Inconsistent Liverpool brought down to earth with a bang by Bournemouth
UP FOR GRABS: Bournemouth's Philip Billing appears to go down from a tackle by Liverpool's Ibrahima Konate during the Premier League match at the Vitality Stadium. Pic: Kieran Cleeves/PA Wire
Liverpool were always going to travel to the Bernabeu Stadium this week more in hope than expectation and Saturday’s chastening defeat at Bournemouth added to the sense that thoughts are already turning towards the daunting run of domestic fixtures to come.
Faced with a three-goal deficit from the first leg when they were ruthlessly dismantled by Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid side, Jurgen Klopp is entitled to wonder which Liverpool side will turn up on Wednesday after a confounding weekend loss.
In a season riddled with inconsistency and under-achievement, the display in itself was not an outlier, more the latest in a line of poor performances during a frustrating campaign. It was more the fact it came after the high of beating Manchester United and at a point when debate had started to focus on whether Klopp’s side had reached a turning point.
If they had, then they staged an abrupt u-turn at the Vitality Stadium. The performance further dimmed any hope they could yet stage a remarkable comeback and claim a place in the Champions League although that in itself may yet provide a source of inspiration for Klopp’s players. As Trent Alexander-Arnold said “it’s about throwing the kitchen sink at it and going all out” and stranger things have happened in European football, of course.
Ancelotti’s street-wise, serial winners are unlikely to get caught out and the disjointed attacking display at the Vitality Stadium was a far cry from the second half showing against United and did nothing to fuel hope of a spectacular comeback.
Klopp and his players are well aware their primary target this season must be a top four finish that will secure a return to the Champions League next season. And to that effect, the loss to a Bournemouth side who came into the game rooted at the foot of the table was particularly shocking.
For any team playing catch-up, this was a game that should have delivered three points. For a team whose next three Premier League fixtures include trips to Manchester City and a fast-improving Chelsea before Arsenal visit Anfield, it’s hard to describe it as anything other than must-win.
“There is a long season to go and it’s important for us to get top four,” said Alexander-Arnold. “To be achieving that, we have got to be picking up results in places like here. We haven’t done that. We are in and around it. There’s a big game in midweek. But this was our final Premier League game until after the internationals. We have got to come back and hit the ground running. There’s a tough run of fixtures (waiting for us) after that.”
That run of fixtures will become even more daunting if Liverpool fail to remedy the flaws that ran through their weekend performance. Up front, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez provided occasional moments of threat but Mohamed Salah’s failure to hit the target with a second half penalty summed up the Egypt international’s all round display.
More concerning, though, was the ease with which Bournemouth repeatedly troubled the Liverpool defence with right-back Alexander-Arnold and centre-back Virgil van Dijk looking particularly flakey and never more so than when Philip Billing scored the decisive 28th minute goal.
Outpaced by Dango Ouattara, Van Dijk appeared to simply give up the chase while Alexander-Arnold’s failure to track Billing’s run ensured the midfielder was unhindered when he turned home Ouattara’s cross. Bournemouth were incisive and Liverpool left on their heels. And that wasn’t the only time.
Little wonder Klopp admitted the loss could have lingering after-effects.
“We have to make sure we recover properly because on Wednesday we have obviously a big game as well,” said the Reds manager. “Then it’s the international break, I hope that everybody comes back healthy. Then we have the football week of all football weeks opponent-wise. There’s a lot to go for but today is now not the moment for me to talk about that. This game was a massive knock and how it is with knocks, you have to take them, you have to have a look how big the scars are and then you go from there.”
Not for the first time this season, Klopp is faced with the task of reviving his side after an unexpected defeat. How well he can do that will help determine the outcome of the current campaign, but the manager has also been provided with yet another reminder of the work that needs to be done this summer.
Neto 6; Smith 6 (Fredericks 80, 6), Stephens 7, Senesi 7, Kelly 7; Ouattara 9, Lerma 7 (Cook 80, 6), Billing 7 (Christie 70, 6), Anthony 8 (Vina 88, 6); Rothwell 6; Solanke 7. (Semenyo 88, 6).
Travers, Mepham, Brooks, Moore.
(4-3-3): Alisson 6; Alexander-Arnold 4 (Milner 65, 6), Konate 6, Van Dijk 4, Robertson 6; Elliott 5 (Jota 46, 6), Fabinho 5 (Henderson 65, 6), Bajcetic 6 (Carvalho 88, 6); Salah 5, Gakpo 7, Nunez 6 (Firmino 65, 6).
Adrian, Tsimikas, Arthur, Matip.
: John Brooks 5.
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