It was the worst first half performance we have seen from Liverpool in their recent history. It was one of the worst showings we have seen from a Jurgen Klopp side. The 4-1 defeat to Napoli means so much more than the three points lost on the night. It brings major question marks over this squad's ability, success and desire.
Liverpool haven’t done anything to prove they are an elite European side this season. They’ve only beaten Bournemouth and Newcastle. Napoli, who deserve huge credit for their performance, made them look like a second rate team but the Reds were shambolic.
Klopp’s charges played every single game of a domestic season last year as they came within a whisker (or two) of winning the quadruple. Now it seems as if the last five years were some sort of fever dream and we are back to Fabio Borini and Iago Aspas stinking the place up.
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They were second best to everything in that first half. They weren’t quick enough, strong enough, or positive enough in possession. Watching Joe Gomez was like watching an episode of ‘You’ve Been Framed.’ The first few gaffes drew a laugh and the odd wry smile but by the end you are genuinely wondering whether the guy on screen is okay.
He tripped over the ball before Virgil van Dijk bailed him out with a goal-line clearance, before he was bullied for Napoli’s third goal. The Englishman was shrugged off the ball with ease in his own box before Giovanni Simeone, son of Atletico Madrid manager Diego, tapped in three minutes into his Champions League debut. It was an impossible task for Van Dijk, who was essentially firefighting whilst playing alongside an arsonist.
Liverpool would end up getting severely burned. It wasn’t a matter of quality for the third, it was a lack of desire, something Klopp’s team could never have been accused of in the past. It came as a relief to all of us when Gomez was dragged off at half-time.
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Trent Alexander-Arnold decided to have another one of those games that means he will never be first choice for England where he decided that defending was something he would partake in only if the mood felt right. He could have stopped the third before the ball even got near his countryman.
Meanwhile, James Milner, who I have some sympathy for, played like a man who made his Premier League debut 20 years ago and should be nowhere near a Champions League midfield. Andy Robertson wouldn’t get into the Hull City side on this form and Darwin Nunez is playing like Santiago Munez in Goal, but unfortunately for him it is the bit where he loses his inhaler.
Mo Salah has somehow gone from one of the finest attackers in the world to the worst one in this Liverpool line-up. Klopp barely ever substitutes the Egyptian, but he was whipped off on the hour mark - a sign of his underwhelming performances this season. Without Sadio Mane, the balance of the Liverpool front-line has been sent out of whack.
Diogo Jota is returning to fitness and Luis Diaz was the only positive for Klopp, as he pulled one back in the second half and looked like the only man with the desire to keep on trying. It ended 4-1, but it could have been so much worse.
Napoli hit the bar within the opening minute, before Liverpool gave away two penalties, one scored by Piotr Zielinski and one saved by Alisson from Victor Osimhen’s effort. Then the Gomez comedy show began as he kamikazed his way out of Klopp’s future plans, as Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa doubled Napoli’s lead and Simeone made it three.
Joel Matip came on in his place as Liverpool conceded three in the first half of a Champions League match for the first time since 2014. But Klopp’s words fell on deaf ears as Zielinkski made it four two minutes after the interval before Luis Diaz scored what would be a consolation goal.
This was bad for Liverpool. Like pre Erik ten Hag Manchester United bad. They are just so predictable and without that cutting edge, they are being made to look so ordinary. They play the same system every week, their defence is now an obvious weak point and a midfield of Milner, Fabinho and Harvey Elliott isn’t going to win you anything. Liverpool are in trouble, and Napoli have just showed us how big the problem might be for Jurgen Klopp.
