Earlier today the General sent me this:
It is, he claims, proof that Liverpool are terrible. It is a nonsense argument, made by one who knows nothing about football beyond how to read the numbers in a scoreline. Against Leicester, Southampton played from the twelfth minute with ten men after Ryan Bertrand was sent off. Against Manchester United they had to do it for almost the entire game after teenage debutant (half their squad is injured) Alex Jankewitz saw red in the second minute. Three of the goals also came late on, after Jan Bednarek was sent off in the 86th minute and Southampton reduced to nine men. It wasn’t even a foul, by the way, never mind a penalty and red card. To use these defeats as proof that Liverpool are terrible is thus nothing other than an ignorant nonsense argument from The General.
He is not, however, wrong. Liverpool have been nothing short of atrocious since Christmas.
Their latest “achievement” was to lose 1-0 at home to Brighton, ten days (ish, I’m not looking it up) after doing the same against Burnley. And at Southampton. Plus dull draws against West Brom (1-1) and Man United (0-0) at home and Newcastle away (also goalless).
In short, they have been awful.
Despite their problems at the back (that all their centrebacks are injured), however, it is (clearly) going forward where Liverpool have been struggling. Back-to-back wins over Tottenham and West Ham (I’ll get to them) aside, they have scored one goal in six league games. That’s appallingly bad.
Now, there are several issues that have caused this. Injuries, misfortune, and facing parked buses are among them. There is not just one thing going wrong. The result of all of these things, though, is that Liverpool have become totally dependent on Mohamed Salah for goals (I’ve written about this before, by the way). He is the only player in the side who even looks like he might score a goal. The rest? Forget about it. Firmino? No chance. The midfield? Not happening. Something from a set piece? Nope, not without van Dijk. Sadio Mane and Trent Alexander-Arnold, apart from against Spurs, have been awful too.
Liverpool’s dependence on Salah can best be summarised by comparing their last two games: the 3-1 win over West Ham and 0-1 loss to Brighton. Against West Ham Liverpool were uninspiring (a fact that was obscured by the result) and pulled out of the fire by two superb goals from Salah (plus Gini Wijnaldum’s late third goal). Against Brighton Liverpool were similarly poor, but Salah couldn’t rescue them.
From the first minute of all three games though it was clear: nobody else was going to.
Divock Origi certainly wasn’t. He was awful against West Ham, and even worse against Brighton. In a 30-minute cameo, he perfectly encapsulated why he needs moving on. He can’t press, he can’t pass, his movement in awful, he can’t hold the ball up, and whenever he loses it (that is to say, every time he gets it) he just sits down.
Prior to The General’s display of ignorance this morning, this post had a different title. It was going to be: When Origi Comes On, Go Back to Bed.
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