Liverpool scapegoat identified in Alexander-Arnold repeat which left Slot baffled in defeat

Liverpool look exposed in defence, muddled in attack and just generally not quite like a team of champions injected with a record investment of over £400m.

Once the boos stop ringing and the goal music fades, it might be possible to detect the faint noise of Liverpool’s wheels coming off as October beckons.

That is, of course, hyperbole. The Premier League champions are the Premier League leaders who remain among the favourites to win the Champions League. And the shrill of referee Clement Turpin’s whistle will have to dissipate first in any event before the structural integrity of this bandwagon can be accurately deduced.

But Liverpool do look markedly vulnerable and disjointed. They have all season, and knew all along the late victories were unsustainable. Those same uncomfortable questions which were compellingly answered by seven consecutive wins will be asked more forcefully after two successive defeats.

It is only the second time in Arne Slot’s reign that the ignominy of consecutive defeats has befallen Liverpool. The sole consolation is that while losses to Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle dumped them out of two competitions in the space of six days in March, setbacks against Crystal Palace and Galatasaray have come early enough to course correct.

Quite how Slot plans to engineer that is another matter. The biggest single window transfer spend ever did not come with instructions to make a £300m attack click, nor how to properly replace Trent Alexander-Arnold’s influence on the ball.

It did buy a back-up goalkeeper, who was required after the next free agent cab off the Anfield rank headed for Real Madrid played a second-half hospital pass so powerful that it forced Alisson off with an injury.

Liverpool supporters are sensing history repeating itself with Ibrahima Konate. He has already spoken publicly more often this season than Alexander-Arnold did all last campaign, but only to fire back at fans who ‘forget too quick’ how important and imposing he was in 2024/25.

That form has not continued. The Frenchman was “all over the place” against Newcastle, “didn’t know what he was doing” against Palace and surrendered possession with impunity against Galatasaray.

Perhaps that is a natural by-product of your main competition for places being the abstract concept of Joe Gomez’s fitness and Wataru sodding Endo. This week has highlighted how costly the botched chase for Marc Guehi could ultimately be.

Konate was the most obvious culprit but this was a crime scene covered in various sets of fingerprints. Ryan Gravenberch and Curtis Jones were both caught on the ball in deep midfield, while a Virgil van Dijk mix-up almost led to Alisson being lobbed.

Alexis Mac Allister, on as a late substitute, made a risible attempt to find a teammate six yards away as Liverpool summarily failed to source an equaliser. At times it seemed like no player in red had ever been introduced to the notion of a pass before.

There were chances. Hugo Ekitike forced a save from a clever backheel and should have scored when played through early by Cody Gakpo, who had an effort cleared off the line in the aftermath.

Alexander Isak had a shot almost immediately after coming on. It was his first of four touches in over half an hour as the struggle to make sense of his place in this equation continues, along with that of the dropped Mo Salah.

It was the first time Liverpool had failed to score in a game since that frustrating evening against Paris Saint-Germain six months ago, and the 13th time in 15 games they have been unable to keep a clean sheet after Victor Osimhen converted from the spot when Dominik Szoboszlai was ruled to have fouled the impressive Baris Alper Yilmaz.

Rafael Benitez used to love the ‘short blanket’ analogy to explain the difficulties in balancing defence and attack as a manager: “If you cover your head, you have your feet cold, but if you cover your feet, you have your head cold.”

Liverpool are currently freezing at both ends and in the crucial moments. Slot was shaking his head on the touchline as they laboured to pass out from the back on the stroke of half-time, a ferocious Galatasaray press led by Lucas Torreira suffocating the hosts.

They have no Alexander-Arnold to move the ball forwards, no cohesion or link between defence, midfield and attack, and seemingly no idea of what the best combination of 11 of these players might be, nor in what system.

Turpin almost rescued them by awarding a penalty late on for a perceived foul on Konate, but the overturn was nothing less than either team deserved. Going by Liverpool’s night and week, Isak would have injured himself missing it anyway.

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