Liverpool Stunned, Defense Proving To Be Achilles Heel

Welcome back.  It's been a few games between articles due to my yearly trek down south to cover the NAIA National Championship.  In that time Liverpool pulled off a couple simple wins.

They defeated Sunderland over the weekend 2-0.  Then, it was a cool finish by the same scoreline over Leeds in the league cup.  In that last one featured a fine score by 17 year old Ben Woodburn, who many are claiming could be the next big thing.

Probably best to pump the brakes on that one since it was just one goal against a team that has floundered near the bottom of the Championship in recent times.  Still, always good to see new talent.

Speaking of new talent, the Reds were forced to put some new faces in the starting XI due to some injury woes.  Lucas was playing at center back for the until Joel Matip.  Lucas generally does a fine job, but is always worrying since he's truly a midfielder.

Also getting a start was Divock Origi.  Coutinho was unable to make the start, but with Daniel Sturridge also being less than 100%, the Belgian got the nod.

Initially, the Cherries looked quite good.  They didn't have a ton of possession, but they were defending well and the press was throwing the Reds - clad in greenish, yellow highlighter kits - off kilter.

It seemed like the day would not go well based on Liverpool's first chance.  Origi was served a cross from the near side and was wide open on the back post.  Somehow, he managed to miss it with a slight slip in the 11th minute and it stayed level.  That wouldn't be the case for too much longer though.

In the 20th minute Sadio Mane took a beautifully flighted ball, from the left touchline, in the box.  The goalkeeper, Artur Boruc, left himself in no man's land and Mane just tucked it past and Bournemouth could just watch it roll in.

If Bournemouth were disappointed by the first, they were exasperated by the second.  Boruc had just made the mistake by not coming out far enough and then made an even bigger one.  In the 23rd minute, the ball was popped over the top, to the right, for Divok Origi.

The goalkeeper came out of the penalty area for some inexplicable reason.  Origi just touched it past him and then finished it off with a bad angle goal that just tucked inside the far post.

In typical Liverpool fashion, they couldn't make it easy on themselves.  After holding the lead through the halftime break, the Reds gave up an early penalty to the Cherries in the 56th minute.

They converted and then it appeared to be game on.  Fortunately for Liverpool fans, it also woke up their team.

In the 64th minute, Mane cut through defenders on the right side of the box.  He served up Emre Can at the top of the 18 and he ripped a right footed curler past the keeper to restore the two goal lead.

Flipping back to the negative side, Mane appeared to pick up an injury.  Fortunately, Adam Lallana was fit enough to be a sub, otherwise the Reds may have had to turn to one of the kids they had on the bench.

Liverpool were denied a goal to increase their lead with around 18 minutes left.  Goal line technology said it missed scoring by a whisker.  That decision became crucial since Ryan Fraser tucked one in in the 75th minute.

The Reds gave it away at the top of the attacking 18 and that set the wheels in motion.  The train came off the track right after.  A cheap free kick was given away, Fraser crossed it from the right and Lewis Cook smashed it home to even up the game at three apiece.

Lorus Karius looked shaky throughout the game, but came up big.  In the 82nd minute he made a game saving stop as Benik Afobe was in alone near the spot.

Despite the face Bournemouth looked the better side for the last ten minutes, Liverpool still almost took it.  Origi had a wonderful spin volley in added time, but got just too far underneath it.

In the end, it was a deserved defeat.  A whistler of a shot could not be caught cleanly by Karius.  Though he blocked the second chance, Ake cleaned up the mess and put Bournemouth up 4-3 with only a minute or so left in stoppage time.

It was a rather sickening result.  To find yourself up 2-0 and then 3-1 and not only not win, but lose is ridiculous.  Jurgen Klopp is a fantastic manager, but as much as he gets his team to believe and push forward, he has not found a way to fix their defensive woes.

So many have said the back line is why Liverpool will not win the league.  With results like this one, those doubts are well founded.

Full credit goes to Bournemouth as they never gave up.  Down two goals twice to one of the giants, they kept at it.  Nevertheless, Liverpool have to find a way to see this one out no matter the circumstance and they did not get the job done.

Random Thoughts:
- Karius proved me right in this game.  I don't know that Simon Mignolet would have fared any better, but Karius is not an improvement in the slightest in my eyes.

Walk On