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LEICESTER, England – There’s a reason Jurgen Klopp regretted publicly doubting Liverpool’s confidence – he’s completely blown away. Nothing else can adequately explain the seven-minute capitulation against Leicester City that saw the Reds give up a 1-0 lead to lose 3-1 at King Power Stadium and leave them facing a great fight to finish in the top four.
Klopp once labeled his team “minded monsters.” They left Leicester field on Saturday like tortured souls, and the Liverpool manager briefly paused in his post-match press conference before answering whether he was admitting defeat in the Premier League title race.
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“Yeah, I can’t believe it, but yeah,” he said, looking completely dejected, with his team now 10 points behind leader Manchester City after playing two more games.
Leicester enhanced their own Champions League qualifying credentials with another impressive display, despite missing three of their four favorite runners. They should be considered strong candidates as this was no fluke, adding to victories against Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal this season. But, in a sense, that was what made Liverpool’s collapse even more astonishing.
For 78 minutes, they were the best team. Leicester had threatened on the fast break essentially on almost every occasion they could get Jamie Vardy into the game, but Liverpool pushed the home team excellently throughout, dominated the ball and had some degree of control.
They also scored a sumptuous goal. Youri Tielemans missed a cross pass that Trent Alexander-Arnold intercepted. The Liverpool side went ahead and found Roberto Firmino in the area. His sublime double drag dodged Wilfred Ndidi and set up Mohamed Salah in a fluid movement and the Egyptian made a good shot that passed Kasper Schmeichel. It was a goal that exuded the mix of arrogance and class that has often permeated Klopp’s team in their prime, making what followed was an even more stark contrast.
Leicester had a penalty thrown out when VAR awarded Thiago’s entry to Harvey Barnes outside the box. James Maddison hit the resulting free kick into the net, though the goal was only conceded after another lengthy VAR control ruled Daniel Amartey was onside.
On a very cold afternoon, Liverpool froze. A hopeful forward from Tielemans caused panic in the rear when center-back Ozan Kabak, making his debut after joining the club from Schalke on an initial six-month loan, tried to clear the ball. Little did he know that goalkeeper Alisson was running 30 yards outside his goal to try to clear it as well. The pair collided and the fumble landed on Vardy, who threw the ball into the empty net and ran away to celebrate, ripping the flag off the corner of the grass and playing it like a guitar.
There was time for an encore when Barnes ran clear to fit home a third, leaving Klopp apoplectic on the touchline and unexplained for an impressive spell that began with a degree of controversy.
“I was sure [the first goal] he was off the game, “Klopp said.” Accepting something like this with a smile or ‘OK, it could have been a mistake’ is not easy.
“So in our situation, certainly not. We worked very hard to be 1-0 up and then he left with a really difficult decision, especially for Ali, who had three players ahead. That’s not a problem. The 2- I had nothing to do with it.
“2-1 can happen, but when we fit in and the way we fit in, it was a blow. The reaction so I didn’t like it. The reaction after the draw, I don’t know exactly why it was too fast. It was a long ball kicked into front and we ourselves made it dangerous. “
There was a reluctance to criticize Alisson unduly after his mistakes in last weekend’s 4-1 loss to Manchester City, given the regularity of the Brazilian international’s performances previously. But he was too reckless here, even if Klopp was looking to highlight Kabak’s lack of time on training ground with his new teammates.
“Before the game, we all knew that Ozan is a really good player and after the game we know it too, but before the game we also knew that he was not really used to all the things that we do regularly,” Klopp said. “If I had played with Ali, I would know that he has a pretty offensive mentality and comes out of his goal and this situation was a misunderstanding. When they are new together, usually these things happen in the preseason, but we don’t have that.” . “
To underscore Liverpool’s defensive woes, Kabak was the seventh player to play center-back in the league this season after Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Nathaniel Phillips and Rhys Williams.
But Liverpool’s problems run deeper, having gone from physical problems to mental problems. Alisson’s mistake was an abdication of the security that he, and Liverpool, have played with in recent years. Rediscovering that balance is Klopp’s biggest challenge now, as the damage dealt worsens.
“The only way to get out of the situation is to play football well, fight and work hard,” he said. We have to and we will get the results and see where we end up. The situation is not easy, that is clear, but it is our situation and as always with yours, you have to solve it yourself. That’s what we will do. “
