Liverpool's midfielders miss magic as Manchester City march on

And so landed what must be the final nail in the coffin of Liverpool’s title defence. Manchester City’s 4-1 victory at Anfield puts them ten points ahead of the reigning champions, and with a game spare. Given the hosts arrived at Anfield on the back of consecutive home defeats, while Pep Guardiola’s side were enjoying a 12-game unbeaten run, perhaps the result was not such a surprise. The score line, and the nature of Liverpool’s defeat, surely were.

This is not a match that will be remembered for the team performances, or the tactical minutiae. This is not even a result that might be defined by a first-half penalty miss, just as November’s meeting was. Instead, people will refer to this game as the one in which Phil Foden was the best player on a pitch containing a string of world-class footballers; more cruelly, it will be the game in which Alisson’s errors ended Liverpool’s fading title hopes.

Nonetheless, while the Brazilian’s wayward passing between the 73rd and 76th minute allowed City to score twice, it was nothing more than they had deserved in their efforts to take all three points for the first time at Anfield since 2003. Liverpool’s play until that point had largely been ponderous, particularly in midfield, as Georginio Wijnaldum and Curtis Jones rarely threatened to make a truly dangerous pass. Nobody was unaware of the importance of the occasion, yet this was an uncharacteristically cautious display from Liverpool’s midfielders.

No creativity in midfield

One outstanding element of Jürgen Klopp’s side is the omission of a designated number ten, with Roberto Firmino often dropping deep to fulfil this role instead of Liverpool’s midfielders. Considering that this is a squad blessed with some of the finest midfield players in world football, it is telling that none come close to being this type of player. Klopp explained the reasons behind his preference to Sky Sports in 2016. Regarding the counter-press, or gegenpress, he commented:

“You win the ball high up the pitch and you are close to the goal so it’s only one pass away from a really good opportunity… no playmaker in the world can be as good as a good counter-pressing situation.”

Wijnaldum operates high up the pitch for his national team, with 21 goals in 70 caps as a result (0.30 goals per game). His only season at Newcastle saw him score 11 times in 38 league games despite the Magpies’ relegation (0.29 per game); at PSV, it was 40 in 109 (0.37 on average. So far in 164 league appearances for Liverpool, the Dutchman’s record stands at 16 goals – 0.10 on average.

In Sunday’s match, neither he nor Jones were able to regularly trouble the City defence. When Wijnaldum did carry the ball forward in the 21st minute, the attack petered out as he failed to create an opportunity, instead opting to turn backwards (Fig. 1).

Fig.1: Unable to play the ball to Sadio Mané or Firmino (both left), Wijnaldum decides not to hand responsibility to Mo Salah (top). He then turns back to Trent Alexander-Arnold (out of shot, right) to retain possession. Source: Sky Sports.

Likewise, during the first half Jones preferred to play a safe pass inside or backwards, rather than find a forward. Liverpool’s ability to break opponents down at speed has been key to their success in recent seasons, but the 20-year-old seemed reluctant to take risks here. Midway through the first half he could have launched an attack by passing to Wijnaldum but chose Jordan Henderson instead (Fig. 2); five minutes later he found himself with the ball further up the pitch and, despite numerous team mates ahead of him and in-field, looked backwards (Fig. 3).

Fig.2: Jones could pass to Wijnaldum (centre), who in turn has a simple route to find Firmino (left). Instead, he gives the ball to Henderson (out of shot, right). Source: Sky Sports.

Fig. 3: Jones can pass to Wijnaldum (right) or play a more adventurous pass to Thiago (top right); alternatively, he can drive at the area to find a route to Mané or Andy Robertson. He takes none of these options. Source: Sky Sports.

Liverpool’s midfielders look wide, rather than ahead

Instead, Liverpool’s midfielders chose to find the full backs. This is understandable; after all Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold have been the Reds’ main creative sources in the past two years. The former has registered 30 assists in all competitions since the start of the 2018/19 season, while the latter has managed 36. Indeed, it was little surprise that Liverpool’s leveller came as a result of Alexander-Arnold’s long pass to Salah. As I wrote just last month following his widely-derided performance at Southampton, his side will benefit from the England right back taking more risks.

Much of the hosts’ build-up play during the first half on Sunday went through Robertson. Wijnaldum twice played a long pass to the Scot in the space of just 20 seconds in the 29th minute, while moments later Fabinho drove out of the back line before finding him too.

Similarly, Jones’ only attempt at an incisive pass before half time came when he tried to play in the overlapping Alexander Arnold; on this occasion the pass was under-hit (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4: Jones tries to find Alexander-Arnold (top), who has made a well-timed run. However, the ball through is intercepted and City can clear. Source: Sky Sports.

Second half sees new Jones

Any hopes Liverpool had of disrupting the visitors were surely undone by Ilkay Gündoğan’s opener shortly after the break, although it did elicit a response.

Minutes later Jones was able to carry the ball forward into the final third. The Reds, and he in particular, had found such space hard to come by in the opening 45 minutes and opportunities to break down City’s stingy defence had so far been scarce. However, he could not take advantage; instead of finding Salah on his right or the unmarked Mané to his left, he cut onto his weaker left foot before firing over the bar from 25 yards (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5: Jones could play across to Salah (right), or switch the route of attack to Mané (top left), but chooses a speculative effort that does not worry Ederson. Source: Sky Sports.

Nonetheless, this adventurous attitude was an improvement on what Jones had shown until that point. He began to take up position on the corner of the penalty area, leading to chances for himself and Mané within the space of two minutes (Fig. 6 & 7).

Fig. 6: Jones (top) receives a diagonal pass from Alexander-Arnold (bottom) and rides a challenge before firing narrowly wide. Source: Sky Sports.

Fig. 7: With his side a goal behind, Jones drives toward the box and passes into Mané, who cannot fashion an opening to test Ederson. Source: Sky Sports.

It should also be noted that, while unadventurous in attack, the academy graduate did not give a poor performance during his 68 minutes on the pitch. This was a player with just 31 senior appearances to his name, against one of the meanest defences in recent Premier League history. In that time he has already scored six times for the club, and there is more to his game than this.

One man who has found himself deployed as an attacking midfielder in recent times is winger Xherdan Shaqiri. Like Jones, he had impressed in a midfield diamond at West Ham last weekend (both set up Salah to score in the second half) and it was little surprise to see Klopp turn to the Swiss international with 25 minutes to play. Ultimately, neither he nor fellow substitute James Milner (another of Liverpool’s midfielders) had the chance to stamp their mark on proceedings. Ten minutes later their team were two goals behind and another famous Anfield comeback seemed unlikely.

In the end, City’s proactive approach yielded greater results. The headlines will be stolen by Gündoğan, whose brace means that he has now scored six more league goals this season than Liverpool’s midfielders have managed together, as well as Foden for his goal and assist. It is true that City’s passing became less adventurous after their opener and backward passes became more commonplace. However, in contrast to the hosts, this was down to increased pressure when they were on the ball, whereas Liverpool were guilty of this even when given time and space. Once Salah had levelled, Guardiola’s side pushed on again and they were rewarded, albeit under unlikely circumstances

This result is not going to change Klopp’s approach, especially regarding creative midfielders. Nor should it. This has been a cornerstone of a philosophy that has seen him win the world’s most prestigious club trophies. It also would not account for his goalkeeper’s errors that put the game beyond his side. However, given that victory would have seen his side move to within four points of their opponents, he must surely regret such that his midfield seemed so restrained and unable to muster many chances.

Top image via Premier League.