The Biggest Problem Of Liverpool exposed After Swansea Defeat
Jan 22, 2017 at 5:41 PM
Liverpool suffered their third defeat of the season against Swansea City on Saturday, the Reds losing 3-2 in a pulsating game at Anfield.
A tepid affair came to life in the second half, with Fernando Llorente’s brace giving the away side a shock 2-0 lead inside seven minutes.
Roberto Firmino then hit back with two goals of his own before Gylfi Sigurdsson wrapped up all three points in the 74th minute.
Try as they might, Liverpool were unable to find another response and are now at risk of seeing their Premier League title hopes diminish.
They remain third in the table but Chelsea can extend their lead at the top to nine points – 10 above Liverpool – while Arsenal can leapfrog them with a win over Burnley.
Jurgen Klopp lamented his side’s woeful defending after the game, saying: “The most disappointing moment was the third goal. There was nearly everything wrong with this goal.
“We scored and then we couldn’t switch to defence mode and that was the biggest mistake in this situation. We were passive and they took the opportunity.
“The defending around all three goals was not good enough. That is a very important part of the game and was very disappointing.”
Liverpool’s shock defeat was a big talking point on Match of the Day, with Alan Shearer criticising the club’s players for having attitude problems (see below).
Attitude problems for Liverpool? #MOTD pic.twitter.com/eW8PiNx31h
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) January 21, 2017
Shearer explained: “They’ve got an excellent record against their title rivals – in fact they’ve never been beaten yet by their rivals.
“But they have been beaten by Bournemouth, by Swansea, by Burnley, drawn with Sunderland, which tells you there’s an issue with attitude and application.”
According to Shearer, Liverpool’s players now expect to win against the lesser sides and therefore perform worse than against their title rivals.
Indeed, the Reds have beaten Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City this season, yet they’ve failed to deliver against those in the bottom half of the table.
And that will come as a worry to Klopp. If Liverpool are to challenge for the Premier League title, they must do the dirty work and grind out results against teams they should, in theory, be beating.
It doesn’t matter how you win, just as long as you get the three points.