Following conceding seven goals against Aston Villa early in the season Liverpool went into the Merseyside derby looking to get back on track. The game started feisty with a mistimed tackle from Virgil van Dijk at the beginning injuring James Rodriguez. However an unfortunate collision with Jordan Pickford saw van Dijk walk from the field to endure a lengthy absence with Joe Gomez replacing him. In November Joe Gomez suffered a horror injury in England training when his knee gave way under no challenge to leave him fighting to save his season. This gave Jurgen Klopp a problem in the same position, but still had Joe Matip, 23 year old Nat Phillips and young Rhys Williams in hand. Worse was to follow when, in January 2021, Joe Matip sustained an injury in a challenge on Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min during the first half of Liverpool’s 3-1 win in London which would result in a lengthy absence.
David Alaba, having won everything there is to win with Bayern Munich, is widely regarded as one of the best defenders in the game. But with the player and the club reportedly failing to agree on a new contract he looked set to leave before the start of next season. The 28-year-old looked likely to be available for a bargain fee in January as Bayern would not want to risk losing him for nothing when his deal expired. It looked a good move for Liverpool in the Transfer Window or would they give Nat Phillips an extended run in the team as he had looked a capable defender when called upon? However Liverpool decided to sign 20 year old Ozan Kabak initially on loan from Schalke and Preston's Ben Davies. On the 16th of February 2021, Alaba announced that he would leave Bayern Munich following the end of the season.
Mistake! Liverpool decided to first of all play one of their influential midfielders at centre back rather than a recognised defender and then, following another injury, decided to pair him with their captain and most influential midfielder. This made their back four weaker, particularly the attacking threat of their full backs, but more particularly, it denuded the midfield which then impacted on the threat of the front three attackers. Opponents have now realised the change this has made to the current champions system and have reacted positively, so much so that former Liverpool players are admitting that teams are no longer wary of playing against them. The new additions at centre back in the squad are now forced to play, because of injuries, in a team that is now under pressure which is never the best scenario.
Jurgen Klopp quite rightly bathed in the sunshine of tributes on the team's success last year but has now overseen a run of 5 home defeats, the first Premier League title holders to lose five home matches in a row. As their misery continued, their most recent loss against Chelsea made club history in the worst possible way. To add fuel to the fire, in dire need of goals against Chelsea, the manager opted to take off their top scorer Mo Salah with a full half hour still to play together with Curtis Jones who was one of the better players on the night. Within a couple of minutes a tweet landed from Ramy Abbas, Salah's agent. No words or emojis, just a full stop. Saying it all without saying a word.
Jamie Carragher has been vocal in the continued 'excuses' of injury crisis and was as bemused as others at Salah's substitution. Others have pointed out that when Man City won the league in 2018/19 with 98 points, their best player, Kevin De Bruyne, was out for half of the season. They didn't complain or moan. They got on with it and fought right to the end and won the title on the last day.
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