While Idrissa Gueye wiped a fresh finish home to act Everton a lifeline in the Merseyside Derby of Saturday, Liverpool manager Arne Sot was confronted with an uncomfortably well -known dilemma.
A head start of two goals has not been a big reason for trust for the champions of recent times, with Bournemouth, Newcastle and Atlético Madrid who all destroy such a shortage in the opening weeks of the season, respectively, by late winners of Federico Chiesa, Rio Ngumoha and Virgil van Dijk.
So while Gueye’s second half of a strike in the back of the net, many of the 60, 342 souls crammed in Anfield would fear a new variation on a recurring theme.
Among them was the former Liverpool striker John Aldridge, who emphasized the uncertainty of Liverpool after the break and called on his former side to keep their first pace deeper in competitions.
“Here we’re going again”
“I am sure I was not the only one thinking about: we’re going here again,” said Aldridge, who wrote in the Liverpool Echo after the 2-1 victory of Liverpool. “For whatever reason, Liverpool does not learn their lessons at the moment and teams still have the feeling that they are well in the game on 2-0 down, making them back to things.
“One of the characteristics of the second half was how sloppy Liverpool got. I don’t remember that I saw them so insecure, they just seemed to keep giving it away.
“Perhaps the team takes it a level or two as soon as they are in the lead in an attempt to keep energy for the long term, but when they are at full peel, with the pace up, they are brilliant to look. You just hope they can keep on those levels longer to place games much earlier in the next few weeks.”
In depth
The kick-off of lunch was Liverpool’s third game in seven days, after the Premier League victory of the previous weekend in Burnley and the Midweek Champions League win in Atlético. Arne Slot greeted the resilience of his players, but made it clear that important staff, including Van Dijk, Ibrahima Konaté, Mohamed Salah, Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai, rested for the competition of the League Cup of Southampton.
Aldridge welcomed that prospect, however, suggested that it would show the power of the club in depth and send a message to their rivals.
“Those changes do not mean a huge decrease in quality,” said Anfield’s former favorite. “It must be worried for other teams when they see what Liverpool is able to do with their match-day squadrons when they have so few injuries.”
Liverpool, who is five points at the top of the Premier League table, has made the season an impeccable start and has so far won all six of their games.
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