Kop flops are left with no defence
Groans justified over jittery backline
JURGEN KLOPP had just completed a lengthy round of television interviews and was heading to Anfield’s press room, muttering as he went.
‘Always the same,’ he said, repeating the words. Klopp was referring to the line of questioning from those with cameras and microphones, but he could easily have been referring to the latest performance from his team.
Klopp is an open book when it comes to reading his mood and this was one of those days when his eyes narrowed, the tone of his voice lowered and the arm-waving animation on the touchline was triggered, primarily, by Liverpool’s deficiencies.
The home crowd had come to see Burnley buried under an avalanche of goals but even though Liverpool had 35 shots, their fans left frustrated at having seen their side concede cheaply again.
Some fans travel to Anfield now with expectations that are out of kilter with Liverpool’s position in the modern game, others don’t trust some of the players wearing the shirt. When you mix that together, the uncertainty grows, and Sean Dyche, Burnley’s manager, picked up on it when he sat in the stands for the Champions League game with Sevilla; it left him convinced a rudimentary plan could let his team cause havoc.
‘We deliberately got the ball as far down their throat as we could,’ said Dyche, who saw Scott Arfield (right) score in the 27th minute after the usual panic in Liverpool’s defence. ‘I’m not going to worry if you think long ball, short ball. It’s the right ball that counts. On Wednesday, fans and pundits were saying it — everyone was talking about (Liverpool’s vulnerability). They cannot all be wrong.’
For all Liverpool’s possession, the life of the visitors’ goal was not charmed, and it was the home side’s good fortune that Mo Salah equalised so quickly.
Still Klopp was defiant. ‘If we were not creating chances then I’d be really concerned but we had enough chances to win.’
Philippe Coutinho started for the first time since his move to Barcelona fell through. He said he was ‘honoured’ to be the subject of a £114million bid, but says there is no agreement to leave in 12 months. ‘What happened was a job offer and, in life, sometimes you get interested,’ Coutinho said. ‘Sometimes you don’t. Everyone knows I got interested, my family too. It was a complicated month but I am here and working hard for the team’s goals.’