I obsess about football because football brings me joy. Not all of the time, to be sure. Last season, for example, had far more miserable moments than joyful ones. Nonetheless, even in a season that fell far below the lofty standards that Liverpool have established since Jürgen Klopp’s coming in 2015, the Reds still provided me a lot of joy. 7-0 against Man United (fuck the fucking fuckers!) An unexpected push for the Top Four at the end of the season.
And Darwin Núñez.
Darwin Núñez brings me joy. Every moment of Darwin is filled with passion. He’s so emotional, that I can’t help but get caught up in feeling all the feelings with him. Visually, he cuts a stunning figure. Broad shoulders and long hair atop a lanky, statuesque 6-foot-3 frame. Most often, when you see him, he’s running. He’s running fast. He’s running very, very fast. When he gets the ball, his speed leaves defenders behind and the resulting opportunities to score create anticipation and excitement.
Absurd to Sublime – You Never Know What’s Coming Next
What will he do next? Will he blast it? Will he round the keeper? Will he chip and try to loft it over the keeper’s head? Will he backheel the ball into the path of a teammate? Will the ball make its way to the corner of the goal? Or – at least equally likely – will it go five yards wide and five yards over?
One never knows with Darwin. For me, this adds to the excitement. More often than not last season, those anticipatory moments finished in frustration. But, at some level, these repeated frustrations make the moments of joy even more intoxicating. Darwin tries so hard and gives so much, and I’m on the journey with him. I feel his pain as he stumbles and loses the ball. I scream in frustration along with him as gets his shot horribly wrong, muffing yet another big chance to score.
Then, sometimes, Darwin does exactly what he intends to do. He pulls off the sublime. And the joy flows. Boy, does the joy flow! The knee slide. The chest thump. The ear-to-ear grin. The hugs. The arms raised in triumph. Darwin knew all along that he could do it, and now he has. Isn’t this game joyful?
Sunday Brought Us Full Darwin
Which brings us to last Sunday. Darwin has new reasons to be frustrated this season, as the arrival of Cody Gakpo, along with the return of Diogo Jota, has left Darwin limited to a substitute’s role. He doesn’t like it. And, regardless of whether I agree with the manager’s personnel decisions, I am pleased by Darwin’s anger. He should be pissed. He should want to play.
Nonetheless, last Sunday, Darwin did not get his chance until the 77th minute. He was the last-minute Hail Mary. The go-for-broke, throw caution to the wind final roll of the dice.
Darwin delivered. Man, oh man, did Darwin bring the goods.
First, just one minute after joining the fray, Harvey Elliott lofted a sixty-yard pass in Darwin’s direction. By the time the ball arrived, Darwin was away, two yards behind the nearest defender. He brings down the pass with an extended instep, but the ball bounces toward him, away from the goal. This gives the defender time to recover, and the opportunity is lost. Still, as always, Darwin delivered the anticipation and excitement.
Three minutes after that, anticipation and excitement transformed to delirium. In the 81st minute, Trent Alexander-Arnold rifles a forty-yard pass on the ground to Salah. With his first touch, Salah smoothly lays the ball off into Diogo Jota’s path. Jota takes one touch, then fires an attempted through ball in the direction of Darwin, who is making a run. Jota’s pass hits the defender in the back, then drops off the defender’s heel and directly into Darwin’s path.
Now, Darwin finds himself in the position where we have seen him fail so many times before. He’s one-on-one with the goalkeeper. The game is on the line. He’s got a very wide angle and a very difficult shot. Indeed, the xG (expected-goal) value of the shot that Darwin takes is only .07. That means that, when other players take that same shot from the same location with the defense in the same position, they score a goal only 7 out of every 100 times.
Darwin defied the odds, hammering the ball past the keeper, into the inside of the far post, and into the net. Suddenly, the 10-man Reds had evened the score against Newcastle.
In the moments after scoring this amazing goal, we get full-blown Darwin during the celebration. He sprints, with arms outstretched, laughing. He finishes the sprint with a long knee-slide, taunting the Newcastle fans by putting his fingers in his ears to signify their silence. His teammates embraced him. Far above in the heights of the upper deck, the Liverpool away fans were delirious. Four thousand six hundred miles away in Dallas, Texas, so was I.
Still, the best was yet to come.
In the 93rd minute, Alisson made a save and launched a long ball in Darwin’s direction. A Newcastle center back easily intercepted, and headed the ball to Newcastle’s best midfielder, Bruno Guimarães. Unexpectedly, Guimarães fluffed his lines. Bruno’s pass thumped into the tummy of Harvey Elliott, who had been here, there, and everywhere after joining the fray along with Darwin in the waning moments. The ball deflected straight to Mo Salah, who took a touch, looked up to see Darwin racing behind the defense, and zipped a perfect through ball into Darwin’s path. Darwin ran onto the ball, and again fired it from a wide position across the keeper and into the far corner. Unsaveable. Sublime. And, best of all, heroic.
We get treated to another knee slide. Some chest thumping, some histrionic yelling, and the inevitable embrace with numerous joyous teammates.
The Reds delivered another miracle. I gobbled up another scrumptious feast of joy. And, for the first time in what one hopes will be a long career full of similar moments, the miraculous joy was served up by the passionate Uruguayan, Darwin Núñez.
The Transfer Window Slams Shut, With Ryan Gravenberch Completing the New Midfield Rebuild
This has been the most active transfer window for Liverpool since I became a fan in 2011.
Out with the Old
First, at the end of last season Liverpool had a gaggle of players leave because their contracts had expired. James Milner, Naby Keīta, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and club legend Roberto Firmino all fell into this category. We knew this group was headed out the door, and we knew the club would need to be busy in the market replacing them.
Then came the unexpected departures of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to Saudi Arabia.
Henderson and Fabinho have been at the core of Klopp’s midfield for many years, including last season. Last season, however, their wheels fell off. For whatever reasons – and it was almost certainly a combination of age, miles on the legs, the psychological impact of just missing out on the Premier League and Champions League titles in 2022, and a shortened offseason – both players performed abysmally last season.
Thus, when offers to buy those players came in from the Middle East, the Reds almost certainly made the right decision to offload them. Based on their performances last year, this is addition by subtraction alone.
In with the New and Young(er)
Next, the Reds made their first move by triggering the surprisingly low release clause of 24-year-old former Brighton midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, for the bargain price of £35 million. Mac Allister is just coming off winning the World Cup with Argentina. He’s an all-action midfielder who can play both as an attacking mid or in a more deep-lying role. Though he’s not particularly speedy, he’s a damn sight faster – and younger – than Fabinho and Henderson. His presence in midfield has immediately upgraded the Reds’ press significantly. His technical ability to interchange with forwards in attacking areas has also given Liverpool more of a scoring threat. The combination of Mac Allister’s energy, creativity, and vision provide a massive boost over the limp biscuits that dissolved in the middle of the park last year.
After picking up Mac Allister for a trifle, the Reds invested some of their savings to trigger the more-expensive, £60 million release clause of 22-year-old Red Bull Leipzig midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai. Szoboszlai is a dream midfielder for a Jürgen Klopp team. He is an athletic machine who can run, run, run, and then run some more. His pressing energy and tenacity are incredible, and he seems to be everywhere all at once. As impressive as his pressing and off-the-ball coverage may be, he nonetheless brings even stronger qualities to the table as an attacking midfielder in possession. Szoboszlai has the aggression, dribbling skills, vision, and passing ability of a young Steven Gerrard. Yes, I just said that. Szoboszlai can also strike the ball from distance with the same type of sweetness that Liverpool’s talisman once did. We’re only three games into his Liverpool career, and I already believe that Szoboszlai is one of the top five midfielders in the Premier League. He’s only 22 years old. Give him two more years, and I expect him to be the best. The upgrade from last season’s version of Jordan Henderson to Szoboszlai is difficult to overstate. This move alone makes the Reds much, much better.
The third new member of the midfield to arrive at Liverpool is 30-year-old Wataru Endo, who has been captain of both the Japanese national team and his former club, Stuttgart. Endo is, by far, the least flashy of Liverpool’s four new midfielders. By all accounts, he is a reliable, hard worker and a calm, strong leader. Unlike the other three new members of the midfield, Endo is also naturally fills the “destroyer” role of a true “defensive midfielder,” not unlike Fabinho. Endo’s best is almost certainly well below the level of Fabinho’s best, and also well below the level of Moisés Caicedo – one of the “ones who got away” in this transfer marker. But if Endo meets expectations by performing consistently and reliably in a screening role in front of the back line, he will serve Liverpool very well.
Finally, on transfer deadline day Liverpool secured a deal for young Ryan Gravenberch, from Bayern Munich, and previously Ajax in the Netherlands. The Dutchman is 21-years-old. His lone season at Bayern Munich was underwhelming, as he appeared in only 24 times in all competitions, and started only twice in the Bundesliga. But Liverpool have coveted Gravenberch for a long time, based primarily on what he did for Ajax as a very young man. Gravenberch, like Szoboszlai, is a physical specimen. Six-foot-three and quite quick, Gravenberch dribbles past defenders with ease. At Ajax, he covered nearly every blade of grass as he excelled in both the attacking and defensive phases.
Even at Bayern, Gravenberch’s statistical numbers for chance creation, dribbling, and interceptions were impressive, albeit coming in very little time on the pitch.
Gravenberch, based on his current skill set, is certainly not a destroyer in the mold of Fabinho or Rodri at Manchester City. However, there is some possibility that Klopp intends to form his new youngster into something a bit different. Just as Klopp transformed Gini Wijnaldum from an attacking mid/winger into a defensively critical member of a three-man midfield, he could similarly transform Gravenberch. Or, Klopp might intend to continue the redevelopment of Curtis Jones from an attacking to a more-defensive mid, while allowing Gravenberch to take on more of the box-to-box and attacking roles in midfield.
Whatever Klopp’s plans for Ryan Gravenberch, it’s apparent that Jürgen has been an admirer of him for quite some time. Sources indicate that two summers ago, Liverpool had identified Jude Bellingham, Aurélien Tchouaméni, and Ryan Gravenberch as their top young midfield targets. The Reds very publicly chased both Bellingham and Tchouaméni, who both landed at Real Madrid. Gravenberch may be third-choice in that group, but in that company that’s nothing to be ashamed about. Indeed, while at Ajax, one of Gravenberch’s coaches described him as a “better version of Paul Pogba.”
Gravenberch probably represents the highest-risk incoming transfer for Liverpool this summer. But he also has one of the highest ceilings. It’s a wager worth making, in my view.
What to Expect Sunday Versus Aston Villa
Sunday finds the Reds back home at Anfield against a tough Aston Villa squad. If Eddie Howe has statistically been the biggest pushover for Jürgen Klopp (they have faced one another 15 times, with the Reds winning 13, drawing one, and losing one), Villa manager Unai Emery has acted as one of Klopp’s tougher adversaries. Emery won their initial battle for Sevilla in the 2016 Europa League Final. Since then, Emery has not managed another victory, but his teams with Arsenal, Villareal, and Aston Villa have all presented significant challenges for Liverpool.
Against Liverpool Emery usually has his team sit back, defend well, take opportunities to apply pressure, and counterattack quickly. This recipe has always posed problems for Klopp’s high-risk tactics, and we should not be surprised if LFC face similar difficulties against Aston Villa on Sunday.
However, this time around in the Premier League, Emery has chosen to play a very high defensive line against nearly all opposition. This bit Aston Villa in the butt on opening day against Newcastle, which repeatedly passed behind the defense to great effect. In the past, Emery has dialed back his press and dropped his defensive line when playing Liverpool. We’ll see what happens on Sunday.
After Newcastle blew out Aston Villa on the Premier League’s opening day, Villa have bounced back to defeat both Everton (4-0) and Burnley (1-3) decisively. Many around the league are buzzing about the skills and showings by new arrival Moussa Diaby, a right-sided attacking mid/winger who had been at Bayer Leverkusen. In 125 appearances with Leverkusen, Diaby scored an impressive 31 goals. Not missing a beat, Diaby already has racked up two goals and an assist in his first three league appearances for Aston Villa.
Villa also feature the speed of forward Ollie Watkins, who has scored five times against Liverpool in six appearances.
How Will the Reds Lineup?
With van Dijk unavailable due to suspension following last week’s red card, and Konaté still nursing some type of muscle injury, we should see Joe Gomez and Joël Matip start in the two center back slots. I expect Endo, Szoboszlai, and Mac Allister to again start in midfield.
The biggest question is who will start as the center forward. After Darwin’s display on Sunday, he will be hoping and (probably) expecting to start. Given that Villa have been playing with a very high defensive line, it would absolutely make sense to start the Uruguayan against them. His speed running behind the defense is the best weapon the Reds have against that type of defense.
Despite Darwin’s exploits last weekend and the favorable matchup against a high line this Sunday, it would still not surprise me for Klopp to start Cody Gakpo again as striker. Klopp often establishes a lineup for the first four games before the international break, and sticks with it, injuries (and suspensions) permitting.
Klopp has gone with Gakpo because Gakpo is the best presser among Liverpool’s forwards. Gakpo also provides the most support to the midfield by dropping in and knitting play, in the style of Bobby Firmino.
I think it’s a very close call, but I’ll guess that Núñez starts – in part simply because I want it to happen. I’ll also assume that Klopp will use the 3-2-2-3 formation during build-up play, although we haven’t seen that much of it so far this season. Once the Reds dropped to 10 men in both of the last two matches, Trent mostly stuck to his right back position. Nonetheless, I believe the 3-2-2-3 will be back for this one, at least if the Reds can manage to keep all 11 guys out there this time. 
Aston Villa is tough, and Unai Emery will pose difficult tactical conundrums. But, in front of the Anfield crowd, I expect the Reds to march on and extend their league-best unbeaten streak to 15. I’m also hoping for the first clean sheet of the season, but I don’t expect to see it.
LFC 3 – Aston Villa 1
