Trevor Steven: Liverpool are defending too deep and it has cost them any title chance
For so long a team who overwhelmed their opponents, Liverpool have become strangely hesitant and disconnected this season.
Against Arsenal on Sunday Jurgen Klopp’s side had good spells of possession and carried a goal threat but always looked stretched.
Their 3-2 defeat left them 10th in the Premier League, 14 points off the top of the table and scratching their heads over what has gone wrong.
There are a few factors. One is that some players have got a little longer in the tooth and can no longer cover the same amount of ground.
In the case of Jordan Henderson and James Milner, that has reduced their main strength and weakened the foundations of Klopp’s pressing game.
But if I was going to pin Liverpool’s slump on one thing then it would be the back line – and specifically where it is positioned.
They are playing about 2m deeper than last season. That has increased the spaces between the players, making the team stretched.
On top of that Virgil van Dijk has completely lost his form and, with it, control of the defence. He no longer seems to be looking across the line and telling the rest of the back four to push up.
He appears unsure whether to step out or not, as seen when Jadon Sancho was able to waltz through Liverpool’s penalty area and score in the defeat at Manchester United in August.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is getting most of the blame for the leaky defence but it should be shared out more equally.
Right-back Alexander-Arnold is very visible but other things are happening that are leaving him isolated and exposed.
Andy Robertson has been off the boil too, while his replacement at left-back, Kostas Tsimikas, isn’t quite at the same level.
So is Liverpool’s golden period under Klopp over?
In my time at Everton we had four years in the mid-1980s when we were the best team in the country.
Then a few players left, as well as the manager. A disconnect emerged and our results started to drop off.
No matter how hard we worked, we would have two or three wins and then another setback. Our total belief in the team had gone.
It feels like a similar thing has happened at Liverpool. Last season was a huge effort to match Manchester City in the Premier League and win an unprecedented quadruple.
They won two cups – on the face of it, a good season, but not the unbelievable one they put so much energy into chasing.
Since then they have lost a key player in Sadio Mane and some others have faded for the reasons I’ve discussed.
Because Liverpool’s players have shown how good they can be, they have perhaps forgotten what got them there.
That was winning the ball in the right areas, which came from holding a higher line. They are not putting that fear into opponents lately.
I don’t know if this deeper defence is on Klopp’s instruction – it’s hard to imagine him not having control over his team but surely he wants them to be more aggressive.
Either way, he can’t afford to wait to turn it around because at the moment they look like they could lose to anyone.
Any Premier League title challenge has gone, so it’s now about finishing in the top four. If they make the changes needed, I think they can and will do it.
But forget prioritising the Champions League – they can’t win that playing like this. It’s all about improving in the next game and they shouldn’t be looking at anything else for now.