Wolverhampton Wanderers v Liverpool
First off, just to point out that I only got to watch the game once and in a busy bar, so apologies for anything I have missed. It was not helpful that it was such a tough watch as well, as the performance was poor, by both teams. It was worrying how so many players could have an off day at once, though a fair bit of that is down to Wolves being able to nullify them. The defence was the difference between the two teams – Liverpool’s played well (one horrible error aside) and allowed Wolves almost no real chances, and were able to build up play from the back fairly comfortably. In fact, other than that error allowing Wolves to equalise, this would have been a very routine and comfortable win, despite not playing well.
It does ring a warning bell over the way of playing though. Just a reminder, rather than a need for a rethink, that a one goal lead is very rarely enough in this league. I appreciate the thinking behind more control in the play, and agree, but when the lead is just one goal, the team still need to be looking to score a second. Against Wolves, it felt like the team were too content to just knock it about, feeling safe in the knowledge they had the measure of the opposition’s attack. I felt the same way, it did feel like the defence were easily able to deal with whatever Wolves could throw at them, but, and this is a very big but, playing this way does increase the chances of making a mistake. In a game you are comfortable in, those chances increase further as players mentally relax. That was happening a fair bit yesterday, with sloppy passes turning the ball over in dangerous areas.
Overall though, this is still a team in progress, with a lot of players not quite adapting well enough. To be top of the league, despite not really hitting your stride, and with a number of players struggling, is one hell of a position to be in. If Slot can get those struggling players to hit form, this could be an extremely exciting season. If those players do continue to play poorly, he is going to need to make a few changes before it does cost LFC when playing the better teams in the league. So far, the fixtures have been fairly kind to Slot, he has to make sure he takes advantage of that kindness to get his team right for the more difficult games coming up.
What I have enjoyed about Slot being in charge is that his substitutions usually improve the performance, Jones and Gakpo immediately lifted the team and allowed Mac Allister a bit more freedom. That was rarely the case with Klopp in charge, much as I love the man and will be forever grateful to him, his substitutions rarely impacted the games. Normally they tended to just be like for like. Though I would like him to make more use of substitutions, to rotate in some players who need a bit of gametime to keep them sharp.
Wolves looked like what they are, a team in a poor run of form and badly lacking in confidence. There are a lot of good players there, particularly in the midfield, which looks almost as strong as any team in the league’s, but they are not matched for quality by the attack and defence. Larsen tries, but he offers almost no goal threat and no ability to run in behind. His strength was no use against Liverpool’s centre-backs, who were able to outmuscle him, so he had little to offer. Bellegarde has no real skill or pace to cause problems with and so Cunha was their only real threat up front, but he was poor and failed to use his pace and skill to anything like their fullest. In fact, it was odd that he played up against Robertson in the first half and was not immediately switched over to play up against Alexander-Arnold the moment he got booked, with instructions to just run at him constantly.
Their biggest problem is the goalkeeper and defence, they get a lot of protection from the midfield but once that is broken through, they are very poor. Worst of all though has to be their belief in passing out from the back with this unit. They are so bad at it, it is almost comical. Not quite Burnley last season bad, but close to it. That is going to cost them a lot of goals if they continue to try and do so, unless they make massive improvement in their passing choices. Though I do think Johnstone in goal is a lost cause on the ball and it would be better to simply keep the ball away from him. He either passes people into trouble or gives it away more often than not and is a liability in this system.
Quick notes on the players:
Alisson – never really put to much work, Wolves could not even manage a corner in the first half. He could do nothing with the goal, which was just down to a catastrophic error by Konate.
Alexander-Arnold – apart from a silly yellow early on for kicking the ball away, he had a good game, and did not allow Wolves to build up much of an attacking threat down his side of the pitch. As always, his main strength is his ability to put telling and dangerous balls into the box and he did that once again.
Konate – apart from that stupid error he had a really good game, scoring his first Premier League goal and defending well most of the time. He was covering when Alexander-Arnold got forward. On top of that, he played some good passes. It is impossible to overlook the mistake though, it was horrendous.
van Dijk – for me, he was man of the match, imperious like only van Dijk can be. While Konate defended well, van Dijk defended effortlessly. He bullied the Wolves’ attackers.
Robertson – his performances are improving as he gets the hang of his new role, which will make it a worry that he went off injured.
Gravenberch – his worst performance of the season so far, as he was up against it with Wolves’ midfield being so strong. His worst performance was still good enough for him to be awarded the official man of the match award. He did give the ball away trying to make things happen sometimes, but he was very good and showed how well he fits this new role he is playing.
Mac Allister – an awful performance. He just is not suited to the position. His strengths are in getting forward and slipping through passes at the top end of the pitch, which he is rarely able to do. I would like to see him and Szoboszlai swap over positions.
Szoboszlai – another who struggled badly. He takes too long to release the ball, either as a shot or pass, in vital areas. I wonder if the pressure on him as the main man for his nation is telling on him, as he plays like a man who is too tense to play with freedom.
Diaz – not at his sparkling best, but he still caused lots of problems for Semedo and popped up all over the place, rotating well with Jota at times.
Jota – it was a proper Jota performance – truly awful but pops up with an excellent cross for Konate to score from, then is terrible again until winning a penalty. Such a frustrating player!
Salah – not a good game for the Egyptian. Put his penalty away well, but most of the game he was struggling. I think Slot needs to look at rotating him more with Chiesa, to try and freshen him up. At the start of the season, while fresh, Salah is always incredible, then fades. He rarely misses a moment of football, for club and country, I think it is time that he did get a bit more rest. It would benefit him, Liverpool and Egypt to keep him fresher.
Jones – replaced Szoboszlai in the 73rd minute. The arrival of Jones and Gakpo saw Liverpool’s game step up. He controlled the play much better than Szoboszlai was doing.
Gakpo – came on for Diaz, also in the 73rd minute. He has looked really good this season on the left, it is turning into a really difficult choice for Slot.
Gomez – was brought on for the injured Robertson in the 89th minute. Never had a chance to really get involved in the game.
Written by Tris Burke September 30 2024 05:57:25
