Carragher: Liverpool Are Not Title Contenders

Some games are unforgettable. There are wins that we all still relive in quiet moments, goals that we’ve seen so often that there’s no reason to turn to YouTube to know exactly when the ball leaves a player’s foot and sails past the goalkeeper and into the net. And there are losses, painful ones that none of us like remembering, ones where the final score is a frustrating betrayal of how the team played, ones where the final score is respectable despite how the team played.

And then there’s games like this one. We’re all a bit tired watching the same disappointing charade week after week, but at least we’re not sitting in a Sky Sports studio, forced to offer up fresh analysis on the same mistakes game after game.

“[The game] sums Liverpool up defensively,” Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports audiences after the game. “In total control and they concede yet again. How many times have we got to say it?”

“A lack of concentration has cost Liverpool yet again and whenever they concede chances, they are always big chances.”

With the draw against Newcastle, Liverpool have only won one game in their last seven and it’s hard for a lot of people (Carra included) to see how the Reds can turn this around and make any meaningful run for the title.

“Do I think Liverpool are a genuine title challenger this season?” Carragher added. “No. The summer transfer window did not go well for them. They didn’t fix the problems they needed to in the summer.”

We need a defense that isn’t lacklustre at its best and shambolic at its worst. But while we’re waiting for the next transfer window to open and for Klopp and FSG to (please, please, please) finally fill in the massive gaps in the squad, Klopp is going to have to do his best with the players he has on hand.