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LIVERPOOL, England – Jurgen Klopp has grown used to making history as Liverpool manager, but he and his team are now creating it for the wrong reasons. Times have been bad in recent weeks at Anfield, but the reigning Premier League champions are now in a total crisis after losing 2-0 at home to Everton for the first time this century.
That is not a misprint. Everton had not won at their Merseyside neighbors since September 1999 and had not tasted a win of any kind against Liverpool, in any competition, since a 2-0 league win at Goodison Park in October 2010.
No derby of the great cities of the world has been so one-sided. Espanyol have beaten Barcelona and Torino have won against Juventus in the years since Everton last beat Liverpool, but that long and agonizing wait is over thanks to Richarlison’s first goal in the third minute and a penalty from 82 minutes to Gylfi Sigurdsson.
“I am very satisfied with the club and the fans,” said Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti. “I’m sure they are going to celebrate tonight. It was a good performance. A lot of fighting and spirit. I’m very happy.”
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Everton deserved their victory, prompting the launch of celebratory fireworks in nearby Stanley Park and the honking of car horns on the streets, but the defeat simply compounded what has already been a terrible 2021 thus far for Liverpool. . From being an outstanding team of champions, Liverpool are now locked in a battle simply to qualify for the Champions League next season. Everton, Chelsea and West Ham United are able to finish above them now.
“It’s hard to accept,” Klopp said. “I don’t like talking about the good things today because we lose the game and we are deeply sorry. I just have to use it tomorrow and it’s our lifeline to keep going.
“We have to improve in the shots and then we will win soccer games.”
Last season, every time Klopp’s team set a new record, it was positive. Whether it was back-to-back victories, point counts or the end of the club’s 30-year wait to be crowned English champions again, it was all good news.
But now the bad news for Liverpool has no end. Aside from the pain of finally losing to Everton, this loss marked the first time since 1923 that Liverpool lost four straight home games.
Liverpool made history for all the wrong reasons with their derby loss to Everton on Saturday. Andrew Powell / Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Just under a month ago, Klopp’s team were 68 games unbeaten at home in the league, a sequence dating back to April 2017, but since losing to Burnley on January 21, they have lost to Brighton & Hove Albion, Manchester City. and now Everton. Formerly an impregnable fortress, Anfield have now witnessed four losses and two draws in their last six league games, with only two Liverpool goals in those encounters.
But the grim statistics don’t end there. This was also Liverpool’s fourth consecutive league loss, at home and away, having also lost at Leicester City last week, and on a personal level, Klopp has lost his undefeated record against Everton in his thirteenth derby.
So Klopp has a lot to unpack the next time he sits down at his desk and tries to find a way out of this sad race. It is difficult to find a suitable adjective to describe him because he has now moved beyond depression and malaise. Meltdown is perhaps the most accurate.
Injuries have undoubtedly been a central factor in Liverpool’s woeful title defense, and problems began when Virgil van Dijk suffered a cruciate ligament injury against Everton at Goodison in October. Since losing his defensive talisman, Liverpool’s injuries have not stopped. Van Dijk’s defensive teammate Joe Gomez is also out with a serious knee injury, with Joel Matip out of the game and midfielder Fabinho, who has been in the back seat all season, also out.
And the situation deteriorated further in this game when captain Jordan Henderson, once against playing as a makeshift center-back, limped out 30 minutes after sustaining a groin injury. So when substitute Nathaniel Phillips replaced Henderson to play alongside Ozan Kabak, it was the 18th central defensive team Liverpool had all season. Eighteen!
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Those defensive injuries and the domino effect they have had in midfield are well documented. There is nothing new to say about the crowded treatment room, other than to say that Kabak, signed on loan from Schalke 04 in January, looked well below the required quality during the torrid 90 minutes against Everton.
Uncertainty behind and in midfield has impacted Liverpool’s threat of goal, with Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane all having chances, but losing them, in this game. However, two goals in six home games tell their own story. Liverpool have great forwards, but when they take advantage of sporadic occasions, they don’t score goals.
Also noteworthy is the Anfield effect. Due to a lack of supporters due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Anfield is no longer the noisy cauldron that urged Liverpool to the title last season. Klopp has built a team that takes advantage of the wave of noise from the fans, but that extra ingredient has been missing this season and now we are seeing how important it is to this team.
But despite all the mitigating factors behind their terrible run of results, Liverpool are still a strong team with quality players and Everton beat them comfortably. Ancelotti’s players overcame the pressure of history to finally win here and it was significant that when Sigurdsson scored the penalty to seal the victory, all the outfield players celebrated in front of the section that would normally accommodate Everton supporters.
This was a great victory for Everton, but the impact of the defeat is arguably greater for Liverpool because they are now in a tailspin and there is no obvious way out.
Source: espn.co.uk
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