Lessons still haven’t been learnt at Liverpool, but it’s not too late to fix things

Supporting Liverpool often feels like Groundhog Day. Admittedly it was one of my favourite movies growing up.

If we are to learn any lessons from the movie (although I doubt Jurgen Klopp has it in his video reel for the players this week) it’s that the protagonist finally sees the errors of his ways and goes about righting his wrongs.

It seems to be a recurring theme with Liverpool football club that come January, the wheels inevitably comes off. It probably wouldn’t be as frustrating if two of those times some investment during the January transfer window could have helped maintain a title challenge.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – Sunday, January 14, 2018: Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

In the 2008-2009 season we were top of the league at Christmas only to be knocked off by the red team from Manchester because Rafa Benitez wasn’t given the funds to add to a strike force that boasted David N’gog as its back-up striker and was forced to do without Fernando Torres for a vital part of the season.

Last January we faced similar issues with injuries to key players and the absence of Sadio Mane at the African Cup of Nations putting a dent in any title aspirations.

You could argue last season was our best chance to win the league for the foreseeable future with Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho just taking over and trying to get to grips with their squad of players.

Unfortunately, we failed to seize on the opportunity, putting faith in players that were obviously not up to the task, falling to home losses to Swansea and Hull to name some of the lacklustre results after Christmas.

So, what’s the difference this year? Well this time round we aren’t close to winning the league but the wheels do appear to have come off, or at least are on their final hinges. I questioned the statement by Klopp that the returning Adam Lallana would be able to fill the gap vacated by the departed Philippe Coutinho as I didn’t think the Englishman would remain fit till the end of the season.

READ MORE: Why it’s crucial Sadio Mané returns to top form sooner rather than later

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – Friday, January 5, 2018: Liverpool’s Adam Lallana during the FA Cup 3rd Round match between Liverpool FC and Everton FC, the 230th Merseyside Derby, at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Where’s Lallana? Injury setback. I warned before the Swansea game that if we stood still while those around us strengthened their squads we would be in severe danger of failing to reach our targets for the season. And the teams around us continue to strengthen.

Many fans argued that we had strengthened through signing Virgil Van Dijk. He’s played 3 games for Liverpool and it doesn’t look like he has even come close to fixing our shambolic defence. The reason is that one player cannot fix a defence.

The issues are not difficult to see. Players lose their men, they make rash challenges, get caught out of position and are not good defenders. We don’t have a goalkeeper, another issue I’ve brought up, and we don’t have a specialist defensive midfielder.

Speaking of defensive midfielders, I find it mind-boggling that Klopp has given the captain’s armband to a player who he himself admitted on Sunday is running down his contract so he can leave on a free.

In all honesty I’m not really sure what’s happening at the club. Unfortunately, I’m not in England and I’m unable to attend press conferences to ask the manager a number of questions that I’d like to. I don’t really know why the journalists at these press conferences don’t ask the hard-hitting questions and let Klopp get away with saying some of the things he does.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – Sunday, January 14, 2018: Liverpool’s manager Jürgen Klopp reacts during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

He’s said some shocking things during his time as our manager but the media like him so they try not to upset him too much in the hope that he can give them good sound bites, which he usually does. That’s not to say in any way shape or form that I don’t support the team or the manager.

It’s possible to support your team and back the manager and still have issues with some of the decisions being made.

If you looked at the league table and noticed we were still in the Champions League you’d probably ask why I was getting all worked up. Losing to the team bottom of the league with the sort of performance you wouldn’t expect from your local Sunday League team and getting knocked out of the FA Cup, possibly our best chance of silverware this season, by West Brom, at home, means there is something wrong.

Not only that but it seems to keep happening at the same time every year, and the short-sightedness is galling to say the least because I don’t claim to be an expert but the team’s issues are there for all to see, yet nothing is done about it.

READ MORE: Why is Emre Can such a divisive figure at Liverpool?

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – Sunday, January 14, 2018: Liverpool’s captain Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

If I can see the issues then obviously managers of other teams and their crack teams of analysts can see where Liverpool’s weaknesses lie. The question is, why can’t Klopp? If he can, then why hasn’t he done anything about?

Is the answer the owners? His quotes about improving the players he has instead of bringing others in would suggest that he just doesn’t want to bring in new players or he believes the transfer fees being demanded now are illogical.

If the latter is the case then he doesn’t have a leg to stand on because we spent a record £75 million on Van Dijk and we were happy to take Barca to the cleaners for Coutinho. You can’t have it all your way, sometimes you need to either bite the bullet or try and find a compromise.

The club is facing the same issue as it was last year; our season is in danger of derailing. Last year though we started off like a house on fire and managed to hold on from being top to finishing fourth.

This time round, we’re in fourth, we can’t afford to lose our grip on that position. Two weeks ago, it looked like we were going to give Chelsea and Man Utd a run for their money to finish in either second or third.

SWANSEA, WALES – Monday, January 22, 2018: Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah looks dejected after missing a chance during the FA Premier League match between Swansea City FC and Liverpool FC at the Liberty Stadium. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Now what needs to be done? I’ve been saying for some time that the club needs to bring in someone to fill the gap left by Coutinho or at least to give the manager more options going forward. The obvious choice is Riyad Mahrez who has been one of the most effective attacking midfielders/wingers in the Premier League in the last 3 seasons.

He’s also not cup-tied for the Champions League. The club also needs to try and replace Can who is obviously leaving in the summer, and they need to do it now. The club is crying out for a defensive midfielder to give that back four some protection but for some reason we don’t seem to be in the market for any (and no Naby Keita is not a defensive midfielder).

We also need a goalkeeper but Klopp has said he’s going to give Karius until the end of the season to prove if he’s good enough (just letting you guys know from now, he’s not).

SWANSEA, WALES – Monday, January 22, 2018: Liverpool’s goalkeeper Loris Karius looks dejected as Swansea City score the opening goal during the FA Premier League match between Swansea City FC and Liverpool FC at the Liberty Stadium. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Which means realistically (without having any knowledge of whether there is money to spend because no journalist has actually asked Klopp that and no-one seems to have mentioned the huge transfer kitty Klopp was allegedly promised in the summer that never got spent – side note, it’s funny how every time we lost or draw with someone towards the end of the season we would get a story of some kind about how Klopp was going to get a warchest that he could use to strengthen the squad and funny how it never materialised) with the £140 million received for Coutinho, £75mn went on Van Dijk, leaving £65 million.

I’m sure we could tempt Leicester with £50 million for Mahrez despite what Claud Puel says, leaving £15 million for a defensive midfielder. How much did Leicester pay for N’Kolo Kante? £5.6 million. Are you telling me there aren’t any players like that out there?

Do we even have a scouting team or do we just buy Southampton players? Taking inflation into account you could realistically find a specialist defensive midfielder for £15 million and that would mean we’ve not really spent any money.

The likelihood of the club even considering doing any of the things I have suggested is slim to none though, even with club legend Steven Gerrard sticking the boot in. I guess Groundhog Day was a movie, so it’s a stretch to expect people in the real world to do the right thing in the end, but you can always hope.

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