Jamie Carragher told CBS Sport on Paramount+ (14/04/21 at 9:55 pm) that there has been a ‘drop off’ from Liverpool trio Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah following their Champions League exit.
Rather than start, Diogo Jota, or even take the risk of playing all four against Real Madrid, Jurgen Klopp went for his tried and trusted Liverpool forward line last night.
Whilst Liverpool will question how they didn’t score, especially in the first half, it was another game where the English champions failed to find the back of the net.
And Carragher made it clear that Liverpool’s ‘biggest problem’ is scoring, not their well-documented defensive issues, following their Champions League exit.
“I didn’t think Liverpool would get through,” said Carragher. “I would say it’s probably one of the best I have seen Liverpool play, certainly since the turn of the year. I thought they were outstanding.
“A lot of the time this season, the focus has been at centre-back because of the players that they have got out. The biggest problem for Liverpool this season has been scoring goals. It really has. That’s the biggest problem.
“The front three for Liverpool, now four if you add Jota, but the front three who started tonight. That’s what this team will be remembered for when we look back at Jurgen Klopp’s time.
“But famous front three’s for any team don’t normally stay together this long. This is almost the fourth or fifth season they are together. You go back to the 2018 Champions League final. They scored 91 goals. This season there is only 46.
“So, there has been a drop-off and that has to be broken up. I am not talking about selling people. But they need to bring someone in to break that up and almost have a new front three. Tonight, if that had been the front three of four years ago, the way they were playing, then Liverpool would have had a decent chance of going through. That’s what has let them down. Missing chances in this game.”
Jota’s capture in the summer proves that bringing in fresh faces does work because he has had some impact at the club.
Injuries may have stagnated his progress recently, but it could be argued that he should be starting ahead of either Sadio Mane or Roberto Firmino now.
Whilst Firmino has been dropped and criticised for his performances, it seems as though there has been less sound around Mane, who has been outscored by Jesse Lingard in the Premier League this season.
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