Liverpool’s 2023 opened with a dismal defensive showing as the Reds lost 3-1 at Brentford in the Premier League.
Brentford 3-1 Liverpool
Community Stadium, Premier League
Monday 2 January 2023
Goals: Konate og 19′, Wissa 41′, Mbeumo 85′; Oxlade-Chamberlain 50′
Not Monopoly – but competitive
Ahead of this game Klopp had questioned why fans were still asking about signing a new player – a midfielder, specifically – after Cody Gakpo had just been announced.
“I don’t want to disappoint anybody, but we signed an outstanding player like Cody Gakpo and the next thing you read is ‘who next?’,” he said. “It’s as if we wouldn’t have a team, honestly. We cannot play like Monopoly. It’s like this and we never did, so I don’t understand that.”
The thing is, we’re not asking to play Monopoly. We’re asking to be competitive at elite-level football. And it’s really, really evident that with the way we are set up in the centre of the park right now, we cannot be.
Teams have been ripping the Reds apart through the soft centre all season long and it’s not top internationals either: Dewsbury-Hall last time out, Norgaard and Wissa here this time, among others.
One break in behind Van Dijk led to a corner they scored from, then a Thiago mis-control in the same channel would have been 2-0 if not for offside. And so it went on.
As for the eventual second goal which counted, take your pick. Elliott’s decision-making was awful, there was no tracking or stopping the runners and cross, Trent lost the header at the back post and there was zero organisation anywhere.
Jurgen, it’s your call: Either the system off the ball isn’t working, or new players are needed to implement it. Something needs to change either way.
All aboard the change train
Triple sub at the break.
We’ll wait to hear exactly the reasoning behind each player, but Tsimikas, Van Dijk and Elliott were all hooked at the interval with Robertson, Matip and Keita on.
The upshot of that was an immediate surge forward from Robertson which almost yielded a cross into Darwin’s feet for a tap-in, before the Scot also made another burst forward which, after a few more touches elsewhere, ended in Ox heading in.
Naby was then a constant presence playing give-and-goes, driving through the centre to drag the Reds upfield and create openings in the final third.
The changes worked in terms of altering the flow of the game, the energy of the team and the danger they were capable of creating, but Liverpool had already left themselves so much to do that a comeback proved impossible.
Big chances, lines fluffed
Defensive deficiencies are one thing, but they alone do not convey whether Liverpool play well with the ball – and often the Reds have been decent in this regard this term, despite poor overall results.
A big and ongoing failing though is a failure to convert really good opportunities into goals, particularly in phases of play with the scores level and our speed of play way too slow in general. When those moments come along, they have to be taken.
Here again it was the same old story: Darwin Nunez had one blocked after taking on the keeper, Van Dijk’s short-range volley on the side was miraculously tipped over before the flag went up anyway and Kostas Tsimikas side-footed almost at the keeper from eight yards – all this inside 25 minutes.
Salah barely had a look-in on the day but he’s missed 12 big chances – statistically excellent scoring opportunities – this season, with only one player missing more: Nunez, on 15 now.
The Uruguayan also produced a brilliantly deft left-footed finish, but fortune continued to fall away from him as VAR ruled him offside.
Ox and Ibou with contrasting impacts
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored the goal which looked like it might get the Reds back in the game – his first in the Premier League since 23 January 2022, very nearly a full year ago.
Of more real relevance was the fact this was his third consecutive league start, the first time he’s achieved that since mid-February 2020.
While his first two in the last week or so were hard-working and diligent, full of intent, in truth they had very little quality or sharpness on the ball, given his long-term absence.
This time was far better: driving runs, quick exchanges of passing and a glancing header into the bottom corner. He was eventually replaced on 83 minutes as Curis Jones came on for his own 50th Premier League appearance for the Reds.
Ox hasn’t played 83 minutes in a league game since July 2020, home to Bournemouth. Perhaps he still has another act to play before his contract is up in summer.
At the other end of the pitch Ibou Konate made his return for just a second league start of the season, but he had a very negative impact on the result, if not on the actual performance.
One own goal, one weak moment to gift their third – a really dire return to club action following the World Cup final in his last appearance.
Top-four chase takes a hit, but not a decisive one
After back-to-back wins post-World Cup, the Reds had considerably closed the gap on Spurs, who had been fourth. They picked up just one point in the same period, but that draw was away to Brentford, where we’ve just lost.
They have also now been overhauled by Man United, who the Reds trailed by four before this game, level on matches played.
Liverpool have conceded 51 big chances this season, according to Opta. That is more than twice as many as the five teams above them in the Premier League table. Massive issue.
— Adam Bate (@ghostgoal) January 2, 2023
As we’re quite clearly now in a battle for a top-four finish only, it’s important to remember previous years in this type of chase: isolated games don’t necessarily matter, but clusters of them can do.
In other words, across batches of three and four games, can you close the gap? Or open one, once ahead of a team?
We’ve done that to Spurs in this period, but will have to do the same again after the FA Cup break – and European action will soon be upon us again soon.
There are still plenty of answers to find in our off-the-ball work, and improvements to be made in the final third too.
Fan Comments