sport news Feeble, frustrating and forgettable: Liverpool's season limps on trends now
It was telling, not just in Jurgen Klopp’s words but in his demeanour, when he said there would be no big movies about this season and admitted ‘we have to go through it anyway’.
Telling in the frustration that Trent Alexander-Arnold reacted with when his goalbound free-kick crashed into Jordan Henderson and when the full back trudged off in the second half without the usual hug from his manager. And telling in the way Liverpool’s players spoke afterwards.
The last train back from Euston to Liverpool on Saturday was at 7.37pm, eight minutes before kick-off, and you would not have missed much if you caught it.
‘It’s not easy, let’s keep it that way,’ said Virgil van Dijk. ‘We are, with the last four or five years, spoilt with everything we’ve been going through.’
‘The standards we’ve set have been astronomical so it’s easy to get lost in that, but we mustn’t be burdened by the last few years. We have to stand up and live in this moment,’ said James Milner.
Liverpool were left frustrated once again on Saturday with their decline becoming ever more pertinent
Crystal Palace - a side who haven't won this calendar year - had little trouble keeping the visitors out
Trent Alexander-Arnold summed up the frustration and disappointment that is abound in the Liverpool ranks at present
This time last year, Klopp’s side beat Leeds 6-0 and were three points off the top of the Premier League, winning the Carabao Cup and in with a shot at the quadruple. On Saturday, they were last on Match of the Day.
‘We haven’t become a bad team overnight,’ said Milner. ‘But we know how football works and there’s been a lot to factor in — a lot of games last year, a few injuries, a World Cup in the middle, new signings coming in and integrating and things not quite happening for us.
‘People ask you for a reason and it sounds like excuses, but we have to be better, it’s simple as.’
This felt like a nothing game and Liverpool under Klopp have rarely had those. But that is where they are at the moment — a team who have declined staggeringly.
Crystal Palace have not won since New Year’s Eve but they kept Liverpool out with relative ease. That only happened once last season and that was in a game in which Mohamed Salah missed a
