Football News: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Liverpool - A Quick(ish) Liverpool Perspective

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Liverpool

That was what you call a game of two halves! It would be hard to find a match that sums up that expression as well as this match did. In the first half Wolves were on top, dominant even, and should have scored more goals. Second half it was all Liverpool. What makes it so frustrating from a Liverpool point of view is that the first half was so avoidable. Once again it is these abysmal inverted full-back tactics that are causing the problem. It is one thing using it when you have a full-back who is a very capable midfielder as well, so you use it to try and get him in to midfield as much as possible, at least there is some sense behind it, even if it is just trying to be clever for the sake of it. But to do it when you have a centre-back playing out of position at right-back and ask him to then play in midfield, while asking a slow centre-back to provide the cover in full-back areas, is just idiotic. I saw Pep Lijnders leaning over to give Klopp advice in the second half and all I was thinking is that I hoped he was saying: "Don't listen to me boss, I haven't a clue what I am talking about, so do what you think instead." He really should just stick to writing books and doing interviews claiming all the credit for everything instead and do us all a favour and let Klopp go back to Klopp-style football that we can all enjoy.

How much more evidence do the coaching staff need to accept that the inverted full-back system does not work as a starting system for games? It is one thing to sometimes switch to it during the game when the situation warrants it, but it is so easily countered by simply pushing someone up wide and hitting long balls from the back into those areas on the counter that it makes no sense to start a game by utilising it. It just feels like they are not learning. Hardly a surprise for Lijnders, who always reminds me of Samuel L Jackson in Coach Carter when he is first starting out coaching the kids and every time they do anything in training he shouts out: "I did that!" Except, in the film he is doing it to teach the youngsters about it being a team game and that they are all part of that team. With Lijnders it feels like he is just desperate to prove himself. The trouble is that someone like that is not suited to long term success in this sport at the top level. It is one of the biggest issues Allardyce always faces, that arrogance of making it all about him simply does not work with top players and that is why he has never achieved any trophy-level success. Lijnders needs to understand that you learn and improve when you are proven wrong and adapt to take in that new knowledge, rather than just arrogantly refusing to accept that you got it wrong and continuing to do the same thing anyway. It is time now to end this experiment as a tactic for starting games, even if only so I can stop wasting so much time typing about how bad it was in the game!

Credit, and a lot of it, has to go to the coaching team for the half-time changes, which swung the game back in Liverpool's favour and put Wolves right away on the back foot, from where they never recovered. Suddenly they had no out ball, as there was actually width in the Liverpool team's attacking play, forcing their widemen back, especially as there was no space for them to wait in for the long ball over the top with a proper back four. No longer were they able to overload the full-back area and isolate Gomez against 3 or sometimes 4 players, while the centre-backs in the middle had one, or sometimes no one, to mark in the centre. Suddenly Liverpool looked solid defensively and offered a threat going forward, and it was not because Mac Allister went off, but because of the change in shape to negate Wolves' threat. Though it must be said the arrival of Diaz did make a huge difference, as he made the Wolves defence think about defending.

With the shape a more natural and familiar one for the players, an almost old-fashioned 4-4-2 variant in effect, the press was more effective and the tempo was much higher. The players had options, with the play not being restricted to the centre of the pitch due to finally having some width. It was all very basic stuff, just a team of good players being overwhelmed by a team of much better players in the second half, but it shows how simple the game really is, when not being overcomplicated by someone trying to show how clever they are. All you need is to give players roles they understand and that make the most of their strengths.

Wolves started off strongly, really taking advantage of the gap left behind Gomez when he moved infield. Thankfully from a Liverpool perspective, despite them constantly overloading down the flank, the lack of end product cost them badly and they only got one goal when they should have ended that first half with two or even three goals. I have seen and read so many people raving about Neto's performance in the first half, but I have to go against the grain on that and say I think he was extremely disappointing. Yes, there is skill and trickery there, but a complete lack of brains and the end product that it brings. He was given time and space by Wolves overloading that flank, time and time again there were two or three players extra, yet they only got one goal from it. That, for me, is down to him lacking the quality to put the right ball in and to choose the right time to pass/cross/shoot. He was not the biggest problem, the lack of an actual striker is that. Cunha is certainly not the answer. It is difficult to say if Silva is on that appearance as he was so isolated, even when trying to press he was alone in it making it far too easy to just pass it around him. And he got absolutely no service to see if he could be the finisher needed.

There are obviously a lot of problems in that Wolves camp, left over from Lopetegui, who has left a half-fit squad behind. The defence is lacking in a leader due to him shipping out the strong personalities there. The goalkeeper also seems to be prone to a panic when he has the ball, it is clearly not a strength of his game to pass it out from the back. While those problems are left over from prior to his time, it is difficult to see any progress on fixing those issues being made by O'Neil yet. It is worrying that he showed an inability to make tactical changes to influence the game in the second half. If anything his changes just seemed to make things worse rather than better. However, it is early days and the team has the quality of player that make it hard to do the quick, easy fix of just drilling the defence mercilessly and sending the team out to sit deep and hit on the counter. With the players in that team, and the way they have been able to get at opposition, that is not really a sensible option. For starters I am not convinced they have the defensive players needed, only Dawson is suited to that style. Semedo and Ait Nouri are not the best defensively and Kilman just looks absolutely bereft of confidence.

They are not far off a team that can put a good run of results together and play their way to a safe position in the Premier League, but they are always going to risk being unable to get those results until they find a reliable goalscorer. Without that, you can play brilliantly and get turned over by a team you should easily have beaten as Brighton showed right up until last season when Ferguson started scoring the goals they needed. Liverpool can turn to Salah, Nunez, Jota, Gakpo etc and expect at least one of them to score in every game to drag them out of the mire, but Wolves do not have that luxury. They lack leadership on the pitch as well, Kilman as captain does not inspire players to put in that extra 1% that can make a difference. In fact I am not sure he even remembers he is captain most of the time judging by that game. There was little sign of him being a leader. That is what, if anything, will come back to bite them from the transfer window, that they lost all the leaders in the squad. All those players that put it on the line. The quality of touch, the skill level is probably higher than before, but the drive and desire is what they seem to lack most now.

Quick notes on the players:

Alisson - what is most telling from this match is that even in the first half, when Wolves should have scored a hatfull, Alisson was barely called into play to make saves. Normally when you have been dominated in one half like that, to come away just one goal down you normally have to rely on your keeper to have a blinder.

Gomez - as usual he has been the scapegoat for the first half from the keyboard warriors. You know the ones, the clueless types that are too busy shouting their mouths off to actually take time to understand what is happening. All they want is an easy target, as their lack of intelligence makes them unable to understand that their might actually be more at work than just one player having a bad game. For instance, criticising Gomez for not dealing with Neto when he was constantly left with two or three players overloading down that side, leaving him unable to make a challenge as there is no way of being in that many places at once. It is the exact same thing that leads those exact same people to bang on about how Alexander-Arnold is unable to defend as well. Both players are doing what they should do - attempting to hold up the attack and force the player on the ball to make a decision in the hope it will be the wrong one or he dallies too long and help will arrive. That is not to say he had a good first half by any means, he was hopelessly lost in the inverted full-back role. It was a ludicrous decision by Klopp and his staff to think it made any sense to play this way with Gomez.

Also there are issues between him and Matip on that flank. Their understanding and communication is poor, which is why they struggled so badly with a system that did not come naturally to them. Neither of them knew what the other was doing and that left Gomez even more isolated. Gomez needs to be more forceful and scream, shout, whistle, whatever it takes to get Matip to help him out. He should have been bawling Matip out after every attack for not helping him.

It was noticeable that he was much better in the second half, playing as an orthodox right-back. It also meant there was not so much space in behind him for a ball to be played when Wolves won it back, and with their team pushed back there was little opportunity for them to get forward in numbers to overload down that flank. in fact he had a good second half, though he is obviously not going to provide the threat that Alexander-Arnold would have going forward. He does link up well, but he lacks the ability to cross. What I would like to see him make more use of is his long throw. We know he has one, why not make use of it? It is a skill that we should look to utilise as it puts pressure on the opposition even on the times you do not use it. It forces them back in case of a throw in behind their defence as players can not be offside from a throw, making it easier to retain possession.

Matip - he was all over the place in the first half, caught rushing out into midfield on the Wolves goal, despite there being no cover behind him and Wolves having bodies in behind him. He just lacks any awareness of what is going on around him and that is needed when Liverpool play with an inverted full-back. In this system, he simply cannot go rushing out deep into the opposition half chasing his forward. It is a problem at the best of times, as his lack of pace on the turn and in general means he is left far behind the play. But in this system, with teams already overloading down the flank he is meant to be covering, it means the gap is huge, as we saw on Wolves' goal. In the second half, with much better protection from the midfield and Wolves forced back it was much easier for him and he was much better.

Quansah - he had a decent game to build on, showing great confidence on the ball. But he did get caught wrong side of his man on a number of occasions, which could have easily cost us more goals against better goalscorers. What he does have is very good reading of the play, enabling him to step up and intercept a pass a lot of the time, he just has to remember not to cheat and get caught edging forward rather than marking his man.

Robertson - a mixed first half, he was caught sleeping on the goal, but there was another occasion when he raced all the way across to the right-back area to deal with an attack. Also, when the opportunity presented itself he got forward well. In the second half he was a constant threat down the flank as well as scoring. He just looks so much better playing as a normal full-back, it suits his skillset. He had a really good second half, reminiscent of the kind of performances he used to put in regularly as a left-back with license to charge forward.

Mac Allister - he was so far off the pace it was scary. He is completely unsuited to the role anyway, but at least you can normally rely on him to be good on the ball. Against Wolves he had one of the worst halves I have seen in a long time. He was constantly losing possession through either being caught dawdling on the ball or making poor passes. I can only think the international break travelling and playing had taken too much out of him and he was just in need of a rest.

Jones - started off well, but he was finding himself pressing that left side on his own, as Jota does not read the press and so Wolves could just play around him easily. As the first half went on he got less and less involved. In the second half he was much better in the deeper role, which seems to suit him. Surprisingly really as his strengths mainly revolve around attacking qualities. He does seem to have a good understanding with Szoboszlai, a partnership that can be worked on and developed.

Szoboszlai - the Hungarian was extremely poor in the first half. His passes were going astray and he struggled to get involved. In the second half he gradually improved and looked much better.

Jota - spent the first half on the left and then moved to the right side for the second half. His pressing his horrible, his touch is inconsistent, his passing is awful, he never looks up before crossing and is generally frustrating to the point he has you begging for him to be substituted. At that point he gets involved in a goal, usually by sticking the ball in the back of the next. As a substitute he is invaluable, as a starter he is a weak link who gives the ball away far too often but some will think his goals outweight that. For me he is a great impact sub but his all-round play hinders the team play too much to be a starter except when absolutely necessary.

Salah - once again he finds a way to excel. Instead of being the main goalscorer, right now he seems to have turned into the provider and was unlucky that he only got two assists rather than three, though one was a shot that was going wide. Another new record for the Egyptian as well, with him now having the most assists by an African player in Premier League history. Not bad for a player that people were saying was just a one season wonder! Now he is just a wonder.

Gakpo - struggled to get into the game in the first half, due to the service being so poor. In the second half he grew into the game and scored the equaliser by tapping in Salah's shot, which was going wide and was then taken off. He did not look his usual self it must be said, like many who had been away on international duty he looked leggy, but he was still there when it mattered.

Diaz - came on at half time in the place of the clearly fatigued Mac Allister. Having him on the left wing and the shift in formation and tactics pushed Wolves back so much that O'Neil felt forced to put on Doherty to protect Semedo from him. It must be said that he did try to do too much, but he provided much better balance to the team and more threat.

Elliott - replaced Gakpo in the 56th minute. Once again he provided an impetus to the play with his energy and ability on the ball. Being able to keep possession higher up the pitch with his link up play on the flanks really helped the team pin Wolves back. Also it was his shot that was deflected for the third goal.

Nunez - when he is on the pitch, it does not matter what defence he is up against, he causes panic. His pace, power and workrate causes havoc. His link up play has come on in leaps and bounds as well. Just having him up front pushes back the defensive line, as no defender wants to give him the chance to get in behind and that enables the whole Liverpool team to push up higher and control the play, boxing the opposition in.

Konate - replaced the impressive Quansah in the 82nd minute after the youngster suffered an injury. He stepped in seamlessly.

Gravenberch - was brought on for his debut in place of Salah in the 93rd minute. While he never had time to really show what he could do, he was full of running and looks really eager to impress.

Written by Tris Burke September 20 2023 07:22:14