The Reds Are Blue

WHY HAVE LIVERPOOL TRIPPED UP IN THEIR TITLE QUEST?

"We need a crisis at City and Arsenal," said Jurgen Klopp, gloomily reflecting on their loss in the Merseyside derby yesterday.

Liverpool's 0-2 surrender to relegation-threatened neighbours Everton seemed to confirm the end of their 2024 title ambitions and kiboshed any possibility of a champagne ending to their German manager's glorious reign.

Recent eliminations from the Champions League to Atalanta and from the F.A. Cup to Manchester United have snowballed into a losing streak, sandwiched by a painful defeat at home to mid-table Crystal Palace and an away win at Fulham before last night's loss to their city rivals.

Klopp's team looks stunningly short of confidence just when they need to be turning the screw, when so recently they had appeared so imperious.

Liverpool Are Stuck in a Rut - (AFP photo)

Without naming names, captain Virgil Van Dijk questioned his teammates' desire after losing at Goodison:

"Everyone has to look in the mirror and look at their own performance and think if they gave everything. Do they really want to win the league?" he complained.

Instead of a Klopp victory lap, Liverpool's season has disintegrated just when it mattered.

Why the Reds have gone off the boil is somewhat mysterious given they have not suffered a rash of major injuries, no worse than their rivals anyway.

The manager has shuffled his lineup more than Mikel Arteta or Pep Guardiola, which may be a factor, but Liverpool won impressively 3-1 away at Fulham four days ago and seemed to have restoked their fire.

They are certainly still creating chances but their clearly world-class forwards have left their shooting boots at home. Darwin Nunez has taken more shots on goal this season than any other Premier League player (105) and Mo Salah is third on 100, so you cannot accuse Liverpool of being goal shy. The Uruguayan is only fourth in shots on target however with 46.

The Egyptian has spurned 13 goalscoring opportunities this season, one more than Luis Diaz, but Nunez has missed 26. Only Erling Haaland in the Premier League has missed more chances, 30 in all, but the Norwegian has netted 20 times to Nunez's 11.

At the back, unlike their rivals, the Reds' defence has a habit of conceding first, a blow which sooner or later comes back to bite you as you cannot always regain parity. Scoring first is by contrast a psychological boost for a side.

Why they concede first but often fight back successfully is difficult to answer. Klopp is renowned as a motivator but has failed to get his team starting matches in the right frame of mind if they are often playing catch-up. Last night Everton scored first but Liverpool could not equalise and the Toffees netted a second clincher.

Liverpool now need rivals Arsenal and Man City to trip up, as well as winning all their own remaining games. On goal difference, the Reds trail City by three goals and Arsenal by 15 so there is no room for error, but the title is out of their hands now and looks lost.

And so, the Klopp era of heavy metal football will close its doors not with a bang but with whimper and that chapter of his story, for most football fans who love the romance and the fireworks of the big personalities in the beautiful game, will remain a disappointment.

Winning the league in his final season would have been the icing on the cake but Klopp will still be remembered fondly as a charismatic Anfield legend who chimed with the club's culture so well and ended their championship drought as well as bringing them European glory again.

The focus on Anfield already seems to be on his successor and the talk is of the possibilities of Dutchman Arne Slot.