Liverpool fans are desperate to use as many trophies as possible as the best farewell gift for the "Klopp era". But the dream is very plump, and the reality is too skinny. From the FA Cup "Double Red Meeting" on March 17 to the Merseyside derby on April 24, Liverpool's "treble dream" in just 39 days was all disillusioned. The FA Cup and Europa League have been eliminated, the Premier League title is still at the top of the table in early March, and after the derby defeat to Everton, there is still an eight-point advantage in hand, and Liverpool even has to worry about whether the pursuit of Villa behind them will make them fall out of the top three.
Liverpool's morale and form in the past 39 days have been an avalanche: three points have been dropped in five Premier League games in April, and the number of defeats (two) is the sum of the first 32 games of the season. After another away defeat in the derby after 14 years, Liverpool has been left behind by the title race. OPTA's big data shows that Liverpool's probability of winning the championship plummeted from 13.5% to 2.7% before and after the derby, leaving only a mathematical possibility. Manchester City is as high as 62.2 per cent and Arsenal has 35.1 per cent.
Van Dijk's post-match "soul torture" hit the sore spot: "Everyone has to look in the mirror and see if they are doing their best. If we continue to play like this, we won't have a chance to continue to compete for the title. 'As Jurgen Klopp himself has said, it is clearly unrealistic to hope that both Manchester City and Arsenal will continue to make mistakes like Liverpool. Liverpool legend Carragher has already closed the coffin: "[This season has been a great journey for Liverpool], but tonight is the end of the title race. ”
Fans no longer expect Liverpool, who have scored 27 points in the Premier League this season, to create another miracle in the sprint for the title. Because at Goodison Park, and even before at Anfield against Atalanta and Crystal Palace, Liverpool were already in their true form: attacking but ineffective, the core players were aging, the main players were too injured, and the players had reached the limit of exhaustion, both mentally and physically. Wayne Rooney thinks Liverpool's defence is "like a schoolboy", which is mean but true. As for Van Dijk's complaint that he always plays at noon, it is even more incomprehensible: because Liverpool have won four and drawn one of the five times they have played at noon in the Premier League on Saturday before this season, and the only draw was at Manchester City.
Although Liverpool are eight points clear of fourth-placed Villa, with four rounds of the league remaining, Klopp's concerns about retaining the Premier League top three are not unfounded. The Liverpool Echo lamented that fans had to admit that the farewell party of the Klopp era had ended early, and that it was a mess and frustrating.
The team, which has been filming a farewell to the Klopp era behind the scenes since December last year, compared Liverpool's "circuit breaker" performance in the last six weeks to the retirement season of "Flyer" Jordan with the Chicago Bulls: too high expectations, too many mistakes, and ruined what should have been a more perfect farewell.
Jurgen Klopp shouldn't have been questioned, given that Liverpool won nine of their next 10 games, including the Carabao Cup final, after announcing his departure at the end of the season in late January. And the total collapse of the team in the last six weeks, the German coach has neither time nor candidates to make changes, helpless and powerless.
For Liverpool, a full post-derby rebuild can already begin. The board and sporting management need to reassess the need for Salah and Nunez to stay with the team, whether Salah should leave with only one year left on his contract, whether Nunez, who has only scored in one of his last nine games, is overrated, and Szoboszlai and Konate, who are also high and low. And Thiago and Matip, whose contracts expire in the summer, are basically a foregone conclusion. Of course, the most important thing is to identify Klopp's successor as soon as possible, so that he will lead the team's rebuilding plan.
After the previous favorites Alonso and Nagelsmann were retained, Feyenoord coach Slott quickly entered Liverpool's field of vision. And it has fast-forwarded to the final stage of negotiating liquidated damages, with Feyenoord offering 15 million euros, which could be officially announced as soon as this weekend. Slot's attacking football philosophy is in line with Liverpool's style, and the Dutch coach, who idolizes Pep Guardiola, can minimise the turmoil that a change of times will bring to Liverpool. It's just that everyone has to admit that the "farewell dinner" of the Klopp era is not only far from perfect, but even leaves almost only disappointing memories in the future.