Liverpool were not fun last season. Their Premier League matches contained plenty of goals, but there was a dreary, half-arsedness to the whole thing that reminded of a decommissioned show winding down in its final episodes. The only two storylines: Mohamed Salah leaving and Arne Slot leaving before him.
Now Liverpool are fun, at least for neutrals. Andoni Iraola promised that his team would be “intense, aggressive, vertical” on his first day in the job and he is a man of his word. Nothing is quite as watchable as big clubs being entirely chaotic on the pitch, for better or worse.
Are Liverpool good? That is a very different and more complicated question. On Sunday, they beat Crystal Palace because Palace are terrible at finishing chances, stopping opponents creating them and stopping their heads going down when they concede. They also beat Palace because they had three £100m-plus attackers starting.
Liverpool are fourth in the Premier League, which certainly sounds quite good. It would only be one place and eight points more than the last guy got sacked for, but we can overlook that. That said, they are closer to Leeds in ninth than Brighton in second so perhaps we should refrain from snap judgements.
Instead, there is only one Liverpool truth: this team is a product of its midfield. It is a philosophical question. If something has more holes than substance, is it more nothing than everything? Or have we just landed on the best description of Liverpool: Everything, everywhere, all at once. But also quite often all in roughly the same place and not where you need them to be.
Two of Liverpool’s midfielders were on the scoresheet (Photo: AMA)This is confusing, so let’s break it down. At Bournemouth, Iraola used a 4-2-3-1 formation that was definitely chaotic, to the extent that his team conceded 67 league goals in his first season. Then he used Alex Scott and Tyler Adams as a brilliant combination, who selflessly allowed the fun stuff to happen in front of them. And Bournemouth were still chaotic with them there, but Iraola not signing Scott in the summer was deeply strange.
In 2023, Liverpool signed four central midfielders, three of whom – Gravenberch, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai – are still there. Since 2023, Liverpool have spent around £650m on transfer fees and none of them were midfielders.
Iraola could play all three midfielders, which is largely how Arne Slot won his league title. Except that he can’t because he has the aforementioned £100m attackers plus Cody Gakpo, Victor Munoz and Rio Ngumoha. And he prefers a 4-2-3-1 anyway. That trio of midfielders haven’t started a single game together under Iraola.
Iraola doesn’t have an Alex Scott-type available to him (Photo: Getty)The problem: none of those players want to play like Scott or Adams did at Bournemouth. None of them are a natural No. 6. None of them seems to have the discipline – or been given the instruction – to stay back. They simply do what they want. Liverpool have a farcical situation where the best option to be the holding midfielder is a 19-year-old academy graduate.
When central midfielders roam forward as they please, teams become a fun mess. Virgil van Dijk is being criticised for his own form, but he’s left choosing whether to step up to fill the gaping gaps and risk being caught too high up the pitch or staying deep and giving opponents 30 yards of space. It takes one decent pass to create an overlap against Liverpool.
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Pete Hall – Man Utd fans hit a new low by humiliating Diogo Dalot Pete Blackburn – How Nottingham Forest are literally outrunning relegation troubleThis issue is exacerbated more when Liverpool face deep defences and get frustrated, because that only invites further forward runs and greater holes. It’s no coincidence that Iraola’s side have conceded eight goals in the four games where they have had the highest possession this season. At Selhurst Park, they had less of the ball in the second half and became effective on the counter. Just like Iraola’s Bournemouth.
Amongst the fanbase there is some reticence to buy into this current pattern. The irony of every match being chaotic and manic: that itself becomes boring as a supporter when you know what to expect and easily identify the flaws. Not everybody likes basketball.
For now, we can sit back and let it ride. The Premier League is far from perfect this season and Liverpool’s attacking strength alone may well guarantee Champions League qualification. Iraola’s Bournemouth settled over time and he will surely be allowed to buy a defensive midfielder next summer. Until then, enjoy this porous, imperfect, silly football team while you can. What makes them bad is what makes them engaging.
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