Arne Slot‘s decision to forgo the plan and throw players on the pitch when chasing a result has meant only ONE Liverpool player has stayed in their position across the last four games.
Slot opted for chaos, again, as Liverpool attempted to pull back a result at Brentford, with the head coach throwing bodies forward in the hopes of capitalising on chaos.
Andy Robertson offered a brutal verdict in the aftermath, saying: “You’re 3-1 down and it’s just about throwing bodies forward and it becomes chaotic.
“There’s no structure to it which is never good.”
Liverpool ended the match with Virgil van Dijk pushing forward, and Federico Chiesa, Rio Ngumoha, Mohamed Salah and Hugo Ekitike also packed into the forward line.
The chaos is perfectly exemplified by the fact that in all four of their recent Premier League defeats, only Van Dijk has been, more or less, retained in his same position – which we can visualise with the help of FotMob (above).
It was another nod to Slot’s ‘tactics’ when his side are losing, creating a further disconnect between the players who are supposed to funnel the ball to the areas the forwards are occupying.
In most cases, the chaos has only led to confusion and not the attempts on goal that would be needed to turn a result in Liverpool’s favour, as you can see below.
Brentford
Liverpool did come close to snatching an undeserved draw at the death against Brentford after Mo Salah fired off a brilliant goal.
Slot’s men managed four shots – none on target – after pegging a goal back, but conceded two attempts at the other end following on from their final substitution.
Substitutions: Robertson for Kerkez (61′), Chiesa for Gakpo (61′), Mac Allister for Bradley (62′), Ngumoha for Jones (70′), Gomez for Wirtz (83′)
Man United
Against United, Slot withdrew Salah after Harry Maguire’s goal, pushing Jeremie Frimpong to the right wing and moving Dominik Szoboszlai to right-back.
Liverpool managed just two shots after making this change – none on target – and conceded one strike at the other end.
Substitutions: Jones for Gravenberch (62′), Wirtz for Mac Allister (62′), Ekitike for Bradley (62′), Chiesa for Isak (72′), Frimpong for Salah (85′)
Chelsea
With the scores level at 1-1, Slot made his final change in the 86th minute – Wataru Endo replacing Alexis Mac Allister – and it blew up in his face.
Liverpool managed only two shots – again, none on target – and conceded a goal, two shots that required saving and one strike that hit the post.
Substitutions: Wirtz for Bradley (46′), Robertson for Kerkez (55′), Jones for Konate (56′), Ekitike for Isak (74′), Endo for Mac Allister (86′)
Crystal Palace
The role of the dice at Selhurst Park looked promising to start, with Federico Chiesa scoring the equaliser after an earlier shot, but after making it 1-1, the Reds did not get another look.
Instead, Palace managed a blocked shot, another on target that had to be saved by Alisson and, finally, the goal that started this run of defeats.
Substitutions: Gakpo for Bradley (46′), Jones for Mac Allister (65′), Frimpong for Konate (74′), Chiesa for Wirtz (74′), Ngumoha for Isak (84′)
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