You could almost see the cogs whirring in Jurgen Klopp’s brain, as he pondered just how far to go in criticism of his Liverpool team.
In the end, he settled on “horrendous” and “horrible to watch”, but there was also a manager’s awareness that he has just two days to somehow rebuild and reinvent a side that appeared at times to lack any sense of structure against Brighton.
Rangers arrive at Anfield on Tuesday night, with the Reds’ Champions League hopes hanging in the balance in the two games in eight days against a passionate Scottish opponent with more than an eye on an upset.
Arsenal and Man City follow each of the Rangers encounters, and it is no exaggeration to suggest Liverpool’s season could be defined in the next four matches. So Klopp has a huge task on his hands.
His job is perhaps best summed up by a rather wistful comment he gave under the TV lights. “Confidence is a little flower and if someone stamps on it…” he said, trailing off.
Brighton didn’t just stamp on it, they took the heavy roller to it, and crushed that small bloom into the grass, with a superb attacking performance which cut the Liverpool defence to tattered shreds.
Yet Klopp knows there is no time to reflect. To reach the Champions League knockout, they realistically must beat Rangers home and away. He acknowledged he needs answers by Tuesday.
“My job is to create a situation where they can deliver. For that you need stability and consistency. You get that with top defending, and we didn’t have that today.
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PA)“It’s the same job you have when you are winning all the time, just more difficult because you have to create a situation where it is easier for the boys to deliver.”
It comes down to confidence again. Two Brighton goals in the first 17 minutes saw the home defence and midfield almost visibly wilt. For the rest of the game, all shape was lost. They didn’t know whether to play high or drop low.
Virgil van Dijk knows that will mean the finger pointed at the defence he marshals - “Yeah, from the outside, that’s fine, they can do that” - but he knows it is a far more complex situation. So what can be sorted before Rangers arrive?
Well for a start, Roberto Firmino-inspired Liverpool DID come from two down to lead, before being pegged back again by the clinical finishing brilliance of hat trick star Leandro Trossard. For van Dijk, Liverpool have to remember the team they are, to revive confidence.
“We’ve been doing it for four years, five years on a consistent basis, and we have to get back to that consistency, all of us. And we have to stick together,” he explained.
“There were a lot of runners in behind, not much pressure on the ball. How do we stop teams getting too easily in behind us? Pressure, and that is always what we try to do. Get in the right spaces and do it all together.
“For example against Ajax it went very well, and that is what we have to ensure we don’t forget what we can do. You have to do that together, and deal with setbacks together, and keep doing the same things you want to do.”
