DIGGING DEEPER INTO LIVERPOOL’S 0-2 LOSS TO EVERTON

The Reds are all but eliminated from their fourth and final competition of the season, as a deserved 2-0 loss in Jürgen Klopp’s final Merseyside derby ensures they can, at best, end the year on 86 points, a sum that is extremely unlikely to best either Manchester City or Arsenal.

They can have few complaints, too. Sure, they hit the post. Sure, they missed two good chances. And sure, the referee was more than happy to award fouls to the side playing for them, but the fact that it took 35 minutes of being second best at everything before they began generating any offense, the confidence with which Everton kept them from playing their game until the lead was established, and the ease with which the hosts collected their second goal, all add up to a Reds performance that was well below par and deserving of zero points.

Below, then, a quick word on a terrible night.

Losers

Brains: Against a team that was happy to A) sit and block out the centre and wait for an imprecise pass to grant a pressing opportunity and B) play for fouls so they could lump the ball into the box, Liverpool were static in their possession play, either putting their midfielders in terrible positions with their backs to goal or punting the ball towards a frontline that was stretched too far apart, and easily duped into fouling Blues more than willing to go to ground.

It played directly into the predictable hands of Sean Dyche, whose game plan could have come as no surprise, and saw Liverpool fail to mount any sort of offense until only ten minutes remained of the first half, at which point they were down a goal and had been outshot 8-2 by a team with three wins in 2024.

It is difficult to find good reasons for why Dominic Calvert-Lewin, the only outlet for the long ball when Everton was pushed back, was so often allowed to come ten yards into his own half to collect a clearance with no centre-back in sight, or why that same man, the biggest aerial threat on the team and one of the best jumpers on the league, was allowed to go up, unmarked at the back post, to head home a simple high corner — Everton’s first of the game, at which point Liverpool had had eight — with nary a defender nearby.

The Reds look a mess right now. In fact, they look less certain of and coordinated in their tasks both on and off the ball than they did at the start of the year, and several players appear worse footballers than they did when arriving at the club last summer, all an indictment of the training that has been taking place at the AXA over the past 12 months.

Brawn: As against Atalanta, Liverpool were out-athleted all over the pitch tonight. Late to react, slow to move, and weak in the duels, the Reds kept coming up second best, leading to a series of sloppy fouls and subsequent aerial duels, which they also lost at an alarming rate.

Dealing with big, physical teams has been a requisite for competing at the top of the Premier League for decades now, and, for a time, it appeared the Reds had acquired a collection of players with the sufficient combination of technical ability and athleticism to consistently manage that task, but recent evidence suggests that is no longer the case, as teams who are determined and uncompromising again appear capable of knocking the Merseysiders out of their stride. A most worrying development.

Winners

Quansah: Wasn’t flawless or anything, but at least he played like he understood the stakes and gave a shit.

What Happens Next

The Reds travel to London to take on eighth-place West Ham and David Moyes, fresh off a 5-2 stomping by Crystal Palace, on Saturday, before they play hosts to top four hopefuls Tottenham Hotspur the following Sunday. At least Champions League is mathematically guaranteed.

2024-04-24T21:47:37Z dg43tfdfdgfd