Liverpool suffered a disappointing defeat against relegation threatening West Bromwich in the Emirates FA cup on Saturday. This came as shock to many Liverpool fans. Their team still ship in three goals against a side that hardly scores.
This is not just a disappointment but a worrying concern after the Reds payed a record £75m for Virgil Van Dijk from Southampton this winter. Jurgen Klopp side is having a torrid period at this point in time and a team with this kind of inconsistent performance will find it difficult winning a trophy not to mention the premier league.
What do Liverpool and Klopp have to do to win a trophy then? The first problem starts from the manager. The German tactician is currently not living to the standard the club and fans expect from him after he got almost all the signings he wants.
With a lethal attack that consist of Mo Salah, Robert Firmino and Saido Mane and still find it difficult to beat two relegation fighting clubs in Swansea and West Brom shows the problem is more from the coach than the players.
It is a system that the players have not found a balance in, especially on how to attack and defend as a collective unit. This is where Klopp have to step forward.
With the array of these attacking talents, keeping possession becomes easier and this deny your opponent the chance to get to your defence line not to mention scoring three goals in a match.
Dejan Loveren was seen as the problem before but now that he has been dropped and Van Dijk has taken his place, it is obvious how that the tactical setup is the problem. No single player will come into the Liverpool team at this point in time and solve the inconsistency performance from the team.
It is the job of every coach to find the system that best suit the players he has at his disposal and get the best out of them. Liverpool attacking players seems not to understand how the team should shape up whenever they are off the ball which sometimes shows their lacklustre attitude when the opposition is heading towards their goal post.
This was evident in West Brom win at Anfield on Saturday. There have to be a balance in attack and defensive duty by the whole team and the only person that can entrench this into the team is Klopp. He needs to do more in this aspect.
The mentalities that Klopp is the only man that can return Liverpool to the glory days also need to be quenched. The club is bigger than any manager and will exist after every manager.
There seems to be this job security the German enjoy at Anfield that makes him see it that nothing happens, win or lose. Liverpool board have to start demanding more from the manager apart from touchline drama when they win after the investment on the team so far since he has joined in 2015.