Liverpool’s 4-1 defeat to Napoli on Wednesday provided another tough result for the Premier League side after Chelsea’s defeat to Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday. The Premier League’s net spending this summer may have been 27 times what he did in other leagues, but that’s no guarantee of success, and no guarantee against embarrassment.
Liverpool are far from their best so far this season, but this was their worst performance to date. Perhaps it’s the result of injuries and a hangover from last season, which has brought him closer to quads and lost a bit of the sharpness needed for the hard-pressed style of play favored by Jürgen Klopp. Hmm. Liverpool are a team that suddenly started looking old. It was two senior players, James Milner and Virgil van Dijk, who conceded a penalty after 17 minutes, while Mohamed Salah and Fabinho both spent the night anonymous.Joe withdrew at half-time Gomez must have wanted his night to be anonymous.
Napoli, by contrast, had the best young player on the pitch in 21-year-old Georgian Khuvica Kvaracgelia. A square pass from the left to Matteo Politano darted in, and five minutes later Milner squatted with an oddly extended arm and deflected the ball wide with his hand to score the first goal. It was the 12th of the last 16 games that Piotr Zielinski calmly converted a penalty to give Liverpool the lead.
Milner is 36 and probably wouldn’t have played as regularly as he did if it weren’t for an injury list that includes Jordan Henderson, Naby Keita, Fabio Carvalho and Ibrahima Konate. It’s no big surprise if he shows his age. More worrying in the long run is the appearance of Van Dijk. In the 2020-21 season, no one has dribbled past him in the league, once clearly unbeatable, but now he looks vulnerable every time someone bumps into him. It was his foul against Alexander Mitrović that gave Fulham a penalty in the opening game of the season, while his clumsy challenge on Victor Osimén resulted in a second penalty 12 minutes after the first Napoli penalty. . He was temporarily spared as Allison saved Osimmen’s spot kick.
But there were problems all around. Osimhen hit the post in the first minute. Gómez continued to rack up possessions, with Ossinchen fending off Kvaratskeria, but was cleared by Juan’s dyke. However, the second goal he arrived after half an hour. Kvaradzkeria again sourced and snatched Gomez, cutting the ball back for André Frank Zamboangissa before finishing cleanly before playing a one-two with Zielinski as Gomez failed to track the run.
Napoli defeated Liverpool in their UEFA Champions League group stage opener.
Franco Romano / NurPhoto / Imago Images
Still, it didn’t stop there. Anguissa fended off Roberto Firmino and gave the pass to Kvaratskeria. Kvaratskeria overtook Trent Alexander-Arnold too easily, but after Gomes bundled up, he crossed to Giovanni Simeone (replacing the injured Osimén) and scored with his first touch. Napoli were excellent, playing with pace and intensity, winning possession and then attacking with great vigor and intelligence. But at the same time, Liverpool were terrifying, disorganized and strangely lethargic.
With Zielinski’s goal early in the second half, a comeback seemed unlikely, but Luis Diaz, who was becoming a spectacular consolation specialist, scored almost immediately. Napoli’s victory was comfortable enough.
The question for Liverpool is how can this be fixed? Is this just a temporary thing similar to what 2020-21 suffered? Due to the pandemic, the season has been compressed for the World Cup as it is this season? was never easy and there was a perception that Liverpool had grown old together. ing. Liverpool were able to catch up because their recruitment was so good. But it’s a delicate balance. Injuries and apparent fatigue are probably the result of a relatively shallow team.
This is Klopp’s eighth season at Anfield. His tenure at Mainz and Borussia Dortmund lasted seven years. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was feeling a little tired too. The real worry is that he has two games a week from now until the World Cup starts, and aside from his international break, there is little time to rectify this and the fatigue will only get worse.
“It looks like we have to reinvent ourselves,” Klopp said after the game. We’re playing Wolves in three days, and when they watched tonight’s game they probably couldn’t stop laughing and thought, ‘Oh my God, this is the perfect moment.’ prize.
“You have to try to find a better set-up in almost every respect.”
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