Liverpool find themselves in waters not traversed since Jurgen Klopp first took over the reins from Brendan Rodgers in the middle of the 2015/16 campaign.
The starting-XI regularly finds itself in a state of total discord with the German facing a nightmare scenario of a leaky backline and a toothless front-three.
Analysing the Reds’ concerns on the Gary Neville Podcast (via Sky Sports), the former Manchester United fullback called out the current back four for their inexcusably poor performances of late.
“They’re nowhere near, it was almost a ‘where do they start’ type of reaction after the game,” the Englishman said.
“There are internationals in that back four – in fact, all of them are – and they’re nowhere near good enough.
“There’s absolutely no excuse for that. There are other teams who have had injuries defensively who have managed better.”
Ibrahima Konate did, admittedly, join Virgil van Dijk in the treatment room after suffering a hamstring issue – the pair of whom would have been Klopp’s first-choice centre-half pairing – though it’s difficult to understand the scale of the drop-off given the quality that remains.
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Joel Matip, to use an example, was rightly deemed one of the most underrated centre-backs in world football based on the quality of his outings last term.
Joe Gomez has suffered a spate of injuries that have made his time at Anfield challenging, to say the least, though the ability he has available is surely enough to propel us beyond the middle of the table.
It all raises serious questions about the long-term futures of a number of stars ahead of what is likely to be a crossroads of a summer transfer window come the end of the campaign.
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