Liverpool’s “mess” is worse than it initially seemed as this form of Arne Slot’s side have no chance of winning the Premier League title this season.
As we stand, Liverpool in their current form will not win the Premier League this season.
On the face of it, this could seem too severe of an early assessment of the Premier League holders after they won their first five league games, but their underlying issues in these matches have been laid bare in their last three outings.
Liverpool relied on their champion mentality and moments of quality from individuals for their winning start to the new campaign, but this papered over the cracks and it was only going to be a matter of time before they were exposed.
This happened in their deserved defeats against Crystal Palace and Galatasaray, but their performance against Chelsea was even more concerning.
Their previous worrying displays have come with the caveat of head coach Arne Slot adjusting Liverpool’s playing style to cope with a natural No.10 and the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s creativity, while also dealing with a mass squad overhaul after a £400m+ spend on signings.
After the 1-0 loss to Galatasaray,Jamie Carragher claimed Liverpool must revert to how they operated last season as “they are playing basketball” and don’t look like a “top team”.
“Right now, I think [Florian Wirtz] needs to come out of the team, Liverpool get back to where they were last season and then go from there and try and build some confidence and defensive solidity because right now it is a mess.”
And after Slot ignored Carragher’s advice following Liverpool’s 4-2 opening day win over AFC Bournemouth, the pundit can claim an assist for the changes made for the Chelsea game.
Slot did indeed drop Wirtz for a second big Premier League match as Dominik Szoboszlai moved back to midfield, while Conor Bradley started ahead of Jeremie Frimpong at right-back.
So, Alexander Isak, Milos Kerkez and Giorgi Mamardashvili were the only exceptions in an otherwise 2024/25 Liverpool side, with the forward-thinking Wirtz and Frimpong sacrificed for “defensive solidity”.
It is alarming that they were still a “mess” against Chelsea.
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Liverpool’s start was bright enough, but they swiftly conceded control of the contest and were emphatically punished by former target Moises Caicedo, who was given far too much space to advance before thumping the ball into the top corner from 20 yards out.
This left Liverpool shell-shocked as they resembled a randomly selected XI of players in the same team for the first time, with all of their starters guilty of stray passes and schoolboy mistakes amid a severe lack of cohesion and precise play.
Cody Gakpo was arguably the only bright spark in an otherwise awful team performance, with so many far below the immense standards set last season.
Mohamed Salah was anonymous, Alexis Mac Allister was chasing shadows, Ibrahima Konate was careless and the two rash full-backs were dominated by their wingers.
Slot’s response to this was to take off Bradley, who was on a yellow card and bound to see red had he stayed on, and move Szoboszlai back to right-back, while Wirtz replaced him in the No.10 role.
This change almost paid off immediately as Wirtz spun a sublime pass to Salah, who could not finish Liverpool’s best move of the game as he shot wide.
Wirtz’s half-time substitution, plus the subsequent introductions of Andy Robertson and Curtis Jones to replace Milos Kerkez and Konate, improved Liverpool, who were let off the hook by a charitable Chelsea side missing nine first-team stars due to injury.
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Slot took a punt by going all-out attack and this initially paid off, with Gakpo smashing the ball home from close range to equalise following an inadvertent lay-off via Isak’s loose touch. No, Gary Neville, he didn’t mean it.
Once Liverpool found the net, it felt inevitable that their attackers would carry them to another late win and undeserved victory.
However, Liverpool were just as poor after their goal as they were before their leveller as Slot’s side in their current form were incapable of kicking on to punish Chelsea.
Instead, the Blues came on strong in the closing stages and were rewarded with a last-gasp winner via Estevao’s finish at the back post.
This latest last-minute goal in a Premier League season filled with late drama condemns Liverpool to their third straight defeat and they drop one point behind new leaders Arsenal into second.
Even with Slot’s sensible pre-match decisions, Liverpool are still a “mess” and their problems seem even more severe than a couple of days ago, with the head coach needing to find answers quickly to avoid his side’s pursuit of back-to-back Premier League titles faltering before the New Year.
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