In an uncharacteristically blunt performance from Jurgen Klopp‘s Liverpool at Newcastle United, the Reds failed to move the ball around efficiently.
Liverpool misplaced 124 passes vs. Newcastle, most in a league game in any of the last 5 seasons. Gegen-depressing. pic.twitter.com/DgHTnQlyZ4
— Squawka (@Squawka) December 7, 2015
According to stats website Squawka, this saw Klopp’s side misplace 124 passes at St. James’ Park, the most they have misplaced in any Premier League game over the past five seasons.
This perfectly sums up a performance that Klopp described after the game as having “no rhythm.”
“Nearly everything [went wrong], I would say. The start, the middle and the end. I don’t know,” he explained.
“This was obviously not a really good football game, and that was 50 percent because of Newcastle and 50 percent because of Liverpool.
“It was an open game with no rhythm from our side. We were not creative enough, so we had no chances.”
Liverpool’s failure to create any meaningful openings in the final third asks many questions of Klopp’s squad, and of the German’s team selection.
Most worrying was the abject performance of lone striker Christian Benteke.
The £32.5 million Belgian struggled to contribute to buildup play, as well as fading in the final third when the bright Jordon Ibe looked to prompt attacking moves.
Benteke was Liverpool’s least effective passer on the afternoon, completing just 55.2 percent of his attempted passes.
Alberto Moreno, Adam Lallana, Joe Allen, Ibe, James Milner, Daniel Sturridge, Simon Mignolet and Divock Origi all registered a passing accuracy lower than 80 percent.
It was a performance that Klopp and his side will be looking to put behind them quickly.
Taking on FC Sion on Thursday night, the 48-year-old will want to see his side recapture their sharpness in possession.
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