Liverpool have now lost five Premier League matches in a row. It isn’t a pretty statistic, I’m dressing that up like you wouldn’t believe. They have now created history for all the wrong reasons with this particular landmark. it will be discussed and dissected long into the night, but for now, some post-match thoughts:
In his pre-match interview, Thomas Tuchel mentioned the word “speed” five times when describing his team selection. The German clearly identified that Liverpool’s fundamentals in shape remains the same, despite the continued lag in cohesion between each line of the team. Tuchel has the luxury of wealth in options, and his gamble paid off in the first-half.
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Sadio Mané once again started the game in a front-two with Roberto Firmino, with Andy Robertson and Curtis Jones expected to pick up spaces on the left as a result. In the first period the shape got ragged as Chelsea became more dominant. His frustration was at the point of boiling over with how much goes against him from the referee – coupled with his miss led to a frustrating first period.
Liverpool’s outball was clearly Mohamed Salah, who often time found himself squared up against either Antonio Rudiger or Ben Chilwell. Rudiger handled Salah extremely well first-half, with the Reds front man only having joy once in five take-on attempts. The lack of joy from this particular outlet allowed Chelsea a foothold on the game.
Almost half of Chelsea’s passes long in the first period were successful, with 11 out of 23. That type of stat emphases how easy it was for the visitors to find an outlet down either flank, turning Liverpool around with consumate ease. A statement nobody wants to hear, but another prime example of missing both Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk.
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Liverpool’s changes are hard to argue with. More energy and attempted ingenuity from Diogo Jota and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain allow for energy and disruption to another back-line willing to sit in on a lead. That may be disputed, yet it’s possible the manager would’ve made all five changes if a rule change would’ve allowed in this one. His team looked leggy and devoid of creativity. Regardless of who went off, the players introduced made Liverpool better, despite the inevitable result.
It’s difficult not to feel like the second-half was somewhat of an inevitability, given how recent results have gone. That shouldn’t be the attitude from anyone, especially after years of this manager instilling a mentality which hammers home the concept that the game is alive until the final whistle. That now feels like a stretch and slog. Scoring goals feels like the hardest thing in the world. This won’t last forever, it’s already gone on long enough.
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