The media were at a loss after Liverpool’s ill-fated 4-1 Champions League loss to Napoli, with so many negatives in sight.
Jurgen Klopp’s men were humiliated in Italy on Wednesday night as their worrying start to the season hit its lowest point yet.
Liverpool were 3-0 down at half time and only had more of the ball after the break because Napoli allowed them to, with so many poor players all night.
Here’s how the media reacted to the Reds’ unfortunate loss.
This was a truly shocking night for Liverpool…
Richard Jolly of The Independent lamented a terrible night for Klopp’s men:
“In the bigger picture, Liverpool have lost twice at Napoli before and qualified from the Champions League groups, but hardly resembled the side that nearly completed a clean sweep of trophies last season.
“They were dilapidated and tattered. Four goals could have been seven. Not because of the number of occasions but because of its clarity. There was a shot that hit the woodwork, a missed penalty and a clearance on the goal line.
“Liverpool is rarely open so often and so easily; sometimes so embarrassingly. Whether it’s Virgil van Dijk or Joe Gomez, James Milner or Trent Alexander-Arnold, this was a terrible night for players who have produced so much better time and time again.”
The Guardian’s Andy Hunter was shocked at how bad Liverpool were:
“A breach occurred in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. It was Liverpool, mangled and mangled by Napoli on a humiliating night in which Jurgen Klopp’s side looked like Champions League rookies rather than seasoned finalists in three of the last five years.
“One of Liverpool’s heaviest European defeats was the deserved end product of possibly the worst European performance of Klopp’s nearly seven-year reign.
“Certainly, it’s hard to think of a rival for that unwanted accolade. The visitors were torn from the start as their winless run in Napoli continued, but in a much more alarming way than their last two group stage defeats here to Klopp.
“Klopp stated before kick-off that he wanted Liverpool to extinguish the excitement and aggressiveness that Napoli generate within their stadium through footballing principles and compact defence. His players never received the memorandum.
“They poured oil on the incendiary atmosphere inside the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium instead with a passive and chaotic performance in which their defense was torn apart over and over again.”
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher took to Twitter to criticize the continued use of the high line:
Liverpool cannot continue with this high line and playing offside as long as the intensity of the team, especially in midfield, is non-existent. You have to adapt. It has been evident throughout the season. Analysis on @CBSSportsGolazo incoming! #NAPLIV #ChampionsLeague
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) September 7, 2022
Dominic King of the Daily Mail was another to criticize the Reds’ efforts:
“This, frankly, was an embarrassment, a display so miserable and disjointed that it made it easy to label it the worst European performance of the Klopp era.
“All credit to Napoli, who were young, aggressive and dynamic, for inflicting this damage, but Liverpool certainly helped them.
“Three goals down at half-time – an Alisson Becker penalty save prevented the score from being even more emphatic – it was hardly believable that only 103 days had passed since Liverpool had gone toe-to-toe with Madrid, seeking to conquer Europe by a time. seventh time.”
Some people were unacceptably poor…
Goal’s Neil Jones focused on a Joe Gomez nightmare:
“Gomez’s return to the heart of the Liverpool defense has generally gone well this season, but he was absolutely terrified here.
“Where do you start? The unfortunate offside attempt that allowed Osimhen to hit the post in a minute? The play with the ball that would have led to a goal had it not been for Van Dijk’s goal-line clearance shortly afterwards?
“The complete inability to deal with Khvaratskhelia in the box for Napoli’s third goal?
“It was painful to watch, Gomez slow, nervous and unable to control his game as Napoli chased him. He wasn’t alone by any means, but wow, was he on display here. Substituting him at half time felt like an act of mercy.”
Mark Delgado of This Is Anfield did not hold back with Klopp:
“It is high time the manager, who has been held in higher regard than anyone since Kenny Dalglish’s first spell at the club, spoke honestly.
“Not the anger of Klopp when his team is questioned, nor the elusive Klopp who protects his team by avoiding the obvious.
“Answers are needed right now, hard truths: what exactly is going on with the Reds’ energy and power levels? Where has the urgency gone, the famous intensity?
“There will be at least an element of understanding, or at least the benefit of the doubt for him, if he says something that fans don’t like or expect.
“But pretending things are more or less there when we can blatantly see that Liverpool are a million miles out of form and the required standards fools no one and will only make the situation worse game by game.”
And Mirror’s Dan Marsh felt that James Milner was a weak link once again:
“James Milner took it upon himself to lead Liverpool’s midfield at Napoli following a series of selection issues. But unfortunately, the versatile veteran, who has been the hallmark of his career consistency, was way off the pace.
“The 36-year-old got off to the worst possible start by committing a penalty after just five minutes, and was on the book just minutes after making an ill-timed challenge. He might even have seen red soon after and was lucky enough to make it to the hour mark before he was finally pulled out.
“Liverpool have a dismal record at Napoli and desperately needed their experienced players to step up after a disappointing start to the season, but Milner did the opposite.”
Is this now a real crisis for the Reds?
Karl Matchett of The Independent feels there is a long way to go for this Reds team:
“There is a terrifyingly long road ahead for the team to regain the kind of fear and aura that defined it before games just half a season ago, and that is only once: it takes much longer to rediscover consistency.
“This hammering should serve as a wake-up call for Liverpool: of the level of performance that is required if trophies remain the goal, of the style of performance that their rivals are going to bring against them more and more often, and of the kind performance. for which they themselves were famous and have completely missed this season.”
King doesn’t see Liverpool having a Champions League final to look forward to next May:
“One would hope that Liverpool fans who followed Jurgen Klopp’s advice in May to ‘book their hotels’ in Istanbul for the 2023 Champions League final would secure refundable rates.
In the moments after the loss to Real Madrid in Paris, an emotional Klopp vowed to oversee Liverpool’s return to the world’s biggest club game in 12 months’ time and urged disheartened fans to follow their dream.
“Based on this evidence, Liverpool will be lucky to reach the knockout stages in 2023. The tournament that has often been a wonderful and happy distraction from domestic affairs could not have started in the worst possible way for Klopp and his players here at Naples”.
Finally, Paul Gorst of the Liverpool Echo thinks the Reds are now in crisis mode:
“The football manual is not exactly clear on when a problem becomes a total crisis. But Liverpool surely strayed into that territory at some point during the miserable 90 minutes at Napoli.
[…]
“Wherever his own judgment lands, there can’t be much in denial now that Liverpool’s early-season babble has turned into something altogether more serious.
“This is now the most worrying period since the beginning of 2021, when they lost six straight home games behind closed doors and finishing in the top four seemed like a pipe dream.
“This just doesn’t happen to Liverpool. They lost just four of 63 games last term and one of them ultimately made no sense as they overtook Inter on aggregate in the Champions League. That, however, is relegated to the past. In the here and now, the Reds are more ripe to hide than ever under their current coach.”
