Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth has to be seen as two points dropped.
It’s as simple as that.
Josh King’s late equaliser, thanks to some lax defending (which Liverpool fans are well accustomed to by now), ensured that there is more work to be done in order to seal Champions League qualification for next term.
Even without stellar winger Sadio Mane, it should’ve been an easy win on paper if the Reds are realistically looking for a return to Europe’s elite next season.
Jurgen Klopp said that the Cherries’ equaliser nearly ‘made him vomit’ – but it was the repeated mistakes that made most fans want to vomit.
With the likes of Manchester United and Manchester City having dropped points in midweek, this was Liverpool’s chance to capitalise and increase their stranglehold on the top four.
But a draw against a Bournemouth side that have only picked up eight points from a possible 48 away from home this term doesn’t help their cause one bit. So in this article, I explore the three factors which will need to be addressed in the summer for an assault on the title.
Fragile Mentality – Same Mistakes Being Made
This has been cited very often as a key factor that contributed to our slump in January. I don’t think it’s all down to problems with mentality but it clearly does play a part somewhere.
Although it’s not immediately obvious, there’s a gut feeling that some Liverpool players think the game is won before kick-off. Just take the 3-2 defeat to Swansea as an example. Afterwards, I felt that Klopp should’ve been identifying a Plan A & a Plan B without Mane but unfortunately the performances or results didn’t improve after that.
Against Bournemouth, after going 2-1 up, we bizzarrely invited pressure on ourselves after switching to a 3-4-3 system. For me, the notion of defending when you’re a side renowned for poor organisation is completely illogical.
We needed another goal to kill the game off – instead we tried to hang on. That obviously backfired.
Liverpool will never win the league with a complacent mentality like this. Simple as that.
I do feel this is up to Klopp to amend this in the summer – the players definitely need a kick up the backside where this is concerned.
Another thing I’ve noticed – albeit it may not be relevant to the players, is the complacency from fans too. I feel that ex-players, pundits and supporters comments is just increasing the pressure on the side to perform at times (e.g Bruce Grobelaar). The job is still nowhere near done yet.
Weak Squad Depth
There has been so much made about how our problems link to repetitive and ineffective tactics from Klopp but I do feel that our weak personnel in some areas also plays a part. We cannot put ourselves in the title bracket until this is addressed in the summer.
Our tactical problems could be solved by the purchase of superior players. Yesterday, we switched to the 3-4-3 after going ahead. It’s a system reowned for defensive security. But when you have weak defensive personnel in Ragnar Klavan and Dejan Lovren out wide when they’re not good with high balls, it’s not going to help. It was showcased by Bournemouth’s equaliser.
I also feel that the absence of Sadio Mane should’ve been resolved in January by signing a new winger (Quincy Promes seemed the ideal candidate) but instead I feel Klopp created his own problems by refusing to invest despite being given financial backing by FSG.
Some rebuilding at the back will be needed in the summer for a back three formation to work more effectively.
Substitutions
Klopp has been renowned for late/poor substitutions that have no impact on the game, apparently this was something that had been seen in his tenure at Borussia Dortmund too
I don’t think the 3-4-3 system was the problem – but not even bringing on a striker for Coutinho was baffling. With Daniel Sturridge short of confidence, it would’ve been logical to give him minutes.
What about Marko Grujic to add energy and composure to the midfield? Klopp insisted on playing James Milner as a winger as opposed to bringing Alberto Moreno on as a left wing-back. What we needed in those last 10-15 minutes was some pace and balance.
The manager is not proactive enough with his substitions. Simple. They’re going to need the more ruthless side of the manager – although that’s not to say he should drop his system completely. If Liverpool are going to challenge for the title next season, we need to have him being willing to experiment with different systems.
The Run-In
- Stoke City (A), 8 April
- West Brom (A), 16 April
- Crystal Palace (H), 23 April
- Watford (A), 1 May
- Southampton (H), 7 May
- West Ham (A), 13 May
- Middlesbrough (H), 21 May
From our remaining fixtures above, I can already see four games which could be potential banana-skins for Liverpool. Particularly the first two.
Stoke City at the Britannia as we know, is a ground we have notoriously struggled on in past years. They’ve often proved very stern resistance – sometimes producing a flurry of goals too. However, they’ve been fairly inconsistent but that’s doesn’t change the fact that they will prove stern resistance for the Reds.
West Brom away won’t be an easy test either. Currently 8th in the Premier League, they have proven to be one of the surprise packages this season.
That’s another game I think we’ll drop points from. We really can’t afford to be dropping too many points towards the latter stages of the season – on paper these should be easy games to win.
But of course, you never know what to expect from Liverpool.
