Liverpool dismantle City as their self-belief creeps back in

Manchester City 1 Liverpool 4

Jürgen Klopp stated the next challenge for Liverpool was to dismantle a team at Anfield as convincingly as they did Manchester City on their own patch in this memorable display on Saturday.

The 4-1 scoreline might have been 8-1 as City suffered what their manager, Manuel Pellegrini, labelled a "collective failure", yet Klopp urged his men to show they can be consistent and produce a performance like this before their own supporters when Swansea City visit on Sunday.

Liverpool have now beaten Chelsea (3-1) and City away and Klopp said: "I would love to win a game like this at Anfield. That's the next challenge. We have Swansea coming but I don't know that much about them yet. We lost to [Crystal] Palace so we have to find a solution and we will."

That defeat came in Liverpool’s last home match. Since the German became manager on October 8th the Reds have played eight times and lost only that once. There have been three draws, though, and no league victories at Anfield. This victory over City was a triumph for Klopp’s “gegenpressing” ethos – the quick switch from attack to a high press – as City were cast as hapless patsies who made countless errors and gave up possession cheaply.

For Liverpool the only sour note was the hamstring injury to Philippe Coutinho which the Brazilian, who was substituted, suggested may be serious. The club will decide on today if he requires a scan.

Klopp feels his players are starting to believe in themselves but have to keep on believing.

‘Need the confidence’

He said: “If you are stuck in the forest and it’s dark and you are afraid and someone tells you not to be then it doesn’t work. It’s your own mind. Only you can affect that. We need the confidence in ourselves – we cannot switch the lamp on and off, on and off. So it’s very good against City but we have to work [more]. We are not satisfied. At 3-1 the game could have changed. They went 4-4-2 in the second half and it was difficult.”

Sergio Aguero's sweetly curled 25-yard strike had pulled the contest back to 3-1 just before the break. Yet Eliaquim Mangala's own goal and finishes from Coutinho and Roberto Firmino – both of whom were excellent – had allowed Liverpool to race 3-0 ahead after 32 minutes. Klopp was correct about the course of the match potentially changing at 3-1, except that his side continued to dominate and Martin Skrtel emphasised that superiority when he made it four as the end neared.

Liverpool’s next eight league games are against Swansea City, Southampton, Newcastle United, West Bromwich Albion, Watford, Leicester City, Sunderland and West Ham United. This takes them to January 13th, when Arsenal visit Anfield. If Klopp’s side can replicate this form they could take all or the lion’s share of the 24 points available. They stand ninth, eight points behind the leaders, Leicester. The title may well be beyond Liverpool but the Champions League is surely a realistic possibility.

“It’s only OK that you ask this if you ask it as well after we lose,” said Klopp. “We can’t change our targets just because we have won. Our situation is difficult enough. But we played very well [against City].

‘Hard work’

“We have to work, that’s all. Somebody asks us if we can go to the top then it’s not my problem. I don’t think that way. The money is in the Champions League but I can’t promise it now. It’s hard work. They changed the manager here. It wasn’t because of the weather and it wasn’t a problem with

Brendan Rodgers

because he is a brilliant manager. But they had to change something. Only two weeks ago we lost to Palace. I can’t say that we are good enough but if you want to write it you can.”

Pellegrini was left baffled by his side. “Yes, absolutely, it’s a collective failure – it’s strange, because we never played in this way before,” he said. “Sometimes you can be sat defending and concede easy goals and you lose the game. But to make it all wrong in attacking, defending and possession. It’s not the team we know.”

City were the proverbial bunch of strangers, and at half-time Pellegrini withdrew the anonymous Yaya Touré and also substituted Jesús Navas. The injured Vincent Kompany and David Silva missed this hammering and are unlikely to be available for the Champions League match against Juventus in Turin. Pellegrini must now hope the rest of his players have recovered from this mauling by then. – (Guardian Service)