The departure of Mané and the bad Van Dijk. Why is Liverpool struggling so much at the start of the new season?

It’s a big blow to all Liverpool fans and title ambitions. The Reds have just two points after three rounds and are mired in a major crisis. What’s made them so bad?

Liverpool’s start to the new season? 5 games, 4 wins, 1 draw with Chelsea. The Reds made it clear last year that they wanted to fight Manchester City for the title and also that it was a battle to the last round.

But in the new season, Liverpool are experiencing a shaky start. 3 games, 2 points from a possible 9, draws with Fulham and Crystal Palace and a loss to the hated Manchester United, who were in an even bigger crisis than Liverpool. What’s behind this?

The departure of Mané

Sadio Mané’s transfer to Bayern hit Liverpool harder than fans would have thought. A key player in recent years and the face of the Reds’ rise in attack is hugely missed.

Although Jürgen Klopp brought in Darwin Nuñez for €80 million, who scored a goal and an assist in his first game, he was sent off for a header against Crystal Palace and was given a three-match ban.

In addition, Diogo Jota suffered a muscle injury and against United Liverpool started with the attacking trio Salah – Firmino – Diaz, no one else is available to Klopp. The Brazilian Firmino seems to have his best years behind him, last year he almost didn’t feature in the starting line-up, it was Mané who often operated on the edge.

His aggressiveness, creativity and speed are sorely missed by Liverpool. He was a perfect fit for the Reds style of play and they seem to have lost a piece of themselves without him.

Van Dijk out of form

He was a symbol of success. Liverpool were already on a roll in the 2016/17 season and in the autumn of 2017, rampaging in attack, just lacking in defence where he was getting too many unnecessary goals. So in the winter of 2018, the Reds bought record-priced defender Virgil Van Dijk and the whole of Liverpool went up immensely.

They reached the Champions League final in their first year, and while it didn’t work out then, it did a year later. The next year, Liverpool went on to win the Premier League trophy and the dominant Van Dijk, who bossed the defence, was almost the main contributor.

But this season, he is a shadow of the big man who terrified all the opposition’s strikers. Liverpool’s defence looks a shambles, Van Dijk and co. have yet to keep a clean sheet and have conceded five goals in the first three rounds.

Especially on the first goal, Van Dijk looked strange. Sancho hacked Milner and instead of the Dutch stopper running at the United striker and reducing his shooting angle, he just stood on the line with his hands behind his back and tried to catch with his feet.

For his “uninspired” actions, he faced a lot of ridicule from fans on the internet.

Bad centre-back

Liverpool didn’t do enough in the centre of midfield against United. The line-up of Henderson – Milner – Elliott lacked creativity, speed and thought.

The injured Thiago missed a lot, Fabinho from the bench didn’t help the game much either. Neither did the summer signing from Fulham, Fabio Carvalho. Another midfielder Naby Keita is also injured.

The midfield has always been Liverpool’s biggest weakness, but with the absence of Thiago and Fabinho it’s even more so.

Source: Liverpool, Premier League