Liverpool were far from their best in the weekend’s humiliating 4-1 loss to Manchester City
Following Liverpool’s humiliating defeat to Manchester City on Saturday, Jurgen Klopp admitted that the “door is miles open” for his fringe players to break into the starting lineup, with only a handful of “spots safe.” The match at the Etihad was viewed as an opportunity for Klopp’s side to put their disappointing season behind them and launch a charge towards the top four.
They made a promising start to the match when Mohamed Salah scored the first goal, but that lead lasted only 10 minutes as City quickly gained a foothold in the match. Kevin De Bruyne’s goal shortly after the restart appeared to knock the wind out of Liverpool, as City dominated the second half, with Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish rounding out the scoring for the hosts.
With only 11 games remaining, they are now eight points out of the Champions League places. One of their games in hand over those above them is this evening’s match against Chelsea, who are also underperforming this season.
Graham Potter was fired on Sunday after Chelsea’s 2-0 loss to Aston Villa, with both the Blues and Liverpool desperate for a win. And Klopp appears ready to make several changes to his starting lineup in order to shake things up and send a message to some of his players who have been struggling with form.
When asked if it feels strange going into a match between Liverpool and Chelsea with the clubs sitting eighth and eleventh in the table, Klopp told Sky Sports: “Yes, but it’s also the reality.” We both earned our current positions. We have opportunities to change and we must change; we cannot simply close our eyes and say, “the same again and again.”
“We have to change, and now the door is wide open for everyone to join the team because only two or three people have a guaranteed spot.” That’s one of the things I told the boys. We must fight through this; it is the only way.
“You can’t just play a little bit here and there, or play with a backheel five times in a row and hope for the best. You must truly open your eyes, straighten everything out, and proceed. That is exactly what we will do.”
Klopp does not want his team to repeat their performance at the Etihad, and he fully expects a response from his squad this evening. “The players feel very responsible for everything,” he added, “so there isn’t a single player in the dressing room who doesn’t care.”
“I said what I said, but maybe I forgot Diogo [Jota] because he played an excellent game as long as his legs were there after his long injury.” However, we were underperforming in almost every other position, which did not help.
“We can’t go on with four and a half average performances. None of the performances were particularly impressive, and you can’t play like that against City. In the Premier League, you can’t play like that. The next opponent will require everything we have to offer, which is what we are preparing for.”
Leave a Reply