Another bitterly disappointing performance from Liverpool, that probably ends their chances of a second Premier League crown under Jurgen Klopp’s reign. Yes, it was an improvement on Thursday night’s woeful display but, yet again, the team lacked verve and purpose from the outset. Crystal Palace, who were sharper, neater and more decisive, were worthy of their 1-0 victory, whilst Liverpool look like their race for trophies this season is run.
After both sets of supporters impeccably observed the one-minute silence in honour of those who lost their lives at Hillsborough, Crystal Palace played with an intent Liverpool presently look incapable of. Forcing Liverpool backwards with incisive passing, making both Konate and Bradley look increasingly uncomfortable, they took the lead on 15 minutes through Eze. A tap in, in front of the Kop after a simple move down their left, whilst red shirts were statuesque. The lethargy that so infected Liverpool’s midweek display, showing no signs of having abated.
As on Thursday, the hope that, by once again falling behind, Liverpool would rekindle the energy and intensity that’s been a hallmark under Klopp just never materialised. Flat, looking physically and maybe more significantly, mentally jaded, not a single red shirt was ‘at it’. Curtis Jones, who personally completed a miserable afternoon with a glaring miss in front of the Kop just after the hour, simply looked slow and hesitant. He, along with Alexis Mac Allister, were continually bullied off the ball. Not helped by taking too many touches, and a lack of runners in front of them breaking the lines, they never looked on top of a Palace midfield that was more agile and quicker to the loose ball.
It would be unfair to single out the midfield as the only problem. Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Djik were guilty time after time of simply passing it back and forth between themselves. Even when the ball eventually reached Andy Robertson, it inevitably went back infield, where Palace simply kept their shape and forced Liverpool backwards. To be fair to Robertson, he had at least kept Liverpool in the game, when clearing off the line in the first half, but seems to have completely lost confidence to cross the ball into the penalty box. Of course, a forward pass would have been more likely had there been runners to hit. Mo Salah, whose feet seem to have temporarily turned to clay, was shocking, whilst Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez simply made the wrong decisions, even when they did have possession, time and time again.
Changes at half-time were inevitable, but only Wataru Endo, who’d struck the woodwork in the first half, was replaced. However Dominik Szoboszlai, on in his stead, again offered little, and Trent Alexander-Arnold, replacing the injured Bradley, was too often forced into the ‘Hollywood’ pass to try and make things happen. Sadly, it never looked like ‘happening’, with the players appearing to lack belief.
Crystal Palace meanwhile, continued to offer a threat on the break, but as proof of their opponents’ paucity in attack, didn’t really look like they’d require a second goal. Liverpool huffed and puffed, Diogo Jota having a close-range effort blocked in the final ten minutes, but with Salah seemingly incapable of controlling the football, let alone retaining it, a victory for Palace never looked seriously at risk.
Just three weeks ago, the quadruple, however unlikely, was a tantalising possibility. Having so magnificently triumphed in the League Cup Final over Chelsea, a dream scenario as Klopp announced his departure, was the prize of four trophies dangling before them. The loss at Old Trafford in the FA Cup ended talk of that near impossibility. But in losing to such a poor United side, Liverpool seem to have lost so much more. Belief, energy and purpose all seem to have been left behind in Manchester, and a failure to locate it only last week in the Premier League may just have fatally burst Liverpool’s bubble.
