Liverpool Show Same Issues in New Year Defeat to West Ham

Liverpool produced another away-day shocker on Saturday, easily succumbing to defeat at West Ham United in similar fashion to games at Watford and Newcastle United in recent weeks.

Both goals arrived from crosses, headed home by Michail Antonio and Andy Carroll in the 10th and 55th minutes respectively, both players isolating Nathaniel Clyne at the back post to easily head past Simon Mignolet.

Reds' boss Jurgen Klopp said post-match that "today is a day for being angry," but it was a case of having seen all this before.

Football websites are littered with articles detailing "five things we learned" after each game, but this was a case of "100 things we already knew" about this Liverpool squad.

Squad

We already knew this squad was paper-thin, an issue that can be squarely blamed on former manager Brendan Rodgers, who somehow left Klopp with no back-up in either full-back area. Clyne and Alberto Moreno are therefore being asked to play every single game—no wonder they are exhausted and isolated so easily.

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Rodgers also left Klopp with a squad that lacks leaders, wide players, players capable of taking set pieces (Dejan Lovren took a free-kick from 30 yards out in this match) and a goalkeeper who can command its defence.

This squad is lacking in so many areas Klopp would wish he could move on 17 players in the summer, as he did in his first season at Borussia Dortmund.

With such a thin squad, the last thing Klopp needed was an injury crisis that saw him without Martin Skrtel, James Milner, Divock Origi, Jordan Henderson, Daniel Sturridge and long-term absentees Joe Gomez, Danny Ings and Jon Flanagan. The starting XI against West Ham almost picked itself, with Jordon Ibe in for Adam Lallana the only optional change.

Overused players are picking up muscles injuries in the midst of the winter fixtures. This is something that could have been predicted, but Klopp should look at his role in this issue. All those extra training sessions and asking players to cover more ground, without a full pre-season, is possibly having an effect.

Did so many first-team players really need to travel to Sion and play in freezing conditions in December when the team was already qualified for the next stage of the Europa League?

Klopp has never worked with a team that doesn't have a winter break and perhaps he will be learning about squad management, knowing the issues that arise from playing 12 games inside a month. Something for him to ponder ahead of his first full season in England.

Individuals

Another "thing we already knew" is that Lucas Leiva does not work in a midfield two within a 4-2-3-1 shape. Rodgers tried this on numerous occasions alongside Steven Gerrard, and every time it produced a horror show such as this. Now Klopp has seen it for his own eyes, with the stand-in captain again completely ineffective.

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We already knew Christian Benteke isn't suited to being Liverpool's No. 9. In fact, the whole country except Rodgers knew this before he'd even signed for Liverpool. Even then-Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood said as much.

That didn't stop Rodgers spending £32.5 million on a player who thrives on exactly the kind of service Saturday's opposing No. 9, Carroll, thrives on and whom Rodgers got rid of in his first months in charge at Anfield. Instead, Benteke's movement brings back memories of last season with Mario Balotelli as the lone centre-forward. We already knew this wouldn't work.

We also already know that when a forward such as Balotelli or Benteke is ahead of him, Philippe Coutinho is far less productive, with his creative game lacking and the 23-year-old resorting to auditioning for goal-of-the-season compilations by shooting from any distance.

Coutinho has had 17 shots in the Reds' last three games, against Leicester City, Sunderland and West Ham, hitting the target just once. Only two of those 17 shots were from inside the box, as per FourFourTwo's Stats Zone.

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Undoubtedly one of Liverpool's better players, Coutinho needs to show up when the going gets tough. His shot-conversion rate of 6.5 per cent needs to be rectified. Teams can allow him to have the ball, safe in the knowledge the chances of him recreating superb goals such as those against Southampton, Manchester City and Stoke City in 2015 are slim, to say the least.

Dave Usher, writing for ESPN FC, described Coutinho as "infuriatingly inconsistent:"

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When the 30-yard shots are not finding the top corner, there’s very little else on offer from him at the moment. His shooting has become increasingly erratic, and he loses possession far too cheaply at times. Liverpool need him to find his best form quickly because nobody else has the quality to inspire this team.

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We also already knew Liverpool were susceptible to direct play, as evidenced by the three previous defeats under Klopp against Crystal Palace, Newcastle and Watford. Run at Liverpool, get balls into the box and you will score.

"Liverpool were outmuscled and always vulnerable to West Ham’s pace and penetration on the turnover of possession," wrote the Mail on Sunday's Matt Barlow in his report. You could replace the opposition name in that sentence and it could be from a long list of games over the last year-and-a-half.

Next

With a League Cup semi-final first leg at Stoke City on Tuesday night, there's little time for Klopp to give his players the rest they need. The German will be hoping some of those aforementioned injured players—Sturridge, Henderson and Milner in particular—can return.

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The relentless run continues with another inconveniently scheduled game just three days later at League Two side Exeter City in the FA Cup on Friday night.

Both cup matches have the making of an upset on the cards—against a Liverpool squad bereft of leadership and quality and severely decimated by injuries.

Such are the problems Liverpool face, 19-year-old winger Ryan Kent is to return from loan at Coventry City and is in line to play against Exeter, as reported by James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo.

Following those two cup games, it's back-to-back home league matches, with Arsenal and Manchester United the visitors within the same week.

These four games will make or break Liverpool's season, but with the problems that are abundant, it's difficult to see them navigating them all successfully.

The most frustrating thing is these problems have been apparent for a long time.