Nobody’s feeling great about Liverpool only managing a draw against relegation favourites Burnley at Anfield.
Normally, going 12 matches without defeat would be cause for celebration. For a Liverpool side that came into the season expecting to mount a Premier League title defence, though, a preponderance of draws as well as some rather sub-par performances take much of the shine off.
In isolation, grinding out results here and there is hardly a bad thing. In the context of a season past its half-way mark where grinding out results has been as good as it gets, dropped points in a draw at Anfield against a side firmly in the relegation places isn’t going to be seen as a positive.
“It’s very frustrating,” standout Liverpool goal scorer Florian Wirtz said of the weekend’s 1-1 draw with Burnley. “I think we had a lot of chances—enough chances to decide the game early. We missed that today. So, very disappointing. A few times we could decide a little bit better.
“I felt that we were really good in the game from the first half on—we played a good game. I think even when they scored the equaliser we were still the better team, had the better chances, it just didn’t want to go in. It’s so disappointing, it feels like a defeat. We had to score more goals.”
If there’s a positive to be found, it’s that Liverpool were in fact the clearly better side, especially in the first half of the game. Of course, they were facing one of the worst teams in the league at home. And in the end, they fell apart to concede a soft equaliser and then couldn’t respond.
And it’s that kind of context that feels so damning about Liverpool this season. That even when they mostly play pretty well, there are enough caveats and question marks it doesn’t feel as though it means a whole lot in the larger picture—because so far, it really hasn’t meant a whole lot.
A good half is followed by a moment of fragility and throwing it away. A focus on defensive solidity has led to football that’s hard to watch and grinding out draws against sides Liverpool should be beating. Tactically and structurally, there’s something of a directionless drift to it all.
“Some days are like this,” Wirtz added. “You try everything but in the end it doesn’t go in the goal. We only take one point but I can only say, next game we go again and try to do better.”
Category: General Sports
