Squad make up is undoubtedly an issue. Perhaps Dan Kennet's prediction that it will take until December for the team to click is correct. For now, the summer transfers seem misplaced. A DM, centre back and tricky left winger seem like a better use of the Isak money.
However the spine of the team seems weaker this season. Konate's form has spiralled. Macca and Isak aren't properly match fit. Gravenberch seems like what he is, an 8 playing as a 6. Gakpo then refuses to ever pass to his overlapping full back.
Add to this, the only players approaching being in form , namely Jones, Chiesa and Ekitike, can't buy a start.
Slot seems to want to try and force the current team into form, albeit being willing to drop Wirtz. We saw last season he can be stubborn. Abiding by Virgil's words and staying humble by starting Chiesa, Ekitike, Jones and maybe Gomez for the next few games would feel like a sensible next move.
Slot has to step away from this 4-2-3-1 now. The team is crying for a diamond midfield with wirtz at the 10 and Ryan at the 6. Macca needs to be dropped. Szobo and Curtis as the two #8s providing cover for the fullbacks. Play Eketike and Isak up front. Let the flying fullbacks provide the width and cross plenty of balls.
I honestly hoped the minute we got Wirtz he'd play as a false nine or the tip of a diamond midfield and we could still call it a 4-3-3. I'd like to see this or something similar given a try.
Bradley, Szoboszlai, Frimpong on the right smacks of 'total football', and I'd love to see Slot choose to do that from the start (sorry Mo) rather than have to wing it later in games when we are chasing. I'm not sure who the preferred 3 would be on the other side: Kerkez (of last season), Wirtz, Ekitike? I'm still fully confident Slot is thinking hard and often about all this though, so I'll just sit back and watch. We'll be fine.
For me it’s clear we need to drop Salah and Macca, who for whatever reason are both shadows of themselves.
Personally I would play Szobo on the right. He will naturally tuck in and help defence and midfield, with Frimpong overlapping him, he can cross and shot from the right half space and with Wirtz naturally moving left they won’t get in each others way.
Jones needs to play next to Gravenberch because he doesn’t do everything at 100 miles an hour, and so gives us better control and tempo change.
Ekitike needs to start until Isak earns the spot. Ekitike has done better than him and deserves to play. It doesn’t matter how much money we paid for Isak.
We REALLY miss Trent! Our right side is non-existent. How many times all game did Bradley pass it to Salah? How many times did we even pass to Bradley? The play was constantly down the left and once it hit Gakpo, play slowed down considerable. Gakpo is good with a shot but does not do well connecting with anyone other than just a pass backwards to Virgil or Kerkez. Without Robbo's passing from the left or Diaz's runs we also do not create much on the left but we keep attacking that side. Our fullbacks are midtable or lower right now. They are both young and could grow into more, but ultimately they are not performing well enough or are not suited to the tactics we are trying to play.
My best guess is that that Virg and Mac our only natural passers on the whole field so the ball just naturally goes to them on the left where they are and it stays there. Grav is a carrying not a passer, Dom and Bradley and Kerkez are all runners not passers, and Ibou is a brickwall but not a passer. There is no supply line to Salah or Isak. There is a weak supply line to Gakpo, but that is pretty much a cul de sac without any connection to the rest of our forwards unless he gets a shot off.
We are not only unbalanced offense to defense, we are unbalanced in skillset and unbalanced in the field tilting to the left constantly. The few times Mo got the ball his creativity was great, but his finishing bad. Even when Frimpong came on to play right wing he had a couple of good creative actions, but he only received the ball about two times. So as much as it could be Mo hitting the age wall, the team is not really getting the ball to the right ever! Other than Isak's 1v1 and a nice interplay with Mo in the box in the first half, I don't remember him touching the ball.
The most disappointing part of all of this is MU came in with a double pivot of Casimero and Bruno, two guys that cannot run and we let them control the midfield! I think spending the 115 million on Isak would have been far better spent on a passing rightback and metronome in the middle.
This is going to be an unpopular one but the xG difference of the Arsenal-Fulham game was 1.47. Ours was +1.41 vs. United. We had basically the same chance to win as Arsenal this weekend based on that data. I feel like the performances have improved over the four game losing streak, too.
I don’t think we’re far from it.. I wouldn’t start Salah nor Isak vs. Frankfurt. A four man midfield of Wirtz, Macca, Gravenberch, and Szoboszlai (from left to right) would be interesting. Macca has been just okay for me, I don’t think his form has been as bad as some people claim, especially in the last two games.
1. Klopp would never start Macca after an international break.
2. On current form our best forward line is possibly chiesa-ekitike-gakpo. If you think about it our troubles started after ekitikes stupid red card and suspension. Isak is simply not there yet, and still, ekitike hasn’t started a game since then! Which doesn’t make sense at all.
Slot and Hughes are looking guiltier by the week....well written Josh! I heard the following this morning: Prior to the last transfer window Liverpool predominatly recruited great players that fit their system... last summer they bought great players and now they are trying to find a system that works. I hope they find quickly something that works.
Josh - I think you're alluding to it here in this piece, but I think an analysis of game state for Liverpool vs. last year may be interesting, as I think we've spent far more time behind and far less time ahead by goal count. Kind of like Klopp's last two years, whereas last year was the opposite. Vibes are telling me that Liverpool's game state trends this year nullify some of the decent xG numbers we're also seeing, since opposition teams are happy to sit in a low block and give up higher volumes of lower xG shots when ahead or satisfied with a point. Of course, then we'd need to find out why the game state control has flipped, as you've been exploring recently, but maybe identifies the relevant metric to point to. Anyways - love to hear your thoughts on that. Great work in this tough time as always!
I still have a pain in the pit of my stomach after this one - a stupid sending off v Southampton, being forced to play an unfit Isak when he wasn't ready and before you know it our "results" momentum was in trouble. Galatasary was a cauldron and a poor ref decision, so confidence took another hit, which carried into Chelsea, a match we should have won!!
We were better than that lousy MU team despite everything - Writz in for MacAllister, Bradley at the back, Frimpong for Mo. Chiesa rotating with Gakpo and the two superstars pushing each other for the No 9 spot?
Robertson for Kerkez. Kerkez needs some kind, reassuring words and coaching out of the limelight. He was given the shirt too soon, and he's lost his confidence.
I don’t get why Szoboszlai wasn’t tasked to target Casemiro given that this was a key to our success against them previously. The audacity from Amorim to start Casemiro in a two-men midfield given what happened back then should have been punished by Slot. Low hanging fruit.
Time for difficult lineup choices. Past years’ performances as a factor - out the window.
Squad make up is undoubtedly an issue. Perhaps Dan Kennet's prediction that it will take until December for the team to click is correct. For now, the summer transfers seem misplaced. A DM, centre back and tricky left winger seem like a better use of the Isak money.
However the spine of the team seems weaker this season. Konate's form has spiralled. Macca and Isak aren't properly match fit. Gravenberch seems like what he is, an 8 playing as a 6. Gakpo then refuses to ever pass to his overlapping full back.
Add to this, the only players approaching being in form , namely Jones, Chiesa and Ekitike, can't buy a start.
Slot seems to want to try and force the current team into form, albeit being willing to drop Wirtz. We saw last season he can be stubborn. Abiding by Virgil's words and staying humble by starting Chiesa, Ekitike, Jones and maybe Gomez for the next few games would feel like a sensible next move.
I have come to the conclusion that Dan K is very smart! Any time you are agreeing with him is probably smart on your part too :-)
Slot has to step away from this 4-2-3-1 now. The team is crying for a diamond midfield with wirtz at the 10 and Ryan at the 6. Macca needs to be dropped. Szobo and Curtis as the two #8s providing cover for the fullbacks. Play Eketike and Isak up front. Let the flying fullbacks provide the width and cross plenty of balls.
I honestly hoped the minute we got Wirtz he'd play as a false nine or the tip of a diamond midfield and we could still call it a 4-3-3. I'd like to see this or something similar given a try.
Bradley, Szoboszlai, Frimpong on the right smacks of 'total football', and I'd love to see Slot choose to do that from the start (sorry Mo) rather than have to wing it later in games when we are chasing. I'm not sure who the preferred 3 would be on the other side: Kerkez (of last season), Wirtz, Ekitike? I'm still fully confident Slot is thinking hard and often about all this though, so I'll just sit back and watch. We'll be fine.
For me it’s clear we need to drop Salah and Macca, who for whatever reason are both shadows of themselves.
Personally I would play Szobo on the right. He will naturally tuck in and help defence and midfield, with Frimpong overlapping him, he can cross and shot from the right half space and with Wirtz naturally moving left they won’t get in each others way.
Jones needs to play next to Gravenberch because he doesn’t do everything at 100 miles an hour, and so gives us better control and tempo change.
Ekitike needs to start until Isak earns the spot. Ekitike has done better than him and deserves to play. It doesn’t matter how much money we paid for Isak.
We REALLY miss Trent! Our right side is non-existent. How many times all game did Bradley pass it to Salah? How many times did we even pass to Bradley? The play was constantly down the left and once it hit Gakpo, play slowed down considerable. Gakpo is good with a shot but does not do well connecting with anyone other than just a pass backwards to Virgil or Kerkez. Without Robbo's passing from the left or Diaz's runs we also do not create much on the left but we keep attacking that side. Our fullbacks are midtable or lower right now. They are both young and could grow into more, but ultimately they are not performing well enough or are not suited to the tactics we are trying to play.
My best guess is that that Virg and Mac our only natural passers on the whole field so the ball just naturally goes to them on the left where they are and it stays there. Grav is a carrying not a passer, Dom and Bradley and Kerkez are all runners not passers, and Ibou is a brickwall but not a passer. There is no supply line to Salah or Isak. There is a weak supply line to Gakpo, but that is pretty much a cul de sac without any connection to the rest of our forwards unless he gets a shot off.
We are not only unbalanced offense to defense, we are unbalanced in skillset and unbalanced in the field tilting to the left constantly. The few times Mo got the ball his creativity was great, but his finishing bad. Even when Frimpong came on to play right wing he had a couple of good creative actions, but he only received the ball about two times. So as much as it could be Mo hitting the age wall, the team is not really getting the ball to the right ever! Other than Isak's 1v1 and a nice interplay with Mo in the box in the first half, I don't remember him touching the ball.
The most disappointing part of all of this is MU came in with a double pivot of Casimero and Bruno, two guys that cannot run and we let them control the midfield! I think spending the 115 million on Isak would have been far better spent on a passing rightback and metronome in the middle.
Against Frankfurt he has to drop Bradley, Kerkez, Mac Allister, Salah, and one of Isak or Gakpo to make way for Ekitike.
Line up needs to be - Mamarsdashivili
Frimpong Konate VVD Robertson
Jones Szoboszlai
Chiesa Wirtz Gakpo/Ekitike
Ekitike/Isak
This is going to be an unpopular one but the xG difference of the Arsenal-Fulham game was 1.47. Ours was +1.41 vs. United. We had basically the same chance to win as Arsenal this weekend based on that data. I feel like the performances have improved over the four game losing streak, too.
I don’t think we’re far from it.. I wouldn’t start Salah nor Isak vs. Frankfurt. A four man midfield of Wirtz, Macca, Gravenberch, and Szoboszlai (from left to right) would be interesting. Macca has been just okay for me, I don’t think his form has been as bad as some people claim, especially in the last two games.
1. Klopp would never start Macca after an international break.
2. On current form our best forward line is possibly chiesa-ekitike-gakpo. If you think about it our troubles started after ekitikes stupid red card and suspension. Isak is simply not there yet, and still, ekitike hasn’t started a game since then! Which doesn’t make sense at all.
What's next?
A 4th bottle of wine!
Slot and Hughes are looking guiltier by the week....well written Josh! I heard the following this morning: Prior to the last transfer window Liverpool predominatly recruited great players that fit their system... last summer they bought great players and now they are trying to find a system that works. I hope they find quickly something that works.
Josh - I think you're alluding to it here in this piece, but I think an analysis of game state for Liverpool vs. last year may be interesting, as I think we've spent far more time behind and far less time ahead by goal count. Kind of like Klopp's last two years, whereas last year was the opposite. Vibes are telling me that Liverpool's game state trends this year nullify some of the decent xG numbers we're also seeing, since opposition teams are happy to sit in a low block and give up higher volumes of lower xG shots when ahead or satisfied with a point. Of course, then we'd need to find out why the game state control has flipped, as you've been exploring recently, but maybe identifies the relevant metric to point to. Anyways - love to hear your thoughts on that. Great work in this tough time as always!
Matty - I was just wondering how much of our xG came in the last 30 minute of the game when we threw on more forwards than defenders...
I still have a pain in the pit of my stomach after this one - a stupid sending off v Southampton, being forced to play an unfit Isak when he wasn't ready and before you know it our "results" momentum was in trouble. Galatasary was a cauldron and a poor ref decision, so confidence took another hit, which carried into Chelsea, a match we should have won!!
We were better than that lousy MU team despite everything - Writz in for MacAllister, Bradley at the back, Frimpong for Mo. Chiesa rotating with Gakpo and the two superstars pushing each other for the No 9 spot?
There are plenty of matches to rotate everyone...
Amazing write up!!
Robertson for Kerkez. Kerkez needs some kind, reassuring words and coaching out of the limelight. He was given the shirt too soon, and he's lost his confidence.
I don’t get why Szoboszlai wasn’t tasked to target Casemiro given that this was a key to our success against them previously. The audacity from Amorim to start Casemiro in a two-men midfield given what happened back then should have been punished by Slot. Low hanging fruit.