The main reason for losing to City/ lack of stars finally gave Liverpool a hand!

Not having enough depth in the squad and on the bench has made it difficult for Liverpool.

According to "Sports Three", while the happy players of Manchester City against Noel Gallagher, Alfie Holland and others danced and rejoiced in the away fans' stand which was full of inflatable bananas, the Anfield DJ played the song "Little Lies" by Fleetwood Mac.

Of course, most of what we saw in this noisy and so-called spectacular show, but somewhat disappointing, was a lie; However, for Liverpool and Andoni Irraola, some harsh and undeniable truths became abundantly clear. For the second year in a row, the extraordinary talents of Jeremy Duko, Ryan Sherky and Erling Holland were simply beyond Liverpool's reach. It showed in a short amount of time why Iraola's team, despite being one less player, is still far from what it wants to be.

It was the Basque manager's first defeat since his move from Bournemouth, but it also confirmed a number of other concerns that may have been on his mind during his first few months on Merseyside, including the underperformance of the team's most expensive players. Florian Wirtz was the biggest disappointment among the 22 players who started the match in the starting line-up, while Bradley Barkola has also failed to live up to expectations since his move from Paris Saint-Germain. Except for a few good moments, neither of these two big buys delivered enough performance.

Of course, Barcola will be given time to adjust to his new environment, but Wirtz is no longer a rookie and will need to improve from here on out. Wirtz and Barkula, who cost the club a total of £239 million, had nothing to say compared to the two lesser-known players who joined them in Liverpool's attack: Luis Comas, who was playing for the first time in the English Premier League, and Victor Muñoz, a new signing who joined the team for £34.5 million from Osasuna; A figure that does not seem very high in today's football market.

Comas was like a thorn in the opponent's side with his relentless pressing, and Muñoz constantly harassed the City defenders. In contrast, Barcola played predictably, and Wirtz repeatedly made bad decisions every time he had the ball in the offensive zone. Liverpool had a chance to win this match. Before and after the end of the first half, spaces were created to hit the opponent, but the home team did not seem to believe in themselves enough and every time they had the opportunity to exploit the spaces behind the City defense line, they showed too much hesitation in making decisions.

However, it wouldn't be fair to criticize Iraola's team without mentioning two important factors that affected the situation: the red card that was the wrong decision and the absence of three influential players, Alexander Isak, Cody Khakpo and Dominik Sobuslai, who were watching the match from the stands. Liverpool scored seven goals in the current league season, six of which were scored by these three players. Without their presence, the attacking power of this team was noticeably reduced and Liverpool's attack line looked largely harmless.

Therefore, this match revealed Iraola's weakness in the depth of his team's composition; An issue that was warned about in the summer transfer window. In Issac's absence, Liverpool have been forced to rely on Coomas, an admirable player with a bright future who played for Hull City in the Championship last season.

Of course, there were positive points in Liverpool's performance. Before the dismissal, this team was coherent in the defensive line and Alisson almost did not need to block the ball; However, City were finding spaces and creating good chances with the likes of O'Reilly and Anderson escaping without the ball. Soboslay's absence was felt, but the midfield was well-balanced and Ryan Grauenbrech produced one of his best performances in a while before being red-carded. The Dutch midfielder and his midfield teammate Alexis McAllister gave Gianluigi Donnarumma a hard time with their long range shots.

Gravenbrech Iraola and other members of Liverpool have the right to be unhappy with the referee's decision to send this player off. The first mistake did not deserve a yellow card at all, and in the past, such a mistake did not have a yellow card; However, referee Chris Kavanagh appeared to be in a hurry to get the card out of his pocket.

This decision detracted from the competition and raises the question of why the video assistant referee is so willing to intervene at all stages, but not with yellow cards. The new FIFA rules state that a second yellow card can be reviewed, but a first yellow card cannot be reviewed. why

However, even before the dismissal, Liverpool had failed to take control of the match or use the opportunity of the hosts to impose their demands. Meanwhile, City had weathered the pressures of a tense and hostile atmosphere at Anfield. After Gravenbrech's dismissal, Iraola's players were distraught and crumbled much more easily than expected. They looked like a boxer who had been hit hard and couldn't regain his balance. Three goals were scored in Liverpool's goal and the only surprising thing was that the number of goals was not more. "They weren't smart enough," Roy Keane said on Sky Sports. Just because they became 10 people, they should not run away from the burden of responsibility."

If Liverpool had continued with 11 players and their best attacking players had returned from injury, the result of this match could have been completely different. But Iraola's problem is that the weakness of the depth of his team's composition was brutally revealed and the quality gap between Liverpool and the leading Manchester City, as much as it is a part of the reality and not a fake image, was clearly in front of everyone's eyes.