Liverpool are the worst defending champions in Premier League history

Schmeichel's Cartwheel

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Liverpool are 33 points worse off than they were last season after 25 games. They have officially passed Leicester as statistically the worst defending champions in the history of the Premier League.

What’s gone wrong? :drool:
 

Lay

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I was going to make a thread about who the worst champions ever were, I would have bet anything on it being Leicester but apparently not :lol:
 

Zlatan 7

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Van Dijk and Gomez are out = most of their first eleven is injured
 

11101

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Even more reason to keep the * next to their names on the trophy.
 

TrustInJanuzaj

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They can use every excuse under the sun, some of them are valid, some are over the top, but there's absolutely no excuse for how far they have fallen this season. Personally I think they have peaked under Klopp and for those Liverpool fans hoping a couple of injuries will return them to 'normal' they are in for a rude awakening.
 

Wayne's World

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Greatest Premier League side of all time I was told by deluded gobshites in the media and from Liverpool fans
 

Ananke

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They've been hit with a ton of problems and it's all been poorly handled. When things aren't going your way there's a way to manage it. It's damage mitigation at this point.
 

WeePat

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Tells you how good they were last season because we finished 10th after winning the league and at this stage they've had a worse points drop off this season than even that Chelsea team that finished 10th on 50 points. They're coming down from 99 points. We fell from 87 points.
 

horsechoker

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Tells you how good they were last season because we finished 10th after winning the league and at this stage they've had a worse points drop off this season than even that Chelsea team that finished 10th on 50 points. They're coming down from 99 points. We fell from 87 points.
Perhaps Liverpool are trying the Chelsea method. Fail to qualify for anything and then have a free run at the title the next season. Liverpool have a high-energy style so if they can go at 1000mph every Premier League game they'll probably finish high in the league.
 

Bocca9978

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I'd throw Leicester in there. Won money betting on them finishing in the bottom half after being Champions.
Is fun how shit Liverpool look though.
 

Tom Van Persie

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And some people had the nerve to mention this team in the same breath as our '99 or '08 teams. feck right off.
 

Delano

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The injury thing is not the sole reason for the scale of decline. Granted it has played a huge impact but the results started dipping after the first A Madrid game, continued when they came back from the lockdown (remember they lost 3-0 to Watford, 4-0 to City, and 7-2 to Villa with the "best centre back in premier league history" playing).

Since the A Madrid game their record in all comps is:

26W 12D 14L

It's a problem that was already starting and has got much worse.
 

Devil81

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I'm certain Leicester had are worse season, they were struggling in the bottom half of the league and ended up sacking Ranieri.
 

Schmeichel's Cartwheel

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Tells you how good they were last season because we finished 10th after winning the league and at this stage they've had a worse points drop off this season than even that Chelsea team that finished 10th on 50 points. They're coming down from 99 points. We fell from 87 points.
Of course. Leicester were in a relegation battle yet had a lesser drop off in points.
 

danamann

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They can use every excuse under the sun, some of them are valid, some are over the top, but there's absolutely no excuse for how far they have fallen this season. Personally I think they have peaked under Klopp and for those Liverpool fans hoping a couple of injuries will return them to 'normal' they are in for a rude awakening.
Agreed. Even last year when everyone wanked themselves in a coma talking about how good they were, I just didn't see it. Constant sideways passing from CB to CB, long balls, a midfield of 3 workhorses who offer little on the ball and fullbacks putting in crosses after crosses. It was actually vintage Mourinho the way they played. Grinding out results, often late in the game, a very solid defense, clinical attackers.

Klopp never really cared for positional play, considering how long he's been at Liverpool they are still very poor in possession. I think he also recognized that when they signed Thiago from Bayern, realizing they need to control games more and cultivate a style of play that is more worthy of a champion rather than the constant full throttle approach of an underdog.
It seems to me he underestimated how difficult it is to change that. You can't just put Thiago in that midfield and tell him to play like he did at Bayern. Judging by their matches Klopp has no clue how to use Thiago, the whole team seems out a sync. This is definitely on the manager.
 

RedRonaldo

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The worst one had to be Chelsea under Mourinho? From champion in 14-15 to 10th place in 15-16, with their manager getting sacked half way through season.

2nd worst from us? From champion during Fergie last season, to 7th place during Moyes year?
 

Nevilles.Wear.Prada

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Players were running on 30 years of title hiatus and klopp basically ran them to the ground. And kept basically the same core players game in and out without injuries for few seasons. Which in itself a miracle.
Didn't he did the same with dortmund as well? Seems like mourinho type of management. Minus throwing people under the bus. Lets see what happen when the screw tightens.
Brilliant times tbh.
 

Schmeichel's Cartwheel

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The worst one had to be Chelsea under Mourinho? From champion in 14-15 to 10th place in 15-16, with their manager getting sacked half way through season.

2nd worst from us? From champion during Fergie last season, to 7th place during Moyes year?
If you judge it on points worse off than the previous season Liverpool are the worst. If you judge it based on overall points Leicester are the worst.
 

Zlatan 7

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Seeing how bad they’re doing this year kind of makes me even more gutted they won the league last year and that city couldn’t hold them off that year too, it would have been funny that through their best years in thirty they still couldn’t do it.

City winning that many in a row doesn’t leave a nice taste mind no matter how hollow.
 

iHicksy

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Injuries have played there part but if you notice they can no longer "gengen press" and there's a good reason for this. Asthma Peds. This isn't conspiracy - this is fact. 22 out of 35 of the Liverpool squad have "asthma". That's five times higher than the national average. Asthma medication can be supplied in pill form as well as inhalers. With the pills having a higher potency, such as Albuterol. These drugs smooth the pathways of the lungs allowing for massively increased stamina, oxygen uptake. Anti catabolic properties and increased recovery and increase fat oxidization. (I do competitive bodybuilding and have taken these drugs personally to prepare for shows - So have first-hand experience of their effectiveness)

It's my belief that they are combining these drugs with caffeine pre-game which gives them tremendous energy and stamina (See above). Now the issue with these drugs is that they put strain on the heart. The player's heart rates increase and the introduction of caffeine further enhances this. So, what you need to do to negate some of the long-term damage is to "cycle" off. As with any drug. The issue is that with covid the players haven't been able to have a break long enough to cycle off before the season starts again since we only had something like a 3-week break. Therefore they started the season "off-cycle" in order to give their bodies the needed time to recover and this is still the case.
 

Classical Mechanic

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It's my belief that they are combining these drugs with caffiene pre-game which gives them tremendous energy and stamina (See above). Now the issue with these drugs is that they put strain on the heart. The player's heart rates increase and the introduction of caffeine further enhances this. So, what you need to do to negate some of the long term damage is to "cycle" off. As with any drug. The issue is that with covid the players haven't been able to have a break long enough to cycle off before the season starts again, since we only had something like a 3 week break. Therefore they started the season "off cycle" in order to give their bodies the needed time to recover and this is still the case.
Would explain Pep appropriating Big Sam's style.
 

charlenefan

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Klopp's got to be questioned as to why he felt the answer to their defensive injuries is to make their midfield weaker by playing Henderson as CB?
 

T_Model101

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They're not the worst. But the statistics show, if anything, how much of a anomaly last season was for them
 

Zen86

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If they had to finally win the PL, then the manner in which it happened and the aftermath has been as good as it could have been for a United fan :smirk:
 

Oranges038

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In terms of points lost compared to winning it, for sure they are. It's just another case of the stats not telling the full story. They are still only a couple of points off top 4, they really are stinking it up the last few weeks and it is great to see it. After 25 games they are much higher in the league than both Chelsea and Leicester were.

In my view, Chelsea 15/16 were the worst, even though Leicester managed less points the season after. Everything about Chelsea that season was rotten. Mourinho and Hazard were the worst versions of themselves. Liverpool only need 10 points to be better than Chelsea and 7 to be better than Leicester. Obviously I'd love them to lose every game until the end of the season, but I don't see it happening.
 

RedRonaldo

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If you judge it on points worse off than the previous season Liverpool are the worst. If you judge it based on overall points Leicester are the worst.
I still think Chelsea is the worst. They were champions but then drop near to relegation zone until Mourinho got the sacked. Their new manger saves them climbing back up to 10th place in the end, but the quick sudden drop, or should I say “plunged into relegation zone from top of the league”, was quite an amazing scene at that time. I have never seen anything like in my lifetime of watching football.
 

thegregster

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Probably the most unsporting champions as well. Diving,Robertson shouting at young opposition players like a gutter snipe, Klopp bizarrely complaining about goals that were correctly ruled offside, furloughing staff, fans breaking covid rules to celebrate etc.
 

Robbie Boy

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Bit like Leicester when they won it, they're a mid-table team that performed well above the sum of their parts. This is their level, but it's no shame as they're still well in contention for a top four finish.
 

lsd

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Something to do with the wind and cold feet