What Alisson told Liverpool defenders when Jurgen Klopp agreed with warning ignored

Liverpool delivered another unfortunate defensive performance against Manchester City on Saturday, with Jürgen Klopp’s ‘too far’ comment summing it all up.

After the Netherlands were humiliated 4-0 by France, Ruud Gullit accused him of arrogance – ‘he thinks he’s better than the rest’ – and Marco van Basten said he ‘wreaks havoc’ (via Mail).

Van Dijk had a chance to fight back as he endured arguably his toughest test of the season away to Manchester City. Erling Haaland may have been sidelined, but no team questions a backline more than Pep Guardiola’s side.

But on a day of collective failure at the Etihad, Van Dijk has had to take some individual blame for Liverpool’s latest installment of defensive woes. He was isolated against Riyad Mahrez after Andy Robertson raced up the pitch, but he let the Algerian pass him too easily as he drifted inside. From there the ball went to İlkay Gündoğan at the edge of the box, Jack Grealish wide, Julian Álvarez in the middle and into the Liverpool back net.
Jurgen Klopp felt there was some annoyance in goal – it was “quite unfortunate” that Kevin De Bruyne’s throw-in went through Robertson’s legs at the start of the move (via LFC) – but presented no apologies for the other three.

In fact, for the second time, he lamented the freedom his team gave Álvarez in the middle of the park.

“There’s an open ball in midfield and you don’t even have a challenge,” said the helpless German. Robertson waved Alisson off as Álvarez played the ball to Mahrez, but the Brazilian stayed put and the winger was able to clear De Bruyne for a direct finish.

Alisson has told his Liverpool team-mates they need to defend better against Manchester City (Image: Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)

Alisson shouldn’t really be blamed as it was a 50/50 call and the quality of the Argentine’s passing has to be credited as well.

Perhaps the real problem for Liverpool came earlier, as Ederson’s release was intercepted by Fabinho without pressure, but the Reds passed the ball to their opponents. Within seconds, a chance to attack had turned into a deadly transition.

Liverpool had comeback numbers for third but still failed to fend off the defending champions. Mahrez dribbled into the penalty area from the left and even with Robertson, Van Dijk, Jordan Henderson and Diogo Jota all around, he managed to beat Álvarez, who in turn should have been followed by Fabinho.

The Brazilian then slowly approached, allowing the striker to clear his shot, with Gündoğan on hand to coolly direct the rebound after Trent Alexander-Arnold’s pass fell in his way.

Replays showed a furious Alisson yelling “push-ups” at his defenders as they trudged back towards the halfway line and, sure enough, Klopp commented after the match that “if you get in too deep… they use it straight away “.

Liverpool allowed City to take him back into their own penalty area, and from there Guardiola’s men were able to string together their fatal combinations and attacking schemes with insufficient stamina. It was far from the aggressiveness and bravery that characterize Liverpool’s best defense

The fourth and final goal came from the kind of game changes that have blighted Klopp’s side all season. It was a two-on-one for Grealish and De Bruyne against Alexander-Arnold, who should have been better assisted by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Grealish powered up De Bruyne’s upside diagonal run and then fired into the box himself, with Alexander-Arnold too slow to react.

Ibrahima Konaté was out to challenge the Belgian and Grealish was able to score an easy goal from the freed up space.

All of City’s goals involved cuts in one way or another, but each time there were different errors at play. “We weren’t there anymore, we were completely open, we were too passive, too deep, too far from everything,” Klopp summed up in the best summary of a global catastrophe.

It was initially a duel between the league’s toughest attack and a dysfunctional defense that has been the norm in midfield this season.

In that sense, the end result was perhaps quite predictable.

Also…

Jurgen Klopp’s bet backfired on Mohamed Salah as Liverpool’s $73m duo were left unprotected

The good, the bad and the ugly: Liverpool took the lead through Mohamed Salah at the Etihad Stadium but Jurgen Klopp’s move didn’t pay off as four goals were conceded.

ETIHAD STADIUM, MANCHESTER // Liverpool already knew that, of course, but further confirmation of their decline from Manchester City was made even clearer by a 4-1 loss that leaves Jurgen Klopp’s side with even more issues.

Teams that were neck and neck for the Premier League title less than a year ago are now 22 points clear and the chasm was absolutely evident as Pep Guardiola’s men cruised to victory.

Liverpool watched the game for the first 45 minutes, but within 45 seconds of the second half Manchester City had found a way forward and never looked back.

Here are the three moments Liverpool.com singled out from the Reds’ recent three-goal defeat which dealt them a blow in the race to the top four – albeit far from fatal with 11 games to go.

The Good

Mohamed Salah’s goal was brilliant: it started with a classic pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold, set up by good work from fair offside Diogo Jota, and finished masterfully by the Egyptian, who loves goals against Manchester City.

It shows Liverpool can be exceptional when fit and shooting, as last month’s 7-0 win over Manchester United showed.

Unfortunately, that start was more than overshadowed by what followed: while Liverpool scored an excellent goal down one side, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez, among others, were given as much space as they wanted from the other.

Salah had a big smile after his first game; After being sent off in the second half and substituted 20 minutes from time, the 30-year-old had a thunderclap.

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The bad

Even without Darwin Núñez fit enough to start the game, Liverpool went into a 4-2-3-1 formation with Cody Gakpo as number 10 behind Salah. It was fluid, with Harvey Elliott appearing in a few different spots and Alexander-Arnold trying to counter an early set piece down the left.

It was a bold move – one that could pay off far more often against weaker teams than Manchester City and shouldn’t be overturned on that basis – but was overturned on that basis – but it was a gamble that didn’t didn’t pay here.

Fabinho and Jordan Henderson, signed together for $73m (£59m/€67m), were in midfield, already a man down against the trio of İlkay Gündoğan, Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri (Gakpo being in charge of it). the third man, with Elliott, but neither of them succeeded).

the ugly one

Liverpool’s defense left a lot to be desired, as did the obvious will of Liverpool’s defenders. Alexander-Arnold’s liveliness and quickness in defense have often been questioned this season, but Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson were no better here. The final 20 minutes were certainly ugly as Guardiola’s side had all the time in the world to play the ball between them as the crowd laughed at how easily the second half swung in Manchester City’s favour.

Guardiola’s exchange of blows with Kostas Tsimikas and Arthur Melo on the Manchester City bench after Julian Álvarez’s 1-1 win was odd, but the Greek laughed at the attempted handshake and the Brazilian took it with good humor.

It seems unlikely that Guardiola would have dared to do this in the middle of a title fight, but Liverpool have long since left that conversation.