Premier League Shorts

Form as they say in football is temporary but class is permanent. Liverpool proved that age-old maxim to be true when they emphatically destroyed Bournemouth FC 9-0 in less than a week after they lost at Old Trafford to Manchester United. Stories of their loss in form and lack of squad depth were hastily being bandied in some editorials but far more astute pundits always knew that Jurgen Klopp’s wards were just too good not to turn around their misfortunes. What was not expected, however, was how emphatically they could respond to a miserable opening couple of weeks in the Premier League that had seen them draw their first two matches and beaten by old foes Manchester United.

Bournemouth arrived at Anfield having lost two games on the bounce to Manchester City and Arsenal respectively. Scott Parker’s side while confident in their abilities would have been dreading the prospect of having to face a side smarting from a recent loss and it took only three minutes into the match for the impressive Luiz Diaz to open the floodgates after latching on to Roberto Firmino’s pass to beat Mark Travers in the Bournemouth goal for the first of his brace. Harvey Elliott, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Fabio Carvalho were all on target as Bournemouth’s Chris Mepham compounded a miserable afternoon for the visitors by putting one through his own net.

Liverpool looked well and truly back to their best and while some critics may be quick to point out that it was only against a Bournemouth side that were in truth not the sternest opposition the Reds would face this season, the manner at which they were able to shrug off what had clearly been a rather difficult week should be admired.

Also to be taken into consideration is the fact that they are missing several players to injuries. Naby Keita, Joel Matip, Thiago Alcantara, Ibrahim Konate, Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are all spending time on the treatment table and the Liverpool manager who at the beginning of the season only three weeks ago declared that he did not foresee his team buying another player in the transfer window has now admitted that they were actively looking to add to the squad.

The result against a hapless Bournemouth hardly flattered the Reds but it underscored a statement of intent and as they say in football – you can only beat what’s been put in front of you. Having said that, It is perhaps pertinent to point out that despite the appearance of a reinstated swagger, Liverpool in the matches before Bournemouth, certainly looked vulnerable in areas where they had in the past seemed impregnable.

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s lack of pace and tackling ability as full back is now being exposed by pacy wingers who have cottoned on to the fact that the England defender is terribly slow on the turn. Joe Gomez who only recently returned from a long-term injury looks off the pace and his partnership in the heart of the defence with Virgil van Dijk doesn’t inspire the kind of confidence that Liverpool had when they’ve paired Van Dijk with either of the injured duo of Joel Matip or Ibrahim Konate.

It’s still early doors and there is still a lot of football to be played so whatever chinks there are presently in Liverpool’s armour will certainly be ironed out by the astute Jurgen Klopp but until then, you get a sense that opponents that are far better equipped than Bournemouth will fancy their chances.

Abiye Opuamah

Abiye Opuamah is an editor and a massive football enthusiast who also dabbles now and again in writing flash fiction pieces, playing chess against the machine and almost always roots for the underdog. He lives in Johannesburg.