Three key reasons Liverpool are in decline

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Liverpool have been one of the best teams in Europe since qualifying for the UEFA Champions League at the end of Jurgen Klopp’s first complete season but now after years of success are facing one of the quickest declines in recent memory. Here are three of Liverpool’s many reasons for failing to move on from their quadruple chase less than 12 months ago.

They lack intensity

Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp have been one of the most feared teams to face not only in England but also in Europe, bullying some of the greatest teams in the world and showing an intensity and aggression that would blow teams away without time for a response.

This is no longer the case. Liverpool have gone from the bullies to the bullied, losing out on almost every physical statistic to opposition so far this season. They are no longer a team defined by physical dominance, rather they are one of the worst performing teams with regards to distance covered and sprints per 90 minutes. Klopp’s team is no longer doing what laid the foundation of their success.

Lack of investment (At least in the right areas)

Liverpool have never been a side developed by large scale investment, they have invested with large fees, but on rare occasions with their model focused on buying well and selling even better, to fund the next purchase. Countinho’s sale to Barcelona, Neco Williams to Nottingham Forrest, Danny Ings to Aston Villa and Dominic Solanke to Bournemouth being examples of this philosophy.

The biggest reasons for this collapse has been their lack of investment in crucial areas combined with wanting to address a problem when it occurs rather than being proactive in the transfer market.

Liverpool have bought one midfielder in the past four and a half seasons. Since the beginning of the 2019/20 season, only Thiago Alcantara has joined the midfield ranks as a replacement for the definitive Jurgen Klopp midfielder Gini Wijnaldum, who departed on a free transfer.

This has forced players like Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Fabinho to operate at a high intensity for nearly five years, with little to no rotation. The burnout is visible and it is only going to get worse unless something is done.

The squad can no longer play how Klopp wants

Some of the defining characteristics of Liverpool under Klopp were intensity, aggression, desire and clinical play.

This Liverpool team lacks at least three of those four attributes, they are no longer capable of pressing high and suffocating opponents, they are no longer outrunning teams they play against, in fact they have some of the worst running stats in the Premier League this season.

Liverpool have implemented a high defensive line and relentless pressing from the frontline and midfield since Klopp has arrived, but now this is too much to ask of these players.

As Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher said, this is a Jurgen Klopp team without Jurgen Klopp players, they are trying to play in a system which they do not fit.

The transition towards more technical midfield players such as Thiago, Harvey Elliot and Fabio Carvalho, was meant to solve the problems they encountered when dominating possession and facing a low block, and these players are not to blame, but they are not Henderson, Wijnaldum, Fabinho, Lallana or Milner. They cannot press as high and they cannot protect fullbacks Robertson and Alexander-Arnold. This is where Liverpool are suffering.

Liverpool have been here before with the centre-back crisis two years ago, but unless they learn from their mistakes this time round, and back Klopp with investment at the end of the season, they forget challenging for trophies and European football will be at risk.

Photo: Twitter @FabrizioRomano

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Dylan Johnson