Liverpool were mentality monsters, now are mentality midgets

Confidence is everything in football. If you don’t have it, you look like Liverpool. If you do have it, you look like Fulham. Who would have thought that the current champions and Champion League winners were in the red shirts and the relegation strugglers, sitting in 18th place were in white, during the Sunday 1-0 defeat at Anfield?

The Reds used to be undefeated at home for ages, now are winless for ages. The last time they had six home defeats? In 1953-54 - when they finished bottom of the league. A small crisis turned into the huge one, but it’s still the same players (minus the injured ones) who lifted the Premier League trophy just a year ago. It’s just the change of mentality, and former Champions League winner Jamie Carragher knows it.

„Jurgen Klopp previously called this team "mentality monsters" and that was absolutely right at the time. But right now they are like "mentality midgets". This team is just not dealing well with adversity at any point in the last four months. And that's just not acceptable at Liverpool“ said former Reds defender to Sky Sports.

At the start of the result crisis, there was a moment when Liverpool coach had to acknowledge that the Reds will not be able to retain the champions title. A few weeks later, even the Champions League place is a tricky topic.

"You can imagine that into the top four is not really my concern at the moment. I understand that, but I cannot think about that. We have to win football games. If we win one football game, that would be helpful And then we would see the rest“ said Klopp, painfully aware that they can’t even do the most common thing in football – win.

The German tried mixing the squad, leaving Trent Alexander-Arnold, Sadio Mane, and Thiago Alcantara on the bench (or just resting them ahead of the Champions League game with Leipzig?), but that didn’t help. The club tried to lift the spirits by hiring the airplane to carry the banner „Unity is strength - let's go reds – YNWA“ over the stadium, but it ended in abuse and laughter even from their own fans, not to mention the others. 

So what was the problem for a club playing against the relegation candidates? They only registered just three shots on target.

„It was not good enough. We conceded a goal, didn't score, lost the game. Not good enough. I've had a few interviews to try and explain the result and it's just that we had to make some changes and wanted to make some more. It is clear it takes some time to adapt, especially when you know that Fulham are in a good moment and a good football-playing side. It was clear. We started OK, had direction, especially when we tried to get Mo Salah in behind. We used them, they had their moments against our last line. We conceded a goal when we didn't expect it and it was only a few moments before halftime. We got more used to each other, played some good stuff, created chances but didn't score. And the longer the game goes in our situation it is not that you get stronger and stronger, you get a little bit less. That is why we lost" explained Klopp.

Next for Liverpool – unstoppable Leipzig. The Germans only lost to the Reds in the first leg, every other match in Germany they won. What should Klopp do? He needs to give them some kind of confidence boost. Maybe let them look at DVD tapes of themselves from last season? Or just have a „team retreat“ in the Scottish mountains? Right now, anything he tries is legitimate.