Loss to Everton is the end of the title charge for Liverpool, says Jamie Carragher
Any frustrations for any Liverpool fan all over the world are totally justified. It seemed like the Reds did not have a game plan against Everton. Worse, it felt like they were woken up in the middle of their sleep and dropped away at Goodison Park. Jurgen Klopp’s supposed fairytale ending has gone down like a spiral and Jamie Carragher is spot on in saying that this brings an end to the title aspirations.
For a large section of fans who held hopes after the shambolic draw away to Manchester United (A) earlier this season, this result will make them realise that this team will finish the season as only the Carabao Cup winners. It would take a miracle for Liverpool to win the league from this point onwards. It is not like Manchester City and Arsenal will play the rest of their games with their reserve sides. We can surely wave the league away. Here is what Carra had to say on Sky Sports after the 2-0 loss to Everton at Goodison.
“This is the end of the title run for Liverpool.
“It almost feels like the end. They just have to make sure they finish the season strongly.”
“They are not clinical enough in both boxes.”
Let’s ascertain where it all went wrong. It did not go wrong on grass at all. It all went down on the 26th of Januar when the manager announced his decision to step down at the end of the current campaign. What we believed would serve as a mental boost to the players has visibly sucked all their energy out.
Absolutely no attacking vigour, defensively shambolic and not enough control in the middle of the park. There was surely no reason to drop Harvey Elliott after he put in such a wonderful shift against Fulham. Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai felt like the same player on the pitch with their performance, and the level of frustration they were allowing onto the Reds’ faithful.
Alexis Mac Allister and Luis Diaz were the only players on the pitch who seemed like they were trying to do something for the collective good. Darwin Nunez, wasteful as usual. Mohamed Salah, also very disappointing. Everton have one of the best defensive records in the league and are monsters in the air.
Long-ball tactics against them would surely not work. Their physical superiority in the middle of the park was also too tough for the Reds’ midfielders to handle. Let’s not even get to the referee who gave a foul to the Toffees for every little thing. However, that is part and parcel of the game, and we should rather focus on what Liverpool can control.
We were absolutely bossing the league in December. AFCON took away Mohamed Salah, he got injured on international duty and did not return as the same player which disputed the entire momentum. Klopp also made his decision at the same duration which has had an adverse negative effect on the group, That is the truth whether you like it or not.
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As Carra rightly said, we can only ensure to finish the league better than what we made of it in the last few weeks. This is surely not what Jurgen Klopp deserves.
