LACK OF TRANSFER ACTION CAUSING LIVERPOOL BADLY

For the first three or four months of the season, Liverpool looked as good as anybody, and far better than most. But those heady days of November seem like an awfully long time ago given their spluttering form since, which reached its nadir with a dreadful 3-2 home loss to Swansea City on Saturday. Jurgen Klopp’s men lost much of their sparkle when Philippe Coutinho was struck down by injury at the end of November, but they had just about hung on to stay within touching distance of leaders Chelsea coming out of the hectic Christmas period. By avoiding defeat at Manchester United last week, the Merseysiders appeared to be through the worst of it and looked in a good position to mount a real challenge for the title. The loss of Sadio Mane to the African Nations Cup was partially offset by the return of Coutinho, and with the Reds having played all but one of the top teams away from home (and with 10 of their remaining 17 fixtures at Anfield), things looked quite promising. ALSO READ: Klopp reveals transfer frustration After all, victories over Swansea and Chelsea in their next two home games would have put the Merseysiders just four points off the top, with Mane due to return and Klopp’s men having the easiest-looking run-in of the top teams. All of that now counts for nothing because they inexplicably blew it against Swansea. Even beating Chelsea now won’t make much difference as the gap would still be seven points and besides, if Liverpool can’t beat bottom feeders like Sunderland and Swansea, then how can they be trusted when the pressure really cranks up in April and May? The start of 2017 has been dreadful for Liverpool, but many supporters had been warning against this for several weeks. The squad needed strengthening in January, but there seems to be no great urgency from the club to do anything about it other than deliver the same tired excuses Kopites hear almost every January, and that inaction has proven costly already. It’s not inconceivable that they could go on a winning run this spring when Mane is finally reunited with Coutinho, Adam Lallana and Roberto Firmino, but how many points will have been dropped by the time that happens? With those four in the team Liverpool looked devastating, but they haven’t played together since Nov. 26 when Coutinho was stretchered off with an ankle injury that sidelined him until after Mane headed off to the African Nations Cup. Had those four been available every week Liverpool would almost certainly be in much better shape than they are currently, but injuries are a part of the game and you have to be able to deal with them. Liverpool haven’t done that well enough. Coutinho’s injury was unfortunate, but the absence of Mane is something the club had months to prepare for. ALSO READ: Klopp willing to help Gerrard into management In defence of Klopp, he has not been helped by certain players just not performing to the level expected of them. With Mane away, this was supposed to be the time when Daniel Sturridge and/or Divock Origi stepped up. It’s easy to criticise Klopp for selecting Lallana in the front three but had Sturridge or Origi shown anything in recent weeks then it’s almost certain that Klopp would have happily left Lallana where he is most effective. The two strikers made it very difficult for Klopp to select them against Swansea, but you can just as easily argue that as bad as Sturridge and Origi have looked, they’ve been no worse than the horribly out-of-form Emre Can. His presence in midfield was simply not needed against Swansea. He rarely plays a forward pass and any time he does try to do something progressive it usually ends with him running blindly into a cul-de- sac and losing possession. Going into the season, few expected Can, Sturridge and Origi to be performing this poorly, but the issue has been exacerbated by the club’s unwillingness to do everything possible to strengthen in the transfer window. Even if Liverpool finally act and bring somebody in this week, it would now smack of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. Klopp is fully aware of what needs doing, as last summer he bid for Borussia Dortmund’s exciting winger Christian Pulisic, and also tried to persuade Borussia Monchengladbach to part with star midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud. Neither German club were interested in doing business last summer, and that was never going to change in January. Klopp appears to be the only person surprised by that. ALSO READ: Reds midfielder joins Hull on loan The club party line has been that Klopp would rather wait until the summer to get the players he wants rather than settle for ones he’s not as keen on. An admirable sentiment if you’re absolutely sure you can land your favoured targets, but Pulisic has just signed a new contract at Dortmund, so there’s one that can seemingly be crossed off the summer shopping list already. “It is pretty difficult,” said Klopp. “It is not that we don’t want to bring players in. We do. But the thing is, the players we want because we think they help us, the clubs don’t sell. It is not about money in this situation, it is the winter transfer window.” Fans don’t want to be told by Klopp how choppy the water is, they want him to dock the boat, because right now it appears to be sinking.