When I was much younger, I was a Football Manager addict.
I had savings with Rushden & Diamonds that took up most of my life, which in hindsight is a strange way to spend time when you’re paying thousands for a college ‘education’.
Those who know the game will know how players are rated. There are three different sections: Technical, Mental and Physical.
For some reason, in terms of importance, I also ranked them in this order. Technical skills such as dribbling, shooting and passing were the ones I considered by far the most crucial. Then I quite liked the mental attributes of style, vision, and composure, considering the physical properties of speed, acceleration, and strength as an afterthought.
Watching Liverpool lose 3-1 to Brentford on Monday night reminded me how stupid I was.
Maybe he would have knocked Rushden & Diamonds out of the Championship if he had employed a few more goons who could fight, run and win their 50/50.
However, it is strange that a team in Liverpool, once the most physically impressive football team on the planet, can be so comprehensively outclassed so many times in one season.
And you knew what was going to happen when you saw the team file two days ago. Harvey Elliott and Thiago on either side of Fabinho, 29 (who is turning 39); against Brentford’s five-man midfield.
People punish Jordan Henderson but at least he can fight and scream and lead. I’d take him as my second-choice midfielder at the moment behind Thiago, which isn’t even a huge compliment to him, but a damning indictment on the rest of them.
Brenftford won all the important duels at the Gtech Community Stadium. (How are we going to get beaten up on a pitch with that name, huh?) The tone was set when Virgil van Dijk, now sidelined for some time, was left for dead by Bryan Mbuemo in the run-up to Brentford’s first goal. . Nobody would top him in the past, but he’s been passive and much less physically imposing all season. During the game, my friend in the pub turned to me and said, ‘He’s not that fast anymore, you know,’ and then I couldn’t help but notice how slow he seemed. Maybe it was the injury he was carrying, but he’s not the defender who once bested Adama Traore at Anfield.
Liverpool had a team at 19/20 that outstripped and fought everyone, who squeezed the defenses to the centimeter of their lives from the front. That was the basis of the attack and defense structure. Why was that dropped? This side now don’t run, don’t fight, don’t push.
— Neil Docking (@NeilDocking) January 2, 2023
Fabinho is less than half the player he was in his prime. He doesn’t run. He probably can’t run. Mo Salah is still excellent at times, but he is often isolated and receives fewer passes into the box. Salah will continue to score goals, but perhaps like Cristiano Ronaldo scored goals when he was 30 years old, as his main objective and not as part of an exceptional performance by the team. That said, Salah isn’t the problem, he’s just not as bright as him in his prime, but apart from Alisson, none of them are.
We miss the ruthless speed and strength of Sadio Mane. We miss Roberto Firmino’s manic press. We miss Gini Wijnaldum’s stalker-smart interceptions. We even missed the way a younger James Milner would fly into tackles and set the tone for the evil our opponents were about to experience.
“Liverpool play 200mph with and without the ball,” then-Manchester United manager José Mourinho said of us after we humiliated them in 2020.
“I’m still tired of looking at Robertson. He does a 100m dash per minute! Amazing.”
Robertson has been Liverpool’s best player since the World Cup, and the way he made some overlapping runs in the second half was our most positive moment. But we need a team of runners. A team of scratchers. Eight men to carry the piano and three to play it. Why did we sign Fabio Carvalho? Where is he going to play for us? He is too small. Too brittle. No rhythm. It doesn’t make sense. The technicality without physicality does not work for a team whose identity was intensity. That line from Pep Lijnders seems increasingly embarrassing, given Liverpool’s performances this season.
Our weakness in midfield and passivity in the back line has led Liverpool to concede 52 great chances so far this season. That’s more than double any other side ahead of us in the table. If it wasn’t for Alisson, we’d be in the bottom half of the table.
Many fans have blamed our league position for our finish, but Darwin Nunez’s lack of composure in front of goal is a side note. At least the boy can run and outstretch the opponents. Imagine how boring we would be without it right now.
Sam Wallace in the Telegraph has speculated that much of this is the fault of Liverpool assistant manager Lijnders. He writes today that the Dutchman has been a big influence on transfers and has assigned another technical player in Matheus Nunes to midfield this summer. He also explains how Lijnders takes a lot of training sessions and has turned down offers of managerial jobs in order to have more and more influence with the Reds.
Come now. Klopp is not easy to convince. His much younger counterpart doesn’t tell him what to do. Anything that is happening in Liverpool tactically and organizationally will be because he is part of it.
And all the assistant managers in the country take training sessions. Harry Redknapp, for example, hadn’t had one in 20 years, but he would wait in his office to hear from his assistant how it went…
The reality is that Liverpool have allowed a mentally and physically stagnant team to grow. Pep Guardiola explained it better to Rio Ferdinand in the summer.
“With the same guys, it’s almost impossible. You have to shake yourself. You have to move. After defeat, or victory, we change. At first the players accept things, but when they win they accept less,” he said.
Klopp is faithful to his players. Maybe too loyal. His devotion to them and the way the club has moved away from the tried and tested sporting director structure, where experts decided when to move players and who to bring in, has led Michael Edwards, Julian Ward and Ian Graham to leave …
Now it’s Klopp and Lijnders, without much money, against the world.
It feels like the end of an era for the club, sadly.
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— ???????????????????????????? (@TheGerrardWay) October 2, 2022
