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Jones deserves better as Thiago fights
Jurgen Klopp’s use of the bench has not received universal approval this season.
The Liverpool manager has often been accused of waiting too long to make changes, but given the injuries that have decimated his squad, the options have not always been wide.
However, against City, fingers were pointing at Klopp making not just an early change, but the wrong one.
Certainly, Curtis Jones had every right to feel a bit upset about taking the hook midway through the second half with Liverpool having struggled to even terms.
Jones had been the Reds’ standout player in the first half, providing energy and enthusiasm as he sought to put the locals on the front foot. As always, there were few signs that the 20-year-old was intimidated by the occasion.
He also had the defensive awareness and pace to run back and keep Phil Foden from breaking up.
By contrast, the player who left at the same time, Thiago, had another intermittent afternoon.
The Spaniard was compromised early on by receiving an unnecessary warning for a foul on Ilkay Gundogan, a third yellow card in eight Premier League games since returning from injury.
And while there were promising moments towards the break, the second half saw Thiago slowly slide out of sight.
The midfielder appears to be feeling the effects and would benefit from a break after having had a hectic schedule after such a long period. Jones, however, needs to appear more regularly at this point.
Enter Kabak
Deep down, Jurgen Klopp probably knew he could only get away with it for so long.
And having deftly handled Liverpool’s central defender’s crisis for several months, recent weeks have highlighted why change is surely coming.
It wasn’t that the makeshift defensive duo Fabinho or Jordan Henderson did anything particularly bad against City, which started in a useful enough way without a recognized striker.
Neither man can be blamed for Alisson Becker’s personal nightmare that decisively took the game away from Liverpool in the fourth quarter.
But now one, if not both, is needed in midfield and now the long-term effect of his absence is being felt.
Klopp is not to be faulted for throwing neither Ozan Kabak nor Ben Davies in the back here.
It just wasn’t a risk worth taking. In fact, Davies didn’t even bench Nat Phillips, who hasn’t let anyone down in recent weeks, earning his spot.
However, buying the new kids will soon be discussed unless they start playing.
A full week at Kirkby will help Kabak, who is most likely to start at Leicester City on Saturday, to acclimatize. Liverpool need round pegs in round holes again.
Reassuring salah as the phenomenon continues
Well, at least Liverpool scored.
Just 410 minutes after the last time the onion bag was ruffled at Anfield, Mohamed Salah stepped forward to hit home a penalty shot he had skillfully won by scoring on the side of city colossus Ruben Dias.
That’s 22 goals in 32 outings for the Egyptian this season, a reassuring consistency in a campaign in which little more progresses than expected.
If Jurgen Klopp has always urged his Liverpool to create their own history, recent milestones are not what he had in mind.
After 23 games, Liverpool are 27 points less than at the same stage last season, the biggest drop in history of any reigning English champion.
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And since Chelsea in 1956, a team has not lost three consecutive league games at home as reigning champions.
These statistics need to be put into context as this is a strange season that will always be seen as an anomaly in the record books, the circumstances of which do Liverpool less favors than most teams.
However, that is difficult. With their place in the top four in jeopardy, the Reds must begin to make the most of the present to ensure they can embrace the future as they have in the past.
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