Liverpool’s latest outing after the international break will have hardly left most fans feeling optimistic as Brighton snatched a share of the spoils courtesy of Leandro Trossard’s hat-trick heroics.
Sharing his thoughts after the game, Mirror journalist David Maddock noted on Twitter that Fabinho, in particular, looked ‘miles off’ during proceedings.
Honestly don't know what has happened to #LFC defence this season.
Brighton tore them apart at will, looked like creating chances every time they got the ball wide.
Not just back 4 though…Fabinho miles off, and no structure in rest of midfield through whole game.#Shambolic
— David Maddock (@MaddockMirror) October 1, 2022
In a continuation of a worrying theme from the start of the campaign, the middle of the park was once again far too easy to play through, inviting yet more questions being asked of a troublesome backline.
VOTE for Empire of the Kop as Best Club Content Creator (Premier League) here: Football Content Awards
OR on Twitter with the FCA’s one-click Twitter link with: I am voting for @Empireofthekop in @The_FCAs for #BestClubContentCreator (Premier League)
With the gap to the top of the table extending to 11 points (albeit we do still possess a game-in-hand), it does raise concerns over what our season could potentially look like given that our issues don’t look close to being solved in the near future.
It was thought that restoring Jordan Henderson to the middle of the park would grant us more defensive stability, adding balance to a midfield that was leaning on the offensive side with Harvey Elliott.
Whether a further tactical tweak from Jurgen Klopp and his coaching staff is required to get his underperforming stars back to their best remains to be seen.
Whatever the solution, we can’t keep allowing our most-trusted lieutenants to keep letting us down on a regular basis.
Big Liverpool problem may have already been solved after Merson notes international break advantage