Robbie Fowler has admitted that Liverpool have “real problems” after their slow start to the new campaign.
The Reds have won just two of their opening six Premier League games this term and were embarrassed 4-1 by Napoli in their first Champions League group stage clash on Wednesday.
Jurgen Klopp currently has a number of players injured at the moment, but that is something the club should have prepared for according to the Liverpool legend.
“Liverpool seem to have some real problems, there’s no doubt about that, and there’s no hiding from it either,” Fowler wrote in his column for The Mirror (via Liverpool Echo).
“They were just a few minutes away from the title, until Villa collapsed at the Etihad. They were by far the best team in the Champions League final, against a Real Madrid side who were clearly afraid of Liverpool and amazed that they had won. Now, seven games into a new season, have they finished as a force? It doesn’t happen like that. Great teams decline, but it’s years, not days.
“So you have to look at other issues, and the main one is injuries. I’m not saying having four injured midfielders is an excuse, I’m saying Liverpool made a mistake by not planning for those injuries. They made the big mistake of thinking that numbers meant quality, but that’s not always the case when you look at the profile of those who make up the numbers. Jurgen Klopp said that nine was enough in his midfield and it was last season.
“But was it this time when you have players in Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and Thiago with a history of injuries, and then Jordan Henderson and James Milner who have had fairly regular muscle injuries in recent years? That leaves them with three children and Fabinho for their midfield, which is not enough. All three kids are good players, but they are not elite players yet.”
Liverpool spent £64m on Benfica striker Darwin Nunez earlier this summer and Reds fans have yet to see the best of the Uruguayan despite him scoring and recording an assist on his Premier League debut.
Fowler believes the 23-year-old should be given time to further ‘develop’ and insists the striker should not be compared to Sadio Mane, who left for Bayern Munich before the new campaign.
Despite providing a number of potential reasons behind his former team’s poor performances of late, the 47-year-old is as puzzled as most supporters why the Anfield side have suffered such a rapid decline. in performance levels.
“I would also say that applies to Darwin Nunez, who is still young and still developing, so it’s unfair to say he has to be an instant replacement for Sadio Mane,” Fowler added. “But that still doesn’t explain the total lack of structure against Napoli, of form and discipline. I had never seen a Klopp team so open, that was not compact in any sense in the defensive transition.
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“This may sound so simple that it sounds like I’m talking nonsense, but the idea of ​​staying as compact as possible in defense is one of the principles of the game, it’s one of the fundamental pillars of football. If you don’t have it, you don’t win. What is the opposite of compact? Whatever it is, that’s what Liverpool have been so many times this season. Why? Well, it seemed like Klopp didn’t know on Wednesday.
“But the key seems to be in his career statistics. Less distance covered than all rivals so far this season, less intense races, fewer sprints. Why? It’s not that they suddenly can’t run, that’s too simplistic. Perhaps Klopp has decided to try to control the games, run less to spend a ridiculous season with a World Cup in between. But that’s not working because he doesn’t have his midfield controllers in Thiago, Naby Keita and Curtis Jones.
Fowler continued: “Maybe it’s even simpler than that. Maybe it’s the shorter summer and the workouts they had after a long season. Perhaps they tried to do too much fitness in too little time, or even not enough. That would explain the injuries either way.
“It could also explain the lack of intensity, which then leads to a bunch of other little issues, that everyone came home to rest in Napoli. However, the good news is that this is a temporary problem.
“With the players back, he can rotate, get fresher legs, rest the older, injury-prone players, get the younger players out to allow them to develop at a better rate, allow Nunez the opportunity to fit in properly with the team and , most importantly, rediscover its form and intensity.
“Like I said. Simple! What’s really simple though is that when these bad times come, you make sure you’re hard to beat. Liverpool haven’t been that, and Klopp now has to offer that at the very least by going back to his origins”.
Thiago Alcantara, who has been absent since the opening day draw against Fulham with a hamstring injury, returned to action and performed well for half an hour in Naples on Wednesday.
With the Spaniard on the side, it seems that we have much more control over the games and his counter-pressing ability is on a par with the best in world football.
Klopp has claimed that his side need to reinvent themselves against Ajax on Tuesday at Anfield, but that is easier said than done.
Except for Alisson, Luis Diaz and Harvey Elliott, I’d have no complaints if Klopp named a completely different starting XI against the Amsterdam side next week, but we’re confident the players will react.
It’s certainly a strange phase the team is going through at the moment, but if the fans bring the atmosphere to Anfield on Tuesday and the lads perform to the best of their ability, there’s no reason why we can’t win three points and regain some confidence. .
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