As disjointed in the game as in its position in the Premier League table, Liverpool tries to recover its identity, that spirit that not so long ago, just two seasons, had allowed it to fly over English and European football.
It seems incredible, but now the reds are wandering around the Premier, misplaced in the depth of the mid-table, as close to relegation as the places that lead to Europe, all nonsense because their standard lineup hasn't changed that much either.
Salah, Firmino, Van Dijk, Thiago, Fabinho or Alisson continue to play at Anfield, and yet his image is a parody of that of then: at times he is timid, notably powerless in finishing and unbalanced in defensive work.
The situation infuriates Jürgen Klopp, his coach, so angry in the final stretch that he would end up on the street with a direct red card.
Perhaps the absence of Mané – transferred to Bayern – weighs on him; the Germans had reacted quickly once Barça had taken over Lewandowski–, but Liverpool has a hard time killing games. There are doubts about Salah or Firmino, who in recent times have not been solving like in other times, rather the opposite: the Egyptian Salah was showing so anxious yesterday that at first he had not been able to solve a one-on-one against Ederson.
He did it the second time.
It was already happening in the last quarter of an hour of the game, when City was scratching and just waiting for some connection between a subdued De Bruyne and Håland, a magnificent duo although very little in a team like the citizen, full of top-of-the-line elements (Bernardo Silva, Foden, Gundogan...).
In reality, Guardiola's City is bothered by games like the one at Anfield, a haphazard street runner, no football-control. Immersed in the global bewilderment, few balls reached Håland, nor was he too convinced of his role at Anfield: this time he was a failure in multiple actions, except for the goal that was annulled due to a previous foul.
The game exemplified the reality of current English football, so passionate and vertical –at times, its verticality refers to NBA basketball– as disconcerting, since City does not resolve as it used to (yesterday's was its first defeat in this Premier League), Liverpool fiddles and wonders what will become of him in the coming months, Manchester United yearns for the times of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsenal, hypothetically minor and depersonalized in recent seasons, manages the lead with four points from margin.
