And if Jürgen Klopp doesn’t do something about his defence then he won’t be the last looking for an exit.
This was the German boss’s 100th game in charge of Liverpool and, if anything, defensively things have gone backwards.
At least in his first game against Spurs, they kept a clean sheet and that’s something that has been in short demand since then.
Watford had three corners all game and they scored from their first – after seven minutes – and their last, three minutes into stoppage time.
And it means of the 85 goals that Klopp’s Reds have conceded a staggering 27 have come from set-pieces.
But even Liverpool legends Jamie Carragher and Jamie Redknapp couldn’t agree on who – or what – is to blame for an appalling record.
Redknapp insists that Virgin Van Dijk would cure a lot of the Reds’ ills, claiming: “They have got no leader at the back and these two (Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren) aren’t good enough.”
But Carra countered: “The way Liverpool set up at set-pieces, they’ll always concede goals. One man is not going to improve that.”
New Watford boss Marco Silva revealed: “Even last season at Hull we scored one goal from a set-piece against Liverpool.
“They are important moments of the match. Every set-piece can make a difference, we worked on them to make a difference.”
No-one could say they didn’t see the Hornet’s stoppage time winner coming…every time they flung the ball into the box there was panic.
Klopp had a wry smile on the touchline after another Liverpool meltdown – but their fans won’t find anything funny about another defensive horror show.
Seven minutes was all it needed to expose the old defensive frailty that has been so damaging to Liverpool through a succession of recent managers.
That wasn’t such a surprise but for it to come from the very first corner they have defended in the new Premier League campaign underlines why it is essential if they can’t get Van Dijk they must bring in someone who can add steel and organisation to their backline and stop losing the ball carelessly in midfield.
Emre Can, still to sign a new contract, apparently wants to be guaranteed a starting place. How can anyone offer him that when he’s still prone to such costly lapses?
Roberto Pereyra seized on the opportunity, twisted between Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dejan Lovren and only a deflection behind by the Croation prevented Golden Boys going ahead.
But it was only temporary respite. From the resulting corner, Stefano Okako got in front of Roberto Firmino – what is the Reds’ smallest player doing on marking duty against a striker? – and buried his header beyond Simon Mignolet.
What made it worse is that it was a totally routine ploy, the ball plonked just outside the six yard box but, yet again, the Liverpool players paid to defend had gone AWOL.
The first goal was criminal but the second was even worse. The travelling Kop were in full voice after a slick move started and finished by Sadio Mane brought them level on 29 minutes.
The Senegalese flyer played a couple of one twos with Alberto Moreno and after a wall pass with Emre Can beat Heurelho Gomes easily.
But within two minutes Watford has regained their lead, after another string of aberrations in the box. Moreno missed a tackle, Lovren was nowhere to be seen and Trent Alexander-Arnold should have cleared but struck teammate Joel Matip and Abdoulaye Doucoure gleefully rammed home from close range.
Liverpool slipped into fifth gear. Mohamed Salah was brought down after pushing the ball past Gomes, and Roberto Firmino kept his nerve to sidefoot into the corner with the keeper going the wrong way.
And in their next attack, Vicarage Road was rocked as new boy Salah was on the end of an almost route one raid.
Lovren lifted the ball over Watford’s back line, Firmino brilliantly chipped the onrushing Gomes and the Chelsea reject was there to tap it in.
When Matip hit the bar and Lovren saw his powerful header superbly save by Gomez any team with Champions League aspirations would have held out.
But not Liverpool. Miguel Britos had a header punched behind by Mignolet but from the corner there was an almighty scramble and the Belgian keeper was blocked by Britos who tapped home after Brazilian youngster Richarlison’s hit the underside of the bar.
Klopp was adamant it should have been ruled out: “We were unlucky in the end. The equaliser was offside. It’s obvious because the linesman is on the line. He needs to see it.
And on defending set-pieces he admitted: “We have to work on it, but that’s my life, our life, in football.”
