Saturday afternoon saw Liverpool take on Nottingham Forest at Anfield, and despite the game being locked at 0-0 at half-time, some calamitous defending from both sides after the break saw the game end 3-2 to the hosts.
In many ways, the match summed up the problems that the Reds have encountered on numerous occasions during this campaign, and which sees them scrambling to get into the European places by the end of the season.
Forest came to the red half of Merseyside on the back of an abysmal run of eight losses and three draws in their last 11 Premier League games per WhoScored, but with a bit more belief and defensive nous, they might well have come away from Anfield with at least a point.
No wonder Jurgen Klopp was none too happy after the match.
“Throw-ins created a proper mess for us,” he was quoted as saying in his post-match press conference by the Liverpool ECHO.
“You can prepare for a lot in football and this game was now the preparation for the future. But for this kind of thing, obviously we were not prepared well enough because we knew about the threat.
“[…]The first ball we could have defended better I think. Ibou Konate was a bit too much in a fight with whoever was around him, but how he dealt with the second ball, the third ball and the fourth ball was actually not even close to being good enough because they won all of them and always put the ball back into an area. That in the end caused massive problems. I think especially the second goal they scored, we should have (cleared it).
“As a player who is not directly involved, you need to read the situation better. There is one who fights for the ball and all the rest have to pick up where the next potential threat is. That was not good enough.”
The German’s ire is totally understandable. With the greatest of respect to Nottingham Forest, man for man they aren’t close to the talent that this Liverpool side have.
Perhaps it’s a matter of complacency for some Reds stars. Both in terms of the teams they play and on an individual level, the knowledge that their place in the starting line-up is assured.
How else do you explain their vulnerabilities this season?
With only a handful of games left now in 2022/23, Klopp’s can’t afford any more sub-standard showings if they want to be assured of a European campaign again next season.