Comment: Not the time to panic but Liverpool's talented group need to find stability, quickly

THE BEST OF TIMES, THE WIRTZ OF TIMES: Liverpool's Florian Wirtz and Mohamed Salah speaking during a break in play. Pic: Adam Davy/PA Wire.

At the very least it was a tutorial in poor game management, at worst a concise encapsulation of Liverpool’s biggest issue.

In the final minute of normal time Dominik Szoboszlai, shifted from No10 to right back for the second half, found himself two yards from Chelsea’s penalty arc and shot narrowly wide.

Nevermind the fact their opponents were finishing like a train, pushing for a winner that eventually arrived in the sixth-minute of added time via a cross delivered from the area that the Hungarian was instructed to protect.

For Arne Slot the solution to a fairly dismal first period at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening was to bring on another forward-thinking player. And then another.

Except, faced with the opportunity to chase a winner following Cody Gakpo’s equaliser, all sense of balance had been sacrificed to bolster an attack that remains disjointed, far from the devastating force anticipated during their thrilling transfer window.

Instead Chelsea were emboldened by the invitation to exploit spaces and an increasingly isolated defence that ended up with two midfield players, a reserve full back and Virgil van Dijk, whose performances dating back to pre-season should be a cause for growing alarm.

It is perhaps too easy to point fingers at individuals. Van Dijk’s retreat for Moises Caicedo’s opening goal was a shocker. Mohamed Salah remains disconnected. Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz are still waiting to show why they are worth the third and ninth highest transfer fees ever paid.

But this, undoubtedly, is a collective issue with the ultimate responsibility resting on Slot’s broad shoulders. In the search for cohesion, the chemistry that allowed them to coast to the title last season has been sacrificed and it is having repercussions across the pitch.

“The more they play together the more they will connect," Slot said in response to a question about Isak and Salah, though it is presently applicable to his entire team. "In the second half, we were able to get our attacking players in much more promising positions than the first half.

"For me, it wasn’t a disconnect or time needed for the forwards to do better. I think we had to do better in the build up.

"Last season we lost against Chelsea as well. Stamford Bridge is always difficult. We were very close to [getting] a result. Small margins.”

Slot did go on to concede that his players’ “decision making could've been better [because] the last 10-15 minutes was end-to-end.”

Yet, again, what did he expect from having so many attack-minded players on the pitch?

On a positive note, Wirtz’s performance as a half-time substitute was better. A first assist almost arrived when Salah struck the side-netting within 20 seconds of his arrival and there were a handful of silky smooth touches during that brief period where the Reds were on top and, it seemed, more likely to win.

Wirtz is a technical marvel, no doubt, but a sense of lingering doubt surrounds how he fits in the system that brought last season’s success and how that impacts those around him.

“We've brought in a very different midfielder than we had last season,” Slot said. “Which we think we needed because of the amount of goals we found from open play in the first part of last season and the second part of last season, there's a big, big difference.

“We didn't shut our eyes for the second part of the season, how many times we needed a set-piece [to score].”

Look into the numbers of those around him and there are some curious takeaways beyond the obvious fall in Salah’s output.

Among supporters Ryan Gravenberch’s reputation keeps trending upwards, which may be helped by him being on the ball more frequently than last season.

He is averaging 8.5 more touches per 90 minutes compared to last season and creating more than double the shooting opportunities (from 1.94 to 4.17) while making fewer tackles, blocks and interceptions.

Little wonder the defence has appeared frequently open to coughing up chances that did not exist 12 months ago if their holding player has been taking on added responsibilities elsewhere.

It is a similar story, though less pronounced, for Alexis Mac Allister, who is yet to complete 90 minutes: the attacking output is marginally up, the defensive numbers significantly down.

Szoboszlai’s stats should carry an asterisk since he has spent substantial time at right back because Jeremie Frimpong has not settled yet and Conor Bradley has been unconvincing.

To read deeply into Wirtz’s (lack of) output is unfair since he deserves time to acclimatise. Yet that process has had painful consequences elsewhere, leading to biggest headache of Slot’s time at Anfield so far.

It may not be time to panic but neither is this a moment to feel unbridled enthusiasm towards a group that is both luxuriously talented and lacking stability.

The Wirtz of both worlds, if you like.