Why Liverpool Should Revisit The Diamond Formation

Afternoon all, what an absolute rubbishshow it was this weekend, and to be fair, most of the season so far.

I've been thinking about the Liverpool FC squad and how it might be possible to get the best out of some of our players and I'm wondering whether the ol' Brendan Rodgers 4-1-2-1-2 Diamond could work for the players we have (I'm also aware that the idea for this formation was not Brenda's at all but came from Bielsa!).

Anyway, here's my thinking:

Salah looks frustrated and shot of confidence to me. Granted some of this will be because of the players around him and the tactics or lack thereof, but the constant spotlight on him at the moment will take a toll and whilst historically he has always just played himself out of bad form, I just wonder whether it might be time to take him out as a starter just for a little and give some of the new players a proper chance to shine in a system that suits them (which they haven't had to date) . He would also be lethal off the bench at 60mins if we needed him and would be fired up to prove a point.

We also have 2 full backs in Kerkez and Frimpong (and to a lesser extent Bradley) who love to bomb on and they seem to be getting in the way of the forward players at the moment.

Playing 4-1-2-1-2 could see Grav or Endo sit, Grav/ Macca/ Szobo/ Jones in the central 2 with reign to drift wide ONLY if there's space, Wirtz could play his preferred No10 role in behind the strikers (instead of having to drop back to between the CBs to get the ball), and it would mean that there would be space for both Ekitike and Isak (when fit) .

Ultimately I think the key thing that the players need is a bit more awareness of the others around them. They seem to get in each other's way a lot, take up space where they don't need to and fail to move into space when it presents itself. Now that will come with time, with playing together more and with focused coaching, but it's clearly not working right now.

Plus, as it stands we only seem to have 1 formation, teams have figured us out (and did towards the end of last season) and Slot seems unable/ unwilling to change things up. It's important to have at least a couple of different ways to approach games.

3 out of the next 5 games should be relatively straightforward wins, and if everyone is fit, I would like to see the following line up rather than shoehorning players into a formation where they aren't quite comfortable.

Alisson
Frimpong-Konate-VVD-Kerkex
Grav
Szobo-Macca
Wirtz
Isak-Ekitike

Would like to hear people's views etc.

All the best Reds!

Written by RedDawn November 12 2025 17:32:55