In our latest community article, Bordeaux FC talks tactics and dissects the struggles of the Liverpool defence in the opening weeks of the season.
Liverpool are a team in transition. Their perfect start had, on paper, suggested this season would be a continuation of the form that saw the Reds march to the Premier League title in April.
But those performances were far from resounding. And, in the last week, the glitches in Arne Slot’s machine have spread from performances to results.
A SUMMER OF TRANSITION
Of course, defending a Premier League title is no easy feat. The relentless excellence of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City over the past decade has given a false impression. Winning the title often represents the pinnacle of a group’s efforts, rather than the start of a dynasty.
Slot took over a side that Jurgen Klopp had composed, and he expertly softened some of those hard, heavy-metal edges. But unlike last year, when Liverpool’s squad was stable and settled, this summer saw a record-breaking transfer window. With Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departure, Andrew Robertson (£5.8m) fading as a force on Liverpool’s left, the end of Darwin Nunez‘s imperfect adaptation to the Premier League, and the tragic loss of Diogo Jota, this was forced more than it was chosen.
But for Slot, building a new title-winning side at Anfield is arguably a stiffer challenge than the one he inherited in his first season. He wants his side to dominate opponents – and prioritised investment in attacking areas with the arrivals of Florian Wirtz (£8.1m), Hugo Ekitike (£8.7m) and Alexander Isak (£10.6m). But the evolution of this team over the summer and the accumulation of attacking talent have created their own challenges.
CHANGE IN SYSTEM
Most pressingly, the change in system from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 has created a space between Liverpool’s centre-backs and central midfielders that is being exploited by their opponents. This is a space that the best players in the game are able to find – but it should be hard. It should require the genius of Lionel Messi or Kevin De Bruyne, walking disinterestedly before exploding into life and picking up a position from which they can unpick any defensive lock. In Saturday’s loss at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s own creative genius was huddled in a puffer jacket on the sidelines.
Last season, the emergence of Ryan Gravenberch (£5.7m) solved what had seemed a problem for Liverpool. Fabinho had expertly performed this role for years, but after his exit, there didn’t seem to be an obvious successor. And while Gravenberch was one of the players of the season in the title-winning campaign, he could not snuff out this space on his own. The inversion of Alexander-Arnold into midfield provided “the box” that many teams now favour. In possession, two players to screen the centre-backs and build the play, with Alexis Mac Allister (£6.3m) pushing on to support Dominic Szoboszlai (£6.5m) further up the pitch.
LOSING SZOBOSZLAI’S PRESS
While there was much criticism of Trent’s one-on-one defending in wide areas at the back post, he was central to Liverpool’s defensive structure. Jeremie Frimpong (£5.8m) was signed as a replacement, and while his attacking potential excited FPL managers at the start of the season, he is a very different player – a right wing-back so attacking that Slot doesn’t seem to want to play him at right-back.
This has often seen Szoboszlai deputise there, and he has done so ably. But when Szoboszlai is in this position, the Reds lose their most athletic presser. This, in turn, gives opponents more time to find passes through Liverpool’s lines.
In this way, an elite football team can become a tower of Jenga. Removing one or two key bricks cascades through the side. On the other flank, Robertson’s successor, Milos Kerkez (£5.8m), is himself an overlapping, aggressive defender who isn’t comfortable inverting into midfield.
IN DEFENCE OF KONATE
Ibrahima Konate (£5.5m) has attracted a lot of criticism for Liverpool’s defensive difficulties. While he has unquestionably been out of form, many of his struggles have stemmed from stepping into the problematic space between the lines that at times yearns into a chasm. He is pulled in to pick up a striker dropping off or a midfielder pushing forwards, and in doing so creates a hole in the defensive line that the likes of Victor Osimhen and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.5m) have exposed.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Slot must problem-solve. He showed his ability to do this time after time in his first season. He may find a solution to this problem as quickly as it emerged. The key dependency is whether he has the right personnel to do so.
For now, Liverpool’s defensive assets remain very much a case of: watch this space.
- READ MORE: The most dangerous two weeks in FPL…
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