After years of gegenpressing high up the pitch to win the ball back and score goals, Liverpool are a team in transition. Just not the same kind now.
After playing every single football match they could have last season, picking up the two domestic cups and losing out on the Premier League’s very final day and Champions League final, Liverpool have almost completely fallen apart this season. Looking almost unrecognisable, they have been vulnerable defensively whilst not carrying the same threat offensively that they have in recent seasons. The midfield is stale, lacks control and has still had no real investment.
The squad’s age profile is dangerous, with many of their most important players either already on the wrong side of 30 or rapidly approaching it. Large-scale investment is needed from the club, and a large responsibility falls upon manager Jürgen Klopp to turn things around. With that said, let’s look into their season so far.
Summer signings
Darwin Núñez (£85m from Benfica)
Fábio Carvalho (~£7.5m from Fulham)
Calvin Ramsay (£6.5m from Aberdeen)
Arthur Melo (loan from Juventus)
Results
2–2 draw vs Fulham (away)
1–1 draw vs Crystal Palace (home)
2–1 defeat vs Manchester United (away)
9–0 victory vs Bournemouth (home)
2–1 victory vs Newcastle United (home)
0–0 draw vs Everton (away)
3–3 draw vs Brighton & Hove Albion (home)
3–2 defeat vs Arsenal (away)
1–0 victory vs Manchester City (home)
vs West Ham United (home)
Top scorers
Roberto Firmino: 6 goals
Mohamed Salah, Luis Díaz & Darwin Núñez: 3 goals
Fábio Carvalho: 2 goals
Tactical overview
Even with questions about their intensity, the Reds are still a heavy gegenpressing side and according to the numbers aren’t doing it too badly, still boasting one of the highest PPDA figures in the league.
The issue lies more in when the press gets beaten. Liverpool in the past have had midfielders who are well positioned to aggressively counterpress upon losing possession, whilst also covering for the more advanced full backs. The workrate, intelligent positioning and intensity of the midfield was central to this.
Now, that workrate & intensity is not there. Years of such a high-intensity style, coupled with ageing players and underinvestment into midfield, has seen Liverpool’s midfield fall off a cliff this season. Players in this area look sluggish and are not providing either offensive or defensive support.
If they want to control games through central possession rather than pressing Liverpool are almost entirely reliant on Thiago, who is one of the best midfielders in the world when he is fit. His ability to progress play, evade pressure and control the tempo of games is matched by few. The problem is his fitness is highly unreliable, and they have no other players at the club who can replicate his role. In part, this was down to not strengthening the midfield in the summer as they should have done.
On the right of the midfield three, the introduction of Harvey Elliott has improved the quality of the midfield in possession. But Elliott cannot cover for Trent Alexander-Arnold the way Jordan Henderson could. Henderson himself has not been the same player defensively this season, and neither has Fabinho. Neither of the two are getting any younger, which makes it even more mind-blowing that Liverpool didn’t go in and buy some younger midfielders this summer.
Moving onto Alexander-Arnold, he has never been a good defender. His ability in possession, maybe unmatched by any other player in his position, has always made him worth accommodating. But this season, on top of not being accommodated, he has hit new lows defensively. In the league and in Europe, his side is getting targeted every single week now and he almost seems disinterested. On a number of occasions when bypassed, there isn’t even any effort to sprint back or to help his defenders out and a number of Liverpool’s goals conceded have come from this. The reason for this is unclear, and it is an issue that has been seen across the defence in general but especially with the Englishman. What is clear is that Klopp needs to find a way to fix this and start getting the best out of his defenders again.
Offensively too, Liverpool have struggled in comparison to recent years. 22 goals from their first 10 games looks a strong return on paper, but nine of these goals came in just one game. From the other 9 games, they scored 13 goals. Again, not bad at all. But not close to the level they have been at in recent years. With Mohamed Salah being given a big new contract and Darwin Núñez being signed for such a big fee, eyebrows have rightfully been raised at why the side are struggling for goals.
Mohamed Salah has been playing on the wide right for most of the season, often seen hugging the touchline. This feels like a bizarre way to use a player who since joining the Premier League in 2017 has won three golden boots, with more goals than any other player in that time period. Due to his role, Salah has not been able to get into the positions he scores more frequently from, and with his scoring dropping off it is obvious that Liverpool’s has too given his importance to the side. Against Manchester City where he played as Liverpool’s striker, he scored the winner and had other goalscoring opportunities that he has not seen all season. The answer with regards to Salah feels like a very simple one.
Núñez has been another interesting case. Signed for £85m, there are question marks as to how he fits the team. We have seen him as a striker in Liverpool’s 4–3–3, and in a front two which has made use of his ability running the channels. He has missed chances, and he has looked quite a chaotic player, but Núñez creates genuine threat through his movement, physicality and relentlessness. Some tactical adaptations are needed to fully fit him in, but he is showing good signs so far.
Even with a formation switch to try something different in recent games, all in all Liverpool are not too different to how they have been in recent years from a tactical perspective. But perhaps that is where the problem lies.
Players to watch
Darwin Núñez had a mixed start to life for Liverpool. In the Community Shield, his debut, he scored off the bench as Liverpool triumphed 3–1 over Manchester City. Coming off the bench on his Premier League debut he scored and got an assist in the 2–2 draw at Craven Cottage. The week after, however, he missed multiple big chances and was sent off for headbutting Joachim Andersen of Crystal Palace. An interesting start to say the least. Since then, he has been hit and miss with his overall game being criticised and Roberto Firmino outperforming him. But one thing he doesn’t lack is threat, and his goals against Arsenal and West Ham showed this value. He is a different kind of striker to Liverpool’s previous ones under Klopp, and it will be interesting to see how well he is utilised. His transfer fee means they have no choice but to build around him, and how they do this is worth watching across the season.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, where to begin. A player who polarises opinion the way his ability polarises. Going forwards, maybe the best right back in the world. Defensively? Weak even at the best of times. Trent has particularly struggled for Liverpool this season, with his usual defensive cover not protecting him the way it has in the past, and teams are exploiting this by targeting their attacks down his side. His ability and importance in possession are too important for Klopp to leave him out entirely, so how does he work around the defensive issues now?
Fábio Carvalho was signed from Fulham with a lot of promise, and the club have been careful not to throw him in the deep end. Already he has shown his quality in the league with two goals, including a huge late winner at Anfield which made the crowd erupt. He has the capabilities to play in midfield and out wide on the left, and especially if the side switch to a 4–2–3–1 he will be knocking on the door this season.
What needs to happen next and what to look out for
For this section, before giving my own take I first asked a close friend who supports the club what his view on these issues are. Here is what he had to say:
“So Liverpool this season, I think while it’s clear there are some big problems, the root of these symptoms are relatively clear.
Plain and simple — we’re too tired. The squad played every game possible last season, and both the fatigue and disappointment of being so close to both the CL and PL and losing to the same opponents as before really harkens back to the beginnings of the Klopp era. The development must understandably feel stagnant, especially after a summer of next to no improvement.
On top of this, FSG’s reluctance to spend has finally caught up (if you think it hadn’t before). The squad is aged, and this shows in the midfield. The lack of mobility from players like Henderson, Fabinho and particularly Milner is woeful to watch, and they almost always get killed in the transitions. These are not necessarily bad players, but they are not suited to play every game tactics wise, as well as having pre-existing fitness issues meaning that they should be playing this amount of games. Even if they were in good form currently, they shouldn’t feature this heavily, it will inevitably come back to haunt them.
Milner should not even be in the squad full stop in big 2022. I imagine that he is staying around to transition into a coaching role at the club and gain some experience at the top level. The players all speak of his leadership qualities on top of Klopp praising his influence in the dressing room. But there is no team in the premier league he becomes a starter at if he leaves, and there is no way that Jones, Ox, or Keita (whatever the issue is there) are that much worse than he is to not be playing.
The issues with Trent are misleading. The media circus around his defending ability is only happening due to the midfield’s dropoff and inability to cover him. Teams are targeting that right side, that is absolutely true, but it’s not because Trent is a “League One defender”. it’s because he is just not a top level one. A manager of Klopp’s level wouldn’t persist with a player that can’t defend. The issue lies in that the RDM/ RCM (Henderson) is not covering Trent well and is playing generally poorly. Trent has not magically forgotten how to defend, he is playing the same as he always has, it’s just he does not have the cover anymore.”
Personally, I find it difficult to disagree with a lot of this. A switch to a 4–2–3–1 formation would probably benefit Liverpool right now, Fabinho has not been at his best but as the right-sided pivot he could cover for Alexander-Arnold. He has previously played at right back in his career so knows how to defend these areas of the pitch, and would provide TAA with an insurance policy. Going into the market for at least one quality midfielder in January is absolutely essential, and more will probably be needed.
Allowing TAA to move further forward with defensive cover is needed, but allowing Mohamed Salah to move inside a little more is arguably of even greater importance. He has been the Premier League’s best goalscorer since he joined in 2017, and using him so far wide is a waste of his goalscoring abilities.
In this 4–2–3–1, Firmino should start as the number 10 as he has been Liverpool’s best player this season, and it will facilitate his tendencies to drop deep in possession, Harvey Elliott can be another option. Fábio Carvalho is also able to play here, but could well be needed on the left in the absence of Luis Díaz. Playing with Firmino as a 10 relieves any demand on Darwin Núñez to drop deep, and will allow him to focus on playing in and around the box where he is most dangerous. It might not be perfect long-term, but for now this switch to a 4–2–3–1 looks like it can fix some of Liverpool’s most potent problems.
