The Reds' nightmare season shows no sign of turning around after they were battered 3-0 on a miserable afternoon at Molineux
Hard to fathom, even harder to stomach, as far as Liverpool fans are concerned.
The Reds’ decline continues, and is getting more remarkable by the week. This 3-0 defeat at Wolves marked a new low, in a season full of them.
Already out of both domestic cups, Jurgen Klopp’s side can surely forget about finishing in the Premier League’s top four come May. This, their seventh league defeat of the campaign, leaves them 10th, and significantly closer to the bottom of the table than they are the top. It’s Aston Villa and Crystal Palace they need to worry about right now, not Newcastle or Manchester United.
This was another shambolic away display, with Joel Matip scoring an own goal and debutant Craig Dawson capitalising on more awful defending to double Wolves’ lead inside the first 12 minutes.
Liverpool did threaten a second-half revival, but they missed big chances through Darwin Nunez, Naby Keita and Mohamed Salah before being punished on the counter-attack by Adama Traore’s run and Ruben Neves’ clinical finish.
The game ended with the sound of Wolves fans cheering their team’s every pass, as Julen Lopetegui’s side toyed with their shell-shocked visitors. For Klopp and his supporters, it was the final insult.
Here are the winners and losers from Molineux…
Getty ImagesThe Winners
Julen Lopetegui:
For all Liverpool’s issues, it should not be forgotten that Wolves are a team moving forward under their new manager. They may have started the game in the Premier League relegation zone, courtesy of Everton’s win over Arsenal earlier in the day, but Lopetegui has got them looking up the table rather than down, initiating a clear improvement since taking over in November. He has good players, it has to be said, with Matheus Nunes and Ruben Neves joined by new arrival Mario Lemina in a formidable midfield trio, and Rayan Ait-Nouri impressing against Mohamed Salah, as he has in the past. Wolves deserved their lead, and they deserved to hold onto it and then add to it too. They rode their luck on occasion, but they were the ones who looked like a team, who looked like they believed, and that is credit to their manager.
Stefan Bajcetic:
If only the senior members of this Liverpool team could follow the lead of its youngest member. This is a dark time for the Reds, but they have found a real gem in Bajcetic, a player who looks like he’s good enough to sit in the heart of their midfield for years to come. At 18, the Spanish youth international led by example here, his composure, tenacity and attitude shining an unflattering light on many of his older colleagues. They look like they have the world on their shoulders, Bajcetic looks like he has it at his feet. He is so calm in possession, so good at sniffing out danger and so strong in the tackle for one so young. Liverpool could do with a few more like him at the moment. The likes of Thiago Alcantara, Jordan Henderson and the absent Fabinho are letting him, and their manager, down.
Fabinho:
Well, if you're not there, you don't have to be associated with it, do you?
AdvertisementGetty ImagesThe Losers
Joel Matip
Talk about setting the tone for a match. At kick off here, Naby Keita rolled the ball back to Matip, and the rest of the Liverpool team pushed up, en masse, into the Wolves half. The aim, one presumes, was for Matip to ping a diagonal deep into enemy territory, allowing his team-mates to fight for the first and second ball. Instead, the Reds centre-back made an awful connection, skewing his pass straight to a Wolves man. In an instant, Liverpool were on the back foot, and by the time they’d come to their senses, they were 2-0 down. Matip scored the first of those goals, inexplicably failing to react to a ball played into the penalty area and then deflecting Hwang Hee-Chan’s cut back in off the far post. Dawson made it two soon after, and had Matheus Nunes been as ruthless with his finishing, then Matip would have cost Liverpool another goal when dawdling over a long punt in behind the Reds’ backline. There were some impressive forward raids, in fairness, but when you're playing as a defender your job is to defend. Matip, and partner Joe Gomez, did not do it nearly well enough here. Virgil van Dijk's return cannot come soon enough.
Darwin Nunez:
The Andy Carroll chants are getting a bit old now, but this was not a good day for Liverpool’s centre-forward. Selected, correctly, to play down the middle, with new boy Cody Gakpo out wide on the left, Nunez knew he would be in for a battle against the strong defensive pairing of Dawson and Max Kilman. He lost the battle. Too often, he failed to hold the ball up and allow his side to get up the pitch, and when he did receive possession with space to run into, his decision-making was suspect to say the least. He should have squared for Salah at 2-0 but went for goal himself, shooting too close to Jose Sa, and a wildly overhit cross on his left foot soon after summed up his first 45 minutes. There was a big chance after the break, too, when Alexander-Arnold played him in behind. It had to go in, if Liverpool were to mount a salvage job. It didn't. Sa saved, and soon after Neves punished the Reds at the other end, compounding Nunez's misery.
Jurgen Klopp:
If he can find a way to sort this mess out, then Klopp really should be considered the best manager in the world. The Liverpool manager looked traumatised at times here, unable to comprehend what was going on in front of his eyes. He knows things have been bad, but they couldn’t get worse, surely? There had to be an improvement, didn’t there? Yes they could, and no there wasn’t. For half an hour here, Liverpool were as bad as they have been all season, including the defeat at Brighton which Klopp labelled as his worst in management. And though they inevitably improved, the mere fact that they can plumb such depths, and are doing so so regularly, is frankly absurd. This is a team that was on the brink of immortality last May, but they're an absolute rabble at the moment, broken in every single area – perhaps beyond repair. “You’re getting sacked in the morning,” sang the home fans after Wolves’ third goal. He won’t, but boy does he need things to start turning around soon. Liverpool’s next game, remember, is the Merseyside derby. On this evidence, Sean Dyche and his boys will be licking their lips.
Getty ImagesLiverpool Ratings: Defence
Alisson Becker (6/10):
Overworked and underprotected. Mix-up between him and Gomez led to Wolves' second goal.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (5/10):
Played like a man frustrated. Much better and more prominent in the second half, but still some way below the levels expected. Free kick into the wall summed it up.
Joel Matip (4/10):
His first half was about as bad as it gets for such a skilled and experienced player. So slack and so weak. Some good forward raids, but failed at the basics.
Joe Gomez (4/10):
Poor header for the second goal and just doesn't exude confidence at the moment. Error led to the third goal. Hasn't been good enough this season.
Andy Robertson (5/10):
Captain for the day, he took 45 minutes to wake up. Played well in the second half for the most part, and linked up well with Gakpo, until he was left exposed by Traore's pace for the third goal.
Getty ImagesMidfield
Stefan Bajcetic (7/10):
Could hold his head up high amid the mess. Plays with maturity and belief, in a side lacking both.
Naby Keita (5/10):
Too weak too often, especially when shooting. All of Liverpool's best openings seemed to fall to him, and he didn't look like he would take one of them.
Thiago Alcantara (5/10):
Miles off it, and at times too smart for his own good. Unable to raise the level of those around him.