Matchweek Moments: Never Mind
By Ian Katan
Just two weeks ago, I wrote a column titled “Back on Track” focusing on Mohamed Salah’s stunning goal that lifted Liverpool to a 1-0 win over Manchester City, and how it could have been exactly what they needed to get their poor season moving in the right direction.
Instead, their last two games have been a 1-0 loss away to Nottingham Forest, and now a 2-1 defeat to Leeds at Anfield. Adding insult to injury, both opponents entered the match in the relegation zone. Liverpool’s continued poor performances, despite managing to win massive games like the one against Manchester City, is puzzling and raises urgent questions about the strength of this team.
This weekend’s game against Leeds revealed these problems right from kickoff. In only the third minute, Joe Gomez made a back pass towards Allison under very little pressure. His ball was yards off, as he had not checked Allison’s position, and neither the goalkeeper nor Virgil Van Dijk moved too quickly to clean up.
Leeds’ forward Rodrigo bounded between them and scored potentially the easiest goal of the season. Salah equalized 10 minutes later, but Liverpool were unable to hold on and conceded an equally embarrassing 89th minute winner.
Even if the numerous individual errors that allowed the opening goal to happen are overlooked, Liverpool’s overall inability to fight back into a game against what should be weaker competition is a much larger issue. Liverpool out-possessed, out-passed, and out-shot a struggling Leeds team, but were unable to put the ball in the net.
The Reds have conceded first in eight of their 14 league games this season. For a team who has been in the top five for fewest goals conceded per season since 2015/16, this is hard to believe.
Compared to their preferred lineup from the title-winning season of 2019/20 for example, nine of those 11 players are still regularly playing at Liverpool. Shouldn’t they still be doing well? Maybe this is exactly the problem.
12 of the 23 players Klopp named in the 2019 Champions League-winning squad are also still wearing red, and James Milner even featured in Klopp’s first-ever Liverpool lineup back in Oct. 2015 (though possibly due to his robot-like fitness rather than stagnant selections).
The Tottenham squad they faced in that year’s final only has seven players who are still first-team regulars. The Manchester City squad that won the 2018/19 Premier League has eight. The Chelsea squad that won the Europa League that year has six, and the Arsenal squad that lost to Chelsea in that final has three. A theme is beginning to emerge.
Balancing current success with investment for the future and growth of the club is a struggle all teams face. There must be a constant focus on reinvestment and building a stronger, fresher set of players, and some of the best teams in the league have made this a priority.
Arsenal are an embodiment of this, having undergone transformational recent seasons. Though they certainly had rocky moments, their patience has paid off and they sit top of the league.
The serial winners Manchester City have invested heavily despite their success too, signing 26 notable players since 2018/19 compared to Liverpool’s 16. This is not necessarily a bad thing as arrivals like Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, Kostas Tsimikas and Ibrahima Konate have proved to be valuable additions, but when combined with a number of injuries Liverpool’s squad just does not feel as deep as their rivals.
Since the Leeds game, fans have begun to question Liverpool’s limited spending on building a team for the future. Their list of young talent includes Harvey Elliot, Curtis Jones and Fabio Carvalho. All are incredibly gifted but are not having the same impact as similarly-aged Bukayo Saka, Erling Haaland, Antony, Reece James or Phil Foden at other clubs.
Fans have also questioned the impact of older players who may need to make way for a new-look squad to build towards success. This is not a call to instantly drop experienced leaders like Fabinho, Jordan Henderson or Joel Matip, but younger teammates must be ready to hit the ground running when the older players are no longer able to perform.
No matter how significant someone has been for a club, there comes a time when they must make room for others to continue the success. Without this needed rotation, squads stall and lose the momentum required to keep up with the changing makeup of the world’s most competitive league.
Jurgen Klopp has continued to emphasize the strength of the current roster, but the game against Leeds, among others, offered a glimpse of what life could look like if Liverpool do not place a greater emphasis on signing better, younger players for future title runs. Names like Jude Bellingham, Frenkie De Jong or Declan Rice have all been thrown into the conversation, but arguing whether or not these are realistic signings is beside the point. All represent the younger yet experienced player that Liverpool need to start looking at to create the team for the future.
Existing players will continue to age, and it’s better to proactively assemble their replacements before it’s required. Liverpool is a phenomenal club and nothing will change the success that this group of players has had, but the focus must now turn to maintaining that success. It’s unlikely any significant transfers will happen during the winter window, but come summer, there will be heavy focus on whether they choose to begin revamping their team or risk a future of dangerous decline.