shaqiri and Adam Lallana to leave their squad considerably weaker.
Granted, the majority of the aforementioned players were also ageing, but the fact that Liverpool are now left to choose between out of contract and ageing stars or untested youth suggests a lack of foresight and an arrogant belief that Klopp in the dugout alone is enough to keep the Reds competitive.
What Liverpool could have done to be able to call upon an Origi off the bench to rescue the points. Or one of their starting XI to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and snatch victory, as talismanic captain Steven Gerrard did so many times in his 17 years a Red.
So often scripted for it to be the Liverpool legend’s day on such occasions, instead, Kopites now witnessed a desperate and wild swing from Henderson in stoppage-time as his long-range half-volley flew high and wide into the Kop, and with it their hopes of anything to show against Leeds. The Reds need a hero but no-one is demonstrating that they are capable of stepping up.
When the Liverpool players take their final steps towards the dressing room and pitch inside Anfield, they walk past a number of motivational messages on the walls, along with images of each individual star making up the words ‘Liverpool Football Club’ and ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, reminding them exactly who they represent, what they are playing for and to intimidate visiting opposition.
‘That’s when it starts,’ reads one. ‘One anthem, 54,000 voices. Each is with you, brothers and sisters. Your family. Souls bared, willing you on, together in unison. Start to listen. Begin to believe.’
‘Every ball is kicked. Every save is made. Every goal is celebrated,’ reads another. ‘Anfield is unique. It lives; it breathes; it gives us strength. As Reds, it’s in us all. And it’s with you on the pitch.’
There’s a quote from Jurgen Klopp on the walls too. “This is a place for big football moments.” It certainly was for Leeds United on Saturday night as Liverpool Football Club lost all self-belief.
A broken family with a cloud over their heads, they are the only ones left intimidated. Their famous anthem might declare at the end of a storm there's a golden sky, but this storm, it keeps on raging.
The Reds are lost and this time there is no-one coming to their rescue. This squad can’t rely on a returning individual from injury or a big-money signing in January to reignite their fortunes. They have to dig deep and find a way to do it themselves, against all odds. In the past, this is when the club have thrived and enjoyed their finest hours, but their never say die attitude has long since left the building.
Besides, even if FSG did roll the dice when the transfer window opens, at this stage it will just be another sign of drowning desperation in an increasingly-miserable season. Throwing money at it won't fix their problems, it’s no longer a battle one individual can win, to lift up this bleeding giant.
Klopp’s mentality monsters now have to take responsibility. Liverpool have won together and now they lose together. Excuses won't write away their woes this time. They should be very worried. Everything at Anfield is not right at all.
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