Jurgen Klopp warned that Liverpool lacks courage in the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Thiago Alcantara
Danny Murphy, talking on the BBC Match of the Day (h/t The Mirror), expressed his belief that Liverpool lacks adventurism in their team when Thiago Alcantara and Trent Alexander-Arnold are missing.
The Spaniard was not part of the matchday squad against Nottingham Forest while Trent started the game on the bench. It can be argued that two major facets of the Reds’ gameplay were missing while the duo weren’t on the field.
With Thiago absent, the Reds failed to control the midfield and were too often outfought. This loss of control was further exaggerated by Fainho’s total lack of form and effort. It left us open to opposition attacks and Forest took full advantage of it.
Trent on the other hand has been the Reds’ creative tour-de-force on the right flank. However, he has failed to hit the same heights this season and is woefully off form. The Englishman’s high-risk, high-return style leaves us defensively vulnerable but often makes a difference in attack. James Milner, unfortunately, does not have the same x-factor.
“Once you take Thiago and Trent out of that XI, you don’t really have anyone who has that courage to keep looking up and keep trying to split defences, especially packed defences like that.”
Jurgen Klopp will be well aware of the deficiencies in his roster given the current difficulties. With or without Trent and Thiago, Liverpool should be beating Nottingham Forest. Despite creating only a handful of opportunities, it was in fact, the lack of finishing that did us in on the night.
The Reds are also struggling with injuries to several key players. Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota are both out until after the World Cup and their absence has taken some fizz out of the Liverpool attack.
“They are missing a lot of players, like Diaz, Jota and Nunez. As Jurgen Klopp said, from set-plays, they did create chances. Although, in general play there was an inevitability about the lack of creativity.”
The inconsistency in creativity and finishing is one thing but Liverpool’s incompetence to control the midfield has been the root cause of all problems. In all fairness, we have plenty of concerns all over the pitch to address.
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The likes of Trent and Fabinho have seemed massively out of sorts this season. It remains to be seen if they are saving themselves for the World Cup and playing it safe. Should that be the case, there can be no excuses for them to not step it up when the crunch time returns post the finals in Qatar.
