Liverpool have put in far more poor performances than good ones up to this point of the season.
That’s the view of former Reds striker Michael Owen. Speaking to Premier League Productions after the Reds dismal 3-0 loss against Brighton today, Owen gave his assessment of his old team’s current struggles.
“Liverpool need to do some soul searching at the moment, find a way of bouncing back to what we all know they’re capable of,” he began. “We’ve seen it this season, we’ve absolutely seen it. They’ve beaten Manchester City 1-0, Bournemouth 9-0, they’ve been good in the Champions League, they’re into the next round of that.
“But we’ve also seen an inconsistency creep in. In fact, it’s now more consistent that they play poorly than they play well. So, you could argue that they’re more consistent than we give them credit for, but not for the right reasons!”
A season to forget for Liverpool
Anyone who’s seen all of Liverpool’s games this season will struggle to disagree with Owen’s point here.
Even in the games they’ve won, the Reds have regularly looked unconvincing. The only real standout performances are the two that Owen mentions.
The win over Bournemouth was shown to be pretty much a freak result, while the City win was a genuinely good display.
Some may point to away wins over Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur, as well as a victory against high-flying Newcastle United.
But in all three of those games, Liverpool felt lucky to snatch the points.
The Champions League has offered some respite. The away win over Ajax and the home game vs Napoli were particualr highlights. Again though, the Reds got away with some shockingly poor work in both matches.
So, here we find ourselves. The table doesn’t lie at the stage of the season, and it feels about right that Liverpool sit in ninth. Without Alisson Becker’s heroics, no doubt they’d be even lower.
Where they go from here is down to Jurgen Klopp and his players. They need to find it within themselves to become the side they used to be once again. Or even half of that, please, anything to stop this constant lurching from one disastrous performance to the next.
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