Liverpool in crisis: The simple tweak that can fix Klopp's broken team

Sam McGuire

• 22 Feb 2023 12:47 GMT
• 7 min read

Liverpool’s loss to Real Madrid was a strange one, to say the least. It was never a 5-2 sort of match but the away side combined ruthlessness with luck to stun Anfield. This is a results-based business so, of course, the focus is on the scoreline.

The headline from the match is that the hosts had a 2-0 lead before allowing the reigning European champions to hit five unanswered goals. Few will care about the fact Liverpool, in most Expected Goal models, created higher-value opportunities.

Yet those who are into their data will point to that and say it was just one of those games. It might’ve been had countless other teams not threatened to rack up big wins over Liverpool this season. Had it not been for the exploits of Alisson Becker between the sticks, this would not have been the first time the Reds had conceded five goals in a single game.

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That right there is the issue for the 2019/20 Premier League champions. Their goalkeeper has papered over a lot of cracks. Obviously, someone like Roy Keane will say he’s just doing his job. To an extent, he is. But there has been an unhealthy overreliance on the Brazilian shot-stopper this season.

For a bit of context, most Expected Goal models have Liverpool down as conceding chances worth between 36.5 and 38.2 goals this season in the Premier League. Yet the Reds have conceded just 28 goals. Of course, this defensive overperformance isn’t necessarily tied to Alisson and nobody else. Opposition teams might just have a bad day in front of goal.

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But ask most Liverpool fans for a Player of the Match at the end of every game and the No.1 will likely lead the way in most of the games. He actually kept the Reds in the game against a 10-man Newcastle United team last weekend. The former Roma man thwarted Miguel Almiron at 0-0, palmed Allan Saint-Maximin’s effort onto the bar not long after Nick Pope was sent off and then prevented a nervy final 10 minutes when he raced out to save Callum Wilson’s attempt.

Even with a man advantage, Jurgen Klopp’s team failed to control the space. If you can’t control the space, you can’t control the game.

How Liverpool can start controlling games again

Liverpool used to be masters of controlling every single element of a match. They would dictate the possession but also boss the space. So even when they didn’t have the ball, they limited what the opposition could and couldn’t do.

Klopp has tried multiple tactics, systems and personnel this season to varying degrees of success. Ultimately though, he always reverts back to the 4-3-3. But not any old 4-3-3; this one has an attacking right-sided No.8 meaning the defensive midfielder has to cover central areas and space on the right-hand side during transitions.

This is what the opposition are exploiting time and time again. There are acres of space during turnovers in possession, with Liverpool no longer having the legs in midfield to put those fires out.

In post-match press conferences earlier in the season, Klopp talked about the need to go back to basics. Not long after that comment, Liverpool switched to a 4-4-2 shape and put in their best performance of the season against Manchester City.

Levels were raised because of the opposition but the double pivot in midfield, combined with the mid-block press, protected the defence and ensured City had no easy opportunities. The Reds looked defensively resilient, assured and composed. The complete opposite of how they have looked for much of this season.

The fix is easier said than done but there is no reason not to try this again. Klopp has attacking options again now that Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota have returned. Thiago is a loss in the middle third but two from Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Stefan Bajcetic and Naby Keita could make up a functional double pivot until the Spanish maestro returns.

In fact, Klopp has more options now than he did when he initially trialled this system earlier on in the season. Cody Gakpo has arrived and Bajcetic has emerged. In the attack, he has to pick four from Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Firmino, Jota, Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho. There are so many combinations there that could work.

It might not seem like a seismic shift from how the team are operating now but by committing to a proper double pivot instead of this hybrid three-man midfield, areas of the pitch are covered properly and everyone knows where they need to be. It is very much going back to basics but that is perhaps what Liverpool need if they are to fix their season while easing the overreliance on Alisson, and get to the summer transfer window without a complete capitulation.