Jurgen Klopp is facing arguably his greatest challenge as Liverpool manager, with the Reds hitting a new low in their shocking 2-1 defeat by Leeds at Anfield.
Five months ago, they were just two matches away from winning an iconic quadruple, now they are five points away from the relegation zone after a start to the season where everything appears to be going wrong.
And just when Liverpool appear to get a momentum swinging victory, like their 1-0 win over rivals Manchester City, they go two steps back with Leeds and Nottingham Forest – two of the most out-of-form sides in the country – able to take maximum points from a side who look a shell of their former selves.
Jurgen Klopp has been unable to find the answers to the questions thrown at Liverpool so far
Liverpool’s defeat to Leeds leaves them eight points off the Champions League places
Liverpool went through a similar slump in 2020-21, though that could be explained by the extent of their injury crisis that season.
Though the Reds have suffered injuries this season, this is still a team that has had the likes of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, £85million signing Darwin Nunez, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho and other key and experienced stars available to play.
And whether it be an ageing squad, the inability to buy a midfielder in the summer, or the mental hangover from painfully missing out on both the Premier League and Champions League, the Reds continue to self-destruct.
With just four games left until the World Cup, starting off with Europe’s great entertainers Napoli heading to Anfield on Tuesday, Sportsmail takes a look at six ways in which Jurgen Klopp can put a stop to Liverpool’s slide.
The Reds are a shell of the team that were so close to winning the quadruple last season
Revert to a 4-3-3
It can’t be said that Jurgen Klopp hasn’t tried different methods to stop Liverpool’s slump.
Earlier this month, he discarded Liverpool’s tried and trusted 4-3-3 formation, something which has been a regular fixture at Anfield since Klopp joined the club back in 2015.
He originally turned to a 4-4-2 set-up before switching to a diamond system against Ajax last week, and again at the weekend against Leeds.
While Liverpool would win 3-0 away against the Dutch side – who could have punished the Reds on several occasions if they were more clinical – it did not work against a struggling Leeds outfit who were comfortably better in the middle of the park.
Liverpool have changed to a 4-4-2 this month but the formation change hasn’t worked
What was clear against Leeds was that there was a lack of control and the two starting midfielders – Fabinho and Thiago – were continually bypassed by the energetic players Leeds had against them.
The system also doesn’t benefit Liverpool’s full-backs. Andrew Robertson did well to provide width and was one of their biggest threats, but he and Trent Alexander-Arnold regularly received the ball with no help out wide and would often have to play back to Virgil van Dijk or Joe Gomez.
With younger, more energetic players in the centre of the park, Liverpool could make it work.
But with Thiago, Fabinho and Jordan Henderson playing at their current levels, Liverpool will struggle to make the system work against teams with younger, more energetic players.
Fabinho and Thiago struggled to contend with Leeds’ energetic midfielders at the weekend
Drop Fabinho and Joe Gomez
You could go through the Liverpool squad and say that the majority of them are not playing to their usual standards.
But in recent matches, perhaps the most obvious weak links have been Joe Gomez and Fabinho.
Fabinho, has been one of Liverpool’s most reliable players since he joined the club, but this season he has been the shadow of the player that was the crucial cog in the midfield to help Liverpool win the biggest trophies in football.
In the first-half against Leeds, Klopp vented his rage at Fabinho, who was clearly unimpressed by being the focus of his manager’s attention.
It isn’t the first time that Klopp has been frustrated with his Brazilian midfielder this season, and with no signs yet suggesting he will return to his previous best, perhaps it’s time to drop the 29-year-old.
The normally reliable Fabinho has been performing well below his usual standards this season
Thiago struggled at the weekend but most of Liverpool’s more impressive displays this season have been when he’s been in the team and he should be the first name picked for their midfield.
Alongside him, even though he too has been off-form this season, the Reds should bring in captain Jordan Henderson.
Though his performances have also been underwhelming, there’s no questioning his leadership and experience and what the Reds need more than anything is better organisation and control – something Henderson could help them towards more than Fabinho.
If Klopp does change to a 4-3-3, instead of playing Fabinho as the third man, then one of the youngsters including Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones and Fabio Carvalho should come in – all of which can offer the Reds a creative output to get the ball towards their forward players.
Joe Gomez gave away a penalty against West Ham and made a huge mistake against Leeds
Though Gomez impressed against Manchester City, since then he has struggled massively.
He was lucky West Ham didn’t capitalise on the penalty he gave away for bundling over Jarrod Bowen, was given a hard-time against Nottingham Forest, and it was his poor back-pass that led to Leeds scoring inside four minutes.
Gomez also struggled massively in the 4-1 defeat to tomorrow’s opponents Napoli, and was at fault for the second and third goals in Italy.
Ibrahima Konate is back from injury and he should be played alongside Virgil van Dijk against Napoli on Tuesday.
The Reds will be boosted by the return of defender Ibrahima Konate from injury
Sort out their club doctor situation
It’s crazy to think but the Reds have been without a full-time club doctor since Jim Moxon left the club in August.
As reported by the Liverpool Echo, Head of Academy Medical, Bevin McCartan, and club physician Sarah Lindsay have temporarily assumed the primary medical duties with the first team this season and have been travelling to matches.
Andreas Schlumberger, head of recovery and performance, has also taken on extra responsibilities to help out.
Extra attention has been brought onto the fact that Liverpool are without a full-time doctor, due to the injuries currently affecting the senior squad.
Darwin Nunez became the 19th different Liverpool player to miss at least one game this season through a fitness concern in the 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Meanwhile, Diogo Jota, Konate, Andy Robertson, Thiago, Naby Keita, Luis Diaz, Arthur Melo, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Caoimhin Kelleher and Calvin Ramsay have all been sidelined for at least a month this season.
The number of injuries racking up but will be a serious worry for Klopp, and the Reds will be keen to have a full-time club doctor appointed to see if that helps reduce the amount of players visiting the treatment room.
The Reds have been without a permanent club doctor since Jim Moxon left back in August
Stop conceding so early!
If there’s anything he needs to do more than anything on this list, it’s arguably to sort out the amount of times they concede the first goal in matches.
It’s a fact that’s being played like a broken record, but it’s something Liverpool can’t seem to get out of their system.
The issue started at the end of last season and in seven of their 12 Premier League games this season they have conceded the first goal.
Only in one of those games, against Newcastle, did they come back and win – while in the other five games they’ve not conceded at all, winning four and drawing 0-0 with Everton.
Liverpool regularly concede the first goal in matches and Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli netted the quickest against the Reds this season inside the first minute at the Emirates
Liverpool would be in the bottom three if only the first-half of games counted in matches
Another telling statistic is that if games finished at half-time Liverpool would sit inside the relegation zone, with only Leeds and West Ham behind them but level on ten points.
On the other hand if only the second-half of matches counted, then Liverpool would be inside the top four with 22 points and just four off leaders Manchester City.
The mistake from Joe Gomez which allowed Rodrigo to score after four minutes on Saturday, typified how casual at times Liverpool have been defensively this season.
If they are to rectify this issue, then it will be no surprise to see the Reds climb the table.
More rotation
This one is perhaps easier said than done given Liverpool’s number of injuries so far this season.
But Liverpool are a team that look like they are struggling with mental and physical fatigue and that’s perhaps no surprise given how many games they played last campaign.
Since the start of last season, Liverpool have played more matches than any Premier League side – a staggering 81.
Opta stats show that last season they managed to cope with that by being able to rotate, averaging 4.7 line-up changes per game.
This season, injuries have meant that’s down to just three. Last season, only two Liverpool players played at least 75 per cent of possible minutes – one of which was Alisson.
Liverpool have played a staggering 81 games since the start of last season and look fatigued
This season five have had to play at least 75 per cent with Virgil van Dijk on 100 per cent (compared to 81 last season) and Mo Salah on 93 per cent (70 last season).
Aging players such as James Milner have had more minutes than what Klopp would probably like to give at this stage of his career.
The same can be said for a youngster like Harvey Elliott, who has been one of Liverpool’s bright sparks, but perhaps needs to be rotated more with Fabio Carvalho and Curtis Jones now the latter is back from injury.
What will benefit Liverpool is that some players will get a break over the World Cup period including Mohamed Salah.
That will also give more time for the likes of Luis Diaz to recover from injury, while some of those who will likely be called up for the World Cup – like Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold – might not get the same minutes across December like they normally would.
Injuries have meant the likes of Harvey Elliott (pictured) and James Milner have played more minutes this season than manager Klopp perhaps would have liked to given them
Sign a midfielder in January
Liverpool missed out on the signing of Aurelien Tchoaumeni in the summer and the Reds appear to be waiting to sign Jude Bellingham next summer.
They are the kind of side who prefer to wait for the right man to become available, but looking at the start to their season, there are quite a few players who would be able to improve and freshen up that Liverpool midfield.
If Liverpool are to push on and seal a top-four spot, it appears to be imperative for the Reds to add to their midfield during the January transfer window, and Klopp and the scouting team must be keeping an eye out for potential additions.
Liverpool are keen to sign Jude Bellingham but it’s no given they will sign the England star
And this isn’t like January two years ago when they signed an unproven Ozan Kabak on loan, or the summer where they signed an injury-ridden Arthur Melo on loan, they need a new player who can challenge the squad immediately.
Liverpool can’t afford to wait for Bellingham, a player who is so in demand that he might not necessarily move to Anfield – with Real Madrid also said to be interested which could mean a repeat of the Tchouameni situation.
The Reds have in the past been linked with the likes of Youri Tielemans, Konrad Leimer, Moises Caicedo, Frenkie de Jong and more in their search for a midfielder.
With Henderson, Thiago and James Milner in their 30s, and Fabinho now 29, Liverpool fans will be keen to see a younger player come in during the January window who can challenge their established veterans.
Liverpool might have to look elsewhere to avoid a repeat of losing Aurelien Tchouameni (left)
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