da stake casino： The German lifted the Carabao Cup in February, but there is a very real risk of his final season fizzling out after three terrible results
da leao： It was David Moyes who infamously pointed out just over a decade ago that Manchester United "must improve in a number of areas, including passing, creating chances and defending". After Sunday's shock 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace, fellow Scot Andy Robertson gave a similarly blunt appraisal of Liverpool's issues right now, acknowledging that the Reds are conceding far too many goals and not scoring nearly enough.
"That's not a good thing for success," the left-back stated in his usual matter-of-fact manner. "We are struggling to keep clean sheets. I don't know how many we have had in the last 10 or 15 games, but it won't be many. So, when you're not doing that, you have to take chances. It's that simple."
But it's not an easy issue for Jurgen Klopp to resolve. It's not like he can take to the field and stick away the chances his forwards are wasting, or atone for the unforced errors his defenders are making.
The brutal bottom line, though, is that Liverpool are going through the worst period of their season at the worst possible time, suffering from a collective loss of confidence and conviction that the manager can't quite explain – let alone fix. Indeed, after Klopp's week from hell, there's now a very real fear that a nine-year tenure full of so many unforgettable highs is going to end on a bitterly disappointing low.
Getty Images'Like a catastrophe'
After Liverpool had needlessly dropped two points at Manchester United on April 7 – just three weeks after being knocked out of the FA Cup at Old Trafford – Klopp tried to play down the significance of two rotten results against Erik ten Hag's terrible team.
He had admitted that during extra-time in the quarter-final loss he had seen his side struggling physically for the first time this season, but, on Sunday, he acknowledged that twice failing to beat their biggest rivals in quick succession may have also taken a psychological toll on his players.
"I am not 100 percent sure that how we dealt with the [Manchester] United games particularly helped," he told reporters at Anfield. "I mean, we lost the game in the cup and it was like a catastrophe because we were that good and lost it anyway. Then we drew there [in the league], were really good for a long spell and just drew it."
Worse was to follow. Much worse.
AdvertisementGetty'Wheels have fallen off'
Four days after the immensely frustrating 2-2 draw in Manchester, Liverpool were taken apart by Atalanta at Anfield, prompting former Red Steve McMananman to claim on that "the wheels have fallen off" Klopp's winning machine.
The manager had certainly got his line-up all wrong, making six changes to the team he had fielded at Old Trafford, and Gian Piero Gasperini's slick side took full advantage, slicing through the Liverpool midfield at will during a dominant first-half display.
Klopp tried to salvage the situation by bringing on the likes of Mohamed Salah at the break, but the hosts ended up scoring twice more to record a historic 3-0 win that effectively killed the tie ahead of Thursday's return clash in Bergamo.
Some accused Klopp of underestimating Atalanta, claiming that he should have fielded his best XI – and it's an understandable argument. However, as the past few weeks have underlined, the manager is stuck between a rock and a hard place at the moment in the sense that so many of his regulars are showing signs of fatigue, while fringe players have failed to step up to the mark when selected.
Getty Fatigue now a factor
Consequently, Klopp has ended up leaning more heavily on the likes of Alexis Mac Allister and Wataru Endo than he would have liked. Hardly surprising, then, that both midfielders looked off the pace against Palace.
"Did Wataru and Macca now play a little bit too much in the last few weeks? Maybe, they were the two most-used [players], especially Macca," Klopp said before also pointing out that the loss of so many players to injury over the past few months has hardly helped Liverpool.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson Becker were playing their first games in a couple of months on Sunday, Dominik Szoboszlai hasn't looked the same player in the second half of the season after a number of niggles, while Mohamed Salah is still struggling to get back up to his brilliant best following his lengthy lay-off.
Getty 'No need to get too downhearted'
As a result, ex-Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher called for Klopp to "play a full second-string" team in the second leg against Atalanta and "go all-in for the league".
"We're in a better position in the league than we are now in the Europa League, so for me I just think the league is too important," he told . "Fulham is much more important than Atalanta and even getting through…
"I still think Man City will do it, actually, but you know we've got a great opportunity, so there is no need to get too downhearted after what happened Thursday."
However, Carragher was speaking before the disaster that was Sunday, when Liverpool lost their 28-match unbeaten home record in the league to a team that hadn't won an away game since November.