What’s the Plan?

Sorry, guys. I'm worried again.

I’ve wobbled again, guys. Sorry. I promise I’m not usually like this and that’s probably why you’re subscribed, but I’ll be honest, I’ve found myself deviating between two different standpoints over the past couple of months.

Last week, I watched Liverpool lose against Manchester United, and I was largely happy to absolve Arne Slot of the blame because I felt his struggles directly stemmed from the state of his front line.

With Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike and Mohamed Salah all injured at once, the Reds fielded Florian Wirtz, Cody Gakpo and Jeremie Frimpong up top. It was no surprise to me that Liverpool encountered major difficulties whenever they reached the final third.

But on Saturday afternoon, despite picking up a marginally better result against Chelsea and having to cope with the additional loss of Wirtz in comparison to last week, I actually felt a lot worse.

Sure, Liverpool suffered because of their blunt attack once again. But the rest of their approach looked pretty awful, too.

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Against United, I felt Liverpool reached the final third with ease for the most part. The Reds established some degree of control at Old Trafford, but ultimately suffered because nobody on the pitch knew how to put the cherry on top of the cake.

That resulted in stale possession sequences, lots of sideways passes, and no penetration. Some players forced killer balls as a means of mixing things up, but those desperate attempts often allowed United to counter-attack at speed before creating dangerous chances.

Against Chelsea, on the other hand, Liverpool barely managed to escape their own half at times. Playing through the Blues seemed to be a lot harder than against United. I mean, what was the plan?

You guys will know by now that I’m probably more inclined than most to look beyond the manager when diagnosing problems on the pitch, but build-up certainly falls under his remit. He’s responsible for showing his players the way home.

Another aspect that belongs to the manager is what happens on the defensive end. Whether you press high or not depends on the players you’ve got, but whatever you choose to do, everyone has to be on the same wavelength having read the same pre-match script.

I recorded the below video shortly after Saturday’s match. I’m on TikTok nowadays, guys. I sold my soul. Follow me if you want, @DistanceCovered.

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So I’ve wobbled since watching Liverpool against Chelsea because of those two elements. The Reds looked awful in build-up and far from bulletproof without the ball, with both of those issues mostly belonging to Slot in my book.

Let’s start with build-up. A recurring theme during the bout involved a deep-lying player in possession with no passing options. As a result, that player would drive forward in the hope that something would emerge. More often than not, the player in question ended up winning a cheap foul.

That sort of thing isn’t great. The decision to carry and/or dribble stems from the lack of choices. There’s nothing on. Nobody is free. So I’ll just run and hope an opponent commits.

There didn’t seem to be any concrete answer to Chelsea’s defensive structure. Whether the players had been instructed or not, it looked like everyone in red was essentially winging it when building from the back.

A constant source of misery during the clash involved Giorgi Mamardashvili passing to Milos Kerkez, who would then feed the ball down the line to Rio Ngumoha, who would receive the ball under pressure facing his own goal. All the best, kid.

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On the defensive end, the weaknesses of Slot’s defensive structure emerged once again. Long-term subscribers will know about the make-up of his pressing game by now. The Dutchman prefers to have a one-man advantage at the back rather than up front. That’s fine, it’s a tactical choice.

But it means that Liverpool are often outnumbered when pressing high, which sometimes forces Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai or Alexis Mac Allister to mark two players at once.

I’ve highlighted the downsides attached to his ways on a number of occasions throughout his tenure, including this piece from two weeks ago. But I still get annoyed whenever I see them live.

While I sympathise with Slot when it comes to the players at his disposal, I don’t like to see players randomly pressing alone. Like, why does Szoboszlai go rogue in the below clip? And it looks terrible when nobody goes with him.

Then you’ve got the whole passive approach to defending in the same sequence, which really does conflict with the philosophy of seizing the initiative that Jürgen Klopp pushed for a decade at Anfield.

I wouldn’t mind if the passive mid-block was watertight, but it isn’t. It’s almost like Liverpool offer half-baked versions of everything without truly committing to anything. Like, Arsenal are passive sometimes, but they never get cut open. It’s concerning.

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So I’m definitely in the group of people who thinks Liverpool can transform quite dramatically using the transfer market without firing Slot. But, at the same time, performances like Chelsea really do make me question my faith.

The front line is a huge issue with and without the ball. Mac Allister has been unrecognisable. The Reds have fielded seven different right-backs this term. Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté have played virtually every minute due to the lack of centre-back depth. All noted.

But I’d really love to see more from the collective in support of the guy managing them. Defend together and do it well. Show us how you intend to reach the final third. What’s the plan?

Two games to go.