A late consolation goal gave a faintly flattering sheen to a truly dreadful Liverpool performance in Monday’s 3-1 mauling at Leicester.
The Foxes were up for it as everyone — everyone except seemingly Jurgen Klopp and 11 players in red — expected but at no stage did the visitors give the opposition any real respect and it cost them dearly.
It might be clutching at straws, but Philippe Coutinho did seem to look a little more like himself after scoring. But there really was nothing else.
Where to begin? Liverpool’s fifth defeat of the league season was also their fifth loss against a bottom-10 side. This collection of players is wasting everybody’s time now and the manager needs to instigate an overhaul because there are people there he cannot depend on.
Manager rating out of 10
4 — If Klopp’s job was to get players into the right frame of mind, he failed dismally. Perhaps there isn’t a manager alive who could fix this, but after all his complaints about winter breaks, Monday’s defeat was hugely embarrassing after 16 days’ rest.
GK Simon Mignolet, 6 — Easily Liverpool’s man of the match. Couldn’t be faulted with any of the goals and even made a number of decent saves to stave off a thrashing. Resorted to playing sweeper at times, since he knew full well his centre-backs could not deal with Jamie Vardy at all.
DF Nathan Clyne, 4 — Steady enough, though clearly Leicester did their homework as he was given plenty of attacking possession and space in order to do precisely nothing with it. Never the worst, never the best, never much of anything really.
DF Joel Matip, 3 — Frankly shocking performance from one of Liverpool’s usual Mr Dependables. Typified the half-hearted, lackadaisical approach of the team, consistently wasting possession and cracked under the slightest Leicester pressure.
DF Lucas Leiva, 2 — Expecting him to deal with Vardy’s pace was laughable. The fact he started at all shines a spotlight on Liverpool’s squad depth and fitness. Will always try his hardest but was ruthlessly exposed by the home side.
DF James Milner, 3 — Another dependable player who was all at sea. Offered little going forward and starting to look like what he is; a makeshift left-back. Moved to midfield after an hour, but if anything looked even more out of place there.
MF Emre Can, 5 — Like Mignolet, offered a little resistance without ever really being great, but once placed deeper in a defensive role was too weak to even challenge Vardy for City’s third and clinching goal. Great run for Coutinho’s goal, though.
MF Georginio Wijnaldum, 3 — As woeful here as he was spectacular against Spurs in his previous outing, he was unwilling or unable to match the home team’s work-rate. Dreadful pass led to Leicester’s opener and it went rapidly downhill from there.
MF Adam Lallana, 4 — Flitted in and out of the game without ever making a mark, it progressively got worst for him as he clearly didn’t fancy taking the fight to Leicester. Replaced after an hour, though in fairness it could have been anyone.
FW Philippe Coutinho, 5 — It was another frail, wasteful and inept evening for the Brazilian until his goal, when he started to look a little livelier and almost grabbed an unlikely second when Kasper Schmeichel spilled his long-range effort. A long way from his best, Coutinho at least has a long spell out injured to blame his woes on but that can’t protect him forever.
FW Roberto Firmino, 3 — Another who was the complete opposite of his Tottenham performance. His unsuitability for a forward’s role was never clearer. Could not control the ball or beat a man all evening. Lucky to stay on, perhaps unlucky not to get a penalty but the contrast with what Leicester had up front was stark.
FW Sadio Mane, 4 — Tackled hard early on, he clearly didn’t fancy it after that. Moments of threat but further close attention from Leicester meant he was never afforded the time and space to cause any problems.
FW Divock Origi, 5 — One hopeful shot apart, did not give the side much to aim for on the rare occasions he actually got in the box. Not that anyone was playing well enough to find him.
DF Alberto Moreno, 5 — Brought on to give pace and width, he provided neither. Still capable of silly mistakes but by that time the whole team looked flustered and beaten. Not the best time for any player to shine, in fairness.
FW Ben Woodburn, NR — A late change which neither his manager nor the fans expected to yield any reward. Hardly touched the ball.
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