Liverpool were again a defensive shambles against Tottenham with Dejan Lovren, Joel Matip and Simon Mignolet all making errors... Jurgen Klopp needs a solution - and quick
- Liverpool were thrashed 4-1 by Tottenham at Wembley on Sunday afternoon
- The result left Jurgen Klopp's side ninth in the Premier League table
- They haven't conceded as many goals after nine league games since 1964
- Simon Mignolet, Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip were guilty of individual mistakes
- Lovren was humiliated after Klopp took him off after only 31 minutes
You have to go all the way back to September 1964 to find the last time Liverpool's defence was this bad.
Back then, The Beatles may have been riding high in the Hit Parade but another Merseyside institution most certainly wasn't in the First Division table.
Bill Shankly's side conceded 20 goals in their first nine league matches in a disastrous start to their title defence with a 4-0 derby defeat by Everton the nadir.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson (centre) shouts at Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip during their humiliation at the hands of Tottenham on Sunday afternoon
Jurgen Klopp brought Lovren off after a shambolic 30 minutes at Wembley
The German manager later suggested he could have performed better in Liverpool's back line
The humiliating loss to Tottenham left Liverpool ninth in the Premier League table
Jurgen Klopp's current crop are so defensively suspect they're drawing unwelcome historical comparisons such as this.
And while Shankly's team recovered to finish seventh, won the FA Cup and reached the semi-finals of the European Cup in 1965, you can hardly view this season's prospects with such optimism.
Sunday's 4-1 humbling at Tottenham was a fresh low for Klopp given that all four goals conceded at Wembley came as the result of defensive or goalkeeping errors.
Although Liverpool's frailties at the back are no secret - they have been apparent all season - but never have their shortcomings been so brutally exposed.
Tottenham's first goal, after only four minutes, saw Kieran Trippier chip a pass right over Dejan Lovren's head and into Harry Kane as Liverpool's back line appealed in vain for offside.
Kane, in the form of his life, touched the ball around Simon Mignolet, who'd charged out hare-brained and needlessly from his goal, and finished into an empty net.
For the first goal, Lovren has taken his eyes off the ball as Kieran Trippier chips a pass directly over his head and into the path of Harry Kane, who has managed to stay onside
As Liverpool's defenders appeal in vain for an offside flag, Simon Mignolet comes flying out of his goal and is beaten to the ball by Kane, who almost goes down but recovers to slot home
Mignolet (left) is miles away from where he should be as Kane slots home Tottenham's opener
The second goal, scored by Son Heung-min, came after Lovren hopelessly misjudged the height of Hugo Lloris's throw, missing a header on halfway to allow Kane to spring free.
Moments later, with Liverpool short-staffed in defence, Kane had squared to Son, who finished well on the low half-volley.
Having been culpable for both goals, Lovren was taken off by Klopp after only 31 minutes in what is surely the greatest public humiliation of his career.
For the second goal, Lovren, inside the opposition half, fails to judge the height of Hugo Lloris's throw out, allowing Kane behind him to spring clear
Shortly after the second goal, Liverpool's suspect defensive positioning was exposed again as Kane played Son in between the two centre-halves. This time Son strikes the crossbar
Not that matters improved. Tottenham's third goal came when Joel Matip could only clear a Christian Eriksen free-kick directly into the path of Dele Alli lurking on the edge of the box.
And, not wanting to be left out, the fourth and final Spurs goal owed everything to Mignolet, who flapped ineptly at Trippier's free-kick and presented the ball to Jan Vertonghen. His shot was blocked, but Kane followed up.
So the afternoon saw Mignolet add another two gaffes to his already considerable collection - the Belgian has now been at fault for a most unlucky 13 goals in the league alone since making his Liverpool debut in August 2013.
For the third goal, Joel Matip needs to deal better with Christian Eriksen's free-kick into the box
The centre-half only clears the ball to Dele Alli on the edge of the box and he finished well
For the fourth, Simon Mignolet flapped at Kieran Trippier's free-kick under no Spurs pressure
The Belgian came to collect the ball and failed to make a decent contact, allowing Kane to score on the rebound after Jan Vertonghen's initial effort was blocked
This number, as you might expect, is considerably more than any other player in the Premier League. He is a walking liability and a laughing stock.
It comes to something when your manager, who is 50 years of age, says that he could have done a better job.
'The first would not happen if I was on the pitch but I am in the middle of the technical area in my trainers,' the German fumed afterwards.
'It is unbelievably easy to defend, to close the space, we only have to clear the ball, shoe it, we don't do it.
'We have to prove we are better defenders than we showed. It's not as if Tottenham needed to be geniuses to get through us.
'We have three unbelievably big scoresheets - against Watford (3-3), Man City (0-5) and today - and 12 goals conceded, that's crazy.'
Klopp knows that the bucks stops with him and he needs to find a quick fix to their defensive woes. They sit ninth in the table after Sunday and trail leaders Manchester City by 12 points.
On Friday, Klopp claimed his team are not '500 miles away' from Pep Guardiola's but nobody can seriously believe that.
Mignolet has made 13 individual errors during his time at Liverpool - the most in the league
Klopp can't hide his frustration as Liverpool slump to another heavy defeat
Another season is slipping away from the German with Liverpool badly off the pace in the Premier League, already out of the EFL Cup and not among the anticipated contenders in the Champions League.
Indeed, Klopp revised downwards his expectations after this loss. Liverpool will no longer challenge for the title this season, they're aiming for fourth.
But why have these players become so bad? Mignolet had an excellent reputation when Klopp's predecessor Brendan Rodgers signed him from Sunderland for £9million in the summer of 2013.
He was known as an excellent shot-stopper and penalty-saver, who frequently kept clean sheets and won man of the match for the Wearside club.
Now Liverpool fans fear he'll make some kind of gaffe in every game he starts and you wonder just how severely his confidence was affected when Klopp dropped him for Loris Karius early last season.
Mignolet fails to claim a cross at Leicester, allowing Shinji Okazaki to score
The Belgian was also culpable for Miguel Britos's late leveller for Watford on the opening day
Lovren was forced to do football's walk of shame when hooked after half an hour at Wembley but it was hard to remember a worse 30 minutes by an international standard player.
Being taken off for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was an act of mercy and Lovren had no cause to be angry or frustrated at Klopp - and wasn't.
Liverpool paid £20m to bring him from Southampton in 2014, where he had just enjoyed an outstanding season, but now time and time again the blame returns to him when Liverpool are a defensive shambles.
It is difficult to see how Lovren's shattered confidence can be restored after the humiliation of being taken off so early and Klopp will have to go some to repair their relationship.
Lovren takes his seat on the Liverpool bench after being taken off after just 31 minutes
Lovren's withdrawal was an act of mercy after a shocking half-hour performance at Wembley
Joel Matip is given the run around by Kane during Tottenham's win on Sunday
Alberto Moreno challenges Moussa Sissoko during Liverpool's 4-1 defeat at Wembley
Matip wasn't much better and at times he appears to have been dragged down by those around him in Liverpool's back line - he certainly looks diminished from the highly-rated player who arrived from Schalke last year.
It wasn't a great afternoon for Alberto Moreno either though Tottenham's threat came mainly down his side of the field.
The Spaniard is often singled out for his average performances as well and there's plenty of people who'd like to see more of Andrew Robertson at left-back, or even a return to the reliable James Milner.
Joe Gomez on the other side avoided criticism, though saying he was Liverpool's best defensive performer isn't saying much.
Klopp needs to find a solution to his team's defensive leakiness right away. It will be easier said than done.
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