Welcome to the LFC Final Word. In this series, I provide an in-depth analysis of games from a Liverpool supporter's perspective.
Match Facts
Napoli vs Liverpool
Wednesday 3rd October, 20:00
San Paolo
Result
Napoli 1 - 0 Liverpool
First Half
Jurgen Klopp decided to put out a full strength team against Napoli even though the Reds will be playing a massive game against Manchester City at the weekend. I was happy about this because the Champions League is a competition we should always be making the most of.
Sadly, the first half display was one of the worst performances I've seen from Liverpool in quite some time. Napoli didn't look very good at all but Liverpool were very sloppy in their build-up play throughout the 45 minutes.
Insigne was putting in a fairly decent performance for the home team but found himself offside on multiple occasions. Keita played a wonderful through ball to Mane who was also flagged as being offside although I am not sure that he actually was.
The big talking point of the match in the first half for Liverpool supporters was the fact that Keita was substituted for what seemed to be an injury to his back. Whatever had happened did not look great. Henderson came on to take his place but didn't have much influence on the game.
There were a couple of half-chances for both sides but nothing to really both either goalkeeper. 0-0 at halftime and Klopp would expect much more from his team after the break.
Second Half
The second half was surprisingly even worse for Liverpool with more sloppy play all over the pitch. It was clear at the 60-minute mark that Klopp needed to make a change but he refused to do so until the 75th minute when he brought on Fabinho.
Napoli controlled the game far too easily throughout the second 45 minutes and Liverpool just weren't their usual selves. The warning signs were there when a shot was smashed off the Liverpool crossbar late in the game. Klopp brought Sturridge on in the 88th minute to no avail as Insigne scored in the 90th minute to give Napoli the win.
Liverpool Player Ratings
Alisson - 8
Trent - 3
Gomez - 7
van Dijk - 7
Robertson - 4
Henderson - 4
Milner - 4
Wijnaldum - 4
Mane - 5
Firmino - 6
Salah - 3
Final Word
That was by far the worst performance I've seen from a Liverpool team in a long time. I have no idea what was going on but there was no sense of the usual fluidity you'd expect to see from this team.
A draw would have been a decent result but the late winner for Napoli makes this a difficult result to accept. I thought Klopp's tactics were dreadful tonight. He waited far too long to make a change to the team and decided to bring Sturridge on in the 88th minute.
My only hope is that Klopp makes it clear that this is unacceptable and we see a reaction against Manchester City at the weekend. Not a good night for the Reds.
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