And so it goes. The defeat against Manchester United was a body blow. It hurt. It hurt for a variety of reasons, most of them mostly deja vu. Manchester United deja vu. I’ve seen far better United sides do that sort of thing to us. And 2014 – 2016 deja vu. I’ve seen Liverpool lose or draw like that on what feels like a million occasions both this and last season. It was draining to see, not least because Liverpool played quite well. They scrapped and battled hard, and created reasonably well. They weren’t good enough at the football that matters. Most of the football that matters in most games happens in either area. Liverpool have sufficient quality, sufficient ruthlessness in neither.
This is nothing new. Klopp has come in and is working with an injury ravaged squad which has operated in ever decreasing circles at times. Too many injured, too many rushed back, too many playing half fit, too many injured again. Means more need to be rushed back. More not fully fit. More injured.
Football clubs can find spirals all over the place. Liverpool’s goalkeeper and defenders are anxious – they concede too many goals from set pieces. The forwards are anxious – they don’t score enough. The goalkeeper and defenders are anxious – they know the forwards won’t dig them out of trouble. The forwards are anxious – they know their goalkeeper and defenders are liable to let in a soft one, placing even more pressure on every shot on goal. The crowd are anxious. They are, after all, watching this.
Too many Liverpool players are injured and too many Liverpool players are the garnish on a functioning side. Roberto Firmino, for instance, would be looking good this season and potentially better next if he was playing for a side which had one lad at the very least already in double figures and another couple not far behind. Then he could find his feet and work with these players rather than starting as Liverpool’s number nine and most likely scorer in back to back games against Arsenal and Manchester United when he has yet to score five goals for the club. Adam Lallana is a midfielder who needs to be surrounded by options, not someone who should be up top in a 4-3-3. Liverpool’s 4-3-3 was led by Lallana, Firmino and James Milner. They have five league goals between them this season. It is January.
Worse, it doesn’t even suit them.
Indeed, tactically the point can be made that practically all of Liverpool’s front five against Manchester United were arguably 10 – 15 yards too high up the pitch, and that includes Christian Benteke when he came on. Both he and Firmino want a lad who runs past them, making space, darting around, albeit for very different reasons. James Milner does not want to be so far forward. Emre Can and Jordan Henderson have made a centre mid partnership work but both played ahead of Lucas Leiva. Even beyond these lads, delving into the box of broken toys, Phillipe Coutinho needs three options ahead of him to be at his best – he’s not a number 10, he’s a number 8. All of them, though, don’t have the lad darting around, leading the line, making space.
One lad would change everything. Two would be manna from heaven. A third, a goalkeeper, then we might as well all go to town forever.
This is the paradox of Liverpool’s issue – there is no quick fix but the only likely fix is a quick one. Either Liverpool manage to get a footballer or two this January or next summer who can lead the line with pace and trickery or they will continue to struggle to put the ball in the back of the net. Either Liverpool improve their goalkeeper this January or next summer or they will continue to struggle to dominate a penalty area and keep the demons at bay. This is the nature of transfers. You don’t need to do a ton of them, but you do need to focus all the energy on both boxes before you do anything else. Liverpool are good in the seventy yards between the areas. They are bloody rubbish at that last eighteen either side.
Liverpool were better than Manchester United, but the only pure goalscorer on the pitch, bought in 2004 popped up and made all the difference – Wayne Rooney. That same year Manchester United bought Louis Saha and Alan Smith. They already had van Nistlerooy and Cristiano Ronaldo. And so this was the last deja vu. Jealous of Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United. Every summer it felt like Ferguson’s United were buying a bag of tricks winger, a couple of forwards, a goalkeeper if they didn’t have one of their good ones. Every summer, double down on the attack and the keeper, make the rest work. Cheat it. You’ll box it. You can always box it if you have lads who stick the ball away and one who keeps it out.
We have these lads, doing all the midfielding, doing all the anxiety and all the injuries. These chosen few for whom sticking the round thing in the rectangular thing is an almost cosmic mystery.
Unspoken in all this is Daniel Sturridge. Unspoken because why speak of him? Again, a quick fix, but one that may never come to pass. No, we will limp on with these lads – these brave, hard working lads in their good shape organised by their determined manager. They will work hard for their manager and their football club. They will work hard for each other and show for one another and they will show their commitment by blazing their efforts both high and wide.
You can follow Neil Atkinson on Twitter (@Knox_Harrington)
Neil is one of the key figures behind The Anfield Wrap. Find out all about it here.
