Jurgen Klopp has claimed that Liverpool’s 4-1 defeat to Napoli in the Champions League last week was the ‘worse game’ his team has played since he has been at the club, as he told Sky Sports.
The Liverpool boss added that ‘everyone remembers Aston Villa’, as he made reference to their 7-2 defeat at Villa Park in 2020, but surprisingly enough he doesn’t think that’s the worse of the lot.
At the time, Liverpool were champions of England, so they were in a much better position than they were in Naples last week.
A first-half Ollie Watkins hat-trick caused havoc on that evening to forget for Liverpool, with then-Dean Smith’s side going into the break 4-1 up.
In comparison, the Reds were 3-0 down at Napoli, with Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez at the heart of the defence, just like they were against Aston Villa – on both occasions Gomez was hooked off by his manager.
But given that 7-2 game was one of the worst results in Liverpool’s history, and it was before Van Dijk and Gomez’s long-term injuries, Klopp doesn’t think it’s the worst performance, which might surprise a few.
“It was a real horror show (against Napoli), to be honest,” said Klopp. “We showed the boys the situation as well, but they knew and seeing it again makes it really obvious.
“It was the worse game we have played since I was here and we have had a few games. We all know that. Everyone remembers Aston Villa and some others maybe.
“We weren’t up to speed, but there were still glimpses of us, even in these games (against Villa). But in this particular game, nothing.”
KLOPP FACING HIS BIGGEST TEST
The issue facing Klopp now is that, compared to the Villa game, his more senior and important players are older without any real depth behind them.
This is an ageing squad, with two centre-backs who have had performance issues since they suffered their long-term injuries during that 2020/21 campaign.
Then there is the midfield issue, which the Anfield faithful felt needed to be dealt with last summer, but fast forward to the present and it’s Arthur Melo securing a loan move from Juventus on transfer deadline day.
All in all, Liverpool still have time to turn it around, starting with the Dutch champions Ajax tonight, but if things continue the way they are, then many will seriously start to worry.
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