On The Ball | No panic at Liverpool after Villa rout – Reds have a history of recovering well from thrashings
- Club legend Kenny Dalglish said ‘nearly every year we got hammered once’ during the club’s golden era
- Reports of Liverpool’s demise after 7-2 shellacking at Villa Park may be premature
This is not the way Jurgen Klopp expected to spend this week’s fifth anniversary of his appointment as Liverpool manager. The 53-year-old is wiling away the international break pondering his side’s biggest defeat in half a decade.
The 7-2 rout by Aston Villa was more than a setback. It was a collapse of monumental proportions. What does it signal for the rest of the season?
A trouncing like the one suffered at Villa Park can have long-lasting effects. When Brendan Rodgers’ side were pulverised 6-1 by Stoke City on the last day of the 2014-15 season it was a sign that the club had deep problems. The match at the Britannia Stadium was Steven Gerrard’s last in a Liverpool shirt. An era ended with an ugly bump. Rodgers had just 11 games left as manager at Anfield and the humiliation at Stoke was a sign that the Northern Irishman’s tenure was irrevocably doomed.
We will learn more when league action restarts. The first game on resumption of domestic competition is against Everton at Goodison Park. Carlo Ancelotti’s side have made a superb start to the season. They play in an attractive, attacking style and although their opening four fixtures of the campaign have not been the most exacting, they are the only team in the top flight with a 100 per cent record. Klopp could not have asked for a more testing match in the aftermath of a thrashing.
