I didn’t have time for a full match preview this week. But I do want to say a few words about my guess at what’s ailing our Reds. What’s wrong with Liverpool?
Injuries Are the Obvious Answer
The most obvious reason for Liverpool’s poor start is obviously the raft of injuries. And I’ve no doubt that injuries are one of the primary causes of Liverpool’s poor play. The team looks out of balance, similar to how it looked during the disaster of 2020-21. The problems then were entirely due to injuries, and injuries are taking a toll once again.
But this time around, I don’t believe injuries are entirely responsible for LFC’s malaise. Indeed, I suspect that they aren’t the single biggest problem. I think the Reds are also suffering because they are trying to implement a new tactical system. I don’t believe the players are trying less hard or playing with less passion, although it certainly looks that way at times. I believe, instead, that they are having to think about what they’re doing far more often than usual. And that thinking is creating hesitancy, lack of tempo, and lots of problems.
The Reds Have Used the Same Tactical System Since 2017-18
Consider this: the Reds have employed not only the same formation, but also the same tactical approach, since at least the 2017-18 season. Starting in that season, Klopp asked his team to build play through the fullbacks, who were tasked with starting Liverpool’s attacks from out wide.
With the fullbacks supplying the width, both of the wide forwards (Mané and Salah) would cut inside, where they would be close to the center forward (Firmino). The fullbacks would either interchange short passes with the forwards and midfielders, or they would send crosses into the middle of the penalty area. Either way, the fullbacks went wide, and the forwards cut inside.
Because Liverpool have been playing this way for so long, and most of the same players have been in the team for most or all of that time, everyone in the team has perfect muscle memory for what to do in nearly every situation. If my teammate goes there, I go here. If Player A is in that spot, and Player B is in this spot, then Player C will know exactly where to find Player D at that exact moment. The players also instinctively understand where the empty spaces on the pitch will be at any given time, based on the patterns of play they have used time and time again.
Now, Our Forwards Are Wide, and the Fullbacks Cut Inside (think Man City)
This season, although Liverpool’s formation thus far is still probably best characterized as a 4-3-3, Liverpool’s overall tactical patterns and positioning this season have been VERY different from what we have seen across the last five seasons.
Now, the fullbacks are cutting inside, and the wide forwards are staying very close to the touch line as the ball advances up the pitch. Yes, they will still eventually cut inside, but now they generally wait to do so until the ball has slowly worked its way to the edge of the penalty area. During the build up, both Díaz and Salah now occupy wide areas most of the time.
With Díaz and Salah staying wide, this leaves space for the fullbacks to cut inside of them, toward the midfield areas. Several times over the last few games either Robertson or Trent has finished off a Liverpool attack in or near the center of the penalty area — in a striker’s position. And, even when they don’t make it all the way into the box, those fullbacks usually find themselves in the position of attacking midfielders — just outside the penalty area, and more centrally located than the wide forwards in front of them.
Intriguingly, this new approach resembles how Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City team play. Klopp and Pep have both said over the years that they learn from one another. Klopp said in preseason that Liverpool needed to change things up in order to become less predictable. We are now seeing changes, and it looks like we’re trying an approach that comes straight from our rivals.
I am not suggesting that Klopp’s new tactical approach is either bad or ill-suited for this team. But I do think that it relies on new patterns, new positions, and new combinations. Our players simply don’t have all of these new positions and new movement patterns ingrained in their muscle memory — not yet. Before they play a ball to their teammate, they now have to think about where that teammate is supposed to be. This creates a split-second delay. And at this level, those split second delays make all the difference between magnificence and mediocrity.
The Best Goal-Scorer in the League Has Been Pushed Farther Away from the Goal
Another problematic aspect of the new tactical approach is that it takes Mohamed Salah farther away from the goal, and farther away from the other forwards. Since he arrived in the Premier League, Salah has been the top scorer in the league by far. Throughout that time, he’s also been among the top players in assists (and last year topped the league in that category as well). Forcing him to spend more of his time farther from the goal doesn’t make immediate sense, and he has been less involved in the team’s buildup play than is usual.
I believe all of these changes are designed both to give Liverpool a new look, and to maximize the productivity of new signing Darwin Núñez. By drawing defenders out wide, the other wide forwards will leave more space into which Núnez can run.
We’ll see how all these tactical changes work out in the long run, or whether Klopp abandons them early because the team is withering. I think there are strong signs that, with Núñez out there, the new system can reap strong benefits. I expect that Klopp will stay with them, and that they will eventually help us be even more threatening than we were before. For the moment, however, the newness of the approach is making the team far clunkier in attack.
Players’ Positional Uncertainties Are Killing Us Even Worse in Defensive Transitions
But, apart from the problems that the new approach has created for our attack, I believe it’s created even bigger problems in our transition defense. Again, this is an area where every split-second makes a huge difference. Under our old system, everyone knew exactly when to press and when to drop off. They knew where their teammates would cover for them, and where they needed to take individual responsibility. And they knew all of this without ever having to think about it.
Now, because we’ve got everyone in different positions during our attack, those same players are also in different positions when we lose the ball and transition to defense. This means the players are currently learning new patterns about who should be where and when. Again, they’re having to think before they act. These hesitations are resulting in us getting carved open on the break repeatedly.
Again, I think Klopp and his coaching staff will sort this out, and that our players will get accustomed to the new system in relatively short order. I certainly hope so. If not, Klopp may throw out the bath water and take us back to the old system in coming games.
Maybe the coaches can go back to the old system for now, and try to implement the new system more gradually as the season rolls on?
I don’t know. I don’t really care.
I just know we need to start winning, and we need to start winning now.
