Liverpool’s unravelling season threatens to worsen — and it’s the same problems to blame

In his comment this week, Steve Luckings looks at the root cause of Liverpool's problems, which unsurprisingly, are the same problems that have plagued them in recent years.

Jurgen Klopp made a massive error of judgement in offering an error-prone goalkeeper in Simon Mignolet a five-year contract extension. Jason Cairnduff / Reuters

When Jurgen Klopp and his coaching staff sit down to assess Liverpool’s season come the end of May they will point to how a run of poor results in January and February put paid to their Premier League title challenge.

Liverpool signed off 2016 with a 1-0 win over top-four rivals Manchester City. Then they were second in the table after 19 games with 43 points, six behind leaders Chelsea.

Fast forward two months and that gap has widened to 14 points, with Liverpool accruing just six points in the ensuing seven league games. Their overall record in 2017 reads: played 12, two wins, four draws and six defeats, including elimination from the League Cup and the FA Cup.

While a draw at home to Chelsea, away to Manchester United and a 2-0 win at Anfield over Tottenham Hotspur that very much flattered their visitors, point to how well Klopp’s charges have performed against direct rivals — 16 points from a possible 24 against teams in the top six — it counts for nothing when defeats to four of the bottom seven are added into the equation.

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Monday night’s meek surrender to champions Leicester City, a team without a full-time manager, a win or even a goal in their previous six league outings, summed up perfectly how Liverpool, for all their progress as an attacking force under Klopp, are as far away from securing the title as their soon-to-be deposed opponents are.

It is a paradox of this Liverpool team that, despite their recent troubles, they are still an improvement on their 2015/16 incarnation, a team that reached — but lost — two cup finals.

Klopp’s success and failures can literally be summed up as a game of two halves, to use the most worn-out phrase in football.

The mesmerising inter-change play between any of the following combinations of Sadio Mane, Adam Lallana, Roberto Firmino — my pick for the most improved player in the league — and the incomparable Philippe Coutinho are the envy of any attack in the division. Where Lallana once flattered to deceive, there is now end product. Where Firmino was once the victim, he is now the bully of rival defenders.

When a striker of Daniel Sturridge’s calibre — widely acknowledged, even by his own manager, as the best finisher in the squad — cannot command a first-team place, you have stumbled onto a winning formula.

But Klopp made a massive error of judgement in offering an error-prone goalkeeper in Simon Mignolet a five-year contract extension. The fact the German has already demoted and reinstated the Belgian as first choice already this season due to the underwhelming alternative of Loris Karius highlights in bright red marker pen where Liverpool’s biggest problem lies.

While Joel Matip has encouraged to think that he could develop into the team’s defensive leader, Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan haven’t. Using Lucas Leiva as a makeshift defender should always set alarm bells ringing as well.

The threat of a disappointing season ending in a grim one is gathering pace too with the revitalisation of Manchester United under Jose Mourinho. With one trophy already secured following last week’s 3-2 League Cup final triumph over Southampton, sixth-placed United are now just a point behind Liverpool with a game in hand. Maybe we should hold fire on judging how far Liverpool have progressed until May.

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