Liverpool lost 1-0 to Southampton in the EFL Cup Wednesday, which in and of itself is not all that surprising. Southampton are not bad and were playing at home, plus Liverpool have a huge EPL tie against Manchester United coming up.
What is surprising is Liverpool looked a lot like the Brendan Rodgers Liverpool right before he got fired: disjointed, a collection of parts that didn't really fit. They certainly didn't look like the Liverpool we saw even a few weeks ago, the Liverpool that flew around and closed passing lanes and won the midfield. Against Southampton, the press left gaps you could drive a truck through in midfield, and none of the midfielders were active enough to close them.
Those gaps left the defense exposed, and even Southampton, who aren't nearly as fun on offense as usual, were able to overwhelm Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan. Really, Southampton should have won by more. It took an exceptional performance from Loris Karius to keep Nathan Redmond from getting a hat trick.
So where does this leave Liverpool?
Liverpool have so many keys to the offense we don't know which one is the real key. Is Jordan Henderson the key because his ability to stop the counter allows the attackers to press more aggressively? Is Sadio Mane the key because he can get wide and burn defenders with pace? Is Coutinho the key because he's a threat from anywhere? Is Adam Lallana the key because apparently he's good now? I don't know!
And we might not find out any time soon. Liverpool might be back to their normal, frisky selves against Manchester United, but we wouldn't bet on it considering Jose Mourinho will be involved.
The Reds will need some kind of spark against Manchester United to get back on track. Fortunately they have this Jurgen Klopp.
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